2. • In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms
and conventions of real media products?
• My film is similar to many other horror and films due to the generic
conventions in which most horror films use. The first important
convention is that of suspense, keeping the audience at the edge of their
seats through not showing them what is going to happen next. I had made
this effective using an eerie non diegetic sound track and sound effects in
which a particular character makes for example, screams. There are other
horror films in which use fairly similar techniques to draw attention to
what is happening and also at the same time scaring the audience a little.
In many films, flashback sequences from a particular character to what
they had witnessed previously are used to add suspense and fear.
3. Sleepy Hollow is a example of a horror film with effective flashbacks which
help the audience understand what had happened previous to the events
and to bring the storyline together. During the flashbacks you never clearly
see the face of the killer, which adds to the effect on the audience of wanting
to know who it is.
4. • This is similar to films such as the Scream Trilogy, as the murderer is
hidden behind a mask and a costume giving no hints to who it could
possibly be, but the audience know it’s someone that’s in the group.
However, with our film it is possible that it is a member of the group, but
it is also possible to be someone completely out of the question- you may
not have come across them before.
5. • How does your media product represent particular social groups?
• Before filming we decided to watch a variety of different horror films in
which would help us prepare and create our film opening. In all the films
we had watched the characters were either teenagers or young adults. I
decided to use a white male for our main character, and I used a range of
shots such as close ups and extreme close ups in a low key lighting to
show his facial expressions and body language. The other characters are
not stereotyped which is different from most horror films as they are
quite stereotypical with characters and the roles they play.
6. • What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
• The kind of media institution that might distribute my media product would most
likely be a small film production company. Due to the nature of the film, it being a
thriller/horror, the institution should be concentrated on that kind of genre. I think
a smaller production company would prefer to distribute my media product
because of the limited market for films of this genre. The media institution that
might be interested in distributing my media product would be Summit
Entertainment. I think they would be interested because from looking at films they
distribute I can see that they are one of the main institutions that distributes films
in the horror genre. For example, the Wrong Turn franchise and Sorority Row.
How I created our film opening enables a potentially well written plot and is
similar to the films in which the institution distributes. It is more similar to the
Wrong Turn franchise as our film is based in a wooded area and the murderer
would act similarly to the ‘hillbillies’ in Wrong Turn.
7. • Who would be the audience for your media product?
• The audience of my horror film is teenagers aged 15 and over. We chose
the certificate of 15 because we felt that it was more suitable than a 12 or
a 12A but not as bad as an 18. Because I had little dialogue in my film, I
will not need to worry about the use of strong language, and there is no
blood or gore that viewers would find offensive. However, because of the
violent themes and undertones, I have decided that the film should be a
15.
8. • How did you attract/address your audience?
• By using interesting titles and suspense causing music, the audience will
be drawn in to the product. The use of camera angles and sound will keep
the audience’s attention, and the conclusion to the opening sequence will
ensure that my audience will continue to watch the film after the opening
sequence has finished.
• The opening few minutes of a film are extremely important to the success
of it. If the opening few minutes do not engage the audience, they will not
continue to watch it.
9. • Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt
in the progression from it to the full product?
• Looking back at the preliminary task that we had done at the beginning of
the year I have learnt quite a lot. For example, the different camera angles
in which we can use to shoot our footage which can give off different
effects, such as a high angled shot. As mentioned before, I have learnt a
lot about editing and using a camera whilst shooting footage correctly. I
have also learnt how to use other programmes, such as Adobe Photoshop
and Adobe After-Effects whilst creating our final piece. I had also watched
some tutorials on You Tube to help understand how to use these
programmes efficiently and easily.
10. • Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt
in the progression from it to the full product?
• Looking back at the preliminary task that we had done at the beginning of
the year I have learnt quite a lot. For example, the different camera angles
in which we can use to shoot our footage which can give off different
effects, such as a high angled shot. As mentioned before, I have learnt a
lot about editing and using a camera whilst shooting footage correctly. I
have also learnt how to use other programmes, such as Adobe Photoshop
and Adobe After-Effects whilst creating our final piece. I had also watched
some tutorials on You Tube to help understand how to use these
programmes efficiently and easily.
