Evaluation Question 4

The audience for my media product:

Our primary target audience young adults in between the age of sixteen to nineteen, any gender and any race as I obtained from my film audience survey. My initial example of how a typical person from my target audience would look like was something like this:

This is Mina, She is seventeen years old and lives in London. She enjoys watching TV, going to concerts and going to the cinema whenever there are new films out.


The kind of audience we would want to attract are courageous people willing to challenge and fear their minds. This widens our audience as Horror/Thrillers are the best genre to give this feeling to their audience and is additionally a very popular film genre.

Mina's favourite films are films like 'Insidious', 'Prisoner', 'Scream', 'Sinister', 'Gravity' and 'The Ring'. Mina went to the cinema to view all of these and then later bought them on DVD to watch domestically. Her favourite TV shows are shows such as, 'Vampire Diaries', 'Pretty Little Liars', 'Daria' and 'Skins'

The predominant audience for most of Mina's favourite TV shows and horror films are teenagers. For example, the age group that most 'Vampire Diaries' fans falls into is 13-18 (gathered from here: http://vampirediariesonline.com/polls/what-age-group-do-most-vampire-diaries-fans-fall-into/) and the target audience for the film 'Sinister' is mainly young adults which means that there is a greater chance of Mina enjoying our product as it is evident that her social group enjoyed other horror films and TV shows of the same nature.

I feel our film would appeal to Mina as she is a curious, daring teenager who enjoys and is open to going out to watch the latest films; she is especially eager to go out to watch the latest horror films as most of her favourites are essentially horror films. Our horror film has similarities to some of her favourite horror films such 'Sinister' and 'The Ring' therefore, if our film was shown at her local cinema, Mina would be attracted to it.

Target Audience Profile

From the results of my film audience survey, I was able to gather the following about my target audience:

1. They are females aged mainly between 16-19. I imagine them to look something like this:

          

     

     2.  Their favourite are films like 'Saw', 'The Ring' and 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' 

              

      

      3. The type of victims they prefer to see in a horror film are young adults or dumb blondes

           

       4. The type of scary non-diegetic sounds they would prefer to here is heartbeats. Like this: 

       5. They would like horror films to make them nervous and scared

       6.  Horror films appeal to them more when it is based on a real life event

       7.  Gruesome aspects within horror films (such as weapons, gore, and blood) "kind of" frighten them

              

        8. There is nothing they feel would be "too much" to watch in a horror film

        9. They would prefer to see horror films set in a house

             

The information I obtained from my survey results will help my group and I when thinking about the conventions and codes we want to develop or challenge whilst filming our horror film opening. It will also help us with the sort of material and visuals we will include in our opening that will be suitable for a sixteen year old to view but also developed enough for those older than the age of sixteen.

Here is a link to my survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DHCH8HJ

Evaluation Question 7

What I feel I have learnt in the progression from my preliminary task to my horror film opening:                           

                              Preliminary task                     Horror film opening

                 

                 

Filming our preliminary task was thought through far less than when we filmed our horror film opening. Whilst filming our horror opening, we really thought about about different camera angles, framing and transitions that were essential to portray our characters in a certain way or have a certain affect given onto our audience whereas filming our preliminary task was just a matter of trying to incorporate different camera angles for the "practice" without a specific target audience.

The first photo from our preliminary task where we tried to record an over-the-shoulder shot in comparison to the over-the-shoulder shot we recorded for our horror film opening, is an example of our progression. The preliminary task photo doesn't seem as effective as the horror film photo as we we can see other characters in the frame (other than the necessary student and teacher) as opposed to the photo beside it which is from our horror film opening, showing a far more precise over-the-shoulder shot which we used to show specific meanings and to show an image of our protagonist drawing out a relative picture that our audience could also view from our protagonist point of view too.

The second photos both show 'two shots' that we tried to film in our preliminary and horror film opening. The first one from our preliminary task showing the student and teacher was was filmed using a medium shot but kept the student character seated and the teacher character standing up to represent the roles whereas in our horror film opening, the photo is showing the two victims both on the same level filmed from a high-angle to display their weakness and position as the victims in the film is a much clearer shot than the preliminary one as we was able to use mise-en-scene in order to portray the characters in the exact way we wanted to. This taught me that filming 'two shots' is essential to have both characters portrayed in a certain way to display their position in comparison to the other character


The third photos both show clocks and suggesting the passing of time. Whilst filming the time for our preliminary task, we didn't entirely think about how the watch would look, whether our audience would be able to see the time or even if our audience would be able to realise the relevance of the watch being shown, which resulted in the scene being unclear unless dialogue was used. However, whilst filming our horror film opening, we was able to more suitably film the clock in a way that was clear to our audience and relevant to our film. As we knew what we needed to do different from our preliminary task whilst filming the clock, we made sure to clear the space around the clock so that the audience could focus on only the clock; film the clock for a few moments to watch the time change to a specific time (3 am); and then continue to film the specific material in correlation to the clock.

The last preliminary task photo shows the character from a low-angled shot  which we did to emphasize his superiority. We also tried to fit as much of the character we could into the frame which was slightly difficult due to the space we had. The two photos taken from our horror film opening besides this is a shot where we decided to use a tilt in order to show all of our protagonist in a cryptic way as opposed to trying to fit our villain in one frame. We felt that shooting our protagonist from the toes upwards to slowly introduce her would create a nervous feel onto our audience which is crucial in horror films and therefore conforms to the conventions.

This demonstrates our progression in film making and the different mind state that we had when filming our horror film opening as we really focused on filming to create meaning and different emotions.

Final Horror Film Opening

Here is a link to my final horror film opening 'Carolina' which we made some more slight improvements to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmB4IH47TYs

Evaluation Question 6

What I've learnt about technologies from the process of constructing my product:

YouTube: I used YouTube to upload my preliminary task, animatics video, my rough cuts and final product. Using YouTube as the main technology for these, and also to search for sound effects and inspiration from other Media A Level work, I realised that it is one of the easiest ways to share any material or media projects that individuals may be working on and just as easy for individuals to view these things for their own benefits and viewing purposes. YouTube was a large help in gaining inspiration and putting my material out.

Final Cut: I used final cut to edit everything that needed to be uploaded to YouTube. As I had never used Final Cut before, everything was very advanced to me and so I had to learn more about this software than I did with any other technology. Throughout the course of using Final Cut, I had learnt how to: add titles to my material, edit videos effectively, add sound to my material and add transitions to my material. Using Final Cut allowed for more creativity and clarification to be put into our material.

Prezi: Prezi was used as a presenting tool for our horror film opening ideas. We created a Prezi presentation to easily display our horror film opening pitch where we presented where our inspiration came from, who our target audience is, our ideas for locations, our ideas for props and costumes and how we would overcome any problems. Prezi being a virtual canvas to map out ideas, let me know that it is important to gather and share ideas for products in order to really get a clue for what may work and what may not work and what ideas could be improved and what could be removed.

Blogger: I created a blog where I was able to share all my research and planning and also view my teachers' blog created for A Level Media students in order to view homework and coursework etc. I learnt how easy it is to publish material on Blogger and so it encouraged me to do more research and analysis.

Free SFX: I created an account on Free SFX to search for most of the sounds used in our horror film opening and legally download them for free so that they could be be inserted into our material on final cut. I was able to find all the Foley sound and most of the diegetic sound needed for our opening on the Free SFX - this made the search for sound extremely easy and straightforward. Before finding the website I wasn't sure about the policies to copyright sound and how we would find free sound, so searching for websites that provide free sound notified me that there are many sources for sound all over the internet that are copyright free and easily downloadable to use in each's own material.

Survey Monkey: Being able to create a questionnaire on Survey Monkey to gain information in order to help construct my product in a way that would cater to my audiences horror film preferences was very helpful when brain storming conventions we would challenge and use in our horror film opening. Creating a survey taught me how essential it is to gain preferences and expectations of any material that I am constructing in order to appeal to a mass market.

Evaluation Question 3

Kind of media institution that might distribute my media product: 

In order for our film 'Carolina' to reach the heights of Hollywood glossy films we would like our extremely low budgeted film to start off being screened at film festivals such as 'London Short Film Festival' which is recognized as the "debut showcase for cutting-edge UK independent film." Supporting and showcasing some of the UK's very best raw talent.


With this being a success, 'Carolina' may become more mainstream and could then be shown at independent cinema operators such as Picturehouse owning local arty cinemas such as 'Ritzy' in Brixton and 'Clapham Picturehouse' where our film can be shown to the local community.

       

'Carolina' could also be screened at multiplexes such as Odeon, Vue and Cineworld where it will have the chance to be viewed by a larger audience and therefor have more awareness about it gained.

      

After it's run at the cinemas, we would release 'Carolina' on DVD to be available to everyone to be bought in supermarkets, HMV and book stores (such as WHSmith). Meaning those whom have previously seen
the film in cinemas and enjoyed it, will now have the chance to purchase it in digital form making the process of watching the film more ideal and available for them domestically. Selling our digital disc version of our film in those shops will again, help it reach a larger audience.
'Carolina' will also be available to watch of legal internet media streaming sites such as 'Netflix' and 'Lovefilm' which is internationally available meaning our film will have a larger audience internationally as well as  locally.

'Paramount Pictures UK' would be the ideal distribution company that our production company 'Coldgate Productions' would seek to employ. Paramount Pictures have distributed huge successes, such as horror films, 'The Ring', 'Friday the 13th' and 'The Devil Inside' which share common similarities to our film. And although they are a British Company, they are based in Hollywood which will stretch our film's recognition even further internationally.

Evaluation Question 2

How my media product represents particular social groups:

My main character, being the villain in our horror film opening but also youngest character, Carolina is quite a deceiving representative of the children social group that she fits into. Children are often represented as young, innocent and naive characters hence the reason why we chose neutral white coloured clothes to put her in as it conforms to the stereotype of children having this virtuous side to them.

However, this was a deceptive chose we decided to make as she is subtly but clearly the evil protagonist in our film, making our audience get the feeling that they want to sympathize with her but not for long before we are introduced to her harmful capabilities. We wanted our audience to feel uncomfortable with the representation of our protagonist.

In comparison to Carolina, the character Samara Morgan from 'The Ring' is the look we wanted to try and achieve with Carolina. The protagonist from 'The Ring' had the same affect on their audience that we wanted to impose on our audience. The protagonist clearly being very young and wearing costume that connotes an uneasy feeling as it implies the opposite of the what/who the character really is.
Because of this, both protagonists represent their social group (children) in a negative way.

Evaluation Question 1

Ways in which my media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products:

The title of the film

When choosing the title for our horror film opening, my group and I wanted to keep it simple and a reflection of the real problem in the movie. Such as the real media product 'Carrie' which is a horror film named after the main problem/protagonist in the film. 

Title font and style

Just like the simplicity of the title, we chose to keep the fonts white which also purposely mirrors the protagonist in our film as she is wearing a simple white gown to emulate her "purity".This challenges the conventions of horror films as actual opening sequences often have titles written in spooky, bloody (often red) chilling fonts. We Kept the title on a black background like many horror films as we thought with the simplicity of the title and font, some form of suspense and the dark, spooky horror theme needed to be portrayed in it. 

Setting/location

From my initial horror film conventions research, the most traditional settings for horror films were those set in dark abandoned, isolated places which emphasise on isolation and the victims being alone without any help. The two settings that are shown in my horror film opening both challenge and develop these conventions. As shown in the first photo, our first scene is set in broad day light, challenging the conventions as we chose to not go with the typical dark rainy atmosphere but instead subtly try to assure the audience before they are introduced to the harsh mysteries of Carolina. Also, so that our audience are fascinated in finding out who Carolina is and why they are watching the mysterious young girl swing obscurely in broad day light, we decided to have the villain in plain view - not sneaking in a dark corner as seen in a large amount of horror films. 

However, the second photo shows the second location of our horror film opening which is set in Carolina's bedroom. Which is a popular location for horror films, as many are set in the homes of the victim's. By using the bedroom as a location, we tried to bring on a sense of normality - Carolina being a young girl and living in her family house which hopefully made our audience somewhat uncomfortable and nervous with the thought "no one is safe; even in their own home" subconsciously lingering in the back of their mind.

Costume and Props

My group and I knew the right costumes were essential as they let the audience know what kind of character they are but we decided to challenge the conventions by dressing our villain in white as a lot of horror film villains are dressed in dark colours to imply that they are dangerous. We dressed our villain in white to reflect on her youthful age, and the innocence and purity of children but to also have the villain stand out with a distinct look to make it easier for the image of the villain to stay in our audiences head for longer than they want. 

The victims in our horror film opening are dressed in light dull colours as shown in the second photo to emphasise that they are the victims and to evoke sympathy from the audience. This generally conforms to the conventions. 

We chose to put a red anklet on our villain to just act as a witchery charm and signal to the audience who she is what horrific events she has caused throughout the film. We chose the anklet to be the colour red as it typically suggest danger and blood etc. 

Camerawork and editing

Throughout our horror film opening, we filmed Carolina using different shot types and camera angles to draw the audience into the action. The photo shows a specific frame where we chose to use the dissolve transitioning tool to indicate to our audience that what was just shown previously was a foreshadow of the future/a dream. This develops the horror film conventions as dissolve transitions are often used in order to create an eerie uneasy feeling. We also used; a pan shot to reveal our dead victims to the audience as we felt it would be a mysterious way to expose them; a tilt to reveal our villain from the toes upwards, and many close-ups of our villain to connote fear and suspicion onto our audience.

Story and how the opening sets it up

We wanted to challenge the horror film conventions so we thought of an opening that would ensure the audience have to continue watching in order to really get a sense of what is happening and how our young villain is going to carry out what she is told/showed to do in her dream. We purposely chose to show the outcome of her future killings in the opening so that the audience are left wondering why and how the victims were killed, which forces the first 30 seconds of our opening to be a slight foreshadow of the rest of the film. This develops some forms of real horror films such as 'Sinister' which was our main inspiration for our opening.

Genre and how the opening suggests it

Throughout our opening there is spooky tension building non-diegetic sounds playing to help frighten and create a more intense feeling on the audience. This is always essential in most horror films and therefore we conformed to the conventions of sounds in horror films. The sounds we used makes it obvious that our opening falls into the horror genre. 

As well as that, the lighting in parts of our horror film opening suggests the thriller/horror genre of our film as we decided to film parts of it with very faint light - adding to the spookiness of the opening. 

My group and I also used various camera angles and editing techniques such as high angled shots, tilts, close-ups and dissolves which again, helps suggests the horror genre of our opening. 

How characters are introduced

The protagonist of our horror film opening is introduced obscurely with a medium close up shot which we intentionally chose to do with the hazy picture as we wanted to portray uncertainty and anxiety which conforms to horror film conventions as suspense and tension is essential. 

Our victims were introduced using a panning shot, where they were mysteriously introduced, slowly revealing mise-en-scene; their lifelessness shown in their faces, the setting and the costume and colours they are wearing. Our panning shot was also filmed from a slightly higher angle making the audience look down upon them, subtly suggesting that they are clearly the victims as well as grasping this from the mise-en-scene. This instantly gives the spooky/horror vibe horror films are guaranteed to exhibit.