Theme: Horror films are movies that strive to elicit the emotions of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of death, the supernatural or mental illness. Many horror movies also include a central villain. More recent horror films draw inspirations from insecurities in modern day life. Some horror films incorporate elements of other genres such as science fiction, fantasy, mockumentary, black comedy, and thrillers. So with our horror film we used a stereotypical convention with our theme, we used a supernatural theme and we also drew inspiration from modern day insecurities and fears.
Mise-en-scene: We also developed typical horror film conventions through our use of lighting, we used dim lights but bright enough to capture the action. Our main location of a old house and especially the attic are conventions of a horror film however, our scene of the playground challenges conventions but still stays to our theme. The prop of a doll has symbolic importance as it represents the ghost haunting the main character, this has been used in other films such as 'Chucky'. Emma Lilley who plays the ghost girl wears pale makeup and dark eyes, her costume is a antique black dress clearly demonstrating that she is dead as she contrasts with her environment.
Sound: In the opening an up-beat song is used this challenges conventional horror films however it has been done by other films e.g. 'Halloween'. A non-diegetic voice over is contrapuntal to the action creating a foreboding atmosphere this follows horror film conventions furthermore the use of a low tone throughout the attic scene heightens this. Later on in the extract slowed down children's voices create an eerie serial sense onto this we added a of key music box sound this contributes to the feel developing horror conventions.
Camera work/editing: The use of a low angled mid-shot creates suspense following conventions. When framing our shots we usually kept the actors/actress's/props of importance in the foreground e.g. the playground scene. We also used zooms and the doll to show its relevance this developed conventions of a horror film. Our transitions were nearly all cuts with the exception of a wash in of the house showing change in location this challenges conventions of a horror as the use of white dominates the screen yet creates a sinister atmosphere. The rhythm varied especially in the attic scenes e.g. when 'Coral' finds the doll takes are fast paced creating tension in the next scenes were she is sobbing the takes are slow paced creating anxiety building up tension rather than fear.
Overall our film used mainly horror film conventions however, some of these we challenged and developed.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
In our opening of a film, the majority of our characters are young female teens, they are showed as being independent (moving house) although naive. Minimal makeup is used and basic clothes to show there just average girls around the age of 18. The audience is led to believe the girls own a car showing they are middle-class furthermore the majority of the girls are Caucasian, stereotypical of an upper-class Britain. The main girl character is pictured as crying and panicked, classic vulnerable girl (shown frequently in horror films e.g. House of wax) the fact she runs from danger/the doll (choosing flight over fight) may suggest females are unable to protect themselves without males help.
Children are pictured briefly in the extract, they are shown playing and laughing representing them as innocent and unaware of the danger around them. All the children in the playground are conforming by playing together, however the ghost little girl contrasts with the environment as she stands in the foreground starring straight into the camera connecting with the audience. She is pictured as powerful although young, she influences the actions of the older characters.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I think a distributor such as Twisted Pictures or Hammer Film Productions would be best suited for our media product because, Twisted Pictures is a production company mainly creating films of a horror genre (this would suit our genre). Hammer Film Productions is based in the U.K and was founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films. This company would not only suit our film as it is well known for our genre but it also Hammer films had low budgets (like ours).
Who would be the audience for your media product?
I believe our movie extract would have a target audience of both male and females above the age of 15 but below the age of around 50. I believe a range of class's and ethnic groups would enjoy the film. With social groups, people who usually watch horror films would be our most easiest to target audience and would be more likely to watch the film.
How did you attract/address your audience?
Although our film has children in it, it would not be suitable for persons under the age of around 15 as the genre is horror. Furthermore with the film being defined by its horror genre it is sure to attract people who enjoy watching them. The use of teen characters straight away attracts a teen based audience furthermore up-beat music also reaches out to this group. Use of paranormal elements in our film may also attract an audience who believe in Ghosts etc. At the opening of our horror film a harmonious atmosphere is created as the girls pack their bags to move. However this is juxaposed by the use of a forboding under tone and the out of key music box sounds while Coral is looking at the ghost girl, this creates tension and hooks the audience especially by wrong footing them at the start of the extract.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have learnt how to operate a camera correctly and am now able to take a variety of different shots, zooms and pans. I can now upload images taken from a camera to mac and can edit them in a variety of different ways e.g. adding different transitions. I am also able to use garage band to create and edit music. I have also learnt how to create a blog.
Looking back at your Preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product.
I feel we have defiantly improved since the Preliminary task, we learnt from all our mistakes and realised how long editing takes and used this in our main task. We have improved on holding a camera steady and waiting a few seconds before action commences to ensure no sound is cut. Our planning and research improved with more organised notes keeping them stored in a folder however we allowed last minute changes to things such as angles while shooting (mainly for best effect). We also have improved editing adding in more complex sound tracks we created ourselves. We tried to use a variety of transitions that suited the atmosphere and sound track as well as cutting the most seconds from every scene.
