Q7 - Reflective Evaluation - Raja Virdi

Here is a video explaining how my skills of pre/post and production have developed since starting the very first preliminary tasks to my final media coursework piece.

PART 1

PART 2

Q6 - Reflective Evaluation - Raja Virdi

Technologies in creating a product is how the film uses different types of equipment. For example in making the film a camera is a type of technology, and in post production, a editor like Final Cut Pro would be an example. Technologies are also part of the distribution process so how the film is shown to audiences for example TV advertising, or posters on the internet.

Here is a Prezi created by me, about the technologies about constructing our product.

The Technologies Of Constructing The Product - Raja Virdi on Prezi

Final Films

The two following films are the final edits to our media coursework.

Initially, our script was to have one film in two locations, however due to the length of both films together (over four minutes), it wouldn't have been able to be used. However, we felt the shots and the general story-line from both locations were good enough to split two locations into two films.

We have edited and sound-tracked both films to their best standards possible.

In a class discussion, the overall view was that the first film was better than the second due to story-line, effects & shots. However, people also thought the second one was good as some shots were better and the location in a Church was more interesting, although the ending to the Church edit was boring, whereas the ending to the one in Wollaton Hall, was much more interesting/spooky.

Finally, we decided that the first film (shot at Wollaton Hall), would be the better film and we were very happy with the way it turned out.

Here is our final edit of "The Presence" shot in Wollaton Hall:

Here is our final edit of "The Presence" shot in a Church:

Distribution

Here is another example of distribution through a film festival. Film festivals are a good way of distributing your film as it would have a large audience, including professionals, and so it would get talked about. This is the "Bang! Short Film Festival", which is held twice a year in the Broadway Cinema, Nottingham. It shows short films of all genres by young filmmakers. Here is a video from the festival in 2008:

Feedback About Our First Edit

Here is the feedback sheets from our whole media group about what they thought about our first edit and what we would need to improve on.

In general, everyone thought it was really well done, and they enjoyed it. However, there were little things like parts which were too long and audio problems, however they can be easily sorted.

Overall, we are very happy with the comments and they will help us a lot with editing our piece some more.

Creating A Production Company Logo

We would want from our logo to be very simplistic but very effective and can be remembered well.

We would particularly like some kind of image to represent our company like Spyglass Entertainment have done.

Our company names are very simple, but we have come up with Diamond Films, as it is catchy, prestigious & we can incorporate many different images with it.

In terms of colours, we would want blacks and whites most likely, as they are very contrasting, stand out, and look professional, however we are thinking of using a dark red as it shows a horror-genre as it has been tried and tested with the Hammer & Lionsgate film production logos.

With fonts, we are hoping to have something very bold and catchy, but nothing with jagged edges like the original Hammer Films logo, as we think that doesn't look professional and is outdated. From using dafont.com, we have come to the conclusion that this font "Sanford" would be the best:

We really like how bold it is, and it looks very professional in our opinion. As the letters have the feet on them, it immediately took our attention as it looks quite posh.


Here are some images that have given us inspiration for our final logo:

We like this one because of the way the diamond is, as it is very simple but an effective design.

Again this is a very simple design, but we also like how the diamond has a gradient in it, which gives it a bit more colour.











In terms of special effects, we would ideally want to keep it relatively simple, so we were thinking of a simple fade in and a fade out.


Here is the finished logo, we have made:

We decided to use red for the diamond and the lettering as it represents a blood-like colour and of the horror genre which we like and it stood out better than plain white.

Overall, we are happy with this logo and look forward to see it in our opening for our film.

Production Company Research and Analysis

Dimension Films were the production company for the film "1408". The logo is very simple but effective. The blue colour is very striking and the 3D effect it has is very imaginative in that it's something people remember. It is much different to normal logos which are in 2D. The layout is very simple in that it is centred but it has a tilt to it, which is again different to other logos. As we can see from the following video, it's composition is very simple in that it zooms out with a fade in, although the string music at the end may show the type of film is could be.

From imdb.com, Dimension films have produced many films and a few that are in pre-production. Some films which have been popular and produced by Dimension are: Scream, Halloween, Scary Movie, Spy Kids & Sin City. The film that are in pre-production are: Devils Knot, Pirahna 3DD & The Black Marks.

Dimension Films is part of the Weinstein Company. It was formerly partenered with Miramax Films, but then departed in 2005. However, the company has many franchises such as Scary Movie, Spy Kids & Halloween. They are identified as a studio which focuses on the latter of horror films, but rarely leave that genre.

Here is the video for the full opening.

Spyglass Entertainment are the production company who made "Sixth Sense". The logo is much different to the previous one in that the photo represents the name of the production company. We can see a silhouetted man with a spyglass looking through with the sea behind him. From this iconic logo, it is very difficult to tell what kind of tone or theme the film will be as the production logo is the same all the time. The font is very simple and in white which contrasts with the plain black background. The actual intro starts very 3D in that we can see through the spyglass as it pans out to the photo of the man. In my opinion, it is one of my favourite logos for a production company because it has an interesting and imaginative look to it.

From imdb.com, Spyglass Entertainment have produced many films and a few that are in pre-production. Some films which have been popular and produced by Spyglass are: The Sixth Sense, Legend of Zorro, Star Trek, GI Joe & The Tourist. The film that are in pre-production are: Hansel & Gretel & Excalibur.

The company was formed in 1998. They make a wide range of films which attract all sorts of audiences, so there target audiences are anyone. Unlike other companies, they can make a lot more money as they focus on multiple genres instead of one or two. They are part of The Walt Disney Company and have taken over a certain amount of the bankrupt MGM Studios.

Here is the video for the full opening.

Gold Circle Film are the production company for "The Haunting in Connecticut". There logo also reflects the name of their production company. The font is very odd, as it's quite cramped up and hard to read at first. Also the "Films" part at the bottom is extremely hard to read, and could be larger. However, as the gold circle reflects the company, people could already know who they are. The gold black font with a gold outer glow is quite authentic and professional though, as it looks prestigious. As it is a very simplistic design with the ring and the writing centred, I find it very effective. The logo in an actual feature zooms in, which then shows the overall logo. It is quite simple, but effective as people don't know what is coming until the logo has been fully zoomed in. However, it does not appear to show what kind of theme the feature will be, as they use the same logo all the time.

From imdb.com, Gold Circle films have produced many films and a few that are in pre-production. Some films which have been popular and produced by Gold Circle are: The Fourth Kind, The Haunting in Connecticut & White Noise. The film that are in pre-production are: The Haunting in Georgia & The Duelist.

Gold Circle Films was founded in 2000, and is an independent American film company. It mainly focuses on the genres of horror & romance. Very popular films have been established from Gold Circle though considering they are a independent company, such as Haunting in Connecticut, White Noise, The Wedding Date & Fourth Kind.

Here is the video for the full opening.

Production Logos

Here is the original Hammer Films logo. We can see that the font is quite distorted with jagged edges which would be associated with a horror genre. As the colour it red, it represents blood and a striking colour which again is associated with horrors. We can see a castle on a isolated island, which is quite an unusual logo type, but does show the genre of horror. The layout and framing is very simple with just the text in the middle so it can be easily read. It does represent the theme and tone of the coming picture as it shows a isolated castle which does show a quite scary image.

Here is the new version of the Hammer Films logo. We can immediately see that it's a lot simpler. It has a block capital font, which is very striking. There is also a reflection underneath the main text. They still kept the same font colour which is red, as it represents the genre of horror very well. The layout and framing is very simple with just the text in the middle, however it doesn't really establish the theme or tone of what the feature will be like the old logo. Although, the colour could symbolise the type of genre it will be.

The Lionsgate is a very popular logo. The font is very bold, with quite a scratched white face. The white is different to previous logos, however they have used red clouds in the background which again represents the horror genre. Lionsgare have specifically changed there logo to a red background for horrors, and other types of similar genres. In the full clip it has gates opening up to the following logo, this is quite iconic as it shows that people immediately know it's a Lionsgate production. The layout and composition/framing is very simple with the text being in the middle, with contrasting colours to make the lettering stand out. It establishes the theme and tone from the different colours, so as it is a red background apposed to there normal clouds, it shows a type of film it'll be.

Legandary Pictures is a very different logo to the previous. The font is bold with a large shield like crest above it. The colour of gold gives a sense of prestige, however it doesn't really convey the horror genre as it doesn't have colours which are represented with it. The shield is quite iconic with Legendary Pictures, in which when people see it they know it's a Legendary Pictures production. The layout is again simple with everything being centred, with contrasting colours so the logo is noticeable. The logo could possibly establish the theme of the coming feature because of the background colour which is a black/grey gradient. As darkness is represented with these colours, it could show that it's a dark film, however the gold font contradicts this.

Twisted Pictures represents the genre and tone of a feature from this logo. Firstly, the font itself is quite distorted and has scratches all over it. It also has a gradient from white to black which camouflages into the black background which could show the unknown. The font certainly reflects the name of the company as it is quite a twisted/uneven font. The colour of white is very bold as it stands out from the black background very well. In the middle of the logo, there is an image of a piece of metal twisted around a nail, which again represents the name of the company. It definitely establishes the theme and tone of the feature as the use of that kind of image is something to be associated with horrors.

Assessment of first shoot

Camera and Framing:

We feel that the majority of our shots are steady but there are some with can improve on with a second shoot. We believe that all of our clips were well framed and we always considered rule of thirds and head room. We also have a wide variety of shots which are well framed. We used multiple angles in the shoot, such as canted, high, low, and a moving canted angle, showing a switch of sides. There is also multiple types of shots, like close ups, mid shots, long shots and over shoulder shots. As it is a horror film that we are making, we made sure to include many close ups.

Editing:
We believe that in the films for both locations, we achieved continuity editing. We edited both films fairly well, so that it flowed and was easy to watch. The editing also built pace and tension due to the music that we edited in, as it was very low and suggested dark atmosphere and fear. We used a couple of transitions like fade at the end of the Wollaton Hall to show how the character was fading away as she was becoming possessed and to show instability, as she did not know what was happening.

Mise En Scene:
We believe that we have well used mise en scene, as we effectively used doors, locations,  lights and props such as old photos and a bible. Both of our locations (Wollaton Hall's Willoughby Room and St. Mary's Church in Wollaton) were used well to create fear, as they were relatively old fashioned, and we used dim lighting to create a more tense atmosphere and fear. We have used colours well as our character is wearing dark colours to reflect the dark surroundings. Our character is suitable for a horror film, as she conforms to the stereotypical character of a horror film, as most films have a young female lead. We think that our actress portrayed our character well, and her performance was extremely convincing through both her voice and body language.

After looking back over the clips, we think that our first shoot went really well. We believe we have used a variety of shots, kept the 180 degree rule, used shot reverse shot effectively and mise en scene well. We did have some problems with costume, as our actress had a hoodie on in the first location but not the second, which is a continuity error, and so it will not flow as effectively when edited. We are in the editing stage of the first shoot, and we feel that it is going well. 

For future shoots, we could improve on camera focus and steadiness and continuity with costume.

Unfortunately, we have to make do with our shots from Wollaton Hall, as we cannot use this location again due to events being taken place there over the next few weeks. However, we can reshoot shots from the church.

The date for our second shoot will be confirmed within the next few days, and it is highly likely that it will be within the next week or two.

Filming Our Opening (Day 2)

Yesterday, we went to St. Mary's Church for our second day of shooting.

We thought it went very well and we got all the necessary shots we needed. We thought the location was brilliant for lighting and it represented a horror location very well.

We did manage to take some photos of our shooting:

Here we have me and Lauren, shooting a scene of which our actress is walking down the Church.

Here we have a high angled shot of our actress reading a Bible, and in this scene in particular I needed Lauren to pull the focus as I had to move the tripod down and couldn't turn the focus too.

And again, here we have another shot of our actress gradually putting the Bible down and walk down the Church.

Filming Our Opening

Today, we went to Wollaton Hall and filmed the second half of our opening (the first half being in a Church, which we are filming in tomorrow).

We thought it went very well, and we got everything down and all possible coverage and shots.

Unfortunately, we didn't get photos of us filming in the room due to copyrights from Wollaton Hall, but we got photos of the group in the room to show we were there and had filmed.

All in all, we thought everything went very smooth, and looking back at the clips, they turned out really well.

Here is me and Lauren in the Willoughby Room getting prepared to film.













Here is Lauren, me and Katie (our actress) after finishing filming.

Filming Our Opening Credits

In this photo, we have a three point lighting technique with two backlights and the smaller light on top of the camera. We decided to use this method as it gave quite a dark look, which we are definitely aiming for.

For most shots, we put the camera on a dolly so we could move around the photos on the table. This meant we could have smooth movements, and in my opinion the shots turned out very well. Also, they are much smoother than going handheld which we were originally going to do.

We decided to use my (Raja's) camera instead as it produces much higher quality than other handheld video cameras. It is a Canon EOS 550D, and by using a DSLR for video it meant we could get a more shallow depth of field for shots we wanted (using the Canon 50mm f1.8 lens).

Overall, we thought the credits shooting went very well and we got all the necessary shots we wanted and we are looking forward to the editing stage.

Skills Recap

In this clip of The Ring, shot reverse shot was used extremely often to show reactions of the character, and then what she was looking at/reacting at. The lengths of the shots ranged from long shots to progressively build up tension, and more short shots to get a faster pace to create fear and make a more tense atmosphere. There was a range of shots used within this clip, but close ups were used the most, to show the reactions and facial expressions of the character. Long shots were also used to show the surroundings and location of the character. Many high angles were used, to show the character's inferiority and weakness, as well as low angles to show superiority, like when there is a low angle of the stairs to show the hauntings overpowering the character. Most of the other shots are used at an eyeline angle. Colour was effectively used in The Ring, as all the surroundings and the character's clothing were of dull colours, like white, black and grey. This ties in with the lighting, as dim lighting was used throughout to reflect the atmosphere and surroundings of the scene.

Location Permission for Filming

Here is the print screened image to show the head of Wollaton Hall allowing us to film at there location.

Q3 - Promotional Poster

Here is our promotional poster. It was created using Adobe Photoshop CS5. We believe it gives the message of our storyline very well as it includes our main location we are filming at, our actress, ghost like figures, and the main title in a readable and appropriate font. Also, the black and white effect gives quite a sinister effect. We also added other effects such as lightning and clouds, as well as fixing the image for our location to make it seem as haunted as possible.

We feel we accomplished a successful poster, in that it will attract our target audiences.

We used ideas from other posters such as the Haunting in Connecticut which was very dark-looking. We did the same by only using darker shades which tells an audience it's a horror film. As we can see it seems as if there are some mediums in the poster with the person at the top of the ceiling. We tried comparing this to ours by putting our main location behind our actress which shows its importance.

Haunting in Connecticut poster:

Film Title

After discussion when we had finished planning our storyline, we have come up with the title 'The Presence'. We feel that this title relates to the plot of our film, and to the sub-genre of psychological horror films.

Q3 - Reflective Evaluation - Raja Virdi

Distribution is the way in which you get your film seen and the way in which you promote it, for example posters & trailers.



Here are the different ways, an independent and major company will distribute their films:


Independant Film Companies


Hammer Films - It is a independant production company which specialises in the genre of horror films, and has produced many of them since opening in 1934.

Examples of films:


Woman In Black



Here is the trailer of the film, as we can see it looks like quite a large budget film, and considering their choice of actor (Daniel Radcliffe), you would expect that kind of film to be with a major institution such as Lionsgate.

Here is an example of a promo poster from the film:

As we can see from this poster, it is evidently well done in terms of graphics which you would expect from a larger production.

We can also see that, in terms of marketing, compared to larger companies they have similar techniques.










Let Me In






Here is the trailer for the film "Let Me In". Another film by production company Hammer. As we can see from this, it obviously has a professional edge to it you wouldn't expect from an independent production company. As it says "From the director of Cloverfield", we can see it is going to be a more up-market production as Cloverfield was backed up by a major production company; Paramount.

Here is an example of the poster for Let Me In. Again we can see from this that this independent production company has similar methods of marketing and distributing compared to larger companies.

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Black and Blue Films - Recently opened in 2007, and is one of the best independent production companies in the UK. They mainly focus on Horror, Crime and Comedy genres of films.

Stalker




We can see from this film trailer that it doesn't seem much up-budget, as the general trailer itself is quite boring and doesn't tell a lot about the film itself. You can see the difference between a large company and a smaller one in terms of quality of trailers.

Here we have the promotional poster, which in my opinion looks very professional and would definitely compete with larger companies, and definitely tells an audience the film is a horror genre with the image.

Devils Playground




In this trailer for the film "Devils Playground", we can see it is much more professional looking than the other film in that there's more gruesome scenes and scenes that show a lot of action by using quick shots, which implies to an audience there is a lot in the film. I believe this trailer isn't as good as larger companies due to budgets and such, but is still an effective horror genre trailer.

Here is the promotional poster for the film, which in my opinion is very bland and not as effective as other posters as it is very simple and unprofessional. On the other hand, the trailer does make up for a bad poster. Larger company posters are definitely more effective, but generally they are all using the same marketing techniques.

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Major Film Company



Lionsgate Films - Lions Gate is a North American entertainment company. The company was formed in 1997. As of 2011, it is the most commercially successful independent film and television distribution company in North America.




The Haunting in Connecticut






In this trailer for "Haunting In Connecticut", we can obviously see the difference in quality and professionalism, as they would have larger budgets for the whole film and therefore a trailer so it would look a lot better than independent production companies. However they used the same distribution such as trailers, the quality of them is completely different.

Here we have the promotional poster for the film. We can see from this that it is quite professional and eye catching in that, it says "based on a true story" and the overall look of the poster. This can easily be seen as a horror film from the position of actors. Special effects have also been used in order to get the character at the top of the poster, so there is a bigger budget needed for it.

Saw






In this trailer, it is the original Saw. This is a very captivating trailer in that it tells an audience what to expect to happen, which is what you expect from a trailer and its use of effects and camera angles gives a sense of professionalism and interesting to an audience. Considering the age of the trailer, I feel it is very effective at creating the horror genre, and is definitely a good way of distribution.

The poster of this film is very simple, yet effective. The image obviously shows a horror genre as the hand is cut off and there is blood and the style of font is very distorted. I think this isn't the best poster for distribution purposes however the trailer definitely distributes the film to an audience very well.

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As we are only students, we need to find other ways in which we could also distribute our film. We could try to get it put on film festivals, for example Mayhem Film Festival & Bang Film Festival which are based in Nottingham. Also, they take on student films, so it's more realistic for it to get distributed to a wider audience. Furthermore, we could upload it to youtube or vimeo and try to get promotion from that, as it can be viewed by anyone worldwide. From having it online, we could promote using social networking sites such as facebook and twitter.

Here is an example of the Mayhem Film Festival:

We can see from this photo that the location in which it is held is very busy and would definitely be ideal for us to get our film out too.

Here, we can see a past student film which is on youtube. It is a brilliant way of promotion as anyone can see it, so the distribution can be worldwide. Also, with youtube's new features we can watch the film in HD, which is also an added bonus to possible distributors as they look for quality footage.









Finally, in my opinion I believe the difference in quality and distribution can easily be seen between an independent production company and a major one. They do have similar ways of marketing like posters and trailers, but the difference in quality can be seen. As the bigger production companies would have bigger budgets, it means the quality would be higher and they could afford distribution like merchandise, advertising and such, however independent film companies can;t accomplish this because of smaller budgets but they still produce good films, which is what it is about at the end of the day.

Q2 - Reflective Evaluation - Raja Virdi

Representation is how something is portrayed. In this question, we need to show how our media product represents particular social groups.
Using the following videos and imdb.com, we can see the kind of age/gender and race of people which watch these certain films. From this information we can understand how we want our media product to be portrayed to our audience.






1. In this extract from the film "1408", it is quite clear which social groups the victim and threat belong too, and how they are represented. Firstly, the victim is a male character which is uncommon in horrors, as the typical stereotype are females being the victim. However, as it is a psychological horror, the representations of gender can be changed, because the sub-genre is not particularly aiming at a certain gender. Also, the victims in this sub-genre are usually represented as teenagers however in "1408" the victim is middle-aged, which is showing that a victim can be of any age to create fear and tension in the audience, so therefore the film is challenging stereotypes and gender as to how they are stereotypically viewed, by an audience.
The threat is unknown to the audience, so it is quite difficult to put it in a particular social group. As the room itself is the threat, we can view the representations by the different fears it creates in the victim for example; the slasher man and the little girl. These are obviously two very different representations of characters and stereotypes as the slasher threat is a normal stereotypical character who is a male, middle aged and effects the victim physically. However, the little girl is effecting the victim mentally, as she is his daughter and very young. Typically in a psychological horror, the threat will effect the victim mentally, which is doing here. Both characters are following the normal stereotypes of gender and age as by one being a male slasher which effects him physically, there is also the contrast which is his young daughter who effects him mentally, which are the normal representations of a psychological horror.






1. In this extract from the film "The Haunting in Connecticut", there are obvious social groups and representations to the threat and victim. Firstly, the victim is a male teenager which is the typical stereotype from a psychological horror. Usually in psychological horrors, the main victim has some kind of problem/gift for example in Sixth Sense, where the child can see ghosts, however in this film the teenage victim has a severe cancer which adds to his vulnerability as a victim. In this film, the stereotypes of age and gender are followed from psychological horrors, but yet it still adds a significant amount of fear in the audience.
The threat in this film isn't seen so it is hard to put it in a particular social group, but the threats from psychological horrors aren't usually seen anyway as the pain is done mentally, so there is a representation there of a stereotypical psychological. As it shows in the trailer, we do see some possible threats such as the ghosts, which again are a stereotypical threat in a psychological horror, because usually the threat is in the victims head. In this film, I think that the stereotypes of age and gender follow the normal psychological horror, as even though we don't see the main threat we can see what it can create and how those smaller threats effect the victim mentally and physically.

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2.

Here is the test shot of Katie, in the clothes she is going to wear for our psychological horror piece.















We chose Katie as she follows the conventions of a typical psychological horror (and a normal horror at that) because the victim is usually female and young, which will also attract our under 18s target audience. The normal conventions for a psychological horror would be like this (Katie from Paranormal Activity).

We tried creating our character kind of like this as our film has similar conventions to Paranormal Activity. The use of darker clothing creates fear and tension, and even though she is not as young as our character, the same kind of effect can be accomplished as our character is more vulnerable because she is younger.







In our story we have our character going to a large castle of which is haunted by unknown beings and occurrences happen which emphasises our threat such as lights flickering, doors slamming and lots of non-diegetic groans. Eventually our character ends up in a final room where she finds on a desk newspaper clippings of a girl who had died in the castle (our threat), and suddenly the room turns pitch black and as before lights go haywire and doors slam, and we finally see our threat behind our character.

There are many conventions we gained inspiration from our sub-genre such as the idea of a unknown threat tormenting our victim which we gained from Paranormal Activity, and we liked the idea of that kind of spine-chilling horror. We also gained inspiration from Haunting in Connecticut as the threat can is a ghost which had died years ago, and still haunts the premises. It is a typical convention but can be very effective if done properly. Finally, we thought of the different kinds of occurrences from the film 1408, which included lights flashing and doors slamming, among other things.

Here is my target audience sheet:

In this, I discussed about The Sixth Sense, and the kind of age group i would be appropriate for by going on IMDB.com.
Also we watched the clips of the film and saw how they targeted there age group of 18-45+ by seeing the types of conventions they added and how hey attracted the audience.
We also viewed on the user ratings what was the preferred gender, but both genders enjoyed the film.
The same is for race, in that it applied to anyone.


We can gain a lot of useful information from this because as the film is very wide spread in terms of age, gender and race. By having our film follow the same conventions and such, maybe ours can be appropriate for all age groups, gender and race. Although we are aiming at any gender and race, our target audience is the under 18s, but having a wider audience could be very beneficial.

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3.

The sequence of the ending from our film, where the hauntings get more dramatic is where we can establish our social group representation. This is represented because the hauntings are aimed at a teenager which would appeal to our target age group of 16+. Our social group representations are universal for gender and race. As we used a female being haunted, it will attract both male and females in my opinion because girls are stereotyped as non-horror fans, so our choice of gender representation may be able to draw them in.

We have chosen our representations to be similar to the Haunting in Connecticut trailer because nearing the end of it, we can see hauntings happening. Also the actor from it, is about the same age as our actress apart from the fact it's a male character as a pose to female. Although the same representations of age and gender can be the same as our film.

Feedback From Audience

Our feedback from our audience was all around very good. Using the Audience Feedback Evaluation form we used for Question 5, we can gather that our audiences reactions to gender/age/race were very good. Everyone circled the "positive" box for gender and age, as it appealed to our target audience and to both genders. However, as it was universal for race, the feedback was simply "neutral".

As we can see from the following Wordle of what our feedback was, it was very good and accurate. We had a good mix of people saying our age group was correct, it was universal for gender and race and much more positive comments.

Reflective Evaluation - Lauren Rudd

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

The images below show the typical conventions of the psychological sub-genre (e.g lighting, use of mise en scene, colours). They have helped to get ideas for our own film, logo and title sequence.

This is the DDLC Film logo from the opening sequence of the film. The logo is used on a dark background to go with the general horror conventions, to create a dark atmosphere. I think that the picture of the lion surrounded by clouds does not go with the rest of this image although it is part of the logo, and it in fact challenges the conventions. 

This is the logo from the opening sequence of our film. To follow the conventions of a horror film, we have used red text to back up the connotations of blood or evil, and a dark background to create a dark atmosphere. I think that this reinforces the conventions.

                  I think that this image uses conventions from the psychological sub-genre as it is text based on a dark background, which suggests that the film is dark itself and can help to create a feeling of fear. The title is bold and outstanding and has blood running down the letters, which suggests there will be terrible events in the film. The dark background, bold title and blood on the letters helps to support the psychological sub-genre as it does not make it very obvious as to what the film is about, and simply leaves you to guess and make your own assumptions and ideas. It can also make you fear the unknown as you are unsure as to what is going to happen from the titles.

This image from our titles shows how we have used conventions of a psychological horror film as we have not made it very obvious what the film is about. We used a lot of old photographs in the title sequence and film itself to leave you guessing what they are for. The title sequence is dark to create a dark feeling, with plain text to again keep you guessing and not reveal anything.

In this image, Hannibal shows the conventions of a psychological horror film. You can see this through the use of mise en scene in the image, the rope, which has obvious negative connotations. At this part in the film he has tied a man to a tree with the rope (as seen below) and attaches the rope to a horse, therefore strangling the man. You can also see this through the emotions Hannibal expresses in his face. He has a strange smirk on his face and his eyes look intense, and his general expression along with the mise en scene and events at this time suggest mental instability.

I think that this image shows conventions of a horror film as you can see the use of mise en scene to create story  (the photo in her hand). The character is also hunched over on the floor in the dark, showing a dark atmosphere, negative connotations and possible mental instability, as she does not know what is going on.

This image uses existing conventions from the sub-genre to create character as we see that Hannibal is like a typical main character from a psychological film. He is mentally unstable, as shown from the fact that he has a man tied to a tree (and horse which you can not see in the shot) at this point in the film. This shows how Hannibal is trying to get his revenge on people who turned to cannibalism and ate his younger sister as a child. The need for revenge and mental instability are typical traits of a main character in a psychological film. However, this image also challenges conventions as it shows the scene is very bright in comparison to the events in the scene, whereas usually the scene would also be dark to show fear.

This image shows conventions from the psychological sub-genre creating character as we see signs of possible instability from her body language and expression. This is because at this point, there are paranormal happenings which scare her and she does not know what is going on. Fear of the unknown is shown through this. Fear of the unknown and mental instability due to this are common conventions of a psychological horror.

This image shows a Soviet authority holding a dog tag, as circled. In 'Hannibal Rising', Hannibal uses the dog tags of each person who cannibalised his sister to track them down and kill them. Therefore, this piece of mise en scene in the film and in this scene in particular uses and develops the existing conventions of a psychological horror film because Hannibal uses the mise en scene to get his revenge. Revenge is a commonly used convention of a psychological horror film.

This image shows mise en scene being used in the film. These are the same photos that were used in the title sequence, and throughout that sequence and the film itself they help to create a story. It uses existing conventions as the mise en scene helps to create fear of the unknown as the photos suggest that the paranormal happenings have something to do with the people in the photos.

This is a key image from the film, and is also used as one of the film posters. It uses and develops existing conventions of the psychological horror sub-genre. This is shown firstly by the use of lighting is the scene, as it is incredibly dark, as well as in the use of colours. The darkness shows fear, and this is a main convention. We also see Hannibal's character in this scene, as he continues to show his desperate need for revenge and his mental instability through the trapping of one of his sister's killers in a water tank. We can see his power as he is looking down on the man. These again are main conventions, and are used constantly throughout this film.

This is a key image from the film as it uses and develops existing conventions from the psychological horror sub-genre. There is an incredibly dark atmosphere as the room is completely blacked out, there are shadows surrounding the character, and the character has collapsed onto the floor, showing instability. As well as the dark shadows, there is a light shadow seen coming from the girl, as if she is being possessed. This image is taken from the ending of the film, which also makes it a key image.

This is another key image from the film. This is from the beginning of the film, which shows Hannibal and his younger sister Mischa playing outside, before a Nazi army tank attack and kill Hannibal's family. This is a key image as it shows the relationship between Hannibal and his sister, which is evidently a strong one, and shows why he is so desperate to avenge her death. It challenges conventions of the psychological sub-genre as the scene is very light, whereas horror films are usually consistently dark. The light scene and the strong relationship between the characters challenge these conventions as they are not dark at all.

This is a key image from our film as it shows and establishes both location and character. It shows/establishes the location as it is a wide shot, and the location uses existing conventions as it is a fairly old, dark building. It shows/establishes character using the wide shot as we can see the character properly. We used existing conventions with character as all types of horrors commonly use young girls for the main character.

This is an image from another key point in the film. This image is from the end of the film, when Hannibal tracks down one of the last of his sister's killers. This man reveals that Hannibal also was involved in the cannibalism of his sister, as she was part of a broth that was given to him. This is Hannibal's breaking point, and he carves 'M' into the man's chest, representing his sister, Mischa. This uses and develops the conventions of  a psychological horror film as it clearly shows mental instability and a desire for revenge, and also shows a lot of blood.

This is an image from the part of the film where paranormal happenings are taking place, and so our character is trying to escape but both doors are locked. It is a key image as this is a turning point for the character, as she gets more worried than she was before, when the events first started taking place. This uses conventions from the psychological sub-genre as it shows fear of the unknown and instability as she is trying frantically to escape.

This is a key image from the film because of the mise en scene in this scene. The mise en scene uses conventions from the sub-genre, and from horror films in general. We see Hannibal in a dark costume with blood all over his face. The lighting of the room is also dark. Hannibal is also holding a gun. These things all help to create a dark atmosphere within this scene, and to build up tension. They are all commonly used in horror films.

This is a key image from the film as it shows location and use of mise en scene. It shows use of existing conventions as the lights are flickering on and off, which makes the character uncomfortable and uneasy, thus causing her breakdown. It is also another shot that shows the location, as we can see the old paintings and walls, which is an existing convention as old locations are commonly used.

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How does your media product represent particular social groups?

A representation is how something is shown or portrayed. In this question, I have used ratings from imdb.com and horror film trailers to show which social groups have been represented, and therefore who would watch the film. This was to help set a particular target audience for our own film and to help us decide on a character to use. It also made it easier for us to represent the target audience accurately in our film.

The victim of this film, Paranormal Activity 2, is a typical family made up of a couple and their two children, a boy (baby) and a young girl, and so these are the social groups that are represented. In psychological horror films and in horror films in general, families are often used because they are typically seen as being easily manipulated and worried due to the children. Because it is a family and there is a range of ages, this shows the differences in social groups that are represented in this film.

The threat is not actually known, but it is possibly some form of poltergeist or ghost, and so it is difficult to place them into a particular social group. This is typical of a psychological/ghost horror film, as the threat often comes from the victim's mind, which is often implied.

In 'The Grudge', the victim is the character 'Karen Davis'. She is a young American nurse that moves to Tokyo and looks after an elderly woman. She is a stereotypical victim of a ghost/psychological horror film, as a lot of them have a young female as their victim, and these are the social groups that are often represented in horrors. The threat in this film is the ghost of a young Japanese girl called Yoko, who used to live in the house that Karen nurses in. Threats in horror films are often young people, and so this film follows stereotypes. 

This is a test shot of the actor that we have chosen for our film, Katie. She is our actor as she follows the conventions of a psychological horror film, as the victim is often a young girl. She is also dressed in dark clothing, to follow the convention of a dark atmosphere. I believe that she will make the film more relatable to our target audience because of her age, and will help us to properly follow the conventions of a horror film.

The basic plot of our film is that a young girl is visiting a hall/castle, which is actually haunted by supernatural beings. She explores the castle, and ends up in a room full of old newspapers and photos. The film ends with the threat taking over her by possessing her as she collapses. Our story will follow the conventions of a psychological horror film as throughout it, we will have things like lights flickering, doors slamming, diegetic sounds (screeching doors, heartbeat sounds and weather sounds such as wind or rain) and non-diegetic sound (the background music).

This target audience research sheet shows how 'The Grudge' uses conventions of psychological/ghost horror films in order to attract its audience. We looked at the IMDB website and found that according to the ratings of this film, there was not a specific gender that watched the film, it was very equal. From this we also discovered that the film's main audience was 18-29 year olds. This can be helpful when making and planning our own film, as we can use this research to see what we need to do in order to follow the conventions in order to get a wide-spread audience in terms of race, gender and age, although we are aiming the film at under 18s due to the certificates. 

These are the videos of our two films:

Both of our films could be compared to 'The Grudge', as the social group represented is young females due to the main character being one. In our films and 'The Grudge' the main character is a young female being targeted by some form of ghost/paranormal happening. 

This is a Wordle showing the feedback from our audience, showing their comments on how effectively we represented age, gender and race. The feedback that we got from our audience was fairly positive, as you can see from the previous post on the blog showing the feedback sheets. On the sheets, people said that we represented gender and age well as they circled 'positive', but the response for the representation of race was neutral.

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 Who would be the audience for your media product? How did you attract/address your audience?

It is important to know who the audience is for your product so that you know how to make the film so that it is aimed at them and represents them. For example, if you were making a horror film for 15 year olds and over, you would have to ensure that the film applied the criteria from the 15 certificate from the BBFC.

We are going to aim our own psychological horror film at an audience of under 18 year olds. We are representing this age group by using an actor of this age. We are also aiming to attract an audience of all genders and races, as we would like to have a widespread audience. We are aiming for it to be of a '15' certificate, due to its content and threats.

Target Audience Research:

 1 - Paranormal Activity 2

 

The certificate for Paranormal Activity 2 is a 15. From the user ratings from the IMDB website, we can see that this film has quite a widespread audience in terms of age, as there are ratings from people of the ages under 18 up to 45+. The category with the highest rating is Females under 18. From this we can see that Paranormal Activity 2 does not have a very specific audience, as an equal amount of men and women from all ages have watched and rated this film.

2 - Hannibal Rising

The certificate for Hannibal Rising is '18', which shows that there is more explicit content than in Paranormal Activity 2. However, from the user ratings from IMDB we can see that the highest average votes are from females under 18. Overall, it appears to be more females that have watched this film, as in every age category apart from 45+, they have an average of 6.2 or more. 

3 - The Ring

The Ring has a certificate of 15. From this diagram we can see that the group with the most ratings is females under 18. The majority of the votes are quite equal, with under 18s to aged 30-44 being over 7.0. This shows that the audience for this film is not restrictive. There is a fairly equal amount of ratings from males and females, although females have a slight edge of 0.1%.

4 - The Last House on the Left

The rating for the film The Last House on the Left is '18'. This is due to more explicit content from the threats, mainly because of the violence involved in the film. The group with the highest average is again females under 18, and the age group with the highest average is the under 18s, but we can see that the audience of this film is quite widespread as the averages are fairly equal. Again, altogether, females have a slight edge of 0.2, but the ratio of men to women is fairly equal.

5 - Orphan

Orphan is rated as a '15'. Again, the highest rated group is females under 18, and the under 18s are the highest rated age group. People from the ages of under 18-29 all have ratings of above 7.0, and so this must be the target audience. People aged from 30-45+ have lower ratings. Females again have an edge of 0.2.

BBFC

For a film to be classified as having a '15' certifcate, it must have certain content. We can see what kind of content a '15' film must have by looking at the BBFC website (http://www.bbfc.co.uk/).

No one younger than 15 can see a '15' rated film in a cinema, or can rent or buy a '15' rated film.

Discrimination:

The film as a whole can not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs:

The use of drugs can be shown but as a whole, the film can not promote or endorse drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (e.g. aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror:

Strong threats and menace are acceptable unless sadistic or sexualised.

Imitable Behaviour:

Dangerous behaviour (e.g. hanging, suicide and self-harming) are acceptable but details that can be copied can not be dwelled on. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language:

There may be frequent use of strong language. The strongest terms may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity:

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex:

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme:

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence:

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong, sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

We are aiming for a '15' certificate as our threats are not too strong and this would enable use to gain a wider audience.

How did you attract/address the audience?

We planned our film to engage our target audience by using an actress of around the same age as our audience, and we believe that this would attract this particular age and gender. We also followed the criteria given for the 15 certificate by making sure the film did not involve threats that were too strong and there was no detail of the threats that could be copied, and so we believed that this would help us get a wider audience. They could enjoy the suspense made in our film and they would be looking out to see the paranormal happenings involving the character.

The location we used was Wollaton Hall, and the props we used included old photos, curtains and lights. We thought that this would engage the target audience as the location is an old building and with the props we could use these to create a lot of suspense.

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

Distribution is where you get your film seen by promoting and advertising it, with things like posters, trailers, the internet and film festivals. You could distribute your films through independent or major distributors, depending on what film you are making and who you are working with.

You could distribute your films online via Youtube and social networking sites like Facebook to advertise your film and get more people to watch it by using advertisements on sidebars and getting Youtube to play trailers before videos. Here is an example of our own film being distributed on Youtube:

Posters and trailers are also useful as they help to spread the word of your film as people would have seen them. 

Here is the poster for our own film, "The Presence":

We believe that this promotional poster for our own film would be successful. This is because it gives ideas as to what the film is about as we can see both location, character and the title itself on the poster. It also reinforces conventions from typical horror films, due to it being in black and white to show darkness and fear. The clouds and lightning above the location make it seem sinister and haunted, as does the fact that the character fades into the poster.

Film festivals are also helpful to promote your film. A film festival in Nottingham that does this is Mayhem Festival at Broadway Cinema. It is a festival that shows horror films. They often have special guests to talk at these events, like in 2009 they had the cast of the drama/horror TV show 'Being Human'. These film festivals help to promote your film as they are seen by a large group of people, as well as professionals, and so your film would be talked about by many people, therefore gaining a lot of attention and so more people would watch it.

Here is a trailer for the 2010 festival:

There is also a poster for the festival to promote and advertise it:

Independent production companies:

Black and Blue films: one of Britain's lead independent film companies, it was founded in 2007.

Film 1 - Elfie Hopkins

We can see that from both the trailer and poster of 'Elfie Hopkins' that it is obviously a production from an independent film company. This is because both things look clearly low-budget compared to bigger companies such as Lionsgate or Miramax. Neither the trailer or poster grab your attention and are quite boring in comparison to the work of the more major companies, as they do not have as much money to put into it. They also do not follow conventions of typical horror/thriller crossovers, as both the trailer and poster look too light and do not create a dark atmosphere. The text on the poster also does not help to suggest that this film is a horror/thriller. It looks more like a fantasy film that families would watch.

2 - Dead Cert

The poster and trailer of 'Dead Cert' are not obvious examples of work by an independent company. They do not look low-budget and I believe that they could compete with films from major film companies. They look much more professional, interesting and higher budget than the trailer and poster of 'Elfie Hopkins', and it is more obvious that this film is a horror film, unlike 'Elfie Hopkins'. This is due to the use of dark backgrounds, music, and text on the poster, as they all use typical conventions of a horror film. The bold red writing represents blood and the lack of colour shows dark atmosphere and gives off the impression that something bad is going to happen, leaving viewers guessing.

Hammer Films: this is an independent film company that was established in 1934, and has a reputation known as 'Hammer House of Horror' after a successful run of Gothic monster movies. It specialises in horror films.

1 - Wake Wood

Although Hammer Films is an independent film company, I think that the trailer and promotional poster for 'Wake Wood' does not look like it is from an independent company. It looks like it could easily compete against films from major companies. The trailer and poster are eye-catching and intriguing, and make it obvious that it is a horror film. They are interesting and engage the audience. The poster is intriguing due to the image and lack of colour. These leave you guessing and I believe that it would make more people want to watch it.

2 - Beyond The Rave

However, 'Beyond The Rave' is an opposite example. Although the trailer is engaging and shows that it is a horror film, the poster does not do this. Both the poster and trailer look like an obvious example of a typical British independent horror film, as they are fairly low budget. Even though it looks an interesting film, I do not think it could compete with a horror film from a major film company due to the distribution.

Major media institutions:

Miramax Films: this is an American entertainment company founded in 1979 by Harvey and Bob Weinstein. 

1 - Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

We can see the difference between film companies through the trailer and poster of the Miramax film 'Don't Be Afraid of the Dark'. They are of much better quality than certain films from independent companies, and you can tell that they are much higher budget due to the quality, locations and actors in particular. Both the trailer and poster use conventions of typical horror films as they show the threats and create a dark atmosphere and a feeling of fear through the lack of colour, particularly in the poster. The poster is the better example for this, as it only uses the colours black and red, which has connotations of blood, fear, anxiousness and evil. The image on the poster is also interesting, as it shows the shadows of lots of hands trying to grab a young girl.

2 - Scream 2

We can tell that this is a film from a major company from many things. Firstly, we can tell because of the actors. In this film, we have actors that are considered to be better, higher or more seen than those starring in a film by an independent company. These include Sarah Michelle Gellar (who is also in 'The Grudge'), Courtney Cox and David Arquette, who are all well known actors and household names. For its time, it is much more high quality than a film from an independent company, and we can tell that it is high budget due to the actors and effects. The film poster also gives this effect, as it looks like a typical poster from a major company that clearly shows it is a horror film. The poster is well done due to the image of two of the characters showing fear, and the lack of colours which reinforces this.

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


When we create a product, we use many different types of technologies to make it. For example, our product, a film, is made up using different kinds of equipment such as the camera, editing software and so on. Technology is also used during the distribution of our film, using things such as the internet and television.

This is a Prezi Presentation showing what we have learnt about technology, and how we have used it.

Technologies from the Process of Constructing a Product on Prezi