Evaluation question 7

This is my mindmap answer to question seven of the evaluation.

Evaluation question six

Evaluation Question five

If it doesn't work, copy this link http://prezi.com/vyriv4usqepb/untitled-prezi/

Our Film

The Gift

28th March 2013-Evaluation question four answer

Who Would Be The Target Audience For Your Product?

The target audience for our media product will be people aged between fifteen and forty, as we feel that because our product is supernatural horror film, it may contain images which are too disturbing for a younger audience. The people of the target audience will also have an interest in horror films or enjoy watching them, so they will be familiar with films similar to ours such as The Grudge or The Ring. As well as this, the target audience will be a niche, regional audience, as our film has been made in Barnsley, so we would expect people from this area to show an interest in viewing our product and they would also be people who enjoy going to the cinema to watch films.

Before we began the production of our film, we created an audience profile on a treatment blog post stating who we think our target audience is and also sent out an online questionnaire with a summary of our film plot and questions on what the participants think of the film. The questions included “where would you expect to watch it” and “what certificate should it have.” In response to the questions, 59% of the participants thought that the film should have a 15 certificate and 64% answered that they would expect to watch it in the cinema. Also, 86% of the participants answered that they were aged 11-20. As a result of these answers, we developed our film so it appeared more appealing to the teenage target audience by using actors of a similar age, using a teenager’s bedroom as a location and filming the end of a birthday party as the scene which introduces the characters.

26th March 2013-Evaluation question three

25th March 2013-Evaluation Question Two

 

24th March 2013-Evaluation question one answer

Evaluation Question One: In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop Or Challenge Forms and Conventions Of Real Media Products?

Our media product is the first two minutes of a horror film and in the first shot, we have used a pan shot of a river in order to establish the scene and also build up tension. I understand from my research that establishing the scene and building up tension should be done in an opening sequence in order to hook the audience and make them want to carry on watching the film.

The location where we filmed this pan shot is quite gloomy, seen as we were filming on a cloudy day, which symbolises that this film has a morbid theme. In order to establish a significant event that has taken place before the opening credits of our film, we have used a close up on a necklace charm in the water to imply to the audience that this prop is of great importance to the plot and will be linear to the film as it will be central to the main characters situation.

However, the close up is non-linear as it does not flash to the before event, which is done to keep the audience in suspense and keep them guessing where the charm comes from. I found in my research that this was done similarly in the opening sequence of the film Seven, which uses a close up of a book to show this items significance to the plot. All the way through these two shots, we have inserted non-diegetic, suspenseful music to make the audience wonder what is about to happen.  

In terms of the typography, we have used a white font colour and kept it to a small size in order to contrast with the dark background at the beginning and also to create a sense of mystery, something which is also done similar in the opening sequence of Seven, as the title font colour is white to contrast with the dark background and appears as though it has been scratched into the shot in order to create an uneasy feeling. A tilt shot shows two different props, a happy birthday banner and a gift box, which is the most important prop of our film and the tilt shot shows the change in location from the river to the house.

 Another way that we showed contrast was through the use of over-exposed lighting when filming the ending of the main character’s birthday party when the last two party-goers are leaving, which we decided to do in order to create a change of mood, as the end of party scene looked bright and happy compared to the first shot. However, we have inserted the sound of pouring rain and thunder to convey that something is about to happen and also used a high-angle/over the shoulder shot in order to focus on the gift box and emphasise its importance.

We used a continuity cut to show the boy walking up to his room with the gift box to keep the action going, which I found in my research was done quite similar in The Grudge, which I analysed the first ten to fifteen minutes of, as the beginning cuts from the titles to a shot of a girl travelling on her bike to keep the action going. Our tilt shot of the boy walking up the stairs to his room shows him walking into darkness, which we believe signifies danger is looming. The location we used for his bedroom is full of band posters, which implies that he is a normal teenager and once he is in his room, the only sound that can be heard is the ambience of the rain and thunder, building up the tension as a non-diegetic screech is heard, which we have used to indicate that he is not alone. A pan shot follows him look out of his window to investigate the screech, something we believe an audience of a horror film would expect to see.

A medium long shot then shows that the ghost of a girl has appeared in the corner of his room and a close up of her shows her terrifying features as the thunder increases to strike fear in the audience, similar to The Grudge when the ghost of the Japanese woman is seen for the first time. A close up shows her drop the necklace charm onto his bed, explaining its significance to the plot so the audience can make a connection between the first shot and the event taking place now and the girl’s dialogue of “five days” can be heard, which will create dread as it sounds like a warning and implies to the audience that the boy is now in danger, something that is often done in an opening sequence.

Risk Assessment

Audience feedback responces

audience feedback 'click here'

The questionnaire about the gift

Audience feedback questionnaire

Tempory link to feedback questionnaire

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1FePNPllnXXO_xMC_gRU_c_QiR-q5NufauZ2JpLkh30I/viewform

Props: Costume-Archer's Friends

Costume-Archer's Friends

In the start of the film, we see two minor characters, one of whom is played by Diviya and the other is played by me and are both friends of Archer who are the last to leave his birthday party. Both of the girls wear casual clothing, one of the girls wears a bluejumper/hoodie and a pair of jeans and pumps and the other wears a band hoodie, shorts and tights and a pair of converse pumps. These costumes imply that these two girls are just average teenagers and because they are not in the shot for very long, they do not play an important role in the film, only to contrast the party setting with the first shot of the eerie river and the event yet to take place.

Prop photo-Party drinks

Party Drinks Photos

This image shows the two cans of Diet Coke we intended to use as props in the first part of our two minute film which characters could be drinking, as Archer's birthday party has just finished. The drinks set the scene as they show it is just a normal birthday party and everything is fine until Archer receives the gift.

2 minute story board

This is the rough story board for our 2 minute film. I included illustrations of the scenes as well as shot types, audio and the character's script.

Tricky Shot Practise

Tricky Shot Practise Shot (Image)

This image shows the practise shot I completed of the tilt shot of Carl walking up the stairs. I have a video of the practise shot, however, I was unable to upload it becasue the shot was filmed on my phone and my phone cable would not allow me to import the video onto the computer. I originally wrote a short post about why I think the tilt shot would be a tricky shot to film, as I felt it would be hard to place the camera at the correct angle to show the boy disappearing up the stairs. However, after filming a quick practise shot, I feel that filming with the camera on the tripod will make it much easier to capture the shot at the right angle.

Props and Costume Research

Research into Props and Costumes 

Props and Costumes from other horror films

The red and green jumper, brown hat and gloves of knives are all the notable costume and prop associated with Freddy Kruger from the A Nightmare on Elm Street film franchise. The glove of knives is notbale because it is Freddy's weapon and the hat makes him look threatening and mysterious, also the red in his jumper signifies death, blood and danger.

These are the mask and machete of the killer Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th film franchise, which are used to strike fear into the audience of the films because of how menacing the mask looks and the machete is used to match the killers height, as he is often portrayed by a tall, well-built actor.

This image shows the costume and prop of Michael Myers, the killer from the Halloween frachise, which consists of a large kitchen knife, a pair of overalls and a white mask, all of which are notable to the audience.

These costumes are similar to what we intend to use in our film, as we are using a floral print dress to make the girl look innocent but splatter it with brown and red paint to show that when she died, she lost her innocence and I think this could become notable to the audience, like Michael Myers costume.

 

Lemarchand's box, the fictional lock puzzle/puzzle box, which features mainly in the Hellraiser franchise and is the cause of the characters situations as once they solve the puzzle, it summons the Cenobites, an order of formerly human monsters and acts as a key to their Hell-like realm.

This is quite similar to a prop we will use in our film, as we are using a gift box, which once it is sent to a person, they have a curse passed onto them which means they will be killed by the girls ghost in five days.

 

Possible filming locations-photos

Possible Film Location-The Boys Room

These photographs are of my room at home which my group are still debating whether or not to use to film for the final scene which takes place in the boys bedroom. Whilst it may be useful to film here, as my house is easy to get to from college and it is spacious enough for our group to film in, there is a problem that my room looks too girly to pass off as a boys room

Location Photos- The River

Location Photos of The River

These are the photos of our first filming location, where we have filmed the first shot of our film, a pan of this river. The shot will be used to set the scene of our film, as the girl in the film who is the ghost died after she was pushed into a river by her uncle and will be edited so it juxtaposes with another scene location, which is the boys birthday party and creates the feeling that something bad is about to happen because of how calm it all is and this links to the horror genre as river looks gloomy and miserable, which you may expect to see in horror film locations. This location is probably the only location we are using in our film that has or will pose a risk to any of us whilst filming, as there was the danger of one of us falling in the river and the camera being dropped in the river.