2. In what ways does ‘Don’t Look Back’ use, develop or challenge forms
and conventions of real media products?
A film opening should do a variety of things, these include introducing the main character(s), portraying the genre
of the film and finally enticing the audience.
I feel that with my opening I have accomplished all three of these things. I introduced my main character within
the first 30 seconds of the opening making clear that she was the victim. Although I didn’t change the lighting
and kept it as daylight as my victim is walking through the woods, I feel that a sense of anxiety is still represented
and this dictates the genre of the opening through the use of mise-en-scene and the actions depicted. I feel that I
have also enticed the audience through the use of my editing techniques such as jump cuts, short and sharp
cuts and music my choices.
In terms of horror conventions I have used a variety of them to help make my sequence effectively. For example
I have used non diegetic sounds to create a sense of anxiety. This is used in the constant sound that runs
through the whole of my opening.
Some conventions I have challenge in my opening are that horror openings usually include some sort of
dialogue and focus mainly on sound effects to create suspense. In my opening I haven’t included dialogue this is
because I think it creates a sense of uneasiness as the audience may think they know what’s going to happen
and they are preparing themselves for a loud unexpected ‘boom’ as such. The titles that I used in my opening
represent horror conventions as I introduced my actress and other credits such as distribution. I kept my titles to
a minimum as I thought it may take away the tension from my opening.
I decided to use a red balance effect where I turned the screen red to create a sense of blood and terror, I did
this when you cannot see my victim, I think this allows the audience to know that something bad is going to
happen in the woods.
3. How does ‘Don’t Look Back’ represent particular social groups?
The victim in the opening portrays her young age and innocence. I casted her as a young, naive
looking girl that’s dressed in non-provocative but fashionable clothing to show her innocence and
vulnerability. My opening doesn’t really show a clear representation of social groups, this is because
you only see my victim and not a killer.
4. What kind of media institution might distribute ‘Don’t Look Back’ and
why?
As my production is a low budget British film it would most likely be distributed by
companies like Momentum Pictures.
Momentum Pictures, an Alliance Film company, is one of the leading independent motion
picture distribution companies in the UK and releases approximately 20 theatrical films a
year, with another 25+ STV titles to feed their fully-integrated distribution operation.
Momentum prides itself on its diverse output with recent successes with Milk, The
Young Victoria, Let The Right One In and The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo.
Momentum acquire across all genres such as family, upscale, foreign-language, action,
horror and quality TV production.
I decided to call my production company Past Production as I felt that the word ‘past’
means that they are not in the future which has a link to death and reflected the film.
5. Who would be the audience for ‘Don‘t Look Back‘?
For a real media product to be released for public viewing it would first have to be given an age
certificate by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). There are 7 possible age certificates
that can be given to a film. U (suitable for all viewing), PG (Parental guidence), 12A (Children
under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult), 12 (suitable for ages 12 and up), 15
(suitable for age 15 and up), 18 (suitable for age 18 and upwards) and finally R18 (rated 18 -
sexual films).
Taking into consideration these age groups I have decided to make my certificate 15, this is
because my film is teen horror and this would have a strong audience with this age group. I feel
that some scenes that will follow on from my opening will be unsuitable for anyone under this age
group.
A 15 certificate would be beneficial to the film’s success. The certificate doesn’t restrict teenagers
from buying and seeing my film meaning it would generate more profit than if it was given an 18
certificate. My media product would undoubtedly have a big audience as the horror genre has a
huge fan base. Films such as Saw and Final destination have made the teen horror film more
acceptable and popular.
6. How did you attract/address your audience?
I did some research into the conventions of horror movies and then asked people that fitted the
‘15’ age certificate what conventions they would like to see in a teen horror film which I then
incorporated into my production. In the opening I addressed my target audience by instantly
being introduced to my victim who is the ‘teen’ age group, I also addressed them through music.
The film is set in the present day and this also helps to address the audience. To portray this we
used modern costume and props, focusing especially on the teenage girl. The music I used isn’t
really target at the audience within the age group, I decided to use this music for tension
purposes only. I got all of my music from a website called www.freesound.org where it allows you
to download recording that are available for amateur film makers without having any copyright
issues.
7. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of
constructing ‘Don’t Look Back’?
During the filming of my project I have learnt a wide variety about technology and techniques
involved in film production.
When I was carrying out my research I used websites such as google, I did this to gain
information on the genre of teen horror films. This helped me to understand the teenage
generation which was good because I was aiming my production at this age group. Using these
resources it helped me to discovery the ways in which technology is used in the media field.
The camera that I used was a Canon Legira FS200 which used an SD card. I also used a
standing tripod and a neck tripod for my filming. As I did two sets of filming, on for my first idea
‘You’re invited’ I realised that I needed to have more footage then I needed, this is because I can
used short clips to my production better.
The editing software I used for my Media was Final Cut Express. As this software was a whole
new thing for me I decided to watch Apples tutorials so that I could familiarise myself to the
software I also did the same for LiveType. Another thing I had to familiarise myself to was
www.blogspot.com as before I started media in my A Levels I have never used a blogging
website.
8. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt
in the progression from it to the full product?
I think that from the start of this project to now I have improved dramatically, this is because I have
attempted to make two production, one of which did not go to plan and I had to then start over again from
scratch. Putting time and effort into this media project is I realised was the most important thing. It took me a
while to realise this but I soon got everything done to complete my horror opening.
The most important things I learnt from my preliminary task was that from the camera that school provided
us did not have high quality sound for this reason I decided not to include this in my horror opening. Another
thing is to always have more footage that I need so that I can play around with my opening and make sure
that I have enough footage to get it to the 2 minute allocated time. I also realised that you have to take the
time to research the software that will be used during the editing process.
In the end I was glad that I worked individually, nevertheless I learnt a lot from working in a group as there
were several advantages such as less of a workload and less stress. However half way through out
production we failed as a team, this was because we had different coursework deadlines so I was spreading
out my time keeping whilst my partner had to get things done quickly. I also found that my partner wasn’t
very helpful and I found myself doing all of the work so in the end it worked out for the best that I worked
individually.
Putting everything into consideration I think that creating the opening sequence has been a learning curve
in my media education and I am pleased and fulfilled with what I've learnt and the quality of my finished
product. I know there may be some weaknesses in my opening but feel that the final product shows that my
skills have developed enormously from my preliminary task to my horror opening.
