1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
- - Our product follows the form of a conventional horror film opening; it is 2 minutes 50 seconds long and uses typical titles as would be seen in a professional film opening taking the traditional hierarchy of a professional title sequence e.g. only key crew and cast members were mentioned among the initial sequence.
- - We
created stock characters and characterised them to be conventional to the
horror film genre by using a ruthless psychopathic killer who stalks and
murders an innocent young female victim.
- This subsequently set the scene and
began the narrative for the rest of the film by using enigma codes which would
eventually be solved in the actual film, our enigma codes included a planned
killing with an unknown motive, and the identity of the masked killer which
were not solved or revealed during our opening sequence.
- It also follows the
conventional opening form as it ends on a cliff hanger, and uses a single line
of action which would lead into the eventual feature length film.
- Furthermore
the technical aspects of our production developed the conventions of real media
products, by using an orchestral soundtrack with sound effects and diegetic
sound (such as the shuffling bush sound) we were able to create tension and
form a suspenseful atmosphere similar to a conventional horror that we analysed
such as The Woman in Black (Watkins, 2012), Saw (Wan, 2004) etc.
- We also used
traditional camera techniques such as handicams and CU's to create tension and a more
realistic atmosphere, this was evident in a number of our shots including many POV shots of the killer following the girl.
-Our original graveyard and wood location choices were
also influenced by horror films such as Friday the 13th (Nispel,
2009) and were vital in creating suspense and atmosphere.
- As well as this we used
plenty of iconography to create a horror setting, the mask, the knife, the
lollipop, and the grave all created a creepy atmosphere and also helped to
create characterisation as the lollipop and mask identified the killer and
elements of his character, while the innocent and clean look of the flower
added to the girls character and her protagonist image.
- Low key lighting we
also found was key when trying to create suspense, from analysing different
openings such as se7en and Friday the 13th dark settings tend to
create a much darker atmosphere.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
- Our opening mainly represented young, white male and female social groups; our piece lacks older characters due to the nature of the casting but is still influenced by older characters in horror films.
- The protagonist in our production is a white young female who is represented positively as an innocent victim of the male killer who is subsequently represented as a negative character.
- - Our sequence supports residual ideologies and challenges dominant ideology of gender roles in society as the female is inferior to the male character.
- The preferred reading of the text is that the female character is the powerless victim of the stronger male antagonist, however a negotiated reading could be that the female character has known she is being stalked all along and is in some way leading the killer into a trap as we never actually see her get killed at the climax of the opening.
- In some ways the female character conforms to traditional gender roles and stereotypes as she is seen as vulnerable and innocent, she is helpless to escape her inevitable fate and is frightened easily. Therefore she could be seen as the weaker character in the production, whereas the male character is representedwith a lot more strength and power, he is part of the traditional male/femalehierarchy and is easily outwitting the female character and is seen as a lot more sinister.
- These representations were mainly shown through our use of mise-en-scene and visual techniques used in the production; in terms of costume the male killer wears a mask which makes it evident that he is the antagonist in the scene and makes him seem a lot scarier and sinister. Whereas in contrast the female character wears more standard clothing which makes her look more innocent and evident that she is the victim and protagonist in the scene.
- As well as this our use of sound motifs and diegetic sound made the male character seem more unstable and dangerous, the child laughter when he appears on the screen reinforces his choice of younger victim and his almost psychopathicidentity.
- Overall our text tends to conform to conventional horror representations of female and male social groups, as with many famous horror films (such as Psycho, Friday the 13th) the female character is represented as weak and vulnerable and is hunted by a much stronger, and smarter, male character.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
- Our film would attract interest from both industrial and independent institutions as it has values from both types and conforms to conventional films of both sides.
- It would appeal to certain industrial institutions such as 20thCentury Fox as it is a largely conventional horror that would reach a core audience of 15-24 year olds of either gender, so would be suitable for a wide release and would be shown in large multiplex cinemas.
- Additionally it has high production values with special effects and a complex soundtrack, additional conventional horror props to scare audiences (the mask, lollipop, knife etc.) and locations such as graveyards and woods which are conventional to a high budget horror film and appeal to a mass audience.
- However it would mainly appeal to independent institutions such as Vertigo Films as it is a British independent film and has a low budget and lack of bankable stars or crew to build a fan base; therefore it would most likely be shown in smaller art-housecinemas or film festivals and would probably have a platform release.
- Its distribution would mainly consist of low-budget techniques using the web 2.0 such as using viral marketing campaigns, social networking sites, virtual websites, phone apps, blogs, forums etc. mainly appealing to technological determinists.
4/5. Who would be the audience for your media product? How did you attract/address your audience?
- As ‘Snatched’ is a horror film, our target audience is a typical horror audience aged between 15 and 24. Despite members of the core audience traditionally being predominantly male, we think that our film will appeal to both genders.
- Before planning our opening, we agreed that our target audience would be the core ‘horror’ audience in terms of age, with a focus on appealing to both genders. However, to ensure that this was accurate, we surveyed a range of people both in and out of our original target audience to see if it would appeal to them, including different ages and genders.
- From this, we found that the idea and initial concepts of our film did appeal to our audience. We also got feedback on ideas for titles and themes to see if they appealed to our target audience too.
- Many horror films feature a male antagonist, and therefore appeals to a largely male audience. However, when we surveyed our target audience before making our opening, we found that the majority of our respondents didn’t mind which gender the character was. We then decided to support the stereotypical horror convention of having a weaker, vulnerable female protagonist and an older male as the antagonist.
- We felt that as the protagonist in our opening sequence is female, it would seem appealing to a female audience, and at the same time as it has a typical horror plot, it will target itself to a larger male audience as well.
- Also due to the fact that our protagonist is a teenage female, our target audience of 15-24 year olds would be able to relate to this character. In our opening, the audience is positioned with the female protagonist as we felt that our target audience would be able to identify with her due to her age and also the recognisable mise-en-scene, for example the costume that she wears.
- We presented the protagonist as being in a vulnerable state and being exposed to dangers and threats, and as the rest of the narrative in the opening sequence follows this character, the storyline would appeal to both males and females.
Audience research prior to 'Greenlight'
- Our initial audience research conducted before the pitch, sent out via surveymonkey.com, reflected the fact that our target audience was the core horror audience as 95.9% of our respondents were aged between 15 and 24. This affected our decision to create a film which would have a 15 certificate, so that none of our target audience would be excluded from viewing it.
- This link is to our pitch which was mainly based on our initial audience research, and also to the pitch's feedback from our teachers and peers.
- Furthermore, our results influenced our choice of genre; initially we had expressed preference to make a combination of horror/thriller film. The fact that our respondents were predominantly from the core horror audience and wanted to see a horror film rather than a thriller reinforced our decision to create this for them, and that it would be a successful choice.
- The fact that we got our target audience’s approval for our initial ideas gave us more confidence in our work, as we felt we could deliver something that they wanted to see.
- We also consulted our target audience about how much of the killer’s face should be visible in a horror genre of film, and found that 79.2% of the respondents preferred to not be able to see the killer’s face properly as they thought that it would make the horror genre more effective.
- Based on our initial research and also secondary research, we decided that our film should feature a young female character and an older male character, as these would be most relatable to our target audience, which was something considered to be quite important by the respondents in our survey.
- We also decided that we would use realistic locations which would also be relatable to them, such as the house and the woods.
- We were pleased that people considered having an interesting plot and also a climax at the end of our opening sequence to be an important aspect, as this made it more achievable for us to create something that they would all enjoy.
The soundtrack and sound motifs to represent characters were also considered to be quite important from the survey results, so for this reason, we incorporated a tense soundtrack that ‘built up’ to a climax at the end of the opening sequence. We also used a sound motif to distinguish the killer when he or something representing him came onto the screen.
Feedback on Rough Cut
The rough cut was submitted on the 11th March, and shown to peers and teachers to gain vital feedback for our group to improve our film opening sequence. At this point in the production the aspects of the opening we were looking at were:
- continuity
- variety of shots
- 180 degree rule
- action codes
- drawing in the audience
- titles
- sound and Dialogue
- good use of titles and the way they worked within the shots
- good continuity editing
- creative shot ideas, using varying distances and angles
- too many long shots
- some shots not relevant
- too long
- some editing was too sharp
- some shots were in the wrong order
- requires more CU's of characters
- not enough action
- We showed the opening of ‘Snatched’ at a screening for our class, and issued them with questionnaires on the effectiveness of various aspects of the opening, such as understanding of the narrative, effectiveness of the titles, how successful the soundtrack and visuals were, and general opinions of the film opening sequence. This allowed us to gain in-depth responses which could be easily analysed, therefore giving us feedback on how successful and effective our production was in general.
- Our results assured us that we had successfully engaged with the target audience, and that we had created a production that everyone enjoyed and were interested in.
- We feel that we have successfully reassured the dominant horror ideology by creating the stereotypical scene of a young, vulnerable girl being stalked by an older, fierce male, with the idea being accepted by the audience.
- This pie chart shows that the aspect our target audience would improve most was the repetitiveness of the child’s laughter when the antagonist appeared on screen, as some viewers thought that the sound motif occurred too often. Other aspects that some people wanted improving included less walking of the protagonist and more action, and to have a crescendo on the end shot such as a scream.
- We were very pleased with the reaction to our soundtrack as we created this ourselves on Cubase software. This was one of the aspects of our film opening sequence that we personally considered to be a strong point. Creating our soundtrack ourselves allowed us to combine the isolation of the protagonist, and the fear of the antagonist too which appealed to our core audience of 15-24 year olds. Other aspects of our production that our audience particularly liked included props such as the lollipop, knife, blood and the mask. As well as this, our respondents also found the killer character engaging to watch on screen.
- We were also very pleased with the response to our window shot as this was one of the shots that we considered to be one of our best shots and of a high standard. Our respondents said that they found this shot to be one of the most frightening, and that it built up the precise amount of tension needed in our opening sequence.
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- We asked the respondents if they understood the meaning of the opening sequence, to which over half of them did they did understand. Other people had said that they didn’t understand the meaning; however some of them had written that they would watch the rest of the film to then understand.
- Our locations were chosen because our audience may have been able to relate to them, as well as ease of access when we needed to film. The deserted woods and graveyard is traditionally associated with the horror genre which was another reason we chose to film there, as we wanted to comply with dominant horror ideologies.
- We contrasted this with the domesticity of the house scenes, which would also be relevant to our audience, and encouraged them to identify with the female character.
- In general, the responses suggest that our audience appreciated the clues given about the nature of both characters, and that the sequence created a sense of enigma. Because of this, we feel satisfied to the extent that we have completed a successful project that conveys the correct amount of horror needed for the horror genre.
Screening to Audience
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
- I have learnt to utilise and get the best of many technologies and tools while constructing our film opening while working collaboratively with other members of the group.
- For the written side of our coursework we had to learn to the use the website ‘blogger’ effectively to create a detailed log of our project, at first it was difficult to maintain the same format throughout different blog posts and use the different tools effectively but I feel we have been able to create a detailed and presentable blog. We had to constantly post updates which included our recent work on the project and how we felt it was going, as well as this the blog included our research into other film openings and genres, details on our brief and pitch, our preliminary task and any other programmes or software that we used.
- Primarily throughout the project I have learnt to capture the actual footage using the Fujifilm Finepix S4400 effectively by learning to use camcorders and tripods to a reasonable standard, I have learnt to get the focus right and frame the angle and zoom of the shots correctly mainly by reading tutorials and looking at professional films.
- I have learnt to set up a scene using the 180 degree rule and creating the right lighting conditions, as well as capturing decent sound to be used in post-production either by using pre - recorded ambient sound to create verisimilitude or by capturing diegetic sounds such asdialogue effectively.
- I have been able to create mise-en-scene effectively by using iconic props and placing them effectively in the scene, while also utilising conventional locations and costumes to create atmosphere.
- Additionally I have been able to apply new editing techniques during the editing process to create effective continuity using newsoftware, with which I had no experience, and was also able to create a high quality montage at the end of the piece using montage editing which I had never done before. I have also been able to experience the limitations of the premier editing software and so have moved on to use different after-effects software to create effective titles for our sequence, and also use different effects to make our production seem more professional such as cross-dissolves, fades andcolour contrasts.
- I have learnt to create multiple sound layers on premier to create an effective orchestral soundtrack, additionally using freesound.com i have learnt to use appropriate sound effects effectively and order them correctly on the timeline.
- Correctly ordering footage on the timeline was also a new challenge, at first we had utilised too much of our footage and so It was too long however we learnt to cut the piece down and identify where to get rid of unnecessary shots to keep it an appropriate length.
- For the written side of our coursework we had to learn to the use the website ‘blogger’ effectively to create a detailed log of our project, at first it was difficult to maintain the same format throughout different blog posts and use the different tools effectively but I feel we have been able to create a detailed and presentable blog. We had to constantly post updates which included our recent work on the project and how we felt it was going, as well as this the blog included our research into other film openings and genres, details on our brief and pitch, our preliminary task and any other programmes or software that we used.
- Primarily throughout the project I have learnt to capture the actual footage using the Fujifilm Finepix S4400 effectively by learning to use camcorders and tripods to a reasonable standard, I have learnt to get the focus right and frame the angle and zoom of the shots correctly mainly by reading tutorials and looking at professional films.
- I have learnt to set up a scene using the 180 degree rule and creating the right lighting conditions, as well as capturing decent sound to be used in post-production either by using pre - recorded ambient sound to create verisimilitude or by capturing diegetic sounds such asdialogue effectively.
- I have been able to create mise-en-scene effectively by using iconic props and placing them effectively in the scene, while also utilising conventional locations and costumes to create atmosphere.
- Additionally I have been able to apply new editing techniques during the editing process to create effective continuity using newsoftware, with which I had no experience, and was also able to create a high quality montage at the end of the piece using montage editing which I had never done before. I have also been able to experience the limitations of the premier editing software and so have moved on to use different after-effects software to create effective titles for our sequence, and also use different effects to make our production seem more professional such as cross-dissolves, fades andcolour contrasts.
- I have learnt to create multiple sound layers on premier to create an effective orchestral soundtrack, additionally using freesound.com i have learnt to use appropriate sound effects effectively and order them correctly on the timeline.
- Correctly ordering footage on the timeline was also a new challenge, at first we had utilised too much of our footage and so It was too long however we learnt to cut the piece down and identify where to get rid of unnecessary shots to keep it an appropriate length.
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