The document discusses the student's experience creating a two minute horror movie opening for a class project. It describes how the student used conventions of the horror genre, such as low key lighting, creepy music, and a ghostly figure. Inspiration came from movies and TV shows about mysteries at sea. The student learned many new film production skills throughout the project, such as using a DSLR camera, tripod, editing software, and online platforms to host the video. Completing the project was a challenging but rewarding learning experience.

1. By: Sana Zehra Hasan.

2. Q1. How does your product use or challenge
conventions and how do they represent social
groups or issues?
Ans. The genre of my two minute movie opening is horror
thriller. I have gone along with the conventions of the
typical scary movie and tried to make an exact replica of
a real time horror. I have tried to capture the twilight
effect of the sunset and to create an aura of mystery that
erupts from the rippling of the waves at night and the
howling of the wind that can be heard from the
background. Moreover, the typical usage of low key
lights that we come across in every scary thriller can be
seen in my movie opening as well. I have tried to
inculcate the traditional scary old woman effect and the
blood clad ghost. The audience can also hear non-
diegetic sound of the creepy music to keep the viewers
spellbound and to create fear in their hearts.

3. I am inspired by the movie ‘The Bermuda Triangle’, that
came out in 1978. It has been one of my favorites. I like the
notion of something scary at sea. The sea for me always
holds mysteries and secrets, especially at night. When the
darkness creeps in, the beauty and serenity of the sea leaps
out, leaving behind an uncandid horror.
Another drama that inspired me is an old popular Ptv
(Pakistan television) drama series called The Mystery
Theatre. It had an episode in which a guy would sing at the
beach and later it was discovered that he was already dead.
This idea of a dead person at the sea attracted me the most.
Since I have made a horror sequence it does not really
have any social issues or messages in it except for the fact
that one should avoid wandering alone at night.

4. Q2. How does your product engage with audiences and how
would it be distributed as a real media text?
Ans. People have a very monotonous life and
there’s hardly ever something that will jolt them out
of their seats, but one rather shocking incident
happened in my family long time back which I
decided to finally share with everyone.
My grandfather was in the Marhata Regiment of
the Indian army, at the time of the second world
war he was sent to Italy. When he was going back
from a mission they saw a woman with arms
slashed and bleeding badly who said the exact
same words as used in the opening of my movie.
However, I changed a few minor details and the
location of where and how it occurred but the
actual story line remains real. Hence I feel that
people will find my movie appealing as it is based
on a real life experience.

5. As my movie is purely made for thrilling
entertainment, it caters for teenagers and above
age group.
In my opinion, my movie should be distributed by
the Columbia Pictures as it comes in one of the big
six production houses which has branches all over
the world. It would distribute my movie as the
genre of my movie attracts almost all individuals
and excites them, also being a real life story is a
major plus point and a good way to attract my
target market.

6. Q3. How did your production skills develop
throughout this project?
Ans. When I first chose Media as subject, it was mainly
because of the interest I had in movies and my
passion to find out what is going on in the media
world. I would always find myself wandering through
the internet looking for gossip about movies,
controversies etc. However, Media Studies is so much
more than just a subject that tells you about different
movie cultures. Never did I imagine that one would
have to take care of a million things when taking a
picture or the various names that have been given to
different types of pictures. Nonetheless, Media Studies
has made me what I am today, able to actually shoot a
film, direct it, edit it and present it for my audience.

7. Headroom
This is the first and basic yet new concept that was taught to us
in the first class. It is known as the headroom, which is the
space between the subject’s top of the head and the frame. It is
used to include the sense of space on both sides of the frame.
Also, what we have to take care of is that there should not be
too much headroom in the picture or no headroom at all. If for
instance, our subject is a human then the human’s nose should
not be the middle of the frame incase of a mid-shot.

8. • We have learnt many types of editing cuts
primarily.
A jump cut is basically an abrupt cut in
which shots of the same subject have been
taken from camera positions that vary very
slightly. Its used to give the dramatic effect of
jumping forward in time.
Parallel editing also known as cross
cutting is the technique of alternating two or
more scenes that often happen
simultaneously but are in different locations.
If the scenes are simultaneous, they
occasionally culminate in a single place,
where the relevant parties confront each
other.
Anther type of cut is also
known as a slow cut. These
are shots of longer duration
with the same subject.
However, such shots that go up
to 15 seconds may be called a
drag as it would come across
the audience as annoying

9. The rule of thirds is a concept in video
and film production in which the frame
is divided into nine imaginary sections,
out of which your subject is placed on
almost one-third of the image.
As seen in both the pictures, the
subject is placed at one side of the
picture (right or left). This not only gives
a broader image but is also used to
prevent the horizon from appearing to
divide the image in half.

10. Types of shots
We learned about various
types of camera angles as well
as camera shots.
Firstly there is an extreme
wide shot (XWS). This shot is
basically so high from the sky
that the subject/object is not
even visible. It is also known
as the ‘establishing shot’.
Secondly, another camera angle is a very wide shot, which is a lesser
closer version of the extreme wide shot. Here zooming occurs, whereas in
an extreme wide shot, it does not. In my movie I have used this as my
opening scene where we can see the background which has significance
importance showing how my characters are moving. It also lays emphasis
on the twilight time of the day which holds great importance itself as seen
in the picture above.
Then there is a wide shot, which is quite similar to a very wide shot
but here the subject is very visible and not just the background. Although
the main focus is still not the subject here.

11. We have also studied
about the mid-shot (MS).
This is a shot taken from
the head of the subject
till its waist.
Another shot is a two shot.
Here there are two people
visible in the frame. I have used
this shot to show two
characters talking to each other.
In order to keep the viewer’s
interest intact I used this shot
so that the same shots do not
appear as boring.
We have also learned different
types of close ups. Firstly, there
is a medium close up which is
half way between a mid shot
and a close up as shown in the
picture below. Then there is an
extreme close up which is
usually used to focus or lay
emphasis on a particular
feature.

12. There are other shots also
such as pedestal shot where
the camera is moving
vertically with respect to the
subject. In my movie opening
I have showed this shot by
moving my camera
horizontally to show the
subject walking a certain
distance.
Point of view shot is a shot
showing the view from the
subject’s perspective.
Dutch Tilt is when the
camera angle is deliberately
tilted to one side to create a
dramatic effect.
Over the shoulder shot is basically
taken from an angle that is over
the subject’s shoulder showing
him/her talking to another
person. I have used this shot a
couple of times in my opening to
show that my characters are
talking to each other and to also
show how their expressions are
changing as seen above.

13. Lighting

14. I have used low key
lighting while shooting
as my genre was horror.
In a certain scene I have
also used ‘silhouette’ to
show an impact of the
sun setting as you can
see in the picture on
the right.
I have also shown hand
movement in a certain
scene to show
importance of how my
subject’s hand is rising
in a slow motion and
what impact it is
making on others.

15. Q4. How did you integrate
technologies in this project?
Ans. While doing this project I had to come across
many softwares and online websites. I also had to
learn how to use editing softwares and learn the
different techniques it had. The first thing we were all
asked to do was to make an online blog so that we
could update all our future assignments over there
and submit our work from there only. To be honest,
at first I was scared as I had never made an online
blog before, nonetheless manage it on my own. After
doing a lot of research and also discovering many
online blog making websites such as Weebly,
Wordpress, Zoho Sites etc. I also discovered that its
not as hard at seems once you actually learn how to
do it and is very interesting indeed. We also have to
upload our video on Vimeo which is a very easy task
as our accounts are already made because we
previously have been uploading videos on it.
Needless to say I discovered that Vimeo is a great
platform to share your work with the mass as
anyone can view it globally and you can feel
encouraged and motivated to keep working harder.

16. Online help

17. Software

18. Camatasia Menu Maker
I also has this distinct idea of making a menu as we see in real movies
so by the help of Camatasia’s menu maker I could design a menu for my
own movie very easily. Although he menu could not be uploaded on the
blog due to its format.

19. Hardware
• Tripod
To shoot a film, you not only needed a
camera and a person behind it but
many more important elements without
which a good movie production could
not be made. Among the many
necessary hardware equipments, one
was a tripod. I have never used one
before so I did face some difficulties
while using it as adjusting the camera
on the stand was difficult and to keep
the tripod steady was a tricky job
because of the massive wind pressure
due to my beach location. Also, the
tripod kept sinking into the sand and
only settling the tripod took me about 45
minutes.

20. • Camera
The camera I used to shoot the
opening sequence of my movie
was DSLR 1100D. At first I did
not know how to make a movie
from it as the sole purpose I
used it for was to capture
images only. I had to watch
some YouTube tutorials
regarding how to make a good
quality video from it and then I
got a hang of it. This however
was a way easier job as
compared to the other tasks we
had to complete in this whole
movie making process.

22. I learnt a lot of stuff in this particular project. From how to capture
perfect pictures and to keep your hand steady, to making an actual movie
clip. My parents, my siblings and practically my whole family was fed up of
me by the time I was done. My family has acted in my movie opening only.
My mom played the role of the old lady, my brother played the role of the boy
and my first cousin appeared as the haunted ghost shown in the end. None
the less, I am extremely proud and so is my family of what I have achieved
by taking Media Studies and how I have grown individually as well.
To decide and plan a theme for your movie, then a suitable story and
not to forget the location which is the most difficult part of it, then find actors
who are willing to sacrifice their time for you, then edit the whole video;
combine the clips into one video, finding appropriate music, sound effects
etc, was extremely time consuming and difficult. I was pretty enthusiastic and
keen to use horses in my movie clip, however the actors refused to ride on
them so I had to cut off that idea. Although, since the very beginning I wanted
to shoot on a beach and had made up my mind to shoot there only. Never
did I ever imagine I would be able to pull off such a project all by myself. To
have my own blog, with my own videos on it, was something I would never
have thought I could do. I thank my teacher the most for dealing with the
most stupidest questions I asked him regarding this project and for always
helping me out. I hope whoever sees this video enjoys and appreciates the
hard work and time that I have put into this. Thank you!