1. How my media product
uses, develops and challenges forms
and conventions of real media
products
Louisa Dack

2. In relation to my film
This is shot is set in the first woman’s house; this is shown through the dark
filter which has connotations with evil, suggesting something dark is
happening. Dark colours are very conventional of horror films and as I made
a social realism horror I tried to incorporate this into my film to meet the
conventions. The filter contrasts with the actual image, which is a childish
image. I did this to make my audience uncomfortable, as the idea of mixing
evil with children is an unpleasant thought. Children are conventionally used
in horrors to show the destruction of innocence, which is exactly what I tried
to do with my film. An example of this is the horror film ‘Orphan’. The
director used a young girl to create a false sense of innocence for the girl, so
that it was more shocking when she turned out to be evil. I didn’t want to
achieve this with my film as my baby is innocent however, I wanted to make
the audience feel discomfort and worry for the child’s safety. This dark filter
on top suggests the destruction of innocence and that the child is in danger.
The titles are in white which contrasts with the background image, as white
has connotations with innocence and naivety. This was done to portray the
child’s innocence and that she doesn’t know what is going on. The writing is
in a childish handwriting, again suggesting the presence of a child. For my
filters I took inspiration from the horror film ‘Alone With Her’ which uses a
black and white filter for one side of the story, like I have. The director was
trying to show the two different sides to the story and portray the
contrasting views. This is also the reason I have used the convention in my
film as I wanted the audience to be able to differentiate from one woman’s
story to the others. The filtering technique is commonly used in horror and
thriller genres and as my film is partly of the horror genre I felt it was
appropriate to use it.

3. This shot is of the first woman playing with what appears to be a baby. We don’t actually
see the baby or absence of the baby in this shot as I didn’t want to give away the
ending, as it is conventional of a short film to have a twist at the end. This shot has filter
over it. This is done to differentiate between the shots of this woman and the shots of
the other woman. The filter is dark to suggest that there is something dark and evil
about the woman, making the audience uncomfortable. It is a common convention of a
thriller film to use dark lighting as it makes the film more creepy and mysterious. In the
original, unedited version of this shot the camera was just to the left of the woman.
However I used the editing tool ‘flip’ to flip the shot over so it appeared that the camera
was to her right. This contrasts with the shots of the other woman and I have kept this
difference constant throughout my film in order to create a difference between the
women and make the storyline easier to understand. This is conventional of short films
as it makes them easier for the audience to understand.
Most short film use this technique as it gives the audience a better sense of
perspective and subtly helps them understand the story. This shot is in a
normal, ordinary home which is conventional of a social realism film as they’re usually
set in normal, everyday settings. In this shot the woman has her back turned to the
camera, this could suggest that she has something to hide or, alternatively that she is
trying to protect the baby. The door on the left creates a barrier between us and the
woman, showing that the audience don’t feel a connection with her and are trying to
keep a distance from her as they are currently unsure of her character. This is
conventional of a horror film as they often have long shots to warn the audience and
make them feel in danger. This is used in many films such Saw to create a distance
between the audience and the villain. I chose to use it for the same reasons in my film as
I wanted my audience to be wary of this character.
This second shot shows the first woman fussing with babies’ clothes. This shot shows the
extent the woman is going to in order to keep up the façade that she has a child. The
obsessiveness of the situation uses conventions seen in such horror films ‘Stalker’ The shot
cuts off the woman’s head, which creates a sense of mystery about the woman and makes it
harder for the audience to distinguish between the two characters by looks alone, which
was my intention. Short films often have shots that don’t give away much about the
characters, as they want to keep the audience guessing until the end. This is conventional in
social realism films and I used this as I thought it would work well in my film as I also have a
twist at the end. The woman’s costume is very motherly again playing on the idea of having
a child again. The character in this shot is presented at first as a normal mother but the
obsessiveness of the clothes for a child she doesn’t have and the humming imply that she is
not mentally stable.

4. This is a screen shot of one woman playing with the baby. This screen shot also introduces the actress ‘Harriet Dack’ who is
shown on screen. The titles are in white, which has connotations with innocence and purity, suggesting she is naive and perhaps
a victim. The titles are in a font, which looks like handwriting. Its conventional of a film to use the type of writing to convey
themes of a film. This font looks like it has been written by a child which links to the theme of my film as it is about a baby. This is
very conventional of a horror film and is done in lots of films such as ‘Orphan’ and ‘The Uninvited’ as they link in with children,
like my film. This type of storyline is very conventional of a horror as it plays on the audience’s fears and portrays the destruction
of the child’s innocence. The shot is set in the other woman’s house, contrasting with the setting of the previous shot,
establishing that they are different people. The house is a normal, boring house, this is conventional of a social realism film as
they are usually set in everyday settings with ‘normal’ people/ The background of the shot is full of baby toys, suggesting that
there is a baby present in the household. It also mirrors what we saw in the other house. The woman is positioned just to the
right of the middle of the shot. This is so we can just see round her and notice that there’s actually a baby there. The way the
woman is blocking the child out mirrors the previous shot and also keeps the mystery about who actually has the baby. This shot
could also been seen to indicate that the mother is a barrier between the baby and us and that she is trying to protect her. Its
conventional of a social realism film to give away as little as possible about the storyline, waiting until a twist at the end. This shot
achieves this by keeping the mystery about the child. This shot doesn’t have a barrier between the audience and the woman,
unlike the other shot, this indicates that the audience are more comfortable with this character and feel like they can trust her
more. The shot also makes it seem like we are watching her and that she is unaware, this makes the audience uncomfortable
which is very conventional of a thriller film. This shot sets up the story as it is the first shot that mirrors the shots of the other
woman, this shot starts to imply the storyline. In this shot the woman is presented as naive as her back is literally turned,
suggesting that she is unaware of what’s going on. Conventionally in horror films the main characters are unaware of what is
going on. This makes the audience cautious and this is what I wanted to achieve. In an alternative view you could interpret this as
being ignorant and not wanting to see what’s going on. The shot could also show her as a protector of the child. This shot also
portrays her as friendly and loving.

5. This shot is a close up of the second woman cutting up cheese for her child’s sandwich. Close ups are very
conventional of the horror genre and are used in a lot of horror films such as ‘Saw’ to distract away from
the violence. This isn’t why I chose to use them however; I used them to keep a sense of mystery about
the film, which is more conventional of social realism films. This shot is used to show the everyday life of
this woman, which portrays the social realism genre as this type of film often shows everyday occurrences
before the climax of the film. This is exactly what I have tried to do as I feel it builds up a false sense of
security for the audience. This shot is very bright, indicating to the audience that the character included in
the shot is a positive character. The knife is in the centre of the shot. Knifes are generally used in horrors
as a weapon, for example in ‘Scream’ the killer brandishes a knife to threaten the innocent. However I
chose to go against the convention as in this instance the knife is clearly not used in a threatening way.
This could bring out more of the social realism genre. In this shot, although we can’t fully see the
character, she is presented as trusting as she isn’t brandishing a knife in a threatening way but is using it
for a everyday purpose. It also presents the character as caring as she is clearly looking after her child and
the closeness of the shot shows that the audience feel comfortable around her and trust her, implying
they will be on her side and that she is the protagonist.
This next shot is a shot set in the first woman’s house. It is a close up
of the printer as the first woman prints out a picture of the baby.
This is the point where the audience really know that the woman is
weird and stalking the baby. The close up shows the intensity of the
situation and shows the audiences curiosity. I took the inspiration
for this shot from an Eminem music video where he has an entire
shrine full of photos of the person. The idea of stalking and taking
photos and obsessing over people is a general theme for many
horror films such as ‘Stalker’ and I conform to this throughout my
film. The shot itself is from a high angle and suggests that we’re
looking down upon the picture from the point of view of the
women. This shot presents the woman as obsessive, contrasting
with the motherly image we originally got of the woman. This
characteristic is often used in horror films in the main character, for
example in ‘Psycho’. This is done to scare and worry the audience
and this is the exact reason why I chose to do it. The babies face is
centre of the screen implying she’s the centre of attention, linking in
with the woman’s feelings towards the baby as she obviously feels
that the baby is also the centre of her life.

6. This shot is a long shot of the two women crossing paths. It’s a long shot which indicates that
the audience are taking a step back from the situation and not taking sides. The characters are
pleasant to each other which shows another side to the first woman as it shows she is
obviously very sneaky and secretive. This fits my social realism genre again as it is an everyday
sitation with a twist. Its very bright outside and the woman on the right is walking into the
light, showing the audience that she is a positive character. Lighting is a conventional way that
horrors express who is the protagobist and villain in the film. Films such as ‘Woman in Black’
do this to establish which charcaters are good and bad. This is exactly why I chose to use it in
my film as it subtly gives the audience a hint of which character is the protagonist. The other
woman is walking away from the light into the shadows showing that she is more of a negative
character and has a dark secret. Both the characters are dressed in bland outfits in this shot
which doesn’t give much away to the audience. This is another horror convention that I saw in
‘Woman in Black.’ The woman in ‘Woman in Black’ is dressed in dark colours to portray her bad
character. I thought this worked really well and wanted to incorporate this convention into my
film to send the same message. The red pushchair has connotations with danger and acts as a
warning to the audience. Its conventional of films to use colours to portray emotions and
feelings and I have chosen to do so in this instance to make it more clear to my audience who
to trust, without making it to obvious. By doing this I am also conforming to social realism
conventions as I am not making it too obvious, saving the twist for a few moments time.
This screen shot is of the woman walking off and is the moment when the audience first see that the woman really
doesn’t have a child. I have saved the twist for the end of the film which is conventional of a social realism film as they
often save the twist for the end. This is done in social realism film ‘The Machinest.’ I found this was really effective in this
film and shocked the audience whilst making all the lose ends come together to make more sense. I like this and wanted
to do a similar thing in my film and have done with this moment of realisation shot. The way she is walking into the
shadow from the light shows that she is covering up a dark secret and wants to appear normal. I took my idea for the
stroyline from the film ‘Amber’s Story’ where a child gets abducted. Children being abducted is a conventional stroyline of
horror films and is used in many films such as ‘Ambers Story’ to play on the audiences fears. I wanted to play on the
conventions of horror films and add a social realism dimension into it. I also wanted to create a new storyline and not copy
a previous idea as I feel this idea is more orginal.

7. In relation to my magazine spread
This screen shot shows a quote from the article, which I have made bigger and stand out of the article. This is
conventional of a magazine article and is often done in film reviews. The red of the writing is conventionally
used in both thrillers and social realism films due to its connotations with danger and blood as well as being
bright and bold, a feature of the text in social realism review pages. The font I used matches the font I used in
the article so that it doesn’t draw away from the main text and is just read when the viewer gets to the
appropriate place. An example of the large quote being used can be taken from ‘The Kite Runner’ film review.
The quote itself is placed in between the other text as I found this to be conventional of most magazine
articles, not just thrillers or social realism films.
The title of the film is written in handwriting that looks like its been
written by a child in coloured crayon. This obviously has connotations and
links in with my films storyline as it’s about a baby. The colours are bright
which is a convention of film reviews for social realism films such as ‘Fish
Tank’, which uses bright orange font to grab the audience’s attention. The
title also looks like it has been ripped out or torn. This portrays the image
that a family is being torn apart. I chose to place my title right at the top
of the page, I chose to do this because I think it’s easier for the audience
to read and makes the article less complicated.

8. This is a quote I added onto my magazine article from the producer and director. This is usually done in magazine
articles and is very conventional. I chose to include it to live up to the conventions and layout of a magazine
article. The film review for ‘A Junkies Salvation’, which has a line at, the bottom of the review as you can see
above. This gives another view of the film. This line is placed at the bottom of my review as I found this to be the
conventional placement of the director quote. I wanted to follow magazine conventions as best I could to
conform to both my genres but in different ways.
This is a screenshot of the entire left page of my magazine article. The photos take up the majority of the article; I saw this happen in
many magazine articles before deciding to use it in mine. I like this layout because it grabs the audience’s attention and, according to
the way we read magazine articles it should be the first thing we see. My writing for my article is down the right hand side. Its very
common for film reviews, particularly action or thriller genres to have half a page of a screenshot of the film and the other half the
text. I like this layout, as I don’t think the writing it too overpowering. Its very conventional of a film review page to show a large
picture of the main character, as seen in the spider man article above. However, I chose not to do this in mine because I thought that
by following the conventions I would be giving too much about my film away and want to keep the mystery about the film.

9. In relation to my poster
This shot of my poster shows the photos I spread out and took a
picture of with the top photo being of one of the women and the
baby being on top. In this picture the colours are bright and vibrant
to pull in the audience. This goes against the conventions of thriller
posters but follows the expectations of a social realism film poster.
I chose to do this, as I wanted the thriller genre to be an undertone
and add another dimension to the film with the social realism
genre being more of an overall genre for the film. The baby is
dressed in pink in the top photo, which is a convention colour for a
baby girl. This shows that the baby is just a normal, sweet baby and
the light colours connote her innocence. The woman is dressed in
blue, which has connotations with water, which is pure, giving the
impression that the woman is pure and innocent. The colour blue
could alternatively be interpreted as a sad colour. This also fits my
film as the storyline is sad and affects this woman in a negative way
even though she is unaware of it. I got inspiration for this from the
poster for the woman in black where there is a picture of two
children with their eyes scratched out.

10. The text on my poster, which contains the title and the release date, is in the same child like handwriting that I used
for my film, making a direct link. This font also links with the storyline as it appears to be written by a child. It is a
common convention for films of the thriller genre to use handwriting on their posters, for example the film ‘Orphan’
uses a similar handwriting technique in their poster. I took inspiration from here as it think this poster is very
successful. My title and release date are written in a mixture of pinks and purples. Generally, posters for social realism
films use brighter colours and so I have conformed to this by using the bright colours. For example the film poster for
‘Slumdog Millionaire’ which uses bright colours and bold writing. The colours I used also are very soft and have
connotations with baby girls, which is what my film revolves around. It demonstrates the babies’ sweet
nature, eliminating any idea that the baby may be evil, like they often are in horror or thriller genres. The position of
my text is to the side of the photos as I didn’t want to draw attention away from the main image. Posters are read
from left to right so it is conventional for the writing to be in this position.
This next shot of my poster is a closer view of the crossed out
face of the woman. This is a conventional thriller thing to do to
a poster and I have seen similar things be done on posters for
films such as ‘You’re Next’ which uses red writing across a
face. The crossed out face shows that whoever crossed it out
wants that woman gone or that the woman is already out of
the way. The face is crossed in black, bold marker pen. This is
done because the blackness has connotations with sadness
and evil which is a conventional theme for a thriller film. The
boldness of the cross and the fact that is hand drawn shows
the determination of the character that wants this woman out
of the way and implies that she will get what she wants.
At the bottom of my poster I put text informing the audience of the actresses and Production Company. This is very conventional of a
film poster as most include this sort of text to inform and draw in an audience.