Evaluation Question 7

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Question 4&5

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

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 2

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

Evaluation Question 1

SCRIPT

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

For research I have watched some film introductions such as Blade and Scream in order to get an idea of what I needed to incorporate in my film in terms of the micro elements and macro elements. However to be more specific to our film sub-genre I watched films such as Insidious and Paranormal Activity which are part of the Paranormal horror sub-genre. This helped to benefit our film as we could use similar camera angle shots as well as sounds which help to create suspense and add a sense of horror.

 The main evaluation of research was shown through textual analysis. Here I assessed how camera angles and movement, editing, sound and mise en scene helped to create a sense of horror to the audience.  I have also done research on credits, looking at the Zombieland opening credits gave me ideas for credits we could use in our opening – they were 3D and gave off shadows meaning they stood out and could be fashioned in ways to create a sense of horror. Also I researched the genre by looking through the history of horror genres and how they have changed over the years and what people are frightened by now. What seemed to be the current fear was the fear of the unknown and not knowing exactly what was happening or what the antagonist is.

 We applied ways of creating suspense such as non diagetic sounds building to a climax as seen in Blade during the club scene. Our sound was researched on sites such as Purple Planet Music and Free Sound Effects. These effects were then used for noises such as the swish of the antagonist when in the elevator and also the opening.  We also used camera angles to show horror, for instance when the elevator moved down the camera is looking down on our victim almost foreshadowing his fate and that someone is watching him. This can also be seen in Scream as the killer is looking at the victim and the camera shows this Point of View shot. 

 We successfully applied all of this research and other groups gave successful feedback on how well we had applied research and evaluation to our main brief in order to give us an understanding on where we applied research well or where we slipped up and need improvements. However on the whole we were successful in creating a horror opening that met the requirements of our sub-genre. Our micro elements especially the sound was a key role in creating horror. For example we managed to build up this sound and suspense with our victim listening to his music and when the kill gets closer the music gets louder and picks up its tempo. This music was non diagetic much like the music in Blade.

 

BLACKOUT Roles

BLACKOUT ROLES

You Gov Profiles

Target Audience Research

This table shows the various classes of people grading from Upper Class (A) through to Casual (E).

In order to understand about who exactly we will be targeting our film at in some more depth I have decided to use YouGov Profiles. Here I can research films of a similar genre to ours, for example paranormal activity, and use this information to adapt any ideas for our film that may suit a particular audience. YouGov helps to take into consideration the demographics, lifestyle, personality and even media focus of the person.

     From this information we will look to aim our film at males in their late 20s / early 30s who are in the people grading C2 through to E. This group of people show correlation with Paranormal Activity so therefore we will look to aim the film at them. The majority of these people live in the Northern region of the United Kingdom due to the economic downturn in the North and rise of unemployment. However this does not mean will will dismiss the market in the South due to the profit available and the vast condensed amount of the population in the South.

      When moving onto the lifestyle the majority of these people are mainly interested in movies which of course increases the likeliness of them coming to see our film. When looking at psycho-graphic profiling I believe these people are main-streamers due to their common interests such as football, video games and television.

     With entertainment 100% of the films these people most favour come under the genre of horror meaning the likeliness of our film appealing to them sky high especially when the films are The Exorcist and Paranormal Activity -  closely linked films to ours.

       With peoples media interests and usage we can see where it is best to advertise our film to the public. The majority of these people spend 41-45 hours online a week meaning we will look to advertise across the internet and on newspaper sites such as the Sun and other right wing newspapers. We can also advertise on TV shows such as The X Factor and football games on Sky Sports as these are some of the most highly viewed programmes on TV at the moment.

Credit Research

CREDIT RESEARCH

The link below goes to the website called Fontspace that provides a variety of different fonts. These fonts are free to use and have been inspiration in our final product.

http://www.fontspace.com/search/?q=horror&p=6

The Links below go to further shortlisted fonts we chose together as a group.

http://www.fontspace.com/jonathan-s-harris/something-strange
http://www.fontspace.com/blambot/youmurderer-bbhttp://www.fontspace.com/lj-design-studios/the-darkhttp://www.fontspace.com/cloutierfontes/cf-night-of-the-damnedhttp://www.fontspace.com/lj-design-studios/dead-feather
http://www.fontspace.com/chequered-ink/halloween-heresy
http://www.fontspace.com/search/?q=horror&p=8

Then the pictures below our are final shortlisted fonts chosen. From these four we will test and edit into our main brief. Dominic our main editor, was given the final decision on the fonts and the task to apply them onto our final video.

Location Recce

Example Camera Shots

Storyboard Audience Feedback for Main Brief

In order to gather some feedback for our main brief storyboard we decided to interview some of our peers ( Callum Ison and Joe Deighton ) who are also Media students so it was good to here their likes and dislikes of our idea. This enables us to take this feedback on board and maybe change previous ideas or incorporate new ones in order to improve our main brief.

Main Brief Storyboard

 

 

Character Casting

Casting Profiles

This is our actress we have cast and this is her profile. Phoebe Haroon goes to our school and her availability is quite flexible. This is really great for us we will be able to contact her very easily regarding re-filming.
We figured her height, shorter than the previous actress, will create an element of innocence as she seems childlike. This will surprise the audience as they underestimate her timid stance. We will use her scars as recounts of how many souls the antagonist has taken and devoured. This actress is also affordable. Her difficulty to focus may be a letdown as were are on a tight schedule and cannot afford to go over filming time in order to get the perfect shots or re-film.

Her costume is similar to the previous actress', with smaller inched heels.











This candidate was chosen as his nationality and ethnicity comply with the convention of the Caucasian male being targeted by the antagonist in a horror film. His blonde hair and blue eyes will be used to represent oblivion as the victim has no control over what happens to him. It is favourable that he is in a relationship taken so he doesn't show any love interest towards the antagonist. We have eliminated all traits of love and replaced them with pure evil and hatred. The punctuality is a must have as we will start to film promptly and can't have cast running late and slowing the production down. This actor is also affordable.

The picture below shows are original costume for our actor, however this may be altered with white top and different jacket. This is because we feel it will portray innocence due to being our main protagonist/victim.

Character Profiles

Character Profiles

Blair Regan is a 16 year old student at a private all-girls school. She has the perfect life, living with her adoring parents and 2 sisters and brother. She is a national figure skater and is seen to be the perfect child however she has a double life and is quite reckless with things involving sex and drugs - engaging in horrifying activities that she keeps hidden from her family. She fears the unknown 'murderer' as she believes their victims were killed because of a crime, a crime that she herself has also committed. From this memory, she believes that she is next in line for death so isolates herself from the world and her family. She is possessed by an unknown entity that she is unaware of, and has been since her 16th birthday - when she lost her virginity. Regan enjoys reading novels, sewing, watching chick flicks, figure skating, ice-skating, and acting.

Owen Wilson is a 18 year old university student. He has a low paid job on the side of his education getting him through his stereotypical university student life.He enjoys and gets along with his life. He is without a girlfriend but has a large group of friends who he shares his accommodation during university. Owen's interests involve going to the theatre, watching films, playing arcade games, and bowling. During our opening he is a victim who gets caught in the wrong place at the wrong time where he was casually going home from the library where he was studying.

Age Certification

		Consumer advice
		All ages admitted. There is almost nothing unsuitable for children aged 4 years and over.
		All ages admitted, but some certain scenes can be unsuitable for young children. They should not disturb children aged 8 or older. May contain mild language  or sex/drug references. May contain moderate violence if justified by context. A parent may wish to check the content before they let their children watch or play it.
		This category applies to cinema only releases since 2002. Films under this category are considered to be unsuitable for young children. Cinemas in the United Kingdom are only permitted to supply tickets to see a 12A film to children under the age of 12 if they are accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over. However, it is unlikely to be suitable for children under the age of 12. Films under this category can contain mature themes, discrimination, soft drugs, moderate language, moderate violence, sex references and nudity. Sexual activity may be briefly and discreetly portrayed. Use of strong language may be permitted based on frequency and how they are used, as well as contextual justification. Sexual violence may be implied or briefly indicated.
		This category applies to cinema releases from August 1989 to 2002, and home media since 1994. Suitable for people aged 12 and older. It is illegal to supply a video work with a 12 certificate to anyone under that age. 12A-rated films are usually given a 12 certificate for the VHS/DVD version unless extra material has been added that requires a higher rating. The content guidelines are identical to those used for the 12A certificate.
		Suitable only for people aged 15 and older. No one younger than 15 may see a 15 film in a cinema. It is illegal to supply a video work with a 15 certificate to anyone under that age. Films under this category can contain adult themes, hard drugs, strong language, strong violence and strong sex references, and nudity without graphic detail. Sexual activity may be portrayed but without any strong detail. Sexual violence may be shown if discreet and justified by context. Use of very strong language may be permitted based on frequency and how they are used, as well as contextual justification.
		Suitable only for people aged 18 or older, which means adults only. No one younger than 18 may see an 18 film in a cinema. It is illegal to supply a video work with an 18 certificate to anyone under that age. Films under this category do not have limitation on the foul language that is used. Hard drugs are generally allowed, and explicit sex references along with detailed sexual activity are also allowed. Scenes of strong real sex may be permitted if justified by the context. Very strong, gory, and/or sadistic violence is usually permitted. Strong sexual violence is permitted unless it is eroticized or excessively graphic, in which a work will require compulsory cuts where possible.
		For our main brief we decided to choose an age rating of 15. This is because the usual age for someone watching a horror film is between 15 and 25. During that age they are at key stages of developing themselves and learning about the world, they want to try new things and experiment with different emotions and feelings (psychographic). They want to rush into life with no guidance so they can get a thrill. A younger audience is easier to thrill, scare and excite compared to an older person they would be negative towards the movie. Our overall demographic audience is 16-24 year olds because the audience would be young males who seek a cheap thrill. Otherwise it is likely to be couples who are on first dates the audience of the horror films can often relate to the characters in the film. They often form a relationship due to the similarities and therefore have a stronger emotional pull to the film. The relation of the characters also puts the audience in the shoes of the characters gaining a stronger horror effect.

Weather Forecast Update for Main Brief Filming

          For our main brief we are looking to film between the 24th and the 26th of October as these are days when the weather is set to be rather dull and would suit the mood of the scene. We have decided to keep our options open with three days in case it decides to rain one day or brightens up another day. We will look to do the majority of our outside filming on Monday the 24th as it is early in the week so if we spot any mistakes we still have the rest of the week to go back and make corrections. Monday is also the coldest day out of the three so will most likely attract the gloomiest weather and hopefully their will be less people around the area which we are looking to film - Waitrose car park and lift.

Monday 24th October- We are looking to film the second part of our opening on this day due to the gloomy yet dry conditions that are expected. For this we will require our female actor and a dead male counterpart. The female actor will be wearing either a black or a red dress to symbolise her dark and elusive character and this will be combined with black lipstick and stilettos. Our male character will be dressed in an all black tracksuit with possibly a baseball cap and earphones. He will be dressed like this to show off his normality in this scenario. We will capture on film our female character exiting the elevator and walking on into the carpark. We will look to film this in the late afternoon or evening when there are less people around. This will not effect the lighting as the carpark area is floodlit. If we have enough time then we will also try and film the elevator section of our opening as well however if we do not then we can look to film this part on either the Tuesday or Wednesday.

Script and Screenplay

Script/Screenplay

Our script consists of stage directions as there is no dialogue.

-FADE IN:
-INT. ELEVATOR - AFTERNOON

-BLAIR REGAN, student, 16 years old, looks at elevator door as elevator music plays, standing still with her hands in her pockets.

-STRANGER, male, listening to music at the back of elevator.

-BLAIR REGAN takes hands out of pocket.
-BLAIR REGAN starts tapping foot.
-Elevator music plays
-BLAIR REGAN, EYES change colour
(Music STOPS, loud noise of a BLADE cutting a BODY, BODY drops)
-Elevator door OPENS

-Elevator door CLOSES

Production Schedule

This Production Schedule will be vital in helping us to stay on track throughout the different stages of production and also remind us of what we will have to do at certain moments to ensure we are efficient and end up with a final piece of a high standard.

Hush Textual Analysis

     In Hush horror is created in a number of ways and mise on scene sets this out from the very start. For example the house that the victim is living in is extremely secluded in the middle of what appears to be a forest. The audience can therefore identify straight away that she has no escape when the antagonist is to come along later in the film. So horror is therefore intensified by showcasing her lack of survival. Secondly by leaving the door slightly ajar this is hinting that someone is going to come inside the house and she has almost allowed this to happen by leaving the door open. Finally the use of props such as the crossbow and the mask create horror as viewers are known to be afraid of scary masks and of course weapons that cause harm. Therefore mise en scene is used in numerous occasions to successfully forebode and create horror.

   Editing further emblematizes the horror genre in multiple occasions. For example the use of a fast paced cut away when editing make this particular scene seem frantic as the victim is in a state of panic whilst she fears for her life. This allows the audience to sympathise with her level of fear therefore heightening the horror element. As well as this the use of shot reverse shots between the victim and the protagonist show the level of how scared the victim is by the intruding man. Overall the use of editing in this scene can be identified as extremely useful in building up the horror genre.

    Camera angles and movement are also a key element in personifying the horror genre in this extract.Firstly the use of a dolly zoom shot of the victims house pictures it to be situated in the middle of a forest and therefore highlights to the viewer that our victim is in severe danger and has no escape due to her location making it fearful that her death is presumably inevitable. Furthermore a point of view shot from the victims eyes shows the fear that she is witnessing as there is a man with a scary mask trying to break into her home. The audience will sympathise with this common fear therefore making the film appear even scarier and intensifying the horror genre.

Main Brief Pitch Feedback

1) "Do you feel an elevator will do justice as a good horror location?
Yes, my group and I feel this is a great location due to being isolated. Also, it allows us plenty of different locations as there is many places will elevators.


2) "Do you think that filming at night will cause any lighting problems?"


No. This is because we are inside with lights on. However, it is also dark in the elevator even with the elevator lights. However, if this is a problem we will use extra lighting to get well lit shots if needed.


3) "Is Lions gate the best distributor?


This can be argued all day. There is many other fantastic distributors such as Warner Bros, however after research, Lions gate were clear cut best suited for our main brief.

4) "Do you think you'll be cutting out the female audience?"


The male is our main audience, so there will moments where the female audience will be excluded from the story line. Although this is the case, our secondary audience is female, hence using a female antagonist in the opening.