Evaluation: I what way does your film use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In my final product, I believe I have done all three areas of the question; used, developed and challenged conventions that are used in the film industry.

How have I used conventions:
- I have used media conventions when choosing the sound for my film. I believe I have done this without using sound that is too stereotypical of the genre. I chose music that follows the conventions of a horror film because it helps to build the tension well. The audience react with the style of music, feeling as if something will happen. The music builds the tension. Horror films are expected to scare or 'chill' the audience. The digetic sound I used at the end of my film follows these conventions. The baby crying is a pessimistic noise which are common in horror films.
- In the editing of my film I opted, for the majority of cuts, to use straight cuts. These are conventional of horror films as they help to increase the pace as well as the tension of the film.

- A male antagonist is a very common convention of horror films. I have followed this convention in my film.

- I have used dark mise-en-scene in my film which is a horror convention. I have followed this convention because it helps to create an eerie atmosphere.

- I have used the iconography of the horror genre in my film. The leafless trees are an example of this. I used horror iconography so that the audience will be expecting something bad to happen and will therefore want to continue watching my film.

(This comment is just an example of a comment which suggests that I have created an atmosphere using horror conventions. 88% of people asked agree with this. 55% believe that as well as this, at some point in my opening sequence I have challenged horror conventions.)

How I have challenged conventions:
- It is stereotypical for horror films to be very gory and violent. This is actually becoming very typical as special effects become more realistic. My product has no blood or gore but instead I have tried to build tension and inflict shock on my audience using different, more subtle methods and I believe that my film is better for that. I believe I have shown that shock and tension can still be used without the need for violence.

- The majority of horror films are focused around the victims. Very rarely is the antagonist the main character in the film. I have made a film which subverts this idea by focusing on the antagonist as the main character.