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.

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.

Question 3 what kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?

Question 3 what kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?

despite our low budget and lack of tools such as mics, lighting rigs and sets, our horror film is undoubtedly mainstream. Our film would be considered mainstream for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it follows many of the conventions of a teen horror. One such example of this is our main character for our opening (Marie) being completely isolated from physical communication. While she does text someone near the beginning of our footage, we don’t know who it is to. She has no bonds with any developed characters in the footage, as she (other than the killer) is the only character. We portray her house as empty by having almost the entire upper floor of the house in our footage, providing visual evidence that she is alone. This is backed up by the fact she gets a phone call from her own home. This make the audience think something is wrong, as getting a phone call from your own house while you are in it is a strange occurrence. The victim of the killing in our opening is female, again, going by the conventions of the teen subgenre. She is stereotyped as a vulnerable defenceless female, unable to defend herself.

Another convention of mainstream teen horror is subtle foreshadowing to upcoming events. Mainstream films such as scream foreshadow Casey’s death by being stabbed in a shot where a knife block is what the shot is focused upon

scream also has foreshadowing for caseys death, where there is a shot that focuses on  a swing from a branch outside of her house. This indicates that Casey will be hanged from here.

scream opening
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsksjUVpWcg

For our horror opening we decided to utilize similar foreshadowing. On Maries computer there is an image of a waterfall, signifying she will be drowned. She also makes frequent trips into the bathroom, to add make up and to collect things for when she goes out. The third time she enters the bathroom, she is killed. 

On the other hand though, our film could be perceived as independent. This is due to complete lack of budget (we spent nothing), one HD camera, one tripod and some average editing software. We had no paid actors or anyone with actual experience; it was also set in one of our group members houses, using only 3 rooms. We also had to add a great deal of sound effects in editing, as we had no mic for recording. Overall, our film is very much mainstream due to the content of the footage, but the equipment we had would represent an independent film.


To gain interest from production companies, we could enter various film festivals to attract attention. As our film is a horror, the screamfest horror film festival would be an ideal festival to be able to show our film at. In its 10 year history, it has introduced some major horror films to the world. The most notable of these include paranormal activity, 28 days later and wrong turn. One of the positives about using the screamfest horror film festival is they are prepared to take on films that many other festivals turn down. The best example of this is paranormal activity, which only got accepted by the screamfest festival, as no one else would show it.

Another way to try and get our film recognised by potential production companies is to enter in a bigger named festival for example, the Cannes film festival. This festival is very popular and attracts a great amount of potential from production companies. Films that manage to win the coveted Palme d’Or always gain lots of hype and word of mouth about the film’s success has the potential to attract companies to our film. However, it would be more likely for us to win the Cinéfondation award (prizes for student films). This award fits our film and we would have a greater chance of winning. Just like winning the Palme d’Or, this would gain our film lots of hype and word of mouth would get it recognized.

There are multiple ways in which we could generate buzz or hype for our film. To do this we could post our 2 minute opening on a well known site such as YouTube or a social networking site such as facebook. The buzz that this would generate could be increased by using these sites to our films advantage. We could post a status that asks for a specific amount of likes or subscriptions (for YouTube) to unlock a full trailer with another minute or so of footage.  

We could also utilize viral marketing to gain buzz for our film. We could have an interactive ‘uncover the killer’ style Easter egg hunt, spread out over multiple websites. This not only fits with our theme of a serial killer, but could also be used to add backstory to our plot. This technique was successfully used by cloverfield, where information that could be linked to the monsters origins was available for those who looked into the various websites enough. This could successfully generate buzz for our film. 

Question 2 how does your media product represent particular groups?

Question 2 how does your media product represent particular groups?

For our horror film we decided to try and represent a normal teenager, as opposed to a specific social group. This is due to the fact that the audience would find it easier to relate to an average teenager, as that character would be very similar to them. This would then make the events that the characters endure much more horrifying, as they could relate and put themselves in their position. This was based on evidence I collected from other teen horror films such as scream, where the majority of the cast are just regular teenagers, going about doing what regular teenagers do ( go to parties, go to school etc). we have represented Marie as a generic teen by outfitting her in usual teen clothing. She is wearing sparkly top, tights and blue shoes, items of clothing that most teenagers would wear.

Despite being very black and white, the representations of good and evil in our film can appear to be quite deep. Despite the fact that she is now about to go to a party (which will involve drink and drugs) the protagonist in the opening scene Marie hasn’t actually done anything wrong. All she is doing is getting ready to go out, and isn't seen drinking, smoking or doing drugs while she is on screen. She is definitely the personification of the innocent victim. The killer and antagonist is represented as soulless and evil. He breaks into an innocent teenagers home and proceeds to kill her, with little motive shown at this point in the film. The killer wears black to symbolize his antagonistic role, which can also represent death. His cloak and hood make him very similar to the grim reaper in some ways, as both take lives with little remorse.

 

Marie, the protagonist and victim of our opening scene, is depicted very stereotypically as a vulnerable and unintelligent female. Despite being home alone, she fails to lock her doors, allowing the killer to enter easily and kill her. The killer is considerably stronger than her, as he manages to attack her and knock her to the ground with ease with so much force that she can’t get back up. She is ultimately defenceless and at the mercy of the clearly superior killer.
Overall I believe that we have created a positive representation of the general teenage social class. At no point while on screen does Marie drink, smoke, do drugs or break any of the rules of horror films.

Question 7 looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Question 7 looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

In comparison to our horror product, our prelim task was a complete mess. For everyone is my group, this was the first time I had properly filmed something using a tripod and a plan. As a result of the prelim, I have learned how to do all of these things to a successful standard, which are all skills that I could use for the actual horror product As a result our footage looks disjointed, and there is no flow between shots. We also had very little planning, and we decided on what shots we were going to use moments before we shot them. Because we spoke over much of our footage, all but the conversation at the end, much of our footage was silent. Our editing was weak, this was because it was the first time I had ever used editing tools as well. Titles were all put at the beginning of the footage, and weren’t creatively placed in the footage like I did in the actual horror product. As our prelim had very limited brief (walk through a door and have a conversation) we couldn’t stamp an individual style on the footage that we shot, resulting in dull footage. I learn a great deal from the filming and editing of the prelim task. It showed me the importance of planning, using the correct shot types, and working successfully as a team. All of these things were lacking during the prelim, but were present for the horror production.

From creating our prelim I had learned a great deal about shot types. These helped me film shots in specific ways, which can add much more substance to a scene. For example, by having a low shot looking up from the victim to the killer can show his superiority and strength. The method behind using shots was lacking in the prelim, and shots were chosen due to add variety and to look good, whereas in the horror product they were used for a specific purpose.

This also links to the creation and importance of our storyboards. In our prelim storyboards were created, but they lacked detail and direction, and weren’t even finished before we started filming. For our horror production, my attitude was changed dramatically, and the importance of structuring our footage became obviously important. As a result, a great deal more time and effort was put in from the group and myself to plan our footage. By doing this, props we could decide what props we would need to collect and what costumes we would need to acquire. This was a factor that was severely lacking from the prelim, where costumes were the clothes the actors were wearing at the time and no props were utilized, as we had no time to collect them.  Filming the prelim has also shown me that lighting can have a great effect upon the mood of a shot. In our prelim, one of characters was walking down a hallway, which was brightly lit, representing his optimistic attitude. It became apparent to me from this point that lighting was important, so I planned to control lighting in our horror production. This was done crudely by using the light on a mobile phone in the shots that needed it. I also altered the colour of the bathroom in our prelim to a green tint, making it contrast with the rest of the house and its safe yellow and orange glow. Overall, the prelim has taught me that planning is absolutely vital in order to add creativity to our horror product. As our prelim proved, lack of planning results in footage that is cohesive and interesting.

Just like our prelim, we chose to cast actors who were members of our group. This was good for multiple reasons. Firstly, it made them care more about how the footage turned out, as it affected there grade. Secondly, casting members of the group would allow them to understand the group’s vision, allowing them to act on it and make a better product. Unlike our prelim, we had time to develop the characters, as well as give them costumes that could represent them in various ways (such as the killer who wears a cloak, something symbolic of the grim reaper).

As our prelim had a plot that was already given to us, we had no experience going into writing our own. This lead to some complications. While we originally had planned for Stacy to be insane and the entire films events take place inside her head, we tried to be smarter and made things too convoluted by adding children to the opening scene, as well as a boyfriend knocking round for Marie (the first victim). All of these seemed unneeded, so we cut them and focused upon just the killer and the victim (Marie) in the film’s opening scene. Luckily, our plot wasn’t too overcomplicated, and that allowed us to focus on the brutal death in our opening scene.

Finding the appropriate soundtrack for our footage was very difficult initially. I found some great tracks that would fit our footage very well, but they were copyrighted, and chances of being able to use them would be slim. Eventually some copyright free music was found, and it worked well when put with our footage. This was another skill that we had to acquire on this project, as we didn’t need a soundtrack for our prelim, so my skill at collecting the music was limited.

While I did have some experience editing from doing final product in the prelim, I had used little in the way of dissolves and sound editing. I had learnt to make titles and put together shots in a basic fashion from my prelim though, so I had some experience. I developed my skills and learned to add music to the footage, adding greatly to the final product. I also learned to put titles in the footage, and to put them in areas that wouldn’t obstruct the events that were unfolding. I also developed my use of fades so I could fade into scenes as well as out. I also applied these skills to the products audio. Overall I felt that I have taken the basic skills I’d learned from prelim and developed them into something more advanced, which added greatly to the footage.

Easily one of the biggest problems that was faced during the horror product was lighting. We had shots that were too dark for anything to be seen, so they had to either be lightened up or reshot completely. The same could be said for shots that we taken during the day (due to us missing 1 shot from our schedule), which were too bright and also had to be refilmed. This wasn’t an issue during the prelim, as we filmed during the day, but our horror production was done at night, so lighting had to be taken into consideration. Every member of the group has a job, so we had to arrange to film late on days where we were all free.

Overall since the prelim I have gained and developed many skills.  The most obvious being able to use a camera and tripod to shoot the footage. The other was learning to use editing software in more advanced and complex ways. I have also improved my planning since the prelim, and learned the importance of planning via storyboards and then sticking (roughly) to that plan. My group work has improved dramatically, and I have become far more capable at helping in the development of group ideas.  I have also recognised the significance of the correct use of shot types, as well as the importance of using the correct lighting to set an appropriate mood for the footage.

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