TWGSB Media AS coursework presentation. Evaluation

1. EVALUATION
GEORGE THRESHER

2. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE,
DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
MISE-EN-SCENE
• The props we used were very
conventional in psychological
horror films. This mask for example,
is very similar to those worn in
‘The Strangers’ (Bertino, 2008).
Also, our choice of weaponry consisted of
the usual blunt metal objects making them
conventional.
• Our choice of location being an old
abandoned caravan was iconic of horror,
as it displayed the same worn, overgrown
location found in many horrors.
SOUND
• The backing track, ‘When I Paint My
Masterpiece’, is generally unconventional of
horror in that it’s cheerful and vibrant. We did
this to contrast the horror and gore of the
sequence with a sense of cheerfulness to
create irony.
• The non-diegetic sound effects and drones
we used were conventional. For example the
sharp screech heard in the flashbacks offers a
very unsettling, visceral feeling, similar to those
found in the ‘American Horror Story’ opening.
CAMERA ANGLE/MOVEMENT
• Many of our shots were similar to those found
in various other horror films. A good example
would be the tracking shot along the
objects, which adds to the old context and
overall atmosphere, as well as the canted
angle shot of the cupboards which appears
disjointed and uncomfortable.
• The majority of our shots were straight
forward with film productions in general,
including a variety of stills, low angled and
high angled shots and a POV.
EDITING
• Our editing consisted of varying transition
frequencies that make it conventional of
horror. For example, at the beginning where
there lacks any true form of horror, the pace Is
slow, and as the horror is introduced the shot
transitions become more frequent building up
tension and hysteria.
• The use of our shot reverse shot is also vital in
showing the reaction shot, as in every horror
movie the reaction shot provides a basis for
the way in which the audience follow the
tone.

3.  The way in which we presented our characters was
conventional of horror films. For example, Harry being
portrayed as a lost hitchhiker finding refuge in the
caravan. This is iconic as the victim is oblivious to the
danger of his life. This is comparable to ‘Friday The 13th’
where a group of young adults camp in a lake
inhabited by a crazed killer, similar to Harry finding
refuge in the caravan, only to be murdered. The
antagonist is also presented in a conventional fashion,
despite only possessing minimal screen time. For
example, when the antagonist appears in various
shots, for a small only a few seconds (the shots shown
below, where the antagonist swiftly walks past the
translucent window).
 All of these features mentioned previously, conform to both conventional methods of horror film
production as well as the occasional aspect unique to our sequence such as the plot. The effect
of this is a professional sequence that possesses both techniques used conventionally as well as
personal aspects, unmatchable in any other production.
 The way we established enigma in the film sequence
was primarily through the use of the flashbacks
revealing the events that took place in the caravan in
the previous years. We accomplished this with the use
of post production special effects, such as the sharp
sound prompted at the start of each flashback,
individualizing them to the audience, as well as the
green filter we used. All of this as well as the fake blood
and tools we used contributed to setting the scene
and the mysterious atmosphere.

4. HOW DOES YOUR OPENING CONFORM OR
CHALLENGE THE CONVENTIONS OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR?
• We chose psychological horror
as a result of its unique style,
and often thought provoking
plots that require thought and
understanding, such as the film
mentioned before: Se7en,
which follows a series of
murders linked with the 7
deadly sins of Christianity.
• Other psychological
horrors that follow this
method of
representation for the
antagonist is
‘Scream’ (left
image).
• The victim is
presented in a casual
way, possessing
nothing unique
about him. This could
also be seen as a
conventional
representation as it
makes the character
more relatable, and
therefore an
emotional
attachment can be
made with the
victim.
• The character of the antagonist
for example, is presented
conventionally for
psychological horror. He is
shown with an expressionless
mask and dark clothing. This
appearance signifies mystery
and makes it challenging for
the audience to relate to him,
creating a sense of distance.

5. EDITING
 The editing side of the film sequence is fairly basic. The sequence possesses a consistent pattern throughout, often to
show the victim walking up to an object, then the flashback, then the reaction shot of the victim. This style repeats
with every object the victim picks up in the caravan or the rooms he walks into. This style of editing creates tension
leading up to the victim’s death. The sequences screenshots below is an example of the pattern we followed.
 This combined with the increased number of camera transactions increases tension at the various points of horror
throughout. This is also notable at times where there is no horror on screen, where the shot transactions become less
frequent. This style of editing conforms to psychological horror, as it always refers back to the character and also
works parallel in creating tension through speed and on screen action.
CAMERA WORK
 In our sequence, we included a large variety of shots. For example, canted angle shot, POV shot and pan and
tracking shots. The tracking shots were vital in setting the scene in just one shot, revealing the setting in one camera
motion. These shots followed the same manor as seen in other psychologically based horror films. It proved
challenging to gather shots that set our sequence apart from the majority of other horror films as they all follow the
same style of filming.
 Some of our shots were very professional despite being
improvised on the day of filming, such as the pull focus shot
and the track along the small objects. These shots were ideal
for integrating titles in with them. This shot on the right for
example, allows the audience to identify the significance of
this object.

6. HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT
REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?
 Our antagonist could be interpreted
as being mentally ill through his
mannerisms and the fact he’s killing
and torturing for no apparent reason.
This could be reinforcing the
dominant stereotype of people with
a disability being capable of
displaying the same amount of
strength and power. However, this
also could be interpreted as the
antagonist killing as a result of a
mental disability, so is therefore an
example of binary opposition.
 The fact that the antagonist in our
sequence is male, reinforces the
residual stereotype of a man always
being the inflictor of harm or the
murderer. This may be because men
are seen as more powerful figures
physically. This is further emphasized
through the fact we see a male
character hiking through the woods,
which is also dominant of the residual
stereotype that men are generally
more capable of certain physical
activities.

7. The characters that are
shown in the sequence include
Harry (hiker) and myself
(masked man). Harry was
represented as a young male,
and little else is given away
through what we filmed. The
antagonist is wearing a mask so
again, little is given away in
regards to both characters
social status, sexual orientation
or whether they possess any
form of disability. However
there are aspects of the
characters actions that point to
certain stereotypical
characteristics.
• Our sequence is an
all-male cast. this
therefore reinforces
the residual
stereotype of men
being seen as more
powerful and
intimidating than
females.
• For example, the
body language of the
antagonist is
reminiscent of the
antagonist from ‘The
Strangers’ through the
way he tilts his head
as though innocent
and confused.

8.  Our film may attract the attention of an
independent distributor, such as Vertigo
Films. In the past Vertigo Films has
distributed films such as ‘Monsters’,
which, similarly with our film sequence,
had an extremely low budget, but
nevertheless proved successful.
Furthermore, likewise with our films
production Vertigo Films is based in the
UK, which could potentially save cost in
transportation, which would prove vital
for a film production running on such a
small budget.
 Furthermore, Vertigo Films in the past,
has distributed lower budget film
productions in new innovative ways,
for example ‘Street Dance 3D’ where
they synergised with the Britain’s Got
Talent app in a successful attempt to
appeal to their key psychographic, in
which a 30 second advertisement was
played to each viewer at a when the
app was no. 1 on the app store. This
method appealed to a large scale
concentrated audience.
 Vertigo Films could adopt this
method of distribution, as it is
effective yet the expense will be
far lower, rather than an
advertising slot on a prime time
television network, yet potentially
result in a similar or perhaps even
greater outcome in terms of the
distributing the film to a large
audience successfully.

9. WOULD YOU CONSIDER YOUR WORK TO BE IN THE STYLE OF AN
INDEPENDENT FILM OR WOULD IT BE PRODUCED AS PART OF AN
INDUSTRIAL MODEL?
 Our production is more reflective
of the independent style of film
making, as opposed to industrial.
In comparison to other
independent films such as
‘Monsters’ (Edwards, 2010), ‘The
Premonition’ is similar in terms of
production. ‘Monsters’ was shot
in a guerrilla style of filming,
where the scripts were mostly
improvised and the extras were
just hired pedestrians on the
street. Likewise with our
production, many of the shots
included were conjured on the
day of filming.
• Independent films also tend to
have much smaller budgets.
For example, ‘A Field In
England’ (Wheatley, 2013) was
shot entirely on a £300,000
budget, making it miniscule
compared to an industrial
production, for example,
‘Prometheus’ (Scott, 2012)
which shot on a budget of $140
million. Our film production was
shot on a minute budget, so an
independent distribution
company is far more likely to
show interest in it rather than
an industrial conglomerate.

10. Q4/Q5. Who would be the audience for your media product? How did you
attract/address your audience?
Throughout the process, we tested
our concept on our audience. This
featured our initial research in
which we tested our audience using
a questionnaire which featured a
series of closed and open questions.
From this initial research, we
discovered that an abandoned
location would be very effective, as
the majority of our audience stated
that it would be the most
conventional of horror.
We also used a 1-10 scale styled
question, in which the audience
circle the number they feel most
appropriate. For example:
This particular question was very useful as it gave us an idea as to the most conventional stock
character for our clip. From this question, we discovered that the character would definitely have to
be young and vulnerable, though the sex was a less important matter. Therefore, we came up with
Darren, a young, vulnerable male, conventional of horror. We also tested possible names in a fixed
question format.
Initial Audience Questionnaire
Initial Audience Questionnaire II

11. Our core audience is the 15-24 demographic, this
is because the horror genre is intrinsically aimed
at a younger audience as this age group enjoy the
gore and scares which are evident throughout.
The characters appeal to this target audience as
Darren fits in with the age demographic due to
being a young male around the age of 16/17.
This creates verisimilitude for the audience as
they feel that this could happen to them which
creates an enigma and a social currency.
Despite this, after choosing hysteria, we thought
that the name ‘the premonition’ was much more
suited to our piece. This is because the word
premonition means to see something before your
eyes. Below you can see the question we originally
asked, however, nearer the time, we realized
hysteria didn’t really fit with our piece, and
premonition is far more suitable.
Target Audience Initial Audience Questionnaire III

12. Additionally, people thought our
location was perfect, saying the
caravans dingy, dull and abandoned
look created a more visceral
experience for most people and
believed that its small, confined
space actually contributed to build
enigma.
A few people thought the
continuity of our sequence could
be improved, saying that
providing more shots with
movement of our protagonist
should be added to make our
sequence just that little bit
better.
Another strength included the high
quality resolution of the picture and
audiences believed that this made
the sequence seem like an actual
film.
Also, some of our audience
stated that they were unsure as
to whether Darren should been
killed or whether we should have
left it as a mystery to build up a
further suspense.

13. From our audience testing many
people liked the use of our soundtrack,
saying it fits well with the visuals and
the high pitched, discordant sounds of
the flashbacks were very effective in
creating a sinister, scary feeling about
the piece which shocked audiences
(this was the effect we wanted to
create).
Some people thought that a couple
of the shots looked a little bit shaky,
which did not fit as well with the
piece as it should. As soon as we
received this feedback, we tried very
hard to alter the graininess of the
image and change the colour to
create a contrasting look to the
normal shots.
Audiences also thought our camera
work was excellent, especially the
frequent short and long tracking shots
which revealed various props as well as
our protagonist in the sequence. They
also liked the use of pull focus shots and
canted angle shots, saying it made the
piece more professional and more fitting
to our thriller/horror genre.
One person thought that the
edited effects and composition
of the flashbacks did not look
very effective, that our group
should improve the look of
these flashbacks to make it
more clear and sinister.

14. Q4/Q5. Audience Final Cut Questionnaire
Results
1. Did you understand
what was going on in the
opening?
In terms of our results for this first
question, we are very happy. I say this
because out of our 10 respondents, 6 said
they understood the plot completely and 4
said they understood the plot mostly. This
shows that our plot is very coherent.
2. What genre would
you class this film as?
Again, we are very pleased with
these results. This is because 70%
of our respondents thought that it
was clearly a horror genre, which
shows that on the whole we have
succeeded creating a horror
opening.

15. 4. Do you think that in the
opening the protagonist
should’ve died?
6. On a scale of 1-10 how tense did you
find the opening? (1- being not tense
10- being very tense)
This chart shows that the majority of our
respondents thought that the protagonist
should’ve been killed, this is good for us as
we were unsure whether to not kill the
protagonist and leave a cliff-hanger.
We are pleased with the results from this
question as 60% felt that our clip was an 8+
out of 10 in terms of tension which shows
that our clip was effective in terms of
building up suspense.

16. They both felt that our flashbacks were extremely effective yet felt that we may have done more with
the sound in terms of a sound mix to build tension and create a sense of eeriness which is typical of
horror films. Overall, we were pleased with this response, though, as a group we were pleased with the
soundtrack we used. This is because we deliberately used the soundtrack to pose a contrast to the
general mood of the clip.
In this short video,
features two people
inside our age
demographic (15-24)
whom are
commenting on the
strengths and
weaknesses of our
clip after seeing our
final cut at the
advanced screening.
Vox-pop clip
Summary of Clip

17. 9. How many flashbacks were there?
This question was more to see if our
audience were paying attention. As
there were indeed 5 flashbacks, it
shows that on the most-part, our
audience were paying attention
meaning the other answers will be
valid.
11. Do you think our use of font was
suitable?
This another encouraging result. I say this
because 80% of our respondents felt that
our font was suitable. Considering we
changed our font rather close to the
deadline, it was very pleasing to see this.

18. 3. Which part of the opening could’ve been
improved?
For this question, we had a varied response.
Some stated that the sound could’ve been
improved in terms of a sound mix and others
stated that the build-up of tension could’ve been
enhanced. In our own opinion, we thought the
soundtrack was very effective as it created a
contrast to the general mood of the clip.
5. Was the opening generally entertaining? If
so, why?
Again, for this question, there were a wide
array of answers, some stated the soundtrack
made it entertaining, some said it was so
because of the diegetic sound. On the whole,
the most popular answer for this question
was the flashbacks.

19. 7. Would you recommend
the film to others?
For this question, we was
looking for a fixed answer of
yes or no. Encouragingly,
100% of our respondents
stated that they would
recommend the film.
8. Did you understand the
use of flashbacks?
This was also a very
promising result, 90% of our
respondents understood the
use of flashbacks in our clip,
which was to evidently show
the caravan to have a past in
terms of murder and torture,
therefore this was a very
heartening result for us.

20. WHAT MIGHT BE THEIR STRATEGY IN CONNECTING
YOUR FILM TO AN AUDIENCE?
 Vertigo Films could replicate the same
methods of distribution used for Street
Dance 3D with our film opening. This could
be done through social media or through
mobile applications, allowing us to direct
advertising at our key demographic. For
example, through various applications that
follow the same theme of horror as our
production, appealing to the audience
most likely to be interested in our film.
 Vertigo Films could also utilise a multi platform
release. This technique was used by Film4
Productions for ‘A Field in England’ (Wheatley,
2013). Film4 Productions launched a first ever
platform release of ‘A Field in England’ in
2013, simultaneously on DVD, Blu-ray and in
cinemas as well as available to stream on the
channel 4 website. This blanket release
created mass publicity for a low budget film.
 An extremely successful distribution technique
used was by 20th Century Fox for ‘Prometheus’
(Scott, 2012). This utilised Web 2.0 in the form
of social media and web pages to raise
publicity for Prometheus. Another aspect of
Web 2.0 was the TED Talk featuring Peter
Weyland, giving subtle context to the film.
 Another potential method could be through
synergistic promotional activity.

21. WHAT WE HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FROM
THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING OUR PRODUCT
 Through constructing our film sequence, we had to make use of both software and
hardware alike, as well as technical equipment used to actually film our sequence and
upload it. This included the following:
We used a group
members DSLR Cannon
EOS 600D camera, which
offered excellent
resolution and easy
controllable zoom. It also
proved easy to review
footage and mount.
We used a track and
dolly on 2 shots. It
required assembly on
sight, and stabilizing to
make sure the camera
dolly rolled smoothly
over the track. The tripod
rests on the dolly.
This is the tripod used to
stabilize and produce still
shots. The legs are
adjustable, and the
mount has 360 degree
rotation so we could
create smooth panning
shots.
This is an SD card reader
which is vital for
uploading footage onto
the computer for editing.
This was simple to use,
and connected directly
to the editing computer
via USB port.

22.  Through the process of completing our
film sequence, we were required to
make use of a variety of software. For
example, Blogger. We learned how to
create a blog in a group effectively
through Blogger, where most of our
research into aspects of the media, and
analysis of film sequences can be found.
This proved extremely useful for our final
opening sequence.
Another online tool we used was YouTube.
YouTube enabled us to upload videos and
then transfer them to our blog. This was also
useful for receiving feedback on all of our
filming tasks that were carried out. For this
we used the Google account previously
used for our blog, where, from Adobe
Premiere, we could upload films onto
YouTube.
Adobe Premiere Elements was used for the
editing of all our videos, and perhaps
required the most amount of skill and
thought to do so. Every single video required
editing, and this included image filters that
can be seen on each of the flashbacks in
the final piece, cropping clips, typography
and non-diegetic sound effects, to name a
few. All these elements can be controlled as
well.

23. Sound
The main steps to installing our
sounds is first of all downloading
the sound. Then saving it to the
Data Disk, clicking Get Media in
premiere and inserting the
sound that had been previously
downloaded and saved into our
files from Freesound.org. Once
this has been imported, you can
drag the sound into the timeline
in the soundtrack section. Here
are a few of the sounds we liked:
Lighting Limitations
We had very few problems in
terms of lighting restrictions. This
is because in our shoots, we
were very lucky that the
weather was no different to the
shoots before. Also, inside the
caravan, it is very dim anyway
and therefore, lighting was not a
difficulty. The bigger problem
was the size of the caravan as it
tiny and therefore it was a test to
move the camera around
effectively.

24. Filming process
• Our film process began with the
camera, owned by a group
member- Tom. We used a Canon
DSLR camera. This camera was
more advanced than the standard
Panasonic HDC 10 distributed to
students by the school. As a result,
our footage looked much better
than the other cameras available
to us. Also, we could apply the pull-
focus to increase the quality of our
shots, this is evident in the shot
where the focus is on the nail and
then switches focus to Darren as he
walks closer. This was made easier
through the easily adjustable lense
that we attached to the camera; a
feature not available to us on the
Panasonic HDC 10
Challenges
• In previous shoots, we had trouble
with the track and dolly in terms of
the stability of the shot. This time
around, it was a superior challenge
as for multiple camera shots, the
track was located on uneven grass.
Therefore, prior to taking the shots,
we removed anything that would
cause a jolt in the shot and
managed to shoot successfully. We
overcame this issue through
stabilising the shot in post-
production using Adobe Elements
Premiere. Also, the pull focus
previously mentioned proved
challenging to do while at the
same time keeping the camera
steady as to not ruin the effect of
the shot.

25. Typography
At first, we used a font named
‘Cold Night For Alligators’.
However, we felt that this
particular font was more
conventional of a slasher horror
film as opposed to a
psychological horror film. As a
result, we then decided against
this font, and used a more
ordinary yet effective font
which is associated more with
a psychological horror genre.
The comparison also proved to
satisfy our audience, through
our research.
Filming/Shots
As a group we are very pleased with the footage we captured on the Canon DSLR
camera, our clip features an array of tracking shots, POV shots and high/low angle
shots. The POV shots are conventional of horror as the audience view the action
through the eyes of the protagonist. In terms of our titles, we took positioning into
consideration as it is vital to have the titles at the forefront of the frame. Evidence of
effective positioning is evident in the tracking shot alongside the caravan.
COLD NIGHT FOR
ALLIGATORS
NEW STANDARDISED
FONT
THIS FONT ALSO MATCHED
FONTS USED FOR THE CAST

26. LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO
YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PREOGRESSION FROM
IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?

27. PLOT
Our plot is both unique in many aspects, and in others very conventional. For example,
the general idea is that a lost hiker, Darren, stumbles across an abandoned caravan to
take refuge and ends up being killed by a crazed, lurking killer. This is very conventional
of horror, for example Friday the 13th where the teens camp at a lake inhabited by a
Jason who later kills every single person. Despite this, the way in which we delivered the
plot was unique and unseen before in any major film sequence. This was achieved
through concentrating primarily on the objects around the caravan and how each one
possesses a past linked with brutal murders. This immediately sets the scene for Darren's
future, of imminent death.