1. 1. Evaluation By Harry Garside Media AS Level
2. 2. Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? I analysed the se7en film opening and looked closely at the use of fonts, titles and animation. The animation of the titles were extremely effective as the font flashed around the frame. However, we did not use this as it wouldve been extremely difficult to replicate. Nonetheless, we looked closely at the typography rather than the animation and took some ideas from this. Our plot as a whole is rather unique and diverse in the way that a young man is hiking and comes across a caravan where he seeks warmth. Despite this, the caravan is a rather disconsolate place and the abandoned location is conventional of horror. This is because there is a sense of eeriness, also, the vulnerability of the young boy creates a character exposition. In addition to this, the non-verbal language is vital in the clip as the audience can see Darrens reactions first-hand as he picks up the objects. One idea we took from this opening is the white font on a rather dark, gloomy background featuring low-key lighting making it look obtrusive and outstanding. In our clip, we have incorporated the white prominent font with a black outline creating a 3D effect. Se7en research Analysis of Plot
3. 3. From our audience research, we discovered that a young boy would be one of the more conventional characters to play the main role, this is because of the exposed, vulnerable connotations. We revolved the plot around our flashbacks, as I mentioned previously, the flashbacks are very effective as it shows that the caravan has an unknown past, creating an enigma and creating a sense of uneasiness. Our sound is evidence of non-diegetic sound, it is a rather upbeat, happy, country song which is contradictory to the mood of the clip which is murder and gore. Our sound is very much unconventional in these terms. Nevertheless, as soon as Darren is closes the door on the inside of the caravan this non-diegetic sound stops. This is when the diegetic sound comes in, which has a more realistic, eerie tone creating a sense of verisimilitude when the flashbacks appear. Stock characters Sound The wood location was very beneficial for our team, this is because the forest/wood has connotations of isolation and loneliness which is conventional of horror as a whole. Location
4. 4. Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? The lead up to the discovery of the caravan is conventional as it creates an audience enigma as both the audience and Darren are unaware of what is going to be inside, this build-up of tension is very effective. Our horror genre is psychological and our effective use of flashbacks are conventional of this sub- genre. Nevertheless, the flashbacks are extremely gory and unpleasant which is also conventional of a slasher horror genre. Therefore, one could argue that our horror clip is a cross-over between a psychological and a slasher horror. As a group we are very pleased with the footage we captured on the Canon DSLR camera, our clip features an array of tracking shots, POV shots and high/low angle shots. The POV shots are conventional of horror as the audience view the action through the eyes of the protagonist. In terms of our titles, we took positioning into consideration as it is vital to have the titles at the forefront of the frame. Evidence of effective positioning is evident in the tracking shot alongside the caravan. The tracking shots we used are also conventional of horror, and contribute to the professionalism of the clip. Our editing is fast-paced and there is evidence of continuity editing where the action seems to be happening very quickly which is typical of horror. Analysis of Plot II/ Genre Filming/Shots Editing/Shots
5. 5. Initially, we used a font named Cold Night For Alligators. However, we felt that this particular font was more conventional of a slasher horror film rather than a psychological. Because of this, we then decided against this font, and used a more ordinary yet effective font which is associated more with a psychological horror genre. Typography It was not long before our final cut was aired, that we decided on the font above. A serif font that looks more ordinary yet effective. Camera Angles Many of our shots were similar to those found in various other horror films. A good example would be the tracking shot along the objects, which adds to the old context and overall atmosphere, as well as the canted angle shot of the cupboards which appears to be disjointed and uncomfortable. The majority of our shots were straight forward with film productions in general, including a variety of stills, low angled and high angled shots and a POV.
6. 6. Mise-en-scene The props we used were very conventional in psychological horror films. An example of this is the mask we used. We took this idea from The Strangers (Bertino, 2008). Also, our choice of iconography consisted of harmful objects which are associated with a slow, painful death rather than a quick death (i.e a shooting conventional in a thriller genre). Below is an example of the pliers that we utilized which are conventional of horror. Editing Our editing contained several transition sequences that are typical of horror. For example, at the beginning, everything seems to be normal and therefore the clip does not contain any horror element. At this point it is very slow-paced, yet as the horror element is introduced mid-way through, the fast-paced editing seems to occur which is conventional of horror as it has connotations of panic building up tension and hysteria. The use of our shot reverse shot is also vital in showing the reaction shot, as in every horror movie the reaction shot provides a basis for the way in which the audience follow the mood.
7. 7. Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups? In this clip, all that the audience can see is a white young British male (Darren) and an antagonist whom is masked and anonymous in terms of age, race and ethnicity. Despite this, the audience can assume that this antagonist is male due to the fact that a male antagonist is typical of horror. Because of this assumption, a binary opposition is evident between Darren and the antagonist, this binary is sanity/insanity. I say this because Darren is seen hiking through the woods which shows him to be healthy and very much sane, this is culturally marked in society as it is what people would expect/like to see. On the other hand, through the flashbacks, the audience can see the disgusting nature of the antagonists actions and the audience can infer that the antagonist has mental health issues and receives some sort of thrill from it. The fact that the antagonist obtrusively has problems in terms of his mental health is conventional of horror. This is because the antagonists in several horror films have to be insane to murder in that malice. Therefore, because of this evaluation, a binary opposition of mental health is present between Darren and the antagonist. Representation Binary Opposition Representation II
8. 8. The young boy is shown progressively in the text as he is shown to be brave amidst the severity of the situation. Despite this, his reaction to the flashbacks can be interpreted in one of two ways. One of these ways is purely shock, and one of which is vulnerability, which is regressive in the context of the situation. Darren is depicted as being simply a common, regular young boy around the age of 16/17. He is also shown to be hiking through the woods, on a normal morning intimating that he is again an ordinary young man which has very positive connotations. Representation III Representation IV
9. 9. On the whole, if the view is taken that Darren is being brave considering the situation, the connotations of bravery associated with Darrens character is a dominant ideology in terms of patriarchy as it shows men to be less vulnerable than females, not only this, but the audience expectation is for men to be unafraid in horror clips as a whole. On the other hand, the antagonist (whom is masked to create effectiveness in the characters anonymity) has a powerful weapon which is used at the end of the clip to kill Darren, again showing his dominance in the clip. Also, in the flashbacks, several different, powerful weapons were used by the antagonist to kill his victims which again shows his power and authority. At times in the clip, there are some shots that depict Darren regressively in terms of status. This includes the angle used to unveil the antagonist, which shows him as having a larger presence and more power. Furthermore, in terms of mise-en- scene, the iconography is important when discussing representation. Evidence of this is the fact that Darren uses very few props if any, which intimate that he is vulnerable in the situation. Representation/Mise-en-scene Representation V Representation VI
10. 10. Despite the negative connotations of females in terms of the dominant ideology of male power in horror films, I researched the final girl which counteracted this ideology. The final girl was: smarter and more cautious than her friends; Clover describes her as intelligent, watchful, level-headed. morally pure and therefore does not get involved in drinking, drug-taking or sexual activity. the first to recognize both the lack of morals in her peer group and the potential threat of danger. Females have a negative absence in this clip, this is rather unconventional of horror as they are shown to be stereotypically vulnerable. There is no evidence of disability in this clip, despite this, the insanity of the antagonist could present a disability as the villain is in many ways unable to normalise in society. Female Absence The Final Girl
11. 11. Q3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? Our film is most likely to secure a deal with Vertigo UK Films. This is because our film is extremely low- budget; our equipment was available to us, no A-Listers featured and we had a very small cast. As well as this, our location was very accessible and the majority of our costume/props were previously owned. As well as this, our film could be shown at festivals, this would be an effective promotional technique as obtrusively it will be presented to our target demographic of 15-24. Furthermore, web 2.0 is another determining factor in terms of adverting any film product. Our film also utilized pro-filmic effects and contained no animation. Vertigo UK Films are an independent film distributing company whom have proved to be extremely successful in terms of publicising and distributing low-budget films like ours. Some of this success has transpired due to synergy with other institutions creating and maximising audience exposure which intrinsically creates a mass buzz, pre-release. Distributing our film Vertigo UK Films
12. 12. In terms of our film, we should take advantage of social media sites such as twitter and Facebook to maximise audience exposure. An advantage of this is that our film would meet our target demographic as they are the most likely to be on social media sites. As well as this, we can create a teaser campaign, which will feature a 48 page printed advertisement and a large poster. This is evidence of a traditional ad campaign creating excitement before the film is released. Our film would be a platform release rather than a blanket release. I say this because we could therefore distribute our film in urban areas such as Manchester to see if it initially creates interest. If it is consequently creating media interest then we could use this to present our film at cinemas such as vue cinema and odeon. This has been utilized by many other independent films to maximise audience exposure and to create a mass buzz pre-release. Publicising our film Distributing our film II
13. 13. . In my institutional context study of an independent film, I researched paranormal activity: an American Supernatural Horror Film written, co-produced, photographed, edited, and directed by Oren Peli. The film focuses on a Katie and Micah, a young couple whom are troubled by a ghostly existence in their home. It is shown in the style of "Found Footage", from cameras placed by Katie and Micah whom try to document what it is that is distressing them. Furthermore, there were midnight screenings pre-release in Los Angeles and select college towns, this generated unprecedented amounts of demand at the studio and at local theatres. Also, it took advantage of social media sites, including Twitter where the target audience would tweet @TweetYourScream. Institutional Context Study Institutional Context Study II
14. 14. One of the most effective promotional techniques that Paranormal Activity utilized was the idea of letting consumers be the distribution chief. Therefore, fans nationwide were able to literally demand by hitting a "Demand" button on its website so that the movie screen in their area. The "Demand" ticker had surpassed 860,000 by mid-afternoon on the Friday, nearly triple the amount of demands logged 72 hours before, with "Paranormal Activity" becoming a constant trending topic on Twitter during the midnight hour for many consecutive weeknights. It reached 1 million demands not long after. Institutional Context Study III Institutional Context Study IV
15. 15. Q4/Q5. Who would be the audience for your media product? How did you attract/address your audience? Throughout the process, we tested our concept on our audience. This featured our initial research in which we tested our audience using a questionnaire which featured a series of closed and open questions. From this initial research, we discovered that an abandoned location would be very effective, as the majority of our audience stated that it would be the most conventional of horror. We also used a 1-10 scale styled question, in which the audience circle the number they feel most appropriate. For example: This particular question was very useful as it gave us an idea as to the most conventional stock character for our clip. From this question, we discovered that the character would definitely have to be young and vulnerable, though the sex was a less important matter. Therefore, we came up with Darren, a young, vulnerable male, conventional of horror. We also tested possible names in a fixed question format. Initial Audience Questionnaire Initial Audience Questionnaire II
16. 16. Our core audience is the 15-24 demographic, this is because the horror genre is intrinsically aimed at a younger audience as this age group enjoy the gore and scares which are evident throughout. The characters appeal to this target audience as Darren fits in with the age demographic due to being a young male around the age of 16/17. This creates verisimilitude for the audience as they feel that this could happen to them which creates an enigma and a social currency. Despite this, after choosing hysteria, we thought that the name the premonition was much more suited to our piece. This is because the word premonition means to see something before your eyes. Below you can see the question we originally asked, however, nearer the time, we realized hysteria didnt really fit with our piece, and premonition is far more suitable. Target Audience Initial Audience Questionnaire III
17. 17. From our audience testing many people liked the use of our soundtrack, saying it fits well with the visuals and the high pitched, discordant sounds of the flashbacks were very effective in creating a sinister, scary feeling about the piece which shocked audiences (this was the effect we wanted to create). Some people thought that a couple of the shots looked a little bit shaky, which did not fit as well with the piece as it should. As soon as we received this feedback, we tried very hard to alter the graininess of the image and change the colour to create a contrasting look to the normal shots. Audiences also thought our camera work was excellent, especially the frequent short and long tracking shots which revealed various props as well as our protagonist in the sequence. They also liked the use of pull focus shots and canted angle shots, saying it made the piece more professional and more fitting to our thriller/horror genre. One person thought that the edited effects and composition of the flashbacks did not look very effective, that our group should improve the look of these flashbacks to make it more clear and sinister.
18. 18. Additionally, people thought our location was perfect, saying the caravans dingy, dull and abandoned look created a more visceral experience for most people and believed that its small, confined space actually contributed to build enigma. A few people thought the continuity of our sequence could be improved, saying that providing more shots with movement of our protagonist should be added to make our sequence just that little bit better. Another strength included the high quality resolution of the picture and audiences believed that this made the sequence seem like an actual film. Also, some of our audience stated that they were unsure as to whether Darren should been killed or whether we should have left it as a mystery to build up a further suspense.
19. 19. They both felt that our flashbacks were extremely effective yet felt that we may have done more with the sound in terms of a sound mix to build tension and create a sense of eeriness which is typical of horror films. Overall, we were pleased with this response, though, as a group we were pleased with the soundtrack we used. This is because we deliberately used the soundtrack to pose a contrast to the general mood of the clip. In this short video, features two people inside our age demographic (15-24) whom are commenting on the strengths and weaknesses of our clip after seeing our final cut at the advanced screening. Vox-pop clip Summary of Clip
20. 20. Q4/Q5. Audience Final Cut Questionnaire Results 1. Did you understand what was going on in the opening? In terms of our results for this first question, we are very happy. I say this because out of our 10 respondents, 6 said they understood the plot completely and 4 said they understood the plot mostly. This shows that our plot is very coherent. 2. What genre would you class this film as? Again, we are very pleased with these results. This is because 70% of our respondents thought that it was clearly a horror genre, which shows that on the whole we have succeeded creating a horror opening.
21. 21. 4. Do you think that in the opening the protagonist shouldve died? 6. On a scale of 1-10 how tense did you find the opening? (1- being not tense 10- being very tense) This chart shows that the majority of our respondents thought that the protagonist shouldve been killed, this is good for us as we were unsure whether to not kill the protagonist and leave a cliff-hanger. We are pleased with the results from this question as 60% felt that our clip was an 8+ out of 10 in terms of tension which shows that our clip was effective in terms of building up suspense.
22. 22. 9. How many flashbacks were there? This question was more to see if our audience were paying attention. As there were indeed 5 flashbacks, it shows that on the most-part, our audience were paying attention meaning the other answers will be valid. 11. Do you think our use of font was suitable? This another encouraging result. I say this because 80% of our respondents felt that our font was suitable. Considering we changed our font rather close to the deadline, it was very pleasing to see this.
23. 23. 3. Which part of the opening couldve been improved? For this question, we had a varied response. Some stated that the sound couldve been improved in terms of a sound mix and others stated that the build-up of tension couldve been enhanced. In our own opinion, we thought the soundtrack was very effective as it created a contrast to the general mood of the clip. 5. Was the opening generally entertaining? If so..why? Again, for this question, there were a wide array of answers, some stated the soundtrack made it entertaining, some said it was so because of the diegetic sound. On the whole, the most popular answer for this question was the flashbacks.
24. 24. 7. Would you recommend the film to others? For this question, we was looking for a fixed answer of yes or no. Encouragingly, 100% of our respondents stated that they would recommend the film. 8. Did you understand the use of flashbacks? This was also a very promising result, 90% of our respondents understood the use of flashbacks in our clip, which was to evidently show the caravan to have a past in terms of murder and torture, therefore this was a very heartening result for us.
25. 25. Q6.What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? Using blogger for our coursework is advantageous in comparison with an A4 handwritten folder in many ways. This includes the fact that I can edit my work without any difficulty, also, I can suggest and share ideas with my team to improve the quality of our work. Also, it means that we can have a more creative, collaborative approach and it is accessible for the whole group. I have learnt how to use blogger successfully through this process. I know how to import video, pictures and make the post look generally attractive. The easiest way to import videos onto the blog is from YouTube via the button and search the video you would like to include. Pictures can be included in a similar way using the button and inserting the image from the file. Below is an example of an imported video on our blog. What have I learnt? Blogger
26. 26. I have learnt to use various online software such as freesound, blogger and premiere elements. With freesound, it is extremely easy to import into premiere. The main steps is downloading the sound, saving it to the Data Disk, clicking GetMedia in premiere and inserting the sound. Once this has been imported, you can drag the sound into the timeline in the soundtrack section. Here are a few of the sounds we liked: We had very few difficulties in terms of lighting limitations. This is because in our shoots, we were very fortunate that the weather was indistinguishable. Also, inside the caravan, it is extremely dark anyway and therefore, lighting was not a problem. The bigger problem was the size of the caravan as it was extremely small and therefore it was a challenge to manoeuvre the camera around the scene successfully. What have I learnt? II Did we have any lighting limitations? Some sounds we liked:
27. 27. In our filming process, we was fortunate enough to use a Canon DSLR camera. Because of this, the quality of our shots looked much better than the other cameras available to us. Also, we could utilize the pull-focus to improve the quality of our shots, this is evident in the shot where the focus is on the nail and then switches focus to Darren as he walks closer. The image above is the camera we were fortunate enough to use. This therefore meant that it had a higher resolution and contributed further to the professionalism of the clip. The shot next to this is my favourite shot of our piece as we utilized the pull-focus successfully. Filming Process
28. 28. We faced another challenge when completing a tracking shot inside the caravan because of the small amount of space we had to position and move the dolly along the track. In my opinion, we shot really well inside the caravan as it was very difficult to use the equipment in a cramped space. In previous shoots, we had difficulty with the track and dolly in terms of the steadiness of the shot. This time around, it was a bigger challenge as for two of the camera shots, the track was placed on uneven grass. Therefore, before we took the shots, we removed any woodland or debris that would cause a jolt in the shot and managed to shoot successfully. Challenges IIChallenges I
29. 29. Q7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? This is a short clip where we as a group discuss our progress from our original preliminary task to our final product. We converse about these improvements in terms of planning, narrative, mise-en-scene, plot and filming. We also talk about the strengths and weaknesses of our final piece.