2. AUDIENCE FEEDBACK
I sat a group of my friends down as my focus group and got a
separate person to ask them their thoughts on the movie opening
so it was not bias. Generally, they thought that the movie was
good and they liked they use of music and the various camera
shots and angles. They did, however, say that the use of special
effects and the acting itself could be better.
3. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT
USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
Researching recent products at the start of the project made me realise
the typical forms and conventions of real media products out today.
Gentle diegetic and/or non-diegetic sound to start off with
(equilibrium).
During the ‘disruption’ there’s sound that compliments the
action on screen.
A disturbing shot, often someone killed, dead or hurt.
More disequilibrium (horror scenes) than equilibrium.
More cuts and transitions during the disequilibrium scenes.
Soundtrack changes to create thrill.
4. In my horror opening we follow some of these conventions.
One soundtrack that is gentle and eerie to start off.
Equilibrium at the start.
A disturbing shot, often someone killed, dead or hurt.
During the ‘disruption’ there’s sound that compliments the
action on screen.
More cuts and transitions during the disequilibrium scenes.
Fades to black.
We followed conventions of a typical horror movie by
having a young, vulnerable female as the victim. This is
following conventions because stereotypically it’s a fragile
female who is the victim. However, I did challenge some
conventions because i had a young female as the hero,
when stereotypically it’s a strong male.
5. Looking further into forms and conventions, I found that horror
openings follow part of the whole films narrative. Narrative
theorist Tzvetan Todorov states that most films follow a narrative
theory.
6. Todorov’s narrative structure states that the narrative of a film
should go:
•State of equilibrium.
•Disruption.
•Recognition
•Attempt to repair disruption.
•Return to equilibrium.
My horror opening goes:
•State of equilibrium.
•Disruption.
•Recognition
•Attempt to repair disruption.
I’ve used most of Todorov’s theory, but there will not be any ‘new
equilibrium’ as I needed to keep the audience guessing on what’s
about to happen.
7. H OW D O E S YO U R M E D I A P RO D U C T
R E P R E S E N T PA R T I C U L A R S O C I A L G R O U P S ?
Normally, British Horror films use a white male as the main character. I chose
to use a Turkish actress to challenge the conventions and make our film stand
out to the rest, plus, it shows that in our movie, there is no difference in the
people that are on screen.
Young females are stereotypically seen as loud-mouthed, care-free and the
victim in horror movie. I decided to combine these two factors and of age and
gender to go against stereotypes with my main character and hero being a
young female who is very level headed and takes control of the situation,
however we do have a young female as the victim as well.
8. WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION
MIG HT D IST RIBUT E YOUR ME D IA
PRODUCT AND WHY?
My film would be distributed by a major company or one that is
familiar to distributing horror films e.g. Twisted Pictures. This is
because it follows the codes and conventions of a horror film, such
as low key lighting, disturbing the equilibrium, lulling them into a
false sense of security. These help produce a horror film that will
appeal to most people. If it didn’t adhere to the general form of a
horror film then a smaller niche company would distribute the film
and it wouldn’t be as mainstream.
9. Marketing:
Viral marketing – using different techniques to get people
talking about the film. These techniques involve websites with
shocking news on and ‘accidently’ releasing 'top secret’
information and images. This is useful because it’s low budget
(e.g. Creating websites are cheaper than newspaper adverts
and TV commercials).
Web 2.0:
This is a good way of promoting media. A blog can be
created as a source of information for the audience. They can
follow it and it keeps them up to date. Also, people can
comment and suggest on your blog. This helps you improve and
also create a community which helps promote your media.
10. W H O WO U L D B E T H E AU D I E N C E F O R
YOUR ME D IA PROD UCT ?
As I found out in my questionnaire. My target audience for a horror
film is generally aged 15-17 who would watch it at the cinema for the
atmosphere. From all the information I gathered I found that younger
audience’s are willing to endure the terror of horror films in order to
enjoy a euphoric sense of relief at the end. They also like horror films
as they seek ‘thrills’ and what’s projected on screen is emotionally
‘thrilling’ and yet physically harmless.
11. Even though I believe my main audience for my opening
would be a younger audience, I also believe that it would be
watched by slightly more females than males. The reason
for this is that the movie starts with a group of girls hanging
out and talking, many girls will be able to relate to the
situation shown on screen before the disequilibrium, and
this may appeal to them. Along with this, even though the
victim is a female, so is the hero. The female hero seems
quite independent and confident. These traits may allow
girls to look up to this character.
12. H OW D I D YO U AT T R AC T / A D D R E S S
YO U R AU D I E N C E ?
For our horror film I decided that our target audience would be
young adults (under 18) and that I would like to target females
specifically. This is shown on previous slides. I decided to certificate my
film as a fifteen, because most of the films I researched that followed
the same sort of plot line as my own, were certificated as such.
Another reason I chose this certificate was because it wouldn't really
limit me in what I could use to create the atmosphere I wanted.
13. To attract my target audience I used young actors, to reflect
the audience of the film. I decided that the music in my film
would be one of the mains ways for me to create tension, as I
noticed that sound played a big part in creating a scary
atmosphere for films, especially horror. I found that films like
paranormal activity relied heavily on their sound tracks to have
the effect the film makers were going for. We tried to follow
the conventions of horror films and chose to include blood and
death in our film, we also chose a to make our film semi-
restrictive, to help build tension, and give a horror film
audience what they want by making them scared. Mise-en-
scene is important in the film and we decided to costume the
girl in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that would put across the
idea that she was just a normal girl. Over all I have tried many
ways to attract and address my audience, which if successful
would allow for them to enjoy my film.
14. W H A T H AV E Y O U L E A R N T A B O U T
TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS OF
CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT?
YouTube (free online software):
YouTube was a large contributor to the completion of my horror opening.
It was especially good for research as i was able to access a large library
of different medias to get ideas for my opening. Plus, i discovered a lot of
videos demonstrating how to use other pieces of software and how to
use different techniques which I found really helpful. I learnt how to add
to my video which was a skill I was unable to do before, this will now help
me in the future, so overall this piece of software has been extremely
influential and helpful.
15. Blogger.com
Blogger.com was the home base during this project as it is
where I saved all my work I did whilst at home and in class, this
is where the planning and research for my horror is located. It
was a very useful tool as it was able to hold several platforms of
different media so I was easily able to store all my work in the
same place, making it easy to access and locate.
iMovie:
iMovie played the largest part in the completion of my final
horror. It was where I put together the different pieces of film I
shot, and combined them with the sound I needed to create my
completed project. I used many different techniques within
iMovie such as colour correction. One draw back is it takes the
art out of film making as a director doesn’t have to worry about
the quality of their shots as they can now correct, add or cut
things afterwards.
16. L O O K I N G BAC K AT YO U R P R E L I M I N A RY TA S K ,
W H A T D O Y O U F E E L Y O U H AV E L E A R N T I N T H E
PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?
The lack of a tripod during the filming process was a real
concern once I had started filming, as my shots were continuously
shaking. It was a very amateur mistake, and a valuable learning
curve to take into my final As production process.
The music I incorporated didn’t fit as well as I first thought, and
almost made the viewer a little more confused, as they were
perhaps trying to link it to the story, as it was very distracting.
17. After viewing my preliminary task on numerous occasions,
and getting feedback from my teacher, and peers on the
production, it was clear that I had made a lot of mistakes.
These mistakes however, would prove a valuable learning
curve when I would begin filming my main task. I would
learn not to make the same mistakes again, and to always
look at the shots on my camera, to see if it needs to be re-
filmed. One thing I was impressed with, when viewing my
preliminary piece was the dramatic effect it had on the
audience at the end of my short film. It worked as I
imagined, and gave me more motivation.
18. Improvements:
The editing style and variation of shots used in this production
was improved hugely on this aspect of filming, from my
preliminary piece, it required re-filming, but the dedication paid
off.
My continuity editing was much improved, and really added to
the intensity of the production, this was one of the most
challenging aspects I encountered during the editing process.
The music really created suspense, which was my primary goal
when creating this soundtrack, it blended well with the film.
19. After conducting this evaluation activity it’s clear to see the
difference between my two production. My opening shows a
greater deal of editing, professionalism, musical skills, and
camera techniques, compared to my preliminary piece. It has
greatly improved my directing, film making abilities, and is a
valuable learning curve I will be able to take into the A2 part of
the course. With the experience and confidence I believe I can
produce an even better production than this film opening. I
couldn’t be happier with the feedback I received, it has made
me feel like I’ve accomplished something.
