Evaluation
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or change forms and conventions of real media products?
From my research about the conventions of horror that I have done, I found out about the different ways in which I could create my film and the different sub-genres of horror that I could combine into my film. During my research of different horror conventions I found out the origins of horror and why people find horror films appealing. This helped me to have some idea as to how I could create my film and what kind of horror it could be. I also researched other genres of film like teen films and thrillers. I did this so that when creating my film I would be able to try and combine some of those conventions into my film. In researching about teen films it made me choose on what type of audience that I wanted the film to be aimed at. Looking at all the genres that I researched and all the conventions I decided that my film was going to be a teen horror with conventions that would suit. I had several ideas about what it was going to be about after looking at 3 examples of teen horror films. First I decided that the setting of my film was going to be at night time because it would create certain feelings of being scared because of the idea that you don’t know what is out there. To suit it to my target audience I decided that the film was going to be about a group of friends in a situation where they are not in their everyday life. After noting down some ideas, my final decision was that a group of friends would be out on a camping trip somewhere that they don’t really know. The way in which I combined conventions of horror into this idea was that at some point during the time the teenagers were in the tent they would start to here noises which are unfamiliar to them, which then starts to build tension in the characters minds as to what is creating the noises. At first they took the noises at nothing then it happens again which further builds up the tension in the characters minds and makes them more aware of that something is outside whilst making the characters scared because they don’t know what that is. Another noise is created which creates even more tension in the characters minds whilst creating curiosity in their minds to want to know what is creating them. The ending of the opening scene is that one of characters decides to go out of the tent and investigate into what is creating those noises out of pure curiosity and tension that has been created by this situation. For a while there is no reply from the character which creates fear in the others mind as to what is going on and where they are. Suddenly there is a scream from the character which again crates fear in the others minds as to why they screamed and out of curiosity forces them to go outside and see what has happened to their friend to find out that they have disappeared which leaves the opening scene with the rest of them wondering what has happened to them and leaves the opening scene at a cliff hanger that a film could develop on further.
From my research about the conventions of horror that I have done, I found out about the different ways in which I could create my film and the different sub-genres of horror that I could combine into my film. During my research of different horror conventions I found out the origins of horror and why people find horror films appealing. This helped me to have some idea as to how I could create my film and what kind of horror it could be. I also researched other genres of film like teen films and thrillers. I did this so that when creating my film I would be able to try and combine some of those conventions into my film. In researching about teen films it made me choose on what type of audience that I wanted the film to be aimed at. Looking at all the genres that I researched and all the conventions I decided that my film was going to be a teen horror with conventions that would suit. I had several ideas about what it was going to be about after looking at 3 examples of teen horror films. First I decided that the setting of my film was going to be at night time because it would create certain feelings of being scared because of the idea that you don’t know what is out there. To suit it to my target audience I decided that the film was going to be about a group of friends in a situation where they are not in their everyday life. After noting down some ideas, my final decision was that a group of friends would be out on a camping trip somewhere that they don’t really know. The way in which I combined conventions of horror into this idea was that at some point during the time the teenagers were in the tent they would start to here noises which are unfamiliar to them, which then starts to build tension in the characters minds as to what is creating the noises. At first they took the noises at nothing then it happens again which further builds up the tension in the characters minds and makes them more aware of that something is outside whilst making the characters scared because they don’t know what that is. Another noise is created which creates even more tension in the characters minds whilst creating curiosity in their minds to want to know what is creating them. The ending of the opening scene is that one of characters decides to go out of the tent and investigate into what is creating those noises out of pure curiosity and tension that has been created by this situation. For a while there is no reply from the character which creates fear in the others mind as to what is going on and where they are. Suddenly there is a scream from the character which again crates fear in the others minds as to why they screamed and out of curiosity forces them to go outside and see what has happened to their friend to find out that they have disappeared which leaves the opening scene with the rest of them wondering what has happened to them and leaves the opening scene at a cliff hanger that a film could develop on further.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The age group that is represented in my film are teenagers. They are represented as this social group because the target audience that I wanted my film to be aimed at. Considering the group that I was aiming my film at which is teenagers I tried to consider the sort of language they might use and what they might talk about for example when they are in tent and one of the characters hear something the others reply that they didn’t hear anything and one of them maybe has had too much to drink which is something people of that age would most likely do if they were on their own. Throughout the opening scene I did not really use a variety of shot types. I kept the camera in front of the characters as a wide shot so it was possible to see all of them when things started to happen so that you would be able to compare their own reactions as to what was going on. For example I was the character who was aware with everything going on around them and was curious as to what was going on outside the tent as the noises started to occur. I chose one of the boys to go outside and see what was going on because I thought that it would make sense to have one of them going outside instead of my character to act as a leader of the group trying to protect the others.
The age group that is represented in my film are teenagers. They are represented as this social group because the target audience that I wanted my film to be aimed at. Considering the group that I was aiming my film at which is teenagers I tried to consider the sort of language they might use and what they might talk about for example when they are in tent and one of the characters hear something the others reply that they didn’t hear anything and one of them maybe has had too much to drink which is something people of that age would most likely do if they were on their own. Throughout the opening scene I did not really use a variety of shot types. I kept the camera in front of the characters as a wide shot so it was possible to see all of them when things started to happen so that you would be able to compare their own reactions as to what was going on. For example I was the character who was aware with everything going on around them and was curious as to what was going on outside the tent as the noises started to occur. I chose one of the boys to go outside and see what was going on because I thought that it would make sense to have one of them going outside instead of my character to act as a leader of the group trying to protect the others.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The companies which I think would produce a similar film to mine could be Metro Goldwyn Mayer, who produced Jeepers Creepers, New Line Cinema which produced Final Destination and Compass International Pictures which produced Halloween.
The companies which I think would produce a similar film to mine could be Metro Goldwyn Mayer, who produced Jeepers Creepers, New Line Cinema which produced Final Destination and Compass International Pictures which produced Halloween.
Metro Goldwyn Mayer- It is an American company media company which is involved in primarily the production and distribution of films and television programs. It was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B Mayer Pictures. It was the dominant motion picture studio in Hollywood. It had a slow response to changing the legal, economic and demographic nature of the motion picture industry during the 1950s and 1960s, but there were times where its films did well at the box office, the studio lost significant amounts of money throughout the 1960s. Edgar Bronfman purchased a controlling interest in 1966 and in 1967 he became the companies’ second largest shareholder. In 1969 Kirk Kerkorian purchased 40 percent of the company from Bronfman and Time inc lowered staff and production costs which forced the studio to produce low budget fare and shut down production permanently in 1973. It continued to distribute films under its name and in 1980 it resumed production of its own motion pictures
New Line Cinema- It is an American film studio that was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor then later becoming an independent film studio. In 1996 it became subsidiary of Time Warner and was merged with larger studio Warner Bros in 2008. When it was established in 1967 it was a film distribution company supplying foreign and art films for college campuses in the United States. One of the company’s early successes was for its distribution of the 1936 anti cannabis propaganda film Reefer Madness which in the early 1970s became a cult hit on the American college campuses. They also released many classic foreign language films like Stay as you are, Immortal Tales, and Get Out your Handkerchief which was their first film to win an Oscar.
Compass International Pictures- It was a film distribution company founded by Irwin Yablans and Joseph Wolf in 1977. Their first film release was Halloween in 1978 and later became their most notable film release with Falcon Films. In 1981 the company closed down, but it currently exists as a subsidiary of Trancas International Films Inc.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The target audience for my film was teenagers. From my audience research I analysed horrors in which were targeted at a teenage audience in order to understand what kind of things I should include in my film and what aspects of a that could make it into something which teenagers can relate to, to make into a teen film. From the questionnaire that I did to find out what kind of horror film to do and how I could make it successful, I found out that teen horror is the one that is most popular as shown in the screenshot compared with other sub genres of horror that I included.
The target audience for my film was teenagers. From my audience research I analysed horrors in which were targeted at a teenage audience in order to understand what kind of things I should include in my film and what aspects of a that could make it into something which teenagers can relate to, to make into a teen film. From the questionnaire that I did to find out what kind of horror film to do and how I could make it successful, I found out that teen horror is the one that is most popular as shown in the screenshot compared with other sub genres of horror that I included.
Also in doing the questionnaire it helped me to determine what age range I should aim it for whether it be younger teens or older. As I wanted to do I horror I wanted the age range to be from 16-18 and over and the age of people who did my questionnaire was around 16 to 17. So in comparing the ages and some of the responses that were found like what your favourite horror is and what do you like about it in the quiz it helped to determine what kind of conventions to a horror that I could use in a teen horror.
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
The ways in which I tried to appeal my film to my target audience was by using people of the same age group including myself so that it was clear that it would be aimed for people around that age. From audience feedback the general opinion was that to improve I could of used more shot types and that I could have had a bit more movement when using the camera. In terms of the characters acting it could have been a bit more rehearsed as one of the characters seemed to be looking directly at his script a couple of time. Also in not showing different types the camera picked up on one of the characters clearly showing his script near to the end of the scene which could have been corrected if there had been a better knowledge of how to edit. Also from the audience feedback it showed that I could have made the storyline more interesting and had more things going on.
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
The technologies that I used to make my film were a video cam so that I could record my film. Looking at my video it shows that I didn’t really use any features of the camera in order to have a variety of shots and to have some movement of the camera in the film, but I think the way in which I planned the film to be showing all the characters throughout the film prevented me from doing this. To edit the film I used Windows Movie Maker which I haven’t really used before so I think that if I had more experience in using then I could have improved on the editing. On the program I put all the scenes together and added sound effects which I thought suited the atmosphere and mood of the film and noises to add in the parts of the film where the characters hear noises. The noises that I chose to add were supernatural like monster noises so that they would not be recognised by anyone so it would create more tension because they don’t what the sounds are and they are not familiar to them.
The technologies that I used to make my film were a video cam so that I could record my film. Looking at my video it shows that I didn’t really use any features of the camera in order to have a variety of shots and to have some movement of the camera in the film, but I think the way in which I planned the film to be showing all the characters throughout the film prevented me from doing this. To edit the film I used Windows Movie Maker which I haven’t really used before so I think that if I had more experience in using then I could have improved on the editing. On the program I put all the scenes together and added sound effects which I thought suited the atmosphere and mood of the film and noises to add in the parts of the film where the characters hear noises. The noises that I chose to add were supernatural like monster noises so that they would not be recognised by anyone so it would create more tension because they don’t what the sounds are and they are not familiar to them.
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 don’t think I have developed a great deal. I think that my major problem is taking lead in what I am doing and being able to put certain plans in to place for people to follow as it was shown in the film of one the characters looking directly at his script which was hidden even though we went over the script several times so that we would all know what we were going to say in each section. Also making sure that every scene was good to use after moving on to the next scene, for example as just mentioned about one of the characters looking at their script and the other character accidentally showing his script to the camera near to the end of the scene. I also think that in terms of filming I should have really kept it to the style of what I did in the preliminary task so that there would have been a variation in shot types, angles and movement when using the camera. In terms of the story I think that if I was more confident in what I was doing it would have benefited in the outcome of the film. Looking at the editing I still think that I could improve on how to use different elements of the editing like putting the scenes together so that it runs smoothly like using transitions between each section. I thought that the sound effects I added suited to what sounds that I wanted to include in my film which was monster noises so that the sounds would not be familiar to the characters. To improve I think that again with more experience with the program I could of cut the music smoothly instead of it suddenly stopping.
Looking back at my preliminary task I don’t think I have developed a great deal. I think that my major problem is taking lead in what I am doing and being able to put certain plans in to place for people to follow as it was shown in the film of one the characters looking directly at his script which was hidden even though we went over the script several times so that we would all know what we were going to say in each section. Also making sure that every scene was good to use after moving on to the next scene, for example as just mentioned about one of the characters looking at their script and the other character accidentally showing his script to the camera near to the end of the scene. I also think that in terms of filming I should have really kept it to the style of what I did in the preliminary task so that there would have been a variation in shot types, angles and movement when using the camera. In terms of the story I think that if I was more confident in what I was doing it would have benefited in the outcome of the film. Looking at the editing I still think that I could improve on how to use different elements of the editing like putting the scenes together so that it runs smoothly like using transitions between each section. I thought that the sound effects I added suited to what sounds that I wanted to include in my film which was monster noises so that the sounds would not be familiar to the characters. To improve I think that again with more experience with the program I could of cut the music smoothly instead of it suddenly stopping.
