Question 7: Looking back on your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

When we first started our preliminary task, we were just learning the basics on how to create a film effectively. Our preliminary task wasn’t very interesting as it was just showing that we had basic knowledge on how to use a camera, how to use a few different shots and how to edit.

After finishing our preliminary task, we then learnt that to make a film we actually needed to plan for our film which was something that we didn’t do for our preliminary task. Planning included making a storyboard, a rough script, a rough opening synopsis, filming schedule, costume/prop planning and location planning, etc. We also found out that it is important to schedule time for reshoots in our filming schedule in case we had to redo some shoots. We also had to make sure that our actual film was of good quality and was of a good standard.

For our actual film, we had to think carefully about mise-en-scene whereas in our preliminary task this wasn’t as important. We had to do a lot of research to become familiar with the horror genre and horror conventions. This allowed us to know what to include in our film. Learning the horror conventions made it easier for us to choose a location as an isolated setting is a convention. It also made it easier for us to know what props and costume would be appropriate to use.

Learning the conventions also helped us with the editing as we knew what kind of sounds to use to create tension and what kind of transitions to use to build suspense. Even though I already knew how to use our editing software, my editing skills have still improved as I now know things that I didn’t know in the past. 

Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

YouTube

YouTube is an online vide sharing website. We used YouTube to upload our film and preliminary task once we had finished editing it. YouTube is good as it will enable us to get feedback. Using YouTube is also good as teenagers/young adults are more likely to use YouTube than anyone else, so they are more likely to see our film than anyone else. This is good because it is easier to get feedback from our target audience. We already knew how to use and upload videos to YouTube so we had no problems with this.

Adobe premiere pro cs4

Adobe Premiere Prop CS4 is what we used to edit our film.  Because we had used Adobe Premiere Prop before, we were comfortable when using it. We used Premiere Pro to edit the footage together and make it run smoothly. It also allowed us to add opening credits to our film and add sound to in the appropriate places to create tension. Although we had used this software before, I feel that we have all learnt something new and improved our editing skills.

Advantages: -

-          Our editing skills improved

-          We could create titles and credits easily for our film

-          It allowed us to edit our film and make it look more professional

Disadvantages: -

-          The exporting took ages and sometimes it froze half way through so we had to start again

-          The fonts were very basic

Freesound

For our horror film, we needed appropriate music to create tension. We heard about the website freesounds.com so we used Freesound because it’s free and also nothing is copyrighted so we could download the sounds and use them legally. Freesound is easy to use and helped us find the sounds that we were looking for.  From using Freesound, I learnt how to download sounds. Also, I learnt how to import the sounds onto Premiere Pro.

Advantages:

-          It’s free

-          It’s not copyrighted

-          Most of them were appropriate and relevant which allowed us to have a choice of music to use

Disadvantages

-          Some of the sounds weren’t always relevant and at times it was hard to find a sound that we needed for a particular part of our film.

Blogger.com

Blogger is a blogging side that we used to write up everything.  To show our progress during the production of our film, we used Blogger as a place to upload everything to. It helped us share ideas, post pieces of work for others to see our progress. Blogger was easy and simple to use and it helped us keep all of our work organised and well-kept together.

Advantages: -

-          It helped us stay organised

-          We could share ideas

-          It helped us keep up with everything

-          Our progress is recorded

-          It’s easy and simple to use

Samsung NX100

This is the camera that we used in our production.

Advantages:-

-          The tripod allowed us to have steady shots which made it a lot easier for us to create a good panning shot

-          The shots that we got were in high definition and this improved the quality of our footage. This enabled our film to look more professional.

Disadvantages:-

-          The tripod took a long time to set up

-          Sometimes when we wanted to film something new, the camera would not record and sometimes it turned off by itself and would not turn back on.

From this, I feel more confident when using cameras and deciding what shot would be appropriate to use. I also feel I have improved my editing skills.

Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

First of all, we used questionnaires and gave them to our target audience so we knew what they would expect to see in a horror film and what they would want to see in a horror film. This was a successful method because we could find out our target audiences opinions. After giving our questionnaire out, the main feedback we got back said that they would want to see blood, they’d rather it to be set in the woods/forest and they’d rather see a psychological horror. We took this into consideration and decided to include blood and have it set in the woods.

We made sure that we included the conventions that our target audience would be expecting. Such as, an isolated setting, tense non-diegetic sound, blood etc. We also included the characters that would be expected. Even though we had a final girl, we challenged the conventions in a way as Amelia is blond when usually the blond girl is the girl that is irresponsible and dies first. Even though you could not see the killer, we still had a killer and it was suggested that there was a killer when you see the hand on Amelia’s shoulder and she gasps.

People watch horror films because they expect to be scared and worried as to what will happen next. We left our film on a cliff-hanger to leave the audience wondering what will happen next and keep them wanting more. We also did not show the murderer which will keep the audience guessing.

We also appealed to our audience through our production and post-production. We used shots that would catch the audiences’ eye like the shot of Amelia touching the blood on the tree which not only looks effective but creates a sense of danger as the audience do not know where the blood came from or how it got there.

Question 4: Who would be the audience of our media product?

Before creating our horror film, we looked at target audiences of similar films and we also did a survey to find out what age group is more likely to watch horror film. We found out that 15 to 25s are more likely to watch horror films.

Our target audience for our film are teenagers/young adults aged 15 to 25. Our film is aimed at both male and females but primarily males. We are aiming our film at people that are interested in the horror genre and seeking thrill. We are aiming at people that are interested in the horror genre because our film is a horror and it would only seem appropriate to aim it at these people.

One of the main reasons we chose to target a teenage/young adult age groups is because most of our questionnaires were answered by this age group. Even though we have a set target audience, we want our film to be available to as many people as possible so we decided to certify our film a 15. This allows more people to watch our horror and also allows us to make it a bit scarier than it would be if we’d have certified it a 12.

Our target audience are likely to shop at places such as ‘Hollister’, ‘Topman’/’Topshop’, ‘New look’ and enjoy finding bargains in Primark. They are likely to shop there because their target audience is teenagers/young adults so they are more likely to like the clothes that they have in those stores and therefore want to shop there. Our target audience are likely to enjoy teen horrors because they can relate to them and comedy horrors as it can take away some of the fear. Our target audience are also likely to enjoy socialising and watching team sports such as football.

After we decided on a target audience, we looked at the main themes and issues in similar films and what would interest our target audience. We did another survey to find out what people would expect to see in a horror film and what they like to see in a horror film. Because our target audience are a similar age to us, we found it easier to research our target audience’s opinions.

We felt that a younger audience was better to aim for as we already had a rough idea of what teenagers/young adults would like to watch. Although a more mature audience may be more creditable when analysing a horror opening, we felt that a younger audience would also have a more constructive say towards our film as horror films are usually watched by the younger generation and it would appeal to them more than it would to an older audience.

Question 3: What kind of institution might distribute your media product and why?

Film distribution

We found three film distribution companies that we could use to distribute our film. These were ‘RedBus Film Distributors’, ‘Pathé’ and ‘Momentum Pictures’. All three of these film distribution companies are British, this would be appropriate as we want to distribute out film in the United Kingdom.  We chose these film distribution companies because they have released similar films. Momentum Pictures have released ‘Insidious’, ‘The Woman in Black’, ‘Insidious chapter 2’ and ‘House at the End of the Street’. Pathé have released ‘Blood: The Last Vampire’ and ‘The Cottage’. RedBus Film Distributors have released ‘Jeepers Creepers ‘and ‘Cabin Fever’.

Online Distribution

We decided to distribute our film on websites such as Netflix and LoveFilm. Netflix is an online service that for a fee of around £6, allows you to watch films and television programmes. We decided to use Netflix because it has become increasingly popular in the past couple of years. We know this because we conducted a survey in our media group and we found out that 50% of the class use Netflix. Netflix is mainly used by teenagers as it is available on different platforms; this is convenient and flexible as teenagers are using newer technologies. Older people are more likely to watch films traditionally. Netflix’s   target audience is male and females that are 17-60 years old. We also decided to upload our film trailer onto YouTube. We’re not uploading our whole film to stop piracy. An advantage of this is that YouTube is very popular and uploading the trailer can gain us recognition and is another way of advertising our film.  LoveFilm has a target audience of male and females of 30+. We decided to use LoveFilm as well as Netflix because even though our target audience is teenagers, it will still enable more people to watch our film.

Cinema Distribution

We looked at the most popular cinemas in the UK. We found that the most popular cinemas in the UK are Odeon and Vue. Odeon and Vue both screen the major blockbuster films which could be why they are most popular. Because of this, we decided to screen our film at Odeon and Vue. Odeon and Vue both have the same target audience, which is 18-65. This is good because if we distribute our film here, then more people are likely to see it. Mainstream horror films follow all of the horror conventions. In this sense, our film would be seen as a mainstream horror as follow the conventions. For example, it is set in an isolated location which is good for a killer, we also have a final girl, even though she is blond, she still has all of the assets of the final girl. We also have appropriate non-diegetic sound that creates tensions and suspense.

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In our film, we only have one character that is seen. This would be Amelia who is the main character throughout the whole film. However, there is one more character that isn’t seen. However, we do see the hand and this suggests that this character is about to kill Amelia.

Women: Our film represents women in a positive way as our main character is a female and she is also the protagonist. But, we is also shown to be vulnerable and weak due to the isolated setting and the unknown calls she is receiving. The isolated setting suggests that something bad is about to happen as an isolated setting is a horror convention. The unknown calls also suggest that something bad is about to happen. We got the unknown call idea from ‘Scream’. In ‘Scream’, Casey is shown in the kitchen when the phone starts ringing, at first she thinks that someone is playing a prank on her but she soon realises that this could be the end for her. We aimed to make Amelia look vulnerable and weak but show that she is the protagonist by our use of mise-en-scene. The costume shows that Amelia is in further education so she needs to be dressed formally. Because Amelia is dressed respectively, it shows that she is not hypersexual like a stereotypical teenager.

Youths: In our film, we represented youths at vulnerable, clumsy, yet independent. We also aimed to achieve this by our use of mise-en-scene. For Amelia’s phone, we used an iPhone 3gs with a cracked screen. This suggests that she is clumsy and perhaps careless about certain things. The audience can also tell that Amelia is independent as she is seen walking through an isolated woods by herself, this goes against the horror conventions as lead characters are mostly seen with a group of friends or a sexual partner. The fact that Amelia is walking alone through the woods and notices the blood on the trees suggests that she is vulnerable and something may happen to her.

Question 1: In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

 Characters:

In our film, there are only two characters; the protagonist and the antagonist.  You can only see the antagonists hand in our film, which would create tension as it leaves the audience wondering who it is. A convention of horror is .Our film challenges the horror conventions as Amelia is alone and doesn’t have a male to protect her.

Fears:

We used specific shots to show the main conventions of horror. The close-up and point of view shot shows the fear. In our film, there is a teenage girl walking through the woods by herself. She then starts to hear noises such as rustling. She then starts to fear the woods and she thinks that someone is following her. Our film covers some of the main characteristics of fear because Amelia seems vulnerable when she is walking through the woods by herself. Also, the unknown is when Amelia gets a call from and unknown caller. And we left death open for interpretation, no one known whether Amelia was killed or not.

The title of my film and font:

The title of our film is ‘Amelia’. We decided to call it Amelia as that is the name of the main character. Even though it looks as though Amelia is about to be killer, this gets the audience wondering whether she was actually killed or whether she comes back from the dead. The title is shown at the end of the two minutes and we put the title just as Amelia turns around and gasps. We did this purposely to create tensions and suspense. In our film, all of the titles are the same font. We did this because we wanted to continue with the whole theme but we also wanted to keep with the flow of the titles appealing to the audience. This was also done because we wanted to keep it professional. The title of ‘Amelia’ appears just as Amelia gasps and it fades into the centre of the screen because it grabs the audience’s attention but is also focuses that the film is purely based on Amelia. Even though the font is the same throughout the whole film, the credits at the start of the film are in white which shows Amelia’s innocence, but at the end of the two minutes, ‘Amelia’ is in red which suggests danger and blood which suggests that she is either in danger or no longer innocent.

Setting/location:

Our film is set in the school and in the woods outside of the school. We chose these locations as they were fairly isolated at the time which is a convention of horror. We also wanted Amelia to be portrayed as vulnerable and this was easily done as she was alone in an isolated classroom and woods. In a lot of horror films, they seem to use small, compact spaces such as cupboards/small rooms to make them feel trapped.  We wanted to go against this by having a wider space which stops her from being trapped and the impression that anything could be out there.

Costume and props:

In all horror films, the costume and props create the atmosphere and tells the audience a lot about the film. The costume we used was a long-sleeved blue shirt and black trousers. We decided to have this as the costume to show that Amelia has been at sixth form all day. Amelia is fairly covered up which suggests that she is innocent and not hypersexual. In our film, we didn’t use many props but the main prop we did use was the cracked phone. This suggests that Amelia is careless which could also suggest that Amelia is vulnerable. To begin with, our main character was brunette which went along with the conventions. But now we go against the conventions as the main character is blonde.

AS Media Studies Horror Film: Amelia

Props

The phone used in our film is the main prop, it is a major part of iconography. At the beginning of our film, we see Amelia pick up her phone but the audience aren't aware that an unknown number is calling her. Later, when Amelia is walking home by herself and the audience see the call from the unknown number. This starts to raise suspicion. The crack on the screen suggests that Amelia is careless and vulnerable.

We got inspiration from the film 'Scream'. In 'Scream', the phone ringing suggests that something bad is about to happen, so we used this idea in our own film. Also in 'Scream', Casey picks up the phone and starts talking to the killer but she doesn't realise that she is about to be killed as she is naive and immature.

To create the fake blood we needed for the trees, we used gelatine for the thickness and red and blue food colouring for the colour. This made the blood look more realistic. It also made our film more unnerving.

Storyboard

Sound

For our horror film, we used sounds from freesounds.com. This website allowed us to use appropriate sounds for our film for free without any copyright issues. The main song we used started out quiet but it was also eery which we thought would be good to set the atmosphere. But as the film goes on, the song gets louder and spookier which creates tension and hints that something is about to happen.

Credits

The credits at the beginning

• Name of production company/companies (always respect people with the money); e.g. "A Big Name Production" - A Sweet Disposition Productions
• Producers - Bella Warren, Laura Brown and Ellie Plummer
• Actors - Ellie Plummer
• Screenplay writer - Bella Warren, Ellie Plummer and Laura Brown
• Film Editor - Ellie Plummer
• Sound Effects - Freesound.com
• Director - Bella Warren

Credits at the end

• The film title - Amelia

Originally we were going to have the film title at the beginning of the two minutes but we decided to change it as we thought it would be more effective having it at the end. The credits at the beginning will appear during the shots of Amelia in the classroom. We decided to place the credits here as those shots are quite long so we thought that the credits would brake it up a bit.

Our preliminary task

Changes to our film

Originally, our film was going to be set in the 80s and about a girl called Amelia who finds her mother dead. For the opening two minutes, we would have showed too much so we decided to completely change our idea and keep it simple so we didn't go over time. That's when we came up with the idea of Amelia finishing school and walking home through the woods but someone is there watching her. We also decided to leave it on a cliffhanger so the audience will not know if Amelia will survive or die.

Film Title

Our original movie was going to be called 'Amazing Grace' as the main character was going to be called Grace but there is already a horror film by the same name. Because we had to change the name of our film, we decided to change our film idea completely and we came up with our current idea.
Our movie title was originally going to be 'You Can Run But You Can't Hide' but we decided to change it as it was too cliché. Because of this, we changed our title to 'Amelia' which keeps it simple and effective. We aim to have the title come in at the end of the two minutes.

Shooting Schedule

This is our shooting schedule

Location planning

At the beginning of the scene, Amelia is alone in a classroom doing school work. We chose this location because it was isolated so it would go with the horror conventions. A classroom is usually known for being safe and secure as many students see it as a second home which could potentially create more fear for the audience because they know school to be a safe environment and they can relate to this kind of setting. This classroom is quite old which makes it seem eerie.

For the rest of the scene, Amelia is walking home alone through the woods.The woods is also another horror convention but it also creates a sense of the unknown as anything could be hiding in the woods. The woods shows that our film is set in Britain because of the weather and scenery. We decided to have a British setting because then our target audience can relate to it as they can with the classroom.

Camera shots/movements

Types of Camera Movements:

· Panning: Describes the location or follows the action. It gets a much more wider shot of the scene 

·  Tilting: Describes a person in relation to the place they are in. It also can be used to reveal a location in stages to build suspense or shock.

·  Travelling: Can create a first person perspective, put the audience in the eyes of the character

·  Dollying in and out: Depends on speed, dollying in to a still object can be quite unsettling if at speed and it emphasises the importance of the object, dollying builds up tension, and can make the place feel claustrophobic.

·  Dollying/Tracking/Crabbing along side: Builds up anticipation if you are dollying along with a moving object, describes the place but it makes you feel like you are on a journey, to arrive to the next scene

·  Oblique: Sometimes the camera is tilted to suggest imbalance, transition and instability  This technique is used to suggest point of view shots. 

Our new opening synopsis

Our film is set in Norwich at Ormiston Victory Academy in 2013. The film is focussed on a 16 year old girl called Amelia. She is intelligent and cares about her studies, she wants to gain the best grades possible.
Amelia is first seen studying in an empty classroom. As she is studying she gets a strange call from an unknown number but she decides to ignore it. Shortly afterwards, the bell goes so Amelia walks home through the woods. As Amelia is walking home, she hears strange noises and gets another strange call from an unknown number; she decides to ignore it. Amelia then notices a lot of blood on a tree and gets a bit scared. She starts hearing noises and asks 'Is anyone there?' Amelia keeps walking but someone grabs her by the shoulder.

We changed our synopsis as we included too much. As we are only doing the first two minutes of a horror film we couldn't give away the killer like we originally planned to do.

Copyright research

For our film, we need to include sound of some sort and because we didn't want to breach any copyright laws so we researched the copyright law for sound recordings and this is what we found.

"Under the 1988 Act, copyright in a sound recording expires either (a) 50 years after the recording is made, or (b) if the recording is published during that period then 50 years from the publication, or (c) if during the initial 50 years the recording is played in public or communicated to the public then 50 years from that communication or playing to the public, provided the author of the broadcast is an EEA citizen. Otherwise, the duration under the laws of the country of which the author is a national applies, unless such a duration would be longer than offered in UK law, or would be contrary to treaty obligations of the UK in force on 29 October 1993."

Moral panic

Moral panics run in a cycle.

The media run in a scape goat. They persuade us that they are in control.

Scape goat - blame it on someone/something else

Exaggerated reaction by public (mass hysteria)

Costumes

Our main character, Amelia, is 16 years old and currently attending sixth form. Because she is in sixth form, she is likely to have to wear smart clothing but not too formal because it may distance the audience as they are less likely to connect with a character that is similar to an adult. Usually, the final girl is brunette but we are challenging this convention by have a blond final girl. The costume suggests that she is not hypersexual which also suggests that she is innocent and therefore likely to be the final girl. Amelia was inspired by ‘Sidney’ from Scream as she is presented as a smart and respectable character through her costume. The audience are able to connect with Amelia as they can imagine themselves in the same position.

Jennifer's Body

Jennifer’s Body represents high school girls in a stereotypical way. The phrase on the poster is ‘She’s evil…And not just high school evil.’ This refers to high school girls gossipping about each other’s lives and judging each other. The main character who features on the film poster is wearing a lot of red. Red is known to be a sexual colour which suggests that high school girls are hyper sexual and it also links to the ‘male gaze theory’. Red also signifies danger and blood which could suggest that something bad happens in the film. The title ‘Jennifer’s Body’ is written in the same font that would be on a stereotypical cheerleader’s uniform as those are the stereotypical girls that are evil in high school.

From the movie poster, the audience can tell that the film challenges the horror conventions as typically, the brunette girl is usually the final girl who is studious and responsible and the blond girl is the opposite. However, the movie poster suggests that the brunette is hyper sexual and irresponsible.

The representation of women in this poster suggests that teenage girls are no longer innocent. In this still, Jennifer is wearing a white dress and white is usually associated with purity and innocence but the blood on her dress suggests otherwise.

The British Board of Film Classification

The British Board of Film Classification states the guidelines for a 15 rated film are:

• ·         No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate to 15 year olds.
• ·         There may be frequent use of strong language – the strongest terms are rarely accepted. Also continued aggressive use of strong language and sexual abuse is unacceptable.
• ·         There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
• ·         Sexual activity and nudity may be portrayed but without strong detail. The depiction of casual sex should be handles responsibly. There may be occasional strong verbal references t sexual behaviour
• ·         Violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain and of injuries.
• ·         Scenes of sexual violence must be discreet and brief
• ·         Dangerous combat techniques such as ear claps, head-butts and blows to the neck are unlikely to be acceptable.
• ·         There may be no emphasis on the use of easily accessible lethal weapons especially knives
• ·         Drug taking may be shown but clear instructive detail is unacceptable.
• ·         The film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug use

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The British Board of Film Classification states the guidelines for a 18 rated film are:

• ·         There are no constraints in theme, language, nudity or horror. However the board can cut or reject content such as detailed portrayal of violent or dangerous acts that is likely to promote the activity
• ·         When sexual material genuinely seeks to inform and educate in matters such as human sexuality, safe sex and health, exceptions to the normal contraints on explicit images may be made in the public interest.
• ·         Such explicit detail must be kept to the minimum necessary to illustrate the educational or instructional points being made
• ·         Material which appears to be stimulated is generally passed at 18. While images of real sex are confines to the R18 category.

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We are aiming our film at 15+ so we need to avoid creating our film to be an 18 because that would stop a lot of our target audience from watching our fillm. We decided to not include any sexual activity or visible violence as we would run the risk of our film being certifies an 18, which would stop 15-17 year old from watch our film.

Postmodernism in Scream

The final girl

-          Sydney fulfils the role of the final girl.

-          Characters are being killed all around her and she is left at the end of the film having to confront the killers.

-          The confrontation allows her to discover the true identities of the killers and find out the truth about her own mother’s murder.

-          The final girl re-establishes order by confronting her own past traumas and fears

Mise-en-scene

-          The opening scene of Casey Becker’s killing also provides examples of the ominous mise-en-scene characteristic of a horror film. She often moves around the house lit by lamps which provide pockets of light and shadow.

-          The darkened spaces are frightening for both Casey and the viewer because they provide places for the killer to hide.

-          The lack of illumination in the scene is both literal and symbolic – neither Casey nor we know what lurks in the dark.

-          When Casey looks out of the window the mist over the pool also provides an example of disorientating mise-en-scene

Narrative

-          Scream follows the equilibrium – disturbance – new equilibrium pattern of most horror films. The killing of Casey breaks the peace of the small town, and chaos ensues as other characters become victims the mid-section of the film charts the successive killings and the inability of the local police to solve the crime. It is only with the final confrontation scene that peace is reinstated.

Themes of death and destruction

-          Death and destruction are what the killers inflict upon the world of the film, but in Scream we are made to look further into this theme.

Iconography

-          Scream includes many classic icons of horror.

-          We see knives and a mask in the opening sequence and these are used throughout the film to signify the killers. Knives are the intimate violent weapons.

-          The killers must attack from close quarters and often stabs many times, heightening the fear and pain of the victim.

-          Horror films use disguise as a means of disorientating the viewer and obscuring the killers identity until the end of the film.

Why is it postmodern?

-          Horror films often have a knowledgeable audience who are aware of horror conventions and have certain expectations of the genre. Scream is a film which clearly acknowledges that its audience will have seen previous horror films. It invites us to comment on the predictability of the genre and at the same time offers us new, self-conscious, at time humorous, but nonetheless frightening example of the horror film.

What is postmodernism?

-          A currently popular intellectual concept. It is used as a way of grouping and describing the styles of thought and culture attracting most critical attention during the final few decades of the twentieth century. ‘Postmodernist thought’ has caused a revolution across all academic disciplines, from Physics to English via Geography. Postmodernism offers a different way of both constructing and deconstructing ideas.

Scream

-          At the time when Scream came out horror was a well-worn genre. Audiences were getting bored of the horror formula. Wes Craven alleviated this with his post-modern twist on horror genre