Audience Theory – This theory outlines what compels an audience to watch a media product. The opening had to therefore use similar forms and conventions that are used in previous horror openings so that our opening would gain the same effect. For example, we included a murder, an isolated setting, a weapon, darkness and a chase sequence. We used a similar concept from the horror “Shrooms”.
Soundtrack - Our film involves a soundtrack which is untypical for the opening of a horror. This is because horror films often incorporate more diegetic sound than non-diegetic (soundtracks) in chase scenes, we found this in our main first influence, “Shrooms”. We used the soundtrack to help reflect the gradual build up of pace in our opening. The soundtrack also allowed us to mute any background noise.
Todorov’s Theory - This theory states that the narrative of a film follows a set rule of an equilibrium-disequilibrium-new equilibrium. Our narrative illustrates partially the use of this by consisting of an equilibrium (victim walking, listening to music and oblivious to the killer), and a disequilibrium (the chase/murder scene). If we were to continue creating the film, we would reinstate the equilibrium at the end of the narrative. However, this is untypical for this genre as they usually contain a twist at the end rather than an equilibrium. We therefore use, and challenge this form and convention.
Uses and gratification – Our opening allows the audience to escape from their everyday life by presenting them with an unusual situation that they would not normally face in life. Whilst creating the opening so that the viewer has a sense of escapism, we also tried to establish a realistic situation by using everyday settings so that the scenario is believable. Secondly, our opening enables the audience to relate with the characters, largely due to their similarity in age.
Propps’ Theory – We followed this theory by following Propp’s characters of a villain and Princess, hence the killer and the victim. The victim is shown as vulnerable whereas the killer is shown as dominant. We reinforced these roles through the use of costume, camera angles and props. If we were to continue producing the film we would incorporate further examples of Propp’s characters, for example a hero.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Gender – Our opening mainly stereotypically represents gender by following norms of society as well as a typical view of each gender is portrayed in films. Firstly, the female victim is depicted as helpless and innocent and is usually the first gender to be killed off. Horror films often display male characters as heroes or villains. It is very rare that a woman attains this role. Following on from this, we used a male for the role of the killer and portrayed the character wearing darker clothing.
Teenagers –The second main stereotype our opening plays on is teenagers. It conveys this through the use of props and costume. To begin with, the victim is listening to an MP3 player which is a prime essential for someone of that age. Secondly, the use of clothing for the killer and victim is that of “hoodies” and jeans which is a typical image of that age group.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
We used New Line Cinema as the producers of our horror opening as they have experience into the horror genre. Examples include, "Blade" and "Nightmare on Elm Street".
Low budget - As our product was on such a low budget our group was limited to options such as special effects and as a results it ultimately created a low quality product. I therefore cannot see the film becoming involved with any major media product distributors, the likes of cineworld (Cinema) for instance. However, if the film were to be shown on TV, I believe it is most appropriate on Film4 as films shown on this channel are usually low budget and gritty horrors.
Internet - Another institution that may distribute “Reminiscence” is the Internet. In particular, YouTube. The reason for this is because it would be much easier to reach our target audience.
Advertising - Because our target audience is mainly males, I would advertise the film inside specific magazines that are related to the age of the target audience as well as males.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Age -The target audience for our film is males between the ages of 15-30 year olds. The basis for this choice is that males are more likely to enjoy the thrill of horrors such as the violence. Baring this in mind it gave our group an insight as to how the narrative should follow. For example, we designed our narrative so that it included content such as fear and violence.
BBFC – Because of our target audience, we had to consider how much violence was included. If it involved too much violence or gore than our film may receive an age-rating of an 18. Thus, our product challenged previous horror films as they commonly involve excessive blood. Although it is legally possible for the audience to see minimal gore, we chose not to use any for the opening as we believed that on such a low budget it would be difficult and time consuming to construct.
Overall - It can be seen that the audience and content are closely linked as the product needs to involve content they find interesting, yet not too much.
How did you attract/address your audience?
Research - Initially, I researched into the horror genre and what made people enjoy them so much. I discovered that audiences particularly enjoy horrors because they get pleasure from being scared as they are put into a surreal situation. I therefore aimed to recreate these conventions within my product.
Content - The product also attracts the audience due to the fast-paced action and violence. However, the violence was limited due to the age-certificate.
Enigma - Moreover, the product attracts the audience because of its enigma. Having received feedback from members of the class, many were interested as to why everything had happened. Examples include, ‘why that particular victim?’ and ‘what was the killers incentive?’. I believe that due to the levels of interest in my product, I have attracted my audience successfully.
Target audience -The target audience (mainly aimed at 15) can relate themselves to the characters on screen as they are of similar age. Thus, they feel more empathy towards the victim and are ultimately more involved.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
iMOVIE -Firstly, I have learnt how to use the software iMOVIE to effectively edit and construct a short film. I have learnt how to use the effects that are on offer and the clip adjustments (brightness, contrast etc) to customize the look of each clip to give a dark, detached and emotionless effect.
Camera/tripod - Secondly, I feel I have learnt how to use the digital video camera as well as the tripod efficiently to produce high quality camera angles/shots. For example, without the tripod, camera shots such as establishing shots would have proved difficult to produce and would have looked unprofessional. I would also make sure that I don’t leave props or the tripod in view of the camera in future.
Soundtrack - Thirdly, a key factor that I feel confident I have acquired is how to create a soundtrack using ‘Garage Band’. This part proved to be challenging as I had to craft the soundtrack so that it built up tension and thus professionalism. This meant that the soundtrack had to be tweaked repeatedly to remain in time with the film.
Blog - Finally I believe I have learnt how to professionally manage a blog. This consisted of updating pages to show our planning and our preliminary task.
Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Time - Firstly, I have learnt how to use my time wisely. Having to plan, film and edit in a short period of time meant that I had to prepare myself. The planning stage consisted of designing a storyboard, creating a film schedule, outline of story, costumes and so on. Being prepared with the knowledge of our potential film and its elements helped me with the time management and helped me to remain focused.
Skills - I have also learnt negotiation and compromise skills with working within a group. For example, some days I was unable to film while others in the group were able to and vice versa. As the horror opening was on a much larger scale, there were many different view points on how exactly to film our project.
Group work - Working within a group has also made me more open to new ideas from others.
Continuity – Finally I have learnt how to keep continuity. For example, the characters need to wear the same clothes as before if re-filming was taking place. Keeping note of previous clothes is a great aid as I found that I didn’t write down which clothes I had worn, and as a result it meant that next time we filmed, I was unaware which jeans to wear.
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