In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products.
Above are nine selected frames from the opening of Opaque Psycho that I have decided to use to analyse how my opening challenges, develops or uses typical conventions of psychological horror. I will be comparing my opening to that of Shutter Island and The Shining as they are both psychological horrors that have inspired my opening.
The title of the film & title font and style.
The title of my film is Opaque Psycho. This has evidently been based on the film Psycho and refers to the antagonist's mind being opaque and therefore difficult to understand. It also refers to how he is actually a psycho. The title, as a result, gives a brief insight of the film to the audience. Basing my film title on an iconic horror uses real media conventions. The title font for the credits appears to be a fairly standard and well used font. The reasoning for this is my target audience of group B and C1, who want to be intellectually challenged when watching movies. This means that my titles should not 'slam it in their face' but subtly create an effect. This has been done by the sharp letters which look dangerous and thus slightly unusual. This creates the psychological element that the audience are looking for. This follows media conventions as similar, and subtle, fonts are used in both The Shining and Shutter Island.
The setting.
Again I have chosen to follow media conventions with my isolated conventions. In The Shining, a car is seen driving down an empty country road, this gives the impression that the main character is alone and has no one is there to help him or his victim. This creates a feeling amongst the audience that the victim has little hope of survival. I have used this same principle in my horror opening to generate emotion in the audience that the young boy will die.
Costumes and Props.
I have used my costume to produce stereotypical characters that the audience can relate to. The costume for the antagonist is a white shirt, black trousers and a black tie. This is a common attire for a white collar worker and therefore links to that group of my audience, and allows them to sympathise with the character. The boy has a rucksack on and is seen wearing a tie, showing that he is likely to be a school boy. This character therefore aims at parents who have young children, who walk home from school and have fears of their children being kidnapped, run over or severely injured when walking alone. Again, this aims at Group B and C1 parents, who are most probably in this position. As a result, the murder of the boy has a greater effect on the audience who may then despise the antagonist further. The jogger is also seen in what is an arguably stereotypical jogging outfit, trackies, fleece, gloves and funky trainers. I would expect my target audience to consist of many people who are conscious about their weight and are therefore likely to go jogging. They would also wear excessive and unnecessary clothes for such an activity, as my character does. This results in the audience being able to relate to the jogger as they would also find themselves jogging early in the morning wearing absolutely hilarious clothing (no offence intended). This use of stereotypical costumes follows conventions as, in The Shining, Jack wears a suit showing him to be stereotypical and in Shutter Island, Leonardo DiCaprio wears what the audience would expect a detective to wear.
I used a penknife as the murder weapon as I believed it to link to my audience more, as many people have and carry a penknife and some are likely to be concerned about the dangers of a penknife. Furthermore, when carrying out my first questionnaire, most people stated that they preferred a knife as a murder weapon. This also follows psychological horror conventions such as in Psycho, where the murder weapon is a knife.
Camerawork and editing.
I have used editing to emphasise the fact that the antagonist is mental. This was done first by the faze transition, see middle left image. The faze links to the characters state of mind, unclear, and also to the title, opaque. Furthermore I have also used a different car in some shots to exacerbate his mental state. I have not found this form of editing in other psychological horrors except for the simple effect were a character is shown to be seeing things. As a result, my use of editing challenges typical psychological media conventions.
My camerawork consists of a variety of shots, the most effective being in my opinion the low angle tilt shot of the antagonist. High angle shots of the victim are frequently used to show that he is powerless against the antagonist. High and low angle shots are widely used in films, such as in the opening of 28 days later, when the main character is seen through low angle shots towards the end of the opening as he gradually understands what has happened to London. Typical camerawork conventions consist of framing, depth of field and the 180 degree rule. I have not used depth of field in my opening and have not broken any conventions on that area as a result. With framing, I have used rule of thirds a few times, the most evident being the shot of the antagonist revving the engine.
As a result, my camerawork has followed typical media conventions.
Story and how the opening sets it up.
The story that my opening leads to is about a person who is seen to murder people but has not actually committed murder. He also has a friend who does not know about this, this character is seen as a jogger in the opening sequence. My opening sets it up as it shows the antagonist's first victim and then reveals that he has not killed anyone at the end of the opening. The opening also reveals the antagonist's state of mind through the interview with the psychiatrist. The jogger is also introduced as a main character. The revelation that the antagonist has not killed anyone sets the scene for the rest of the film to take place. My horror opening has not followed conventions as in normal psychological horrors, the audience are kept in the dark for longer and the plot is revealed later in the film. This keeps the audience guessing and keeps them involved it the film. My opening has challenged this convention as it immediately reveals that the antagonist has a mental issue and that he thought he had killed someone. In both, The Shining and Shutter Island, nothing is revealed about the plot, only tension is built, this is also seen in Psycho, Se7en and American Psycho. In all the openings mentioned, excluding the last, the antagonist and protagonist are not even revealed. Considering this my opening has clearly challenged typical psychological horror conventions.
Genre and how the opening suggests it.
My opening reveals the genre as psychological countless times. Firstly, the antagonist is being interviewed by a psychiatrist suggesting that he has mental issues and therefore the film is psychological. Secondly, the psychological element is established through the antagonist's confusion in car colour and whether he left the door open. Finally, the ending of the opening establishes a psychological element as it is shown that the antagonist did not kill anyone. The horror element is established through the murder of a young child and the creepy non-diegetic sound. My opening has challenged conventions for the same reasons as above. In a psychological horror, very little is revealed about the movie and therefore the genre is not fully established.
How characters are introduced.
The characters in my opening are introduced fairly quickly, the victim is introduced as a young boy by the antagonist and he is shown to be the victim of the antagonist. The antagonist is introduced as Mr. Ellid by the psychiatrist and he is seen to be the murderer during the opening. His mental state is also shown by editing and changes in the scenes. The jogger is introduced by the antagonist as well, although little is revealed about his personality. This challenges convention as in typical psychological horrors, very little is revealed about characters, if the character themselves are revealed.
Special effects.
No special effects are used in my horror opening and this uses typical psychological horror conventions. In most psychological horrors, special effects are seen rarely, and seeing effects in the opening is even rarer. The reasoning for this is the target audience. Group B and C1 want to be intellectually challenged in movies and special effects 'slam it in their face' too much and lose their interest. This results in few special effects and therefore my opening follows conventions of other psychological films in regards to special effects.
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