Evaluation - Melissa Hodgson

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

For our film we decided to make a thriller/psychological/horror film, and it incorporates generic conventions based on thriller/horror films. The plot for our film (two girls get kidnapped by a masked man) is based around what most thriller/horror films are about which sticks to the genre of our film, and iconography such as knives, blood and rope are used throughout our two minute film and reflect the similarities which are typical to the genre we have chosen. For example, the films ‘Sweeney Todd’ and ‘Dawn of the Dead’ all use these different types of iconography. 

 Other similar aspects used are the different character profiles, such as their clothing, dialogue and actions and also the environment in which it is set. 

Our film developed and challenged these conventions by using many different aspects to make it look like a professional horror film. 

We used a majority of different camera shots and angles, such as medium close ups of the two protagonists tied up in the cellar, which is mainly the only shot we used of the two girls and also used mainly low angle shots of the masked man, as we felt that by using low angle shots it would portray in detail the dominance and power that the masked man has over the two girls, and give the effect that the audience are looking up at him. 

We also used cross cutting editing by using shots of the girls tied up and then quickly changing this to a shot of the masked man slowly entering the cellar, then cutting back to a shot of the girls etc.  By using this kind of editing, we felt that it would build up the tension and suspense and add a rhythmic pace to our film and create an unusual atmosphere for the audience to watch.

We decided to keep the diagetic sounds to a minimum and the only diagetic sound we decided to have and emphasize on was the sound of the masked man walking down the cellar stairs in his boots, as we felt that this would further add to the suspense and tension of the film, and slowly start to build up to the masked man entering the cellar and getting closer to the girls. However, we decided to use non-diagetic scary, horror-themed music to further add more suspense and tension to our film.

We also decided to keep the two protagonists' clothing fairly casual but still quite young (shirts, hoodies and jeans) to reflect their young, fun personalities and lifestyles, and felt that we should also keep the masked man's clothing also fairly casual (hoodie, jeans and boots). However, with the use of a black scarf to use as a mask, this would begin to create the horrific and scary image of the masked man. We also felt that the location of the cellar would suit our genre well and adds a sense of panic and horror and decided to use minimal lighting, as this also creates a sense of mystery and the unknown. Also, the use of props, such as the knife for example, also fits in with our genre. We also decided to use a linear narrative but by building up suspense by switching back and forth to different camera shots of the girls in panic to different camera shots of the masked man getting closer to them.

The use of conventions in our film also shows what other films have influenced our ideas. For example, we made the title sequence fit in with our chosen genre by using a medium-sized red cracked font in front of a black background, similar to Dawn of the Dead. The cracked red font signifies blood and horror and the black background signifies mystery and the unknown. We also used mysterious, scary music at the beginning of our film which eventually builds up to create tension and suspense.

Low angle shot used of the masked man to portray his power and dominance

Extreme close up used of the knife to show it in detail

Close up of Abby showing her expressions in detail

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

Our film represents teenagers, mostly females, aged around 16-20 years of age. I think the way in which our main protagonists (the two girls) are represented is in a slightly stereotypical way as they are portrayed similar to ‘damsels in distress’, as they are tied up in a cellar and are shown frequently panicking and scared of what will happen to them and show no means of trying to escape. However, if the main protagonists were male, they would most probably try and escape and not show as much panic as females would, as females tend to be portrayed as slightly weaker than males in these kinds of situations and who need ‘rescuing’. Throughout our film, we used mainly close ups and medium close ups of the two girls to show their expressions and reactions (which is mainly fear and panic) at what is currently happening to them. However, when the masked man is seen on screen, we used mostly medium long shots to show his full character, such as clothing, body language and his actions to the audience and low angle shots to portray his character as the dominant figure in the film, as he is being looked up on by the audience and shows he is in control and has more power than the two girls.

Establishing shot of the two protagonists showing them in fear

Low angle long shot of the masked man showing his power and importance

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

As we decided to make our film a thriller/horror film and our treatment and research suggest that our budget for the film would be fairly high, we researched big, well known Hollywood films such as Sweeney Todd (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paVqecUrwW8) The Last House on the Left (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqXnowJjfDc) and The Bone Collector (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4z4Xsp-bos). When researching, we found out that Sweeney Todd was produced and distributed by Warner Brothers Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures for an extremely large budget of $50 million, and they are two very large, well known big budget distribution companies. Also, The Bone Collector was distributed by two even bigger, well known big budget distribution companies which are Universal Pictures and Columbia Pictures for an even bigger budget of $73 million. As these films fall into the same category as our film, we felt that we wanted a large, big budget, Hollywood distribution company to distribute our film, and researched three possible distributors which were 20^th Century Fox, Universal Pictures and Columbia Pictures. For example, 20^th Century Fox distributed the film Deception, which falls into the thriller genre and our film partly falls into the thriller genre also. Universal Pictures distributed the film The Bourne Identity which falls into the thriller genre also and Colombia Pictures distributed the film The Grudge, which falls into the horror genre, and our film also falls into the horror genre.

Due to the popularity of the horror genre amongst older adolescents and young people, we decided that our film would be best distributed in a cinema so that our target audience are fully aware of the film and to maximise profitability. Also, due to our target audience being aimed at only a small number of people, there would be several ways our film could be promoted and marketed, but obviously there would be more ways if our target audience was slightly broader. The ways we came up with and researched were young females’ magazines such as Heat and Now Magazine, etc and young males’ magazines such as FHM and Maxim, trailers, billboard advertisements and TV interviews, plus many others.

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

Considering the style of genre for our target audience, we firstly decided that our film would be aimed at both males and females, as it is well known that both males and females enjoy horror films. To narrow this down and find out specifically what ages of both males and females prefer to watch horror films, we carried out some pre-production before doing any of the actual film research and created a questionnaire, which included questions such as ‘How old are you?’ ‘What genres of films do you most prefer?’ and ‘How do you prefer to watch films?’ From the feedback we received, we discovered that there was a balanced reception of both males and females preferring to watch horror films, however, the ages of the individuals who completed the questionnaire were mainly aged between 16-25 and the majority of these individuals said that they would consider watching our film and generally gave us positive feedback on our film, saying that they thought the plot was interesting and something different and sounded very gory. Once we had read through the feedback we were gave on our film via the questionnaire, we were then able to create and expand on different ideas and research other films within our chosen genre and looked at the films ‘Taken’ and ‘Kidnapped’ and looked at the different ways that were used in the films to portray a horrific style/manner and the different techniques used which makes the audience identify the film specifically as a horror film.

After carrying out research into film certificates and observing what levels of drugs, gore, sexual references, violence and strong language were included in the different film certificates, we decided that our film would best suit the certificate of an 18, as we felt that by giving our film the certificate of a 15, this would mean that the violence included would be fairly strong but we would be unable to go into specific detail on the infliction of pain and exactly how the character of the masked man would torture/murder the two protagonists.

Screen shot of our questionnaire feedback

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

After carrying out research on similar films to our own film, we carefully analyzed and observed the different techniques and aspects of different horror films and looked at what is used to create an overall successful horror film and what different techniques and aspects are used which individuals are able to associate horror films with. When planning our production, we decided to use the research we had conducted on similar films to our own film and use what we discovered about similar films to make it appeal to our own target audience. For instance, we decided to use a red coloured font against a black background on our opening titles, as films such as ‘Dawn of the Dead’ and ‘Sweeney Todd’ use this effective technique, as the red signifies blood and gore and the black is used to emphasize the darkness and mystery of both films. We also used little lighting when filming our two minute film as films such as ‘The Last House on the Left’ and again, ‘Sweeney Todd’ use this technique, as by using little lighting and keeping the setting quite dark and eerie, this begins to create the suspense and build up the tension and dramatizes the whole concept of the film. We also used similar camera shots of the two main protagonists struggling to break free from being tied up in the masked man’s cellar, and switched between using shots of the girls which faded into shots of the masked man slowly entering the cellar and getting closer to the girls then back to a similar shot of the girls. We decided to use this kind of editing as it slowly builds up the tension and creates lots of suspense, and leaves the audience anticipating and questioning what will happen to the two main protagonists. 

By using these different techniques and aspects within our own film, I believe that we have successfully reached our target audience of males and females aged between 18-25 as what we have incorporated in our own film, we have taken inspiration from from similar horror films and the audience who watch and prefer these type of films are most likely to be more familiar with these techniques and aspects. Looking at the feedback we received from our questionnaire, we discovered that the individuals who completed our questionnaire generally had positive comments to make about our film and gave constructive feedback such as ‘Maybe an extremely unexpected twist’ and ‘Maybe make the camera view more clear’, which we found was most useful on how we could improve. Alongside the audience feedback, we also feel that the technical aspects were successful for us as we have had no experience with making a film before or using the editing materials and found we were able to pick it up quite easily without many problems. We also feel that what was less successful was the slightly less positive feedback we received from our questionnaire, as it included comments such as ‘More originality’ and ‘I feel I have seen this done before’, which means that in future, we would have to think of something more original such as an unexpected twist in the storyline.

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

I think that whilst during the process of planning and producing our film, I have learnt several different things about the technology I have used in order to create a professional looking horror film. We have used many different types of technologies during the pre-production, production and post production of our film, such as the internet, which we used during the pre-production process and we were able to use this for our research to help develop and expand on our original ideas and learn all about what is involved and what needs to be considered when making a film. During the production process, we used technology such as cameras and lighting to help create the desired effects we wanted in our film and lastly, during the post production, we used technology such as editing software to make sure our film was to the highest possible standards of a professional film.

During each stage of the production process we used several different technologies. During the pre-production stage where we mainly used the internet, we used software such as Google to carry out any research on similar films to our own film, such as genre, props, setting, characters etc, and used specifically the websites Internet Movie Database to research budgeting, storylines etc, YouTube to view similar horror film trailers, Art of the Title to observe different film title sequences, from which I analysed 'Dawn of the Dead', and Photoscape to create our own production company logo. By using all of this software, we were able to gain a thorough understanding of what was needed and what needed to be included in a professional horror film. We also used Google documents to create our questionnaire, social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to distribute our questionnaire, Google blogger to post our blog posts on the information/updates of our film and the production and the software Celtx, which we used in order to create a professional looking film script.

During the production stage, the only forms of technologies we used were the camera and tripod to film our film, and we found that this was not as time consuming as during the pre-production process and found the task of filming very easy with no major problems.

During the post-production stage, similar to the production stage, the only forms of technology we used were Final Cut to edit our film and cut different shots, add transitions and effects, music and opening title credits.

I feel that I have learnt a generous amount whilst creating our film. I have learnt how to create questionnaires on Google documents and how to create a blog and add links, images, videos and sound to blog posts on Google blogger. I have also learnt different filming skills and techniques and learnt how to edit properly by using software such as Final Cut and how to add effects and transitions, music and create opening titles for our film. 

Screen shot of our script we created on Celtx

Screen shot of Final Cut and our film being edited

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

Our preliminary task which we completed earlier on in the course was a continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom he/she then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue, and had to include a match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180 degree rule. When first faced with this task, we found it quite challenging as we had never used any of the technology before such as the tripods, Final Cut etc. However, our main task which was to create the titles and opening of a new fiction film to last a maximum of two minutes, we found we could approach this with a better understanding of the technology used within creating a short film and found we had improved on our technical skills as we had already had practice with the preliminary task. We used our knowledge from the preliminary task on how to set up the tripod and correctly use the different camera shots and angles and also used our knowledge on how to use Final Cut and add the different effects, music and title sequences to our film. I feel that I have got better and gained more confidence with using the camera and tripod and also with using Final Cut, and feel that if I was given another task similar to the main task in future, I would be able to use all of the different technologies and software with little assistance and guidance and with a thorough understanding and clear view of how to use all of the software and materials involved within making a short film. 

Here is our finished film: