G321 - Evaluation Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge the conventions of real media products?

Typically a psychological horror out on the market these days would contain one main character. This character would be shown as quite vulnerable and quite often a female or a child; such as in the film Silent Hill. The main character of this film is a young mother. As she loses her newly adopted child in a town of horror, she looks weak and alone searching for the girl. During the first 1 and a half minutes of my film opening my female main character is also shown as very weak and vulnerable. A variety of high angle shots gives off the sense that she is small and insignificant.

Although, in my film opening I stick to the typical conventions of a psychological horror main character, I have decided that the plot will turn around. Thus, giving in to the convention of twists, turns and play on the mental/emotional well-being of the audience. As the plot advances and thickens we find that the female lead we once thought vulnerable and a subject to the stress of her career is actually the one causing the horror and harm. It is unusual that the film should be shown from the killer's perspective. We find this unusual plot twist in the popular ghost-filled film The Others. Where the mother and her two children are lead to believe their house is haunted. When in fact it is them haunting the living after a mental breakdown from their mother leading to the smothering of her own children followed by a suicide. 

In both The Others and my film the female lead is confused and mentally unstable, thus, taking the audience on an emotional rollercoaster of paranoia, fear and false senses of security.

Another convention of psychological horrors that I have stuck with is the involvement of an authority figure such as; a police officer, inspector, psychiatrist, doctor, nurse, etc. The introduction of Inspector Hodges, a passionate but down-trodden man with a will to do well in his line of work, gives a sense of reality and stability to the chaos occurring throughout the film. We have other examples of do-good authorities in such movies as Silent Hill, Sixth Sense and The Silence Of The Lambs.

Settings and Props

A lot of psychological horrors contain a mental institute. Films such as; Hide and Seek, Session 9, The Brood and The Silence Of The Lambs. It is a commonly used setting and gives off a lot of atmosphere. Mental asylums come with many connotations such as mental confusion, danger, surrealism, etc. The clean, blank walls and props within these asylums are such a contrast to the patients they hold. There is a sense of eeriness and mystery whereas the patients are usually out of control and misunderstood. In other cases, mental institutions can be shown as quite neglected and abandoned. Instead of sticking with either one, I have decided to merge these concepts together. Although the exterior of the building will look derelict and neglected, showing danger; the interior has been done up. The walls are clean and white, the room is quite empty with the exception of two props. These two props do not fit with the modern, sanitary conditions of the interior. There is an old picture frame lodged in the corner of the room, dust covered. The chair our main character is sat on is old fashioned and not very stable, much like the exterior of the building. This fusion of old and new gives the modern viewers something to relate to whilst bringing back an old gothic theme to give the setting a sense of creepy foreboding.

Cinematography, Editing and Sound

For this section of the film I have kept to the traditional conventions as much as possible. I've noticed in films such as The Eye the editing in the first 2 minutes becomes increasingly quicker along with the music tempo. This leads up to the climax of the actions taking place. I have tried to mirror exactly that in my film. The sound of the light bulb humming is very quiet at first in my film, but steadily with the editing becomes louder and louder until it explodes and it cuts to a black screen. The sharp ending makes the audience jump, thus creating the sense of fear. Characters will sometimes get flashbacks or visions that help guide themselves and the audience into working out why these horrors are occurring, such as in Hide and Seek when a widowed father has a flashback of himself killing his wife to make it look like a suicide, showing that he has a split personality; thus, solving the mysterious killings and other acts. In my film opening, near to the climax, fast pace editing of Quinn (main character) running through an unknown forest are shown with intervals of the character laughing and crying in both the mental asylum and the Janitor's closet. These are flashbacks of events later shown in the rest of the plot. Showing the aftermath of the events taken place (Quinn in the mental asylum) in the film opening sticks to the convention of psychological horrors being non-linear; similar to the non-linear storyline of Jennifer's Body.

Dim, gloomy or dark lighting is used throughout a lot of horror sub-genres. The dark lighting is particularly effective in psychological horrors as it reflects the mood of the characters. It suspends the sense of mystery and the unknown. I have not stuck to this convention much. I needed the mental asylum to be bright and white to show cleanliness. The natural light in the forest could not be helped, and it was easier to see the action in that light. However, during the few short scenes in the Janitor's closet, the room was dark, with only a stage light to highlight the main character and hanging shadow. This gave the horror effect I needed to stick to this convention, even though it was only a little.