Group members

I worked in a group of three, including myself Abi Nash (2187)

And the two other students that I worked with were:

Renya Szczodrak (2245)

Emily Driscoll(2075)

Horror opening video

 This is the video of our horror opening sequence we created.

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

When looking back at the preliminary filming task we found that it was useful for us to have made a small task before filming our actual opening as it allowed us to experiment with the different camera shots as well as storylines and the editing software ‘Adobe Premiere’.

For the preliminary task we learnt working in a group brings different ideas for the film.  Within our actual opening sequence film I felt more confident and positive about the whole production I feel this was because I chose the people who I work best with instead of being placed in a group for the preliminary. I feel that in the progression from preliminary filming to the full product that the people you were working with was key to how successful your production went. This was because if you were working in a group you didn’t really get on with then it could be difficult to find common ground on what to include in our plot and how to edit our footage. Whereas, if you were in a group that you feel had similar ideas for the film then it would overall be successful as there were not many disagreements. However, some disagreements can be encouraged in our group as we felt if one of us was challenging a certain part of our production then we would be able to look closely at it to see whether we could improve it.

As a group we all wanted to have an equal input into all areas of production such as editing and directing so felt by sharing the roles we would all be able to put our own input in and gain a better understanding of the different roles associated with film production. Whereas, in the preliminary production even though we did work together as a team during editing we did all had separate roles to fore fill. This was good as it meant you gained much experience in your area but it also meant I wasn’t experiencing other roles I would have liked to have taken on. So by taking on this on board I carried it through to the production our actual horror film so we all could have roles in each role.

The preliminary task also helped us with the progression of how we used camera angles and what were the best techniques. (This print screen shows a scene from my preliminary filming task that shows use using the camera technique of the 180 degree rule).
Our preliminary filming displayed a small range of many simplistic camera angels as the main purpose of the film was to understand the 180 degree rule. The image shows our main focus of the prelim of an object passing through a door. This meant other camera techniques such as extreme close ups and pans weren’t really focused on as much as they should have been by me and the  rest of my group as it would have made it easier to prefect the camera techniques we needed to use in our major production. Our preliminary task allowed us to take the knowledge we learnt on the 180 degree rule forward. However, we didn’t really focus on this camera style in our horror as we felt this camera technique is used to help the audience gain an understanding of the scene. Whereas, we in our horror wanted to create confusion of the surroundings in the production as it is a generic convention found in horror films.
Furthermore, the preliminary task allowed us to look back at the videos created so we would be able to learn from our mistakes to stop us from making the same ones in the major production sequence. The mistakes included unsteady camera work due to not having a tripod. This meant some of the shots were unsteady which wouldn’t have a positive effect on the audience as it could disorientate them. We were to apply this knowledge to our final product by being able to correct this in our final product by making sure we were using the tripod at all the appropriate times needed. However, some scenes such as the handheld section wouldn’t need a tripod as we were trying to disorientate the surroundings due to it being a horror.

Finally, the preliminary task was useful to us as it helped us practice our camera and editing techniques before the final product as well helping our understanding of how important the right camera angles are to suit each scene and also the importance of editing. As we were able to use the editing software ‘Adobe Premiere’ to see how all the effect worked and how drastically they can change your film. This meant that the preliminary process was useful as we were able to experience most things we needed to before our final film. However, there were some problems we never experienced during the preliminary process that we did during our filming for our major product.  Such as the difficulty of filming outside in a public location. During the preliminary we filmed inside whereas during our horror we filmed outside in a park this made it much more difficult as there were many people around meaning we had to keep stopping during the filming process so they were not seen in the shot. In addition, lighting was a major issue as we were filming during evening hours near spring meaning it wasn’t that dark outside. This meant we had to use the lighting effects on ‘Adobe Premiere’ which we felt made our film an odd lighting but was the only option to make the film appear to be the setting of dusk we wanted. This image shows one of the scenes in our production with the lighting effect.

 

 

 

 

 

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the progress of constructing this product?

 

During the making and editing of our horror opening sequence we use many technologies to construct our film. Some we knew how to use and other we hadn’t heard of.

One piece of hardware we used was a small ‘Sony HD camera’ to film our horror opening.

We were allowed to rent out these cameras from our sixth form so we were able to film the scenes on it then use the SD to upload all our filming off that onto the ‘Macs’. The ‘HD cameras’ were very useful to film has they had all the appropriate controls we needed such as zooming in and out. This hardware allowed us to get the best quality filming we could as we did try and experiment filming with our phones for some test shots and the quality of the filming was poor.   We learnt how to use this device to create the camera shots we wanted for each scene. We used these cameras when filming our preliminary so learnt a lot of the controls then which enabled us to film more efficiently when creating this horror sequence.                                                                                                                           

Another hardware device we used in the creation of our horror film was the ‘Apple Mac’. We used this hardware as it had all the software we needed such as ‘Adobe Premiere’. We learnt how to use the apple macs during our preliminary filming but there were new things we needed to learn about the ‘Apple Mac’. At the start it was quite challenging as we weren’t used to using this hardware device but the more and more we used it we became more familiar with it making it easier for us to use.  By the end they were simple to use which allowed us to create the film how we wanted as the ‘Apple Mac’ didn’t limit us in any way.                                                                                                                                       

A Tripod was another deceive we used to create our film. It was very useful as it allowed us to keep the camera steady which enabled the shoot to be straighter than what it would have been if it was hand held. It enabled us to learn what height would be best for each scene as were able to change the height of the tripod to suit us. The tripod was useful when doing low angle shoots such as when ‘The Child Collector’ goes up a slide. We were able to shorten the tripods legs instead of having to remove it from the tripod and having to do it hand held, the tripod instead allowed us to create a low angle we needed to create the effect of superiority that ‘The Child Collector’ had over his victims.

   Software’s were other technologies we used to create our horror opening. The software we used to edit our film was ‘Adobe Premiere’. We used this software device to edit all of our film. We learnt a basic outline of how to use it during our preliminary filming, adding video effects such as dissolves to make it more seamless, However  not as in-depth as we learnt all the different controls this time around as we wanted to make the film more specialized. We also learnt how to cut our film and split a scene in half to make the scene more suspenseful  helping it on its way to capturing the quick pace cuts horrors normally do have. We also learnt how to change the lighting of the scene to make it more dust than dark which is the effect we wanted. We also learnt how to change the pitch and volume of the audio which helped when editing the screams into our film as well as making the music quieter in the scenes building up to the climax to eventually getting louder to create an eerie and tense atmospheric feel.                                                                                       

Another software device we learned to use was ‘KeepVid’. This software allows you to download a video off websites such as ‘YouTube’ and ‘Dailymotion’. We learnt how to use this when we wanted to get a video of a green screen with blood running down it. We downloaded this video off “YouTube” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2cZsR9nt-A ) onto “KeepVid” so we could then import it into “Abode Premiere” and use it in our titles as seen on the image.                                                                

 

“Incompetech” was another software we used during the ceation of our film. We learned how to find the music that suited our film off the  and then dowload and import it onto the ‘Adobe Premiere’ software where we could imbed it into our film. We also used the website ‘soundfsx’ to download a neon light sound for during our titles when our logo flashed up in red lights. We learned how to use these websites as we wanted to get sound effects and music that would have a effective impact on our horror film puls, by learning to use these softwares it meant we were not limited to the sound effects we wanted to create as the websites hasd all the sounds we needed.                                                                                                                                                                            

We also learned how to use the software ‘picaface’ to create the avatars for our film. This software was useful as it allowed us to create theimage of the characters in our film once we had cast the actors. The software was quiet simple and easy to use as it went step by step to creat a face and image of the chacrter. However, a downfall was that we could’nt add the prop of a mask to our killer avtar meaning we couldn’t really create an accurate image of our killer we just had to make it as similar as we could.                                                                                                                                                 

 Finally, another online tool device we used was ‘blog.com’ for our blogger accounts.  Learning how to use ‘Blogger’ was difficult at first to grasp however, the more times I created a post I understood the layout more. This software was very useful as it was easily costumized and allowed me to have all of my work and findings surronding my preliminary task and horror opening  as well as othe reaserach I found to be in all in one place. This made it easy to group all the information together in an easy accessable place.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

 Our horror opening sequence has many generic conventions in the film to attract and address our audience. 
                                                                                                                                                                           

 The ways we attracted our target audience of both genders aged fifteen and upwards included the plot storyline. Our plot is based around siblings ‘Lucy’ aged seventeen and younger brother Josh aged eleven who are playing at a park when Josh is scared by a masked figure swinging on the swing. So ‘Josh’ then runs off after being frightened and when Lucy comes to his rescue after hearing a scream she soon learns he isn’t there. Then Lucy is brutally hit over the head by the figure on the swing that is the urban legend known as ‘The Child Collector’. The opening sequence is based around an older version of the brother ‘Josh’s’ flashbacks of that night when he returns to the park years later with his friends which ultimately leads up to a voiceover of ‘The Child Collector’ saying it’s time for round two josh’. The plot of our storyline helped us attract our target audience as the location of the film is a park setting which is relatable to our target audience of teenagers as they go there to socialize.

Another way we attracted our target audience was the credits and titles we used. The three colours of our credits were white, red and black. These are the common colours associated with horror films as the red represents the blood and gore aspect, whereas the white can represent the purity and impurity of the characters involved, as well as the colour of black representing the darkness and mystery of the film. This attracts our audience as it helps set the mood of the film as the colours instantly suggest the genre of horror. Our credits also scroll which is a common feature found within horror genres. Our title at the start of the horror opening showed the name of the film ‘The Collection Day’ and blood trickle down the screen as seen on this image. This effect was another way we attracted our audience as it gives an indication that this film is a true horror with blood and gore.
(This image below is a print screen of our one of our scenes in our horror film that shows the credits)

We attracted our audience to our horror by using the two victims of a young boy and female older siblings. A majority of horror films have young children as the villain as it creates fear. We felt having the victim as a young boy would change the dynamic of our horror especially as he was more mentally harmed than physically which is why we included flashbacks to show he is still haunted by the events. This would attract audiences as it would make it quite difficult to watch as it can be seen as ethically wrong but that is watch horror films are created for. The older teenage female is the actual victim and we felt this would attract our audience of both genders as the female audience would feel pathos toward her, and the male demographic would feel compelled to help.

The urban legend element of our horror attracted our audience as a lot of horror has urban myths behind them to create a physiological element. Horror films that have used this theme include ‘Candyman’ and the thriller ‘Se7en’.

We addressed our target audience of both genders the ages 15 and above by the actors who played the characters role.  The characters we have in our opening sequence are a group of three teenagers aged from eleven to seventeen.  The age of these character also help make the film seem more realistic as this contrasted with the age of the victims in the film and the age of the audience watching most horrors. An actual horror film that can be linked to this characterization technique is the film ‘When A Stranger Calls’ created in 2006 and directed by Simon West. This films cast is mainly based around younger ages, the victim being a high school student who is babysitting young children.  We have addressed our audience by the age of the character and the actors who play them as they are relatable to the teenage audience as they are of similar ages. This helps the realism of the horror as the actors will seem more believable to the audience as it creates the common fear that runs throughout the audience mind while watching horrors that it could have been them.

We would address and attract our audience in terms of marketing and advertising our film by using the platform of social media sites such as “Twitter” and “Facebook”. These sites are a useful way to advertise information about our film as the updates keep people interacting with the film. It also helps spread the word about the film as many users will send information on to others. We could use these media sites to virally market our film in ways such as the ‘Find Batman’ campaign. We could use the sites to create an urban mythology hunt to find our urban legend of ‘The Child Collector’ which could unlock spoilers on what would contain spoilers of what would happen next in the film if we created a full horror production.

 

                                                                                                                                          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

 

 Our media product of an opening sequence of a horror we tried to make it appeal to a wide range of target audiences. The demographic for most horrors are young adults aged around fifteen to twenty-five as these are the people who are looking for films to be filled with a fear factor and packed with adrenaline rushes. Other research I have found on is that this genre of horror the demographic is the gender of males is as they seem to enjoy the conventions of blood and the fear of the unknown as to what or who is the killer.                                                                                                                                   

Deciding on the demographic target audience for our horror was quite tricky as we had to incorporate all our ideas for the horror to fit a certain target audience to make to appeal to the. Our characters for our horror were aged eleven to seventeen which fitted our target audience as we were aiming the film toward teenagers. The age of the characters are important to take into consideration when deciding the target audience for the horror. This is because you want them to be relatable to the audience, and to make them feel more connected to the film. The audience is for teenagers and young adults of both genders which link back to the data I found when doing my questionnaire on horror films. The age of these character also help make the film seem more realistic as this contrasted with the age of the victims in the film and the age of the audience watching most horrors. This helped create one of the most important elements used in a horror which is to make sure the characters connect to the audience otherwise they won’t connect to the film and wouldn’t be scared of it.                                                                                                                     

Deciding on the demographic target audience for our horror was quite tricky as we had to incorporate all our ideas for the horror to fit a certain target audience to make to appeal to them. We finally concluded that our target audience would be young adults fifteen plus and of both genders. Our secondary audience would be young couples who go to the cinema together to watch horror films.  We didn’t want to limit our age range too much as we wanted it to appeal to many people instead just one group. We also decided that the social class for our film would be middle/working class as teenagers in this social group have access to pocket money and would spend this disposable income on social activities like going to the cinema. Whereas, the upper class would have less social hours due to the high demands of their occupation.                                                                            

We took costumes into consideration once we had set our target audience to reach the target of teenagers as we wanted it to be relatable to them. The costumes the teenagers wore in our production could be classed as the stereotypical fashions that teenagers wear in the present. This was because we wanted the characters to seem realistic to the audience and make them relatable as the character would seem believable so therefore they could empathise with them and make them more connected to the film as they seem to be any other normal teenager making it all seem more real adding to more fear.                                                                                                                                               

The setting of our horror helped us reach our teenager target audience as it was set in a park location. This made it more relatable to the younger generation as friendship groups go out to parks to socialise which is a key part of teenagers live. Thus, making it more believable as teenagers do go to parks so could ultimately feel like they could be in that situation creating one of the conventions of a horror which is realism.                                                                                                                                                    

To conclude, our target audience for our horror was both genders aged fifteen plus. Giving the certificate fifteen meant that nobody below the age of fifteen could watch it as it wasn’t suitable for them but anything above could watch it as it was the target we were aiming for. A film we took reference to was ‘The Shining’ created in 1980 is a certificate of fifteen as although it does have a certain level of gore, one of the key characters is a young boy so was it more related able to this age category. Our opening sequence of a horror doesn’t contain much violence only that of when the killer wrestles one of the main characters ‘Lucy’ to the ground causing her to become unconscious and then he slashes her head causing her to bleed which is one of the conventions of a horror film. However, we felt that we didn’t want to put in much violence and gore into the horror as it would have become the sub-genre of a slasher horror and we didn’t want it to become one of them as the certificate would have to become eighteen which would limit the audience for our film. In addition, we had to put a realistic age ban on the film to make sure we had the right and suitable target audience for the contents of our opening sequence.                                                                                                                         

 Most horror films have certificates of fifteen or eighteen as this age range and above is the range they are aiming for as the purpose of the film has been created for this certain audience as they conventions used are the fear factor that will have the most effect on these ages. Choosing the ages of the characters were not as easy as I expected as we as a group had to think about what would be the appropriate ages to use so they fit in with the film genre of horror and the storyline we had created.                                                                                                

 

 

 

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?

 It is important to take many factors into consideration when deciding what type of media institution would distribute our opening horror sequence. Production companies are essential to the creation of films as they assist in budgeting, casting and scheduling. Even though our film isn’t a completed picture it would be important to take into consideration what institution would distribute our horror if we did venture on to make the rest of the film. This is because we would then know what conventions we would need to follow in order to get certain media institutions we want to help distribute our film. In addition, Production companies normally look over the films when they are just the idea anyway so we would be able to find production companies that would produce our film as we have already created the opening sequence.                                                                                                                                                                                   

As a group we considered major film institutions to distribute our film. Major film companies could be an effective way to distribute our film through as our film includes most of the major conventions such as blood, dark lighting, and a sense of confusion into a false sense of security which are found in big blockbuster horrors. We also felt that bigger institutions would mean a bigger budget which meant we could adhere and expand our ideas to make them improved and more effective. ‘Momentum Pictures’ are an example of a media institution we would use to distribute our horror as it’s an established studio for the horror genre. This is an independent motion picture distributor in the UK and Ireland. We choose this institution as it has produced many successful and well known horrors such as ‘Women in Black’ and ‘Sinister’. This distributor would suit our horror film as our film meets the conventions of the genre horror, meaning they would easily be able to distribute the film worldwide as their audience would be looking for these conventions to appear in all the films distributed by the institution. Plus the films they have created such as ‘Sinister’ have similar conventions to our film as there are flashbacks and also one of the main characters is a young girl like ours. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgYxydrVlDk ) this link is the trailer to the film which shows such conventions.

 

‘Momentum Pictures’ have a ‘YouTube’ channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/MomentumPictures ) which is a great way to advertise trailer for their new films. This advertising scheme would mean our film would be distributed by viral marketing which can be accessed by a major audience as it is on the viral platform of the internet and YouTube is a very popular website so is guaranteed many views.  ‘Momentum Pictures’ would be a very suitable institution for our film to be distributed from as they have a lot of experience in the genre of horror so we would be capable to advertise our film to the best of its potential and to the right target audience which would be young adults of both genders.  (This screen shot below shows the 'YouTube' 'Momentum Pictures' have to advertise their products)

   

  However, we would consider another company to distribute our film. Such as ‘film 4’ as we had a very low budget due to it being a student film. We felt ‘film4’ would the best institution to distribute our film as they are well known to help direct low budget films. However, there are some companies like ‘Microwave Film London’ who do offer financial funding to younger generations who are creating films. ‘Film 4’ is an example of a smaller British production institution that has grown bigger which are known for releasing films in the UK. We would choose them to distribute our film as they have a lot of expertise in the genre of horrors and lower budget films. They have co-produced and distributed films like ‘Shaun of the Dead’ which is a prime example of a horror film that had been a success even though it was quite low budget. ‘Film 4’ is a great way to distribute our horror film as they are an institution owned by the channel company ‘Channel 4’ which means the films they are involved with can be distributed onto the television through this channel creating knowledge of the film and advertising. In addition, ‘film4’ has expanded and no helps produce films like’127 hours’ indicating the success this media institution has.

To conclude, I would be more inclined to choose ‘Momentum Pictures’ as the media institution to distribute our media product as they are a well-known institution. In addition, they have a wide range of knowledge on our genre of horror and therefore had success with horror films such as ‘Sinister’. 

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our opening sequence of a film was the genre of a horror film. Throughout this film we presented many social representations which can be broken down into sub cultures such as age, gender, and disability.                                                                                                                                                                         

The social representation of age is apparent within our horror film due to different ages of the characters and killer. Within the film there are some differences in the ages presented. There are mainly teenagers in our film as the target audience is young adults aged fifteen and maybe older up to the age of around twenty-five. Plus, by focusing the film around teenagers it reaches our target audience as this social audience would be encouraged to watch the film as the age of these characters help make the film seem more realistic as they can image that it could be them in it. Other factors such as location help support the social representation of an age. The location is set in a park which is commonly associated with younger children and teenagers which is the social group we are portraying in our film. The age of the killer is unknown which added further to the common mystery that is found conventionally within horrors that nobody knows who the killer is as no glues are given away which adds to the fear of the unknown. However the costumes and physique of the killer does give some clear indication that they are older than the victim ‘Lucy’. The social representation of age can be stereotypical linked to the idea that older people have more dominance over younger people. This can be linked to our horror as the killer who is older does have the power and dominance over ‘Lucy’ and ‘Josh’.                                                                                                                                        

Gender is another sub culture shown within our horror. There are three characters of girls in our horror and two boys as well as the killer whose gender isn’t really shown due to mystery of the villain. We wanted to have an even balance of genders in our film as we wanted the target audience to be both genders instead of limiting it to just one. If we had been bias with one gender then it could affect the audience that watched our horror opening. Our victim in our film was ‘Lucy’ a female which can be stereotypical linked to the gender of women getting into danger such as the “damsel in distress” scenario. We felt that having the victim as a girl could help with appealing to the target audiences of both gender as males would want to watch the film as it’s a males instinct to protect a women so would create pathos towards the film. In addition females would watch the horror opening as they would also feel sympathy towards the victim and creates the realism that it could have been them. The social representation of gender can be represented in our film to show the older killer has more dominance of the victims which could be because he is older and has more life experience which links to the stereotypes associated with age that older people have more dominance than younger people.                                                                                                                                           

Disability could be a social representation that is shown in our opening horror as you could argue the mental state of the killer is a form of disability due to his mind and thoughts not being normal but psychotic. This social representation can be classed as a sub-genre of a physiological horror as the killer is based around an urban legend of ‘The Child Collector’. We took inspiration from the film ‘Red Dragon’ as it’s based around another urban legend.