1) The document discusses the costume, camera work, titles, and target audience of a student's opening media sequence for a horror film. The costumes were plain to focus on the storyline rather than appearances. Camera work used common shots like close-ups to create tension. Titles were simple white text to not distract from the sequence. 2) The target audience is described as neurotic teenagers and young adults due to the dark, sinister themes and nighttime setting of the horror genre. The main character's age and urban setting aim to relate to international viewers. 3) Reflecting on creating the opening media sequence, the student learned about using video equipment and editing software as well as improving filming and storytelling

1. EVALUATION
Rebecca Roe

2. Question 1: In what ways does your
media use, develop or challenge forms
and convention of media products?
Costumes
The costumes for our opening scene were ultimately insignificant to our opening sequence, however could be
seen to challenge media products. For example, our costumes were very plain including the main protagonist of
the opening sequence appearing in, a white hoody, black jeans and a back pack.We used plain and simple outfit
ideas in order to direct the focus away from the costumes and towards the storyline. Furthermore, the idea of
using normal, everyday clothing gives the audience something to relate to and shows that the characters of the
film are portraying “ordinary” people. However, this challenges real media products as traditionally, characters
are shown to have more significant outfits in attempt to show their personality to the audience. Furthermore,
the “villain” of the opening sequence was shown to be wearing all black, this conforms and develops real media
product as it develops the idea of black representing a sinister colour and therefore foreshadowing the tragic
later events.

3. Camera work and props
For our camera angles we mainly developed the convention for example we used many common camera
shots such as, establishing shots of the setting, close ups of props such as the music box or the candle stick
and tracking shots to create suspense.We used many close ups in our sequence to create tension in the
storyline as the close ups of the rotating music box create a sense of mystery which lures not only the main
protagonist but also the audience in.
Titles
We decided that our titles would be very simple, this ensures that the audiences focus is not distracted from
the main focus of the sequence but however have payed credit to everyone that was involved.We did this
by using a white bubble font therefore the writing almost blends in with the screen and the text is not too
bold and distracting. However, our main title sequence is very sudden and fills the entirety of the screen;
therefore making a bold impression on the audience. However, the actual font that we used is very simple
with a plain black background, with white and slightly tinted red writing.This ensures that not too many
clues are given away containing the storyline and therefore leaving the audience guessing.

4. Question 2:How does your media product
present particular social groups?
The main character of our opening sequence belongs to a young middle class, this is established
through the grand establishing shot of the house showing where the young adult lives, the character
is shown to be fairly privileged therefore it is likely that a similar social class will watch the film as
they are likely to be able to relate to the character. It is possible that our opening sequence also
follows the stereotype of the typical teenager, this could be shown due to the girl walking alone at
night whilst listening to music through her earphones and carrying a backpack that is likely to contain
school books.Therefore, this creates the idea of a more edgy independent character, which some
teenagers may feel that they can relate to. Furthermore, it is likely that our opening sequence may
attract a social group of a more gothic/emo nature due to the genre being a horror; therefore our
opening sequence shows a very dark and sinister story, which means that younger people are likely
to watch this in order to experience a thrill.

5. Question 3:What kind of media institute
would distribute your product and why?
Finding a distribution company for our film would be challenging due to our film being low budget and
our company being undiscovered.Therefore a likely distribution company that would distribute our
film would be “Hammer film productions Ltd”. Hammer films is a British film production and
distribution company that was founded in 1934, over the years they have made many well known films
however they have practically dominated the horror film market.
This distribution company would be suitable for our product as firstly, they are a British company which
is suitable due to our product being set in an upper class town in England. Furthermore, our genre of a
horror is perfect for the typical genre of hammer films production as previous films they have
distributed include “The woman in Black” and “Let me in”. In addition, this film company is not a
mainstream production or distribution company, therefore this is suitable for our product due to
having a low budget and being of a small production scale, therefore our product is not expected to be
a typical blockbuster film.

6. Question 4: What would be the
target audience for your product?
Our target audience would be aimed at a neurotic teenagers to early adults. this is because our
opening sequence is in the genre of horror and so shows many gothic themes such as the idea of the
villain. In addition our opening sequence was set at night therefore this creates a sinister idea and
builds tension therefore relating to the neurotic side of our target audience. In addition the fact that
our sequence is set in an urban setting means that our audience is likely to be international as many
countries will have similar environments, therefore our audience will be able to relate. Furthermore,
our target audience is likely to be in secondary school or university due to the main character being
around a similar age group. In addition, we are to set the viewing age of our film as a 15, it would not be
suitable for children as due to the genre being a horror it may show some disturbing images and
therefore mentally harm them.

7. Question 5: How did you
attract/address your audience?
One of the main techniques we used to address our audience was through mise en scene and sound, for
example, as the sequence begins the lighting of the product is immediately very dark and dull.This is an
attempt to attract the target audience through the instant foreshadowing that this film is in the genre of
a horror. Furthermore, the sound is also a method to address the audience as much like the lighting, the
sound track of swan lake in the back ground adds a gloomy, sinister feel to the sequence. In addition the
swan lake music acts as a backing track to the protagonist slowly exploring the house, therefore creating
juxtaposition to emphasise the suspension that is trying to be created.
Another method we used to address the audience was use establishing shots of the house, this lets the
audience know where the film is going to be set and therefore giving them something to identify with if
they live/come from a similar setting.
Furthermore, our main protagonist was dressed in a north face hoodie, therefore north face would be
likely to create an advert of the film containing footage from the film, this therefore is likely to attract
customers of this brand to buy tickets for the film.

8. Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies
during the process of constructing your product?
Before we began our task of creating the opening sequence my knowledge of technology was very
little, therefore I learnt a lot about using the NikonCoolpix LA10, one of the difficulties we came
across whilst using this camera was that the built in light was not suitable for our filming.Therefore,
in order to eliminate this challenge we had to use artificial lighting, however this made our footage
look slightly unnatural and created many shadows across the room making it obvious to the
audience where the light source was originating from. Furthermore, I also learnt how to use the
software of premier, for example I learnt how to edit text such as the title screen names over the
existing footage, I also learnt how to cause them to fade in and out. Another challenge that we
came across whilst editing our footage was that premier had updated half way through our editing
process, therefore we had to quickly adapt to the newly updated software in order to proceed with
out opening sequence.

9. Question 7: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 my preliminary task, I can see that my knowledge has progressed a lot; for example, I have learnt
that footage may need to be filmed multiple times in order to be able to judge the correct lighting and camera
angle. In my preliminary task we included two many cuts during the match on action in order to get the camera
angles correct, however if we attempted to re-film this section the match on action would’ve looked a lot
smoother and wouldn’t of needed to include as many cuts. In addition, we also put a lot more thought into each
shot of our opening sequence and direct it to our target audience.This made our sequence look a lot more
professional. Furthermore, I have learnt that editing the contrast and brightness of the footage can significantly
affect the mood and tension of the shots, this is something that we used for our opening sequence to add
suspense which adds to the horror genre of our scene. In addition, through adding to my knowledge of using the
software of premier I have learnt that adding effects such as fading in or jump cuts makes the footage look a lot
more professional. Lastly, I have overall learnt how to work well in a group and to assign each role to a specific
team member in order to get the work done quickly but thoroughly.