Final Product

Evaluation

Media Evaluation

In our media product it is about a teenage girl who had something happen to her when she was younger, this is now making her get revenge on people who are related to it. The opening sequence is around 2 minutes and 15 seconds in length.

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

In our media product we used, developed and challenged various conventions of the horror genre. Our main inspiration that is used is Schindler’s List, for the very beginning of our opening sequence where everything is black and white apart from the red of the clothing of both the killer and the victims since red is. This was done using Adobe After Effects and using colour correction. In Schindler’s List the girl is in the red coat whilst everything else is in black and white so we used this as an idea for our project although in a different context.

We have used red to represent the characters that are in danger but also the killer herself. At the beginning it is not clear of the difference and the audience find this out in the next scene after the title sequence. The idea of the girl being the killer is challenged the conventions of a typical horror film as usually the female character is seen as the vulnerable one and therefore the one the audience presumes that will be killed by a male character so this could challenge the conventions of a typical horrible film. The girl also doesn’t look like someone capable of this as she looks like anyone else as she isn’t dressed differently or made up to look like she could hold some potential threat. Sinister is another horror film that inspired our product, as the killers in this film are all children this has inspired our product although the girl is ours is not as young as in sinister. Throughout the opening scene the music built up slightly throughout the beginning of the opening sequence the first film.

Our logo for the name of the studios has begun to challenge the expected idea of a logo. The logo consists of a fish in a fish bowl on caterpillar tracks; this is not typical of what you would expect of a studio that focusses mainly on horror films although to make it seem more like this we have added red to the eyes and the water to make it more conventional to the horror genre. The idea of the logo also being slightly comical since it would not be typically associated with horror this would also appeal to our audience as they will like this aspect of the logo.

The titles of our media product

 are very much suited to the conventions of the horror genre. The main title is in red as well as the credits a font is used for a main title that is typical of the genre. The credits are in a red glowing font and the title is the stereotypical horror genre title. As the titles appear there is a sound effect of Thunder used, this is a usual convention for the horror genre to have some sort of sound effect as the titles appear in a way to build tension and suspense and re enforce the idea that it is a horror film that the audience is watching. The complete opposite can also be used to build up tension and suspense by using complete silence that could be used in a way to isolate something for example. Insidious is a film which also uses red for its titles and the credits, it also has a sound track that builds up thought out the credits and that reaches its peak before stopping after the main title has disappeared. Whilst this is slightly different to ours the idea of the most powerful section of music being in the titles is similar to the use of a sound effect.

A High Angle shot is used to look down on the main character when she is playing with the dolls, this portrays that she is not doing anything of harm as the power is given to the audience and they are put in a position of dominance over her. This is not a typical convention of a horror film as they want to show the killer to be dominant and to have power over the audience. Whilst dolls have been used in horror films before they aren’t also made to look scary. So we developed this by adding make up to the dolls to make them look scarier to the audience. This would also help the audience in suspecting that is up and what she is doing may not be entirely innocent. This is shown by the zoom in that follows the girl as she places the plates and zooms in on the face of each doll to highlight that something is different about them. This was inspired by Chucky a film in which the dolls come to life, whilst in ours the dolls do not they have been made up to look scary. We have also developed the use of an over the shoulder shot when the girl is holding one of the dolls, the camera zooms in over her shoulder to this mirror, you then see this again in the mirror. Whilst the idea of an over the shoulder shot is a typical convention used to show the audience what it is like for a certain character, it is not often used in the way we have. A few scenes later however, there is a low angle shot that suddenly changes the perspective of this, it happens at the same time as the weapon is used and you can see some of the girl which immediately puts her in power. This is typically used convention as it gives the killer more power in a scene and makes the audience feel this as well. Fast Cuts are also used throughout this scene to show that something is about to happen since it starts out innocent and then the cuts increasingly gain in speed to build up the tension and suspense. This is also a convention used a lot in the horror genre to build up the feelings of fear in the audience by building up the tension and suspense that signals that something is going to happen. Throughout the rest of the opening sequence the music builds up with the scenes that happen and follows what is happening.

We used a weapon within our media product which is typical of a horror film to use some kind of weapon that has something to do with the killing of the victims. However, it is slightly challenged during our project as the weapon does not come in contact with the victim. This could challenge the perceptions of the conventions of the genre as the weapon does not come in contact with the victim when in fact, although the girl uses a weapon it is her actual mind that should technically be clas
sed as the weapon since this is what results in the killings of the victims. This challenges the conventions since in a majority of horror films there is usually a weapon used and blood involved but in ours there is not. There is also an extra close up on the eyes of the girl this sort of shot is convention to the horror genre and is used in a lot of horror films today.

The end of our opening sequence features a news report of the finding of an identified body the idea of a news report is used quite a lot through the horror genre as a convention. This is developed since the idea of the victim being unidentified when usually the audience would at least know who this could be. In ours we only offer a hint at the beginning of the opening sequence with the red clothing.

2.       How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The characterization within our media product means that the main social group is teenagers and young people. This is because in the opening sequence the only characters are those of young people therefore these are represented more. Also the idea of the killer being the girl is not stereotypical to what you would expect, this is because female characters are usually seen as the more vulnerable ones and the ones at more risk compared to the males who are generally seen as stronger therefore more likely to be the killer. Currently there are more female characters than male so this could represent females more although this could change over the entire film if more characters such as victims are introduced.  The class is hard to show through the opening sequence but what is clear is that the characters are generally of a middle class due to the clothes they are wearing, also the location of the filming was at what would be seen as a usual family house therefore these people are neither high or low class so people of a similar class to the characters in the film would be more likely to watch it. The film currently only really shows one ethnicity in the opening sequence since the cast is all from the same place.

3.       What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?

The main two inspirations for the media product is Sinister and Schindler's List which are both distributed by different companies. The company that distributed Sinister is called Summit Entertainment. Since Schindler's List is not the same genre of film as Sinister or our media product therefore the people who distributed it would not be suitable to distribute our media product should it become an actual film. Summit Entertainment would make much more sense to be the company to distribute our product since they have released a movie of the same genre that was successful in the horror genre.

4.       Who would be the audience for your media product?

The main audience for our film would be teenagers and other young people. The audience watching the film should be no younger than 15 as it contains dolls that are being used as VooDoo Dolls this could potentially scare anyone younger since they are not prepared to see it. The dolls are also made up to look more like the horror genre.  

Gender wise, I think both genders would want to watch the film both male and female. Although some males could be put off by the fact that it does not contain gore that stereo typically they like more. Despite this I still believe that the film could interest both genders. As regards to other things like class and ethnicity I don’t think it would matter in these as to whether they would want to watch the film or not. Although the class of the characters in the film could have an impact on this due to them all being of a similar class which is generally middle.

5.       How did you attract/address the audience?

There are several things we did to attract the audience for our film. The main one is the idea of the characters of the film being a similar age to the audience this means that they can relate to them more and find it easier to understand the characters in the film compared to if they were of a different age to the audience.

There is also an increasing trend that our film tends to follow although it is not stereotypical. Children are increasingly being portrayed as the killers in horror films more recently; this also includes girls that are portrayed as this. Sinister is an example of this where the killers are children and this does include some girls. So we have followed the path of what people like from horror films now a days which would mean that this type of audience would potentially watch our film if it was released.

A lot of horror films stereotypical use blood and the colour red throughout the film. In our product the titles and credits are red which would attract the audience seeing as this is something stereotypical of the horror genre. We haven’t used any blood or other typical gore in the opening sequence that some people may expect from a horror film and if it was made to be a full film it is unlikely that it would turn into one of these films so this could attract people as it is something different. There are also people who don’t like to watch films like that so it could potentially attract more people because it doesn't involve as much or if any of the usual gore you may expect from a film of the horror genre.

We have also used a different kind of weapon in our film. Although a stereotypical weapon is used to stab the doll it is not the weapon that comes in contact with the victims. This could intrigue the audience as usually there is some sort of weapon that comes in contact with the victim often killing them. The idea of our film being more of a mind game where it is her actual thoughts thinking of the people that kills them could draw people in as they want to see something different to what is already out there. The idea of a more physiological killer than other conventional killers used in the horror genre could make the audience more interested as they want to know why the person is acting this way.

The marketing campaign would be viral as this is what would appeal to the audience for our film. Social Networking sites are being increasingly used as a way to market towards the younger generation such as through Facebook where a page can be created which fans can then like and can keep updated as things are posted. This is a good method for a low budget film such as ours as it is free and a good method to engage with fans and get other people interested. Cloverfield was one of the first films to use Viral Marketing to help promote the film. Less will have been used compared to a bigger budget film such as the ‘Batman Franchise’ which will have had a much bigger budget for the marketing campaign although there is plenty of methods that can be done for free.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Throughout the process of constructing this product we have had to use a variety of different of different types of technology to enable the success of the product.

The camera used to film the scenes enabled us to view playback of what we had filmed so therefore we didn't need to re film anything as once we had got all the planned shots for that filming session we was able to review them decided if something could be filmed differently providing we had sufficient battery life on the camera. It was important that we didn't review footage while we were still filming so we didn't need to waste any battery life we might need.

We also used the green screen for the news scene so we could put a news room background behind our news reader. Previous to filming the scene that required it, I had never used a green screen before although it was simple to pick up how to use it. Since we filmed the news scene where the light was entering the window from behind the green screen if it wasn't over the frame right then the light made it obvious. We also had to spend the time setting up the shot before to make sure the green screen covered the entire background that was visible on the camera. There were also adjustments to be made in between scenes when we changed the angle of the shot so therefore had to adjust the green screen. This was done with the Ultra Key on Adobe Premiere Pro to select the green screen and add a photograph for the background.

The main programs we had to use was Adobe Premiere Pro for the editing and Adobe After Effects for adjustments that couldn't be made on the editing software. Having not used Adobe Premiere Pro much before I had a lot to learn when I was using it which was quite simple once I understood it. We had to add the photo to go on the scene with the green screen on this and used it to change the brightness/contrast of certain scenes to make them appear them more effective compared to the original shot. After Effects was used to achieve the opening scene where everything is black and white except the red, doing this meant we were able to achieve what we wanted with the scene and using a similar idea to one of our inspiration films.

Blogspot is the site used for our blogs which I had never come across prior to using it for the media coursework. So I had to learn how to use the site and edit the blog so I could personalize it. I also had to learn to upload pictures so they worked on the blog as well as embed YouTube videos.

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

The main thing I learnt from the preliminary task was the idea of group work. Whilst the final outcome of the task was good I felt as though during the preliminary task I didn't get my ideas heard or the people I was working with didn't listen, it also reinforced the idea of needing to work with people you get on with.  I also felt as though I didn't learn much from using the programs such as Adobe Premiere Pro as I didn't really get the chance to edit much. We were also able to take more time planning the product compared to the preliminary task which meant that it was more thought through beforehand.

With this product I felt much better in terms of group work. I felt as though at each stage of the process we were able to communicated and discuss any ideas that we each had before deciding on a mutual decision. We also took equal roles in the filming and editing process even though we both had a part to play in it. Personally I did less filming since I was in a majority of the film although I continued to come up with potential shots that could work well and we tried some of those. Editing we had equal shares of and this is where I developed a better understanding of the programs used as before I didn't get much chance to, here I did and gained more of an understanding of them as a result.

We also got to do more in terms of using the camera. Since it is easy to use and I never really got a chance to film during the preliminary task which required the camera to be on a tripod for a majority of the time, filming this product we experimented with different shots with and without the tripod. Although a lot of the time the use of a tripod made it easier to get the shots we needed, there is some shots that have worked particularly well without the use of a tripod.

I also was able to bring forward what I learn about the 180 degree rule in order to not confuse the audience watching the film. It is also important to have continuity throughout the film so everything flows and each of the different scenes work together and make sense throughout the duration. Match on Action is also an aspect that can attract an audience, in the preliminary task we used something similar to this to show the different viewpoints of the people in it.

Overall I would say that we have improved our skills considerably by improving on things compared to the preliminary task. We have become much more skilled with a range of different aspects of them including different programs such as Adobe Premiere Pro and Affect Effects as well as this we are more aware of the shots that work well and those that don’t.

Filming Day 3

On the 24^th March we filmed the rest of our film, scenes 4-11; this was done in just over 2 hours with around two or three takes per scene to ensure we have enough shots to choose from for the editing stage.

I would say filming went pretty well. It was easier to film than a few days before as it was inside it’s a more controlled environment. We tried a variety of different shots so we would have the variety of shots in our film. Our first preparation was to add some make up to the dolls we were going to use. This took around 5 minutes as we both did two each. We then had to set up the shots we needed. As we were filming we came up with different shots that could make our film more interesting. We used both handheld and shots with a tripod. For example for one shot we had the camera high up on the tripod looking down on the main character, this couldn’t have been done handheld. However for zoom shots especially it was easier to do it handheld as it was more accessible this way and it wasn’t always easy to move the tripod and zoom at the same time.

I learnt the importance of having enough shots to choose from since we did two or three shots for each scene. This meant that we didn’t have to re film anything. I also became aware how different shots worked as we experimented with several throughout filming these scenes. It gave me a more of an understanding of using them in real life.

Filming Day 2

On 22^nd March we filmed the first two scenes of our film and this took around an hour and a half as there wasn't much set up required except positioning the camera and setting up the tripod. Overall it took around 9 takes as there was a few where errors were made such as zooming in too fast and a take where an actor couldn't keep serious. We used a different location than originally planned as this location was less  obscured and a busier location so we could have people looking through the shot.

The filming went reasonably well, the final take we chose did have a minor error with the zoom but it was the best one compared to others. The main issue we had was because we had to get another student to operate the camera as both me and the person I was working with was in this shot together. We tried different positions and enter and exit points for both us and any other actors, although we didn't re position the camera on the tripod to possibly try different angles. Also the day we filmed the weather was poor so this was an issue when we needed people to walk by but mainly because where the camera was positioned was not undercover.

I think the main thing I learnt was ensuring we had some to operate the camera; luckily someone else was with us who were willing to. I didn't learn much as to the camera as I was the main person in the scene although I have realized the importance of getting used to the zoom beforehand as this was the main issue as to why we didn't get as many usable takes as before.

 

Filming Day 1

On Wednesday 13th March we filmed scene 12, which was the newsroom and took 8 takes. This took just over an hour including the time needed to set up and to make any adjustments needed in between takes.

We started by setting up the green screen behind the desk we was using as the news desk. As we had used a science room due to the desks being higher and resembled a newsreaders desk we had to use props effectively to hide the gas taps that we didn’t want in it. We concealed the gas tap behind a mug, as this is one of the common items seen on a newsreaders desk. We also used a laptop and some sheets of paper to fill the scene and make it look more realistic. Although the paper had something printed on the back so therefore could be a distraction.

We then set up the tripod with the camera on, as this would make it steady and more suitable for this scene. After setting it up we realized that the green screen was too short horizontally due to the rail being too short even though it was at its longest point so one of us had to hold more of it up. We did the 8 takes using three different angles in different takes to see which would be the best for the scene.

If we were to film this again we could use a different desk so we could freely position props and use more camera angles. We could also ensure that the paper had nothing on the back to make sure there were no distractions. We could also find a different method to hold the green instead of using one of us this could include getting another rail to make it easier.

I learnt how to use the green screen and how different camera angles can change the look of the scene. I also learnt the importance of counting in the scene as it gives you a second either side to remove any mistakes that have occurred and the beginning or end of the take.

Production Schedule

Characters

 Main character name: Heather

Age: 14

Height: 5ft 3

Background: Exactly 2 years ago a certain event changed her life forever and now she’s out to get revenge on those who had a part to play in what happened

Costume: Red Coat

Props: Voodoo Doll

News Reader Name: Natalie Scattergood

Age: 25

Costume: Smart Dress/Uniform

Props: News Desk, Mug, Paper, and Pen

Part to play: She reads the news report about the uncovering of Nathan’s dead body

 Victim: Nathan

Age: 17

Height 5 ft10

Background: he was involved in the event that changed the girl’s life forever.

Costume: red hoody

Part to play: he plays the first victim of Heather in the opening sequence

Costume List:

Heather: Red Coat, Black Leggings/Trousers, Boots

Natalie: Smart Dress:  eg. Suit

Nathan: Red Hoody/ Top, Jeans, Trainers

Props List

Heather: VooDoo Doll

Amy: Mug, Paper, Pen, News Desk

Nathan: None

Storyboard

Script

Scene 7

Character: Dinner

Girl: Coming

Scene 12

News Reporter: News just in! There have been reports of a unidentified dead body found in the woods by dog walkers. We will have more information as the story unfolds.

Plot Outline & Ideas

Breif Outline

A young girl who has been reported missing is taking revenge for something that happened to her when she was younger by killing off people related to it by using the power of her voodoo doll and her thoughts.

 Ideas

 •ELS, Girl in centre frame stood still possibly sped whilst opening credits happen at the same time (black and white apart from her and victims) The idea of only her and her victims being in colour is inspired by schindlers list.

 •Credits and scene fade out for title to come in

 •News report of missing girl

 •Walking down the street with people looking away from her (unaware)

 •Superimpose with faces of possible victims fading in and out

Mindmaps

Horror Research

The horror genre aims to make the audience watching develop a sense of fear, panic alarm and dread. Horror films often rely on scaring the audience using their worst fears or nightmares. Horror films are often linked with other genres including such as Fantasy and Thriller. There is also a range of sub genres with Horror including Supernatural-Horror and Fantasy Horror.

In 2010, there was 31 horror film releases with the best performing horror film being Paranormal Activity 2 which is a supernatural horror.  In that year it was the 8th best genre with the genres above it including Animation, Romance and Fantasy which has big releases including Toy Story 3 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. The horror genre only made up for nearly 6% of all releases compared to nearly 28% for Drama as well as this horror films only made £54.1million at the box office which is over £100million less than most of the top 4 film genres of 2010. The genre also only made up for 5.3% of the total box office figure.

In 2011, the Horror genre was the 11^th best performing genre. The genre released 1 more film than the previous year and made nearly £24million less at the box office. Two of the top three genres are the same as the previous year but made more money. The Horror genre made fewer releases than the top 2 genres although two of the genres above it both released only 5 films and still beat the horror genre.  The Horror Genre made up 5.7% of all releases in 2011 and only made up of 3.3% of the total box office for that year.

http://statisticalyearbook11.ry.com/?id=82736