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

Our group decided that the film we wanted to create would be effective if it was based around the horror genre. We liked this idea as we were recklessly looking through YouTube, watching trailers and clips from famous films which were renowned for their use of tension and horror. Our film (which we decided to call ‘Intruder’) is based on two American horror films – ‘Scream’ and ‘When a Stranger Calls’. We liked the trailer and the plot for ‘when a Stranger Calls’ so our film was influenced by the film greatly. We decided to use these films as we felt the storylines worked very well at making the audience scared and on the edge of their seats – this was our goal. We used the idea behind When a Stranger Calls because the director took an everyday teenage task (babysitting) and turned it into a fearful activity. The storyline of our film is very similar to what we were hoping to create so this inspired us in many ways, including our music choice. However, we also incorporate aspects of Scream into our film, for example the way it is a very suspicious, anxious and confusing rollercoaster of a storyline. Another good example of the way we incorporated ‘Scream’ into our film would be voyeurism, as it was a big part of our film, and we used voyeurism at a number of different points throughout – especially at the beginning when there is a shot of someone looking in on the babysitter from the outside, creating a spooky effect. By using voyeurism, it enabled us to create a sense of unease for the duration of the film. Our film is quite similar to ‘When a Stranger Calls’ as we incorporated many of the ideas that are used within the film such as having the ‘intruder’ located within and around the house as it seems as if the main character has no escape, again using voyeurism to emphasising the vulnerability of the character. We also chose to use the idea of the audience being able to hear the caller on the other end of the phone because this creates a feel of realism and allows the actor to be in the babysitters shoes – involving them more in the film and preparing them for the climax of the film, however we decided only to hear the caller’s breathing rather than a long conversation to emphasise the weirdness and confusion the babysitter is feeling.