Reflection

 Before we begin with the reflections, we changed up the majority of the old plot. The reason we changed up the plot is because we felt that the original idea was not as clear enough representation of the genre. We think that our new idea better presents the convention of the horror/thriller genre 

To summarize the plot, there were 2 students riding a bike to school, James and Mon and as they went throught a eerie apartment complex, Mon saw a man - drenched in blood, locking eyes with him on the balcony of one of the apartments. Seeing that the situation was quite scary and weird, he informed James who was the driver. However, he didnt believe what he was saying, and told the passenger to stop talking and let him focus driving.

At school, Mon told the situation more clearly to James. He pointed out to him about the man he saw up on the balcony, James didnt quite believe what he said to be true. After some while, they both made a bet to come check on the complex later after school.

After arriving, they both explore the complex and tried to find the apartment that the man stood previously in the morning. They eventually found it, and explored it. Shortly after, Mon spotted a part of a leg covered with blood splatter just visible from one of the open doors. Knowing sure that it was part of a dead body, he and James ran out as fast as they can and swore to never return.

Soon after in the evening, news broke out that a body has been retreated from the apartment Mon and James were exploring. Mon was reading the knews and was in shock. After finishing the article, he went to take a shower. However, when he passes his front window, the serial killer appears behind the glass window, ready to attack Mon in any moment.

How does your product use or challenge conventions?

Yes, our product does follow the conventions. For example,  abandoned houses/apartment complexes, serial killers are a typical feature of a horror movie. Young, curious protagonists that are keen to risk exploring dangeerous places is also one the the most common conventions found in horror movies. Our group has done a great job scouting and finding a abandoned apartment complex that fits exactly to our criteria. Other tasks that we executed on point is creating the serial killer (our friend) to be horror looking and frightening, his large frame and tall height makes people intimidated if standing next to him. In addition, we have also bought some red ink and splattered it into the serial killer's clothes, as to make it seem like he'd just killed somebody prior.

However, there are somethings that i should've done better, such as the quality of the sound. When characters talk/interact, their voice is heard clearly, however, i havn't done a great job on that. As a solution, i will invest in some professional microphones that are small, fit in the shirt collars as well as reduces background noise. In addition, the serial killer's presence and behaviour in the film is not typical of that in a highly rated horror film, and the intentions of the killer was not clear. If i were to do the film again, i would've added a moment where we estalblised more of a connection between the serial killer and the protagonists. I should research and watch more horror movies that involves serial killers. Such as Halloween, Friday the 13th, and the Scream series and analyse their behaviour, as well as what they do to ultimately achieve their specific goal. Some non-diegetic music should be added in as well, to create a sense of suspense along with the diegetic music, i didnt put in non-diegetic music, which is why i will take note and improve on that in terms of when to put it in the film.

How does it represent social groups or issues?

The location that we chose is a now abandoned apartment complex which was meant for low-income civilians to come and rehabilitate there. However, according to local news outlets, the people would rather stay in the city centres to continue ​operating their business rather live far away and travel a long way to their business - which are mostly in the city centres. In addition, apartments are way to expensive for low-income people to purchase. Another reason why it's abandoned is because the paperwork for it to be legal for civilians to live there took too long, which leads to a decrease in the quality of the apartments, utilities and the overall complex. The apartments are dusty, rusty and full of medical equipment used for Covid 19. The 38 hectre complex was used as a hospital for patients to isolate and recover from the pademic. The complex often recieve thousands of employees daily, which shows you how big the complex has to be to hold that much patients. This as a result shows how poor research on the location to build has effected the complex and the major waste of materials used to build the apartments in such expensive land. Additionally, it shows how the government doesn't effectively complete the paperwork fast enough for the complex to be legal to habilitate. I wouldve gotten in to more detail about the social issues have i've directed the full film, and how the serial killer has took advantage of the large complex to commit more of his crimes. Young people often take more risks and one of those risks is illustrated in the film, where they would want to explore a abandoned complex.