Question 1: In
what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
Horror Conventions Used:
- Film: Our film used the convention of a scary location, for example the film is set in an old graveyard. After doing our research we found that most horror films are set in graveyards, haunted houses, mental asylum, or even schools. The graveyard gave off a scary atmosphere letting the audience know straightaway that it is a horror film. The setting clearly indicates to the audience that the film will include paranormal or supernatural activity. Props were also used in our film inspired by the child horror films for example ‘Annabelle’, ‘Chucky’, ‘The Conjuring’ and many other films used children’s toys to scare the audience. Similarly we used a ragged doll as the main prop for our film to create fear amongst the audience members. We also used the horror convention of point of view shots. A lot of horror films use point if view shots to build up the tension amongst the audience members as they do not know what to expect since they can only see what the characters are seeing.
- Poster: Our poster used the horror poster convention of using dark gloomy colours. We decided that the main colours on our poster would be black, grey and red because these colours portray danger and fear. Almost all horror films such as ‘Insidious’ and ‘Orphan’ also used gloomy colours in the film poster. This decision was also influenced by our audience feedback for which we compiled a survey for our target audience to see what they would like from our poster. We found that our target audience also wanted us to used dark, dull colours because that gave off a spookier vibe. This instantly lets the audience know that the poster is advertising for a horror film.
- Radio: Our radio trailer used the typical radio conventions of having a male presenter with a deep American accent. We chose for our presenter to speak this way because we felt as if it gave our trailer more of a Hollywood type effect. We also used the radio trailer convention of including dialogue from the actual film into the trailer so the audience can get a feel of what the film will include. Our trailer also had a start middle and end as it starts of slow and builds up into a climax and then slows down again leaving the audience wanting more.
- Film: Our film used the convention of a scary location, for example the film is set in an old graveyard. After doing our research we found that most horror films are set in graveyards, haunted houses, mental asylum, or even schools. The graveyard gave off a scary atmosphere letting the audience know straightaway that it is a horror film. The setting clearly indicates to the audience that the film will include paranormal or supernatural activity. Props were also used in our film inspired by the child horror films for example ‘Annabelle’, ‘Chucky’, ‘The Conjuring’ and many other films used children’s toys to scare the audience. Similarly we used a ragged doll as the main prop for our film to create fear amongst the audience members. We also used the horror convention of point of view shots. A lot of horror films use point if view shots to build up the tension amongst the audience members as they do not know what to expect since they can only see what the characters are seeing.
- Poster: Our poster used the horror poster convention of using dark gloomy colours. We decided that the main colours on our poster would be black, grey and red because these colours portray danger and fear. Almost all horror films such as ‘Insidious’ and ‘Orphan’ also used gloomy colours in the film poster. This decision was also influenced by our audience feedback for which we compiled a survey for our target audience to see what they would like from our poster. We found that our target audience also wanted us to used dark, dull colours because that gave off a spookier vibe. This instantly lets the audience know that the poster is advertising for a horror film.
- Radio: Our radio trailer used the typical radio conventions of having a male presenter with a deep American accent. We chose for our presenter to speak this way because we felt as if it gave our trailer more of a Hollywood type effect. We also used the radio trailer convention of including dialogue from the actual film into the trailer so the audience can get a feel of what the film will include. Our trailer also had a start middle and end as it starts of slow and builds up into a climax and then slows down again leaving the audience wanting more.
Horror Conventions Developed:
- Film: Our film developed the horror convention of the good versus bad theme. We had the good characters and the bad characters. However as the film goes on the audience find out that the villain of the film was originally the victim as she was bullied and driven to commit suicide. We developed the horror convention of the villain having a motive for their attack on the victims of the film. Our villain came back to get revenge from her bullies due to everything she went through because of them.
- Poster: Our poster developed the convention of horror film posters having an extreme close-up shot of an object or person as the main image. For example the poster for ‘Carrie’ uses a close-up shot of the main characters face as the main image and ‘Candyman’ uses a close-up of an eye. For our poster we are using an extreme close-up shot of the villain’s eye as the main image; however we have decided to include something else into this. In the pupil of the eye we will place a picture of the main prop (the teddy) from our film as a reflection to show portray the fact that the teddy has a large part behind the characters motives.
- Radio: Our radio trailer developed the radio convention of having music and sound effects as we also included a soundtrack with sound effects and as it got to the middle of the trailer, the sounds start to layer up to create a climatic atmosphere. We also developed the convention of the narrator giving the audience details about when the film will be in cinemas. However the narrator in our film does not state a specific date for the film’s release and instead just says “In cinemas soon” which leaves the audience eager to know more.
- Film: Our film developed the horror convention of the good versus bad theme. We had the good characters and the bad characters. However as the film goes on the audience find out that the villain of the film was originally the victim as she was bullied and driven to commit suicide. We developed the horror convention of the villain having a motive for their attack on the victims of the film. Our villain came back to get revenge from her bullies due to everything she went through because of them.
- Poster: Our poster developed the convention of horror film posters having an extreme close-up shot of an object or person as the main image. For example the poster for ‘Carrie’ uses a close-up shot of the main characters face as the main image and ‘Candyman’ uses a close-up of an eye. For our poster we are using an extreme close-up shot of the villain’s eye as the main image; however we have decided to include something else into this. In the pupil of the eye we will place a picture of the main prop (the teddy) from our film as a reflection to show portray the fact that the teddy has a large part behind the characters motives.
- Radio: Our radio trailer developed the radio convention of having music and sound effects as we also included a soundtrack with sound effects and as it got to the middle of the trailer, the sounds start to layer up to create a climatic atmosphere. We also developed the convention of the narrator giving the audience details about when the film will be in cinemas. However the narrator in our film does not state a specific date for the film’s release and instead just says “In cinemas soon” which leaves the audience eager to know more.
Horror Conventions Challenged:
- Film: Our film challenged the typical conventions of horror films because instead of focusing on the villain in the film, we kept the focus on the main prop which was the teddy bear. In most child horror films like ‘Orphan’ and ‘The Ring’ focused more on the girls that were playing the villain instead of the props. Another convention we challenged was that in most child horror films the children are the victims where as in ours the child was the villain and the older characters were the victims. Films usually have a linear narrative which means that they follow a follow a straight line — starting at the beginning, moving to the middle and proceeding to the end of the story. However our film used a non-linear narrative which often starts at the middle of a story or the height of a conflict and then double-backs to the beginning. We did this by including a flashback scene in the middle of the film to reveal the characters’ past to the audience.
- Poster: Our film’s poster has challenged the conventions of typical horror films because of the way we have written the title of the film. For example in the ‘Insidious’ poster the title was written in white and red. Instead of using dark and gloomy colours for our title, we decided use various pastel colours in bubble writing also known as the font ‘Double Feature’ on Da Font. However to keep that horror element to the title, we added drips of blood to it. This portrayed the idea of a childhood that has been demonised which showed off our sub-genre of child-horror. From this the audience would be able to tell that the film would have something to do with children.
- Radio: Our radio trailer challenged the typical conventions of radio trailers as we did not reveal our release date to the audience like other trailers do. Instead our narrator just said coming soon.
- Film: Our film challenged the typical conventions of horror films because instead of focusing on the villain in the film, we kept the focus on the main prop which was the teddy bear. In most child horror films like ‘Orphan’ and ‘The Ring’ focused more on the girls that were playing the villain instead of the props. Another convention we challenged was that in most child horror films the children are the victims where as in ours the child was the villain and the older characters were the victims. Films usually have a linear narrative which means that they follow a follow a straight line — starting at the beginning, moving to the middle and proceeding to the end of the story. However our film used a non-linear narrative which often starts at the middle of a story or the height of a conflict and then double-backs to the beginning. We did this by including a flashback scene in the middle of the film to reveal the characters’ past to the audience.
- Poster: Our film’s poster has challenged the conventions of typical horror films because of the way we have written the title of the film. For example in the ‘Insidious’ poster the title was written in white and red. Instead of using dark and gloomy colours for our title, we decided use various pastel colours in bubble writing also known as the font ‘Double Feature’ on Da Font. However to keep that horror element to the title, we added drips of blood to it. This portrayed the idea of a childhood that has been demonised which showed off our sub-genre of child-horror. From this the audience would be able to tell that the film would have something to do with children.
- Radio: Our radio trailer challenged the typical conventions of radio trailers as we did not reveal our release date to the audience like other trailers do. Instead our narrator just said coming soon.
Q2: How effective
is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
My film, poster and radio
trailer connect with each other as they all have that element of fear needed to
portray the horror genre to the audience. From the poster, the audience could
tell that it is advertising a horror film because we used dark and gloomy
colours like black and red because this portrays danger and mystery. The fact
that there is blood dripping off of the title suggests that the film will
include some sort of violence. We also decided to add a tagline to the poster
saying “You play with me, I play with you...” This is an indication that the
film may be about a revenge story along with the fact that the title of the
film is ‘Bitter Revenge’. This shows that we managed to advertise our film
through the title, the image and the tagline. These elements are what make the
poster sellable and attractive therefore connecting to the film.
Also the fact that the picture of Naila, the villain, and the reflection of the
teddy in her eye suggests that there is a connection between the two and that
the revenge from the title must have something to do with the two.
From the radio trailer the
audience get a quick 30 -40 second insight on what the film will be like. This
gives them the opportunity to decide whether the film is worth watching or not.
During my research I looked at the radio trailer for ‘Oculus’, this film used a
lot of sound effects and there is a constant
static sound effect that was used to add more effect to the fear the audience
feel already because it gives the impression some technological objects are
being used. The use of the film’s actual dialogue in the trailer is also very
impactful because the audience already start to sympathise with the characters.
From listening to all these radio trailers we decided to add a nursery rhyme at
the beginning of our trailer to let the audience know straightaway that the
film will be a child horror film. We also included screams
and dramatic music to show to make the audience sympathise with the characters
from beforehand.
After doing an audience
feedback on the poster, we found that our audience liked the fact that there
was a reflection of the main prop in the extreme close-up of the eye. However
they thought the poster was pretty plain and it did not have a background. From
the feedback we decided to add the graveyard setting as the backdrop for the
main image to make the poster appear more frightening. All together they
thought the poster and radio trailer worked really well in advertising the film
because many aspects of the texts made it clear to the audience what the film
is about.
To release our film I
would start by sharing the link of the radio trailer to let everyone in on the
idea of the film. I would then upload the actual film on to my blog and on to
YouTube. I would then whatsapp and tweet out the link to the film. Another way
of releasing the film would be to burn it onto a CD to release as a DVD.
Theories:
The uses and gratification theory suggest that audience are not passive but take an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives. The theory also holds that audiences are responsible for choosing media to meet their needs. For example an individual may watch T.V shows for entertainment, education, to identify with the characters or for social interaction. We made sure that our poster and radio trailer would inform the audience of everything they would want to know about the film before watching it. For instance the ambient music, spooky nursery rhyme and screams would let the audience know that the film is a horror movie so they can decide whether they want to watch it for entertainment or social interaction etc.
The uses and gratification theory suggest that audience are not passive but take an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives. The theory also holds that audiences are responsible for choosing media to meet their needs. For example an individual may watch T.V shows for entertainment, education, to identify with the characters or for social interaction. We made sure that our poster and radio trailer would inform the audience of everything they would want to know about the film before watching it. For instance the ambient music, spooky nursery rhyme and screams would let the audience know that the film is a horror movie so they can decide whether they want to watch it for entertainment or social interaction etc.
Q3: What have you
learned from your audience feedback?
Film:
After conducting a survey on horror films for our target audience, we found that most of our audience members preferred films that were set in spooky locations such as a haunted house or the woods which is why we decided to set our film in a graveyard.
After conducting a survey on horror films for our target audience, we found that most of our audience members preferred films that were set in spooky locations such as a haunted house or the woods which is why we decided to set our film in a graveyard.
More than 50% of the
people we surveyed said that they prefer supernatural incidents to take place
in a horror film. Because of this we planned to focus more on the supernatural
side of horror so we have a character come back from the dead to haunt the
other characters. Not many people said that they want to see too much violence
which led us to keep that aspect away from our film especially since it is
classified 12A.
When asked who they watch
horror films with, our audience members replied that they watch with their
families which is one of the reasons why we made sure not to involve any
inappropriate content.
Almost 70% of our audience
members said that they watch horror films as a form of entertainment. This is
why decide to make sure that we keep them entertained at all times in the film
which is why tried to avoid filming any unnecessary scenes so we could dive
straight into the horror aspect!
When we asked our target
audience why their favourite movie is their favourite, most of them said it is
because they like the way the films used a spooky soundtrack to enhance the
atmosphere heightening the effect of the scenes.
Poster:
After conducting a survey on horror film posters for our target audience, we found that more than 90% of our target audience are most attracted to a film poster due to the image. Because of this we decide that the main image of our poster should straight away tell our audience the main storyline of the film. We did this by using an extreme close up shot of the villain of our film with the main prop reflecting in her eye.
After conducting a survey on horror film posters for our target audience, we found that more than 90% of our target audience are most attracted to a film poster due to the image. Because of this we decide that the main image of our poster should straight away tell our audience the main storyline of the film. We did this by using an extreme close up shot of the villain of our film with the main prop reflecting in her eye.
We asked them what colours
they would associate with child horror, to which most people replied black and
red. This is why our entire poster apart from the title is in dark gloomy
colours.
When asked what they want
to see included in a film poster, most of the audience mentioned the main
character, which again is the reason why we have used a picture of her as the
main image of poster.
Radio:
After conducting a survey on horror film radio trailer, we found that our target audience are only influenced by radio trailers to watch a film if the trailer is descriptive enough for them to create a picture in their head of the incidents taking place. This is why we have added dialogues from the actual film and many sound effects to make it as realistic as possible for the audience listening to imagine what is happening. The audience also said that they like to hear a bit of silence in the trailer because it creates a bit of mystery and gets them wondering what could be happening next. When asked about sound effects they said they like to hear sounds such as screams, footsteps and whispers. We took this into account and added screams and whispers to our trailer to give the audience a taste of what is to come. Most of the audience said that they want to hear creepy music in the background to create threatening atmosphere so we decided to add dramatic music to our trailer to make it more effective.
After conducting a survey on horror film radio trailer, we found that our target audience are only influenced by radio trailers to watch a film if the trailer is descriptive enough for them to create a picture in their head of the incidents taking place. This is why we have added dialogues from the actual film and many sound effects to make it as realistic as possible for the audience listening to imagine what is happening. The audience also said that they like to hear a bit of silence in the trailer because it creates a bit of mystery and gets them wondering what could be happening next. When asked about sound effects they said they like to hear sounds such as screams, footsteps and whispers. We took this into account and added screams and whispers to our trailer to give the audience a taste of what is to come. Most of the audience said that they want to hear creepy music in the background to create threatening atmosphere so we decided to add dramatic music to our trailer to make it more effective.
Audience Theories:
Hypodermic Needle Theory – The hypodermic theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly by ‘shooting’ or ‘injecting’ them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a desired response. They express the view that the media us a dangerous means of communicating an idea because the receiver or audience is powerless to resist the impact of the message.
We used this idea in our film to express our view against bullying; the villain in our storyline was bullied and pushed into committing suicide. This indicates to the audience that bullying can lead to although not supernatural but very dangerous outcomes therefore it is wrong.
Hypodermic Needle Theory – The hypodermic theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly by ‘shooting’ or ‘injecting’ them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a desired response. They express the view that the media us a dangerous means of communicating an idea because the receiver or audience is powerless to resist the impact of the message.
We used this idea in our film to express our view against bullying; the villain in our storyline was bullied and pushed into committing suicide. This indicates to the audience that bullying can lead to although not supernatural but very dangerous outcomes therefore it is wrong.
Q4: How did you
use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and
evaluation stages?
Research:
For our film research I used platforms and apps such as Netflix and Showbox to watch a lot of horror films so we could get some ideas for our film. I also went to the cinema to watch ‘Anabelle’ because the main prop in that film is a doll which is a very similar idea to ours. From this I got the chance to see different camera work that is used in horror films to make the scenes more impactful.
I also used the very popular search engine, google, to research reviews on horror films to see what people enjoy seeing and what they would prefer not to see in horror films.
One other thing that was very helpful during our research stage was Survey Monkey. This website allowed us to conduct surveys online for films, posters and radio trailers so we could send it to our target audience easily without having to physical go over to them and write down their responses. We were able to send the link to the survey through social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and mainly WhatsApp.
We also used our mobile phones and Dictaphones to record the voice of our target audience because this way they have a chance to be more elaborate with their answers which is harder to do in writing for some.
Google was also very helpful when we were researching film posters because we could easily access horror film posters and analyse them to see what looks engaging in the poster so we could get some ideas on what brings the poster to life in terms of horror.
The site that was most helpful to us was YouTube as we used to listen to radio trailers because we were finding it difficult to search for real radio trailers for films. We played trailers from YouTube and then minimised the screen so all we could hear was the sound. We also used YouTube to listen to different sound effects and soundtracks which would come into use in our film and radio.
For our film research I used platforms and apps such as Netflix and Showbox to watch a lot of horror films so we could get some ideas for our film. I also went to the cinema to watch ‘Anabelle’ because the main prop in that film is a doll which is a very similar idea to ours. From this I got the chance to see different camera work that is used in horror films to make the scenes more impactful.
I also used the very popular search engine, google, to research reviews on horror films to see what people enjoy seeing and what they would prefer not to see in horror films.
One other thing that was very helpful during our research stage was Survey Monkey. This website allowed us to conduct surveys online for films, posters and radio trailers so we could send it to our target audience easily without having to physical go over to them and write down their responses. We were able to send the link to the survey through social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and mainly WhatsApp.
We also used our mobile phones and Dictaphones to record the voice of our target audience because this way they have a chance to be more elaborate with their answers which is harder to do in writing for some.
Google was also very helpful when we were researching film posters because we could easily access horror film posters and analyse them to see what looks engaging in the poster so we could get some ideas on what brings the poster to life in terms of horror.
The site that was most helpful to us was YouTube as we used to listen to radio trailers because we were finding it difficult to search for real radio trailers for films. We played trailers from YouTube and then minimised the screen so all we could hear was the sound. We also used YouTube to listen to different sound effects and soundtracks which would come into use in our film and radio.
Planning:
When planning our film we used Final Cut pro on the Mac computers to produce an animatic storyboard of our film using our own detailed drawings. This gave us an insight on how our film would look when finalised; if we did not like the use of certain camera shots, angles or movements or thought certain scenes were unnecessary then we took it off our script.
We used the BBFC website to see what would be the best classification for our film. After seeing many exemplar films from the website we decided that the best classification for our film would be a 12A since we did not have much of violence or goriness in our film.
We produced a radio trailer mood board where we picked out specific sounds that we would want in our radio trailer. For this we embedded videos of scary music from YouTube and Sound Cloud. We also embedded a video from the very popular social networking site, Vine, which we used to show what kind of voice we would like from our presenter/narrator.
The same was done for the poster mood board where we put up pictures of other horror film posters to see what kind of things they included onto theirs for example taglines etc.
When planning our film we used Final Cut pro on the Mac computers to produce an animatic storyboard of our film using our own detailed drawings. This gave us an insight on how our film would look when finalised; if we did not like the use of certain camera shots, angles or movements or thought certain scenes were unnecessary then we took it off our script.
We used the BBFC website to see what would be the best classification for our film. After seeing many exemplar films from the website we decided that the best classification for our film would be a 12A since we did not have much of violence or goriness in our film.
We produced a radio trailer mood board where we picked out specific sounds that we would want in our radio trailer. For this we embedded videos of scary music from YouTube and Sound Cloud. We also embedded a video from the very popular social networking site, Vine, which we used to show what kind of voice we would like from our presenter/narrator.
The same was done for the poster mood board where we put up pictures of other horror film posters to see what kind of things they included onto theirs for example taglines etc.
Production:
To shoot our film we used the Canon Rebel T3i camera to for which we changed the camera’s white balance setting to “tungsten” because this setting of the digital camera cools down the colour temperature which gave our film a more gloomy look to bring out the horror aspect.
To make sure that the sound was being picked up properly we decided to use a Mic that was connected onto our camera. This made the characters’ dialogues come out clearer.
When we filmed indoors, we wanted some artificial lighting so the scenes would appear brighter as the room’s lighting was not enough for this. We used a professional large light stand which did the job perfectly.
Some of scenes outdoors also needed lighting and since it was impossible to use lighting outside, we decided to use the flash lights from our iphone to act as a spot light. This worked very well for us as it made the characters stand out from the dark background.
We used the same camera to take the pictures for our poster by just changing the setting from movie to portrait. We took pictures of the location, main character and main prop which will all be on the poster. This was a good piece of equipment to use because we could focus on the main image by blurring out the background which made the pictures look more realistic.
We used a vocal pack to record our sounds and added the music and sound effects using garage band on the Mac computer.
To shoot our film we used the Canon Rebel T3i camera to for which we changed the camera’s white balance setting to “tungsten” because this setting of the digital camera cools down the colour temperature which gave our film a more gloomy look to bring out the horror aspect.
To make sure that the sound was being picked up properly we decided to use a Mic that was connected onto our camera. This made the characters’ dialogues come out clearer.
When we filmed indoors, we wanted some artificial lighting so the scenes would appear brighter as the room’s lighting was not enough for this. We used a professional large light stand which did the job perfectly.
Some of scenes outdoors also needed lighting and since it was impossible to use lighting outside, we decided to use the flash lights from our iphone to act as a spot light. This worked very well for us as it made the characters stand out from the dark background.
We used the same camera to take the pictures for our poster by just changing the setting from movie to portrait. We took pictures of the location, main character and main prop which will all be on the poster. This was a good piece of equipment to use because we could focus on the main image by blurring out the background which made the pictures look more realistic.
We used a vocal pack to record our sounds and added the music and sound effects using garage band on the Mac computer.
Post Production - Editing:
All of the editing of our film happened through Final Cut Pro where we imported all of our footage and edited it. There are many helpful tools in Final Cut that helped us perfect our scenes. For example the blade tool was used to separate clips if we needed to add anything in between from different scenes. We also managed to layer audios from one scene to another to act as a voice over.
Photoshop helped us create our poster by editing and layering the photos we took for our poster. We changed the brightness of the pictures to make it look more subtle and then added text on top of the pictures after it was finished.
Evaluation:
I typed my evaluation on Microsoft Word which I then printed out and recorded myself reading out the evaluation using the Sony Dictaphone. After that I imported my evaluation on audacity to edit. When cutting out any pauses and errors I highlighted the parts and clicked delete on the keyboard. When I was satisfied with my evaluation I imported it on Final Cut and added pictures, visual parts from my short horror film and radio trailer to match my evaluation. I used pictures and real media texts from the internet using Google to find them.
Next I exported my evaluation from final cut as a master file on to my desktop. I chose YouTube to upload my evaluation as it was an easier way to upload on my blog as the file was quite big. I got the embed code of my evaluation from YouTube and uploaded it on to my blog as my final evaluation.
All of the editing of our film happened through Final Cut Pro where we imported all of our footage and edited it. There are many helpful tools in Final Cut that helped us perfect our scenes. For example the blade tool was used to separate clips if we needed to add anything in between from different scenes. We also managed to layer audios from one scene to another to act as a voice over.
Photoshop helped us create our poster by editing and layering the photos we took for our poster. We changed the brightness of the pictures to make it look more subtle and then added text on top of the pictures after it was finished.
Evaluation:
I typed my evaluation on Microsoft Word which I then printed out and recorded myself reading out the evaluation using the Sony Dictaphone. After that I imported my evaluation on audacity to edit. When cutting out any pauses and errors I highlighted the parts and clicked delete on the keyboard. When I was satisfied with my evaluation I imported it on Final Cut and added pictures, visual parts from my short horror film and radio trailer to match my evaluation. I used pictures and real media texts from the internet using Google to find them.
Next I exported my evaluation from final cut as a master file on to my desktop. I chose YouTube to upload my evaluation as it was an easier way to upload on my blog as the file was quite big. I got the embed code of my evaluation from YouTube and uploaded it on to my blog as my final evaluation.
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