Using conventions of real media texts

When analysing the conventions of real media texts for AS, I analysed 2 horror films for my opening sequence which was ‘the crazies’ and ‘the last exorcism’, In the 2 films there were clear conventions and elements that specifically allowed the audience to recognise they were both horror films through mise en scene and separated the genre from any other.

In both films, Lighting was very dark, and dully lit, purposely done, to create a scary feel, and give the scenes a horror/thriller vibe. This created tension and unease of what was going to happen, usually what you’d expect to see in horror/thriller films. Another convention that both films used, was dark black and white colours, representing death and innocence again this is commonly used in horror/thriller films to show the mood through colours, as it can add great effect also a bright colour for instance red, that completely contrasts and stands out is used particularly in ‘the last exorcism’ as it suggests blood, and death but can also represent fear, and disturbance. Other conventions in relation to costume hair and makeup again use dark colours in both films, and usually a bright colour would be used for the main victim of horror/ thriller films, to show the importance of a character and the role or mood of the character. In the crazies the zombies all have ragged clothes and have horrifying makeup to represent their characters, were as the victims and main characters are dressed in everyday clothes, and have brighter colours with bolder makeup and hairstyles. This is one element that is important when creating a horror film, so that the audience can recognise the killer or a psychopath you may expect to see in a horror/thriller film. The costume hair and makeup can enhance the character as it’s important to tell the difference from the killer/psycho from the normal characters. Another convention that I picked up on was that horror/thriller films tend to use red herrings and cliff-hangers and create uncertainty and anxiety to the viewers. This something that I considered to add to my main production to create a successful, professional opening sequence that represented the horror genre. In researching these 2 films I could see that both were set in a creepy atmosphere, the last exorcism involving an old barn and a church, and the crazies set in an ordinary suburb/city and involved a theme park and both also involve a scenario such as crime or murder, or stalker type psychopathic attack. They are also adrenaline-rushing and very well produced through dramatic camera angles and shots displaying the storyline. This is something that I considered and was able to experiment with different shots and angles to get an idea of some scary effects. Conventions through editing of these two films are also very effective, through very fast shots repeated, and flashback techniques and slow panning also the use of colour to shots adds to the theme. In the ‘Last Exorcism’ Very quick shots are taken on the girl being tied down this creates the scary adrenaline build up to an edgy scene or movement, and panning can also be used to build up leaving the viewer in suspense. The music in both films was very intense, and across between fast and tense music, and slow suspense music, creating different reactions, and thoughts in the audiences head to what is going to happen. Sound effects are used were appropriate, creating the scary build up to a sudden action.
In my opening sequence horror media production I used a variety of the conventions and techniques that represented the horror/thriller genre. We based our location in a little field area by the river, with a broken down shed, and a squeaky gate. This was a great location as it already had a scary look to it and something you see quit often in horrors, our chosen location was in the middle of no-were again something you’d expect to see suggesting there’s no help around. Before hand we visited many places that were easily accessible and suitable and took photographs using the iPod touch and decided on the best location for our scenario. I also filmed just before the sun was going down, so it would gradually get darker in the scene, which again follows the conventions of horror/films, were as it gets darker something bad /scary happens. We used torches, when it hit really dark point so that the camera would still pick up what was going on. We used a news report technique, and our storyline used the idea of a physcopathic stalker attacking a young girl this scenario is very common, and also used often in horror films. We made the stalker barley noticeable in the scenes, as it’s very rare that the attacker is seen; only a glimpse of his hand, or back the character was wearing a hoody, and this successfully achieved the look we wanted. We used a variety of shots that follow the conventions of a horror/thriller film, using over the shoulder shots, and the camera peeping round corners, close ups on scary objects such as the gate etc and close ups on the main victim, showing the importance of the character. Other conventions we followed included the use of colour and music and through editing techniques. We used dark dull colours and a bright red colour for our main character suggesting the danger that the victim is in, we used a red car also for the stalkers get away with the victim, as this is common in horror/thriller films. Are chosen music we picked a dub step/ teenage chilling music for the partygoers and as the psychopathic stalker approaches a heart beta sound effect, and a slower scary unease music for the news report in the morning. This is something that worked well, as it added effect to the scenes and tension. We didn’t achieve too many editing techniques; however we edited the music in using Final Cut Pro on the Apple Macs and we used a technique of speeding and slowing up scenes, to create tension and leave the viewer holding on to their chair.
Overall we used many techniques that are often shown in horror/thriller films, and created a successful introduction to a film, through a lot of internet research of the genre on conventions of horrors/thrillers. We included as many as we could to contribute to the genre and show how we used real media texts, to influence and inspire us for our own production, and hopefully compare with other horror/thriller based media texts.

When analysing the conventions of real media texts for A2 I analysed 2 dance pop artist music videos for my music video production, these were ‘Kesha-Tick Tock’ and ‘Lady Gaga-Just Dance’ In the 2 music videos of the same genre there were clear conventions and elements that gave me ideas and inspiration when producing my own dance pop music video, and gave me and idea of what type of aspects are usually found in dance pop, which made this genre different to any other and separated it from any other genre as its important for an artist to be recognised differently to other artist.

From analysing and watching the two music videos from the dance pop genre, I could see the different conventions that were similar in both music videos, In Kesha’s Tik Tok music video and lady gaga’s just dance both videos contain scenes from a party, with people dancing, and doing wild things, both had a fragmented storyline, and include the typical sort of things that you’d expect to see in a dance-pop video for instance, upbeat music, a catchy melody, heavy partying and dancing, and particularly fast cut quick shots, usually of symbolic objects, that relate to the narrative. Other conventions when considering the music a connection between lyrics and visuals is shown, numerous times for example in Lady gaga’s video when she sings ‘just dance’ scenes of people dancing are displayed and this also occurs in Keshas  video for particular lyrics. This helps keep the song flowing and increase the audiences understanding due to the constant reference. In both music videos Kesha and Lady gaga, are represented and visualised as a party animal, fun, reckless and wild. This represents a lot of teenagers in today’s society, so immediately you can recognise the target audience. The use of mise en scene varies however both videos are located in a house, with party scenes, and dancing scenes, the use of bold and bright colours are shown through costume, hair and make up is very bold, and the use of the camera is very creative showing scenes from different angles and various shots. Goodwin’s theory also relates in a lot of dance pop videos, for instance intertextual reference is shown in Kesha’s video were the text refers to two other media texts such as p Diddy and Mcjagger, She refers to P Diddy with the opening line of ‘wake up in the morning feeling like P, Diddy and you can then hear P Diddy’s voice say ‘Hey what up Girl’ she later says ‘Kick em to the kerb unless they look like Mcjagger’ and you see a look a like of Mcjagger appear in the scene. This is common in dance pop videos, and allows the track to feature other artists, and draw the audience in to the song. Other conventions I noticed were that dance pop music videos tend to have a cheesy kind of touch to them for example child like imagery, for example lady gaga is playing on a rubber duck in one scene of her video, which isn’t something you’d see a grown woman on.. This also reflects that the artist and dance pop music is suited at a teenager target audience and contain wild unexpected scenes. Kesha also does this were she is found laying in a bath in her opening scene, this is something you wouldn’t expect an adult to do, and kind of links in to teenager lifestyle of a drunken night, both videos contain the influence of alcohol, again something that would be related to teenagers in the society today.

In my music video production I used a variety of conventions that were similar to real media texts, and used these in a unique way in order to make my production something original, I used bright bold colours, especially throughout the music video, in the ball pit, and the party scenes and through costume hair and makeup. In our music video we decided on party scenes, as this was something common in most dance pop videos; however we used strobe lights and put our party scenes in our video with other scenes creating a fragmented story line, again a common convention of dance pop. This was successful as it allowed the audience to recognise immediately what genre our video was. We used the ball pit, as it created the child like imagery that we’d seen in many other dance pop videos for example lady gaga, and rihanna’s videos also effectively uses this technique to create something wild, and attract the target audience. Our chosen character reflected the typical teenager look through the costume, shorts and vans, and jewellery which reflects the typical style of teenager girls today and this is something we wanted to achieve in order to attract the audience. To enhance her eyes we used fake lashes again something typically seen in to day’s generation of teenagers and other dance pop artists. We wanted our character to stand out, and reflect the artist of the song, Kesha. Other conventions that we used included are choice of location, again we used typical location that you would expect to see for instance a house, a girls bedroom, we used a random shot in a tunnel and added strobe lights and colours through editing to create something new but also fit in with the dance pop genre and relate to the party scenes, we used a actually party to film parts of our music video featuring dancing and alcohol. We used typical fast cuts and quick shots, to fit in with the music and also linked our lyrics with visuals were possible, this was something that we found quite similar to most music videos in any genre so to make our genre stand out from any other we used child like cheesy transitions through editing, and this was something that worked well with our music video, due to the narrative being about a boy being obsessed with a girl. We made or narrative fragmented, again this follows the conventions of dance pop music videos.

Overall we used a number of conventions that are shown in dance pop music videos, but in a way that our video would be unique and original. We gained a lot of our conventions through watching other music videos by dance pop artists and considering what they did to make their own video different form any other dance pop artist sharing the same genre. Our video followed a number of conventions, which worked well with the song choice and reflected other media texts with our own ideas.