Evaluation Question 6

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT?

We utilised various different forms of technology whilst creating our film opening, and through the use of these technologies, also increased our own knowledge and skill in using them. Among these various forms of technology, we used the Apple iMac's, digital cameras, as well as software such as Adobe Premiere Pro CS3, Adobe Photoshop CS3 for production, and in terms of research and blogging, we used the internet browser Google Chrome, and in particular the websites www.blogger.com, www.bbfc.co.uk, www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk, http://www.youtube.com and www.google.co.uk. I found these relatively easy to use, however since I had not used blogger before, it took me a while to get used to. There were also problems with uploading certain parts of our work onto my blog, particularly the script and pitch.

Evaluation Question 5

HOW WOULD YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS YOUR AUDIENCE?

In order to learn how to attract our audience, we asked members of our target audience what would make them go and see a horror film via a questionnaire. We got a mix of responses as to what people preferred. Some of these are outlined below:

We discovered that our target audience mainly expected conventions such as blood, gore, adrenaline and fear and that they preferred gory, sci-fi style horror/thriller films. We took on board the ideas raised by the survey and were able to incorporate most of into our piece, such as the desire for an adrenaline rush as well as fear/suspense (through the use of dark, tense music)  however, we did feel that, because of the classification that we wanted for our film and because of the fact that we are only showing the opening and we wanted people to watch the rest of the film, we did not use any blood/gore.

We would use various mediums to address our audience and promote our film. These mediums include posters, ads/TV commercials etc.

I think that the best time to advertise our film is after watershed (post 9pm). in between drama programmes i.e. dramas such as 'Law and Order: UK' and the ITV News at 10, as well as movies such as 'Jaws' and 'Psycho' etc.

Evaluation Question 4

WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?

The target audience that we had in mind when creating our film opening was young females (teenage to early 30's at the most) as teenagers are more likely to experience and enjoy the fear and adrenaline that all horror films aim to convey. They are also the age range of the characters that we portrayed in the opening so they would likely identify with them best. We also chose this audience because, after viewing the stats provided by the UK film council (http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/media/pdf/d/n/Portrayal_Vs._Betrayal_Research_Report_UK_Film_Council_2011.pdf), we found that over 40% of UK viewers watched horror thriller films regularly and that 52% of these viewers would like to see more ‘edge of the seat’ thrillers , of which under 30% are young females, and as such, decided to create a piece that would appeal to this type of audience.

We created the film so that it would fit in to the BBFC guidelines for classification. Through research, I discovered that the typical classification for horror/thriller films is 15 (very rarely below), so we designed our film to enable it to be classified at this age.(For a full list of guidelines, use this link:

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/download/guidelines/BBFC%20Classification%20Guidelines%202009.pdf.) This adds an authenticity to our production and shows the audience that, although not an 18, it still clearly contains real 'edge of the seat' material. In terms of gender, although our specific audience centres around young females, I think that our film will appeal to a male audience as well due to the fear and adrenaline within the opening.

Our film is likely to be released in a smaller independent cinema as horror/thriller films do not appeal to everyone and the typical audience for this type of film are usually specialist viewers who watch horrors more than any other type of film.

Evaluation Question 3

WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT DISTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?

A film distributor is a company that, once a film is complete, helps the production company to promote it to the public (i.e. cinema, TV, iTunes DVD etc.) and more specifically, the intended target audience. There are generally two types of film distributors, major and niche: major distributors usually handle films that are likely to appeal to large and varied audiences (family films, animated films etc.), while niche film distributors usually handle films that appeal to more specific audiences (horror etc.)There are 6 main major film studios that own distribution companies. They are Columbia, Universal, Walt Disney, Paramount, 20^th Century Fox and Warner Bros. Examples of smaller, independent companies are Lionsgate, 2Entertain etc.

The genre of our film opening is horror/thriller and as such would appeal to a more niche, independent film distribution company. This is because horror/thriller films tend to appeal to a more specific audience, namely young people (i.e. teenagers).

I think that our film could be distributed by a company called 'Momentum Pictures'. A UK founded film distribution company that has quickly become one of the leading independent film distributors. I chose this company because it has distributed incredibly successful films such as 'The King's Speech', the thriller film 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' and, more recently, the horror film 'The Woman in Black', and as such they have experience in distributing the horror/thriller genre and attracting the appropriate target audience for our film.

I would expect our film to be distributed in smaller scale cinemas, as although the genre appeals to a large audience, the audience is specialist and the film would probably not attract a large amount of attention due to it being a small scale production. We could however, attract a lot more attention by using other mediums, such as YouTube, to reach our audience as well as producing posters and adverts etc.

Evaluation Question 2

HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?

Our media product represents a variety of different social groups and individuals in a variety of different ways. These include:

ISABELLA PARK (PLAYED BY HAYLEY JACKLIN)

In our film opening, we follow the character of Isabella Park in the final moments of her life, before she is killed via tracking shots, and as such, we portray her as tense and innocent/ vulnerable. (thus making her the protagonist) This feeling is enhanced by the presence of tense music leading up to the moment of her death. We also use a lot of walking scenes to build up this level of tension.

We portray Isabella as a sensible, mature person (a stereotype of females) who doesn't want anything to do with Tibble (as she shuns him when he tries to walk her home.) This also conveys a sense of independence within the character.

JOHN TIBBLE (PLAYED (BY TOM CARLTON)

This character is portrayed in our film opening as a drunk party goer in his teens/mid 20's. He is seen as a stalker who will not leave the main character alone. It is because of the stereotype that drunks are often violent that we initially portray him as the person who murders Isabella, thus making him the antagonist. (we decided to challenge this stereotype as it is later discovered that he is not the culprit)

This feeling of tension that he gives off is enhanced by the fact that he is wearing black and because the tense, dark music begins right at the end of his scene where he is looking angry and upset. Also, in his close up, we use a combination of a low angle camera shot (to show power and dominance, a trait commonly attached to male characters) and low key lighting, to convey a sense of mystery and dread about the character.

In terms of the representation of social groups in our film opening, all of the characters in this film opening are teens/mid 20's. This is an age group that is usually related by the audience to late night parties, excessive drinking etc. This is a negative stereotype that I feel we have conformed to.

Evaluation Question 1

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMAS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

There are many conventions of film openings that are used almost universally whatever style or genre the film may be. These include, the film title, crew (director, producer etc.), cast, production logo, establishing shots (to introduce the location and event to the audience.), and dark music to increase tension in the audience, such as the music used in the opening of 'Psycho'.

In our film opening we payed close attention to other film titles,  such as ‘Alien’ putting our credits in the following order:

Production Logo, Director, Producer, Camera,/Sound, Main Character 1, Main Character 2, Film Title.

(we did this so that the text would fit in with the scenes and transitions involved in the video as well as the various appearances of certain characters.)

The genre that we used for our film opening was horror/thriller. This genre contains many conventions that we not only used, but also developed, but in some cases, even challenged. Some of the conventions of the horror/thriller genre are adrenaline, fear, darkness, tension etc. In our film opening, we included eerie music to raise tension and fear within the audience, which then builds to a huge climax with the appearance of the film title, as was used in ‘Jaws’. We also filmed the opening in darkness in order to create a sense of tension and to create an enigma that makes the audience wonder ‘what will happen next?’

We put most of the text in the same ‘blood red’ colour as the main title for both effect and continuity, as such colours invoke a feeling of dread in audiences of this genre of film. We also used a great amount of close up and tracking shots so as to make the audience feel as though they are there with the main character.

In addition to using many conventions of the horror/thriller genre, we have also challenged some. In our original storyboard, we had decided that the main character should be killed in a forest, but we changed this as we thought that a character being killed in a dark forest was too stereotypical of films of this genre. Instead we decided that the character should be killed on a street. I think that this has worked in our favour.

Overall, I think that our media product has worked well in both using/developing and challenging a lot of the conventions often seen in the horror/thriller genre. We wanted our opening to be unique and to create a strong enigma that would make our audience want to watch the whole film, and I think through the various mediums of sound and mise-en-scene (specifically lighting), I think that we have achieved this.