Evaluation - Q7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

We have developed really well as a team. At the start of filming (preliminary task), it was hard to describe how you wanted the actress to appear on screen and how to show this on a camera. However, as the knowledge progressed between us both, we knew how it would look on camera from both sides of the screen. We found it easier when we both knew the techniques and how to shoot with the camera from an audience perspective. 
We also developed quickness in shooting scenes, as we never finished the preliminary task due to deciding what movements to use and what shots were best. It is instinct now to know what to use as we know what these movements and angles can portray. 

We also know how to use the technology to our advantage now. If there were errors during the filming process, we felt like we had to re-film which we did on several occasions on our first film. This made the flow of the movie harder to track. As we knew how to edit out mistakes and make them less visible, we made them less obvious to spot just with editing and not wasting time retaking shots again and again. 

After studying how the audiences would react to certain angles and movements, we had a better understanding of what the audience could actually see. This applies mainly to match on actions and the 180 degree rule. We know now how to not confuse the audience and chose nice transitions from shot to shot.  

Evaluation - Q6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

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

Camera
From the first time ever using a camera for this type of product, I have progressed a lot from the first time use of preliminary task, to the first movie, to the final movie. We used a decent camera which could of been at higher quality since we needed a better pick up on light sources since we wanted to film in the dark. Also, the camera wouldn't focus on quick movements or changing from dark to light resulting in this; 

We used this to our advantage however it adds to the horror effect of being blurred and disorientated. We got more nicer flowing shots in the final production as we became more skilled with the camera and how it would look to audiences. The match on movements would be a smoother transition than the first match on action in the preliminary task. We also had a much better understanding of knowing exactly what we wanted to let the audience see and found the balance of mystery by keeping things away from the audience. As we became more skilled, it became quicker to take shots as I knew which angles I wanted and needed to portray a certain aspect of the movie and so it was much easier to direct the actors/actresses around on set.

Adobe Premier Pro

With never using Adobe editing software ever before making movies for media, we started from scratch. At first we didn't know how to add effects onto certain shots to make it look more like a horror movie and didn't know how to block out and unwanted reflections. By experimentation we learnt the Adobe Premier pro software quickly, being able to perform advanced editing skills such as blocking out the reflections in the kitchen windows and adding sound wherever we needed it, such as the footsteps heard when the Mother is on the phone. 

Adobe After Effects

Again, like Premier Pro, we had no previous experience with using this software. We managed to animate a still image from google by suiting the genre of the movie. We chose a skeleton to link with the conventions of horror. We faded in font of the production company 'Skeleton Productions' which made the film look more professional and made the viewers aware it belonged to a certain company which they may wish to look into if they enjoyed the movie as there might be similar movies which this company has released for instance. All movies started with the opening logo to sell the company of the movie. This made the sequence look more like an opening scene. 

Blogger

Like many of the software and equipment, I also have never used blogger before. I was unaware of the functions blogger was capable of such as embedding clips from YouTube and over embedding feature such as power points. This makes displaying information on the blog easier and gives more creative answers. By keeping all blog posts on one website, it made it easier to track progress of the film and see my own progress. 

Lighting

One thing I would like to focus more on next time I create movies would be lighting. Lighting is the main area of improvements I feel for the opening sequence. With better lighting or specific lighting, this would make the movie look more realistic and at a much better quality. Quality can put many audiences off the movie just because of lighting issues and visual issues. I would like to learn about lighting techniques further on in my media education and experiment more with horror movies and lighting.

Sound Effects

The sound quality on the camera wasn't as good as we liked it to be. The microphone picked up background noise more than actual dialogue. We decided to move the next movie indoors so the background noise was no issue. Also, we decided to add diegetic sound by making it non-diegetic. We recorded sounds such as some dialogue which would need to be edited per shot such as "I thought you were downstairs" and the footsteps. We added these on at editing stag as it was much more clear sound. We also added our own sound affects such as when you see the young ghost in the wardrobe we added a jump scare noise so audiences would know there was something "off" in this scene. We added music also to create tension throughout the opening scene at specific points to also show emotion in the characters such as shot 28, linking to confusion yet fear.

Evaluation - Q5: How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation - Q4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

Who would be the audience for your media product?

An audience is decided by age, gender and class.

Audio below.


(SCRIPT)

 For gender, I used a profile to estimate the gender for my horror movie. I compared males the females on existing horror movies such as The Conjuring, Annabelle and Sinister to create this. More females than males preferred these horror movies than males, around a ratio of 1:3 male to female. This might be due to being more family and house based in plot and setting, collecting more females than males as more females can relate. Males prefer more violent horror movies. To prove this I also researched Saw, Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes. This was a ratio of 1:3 female to male due to the content.

For age, I already researched into this before making my horror opening sequence. I decided on the certificate of 15 due to the mature themes, violence and just being too scary for younger viewers. I would expect the majority of my audience to be aged between 15-23 due to the themes. Many young viewers enjoy horror movies as it is a type of movie to enjoy with friends. The adrenaline horror movies produce makes us want to watch this movie with friends as there is the battle of 'being unaffraid'. I decided the film might be too immature for those over 24 as they usually prefer watching movies such as comedies or action movies. I also decided anyone over the age of 40 wouldn't be interested in the adrenaline feature so much as they prefer watching mysteries and documentarys. This also links with the media industry and horror films as horror movies weren't the mainstream idea until having high quality technology like now. Horror movies became bigger in the 80's/90's so those of a young age grew up enjoying horror movies more so than older viewers.

For class, I decided to use stereotypes. Those of the higher AB classes would be more likely to enjoy more expensive leisures such as golfing, improving skills and so on. This is due to not having to escape realism which many people watch movies for. Higher classes tend to be more educated and will watch more mystery and documentary type films. The work long hours so wouldn't sit down so much to enjoy a family movie and would be more based around work life and developing their own skills. Those in the lower classes enjoy regular trips to cinemas and buy DVD's for family moments. Those of lower class enjoy escapism from the real world. This is why many turn to cinematics for a few hours of being away from real world issues which makes horror movies successful in lower classes. Also, many cinemas and DVD's are a low budget form of entertainment which will suit lower classes better, financial wise.

Evaluation - Q3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

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

A media institution is a large company which has vast media such as television, radio, publishing, movies, and the internet. There are many conglomerates and institutions for the horror genre. 

I researched into three horror studios, a large company, a smaller company, and an individual company.

The large company I have researched is New Line Cinema. This is a subsidiary of Warner Bros., the large Time Warner conglomerate company which makes many genre of films. New Line cinema released horror films such as Annabelle, The Conjuring and Final Destination 5, many films to do with younger victims and haunted settings. These films are high budget with an average of $22 million. They usually gross an average of $87 million. 

The smaller company I have researched is Alliance Films. This is apart of the Entertainment One conglomerate after termination of contract with Universal Pictures company. They released horror films such as , The Last Exorcism Part II, The Colony and Dark Skies. This company focus' on haunted houses affecting the lives of young children and sci-fi's. The budget for this company averages at $8 million, a considerable amount less than New Line Cinema's productions. The gross for these type of films averages at around $21 million per movie. This is a lot less than New Line Cinema makes, making New Line Cinema more successful with horror movies. 

My final independent company I researched was Silent Hill DCP Inc. This company only made the one Silent Hill movie. This means they had to pay for promotions through other companies which can cost quite a lot when you don't have inside advertising through the smaller companies the conglomerate own. Their budget was $50 million and earned $1 million in gross which wasn't a very good turnaround at all. 

I've decided after research that I would like to try and distribute my movie through a larger company such as New Line Cinema. This is because it might be easier to sell them my film due to selling horror movies already that are a lot like the plot we created. We estimate around a $10 million budget film with around about a $40 gross value. This is because there are a lot of horror movies like the ones we have created yet we know they are still decent for this time period and is easy money to make from these types of films. 

Evaluation - Q2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Evaluation q2 from cara633

Evaluation - Q1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

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

Shot One

The first shot we took was an establishing shot. This sets the scene of which the horror movie will take place. We decided on filming this in low lighting and at night to let the audience know the events will happen on the night. Shots like this are used in the majority of horror movies that are taking place in a house. A house is a strange convention of horror as this is where people feel comfortable and safe. By making a horror movie in a house, we reach out to all audiences as everyone has a home, and we make that home into something for the audience to fear. We want the audience to take the horror movie home with them and let them feel scared in their own comfort zones. This is all about relating to the audience. 'Insidious (2010) uses the same type of opening sequence as ours. As you can see, a title appears with an establishing shot of the house.











We added music as well to this scene as well as background noise. Insidious also uses music in the title sequence to show the audience what sort of movie it will be. These consist of off key violins and creepy music.

Shot 5

In this scene, we decided to show the Mother cutting up and apple with a knife, in which later she cuts herself. This foreshadows danger and tension. Many horror movies foreshadow events such as Scream (1996). Knives are seen as conventional horror weapons and used a lot by the villains. We decided on an apple as it symbolises 'Forbidden Fruit' linking with religion, with Adam and Eve. In the story, Adam and Eve got poisoned by the apple which related to the movie, that the family is going to be essentially 'poisoned' with evil. Another movie relating with this scene is, as stated before, Scream (1996).

Here we see the damsel-in-distress holding a knife. This is an unlikely image, throwing the audience off of the story. We decided to link our opening scene with how the damsel-in-distress is depicted early on, in our case, the Mother.





Shot 12

In this scene, the horror conventions start to come obvious such as the loud mysterious footsteps. This convention is seen in many movies as it creates tension. The footsteps have no identity which makes audiences scared of the unknown. Also, we have made them more louder, making them slightly like a jump scare. The extreme close-up of the eyes is used a lot in horror movies also, as this is the key to emotion. By the sporadic eye movements, we know the character is confused and slightly fearful. Eyes are shown a lot in horror movies also as that is where the audience look when analysing emotion. 

Shot 14

Many horror movies feature a filter of blue over each shot. This gives the unnatural mood and makes the audience feel cold. Horror movies do this to give a specific atmosphere. 
We added a slightly blue tint to give the same feeling. This type of filter is seen in Silence of the Lambs;











Shot 20

This scene is a lot like the wardrobe scene in  The Conjuring. This is relatable as many horror movies features wardrobe as as humans we are scared of the unknown, so we are naturally scared of closed wardrobes as they tend to be dark too.