final task critical questions 1-- How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
1. Welcome, welcome, today we have the director of the film "Missing" here , nice to have you, so tell us what inspired your new film?
Answer : I had researched different film genres, for examples Horror ,Comedy ,Detective, Thriller, Romance, Action. But the genre that interested me most was horror. Horror really stood out for me, because horror can be so versatile, from the super natural to the serial killer antagonist you could genuinely meet. I liked the horror formula, isolated locations, low key lighting, jump scares, but I also liked that there are so many different types of horror characters that are all unique and play on different peoples fears. One of my favourite is "IT" because the camera shot, lighting, editing , and sound effects are really outstanding. For example, in the iconic first meeting with IT, he is seen through the metal bars of a drain hole, a high angle shot would usually make a character look weak, but the costume and make up and the dark mise-en-scene reveal him to be a danger, and I like that horror is able to challenge audiences expectations in that way. Although horror films are common, I wanted to break through the challenge of making a formulaic and predictable horror by challenging and playing with some of the conventions to create something unique that spoke to my target audience.
2. You motioned there are some conventions of horror that are iconic , which did you use and why?
Answer: I have played on emphasising key iconography in my film. Similar to villains in film's like 'Scream' and 'The Chainsaw Massacre' I chose a prop that would become synonymous with my antagonist. I used the rope which ultimately kills the protagonist in the film, the rope is like a symbol of a weapon of Violence ,Hanging or Suicide. I wanted to make the audience think and feel the same way so that every time it appeared, they would know danger was coming. The rope is an everyday object and often horror uses the everyday to make the film experience feel real and therefore to evoke more fear as it feels real. Where some horror films use the supernatural, I wanted to do something different. Another common convention in horror is low key lighting. This can be challenging when filming on a low budget so I used a flash light on the phone to make the surrounding spooky and intense as it allowed me to focus on certain characters and actions whilst still giving the illusion of darkness in the mise-en-scene - it just goes to show you can create great effects with low budget equipment and creativity.
3. Were there any conventions you chose to ignore or challenge?
Answer: First of all, my setting is in an old school so that lead to many people thinking it would be supernatural focused as it was an old and creepy building and setting like those found in 'the Woman in Black', but my antagonist is a serial killer so I used my setting to challenge my audience's expectations. Secondly, I wanted to have the film bang up to date and so avoided one of the conventions of drawing on historical events or myths. Most films use their protagonist character as female to show they're innocent and often weak at the start, but I have chosen to ignore this to make my protagonist a male characters so my male skew target audience will be drawn to identify with him, as stated by Blumler and Katz Uses and Gratifications. In the year 2023 it is also important to note that hegemonic representations should be challenged and so the stereotype of men as brave, strong and unfeeling is debunked in my film. My character is in danger and feels fear like most men would and should not be ashamed to feel. Also in the film opening you think the protagonist in the scene is the main characters, and that he will escape the scene to continue the narrative, but I didn’t do that because mostly every horror film want to keep them longer so to shock my audience, I do the unspeakable and hang him out to dry as it were. The audience become attached to him thinking he will be with them for the whole film, only for him to be replaced by the 'hero' according to Propp's. This was to keep them on their toes and to shock them.
4. What the hardest part of making the film ?
Answer :I think is the editing and keeping quality in the film because editing I took the longest time in the making process and it was very hard for me to edit it and stay true to the main representations. Identifying the main representations was challenging to start as I wanted to choose something meaningful for my target audience and to use my editing to really make that shine. I researched a lot at the start of this process and identified that often the victims were women or children, and although male characters were there, they were often represented as brave and strong in the face of fear. I think this is unrealistic as men feel fear just like women, and I wanted my target audience top see male characters as victims, as they often are in everyday life as well. I feel this film covers both issues and social groups - toxic masculinity can be damaging and make young men keep their feelings bottled up. By showing young men as victims, I wanted to show my target audience that they are entitled to feel fear and worry, anxiety and pain, and that bottling this up is not necessary in the year 2023.
5. What do you want to say to the audience?
Answer : this film really took me ages to make, so I hope everyone enjoys the horror. There are fresh and different things to be seen from the other horror films like my representation of young men and I hope they enjoy this more realistic take , also this film is mostly for teenagers but I think there are lessons and issues that everyone can learn from. Mostly, I want to thank you guys for your support. Last but no least the film ending have a strong message for audiences and I want people to talk about those issues surrounding toxic masculinity and gender stereotypes.
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