Question 1

 In order to answer the first question of my creative critical reflection, I first want to boil the question down to: How does your product use or challenge conventions and represent social grounds or issues.

 One of the biggest questions we considered while making our horror film opening, was not just if, but how (to what extent) it would follow or challenge genre conventions, and what kind of representation we would include within the opening.

 Horror films have typically well established conventions, many of which we decided to include to effectively create a recognizable opening, these conventions include, a dark atmosphere and the use of suspense, as we relied on low, candlelight, and an eerie setting to build tension, a staple in horror films. Next, we used the element of violence and fear, the use and presence of a knife, blood splatter, and an implied murder immediately panics viewers, incorporating that element of fear as well as violence. Finally, the use of mystery is essential, as almost nothing is releaveld upfront, keeping the audience guessing in order to not just build more tenions, but also to keep the opening as just an opening, and making sure it want too conclusive.

 However, me and my group still decided to challenge some of the more typical horror tropes. For example, instead of relying on a helpless female lead, who is a citim, we aimed for more balanced roles. The killer isn't just a masked murderer, but instead a character which is equally human and which other can relate too, and connect with, in some ways. We also played with perspectives, so instead of showing an actual violent act, which wouldve been unrelaistic for us to achieve as ameature filmmakers, we focused on both the buildup and the aftermath, allowing viewers imaginations to do most of the work, filling in the gaps.

 When it comes to how we incorporated elements of representation, although horror films typically have a problematic history of more stereotypical representations, me and my group wanted to make sure we avoided that, we did so by avoiding the use of that "final girl' trope, giving our characters more depth, and felt like more realistic, relatable people as opposed to just horror stereotypes.

 Me and my group also considered how fear, in itself, is a universal experience. Rather then make our horror based on an external monster, or a supernatural force, we decided to lean into the more psychological aspect of horror, focusing on tensions, paranoia, as well as fears of the unknown, making our opening feel more grounded and relatable to a far wider audience.