the deluge

Our  finished product, the deluge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmSQlxHguq0

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

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

After my research into various teen horror films I have come to understand a large amount of these genre conventions. For example, a girl alone in I her own house is often a staple of the genre. Films such as scream depict this, with Casey home alone when the killer strikes. We have gone with a similar approach for our horror opening. Another convention of the horror genre that I have learned is the use of foreshadowing. If a character drinks, smokes, does drugs or has sex, they will die. Another good example is a nightmare on Elm Street where Tina and rod have sex, and are later killed. Another key convention of the horror genre is the final girl. As the title suggests, one girl survives the antagonist’s attacks and overcomes him. She usually doesn’t break any of the horror convention rules, such as drinking and smoking.

For our horror film, I planned to conform to the conventions of horror. As the audience we have aimed at is between the ages 16 and 18, we didn’t want anything that was to challenging to horror conventions, as this could alienate the audience. It would be best to keep to these conventions, as they also give a foundation to build a story and the murders that take place on. If we leave the conventions as they traditionally are, we can focus more on making the death scenes interesting and the scares more shocking.

The title of our horror film, the deluge, links in to the events that happen in our film. For example in our opening the protagonist Marie gets stabbed and then drowned in her bath. The deluge can have the definition of ‘to flood, as with water; soak, swamp, or drown’. In this case, the deluge translates to ‘the drowning’, as this state’s what is happening to the killer’s victims. Naming the film after events that take place or the subject in question is a very conventional technique. For example films such as the Blair witch project and a nightmare on Elm Street do this, the titles mention on events or aspects of the film.

We have also gone with very conventional character types in our opening scene. We are using a antagonist who’s identity is kept secret using a cloak. We also have a female victim who is home alone and subsequently gets killed.  In the rest of the film we are also going to use a final girl, a typical convention of the horror genre.

We have also used a very conventional location for our film, an isolated house. This is very conventional, as a large amount of horror films have an emphasis on being alone, as it makes for a scary atmosphere. We also filmed the death scene in the bathroom. this is significant as the bathroom is an area of the house where most people feel secure. By having the protagonist brutally murdered here makes this once safe area of the house scary. It is also a slight reference to Alfred Hitchcock’s psycho, where one of the characters is famously murdered while showering. It is also a slight reference to the shining, which features a protagonist hiding in the bathroom while the antagonist tries to break in using an axe.

Overall, I feel that our horror is successful in setting out what we intended to do with the conventions of teen horror. This is primarily due to our film conforming to the genre in order for the audience to be able to understand its themes better. By conforming to the conventions, the audience can focus more on the deaths of characters, as well as the fear that the antagonist brings to the scenes he is in.

prelim task

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2n3qRE6L38&NR=1

this is a link to our preliminary task that we did at the beginning of the year

Marie’s costume:

Marie is not going to be the final girl she needs to be established as the victim opposed to Stacey who will be the final girl. Marie is going to a party and we have put a shot of an alcohol bottle in one shot this establishes that she is not innocent because of this I feel we need to dress her in clothes that suggest this without being to over the top.

As we want to represent the teenagers to be good, although Marie is slightly more rebellious we don’t want to establish the teenagers in our film as rebellious. Due to this we decided although it is a party we do not want to dress Marie in clothes that make her look promiscuous,  a red coat to go over the top of Marie’s clothing looks casual and realistic as she will be walking to the party. The colour red also indicates blood, romance and femininity which we want to be a sharp contrast to Stacey who will be wearing white to connote her pureness.

Leggings are common clothing staple for many teenagers and they also are quite glamorous, these make Marie look confident as this type of clothing is tight but also she doesn’t look over the top against her peers.  

      

A black vest top is also a staple in any teenager’s wardrobe, it is dark so it suggests Marie is slightly dark that she has a dark streak, it also connotes death as this is the colour that people were at funerals traditionally. The vest top is also revealing of the shoulders which suggests Marie’s need for attention as she want people to notice her. This top matches her leggings and will look like she is going out rather than just staying in.

High heeled shoes are common in party clothing, they are slightly promiscuous and will connote that Marie is slightly more rebellious than her peers.

We are not yet sure if we are going to include what Stacey is wearing, if there is no shot of her outfit we have decided that she will type to Marie a description of her outfit e.g. a white dress. If we do decide on including a shot we are going to have her dressed in an outfit like this:

This white dress is floaty and white; white suggests purity which is what we want for Stacey as she will be the final girl and conventionally the final girl will be virginal and innocent.

Blue denim jeans are a common item for any teenage boy, we do not want to make the boyfriend appears suspicious as we want to rule him out as a suspect immediately but still have an element of did he have do it? Involved.

This t shirt is similar to one we are going to use as it is generic of a male’s casual clothing and is also young and fashionable so it will suit our character of Marie’s boyfriend; the t-shirt suggests a sort of rebellious party boy he suits Marie as it is suggestive of her rebellious nature also.

These trainers are generic and a standard item of footwear for trainers this doesn’t suggest that the person wearing them is sporty as many teenagers do still wear these as a fashion item.

This is the killer’s watch that will signify him and can bring in other characters as suspects of the killing. The killer will wear this watch however many characters will also have this watch as it is popular amongst young people and doesn’t look to out of place against general clothing.

This dark black cloak is vital in masking the villains identity it also puts the audience on edge and it makes them feel insecure as not knowing who they are looking at creates an enigma.  A cloak is stereotypical of vampires and villains such as the grim reaper which signifies death; Dracula (1939) is an example of a horror film which uses a cloak.    

Dracula                                                                    

            The grim reaper  

                                                                                                 

Question 6 what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Question 6 what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Using blogs to upload our work and track others work is a very useful tool to have. It has allowed us to easily change our initial film ideas to newer, more refined ones. It has allowed easy feedback from teachers and students, which has the ability to increase the quality of my work. By having all of my work together in one place I can see what I've done and what work I still have left to do.

Youtube has helped me a great deal while making this product. It has allowed me to view film openings and endings, which I have written pieces of work on. It has also allowed me to listen to soundtracks and try and find the right one for my film. Furthermore it has allowed me to watch my own product after editing had finished, which make acquiring screenshots for other pieces of work simple and hassle free.

 

IMDB has given me a wealth of info concerning teenage horrors and there ratings from various age groups. It has helped with institutional information. It has also helped me identify what subgenre of horror a film is classed as. Overall it has been a great support to my research. I have learned that IMDB is a very respected source of data, as it almost always accurate, making it my go to choice for information about this project.

Without the cameras, we couldn’t have shot our footage; they are an essential part of this project. They are very user friendly, and work without fail, capturing high definition 720p footage. They’re small and light, and don’t take up much room, ideal as some of the locations that we filmed at were quite cramped. The most helpful function that these cameras have is the ability to instantly rewatch footage. This allows for the identification of mistakes which can then lead to a quick retake. It is a lot more effective than having to schedule another shoot because one key shot went wrong and it was only noticed in editing. I have learnt the importance of using a tripod with them as well, as this makes filming easier and gives a better finished product.

For our editing procedure we used adobe premier elements. I have learned to do a great deal of things from this piece of software. Some of these are, editing, fading in and out of a shot, adding titles, adding sound and effects, adding tints to specific shots and adjusting lighting and contrast in specific shots. The editing tool is just as important to the production of our horror opening as the camera. Without it, our footage would look very basic and would lack any dramatic effect. This is due to not being able to puts shots together in a way that allows the pace of the footage to be controlled.   

Question 5 how did you attract / address your audience?

Question 5 how did you attract / address your audience?

In order to attract our audience we used many elements in our film. For example, to allow the audience to relate to the character of Marie (the protagonist of the opening 2 minutes). This is because she is a regular teenager about to go to party, like most teenagers do. This relation will be sure to attract our teenage audiences, as it appeals to them directly. Another way we have managed to attract our audience is to focus the film on the subgenres that they prefer. These are slasher and psychological subgenres. By doing this and catering to their desires, we have increased the likelihood of them watching the film, and getting more people to come and watch it.

In order to gain extra attention to our film, we have included various intertextual references to various other well known horror films. One of these is the naming and fate of our opening protagonist Marie. This is short for Marion, the name of the first victim in Alfred Hitchcock’s psycho. Also in a reference to the film psycho and Marion crane, Marie dies in a bathroom, just like her namesake did. Another intertextual reference we have made is to the film scream. Just like our film, there is a killer in the house, who wears a cloak similar to ghost face. In a subtler reference to scream, our killer tries to get in contact with the victim, but she is away from her phone at the time, so cannot pick it up.

 

In our opening 2 minutes of footage I think that there are a few themes that are portrayed very well. One of these is perception. As the world is just the figment of one of the other characters imagination, we have put a strong emphasis on eyes. We have a shot where Marie puts on makeup, with the focus of the shot on her eyes. This is showing that the things the audience is seeing aren’t actually real. Another example of this is when the killer runs behind Marie from left to right. When she goes to the right outside the hall to investigate, the killer comes from the left again. This looks like a continuity error, but is actually showing that the world in which the characters exist can be altered in ways that defy the laws of physics. Themes of escapism are also featured, although cannot be seen, as the final girl Stacey is in an insane asylum. The film plays out in her head as she is insane, and she lives in this world to escape reality, a life she hates and has lost control of. This gives the film a postmodern feel, the audience watches the film as a form of escapism, while the world they are escaping to is a world that the main character of Marie is also escaping to. It allows parallels to be made between the audience and the final girl.

We have received lots of feedback regarding our 2 minute opening. A good aspect people told us was how the death scene was done, the use of camera angles and music. They also noted on the fact that the colour drained out of the scene where Marie was getting stabbed. The negatives included some bad sound effects (such as Maries gasp when the killer runs past her) as well as irregular pacing just before the killer strikes. The strengths of targeting 16 to 18 year olds are that they are very willing to give constructive criticism on how to improve our product. They are also easily pleased, as simple ideas can be enough entertainment for them. Conversely, if they are given a film that is too complicated and some of the more subtle features may be lost on them, lessening the films potential.

Engaging the audience through the opening sequence is essential. It needs to draw them in and immerse them into the viewing experience. If they aren’t interested from the first 2 minutes, chances are they won’t connect with the film, and this might end up in them disliking it. If the audience isn't immersed, they will also have trouble connecting with the protagonists, making their plights less terrifying.

Question 4 who would be the audience for your media product?

Question 4 who would be the audience for your media product?
To find out who our audience should be for our horror film, I have studied similar horrors and discovered the age of those who have seen them. To do this I am using IMDB’s user ratings section a film that is similar to ours is scream. With this post modern film, the younger the viewer, the better received it was. Both genders under 18 scored it with an average of 8, whereas both genders over the age of 45 scored it a 6.7. This might be due to scream being a teen horror, enticing teens to it more as they can relate.

Another film teen horror that I have collected audience viewer rating for is a nightmare on Elm Street. Just like scream, the younger the audience, the better the review scores. Users under 18 gave it a score of 8.3. Conversely users over the age of 45 only gave it a 6.9. Again, this difference in scores can be associated with the fact that ‘nightmare’ is a teen horror film, allowing teen audiences to relate to it.







 Another teen horror that I have collected viewer data on is prom night, a teen slasher. For audiences under 18, females preferred it more than males. This is most likely due to being able to relate to the films protagonist. Throughout all of the age ranges, females rated the film higher than men.

These results that I have gathered have actually had very little effect on the audience I planned to target with my horror film. As our film is fundamentally a teen horror (despite elements of slasher and psychological) it will be aimed at a teen audience, around 16 to 18 years of age. By doing this we can have an audience that can relate to our product in ways an older audience cant, making the fear the film makes people feel more personal.

With reference to the data I have collected with my questionnaires, I believe my horror film would target a very specific age range. This would be teens between 16 and 18, as they would be able to relate to the films events more than someone who is a lot older. It would also focus on a male audience more than it would a female one. This is due to having primarily female victims, which is what males prefer. They also prefer elements of the slasher subgenre and violent murder scenes. This is a contrast to the females in my questionnaire results, who preferred male victims and more focus on the psychological side of horror. This would be appropriate as the results of my questionnaires show that this is what the audience would prefer to see. The other way in which we could classify our audience is by their social status. The social status that would be most suited to our horror film would be mainstreamers. People who visit the cinema a lot and choose to watch films that are heavily advertised or by what a friend has recommended.