Evaluation - Question 1 - 5

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

Generally our media production uses the standard continuity technique of a real media production for example techniques such as: close up’s, extreme close ups, medium shots, shot-reverse-shot pattern, etc. The cameras that we used to film our media production, due to their lack of high quality imagery, cannot really develop the real media industry we also can't really challenge their levels, however, we definitely do experiment with their techniques. We did this by trying to develop our skills in certain areas; such areas consist of the uses of zoom-in, we did this as a way of pacing our film, creating a fast pace environment to build up to an event; for instance, a confrontation, like the one that we used in our product. We also used body-mount, handheld and steady cam shots. This creates the stalker feel to our product, and makes the audience think that she is being watched and followed.

2 - How does your media production represent particular social groups?

The female character represents women as very innocent and that are very vulnerable of being targeted, its a very conventional view upon the female, this stereotype has been developed from the early film or movie days, especially in horror films; an example of this would be the 1960’s horror film Psycho. Some could argue saying it makes them appear quite weak and unable to protect themselves or even to be independent. The male character could represent the stereotype of people who wear black clothing all the time or even hoods, who in this day and age are called 'Goths', he represents what people think as soon as they notice a young person in a hoody or black clothing...'violence' or 'danger'; it could also represent women to be less powerful to men, which we know is wrong but we use these elements, and what society is doing wrong to build the foundations of this story line. However both of these characters represent different views of not just a variety of groups in the young people of this generation but also they represent what some teenagers show in their behaviour, because of the characters portrayed. The male character represents the stereotype placed upon young teenage boys, as a violent, psychopathic person, triggered by harsh family life or a form of bullying or isolation; which may be, because of a personality disorder or a trait of their personality that people don’t care about or exploit to a dangerous level. A film that represents this stereotype is the 2009 horror film, Tormented; where a group or society exploit and ridicule a young boy with asthma and a weight problem causing his death, in which he returns from the grave to punish those who tormented him.

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

Media institutions are the companies that deal with production and distribution of me

dia products; this can involve advertising, printing. A large number of media institutions have the right to produce and distribute their products like Dimension films, New line Cinema, 20th Century Fox, also, these companies tend to deal with a lot of mainstream horror movies; our chosen genre. The reason as to why they can afford to produce and distribute their own products is because they’re either a conglomerate (parent) company or have financial backing by a conglomerate company. For instance, Dimension Films would receive financial backing from its parent company the Weinstein Company; these two companies are responsible for bringing us films like Scream, Halloween and Scary Movie. Dimensions Films and New line Cinema are two companies that have produced a lot of popular horror films like 'Scream' and 'Halloween' both these films are similar to our product and have very similar elements, because these companies are both mainstream companies and that they produce a lot of horror, Hollywood

blockbuster, films; we will look to small British companies that might be interested in distributing our media product as they will probably prefer to distribute our product. A reason for this would be because the two blockbuster companies wouldn't spend money on a product that might not give them the profit they need. Two companies, we think would be interested in distributing our product would be General Film Distribution and Momentum Pictures; both are low budget film distributers and they are both local as they are based in London. The reason for this, is because we would only require a small P&A budget and exhibition would be restricted to the UK to save money. Also these companies aren’t under ownership of conglomerates so these production companies would receive financial backing from the British Government, or UK Film Council, which is a very limited and small fund. This would affect the advertising and distribution of our product. Momentum Picture, like other small distribution companies, would form a synergy to improve profits of their products such success can be seen from the Oscar-Winning Film the King’s Speech, distributed in the UK by Momentum Pictures with its USA partner the

Weinstein Company.

4 - Who would be the audience for your media production?

The audience that this group was considering or was mainly aimed for are for men around a young age of 15- 24 and considering that there are women who also have a thrill for horror films, so we also added some aspects which will appeal to their taste. We also know that there are teenagers who would enjoy this nut we also knew that the age limit we have chosen might be very tricky but we chose that understanding that young people start from the age of 15 to begin to discover what they like and don’t.

5 - How did you attract or address your audience?

Knowing and acknowledging that a member of our group has a taste for horror, we thought it would be a good idea for us to ask him about how he was drawn to horror films. The answers that we received from him helped use figure out that the audience aimed would enjoy this production more if it had some traditional and classic traits of an original horror film. But to bring the new generation of horror into the product as well for instance the idea of playing mind games with the audience to create a psychological feel. We noticed one of the female members also had a strange attraction for horror however she isn’t a big fan, she enjoyed old films mainly black and white horror films because she finds them very hilarious because they are very predictable and classical; this might not attract such a young target audience.

Costumes Research & Analysis

We will analyze the costumes in the opening sequence of ‘Scream’ and we will compare to the costumes in our film opening for both our characters. This is because there are 2 characters in the opening sequence of scream and 2 characters in our film opening are both similar. This is because one is a killer and the other is an innocent young girl.

Firstly the killer in scream is dressed in a black cape with a white mask. This is shown in the picture below. As he is dressed in black means he is dark, scary and mysterious as he is wearing a mask means you can’t see his face. This can also show that the amount of power that he has over the female character. The mystique of this character, makes the audience want to know who the man behind the mask will be, and make them keep watching. This will be similar to our opening sequence where James will wear all black, with his hood up which will hide most of his face throughout the duration of the opening. This also adds to the mystery of wondering who it is.

The other person in the opening of scream is the young girl. She is wearing a creamy, light grey sweater and jeans, which shows she is innocent and bright, buts suggests she may also be a vulnerable person; you can also see her face clearly in every shot which shows the audience exactly who she is and shows the audience, that she is clearly an innocent girl. Her appearance also suggests that she is quite frail. We will attempt to portray this appearance for Yolanda's character; however we will use a red beaded necklace a dark sky blue shirt and an open black wool coat.

Storyboard

Shot 1 - Point of view shot

James watching Yolanda walking through the arches at Clayton Vale (The Vale), from his view we see that he hidden in behind trees; this makes him known to the audience but unknown to Yolanda.















Shot 2 - Medium shot

James watching Yolanda walk past from a high angle.

Shot 3 - Point of view shot

Yolanda looking around her surroundings; the speed of the camera suggest that she is nervous.

Shot 4 - Panning shot

Yolanda is seen to be walking out of viewing range of the arches.

Shot 5 - High Angle/Panning shot

We see James watching Yolanda walking away from the Arches for the last time. He is still anonymous to Yolanda.

Shot 6 - Close up/Low Angle shot

We see a close up of Yolanda's feet as she is walking away.

Shot 7 - Close up

We see an up close shot of James watching Yolanda.

Shot 8 - Medium Shot

Yolanda is seen to be walking from the main path onto a dirt track trail. She appears to on edge and hesitant.

Shot 9 - Long shot

Yolanda is seen to be walking down some stairs covered in moss and twigs, it is also cover and shaded by the surrounding trees. Yolanda is seen looking around and it is clear that she concerned or spooked about he surroundings.

Shot 10 - Medium/High Angle Shot

James is seen running through trees towards Yolanda

Shot 11 - Medium/ zoom shot
Yolanda is walking down the stairs, she seems to be looking around to see if she is being followed. She also looks nervous as if to say she is being looked upon by an unknown figure.

Shot 12 - Low Angle/Panning Shot
Yolanda walks from the stairs onto a path leading down a hill.

Shot 13 - Long Shot

Yolanda is seen coming down the path. her expressions suggest that she appears to be more comfortable, now that she is
walking into an open space.

Shot 14 - Medium Shot
Yolanda is walking towards a river.

Shot 15 - Low Angle/Medium Shot
Yolanda appears to be more nervous, she quickly heads down onto the river bank to hide from a mysterious figure.

Shot 16 - Medium/Point of View Shot

Yolanda is hiding from James under tall grass and plant life. Although, it may appear that he already knows that she's there.

Shot 17 - Close Up/Medium Shot

Unknown to Yolanda, James appears to be almost directly on top of her, he is looking down at her blankly, he is a very sinister character. He then walks off.

Shot 18 - High Angle/Point of View Shot

James watching Yolanda on top of the river bank

Shot 19 - High Angle Shot

Yolanda is seen to be running away from the river bank and her stalker. She runs to a bridge in her escape.

Shot 20 - Close Up

James is seen on the bridge behind Yolanda, looking straight at her.

Shot 21 - Shot/Reverse Shot

Over James' shoulder we see Yolanda turn around, she screams as James reaches out to grab her by the froat.

Shot 22 - Close Up/Point of View Shot

Yolanda's view, James reaching out to grab her;The screen will then go black and the films title will appear. 'TheVale'.

Main Task Shot List 'The Vale'

Shot 1 - Point of view shot - James watching Yolanda walking through the arches in Clayton Vale (The Vale), from his view we see that he is on higher ground and is hidden behind trees; this makes him known to the audience, but unknown to Yolanda.

Shot 2 - Close Up Shot - James watching Yolanda walking.

Shot 3 - Point of view shot - Yolanda looking around; with the speed of the camera, it suggests that she is nervous about her surroundings.

Shot 4 - Panning shot - Yolanda walking away from the Arches, she appears to be nervous.

Shot 5 – High angle panning shot – James watching Yolanda walking again.

Shot 6 – Close up low angle shot – close up of Yolanda’s foot stepping on the ground.

Shot 7 – Close up – James’ face watching Yolanda go past, it suggests that he's plotting something.

Shot 8 – Medium shot – Yolanda walking towards stairs down the path.

Shot 9 – Long shot – Yolanda walking down the stairs.

Shot 10 - Medium high angle shot – James running through trees.

Shot 11 – Close up – Yolanda walk down the stairs, face, looking nervous.

Shot 12 – Low angle shot/Panning shot – Yolanda walking down stairs then the path.

Shot 13 – Long shot - Yolanda walking own the path from behind.

Shot 14 – Medium shot - Yolanda walking towards the river.

Shot 15 – Low angle, Medium shot - Yolanda walking down onto the river bank looking scared like she is hiding.

Shot 16 – Medium shot - Yolanda hiding from James on the river bank.

Shot 17 – Medium/Close up - James walking along the grass on the ledge of the river looking for Yolanda.

Shot 18 – Close up - James looking for Yolanda then walking off turning the shot into a medium shot.

Shot 19 – High angle shot - Yolanda escaping from the river bank and running across the bridge.

Shot 20 – Close up of James on the bridge – looking intimidating.

Shot 21 – Shot/ reverse shot - Yolanda over James shoulder. First walking away then turns around and screams then James is seen to be attempting to grab her.

Shot 22 – Close up - James looking down the camera then putting his hand over the camera lens, then fade to black screen with white writing that says “The Vale”.

Film anaysis - halloween

This film has no credits. The film starts with a child in a clown mask stroking a rat. He is talking to the rat, which is diegetic sound, and there is a radio in the background, which is also diegetic. A close up of the rat is used in this shot with the boy in the background. It then cuts to his parents arguing down stairs. You can hear them talking and there is also a radio in the background. Because they are arguing the baby starts crying which is also diagetic sound. This shows that it’s a dysfunctional family, which would explain why the boy has troubles.

Then his sister comes down and talks to her parents who tell her to go and talk to her brother. They mainly use close-ups in this scene with shot reverse shot which we will use in our film opening if we use any dialogue. The camera is a bit wobbly in parts, which shows that it must have been done with a hand held steady cam.

When his sister goes up to him she teases him from behind the door, while he is washing blood off his hands and pocketknife.

This shows she has no idea what he is doing and it isn’t made clear who he has killed or cut. He then screams when his sister called him “a little shit”, this shows she bullies him and he doesn’t like it.

When he goes downstairs he tells his mother that his rat died and he had to flush him but this tells the audience that he killed him using his pocketknife. His father and sister then tease him about the rat’s death and his mother defends him. All the sound is diegetic and the shots are all close-ups. He then goes over to the baby and kisses it on the head which shows that he still has a strong relationship with the baby and his mother.