Media evaluation presentation

By Courtney Taylor

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products ?

• Before we planned  the opening to our film we did research into what normally goes into a horror opening. We look at the openings to The Blair witch project , Clover-field etc.  The conventions of a horror film normally involve an isolated location ( the woods , a barn or the basement…) In our film opening we thought that the location we chose was one that is normally used in a horror , making t a convention, It also adds to the creepiness of the film and how they audience reacts. Other conventions that are normally used are POV shots  ( point of view shots) In our opening we used POV shots of when the camera is running . We thought that if we did this it would allow the audience to feel involved and grab their attention making them want to watch the rest of the film.  

• We thought that music was a big factor and convention that was used in all horror openings. Music in my opinion is one of the strongest conventions used in openings. Music intrigues people and interests the audience, keeps them watching.It also works well to build tension or create a mood to go with the rest of the opening. Commonly in horror openings and in mine non-diegetic sound is used  to start to unease and capture the audience. It also allows for the audience to question what is going on before they see what is happening. 

• Voice -over's are used to introduce the narrative. it is always descriptive and helps the audience to engage in the plot and grow to have feelings towards the characters .We used a voice-over in our opening because we thought that this would connect the audience with the plot and leave them wanting to know what happens to the teenagers.

• The credits are presented at the beginning and list the most important people involved in the film. This includes directors , actors, cameramen and writers. The font and colour of the text normally links with the chosen genre, they also appear in a creepy way. For example in our opening the font is white and they flicker on the screen then switch to the next name. We thought that the credits had to relate to the genre of our opening because it makes the film come together well and also is a way of informing the audience about the type of genre.

• My media product does well in using the conventions of a horror film. I thought that if we followed the rules of a horror film our would relate to the genre and the audience would be more engaged to watch.

How does your media product represent particular social groups ?

Teenagers in our type of chosen genre , Horror,  are usually seen as naive and oblivious as to what happening around them. In our media product we use the stereotype of girls and boys. In a horror film the boys are normally always presented as the ‘hero’  and the leader of the film, they are the person that the girl normally follows and listen to in order to survive. Girls in a horror movie are normally presented as the ‘damsel in distress’ and the most likely to die but in some horror films they break that stereotype and show them as the final survivor or the actual hero.

In our media product we stick to the stereotypes. For example in our opening when we are talking to josh about the map he becomes offensive and aggressive, this is how males are usually presented , as aggressive and dominate.  Also when you see me and josh running at the end of the opening it is josh that is ahead of me , this represents how girls are normally the first to be caught or killed. We thought that if we stuck to the stereotypes the audience would have more input on who is going to die. For example in most horror films it is normally the promiscuous girl who is the first to die and the audience can predict this

Examples of stereotypes in horror movies

The jock is typically a very cocky character. He often has a girlfriend or close female companion with him. He normally dies by being cocky. He will often go after the killer , inevitably getting himself killed.

The ‘good girl’. The good girl is the last person left alive in a horror movie. If she dies at all. She is an innocent girl or appears to be so. Throughout the movie , she often hides or run from the killer . She is normally the one that kills the monster or killer.

The ‘promiscuous one’ is often the girlfriend of the Jock. She is normally the first to die in the movie, within the first 5 minutes. She usually hears a sound nearby and calls out to who she thinks is her boyfriend. She is either burned or stabbed to death.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media

product and why ?

I think the most realistic way of distributing this movie would be an internet release. Now days, people out age, our target audience mostly watch films online instead of going to the cinema. For example sites like YouTube, Netflix's , or even illegal sites . This would make it accessible to people worldwide but without a big production company it will not become a massive movie hit.

Realistically, our media product is not going to me a major promotion picture . We are really happy with the end result though and I think “Blumhouse” productions will be a good choice because they have produced films like Paranormal activity and Insidious ect.

I think a good low budget company would be the BBC because they produce films that are low budget and not always movie blockbuster sellers. Considering our film is low budget made because we didn’t have professional equipment or editors it would relate to films that the BBC have produced.

Who would be the audience for your media product ?

We feel that our target audience is aged between 15-35

As a group we classified our film as a 15. We knew from the beginning that our film was going to be a horror because most horrors are classified as a 15. We found this out by looking on the British Board of Film Classification website. We knew our opening wasn’t going to be child friendly as in the opening and the rest of the film there would be scene of violence and also disturbing moments that feature gore and blood. So in the we came to the conclusion that a 15 would be best suited for the film because it allows us to feature flashes of up-close images of blood and also allows us to feature violence and action which a 12 cannot.

How did you attract / address your audience ?

• One way that we attracted our audience was by the type of genre we chose. By choosing to create a horror film we felt that all the people interested in horror films would want to watch it. by doing this it allowed us to gain and know our target audience and also gave us an insight into what are opening should look like.

• Another way that we attracted our audience and their feedback was through handing out questionnaires. We created a questionnaire using Survey Monkey to help gain the audiences opinion on our film opening . We thought that by having the audiences opinion it would gain us an insight into what the audience look for , like the best or don’t really like in a horror film. This would also help us to improve next time when embracing the horror genre again.

• In order to keep the audience interested in our film opening , we tried to create suspense in them wanting to know the rest of the film. We did this by ending the opening with a scream, we thought that by doing this it would make the audience question what has happen And who is dead or alive. We also included creepy and heart bounding music to capture the audiences attention. We knew that music was a key part to the audiences interest and when doing research into horror openings we found out that music helps to draw the audience in and gives them hints at to what is going to happen, good or bad.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product ?

• During the whole filming process of our opening , and even preliminary task I have learnt a lot about filming and editing. Before I started this project I had never had any experiences with editing or trying to use camera angles/shots to convey emotion or how a character is presented. For example by using a close-up of a persons face it emphasizes their emotional state. A close up is used in very emotional scenes and causes for the viewer to become involved and share their feelings.

• we all knew how to use a camera before but none of us had done much in the terms of editing . We used Serif Movie plus X6 for editing our final footage and it was mine and Hollies first time using the software ( Josh had used the software before) once we had finally comes to grips with using the editing software It became easier to do or change certain things that we didn’t like. For example we learnt how to cut scenes or overlap them with other scenes. We also learnt how to import videos or sounds into the editing software , and we also learnt how to include credits and make them appear how we wanted them.

• We also learnt a lot about camera techniques , like the 180 degree rule or match on action ect. We found that after a few times of trying to use these technique it came easier to us and easier to include for next time.

Editing software and equipment

Serif MoviePlus X6. This is the editing software we used , it really helped us to make our opening look professional and like other horror films on the market.

Nikon D3100 camera. This was the camera we used , it really helped us in creating the shaky and blurred affect of the picture. We didn’t use a tripod because we wanted a normal affect like a documentary , we also thought that it would make the audience feel more involved in what's happening.

We used a laptop to install the software onto because this was easier than using a PC or Mac because it gave us more control over the screen and was easier to upload onto YouTube to embed onto our blog.

Final statement/outcome

• After finally seeing our opening in full I am happy with the outcome. I was pleased at how everyone in our group got on with their task and this showed in our final result.

• I think that by changing our original opening idea was overall a good idea because by doing this we didn’t give to much of the plot away and also was easier to shoot because of there being less Mise en scene involved and it actually felt more like a horror film. If I had to do this again I would try to include more camera angle and shots because I felt that with our opening being cam-corded ( hand held) it made it harder to include good solid angle shoots , for example a high angle or low angle camera shot.

• Overall I am pleased with our opening and we had fun filming it as well.