Technological convergence notes and examples

Evaluation

 

How does your media product represnt particular social groups?

My film represents the average teenagers life, it touches on the situations all teens will encounter at some point in their life. It follows an ordinary person placed in an ordinary setting. She is dressed in normal clothes and has a very calm attitude. My character is then thrown into trouble and struggles to over come the situation. Although teenagers may not experience such an extreme case it shows the struggle teens face in everyday life.




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

I would like lions gate to distribute my film. I would like my film to be distributed by a quite big well known institution, lions gate are responsible for distributing some of the most loved and successful horror films, Saw, Horns and The quiet ones. Supernatural horror is one of the most popular horror genres, although lions gate is a huge institution Instead of releasing it straight to cinema I would like to release my film online first and then DVD. I feel like this would be better as a lot of people enjoy watching horror in the comfort of their own home and as lions gate is well known online release would be very successful.

How did you attract/address your audience?

https://youtu.be/jsYKM8JhnRs

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

In a stereotypical paranormal horror you have a group of teenagers being terrorised by the unnatural source but for my horror i have only the one character through out the whole film, not many films like to use just one character as it can be hard to keep your audiences attention, its important to capture your audience in the film especially in horror as some can be hard to follow or might have jump scares, if jump scares are being used you want your audience captivated in order for them to be effective. In horror films the characters tend to show the norm which is why the audience can relate so well, that are normal teenagers being thrown in to difficult unnatural situations, everyone has had experience in situations that may not paranormal but that do pose a great difficulty or even danger to the individual.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for my two minute opening will be young adults, I feel that they will have more connections and will relate will to the main character in the film who is a young adult herself. The genre of my opening is paranormal horror. Horror is appealing to pretty much all age groups but the questionnaire results show mainly a younger audience, 16+ and for that reason my films rating will be 15. From the research that I have done I have found that most horror films have a age rating of 15. Age ratings on films are decided by the bbfc. They put age ratings on films based on what they believe suitable for the age group. We are able to guess the 'maturity' of the film by just looking at the DVD box.

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

I have learnt that backing up footage is very important, I learnt this from the preliminary task as the films kept on corrupting and I struggled massively to get them to work. I have also learnt that it's important to make sure you have a video converter just in case. I have also learnt that you should not leave editing to the last minute, I left it on my preliminary task resulting in me rushing the editing process meaning that it was not done to the best of my ability. Leaving it to the last minute also meant that if I needed to gob act and re-film any bits I either couldn't or I could not get people to help out as they were busy themselves, due to this point I have also learnt that in future to not always count on the people helping you to be there all the time as they themselves might have other commitments. For future editing for me I would not use movie maker again as it kept crashing and losing my files when trying to edit my preliminary task. It also would save my files in the wrong format meaning I could not upload it to You Tube dispirited converting.Although i am not new to media and I had a slight advantage over new students I do feel that I have got a better understanding of the different shot types. I have also learnt about making my surroundings work with the camera, and how I can use list and dark to show and portray different emotions.When it came to editing and uploading my opening i encountered a few issues. I edited my opening on imovie and i had little to no problems at all but as soon as i attempted to email the final edit to myself i was unable to open it on my laptop due to the format of the opening. This was quickly resolved after converting the file. The next problem happened after placing and saving the opening in Movie Maker. Movie Maker saved my video as an unknown format to You Tube causing me to convert the file time and time again until You Tube finally uploaded it.

Looking back at your task, what have you learnt in the progression from that to the final product?

When filming my opening I did not use a video camera as every time I'd go to use it the camera would freeze up or run out of battery after 5 minutes, so instead of a camera I used my IPhone, surprisingly my iPhone gave a smooth and clear picture and was easy to use. I did not use a tripod when filming so my goal was to keep the phone as steady as possible, i think I managed to keep it still for most of the filming process. I had to film my opening in a school setting meaning I had to rethink my plan but fortunately I made the setting work in my favour, having to film it in school also meant that I had no access at night so I had to film during the school day, that presented me with two difficulties, the first one being background sounds from other students and the fact it was light, as my film is a horror light doesn't always work well but when I edited my film I dulled the lighting with a filter which gave the opening a spooky feeling.
Next time when it comes to editing i will need to make sure i fully research into the best video editors for PC and also invest in some easy to use converters. I will also need to make sure that if I were to do horror again I think about location and times I film.

Media studies As Level opening scene

https://youtu.be/rLya7HL7LIE

I am unable to upload preliminary task at this moment due to lost files. I will upload as soon as they have been retrieved...again. -_-

Story board

I filmed within school and got all filming done in a week. I had no problem with Queenie and Abbie not being able to help as we used free periods to get filming done. I plan to edit in the Easter holiday, this give me two weeks to evaluate my 2 minute opening.

Target Audience and research

The target audience for my film will be mainly teenagers. I have done research and i have found that most modern horror films are viewed mostly by a younger (teenage) audience. Found footage is also popular with teenagers. Films like Paranormal Activity and The Purge are very popular in the way of modern horrors. Most horrors have a rating 0f 15 although viewer's of a younger age will watch and enjoy these films. My film will be for both males and females as i don't want to stick to stereotypes that males are most likely to watch a horror. As my film is set in current time and is set in a natural environment it will  most likely appeal to everyone. The character is a teenager so people watching it are more likely to buy into the character and connect with them.

Pie Charts of results.

 I asked both males and females to take part in my questionnaire. Overall out of everyone i asked females enjoy watching horror more than males. This goes against the stereotype that girls get scared easily and that boys are more likely to enjoy gore and jump scares.

 Found footage and Comedy horrors are more popular compared to Slashers and Psychological Horrors. This suggests that people either like to watch a horror and not have to pay too much attention and also enjoy a laugh or it suggests that people like the 'realistic' aspect and enjoy the feeling of somewhat being in the movie themselves. 

*correction in pie chart, psychological.

When it comes to qualities of horror film people prefer to watch the film based on the plot, setting and will pick their film based on its sub-genre. People care slightly less for directors or characters.

The most favourable characters when it comes to horror films seem to be the victim and the psychopath. This can suggest one of two things, either the people watching the film enjoy seeing a poor and innocent character getting manipulated and controlled by a psychopath who's more than likely a killer or that people are routing for the victim to turn things around and become the hero, which is also quite a stereotypical quality of a horror film.

Music and sounds

Website links to Copyright free music

http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?feels%5B%5D=Dark&feels%5B%5D=Eerie&feels%5B%5D=Intense&feels%5B%5D=Suspenseful&feels%5B%5D=Unnerving

Planning

Scream Opening

Scream

The first thing the audience will hear while watching Scream is itself a loud high pitched scream from a young girl, this immediately gives the audience a good understanding of what the film is going to be about. From just the opening noise we can already guess what genre of film it is, Horror and thriller. This is due to the loud fearful screech. The screech has already created suspense for the audience. Due to the scream we already know that the victim is female, probably young and vulnerable. While you hear the scream the title of the film appears on screen. To start with the title is white, bold and in a horror, edgy style font. After a few seconds the white font begins to turn red and the lettering starts to run down the page like blood. The red blood symbolises death and danger. As well as the scream a phone also begins to ring, this happens while the title of the film is still showing. The ringing of the phone ends the titles and starts the opening scene.

 

 

 

 

 

We meet the main character in the first 10 seconds of the first scene. The protagonist is female which links in to the high pitched screech heard at the beginning of the titles. It is also stereotypical to have the female as the victim in a horror film as she wont be able to fight anything off and will be vulnerable. She answers the phone to a man with quite a deep voice, we learn later that the caller is the killer. This follows Propp's narrative theory, the female protagonist is the Princess, the one waiting to be saved and the killer is the Villain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The phone rings three times. The first time is when the audience is introduced to the killer. When she picks up the phone you can see that the main character is completely alone. This increases vulnerability and it also give the impression that something is soon to happen to the girl. The caller claims to have the wrong number and the call ends there.

 

The second time the phone rings it is the same person, this suggests to the audience that he didn't have the wrong number and that the girl is in possible danger. As the girl is on the phone the camera pans out and the audience are able to get a better look at her location. She is in a big house. It is dark out side and the house is located out side a forest. This is a typical horror film location as it gives a mysterious and spooky vibe. After the girl hangs up you see shots of the garden where there is a swing. This give the impression that there is a possibility of a child character. The swing is also moving so this could suggest a windy night or that someone has just been on or near it.  The character is completely alone for all the phone calls and all the noises the character makes are emphasised. This creates a more dramatic effect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clothing

For clothing i have decided to keep it casual and simple. I have picked a red skirt, white T-shirt, black tights and hat. Even though i wanted to give the impression of normal everyday clothing the colours i have picked foreshadow. I picked red to show danger and fear, white for purity and hope. I also picked black for fear and death. Not only have i used black and white for the clothing but i have used objects with in the film foreshadowing the exact same. Queenie already owns the clothes that i picked out so no money was spent on clothing.

I painted Abbies hand with coffee to give the impression of dirt and dried blood. Even though it did not go to plan it still added to the effect of the film. If i were to refilm i would probably use paint or buy fake blood.

Location and filming

The location I used for my film opening was the schools sixth form block, as the film itself is set in the school i didn't have to worry about hiding anything that might give the location away. Although the genre of my film is horror i had to film during the day as i did not have access to the block in the evenings. I will edit the lighting.

I painted Abbies hand with coffee to give the impression of dirt and dried blood. Even though it did not go to plan it still added to the effect of the film. If i were to refilm i would probably use paint or buy fake blood.

My Film Synopsis

After that Night Erin has been suffering night terrors and flash backs. But what has caused this....College is over for the day for most but not for Erin. She is staying back for extra time in order to complete work for the next day. Completely alone…well that’s what she thought. A series of unnatural and strange events take place that evening and Erin finds herself in serious danger. The dead need a home and a victim and they’ve chosen Erin as their prey. She tries to reason with the spirits but there’s no bargaining with the dead. Erin’s goal is to escape the building and return to safety but the spirits want to play so escaping won’t be as easy as it sounds. Will she make it to safety or will she fall victim to the underworld?  

Our Group Preliminary Task

Our group preliminary task (filmed in school). I managed to edit a few shot but was unable to finish as  the files became corrupted and we were unable to email them to myself. However, the filming that we done is on the school computer so there is still proof that we have done some work. We planned to film a small modern day Hitchcock film that showed a shadow (or hoodie) walking towards a destination where they would then meet an acquaintance and exchange some money. We kept the identities hidden until they met to create a mystery-suspense feeling.

The shot types we used were:
 - A long shot (shows the figure walking past a second floor window)
 -A over the shoulder shot (showing somebody holding money)
 -Close up (of the money)
 -Close up (of feet walking past the camera)
-Mid shot (of somebody waking up to the camera)
 -Mid shot (of a door banging and the money holding figure turning to look)
 -Mid shot (of the hooded figure closing the door and walking over to a table)
 -Mid shot (shows both people walking to the table, stood on opposite sides)
  -Close up (of the money holding figure saying “Have you go the money”)
-Close up (of the hooded figure replying “Yes”)
-Close up (of the two figures throwing the money down onto the table)

Group I worked in: Abbie, Queenie and Bryony

Our Group Preliminary Task Evaluation

The Purge

 

 

The very first shot we see in this title sequence is the establishing shot. It is a straight forward shot, with no angle it doesn’t have a setting. it is a black background with white text. The text contains statistics and facts. ' America 2022 unemployment is at 1%. Crime is at an all-time low. Violence barely exists.' This creates a sense of realism, people will buy into this fact making them think The Purge has or could very well happen in the future. The final words at the end of this section of text are ‘With one exception…’ this creates a sense of suspense without there being any characters or settings.

 

The next shot used is more or less the same as the first only this time it shows a quote.‘Blessed be the new Founding Fathers for letting us Purge and cleanse our souls, Blessed be America, a nation reborn’ This gives the viewer the impression of good deeds. The quote is there to mislead the viewer into thinking that positive things are being done.

 

In the first 3 minutes of the film CCTV footage is showing images from The Purge. It show violence and criminal acts being committed. This footage includes dates and time to create the feel that The Purge was an actual event. Over the top of the footage music is being played, the music is very soft and light. This could be used to create disoreder to the viewer.

 

 

 

After the CCTV footage is shown we are shown a shot of a smartly dressed business man driving home from work. He is having a conversation. At first it seems like he is talking to some one sitting in the passenger seat but as the camera pans around we can see he is alone and is actually talking on his bluetooth. An over the shoulder shot is also used so we can see the destination and other props that are being used in this scene.