Final Version of film opening

http://youtu.be/DDGs_9JLmTA

Media coursework evaluation

Media coursework evaluation

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

Our media production uses several conventions of horror and thriller genres. For example in the opening of our film we have used music which is atmospheric. This shows the horror convention straight away and the audience knows that the film they are watching is of a horror genre. Another factor that shows the audience that we are using horror conventions is the fact we haven’t chose to use any dialogue. This then means that the only thing the audience can hear is the tension of the music. This created suspense and the audience will be engaged in the film. If this is the case then the films horror conventions are effective. Another way in which our film opening sequence uses a horror convention is the opening titles are written in a gothic way. They then disappear in a shadow; this represents the darkness in our film which represents the horror atmospheric genre we have used in the opening. The studio titles also appear in a ghostly fashion as the smoke in the background is a donative and represents a ghostly figure furthermore adding to the horror convention. The ghostly figure in the studio title is a foreshadowing event and gives the audience an idea of what is likely to happen in the film.

Our horror film challenged horror conventions in some ways. This can be seen when we adapted some Indy music and incorporated into our film opening. We put this between the atmospheric horror sounds which built up tension. This challenged horror conventions because not many horror films change music genre half way through a scene. This in my opinion made the film a bit different from other horror films and it makes it stand out if you challenge horror conventions too. Another way in which our film opening challenges the horror convention is by the fact our lead character is less physically fit than the stereotypical Hollywood actor in a horror film.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our film opening presents particular social groups in many ways. The first of which is the age and gender of the characters present in our film. We have used a 22 year old white male who is in a middle social class and is probably a B class citizen. He currently lives in the inner city of London, and is studying History as a degree. He has come to watch his parents’ house while they are on holiday.  His parents' house is in a traditional English village in which the majority of its population are white British couples who have retired to the country side. This also goes against the convention of horror as horror films are generally set in the city and as people try to escape to the country, they also try to escape the horror of the city. Our character is a non-religious young male who takes advantage of his parents’ home. This can be seen when he plays on computer game half way through the film opening. This shows the audience that he isn’t the most intellectual character which is often portrayed by reading books and studying in any spare time he has available.

Our film opening also represents two time periods. The first is the 21^st century which is portrayed by the use of technological devices such as laptops and game consoles. The second is in the fourteen hundreds. This was when the house that the major character lives was built.  This era was greatly dominated by the great plague which affected the population growth and the downfall of the economy in that particular era. This ghostly figure lived in the house of our major character and therefore visits the house every night as a way of trying to communicate with the modern way of life. This is how we have mixed the 2 time periods. By doing this we have merged the modern era and added a ghostly twist to the plot.

What kind of media institute might distribute your media product and why?

One type of media institute that might distribute our media product could be the company ‘Hammer’. This institute specialises in horror films. ‘Hammer’ was launched in 1934 and their first film was called ‘The public life of Henry the Ninth’. Today, Hammer has an active development slate across diverse genres sourced out of both the United States and Europe. This media institute might distribute our media product because they develop horror films suitable for a range of people. Another reason they might distribute our media product is because our film would link with the theme of ‘Hammer house of horror’. Because the ‘Hammer’ organisation has recently released a couple of films, the first for 30 years, they might be planning on starting to make their media corporation big again. This means that it would help them as well as us.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for our film is for people over the age of 15 therefore we have given it the age certificate of 15. This has been done because we feel that our film doesn’t include any severe violence and there are no scenes that include extremely graphic content. By making it a 15 rated film it allows us to focus on a larger target audience than if we gave it an 18 certificate rating. This is because more of the youthful population can watch our film. According to a recent study by Lovefilm.com the horror genre tends to focus on the male gender. We haven’t ruled out the possibility of females watching our production though. The thing that puts the majority of females off a horror film is the gory scenes that are often included. Our film does not include any of these scenes so therefore we have opened up our target audience to a wider range of people. Generally the more people a media conglomerate can get to watch their films, the more money they will generate. Our film opening is suitable for the majority of audiences as we have gone by a questionnaire we did before making the film suggesting there should be a twist in our film. If we made this point heard to the audience, we are more likely to get more people viewing our film as we have gone by what the majority of our audience wants.

How did you attract/address your audience?

We have attracted our audience in several ways. The first way was by adding incidental music which the frequency and loudness of the sound increased throughout the film. This built up tension and suspense and kept the audience watching. The music that is played in a horror is very important because if you get the music wrong and it doesn’t build up the tension that is needed to keep the audience watching then it could mean people don’t want to watch your film. The main thing we aimed to do was make the deep tense music start from the beginning to create an atmosphere that kept the audience watching.

Another way in which we kept the audience watching actually by using a certain storyline. Because we made it so that when someone knocks at the door and no-one was there, this automatically makes people want to know who is at the door. This coupled with the incidental atmospheric music makes people want to know what will happen next. We tried to create an impression that our major character was innocent. This would make the audience feel sorry for the major character and therefore it would make them relate to him. If this is the case it would mean the audience wants to make sure that the major character was going to be ok, so would continue to watch the opening of our film.

We have ended our film with a bit of a cliff hanger. This was mainly due to the fact that we wanted our audience to each have their own views on what was going to happen. This addresses our audience and therefore gives them more of a feel of the film. Another reason we did this was to make the audience want to know what was going to happen. If we were to create the rest of the film it would make them want to watch it. In a real life circumstance this would create more money for the media institution.

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

We have learnt how to operate the camera appropriately and correctly. We have also learnt how to create smooth tracking shots by using a dolly. This helps us create more camera angle shots and therefore it helps us create a more freely flowing film. We used various equipment to help create a mood in each shot. By this I mean that by filming while holding a camera it gives a sense of uneasiness and we can then apply that mood to our film which helps set the scene and the atmosphere. Ultimately this gives the audience a feel of what it is like to be in that specific scene; furthermore this adds tension and suspense in our film opening. We used a tripod in some scenes to make each shot more focused and prevent any possibility of movement of the camera.

One of the most important methods of technology we used was the internet. We used the internet to get music and sound effects onto our film from a website. I learnt that how quick and simple it was to download this music and sound effects and add them to our film. This was important to the construction of our film as we could sometimes work around the sound effects to make each scene look synchronised and therefore making it better to watch for our audience.

Another method in which we have used technology is through the use of editing our film. We have used a very good program which was called ‘Adobe after Effects’. This program was the main program we used the add the titles into our production and edit music, sound effects and edit the film. This program was relatively easy to use and meant we could just keep all of our film in one place. There were a few tutorials which we followed to start of with so that we understood the principles of using this program.

We have used a website called ‘Blogger’. This has allowed us to keep a record of the things we have learnt and it has meant we can keep everything in order. The advantage to using this site is that it can help us while we are in the planning stage of our film. We could record ideas and refer back to the site when we were actually creating our film opening. The blog meant that we could have a clear indication of what was happening at what time and at what place.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

The preliminary task has taught me many things. The main thing I have learnt from it is the 180 degree rule. Without knowing this we could have made a major mistake in our film and therefore we could have lost vital marks. We have also learnt about the many camera angles that a film must contain and therefore we have included and incorporated them into our film. We have tried to use a wide range of camera angles to make our film look more professional. One thing that we did in the preliminary task was learn how to perfect the match on action shot. This was a shot in which we filmed a movement of someone from two different angles. It makes the film look more professional as it shows the editing skills that we could achieve. We used this knowledge and applied it to our film. We used a series of match on action shots in our film to give it a better viewing experience. If the audience is constantly watching a film from one camera angle it will get boring. If we change the camera angles it means that it keeps the audience entertained and more importantly, it keeps them in suspense of what’s going to happen next in our horror film.