Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience of horror films are interested mostly due to the thrills and the adrenaline rush from being fearful. The usual age for the horror genre is usually teenagers and young adults, that's why our target audience is 16-25 year old. The film may not be suitable for the ages of 15 and under, and people the over the age of 26 may not find the story credible and find it hard to fully engage with the film. In addition, we've chosen the 16-25 age group not only because of the genre, but as they are the most frequent people that go to the cinema. Research we have done has found that our target audience prefers, psychological and supernatural horrors, so we have Incorporated aspects of those genres of film to gain the attention of our audience and further improve the success of our film. Our research also found that the majority of boys enjoyed more violence and gore and the girls preferred the more thrilling and mysterious aspects of horror films, so its possible our film could be targeted to girls more than boys, as it leaves viewers in suspense and doesn't reveal all of the plot to create a sense of mystery. Furthermore, we have aimed for our film to attract a wide spread of different ethnicity's but our main group was white middle class teenagers and young adults.We were then left with a decision of whether to go for a specific target audience or a more broad audience. One advantage of having a more specific target audience is that it can be more tailor made. However, with a more broad target audience it is hard to deal with the more specific likes and dislikes. So we chose to have a niche audience who specifically like and enjoy supernatural/thriller horror.

How did you attract/ address your audience? What techniques have you used to define genre and grab the attention of your audience in your opening sequence. Comment on the protagonist(s) and how they relate to the audience. Be specific, refer to specific shots and explain how you have used camerawork, sound (including music), mise en scene and editing to create effects and directly address your target audience.

We feel our target audience is quite widespread. Because it is a supernatural horror, it could be suggested it is not suitable for children under the age of 15 years. We feel the main target audience would be the 16-25 age group, because any one older may see our film as "just another horror movie", seeing it as fake and not using their imagination. However we are also aware this is not the case with all older/middle-aged adults, as there are a lot who let their imagination run wild and this would force them to enjoy our film even more.

We have used the make up and moan and groan of the possessed Nikki-Leigh to try and relate our film to The Ring or The Grudge. The mise-en-scene of the white gown, and dirty face and feet proves Nikki is a demon, and aims to try and unsteady the audience. On Final Cut Pro we used a light tint on Nikki-Leigh’s shots that suggests to the audience the power and spirit of her is having an effect on the actual building! This is a common effect in horror movies.

When we flashed back to Aphra in the forest, we edited the shots, adding a red tint which made the shade on the scene darker. We chose red because we feel it connotes the danger we intended to portray from Aphra's character. One particular shot we liked was when the camera was on the floor, and Nikki stumbled to the ground, coming face to face with the camera, choking. This particular shot is one of the more scary shots, and meets our target audience as teenagers often look for the more frightening shots to talk about after they have seen the film.

The voiceover we used for all our shots would have been useful for our older audience, such as the young adults, up to about the age of 30. The voiceover stops the scene from being confusing too, adults will notice this and be fond of it.

Thoughts/Features 10: Storyboard

These are the pictures of our storyboard. We made a lot of changes as you can tell from comparing the storyboard, which shows our very early plans, to our finished piece. The main idea of switching between Nikki and Aphra is seen in our storyboard and in our finished piece, showing we kept our main idea all the way through. it is clear that the main idea is there in our storyboard, although it is very vague, unclear and slightly rushed. However this is the best way we can use our storuboard to add any finishing touches and we felt we did this quite well.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

As a group we have learnt the representations discovered through different techniques of using a camera can multiply the unsettling theme that a supernatural horror adopts to disturb the audience.

First of all, we discovered that using an unusual camera angle worked effectively when shooting the demon like aggressor as it symbolised her disturbing actions and mannerisms, such as the slow rocking or the alarming cackle. Therefore we used a canted angle for each of her shots and used mainly close ups to emphasise the possessed image and to show the audience that she is the dominant 'creature'. This worked together very successfully to create an unnerving atmosphere that not only relates to the genre but exaggerated the zombie/possessed like theme.

To further exaggerate these combinations we decided,in the editing process, to see if we could add any effects that would demonise the character even more and to create effective special effects that would make the opening more tense. We wanted to achieve this using final cut pro, where we edited all of the project, so we experimented with different techniques. To get these we used filters and motions that were placed on top of the clip in effects. At first we decided that the colour in shots of Aphra (the aggressor) would be emphasised and heightened , and the shots of myself (the victim in the hospital) would be black and white. After we tried out both of these ideas, we decided that it would look better if we used a red filter on Aphra with an earthquake motion that make the shot shake. We also created a sound on garage band using the atomic sounds to exaggerate the earthquake effect and make the spectator feel anxious and intimidated. Aswell as the filter and sounds we also made one of the close ups appear at least 3 times in vital parts of the corridor scene, this was to continuously build suspense. To add to this we also found an effect where we could create a ghost like visual technique where you could still see the shot behind. This almost made it like the aggressor is always watching over the victim tormenting her mind (this inspired us to pick the name of our production company). These effects allowed us to create the unsettling character of the demon like girl that exaggerated our horror genre and also gave the opening an original essence. We have learnt that modern technology can create an authentic opening in many different ways offering various techniques for every genre to complement themes and messages portrayed through precise camerawork.

To create our titles we used the options available in the titling effects and again experimented with different ones until we found the most suitable one. We chose 3D titles where the text was shadowed, we thought this was most appropriate as our production company is called 'Shadow Productions'. We dissolved the titles in and out to make it look professional, the shadow on the credits and the title created mystery and suspense.

We also fused another piece of technology in our film to create music using garage band. This taught our group how to create music without an instrument but on a computer. We used this to our advantage and created the whole score using the organ pianos and also used this to create our sound effects using the atom sounds. This allowed us to create more originality in the piece and were all able to learn how to create an effective but mystery score. We had to open different sections for each instrument, this made us see each layer of the song and allowed us to pay attention to every single detail.

Using technology to edit our film has been an inspiring learning curve for all of our group where we have all excelled in different parts. Being on the other side of the camera, filming it, has taught us all the thing one simple camera movement or angle can represent or symbolise. All of this has allowed us to put so much detail in our opening to create a piece unsettling enough and acceptable for a supernatural horror.

What kind of media institution would distribute your media product and why?

Our film was based around a supernatural horror idea, very similar to “The Ring” (2002). The Ring was produced and distributed by DreamWorks, however other companies such as MacDonald/Parkes Productions who also helped with distribution.

Our film could also be compared to “The Grudge” (2004). This film was not as successful as The Ring but was still widely popular across the world. Columbia Pictures

produced and distributed The Grudge, with help

from Ghost House Pictures and Fellah Pictures.

There are several independent British film companies that would distribute films such as ours. One example is Coffee Films, who have done films such as “Last of the Scottish Wildcats”. Coffee Films have completed a wide range of films over the years, experimenting with technique, style, genre and the medium of moving images generally. The films vary from the classic 5-minute black and white short to hour-long wildlife documentary.

Another example of a company that may distribute such a film as ours is Bushy Creek Films. This

is another low budget, independent British company, based in the West Midlands, making feature and short films. Their aim is to develop talent both in front and behind the camera and during that process make good quality British Films with budgets of £2M or less. Since forming in 2005 they have established good working relationships with majo

r studios, distributors, sales ag

ents, financiers, postproduction houses and executive produce

rs. Their first feature film Gridiron UK is scheduled to be filmed in June 2011 and have a major cinema release early 2012 with worldwide DVD release backed by a major studio.

Places we could market such a film such as ours are places such as filminthefridge.com and New Market Films. Its hard to raise awareness with no existing popularity, so social networking sites such as Facebook can be used to gain popularity and post trailers, and then furthermore, post links to sites where our film can be streamed for fee’s and memberships ect. This would be the most suitable marketing campaign for our film as our target audience are the social netw

orking era making viral marketing the best option. This girls profile would be one of our possible target audience. We would also make a twitter account and encourage groups of teenagers and young adults age ranged form 15-25 to follow not only the film but us personally so the audience can see the process of the film more personally. Another reason viral marketing would be more appropiate is because the reality

of the budget, a budget of 10 thousand pounds would you give you 6 slots in ITV or 50 shots on Sky One during the daytime. However this would be the wrong time to capture our target audience as we would aim to have our advert appear after comedy shows such as 'Never Mind the Buzzcocks' or 'Celebrity Juice'. This is because

these are the shows that are more likely to be watched by teenagers and young adults. So

, because we would be an independent production and distribution company our budget would not reach out for a TV advert, therefore we would make a website devoted entirely for our film. Hollywood Blockbusters, such as the Dark Knight, had very successful viral marketing campaigns by capturing their audiences attention by making them solve mysteries about the Joker by playing games and following clues. This would also appeal to our film and would encourage our audience to watch the film in the cinema. We would make an online game that would relate to our narrtive.

It would be best to market our film on the European film market because going worldwide would be very difficult at such an early stage. The ideal place would be the “New Media Film Festival” or film festivals that are dedicated to independent films such as 'Cannes Film Festival' where new films and their producers go and exhibit films, selling material and making money. We would also set out to sell our film to a distribution company that would distribute our film all over Europe. This would be our best option by far.

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

The broad genre of our media product is horror, however it tackles the conventions of the subgenre supernatural horror/zombie. The typical conventions of a supernatural horror can consist of characters being ‘possessed’ and ‘haunted’, for example Emily in the ‘Exorcism of Emily Rose’ and Samara in ‘The Ring’. In both of these films the protagonist is a supposed to be a young girl, which is a typical convention in a horror films. This is because young girls are seen as vulnerable and easy targets they are always the role of the victim. The picture of the teenage girl is a stereotype of a victim and would be the one who is most likely targeted. This also multiplies the unnerving theme in not just supernatural films but also in our film too, as it goes against the expected role of a woman in the cinema portrayed as the ‘advisor’ and the ‘nurturer’ and unsettles the audience when they see that they are now the threat. Most supernatural films use this technique to unnerve the audience and create suspense, this is the reason we have also a woman protagonist as the demonised victim turn threat. This can alarm the audience as in some ways they can release more sympathy for the character because she is a girl and can exaggerate the ‘innocent’ persona she once had.

Even though the role of the woman has been challenged from the expected, supernatural films have adopted this method so it has now become the norm of the sub-genre. We have dedicated our film to this particular convention to complement the supernatural/zombie theme. However, most films of this genre still refer to a male or a demon as the dominator of the narrative, for example the ‘The Exorcism’ is dominated by a demon believed to come from the devil and in ‘Paranormal Activity’ the woman is haunted by a demon from her childhood. We took these aspects into consideration but decided we wanted to come up with something a lot more original for our production so we were able to create our own sense of disturbance and challenge the conventions. The way we did this was also use a woman as the dominator, the ‘demon’. She would be the person in the narrative that would had possessed the girl from the opening. This goes against the typical conventions and allowed us to explore different methods to portray the possessor as unsettling and daunting. We succeeded this through firstly the camerawork filming her at a low angle with some shots to represent her with the higher status but also we directed Aphra to come close to the camera. This almost manipulates the camera and makes the audience feel like they are being watched over as her eyes gradually become wider which emphasises the claustrophobic feel to the opening. We also used a red filter on the shots of Aphra to foreshadow to the audience that she is the ‘demon’ in the narrative. After we had used this red filter we realised that it looked like it had drowned the shot with the colour red, which we thought, could connote the demon woman’s thirst for danger and possessiveness. To further this image of the demon like woman, we created a look through black eyes using make up and back combing hair to represent her craziness, however this was not just used on Aphra’s character but also myself, Nikki-Leigh, as the victim to show her ‘new’ adopted possessiveness. We based the make up on ‘The Grudge’ and aimed to create a chilling effect.

The mise-en-scene of the film aimed to create an overall unsettling atmosphere for the character. We did this using two locations, the first for the demon like woman Longford Park where we used the bushes to exaggerate her unexpected eerie behavior, and the second, Withington Community Hospital. The hospital is also a common convention of a horror film, which can leave the audience feeling closed in and intimidated. We wanted this to symbolise the imprisonment of the victims body trapped by the demon like woman, the hospital corridor can seem to be closing in on her like quoted in the voice over, “the walls, their closing in on me”. We aimed to represent this image to unnerve the individual spectator and sparked our ideas from this picture.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The actors in our piece were all in the age group of 16-18, showing they are still teenagers, and our opening represented them as the typical “troubled teenagers”. Nikki-Leigh Rogers is the main character in our piece, she has been possessed and her actions portray this with her stumbling and moaning/groaning. She is presented as troubled, as so many teenagers are, even more so in females, it is a typical stereotype that we feel our piece fits.

Nikki-Leigh, a 17-year-old girl who has been “demonized”, also matches the stereotype that females are always the victims; the voiceover included adds a dramatic feel. The tone Nikki possesses in the voiceover seems to portray the typical “damsel in distress” which women are always stereotyped into. However, the same cannot be said for our killer/psychopath in our film, Aphra Evans. Aphra is the same age as Nikki, but instead of being presented as the victim, she seems to counter stereotype females of this age because she is the killer.

Nonetheless, it could also be said that Aphra has become such a “troubled teenager” to the extent where she has turned to crime and making others unhappy, by killing and demonizing others, but this is left to the imagination of the audience.

The final actor included in our piece was Ruben Milner. Ruben is the only male in our piece and his involvement is as a visitor at the hospital for his acquaintance Nikki-Leigh. Ruben’s involvement is just walking so it is hard to see what stereotypes he might fit. However, his slow movement, leading up to the introduction of Nikki portrays him as the typical lazy 17-year-old male, presented with a blasé attitude.

THE REPROBATE FINISHED

The aim of designing a this questionnaire was to gain information from our desired target audience, reflecting opinions of contemporary horror films. By gathering this information, its has helped our film opening successful, as we know what our Target audience enjoys. In addition, we found that the majority of 17-20 year olds watch horror films on a monthly basis and are pleased when a horror film trailer leaves then in suspence, resulting in them being more interested in the film. There is a vast range of preference between sub genres of horror, the most popular being psychological and Supernatural. Furthermore, we found that out target audience expects certain aspects within a horror film, such as; blood, violence, gore and and element of realism.


Questionnaire
(circle your answer)

1. Which category of age do you fit into?

10-13/ 14-16 / 17-20 / 21-25 / 26+

2. Gender

Male/Female

3. Do you watch horror films

Yes/No

If yes, how often do you watch horror films?

Daily/Weekly/Monthly/Annually/Other




4. Do you like horror trailer to leave you in suspense?

Yes/No

Explain why?





5. What is your favorite sub genre of horror.

Supernatural/Zombie/Thriller/Psychological/Vampire/Other

Explain why?





6. What sort of things do you expect to see when you watch a horror film?

Thoughts/Features 9:

Sound:

Firstly, this wasn't planned but we decided to add a voice over to our film opening. When we got the outside perspective of our work it was noted that our piece may come across as confusing because we know whats going on, but the audience do not know the storyline. In the end we decided it was best for us if Nikki Leigh did the voice over as it suited her character. She went on to explain the story giving the people watching a better idea of whats going on.

However, this wasn't all we did for our sound. We have been onto Garage Band and created a soundtrack to go underneath the voice over for an extra effect. Admittedly its nothing too complex, a few solemn notes and dark and eerie sounds, but when Nikki stops talking it really does have the desired effect, connoting a psychological threat and mysterious feel to each shot.

Thoughts/features 8:

Lighting/Tints:

The lighting in our piece was vital due to our genre. We had to find a tint which resembled that of a horror and psychological genre.

In order to achieve this we added a white tint onto the shots of Nikki Leigh in the corridor. The existing colours of a green feel complimented this to give a surreal shade on the shots. It created the effect which suggested the end, when people are said to "walk into the light", and we felt this kind of effect would help to add the mystery and creepiness we aimed for.


As well as this, on the shots of Aphra in the forest, we added a red tint, of a dark calibre. The reason for this was because Aphra was a killer, therefore we felt red indicated danger, darkness and murder and it also gave a sense of mystery to the opening which complemented the supernatural sub-genre of horror.

The light tone we used for Nikki Leigh we also used for Ruben in order to get good balance of contrasts across the whole scene. We feel this worked best.