Media - Coursework research and planning

Coursework research and planning Michael Woods

Index/Contents page Slide 3 – Introduction ‘My Coursework’ Slides 4-39 - Inter text research and Analysis Slides 40 – 51 Target audience research Slide 52 - 60 – Planning my Text Go Go Go Go

My Coursework For my coursework I was given a task to either create print based coursework or a video based coursework. Which after using software for print based (Photoshop and Fireworks) and video based software (adobe premier pro) I had chosen to create a trailer with a specific genre which I had to choose from.

Text that gave me ideas Cloverfield

Visual Codes Mise-en-scene Settings – Party, New York City, Underground tunnel, Safe Facility, Shop Lighting – Artificial lighting used to show audience what’s happening Colour – lots of dark colours like Blacks/grey’s and some white colours used Dress Codes – Suits/dresses as they were in a party, Army/police uniforms, Doctor’s coats Gesture Codes – Cheering and raising glasses (party), running and screaming (disaster) Foreground – The camera mans friends/companions, people running with the cameraman Background – Explosions, Army shooting guns, tanks shooting, buildings collapsing Iconography – The view from the camera, the statue of liberty head lying on the street.

Audio Codes Non – Diegetic Sounds Explosions, Gun shots, Tank shots, Crashing, added in sounds to create atmosphere and suspense, Diegetic Sounds Characters voices, (shouting, screaming, cheering, crying, talking, whispering) camera sounds have been emphasized but still real so that the sounds sound much louder like when the camera is turn on and off.

Dress codes Suits/dress (as firstly there are in a party) Army uniforms (shooting at the monster) Police uniforms (in the area) Doctors/scientists white coats (testing for the diseased people)

Gesture Codes Firstly arms being raised to celebrate the arrival of Rob who people are having a party for as he is leaving , smiling and shaking hands to congratulate him. People running away from the monster – Rob shows the camera to his face and you can see his shocked and scared facial expression by his wide open eyes and the desperation in his tone. People hugging connotes love but also scared and worried for their loved ones. Holding a mobile phone and trying to ring someone connotes desperation to get in contact as you see Rob try to phone someone 3 times which connotes he desperately needs to get in contact with someone.

Technical Codes Camera shots Lots of close ups on the camera man, film shot with long shots, big close ups used to see what is happening in the scene Editing Quick cuts used conventional in a horror/thriller, background music and sound effects added in to create thriller and suspense. On Screen Graphics Information used is in a white font (san serif) making it for the audience to read easily so they know what is happening, main title white font colour on a black background a futuristic, creepy sort of font used to connote to the audience that the film is of a horror/thriller genre. Special Effects The creation and adding it of the monster and small monster , CGI used for the explosions, destroying and land of the statue of Liberty head, the destruction of the buildings, helicopter spinning out of control

What I have learnt from the codes Through my analysis of the trailer using the 5 codes I have seen what is conventional from a film in the Horror/Thriller genre and what I could incorporate into my own trailer, also I have seen what is conventional in terms of visual and audio codes which would be the main codes for this type of genre as well as gesture codes as people need suitable acting for this type of genre.

Cloverfield Information Cloverfield was released on the 1 st February 2008 in the United Kingdom and was directed by Matt Reeves, produced by J.J. Abrams and written by Drew Goddard. The film is shot through a hand held camera (but switches scenes as you see last year and then refers back to the present day) by the person called Hud and features a party for a friend who is leaving to go to Japan but something hits the city of New York and then everyone lives are in danger by an unknown force. With only the camera to show this film shows how the people cope with a disaster that hits their city and with the main object of survival but also to rescue loved ones without being killed by the unknown monster attacking the city. The film cost an estimated 30 million dollars but according to people working on the film it would look like a 150 million dollar budget although the casting team didn’t choose known or expensive actors/actresses. Source of Information - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloverfield

Cloverfield Information con…. Box Office Budget: $25,000,000 (estimated) Opening Weekend: $46,146,546 (USA) (20 January 2008) (3411 Screens) Gross: $80,034,302 (USA) (6 April 2008) Production company – PS and BR Rated 15 due to continuous suspense and some violence and bad language, this means that will the balance this film fits well into this category and is suitable for young teenagers. Source of Information - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1060277/

Cloverfield Reviews Memorable neither for its special effects nor the gimmickry of the hand-held camera. A stylish and satisfyingly intense update of one of Hollywood's most well-trodden film concepts: the attack of the 150-foot (give or take) monster. A dazzling experiment that paid off immensely, this is cinematic pleasure at its purest. One caveat: If they ever make a sequel, we're taking two stars back. Well executed, entertaining stuff, but did we REALLY need this to be set in New York? The whole film seems designed to cynically exploit the relatively fresh memories of Sept 11th. The film loses several points for feeling like being repeatedly whacked over the head with a copy of the 9/11 Commission Report... Reviews from http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cloverfield/

Cloverfield Rating/audience BBFC Rating for 15 rated film Horror - Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised. Language - There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘f**k’). The strongest terms (for example, ‘c**t’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable. As Cloverfield is rated a 15 this means that the audience would be older adults/teenagers due to “Consumer Advice: Contains strong sustained threat and moderate horror” (taken from the BBFC website) Although as Cloverfield is rated 15 this means that the producers have more freedom in what they can put in the film to make the film more exciting and realistic for example action codes could be shouting/swearing to connote the realism in the film by the actions of what is happening. I would want to have the freedom like Cloverfield therefore I would like my film to have a 15 age rating so that it’s suitable for middle aged teenagers and older. Source of information - http://www.bbfc.co.uk/CFF244087 and http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/guidelines/15-2

Cloverfield Audience Theories The Hypodermic Syringe theory can be applied for this film by the audience are supposed to believe that Manhattan is suddenly being destroy by this unknown monster with no warning, so the audience are to believe this that when everyone is parting Manhattan is being destroyed and producers cause the viewers to believe this. Moral panics could be applied to this film by what would happen if something came to earth and started to destroy Manhattan as if something reached the earth then mankind could be destroyed which could cause people to believe that if something came to earth it could kill and destroy everyone. The two step flow can be applied by film review magazines, website would publish there ratings and say what they think about this film, which would cause people who haven’t seen it to value there opinion as there jobs are to review films so obviously know a lot about good and bad films (referring to plot, action codes, stars etc) The uses and gratification theory could be applied by this film giving people excitement and shocked by the use of the unknown suspense and the constant threat, which would be a good film to entertain and also make the viewer think about the film and it’s realism. However the Polysemic reading could be that the ideas that the producers might of wanted are that how people would cope in this situation which could be the preferred reading but the oppositional reading could be that someone watching the film could believe that this film represented 9/11 by the buildings being destroyed, people running away, the dust clouds and people searching for loved ones which could cause the people to have mixed feelings about this film.

Blair Witch Project This also inspired my ideas although the only hand held camera footage is at the end of this trailer but you can also see the idea.

Visual Codes Mise-en-scene Settings – Woods with a river nearby, a police/research place Lighting – start of trailer not artificial, end of trailer artifical lighting used Colour – Black, greys to connote darkness and the unknown Dress Codes – white gloves (worn by the researcher), coat worn by teenager Gesture Codes – hand examining the camera and objects found showing what was found from the missing people, teenagers running Foreground – objects found, people running Background – setting (police/research place) , woods/forest Iconography – The camera found by the missing teenagers and the object with Blair witch on it.

Audio Codes Diegetic Sounds Talking like at a conference to the other actors, people screaming, voices Non Diegetic Sounds Added in sound, background music

Dress Codes Coats worn by the teenagers at the end, also jeans shown although hard to see as they are running away. White gloves worn by the person showing the objects to the media, probably wearing white coats or suits.

Gesture Codes Person holding the objects holding them steady so that the actors/actresses can see them and also so that they don’t get damages. People running away looking back like they are running away from something connotes they are scared and desperate to get away.

Technical Codes Camera shots Close ups on the objects, then the pan away, long shots from the cameraman/woman when the teenagers are running away. Editing Transitions – fade in and fading out, zooms slowly out and then back in for the important information, background sounds added in to create more horror/thriller On Screen Graphics Information in a blurry white font on a black background which could connote darkness with the black background Special Effects Transitions which are effects but not that special although they are effective as they fade out like the memory of the missing people. No other special effects are used.

What I have learnt from the 5 codes I have learnt that from analysing this trailer the codes are quite simple as they aren’t much of any which could connote that the film is scarier without the use of lots of actors/actresses and special effects but by the use of a basic camera and the unknown movies can still be very scary and known but still have little effects or editing done to the film therefore making the film authentic.

Blair Witch Project Information Blair witch projects was released on the 22 nd October 1999, which is about in October 1994, 3 student film makers disappeared in a woods near Maryland, 1 year later the footage was found. The film is directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez and they also produced it. Production company – Haxan Films Box Office Budget: $60,000 (estimated) Opening Weekend: $29,207,381 (USA) (1 August 1999) (1101 Screens) (wide release) Gross: $140,530,114 (USA) (7 November 1999) Information from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185937/ (box office, production company and information at the top of the page) Blair Witch Project was rated a 3 star on the first review website (imdb.com) but then 4 star on another film review website (Rotten tomatoes)

Blair Witch project Rating/audience BBFC ratings Horror - Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised. Language - There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘f***’). The strongest terms (for example, ‘c***’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable. The film was rated a 15 which means that the film “Passed '15' for frequent strong language and horror” (taken from the BBFC website) which means that it is suitable for older teenagers and adults which I think is the target audience for this film as it also features the events of 3 young people who tell their story. However this is unconventional of a horror as contains no blood or violence which means that this could be a psychological horror which would have to be for older people as they can understand the film and what is being interpreted as the horror is created with the use of diegetic sound and the suspense of not knowing what is scaring the actors. So the older audience can understand the film and become scared due to realism and the effect of the hand-held camera used so that the emotions of the actors is realised. Top information from http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/guidelines/15-2 Bottom information from http://www.bbfc.co.uk/BVF158873

Blair Witch Project Reviews "Blair Witch" should go down in history as proof that it doesn't take a big budget to make a great movie, in fact it may not even take a budget at all. The actors never put a foot wrong; the video diary form allows no artifice, so that as terror mounts, the dread is infectious. One of the scariest films of the 90s. It is a horror film that shows nothing -- no blood, no violence -- explains nothing, and seems to mean nothing, but scares you and keeps scaring you long after it is over. Reviews from http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blair_witch_project/

Blair Witch Project Audience Theories The Hypodermic syringe theory could be applied to this film by the producers creating the film so that the audience believe that the film is real due to the producers saying that the film is based on a true story which creates much more realism in the film which viewers might like. Moral panics would be applied for this film by the producers saying that the film is a “True Story” then people could start to panic that there is such a thing as the Blair with lurking about in a woods near Maryland which is why the film had a lot of media following it, to see if the Blair witch is real. The two step flow theory could be applied for this film by through the film reviewers, and website would provide lots of opinions which people who are thinking of watching the film would value and also other viewers would post opinions which might also be valued but not as much as film reviewers. Uses and Gratification could be used for this film by changing the viewers mood by say if someone was happy and then if they watched this they might feel scared or shocked, although for people who like the horror/thriller genre then this film would entertain the audience. The Polysemic readings could be applied for this film by the producers giving the idea to the audience that they want to take the meaning that there is something in the woods and they have proof through the video recording although the oppositional reading could be that the viewers could see this film as a spoof horror as there is no blood or violence conventional of a horror.

Visual Codes Settings – the house of the people videoing Lighting – Night vision, artificial to see the actors/actress clearly Colour – Night – Black/grey – Day lots of colours Dress Codes – Casual clothes (set in a house) Gesture Codes – scared (shocked facial expressions), anger shown by snarling teeth (woman possessed) Foreground – The house setting – Actor/actress Background – what is happening at night (door closing, woman being bit) Iconography – the camera videoing all the actions at night

Audio Codes Diegetic Sounds Voices (talking, whispering, crying, moaning, shouting) , Camera flicking on and off Non Diegetic Sounds Backgrounds music that plays quietly, added in sounds effects,

Dress Codes As this is located in the actors/actresses own home then the dress codes are casual (the man wears a brown t-shirt while the woman wears a black top), at night however they both change clothes as they wear pjamamas (black) which are conventional to wear in the night but also the colour black could connote darkness and the unknown.

Gesture Codes When the man is filming the woman he tries to hold the camera steady so that he can get a good shot, but once the first noise appears the cameraman is shaking as you can see from the shaky camera which creates realism and the audience knows he's scared, throughout the trailer the tone from the people is scared as they whisper and sound desperate to know what's going on.

Technical Codes Camera shots For when the man is holding it the shots are medium close up, but when they film at night the shots are long shot to show the audience the whole room to see what is happening Editing Added in sounds as well as emphasised sounds like bangs to make it more dramatic and scary for the audience. On Screen Graphics White/ mild green font, which flickers like a camera which denotes the way a camera works Special Effects None used

Paranormal Activity Information Paranormal Activity was released on the 25 th November 2009 in the United Kingdom (25 th the United States) s and is about a young, middle class couple move into a suburban 'starter' tract house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be somehow demonic but is certainly most active in the middle of the night. Especially when they sleep. Or try to. Stars - Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat and Mark Fredrichs Director – Oren Peli Production company – Blumhouse Productions Budget: $11,000 (estimated) Opening Weekend: $77,873 (USA) (27 September 2009) (12 Screens) Gross: $107,917,283 (USA) (17 January 2010) Genre – Horror/thriller rated a 15 Source of information http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179904/

Paranormal Activity Age Rating Rated a 15 by the BBFC due to strong language and threat (taken from the website) Source - http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/guidelines/15-2 Threat – a constant threat on the people in film which may cause them to be harmed or hurt badly. This film was rated a 15 due to the strong language used which is unacceptable for a 12 and 12A to strong swearing used which caused this film to be put in the 15 category, as well as language threat also caused this film to be put in the 15 category due to the harm throughout the film on one of the main characters. As for horror, this film's content exceeds the '12A/12' Guideline which states that 'Moderate physical and psychological threat may be permitted, provided disturbing sequences are not frequent or sustained.'. This film features frequent strong threat and menace from the opening minutes until the final scene as the couple's camera records off-screen sounds and manifestations that graduate in frequency and intensity to the point where the threat becomes tangible and physical. The lack of sadistic or sexualized elements meant that the film is permissible at '15', but the strength, frequency and sustained nature of the threat and terrorization meant that it was not allowable at '12A/12'. Source of bottom information - http://www.bbfc.co.uk/AFF263837

Paranormal Activity Reviews Peli teases the audience expertly. Scenes remain silent and still; not for long, but long enough to make you sweat. The terror of anticipation and its abrupt release, particularly in the final scene, is exhilarating. Paranormal Activity isn't an actor's film per se, but it wouldn't be as eerily effective without Featherston and Sloat's believable, lived in performances. I'd rank being stuck in a big quiet house at night as one of life's most easily unnerving experiences, and this movie capitalizes on it. Paranormal Activity is a remarkable achievement, but ultimately it's just not scary enough to be considered a horror classic. Peli's film revives the honorable tradition of chills-by-suggestion, whereby what we don't see is far scarier than what we do. Source of information - http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/paranormal_activity/

Paranormal Activity Audience Theories Hypodermic Syringe could be used in this film by they get an ‘Injection’ of the realism of the film and the producers to give them idea’s of the unknown and realism that could scare almost anyone. Moral panics could be used in this film by the reactions of what people have seen as if people are physically shaking and are scared for days after the film this could cause the media to ask the question – is this film too scary? The Two-step flow theory is applied here by the use of film review websites as well as the audience who see the film and post opinions on the web which is what the website Rotten Tomatoes is created for and then gives an overall opinion of the film based of reviews from other people. The Uses and Gratification Theory could be applied for this film by for fans who are fanatic about Horror films then this will change their mood from curious to shocked/scared at the end of the film, so this film is to entertain the audience and to scare them. The Polysemic readings could be applied here by that the producers want the audience to believe that the realism creates a atmospheric and almost relatable film with the meaning to scare people with the unknown. However the oppositional reading could be that people see this rather of a spoof maybe comedy rather than a horror and laugh at moments which would cause of people to look away.

Feedback from Ideas The feedback that I was given showed that I needed to add more notes to my first ideas about my tests which included my on-screen graphics test which featured some fonts that I thought would be conventional and suitable for my genre, and some suitable effects that are conventional of a hybrid genre (thriller and horror films).

Target Audience Questionnaire This screenshot shows the first questions of my Target Audience survey, these first questions are so that I know about the person that is answering the survey. Therefore know about characteristics before asking about media and film genre, as my target audience is older teenagers.

Target Audience Questionnaires (Part 2) This screenshot here is the 2 nd part of my target audience survey and is the questions relating to my chosen genre so that I obtain results from my target audience and what film genre's they like to watch. I also have question relating to the target audience watch if they watch trailer (what I’m creating) and my final questions relating to opinions about technique and my hybrid genre trailer (Thriller and Horror)

My Idea’s Questionnaire This screenshot shows my idea’s questionnaire which features questions about colour, names, location, camera/actors, music, diagetic and non-diagetic sounds which all relate and is useful information for my coursework. This way I can evaluate the responses and create a trailer suitable for what a proportion of my target audience have suggested.

My Idea’s Questionnaire part 2 This screenshots shows the last of my questions for my idea’s questionnaire. The last question is one of the most valuable as it will provide feedback on overall if people think that my ideas will make an effective trailer.

Results and analysis This shows the results that I collected and from this I have learnt that the majority of people surveyed like horror/thriller films. I have also included my ideas which shows that from this graph that people prefer real sounds rather than added in. Also this shows that people prefer the name Indecision to the other options. From these responses collected I can create a trailer which is suitable for the target audience and shown me which effects to use.

Results and analysis 2 This screenshot shows my next 2 questions and the most chosen answers. From this I can use the responses to create my storyboard so that it’s suitable for my target audience, as I will incorporate the most chosen answer and put that into my trailer. So with the majortiy of people choosing a certain response this will influence me to add this idea into my trailer.

Results and analysis 3 This screenshot is of the questions about music, tempo and volume and natural setting. This is important as I can learn from this what to add into the trailer to give it atmosphere and to scary the audience. So with this information, this has influenced me to add in what the target audience think is best.

Results and analysis 4 This is my final question from my questionnaire which is one of the most important as I asked the target audience overall did they think the idea will be effective and from this chart it shows that the majority of people said yes. From this I have learnt that my idea should be effective if I incorporate the idea’s that were chosen by the majority of people that I surveyed.

Audience Theory Applied to my text Hypodermic syringe theory, this would be applied to my text by from all the idea’s and questions that I added to my survey this would give the audience and ‘injection’ of that the trailer is going to be effective. The two-step-flow theory would be applied to my text by if an opinion leader like a teacher said that the trailer was good then this would cause then people to watch it and see what they think. Moral panic can’t really be applied to my text. The uses and gratification theory would be applied to my text by as the trailer is a thriller/horror then this would cause the viewer to scared or weary of what is going to happen and also the trailer could include enigma’s as people would be asking How? Or Why? The polysemic reading would be applied to my text by if the trailer isn’t filmed very well or edited very well people might laugh at the trailer and think that’s it’s like a spoof trailer rather than an atmospheric and scary thriller/horror trailer.

Target Audience Profile Age 15-18 Gender - Male or female Lifestyle - someone who enjoys watching films Income – low due to the target audience being students Media interests – Like horror/thriller films, enjoy watching films/TV Psychographics – Egoists as they want to get the most pleasure out of life, so with these films they change mood and enjoy scary films Demographics – Group E – Students not pensioners Likes – watching movies with friends, watching scary films, going on computers (answering questions) to see trailers and get people to watch films with them, realistic horror/thriller. Dislikes – Not very well made horror/thriller films, non realistic horror/thriller films.

Genre For my course work I had to choose what genre my coursework would be from the following: Horror, Thriller, Documentary and soap opera. Either print based (an front page or advert) which would be done using a computer and printing out or video based (trailer, 2 minute clip) which would be done using a camera and edited using the computers. The genre that I chose to do my coursework was Thriller but I think that my trailer (what I want to do) would become a hybrid genre with horror crossing over due to my desired locations and ideas. With the Thriller and Horror Genre I would need lots of dark scenes meaning I would have to film some in night mode (which could lose quality) but the trailer would be more realistic and atmospheric.

Ideas – Visual codes The video trailer than I plan to create would be created like the film Cloverfield (filmed with only the camera and you don’t see the person videoing) I also had the idea of filming various locations around Keynsham and some places outside so that I have a range of different setting (but these setting will have to be at night (Visual codes) to build tension conventional of a thriller genre. I would either use the school cameras to do this or if they were being used I would use my own. My idea is that I would not have any actors but voices so that the views don’t see anyone but I will film in different locations and with different voices that suggest my emotion (as I will be the one filming the video) The action codes would be unknown as conventional in Thriller/Horror films you don’t find out what causing the problems till the end (Todorov’s theory – Attempt to repair disruption)

Effects used i.e. Audio codes Quick cuts – To show different scenes. On Screen graphics – sharp, ghostly font, maybe a white/black or red colour. Background music – Effects or clips from songs to create suspense. Transitions – mostly fade or maybe another original transition. Non-Diagetic sounds with a bit of Diagetic so that there is a balance. Loud Sounds – to create atmosphere and emotion for the audience Non-diegetic sound that I could use

On Screen graphics As I want to create a trailer I would need some on screen graphics so the audience knows the name of the film that I am creating a trailer for. Conventional for the horror/thriller genre fonts are sharp edgy fonts so I have tested some which I think could fit into my trailer. FONT 1 – Font name – Chiller FONT 2 – Copperplate Gothic Black FONT 3 – Castellar FONT 4 – Engravers mt capitals FONT 5 – Matura MT Script FONT 6 – Reprise Stamp FONT 7 - Stencil

Storyboard (with script included

Media - Coursework research and planning

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