This is my Media Evaluation presentation that we had to create due to our film opening.

1. Media evaluation presentation
By Courtney Taylor

2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products ?
• Before we planned the opening to our film we did research into what normally goes into a horror opening. We
look at the openings to The Blair witch project , Clover-field etc. The conventions of a horror film normally
involve an isolated location ( the woods , a barn or the basement…) In our film opening we thought that the
location we chose was one that is normally used in a horror , making t a convention, It also adds to the creepiness
of the film and how they audience reacts. Other conventions that are normally used are POV shots ( point of
view shots) In our opening we used POV shots of when the camera is running . We thought that if we did this it
would allow the audience to feel involved and grab their attention making them want to watch the rest of the
film.
• We thought that music was a big factor and convention that was used in all horror openings. Music in my opinion
is one of the strongest conventions used in openings. Music intrigues people and interests the audience, keeps
them watching.It also works well to build tension or create a mood to go with the rest of the opening. Commonly
in horror openings and in mine non-diegetic sound is used to start to unease and capture the audience. It also
allows for the audience to question what is going on before they see what is happening.
• Voice -over's are used to introduce the narrative. it is always descriptive and helps the audience to engage in the
plot and grow to have feelings towards the characters .We used a voice-over in our opening because we thought
that this would connect the audience with the plot and leave them wanting to know what happens to the
teenagers.
• The credits are presented at the beginning and list the most important people involved in the film. This includes
directors , actors, cameramen and writers. The font and colour of the text normally links with the chosen genre,
they also appear in a creepy way. For example in our opening the font is white and they flicker on the screen then
switch to the next name. We thought that the credits had to relate to the genre of our opening because it makes
the film come together well and also is a way of informing the audience about the type of genre.
• My media product does well in using the conventions of a horror film. I thought that if we followed the rules of a
horror film our would relate to the genre and the audience would be more engaged to watch.

3. How does your media product represent particular
social groups ?
Teenagers in our type of chosen genre , Horror, are usually seen as naive
and oblivious as to what happening around them. In our media product we
use the stereotype of girls and boys. In a horror film the boys are normally
always presented as the „hero‟ and the leader of the film, they are the
person that the girl normally follows and listen to in order to survive.
Girls in a horror movie are normally presented as the „damsel in distress‟
and the most likely to die but in some horror films they break that
stereotype and show them as the final survivor or the actual hero.
In our media product we stick to the stereotypes. For example in our
opening when we are talking to josh about the map he becomes offensive
and aggressive, this is how males are usually presented , as aggressive and
dominate. Also when you see me and josh running at the end of the opening
it is josh that is ahead of me , this represents how girls are normally the first
to be caught or killed. We thought that if we stuck to the stereotypes the
audience would have more input on who is going to die. For example in
most horror films it is normally the promiscuous girl who is the first to die
and the audience can predict this

4. Examples of stereotypes in horror movies
The jock is typically a very
cocky character. He often
has a girlfriend or close
female companion with him.
He normally dies by being
cocky. He will often go after
the killer , inevitably getting
himself killed.
The „good girl‟. The good
girl is the last person left
alive in a horror movie. If
she dies at all. She is an
innocent girl or appears
to be so. Throughout the
movie , she often hides or
run from the killer . She is
normally the one that kills
the monster or killer.
The „promiscuous one‟ is
often the girlfriend of the
Jock. She is normally the
first to die in the movie,
within the first 5 minutes.
She usually hears a
sound nearby and calls
out to who she thinks is
her boyfriend. She is
either burned or stabbed
to death.

5. What kind of media institution might
distribute your media product and why ?
I think the most realistic way of
distributing this movie would be
an internet release. Now days,
people out age, our target
audience mostly watch films
online instead of going to the
cinema. For example sites like
YouTube, Netflix's , or even
illegal sites . This would make it
accessible to people worldwide
but without a big production
company it will not become a
massive movie hit.
Realistically, our media
product is not going to
me a major promotion
picture . We are really
happy with the end
result though and I think
“Blumhouse”
productions will be a
good choice because they
have produced films like
Paranormal activity and
Insidious ect.
I think a good low budget
company would be the
BBC because they produce
films that are low budget
and not always movie
blockbuster sellers.
Considering our film is
low budget made because
we didn‟t have
professional equipment or
editors it would relate to
films that the BBC have
produced.

6. Who would be the audience for your media
product ?
We feel that our target audience is aged between 15-35
As a group we classified our film as a 15. We knew from the
beginning that our film was going to be a horror because
most horrors are classified as a 15. We found this out by
looking on the British Board of Film Classification website.
We knew our opening wasn‟t going to be child friendly as
in the opening and the rest of the film there would be scene
of violence and also disturbing moments that feature gore
and blood.
So in the we came to the conclusion that a 15 would be best
suited for the film because it allows us to feature flashes of
up-close images of blood and also allows us to feature
violence and action which a 12 cannot.

7. How did you attract / address your audience ?
• One way that we attracted our audience was by the type of genre we chose. By
choosing to create a horror film we felt that all the people interested in horror
films would want to watch it. by doing this it allowed us to gain and know our
target audience and also gave us an insight into what are opening should look
like.
• Another way that we attracted our audience and their feedback was through
handing out questionnaires. We created a questionnaire using Survey Monkey to
help gain the audiences opinion on our film opening . We thought that by having
the audiences opinion it would gain us an insight into what the audience look
for , like the best or don‟t really like in a horror film. This would also help us to
improve next time when embracing the horror genre again.
• In order to keep the audience interested in our film opening , we tried to create
suspense in them wanting to know the rest of the film. We did this by ending the
opening with a scream, we thought that by doing this it would make the
audience question what has happen And who is dead or alive. We also included
creepy and heart bounding music to capture the audiences attention. We knew
that music was a key part to the audiences interest and when doing research into
horror openings we found out that music helps to draw the audience in and
gives them hints at to what is going to happen, good or bad.

8. What have you learnt about technologies from the
process of constructing this product ?
• During the whole filming process of our opening , and even preliminary task I have
learnt a lot about filming and editing. Before I started this project I had never had any
experiences with editing or trying to use camera angles/shots to convey emotion or how
a character is presented. For example by using a close-up of a persons face it emphasizes
their emotional state. A close up is used in very emotional scenes and causes for the
viewer to become involved and share their feelings.
• we all knew how to use a camera before but none of us had done much in the terms of
editing . We used Serif Movie plus X6 for editing our final footage and it was mine and
Hollies first time using the software ( Josh had used the software before) once we had
finally comes to grips with using the editing software It became easier to do or change
certain things that we didn‟t like. For example we learnt how to cut scenes or overlap
them with other scenes. We also learnt how to import videos or sounds into the editing
software , and we also learnt how to include credits and make them appear how we
wanted them.
• We also learnt a lot about camera techniques , like the 180 degree rule or match on
action ect. We found that after a few times of trying to use these technique it came easier
to us and easier to include for next time.

9. Editing software and equipment
Serif MoviePlus X6.
This is the editing
software we used , it
really helped us to
make our opening
look professional
and like other
horror films on the
market.
Nikon D3100 camera. This
was the camera we used , it
really helped us in creating
the shaky and blurred
affect of the picture. We
didn‟t use a tripod because
we wanted a normal affect
like a documentary , we
also thought that it would
make the audience feel
more involved in what's
happening.
We used a laptop to
install the software
onto because this was
easier than using a
PC or Mac because it
gave us more control
over the screen and
was easier to upload
onto YouTube to
embed onto our blog.

10. Final statement/outcome
• After finally seeing our opening in full I am happy with the outcome. I
was pleased at how everyone in our group got on with their task and
this showed in our final result.
• I think that by changing our original opening idea was overall a good
idea because by doing this we didn‟t give to much of the plot away and
also was easier to shoot because of there being less Mise en scene
involved and it actually felt more like a horror film. If I had to do this
again I would try to include more camera angle and shots because I felt
that with our opening being cam-corded ( hand held) it made it harder
to include good solid angle shoots , for example a high angle or low
angle camera shot.
• Overall I am pleased with our opening and we had fun filming it as
well.