7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Over the whole of my project I have learnt that by changing the angle and point of view it can increase the tension of the atmosphere, which then makes the audience see the event from several different perspectives. I was able to change the atmosphere to make it become intimidating and shocking, as the music made the audience feel as though they were being followed themselves; therefore making them feel jumpy and anxious. When looking back at my preliminary task I see that I have improved a large amount, especially with filming techniques – how to create smooth lines when panning – as well as the technical side when editing. I have also learnt that different kinds of lighting can change the setting of the film; as well you can receive so many different types of lighting shots from different angles.

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

From making this project I have learnt that by using different editing techniques to change and edit my movie I was able to make it suit my perspective of what I want it to look and run like. I lined up my movie clips and connected them together now I wanted it to run as a movie, and whether it needed any cutting to change the length. Then I was able to use the roller tool on ‘Final Cut’ to overlap my clips therefore changing the smoothness and making it run through without any random jumps. When I was filming, by using the tripod I was able to achieve perfect results of straight smooth lines and angles, smoothing the transitions from one shot to the other. For example, when I was filming the photos of the girls on the wall, by using the tripod I was able to make continuous transitions from photo to photo then down to the girl on the floor, allowing it to fit perfectly with the music. Whereas if I were to take the photos as stills and insert them they wouldn’t have built the tension as well as how I had imagined. 

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract the audience I used a black background with red text – symbolising blood and death before the movie has even started. Which stands out really well on the background and the font that I used was creepy and sharp to show the type of horror movie it is – whether it was old fashioned, poltergeists, paranormal or something different. For the people that are familiar with Platinum Dune will recognise the other movies that they have done and will relate back to them, to find the similarities which then brings a new audience to the movie. Also by starting with ‘6 months before’ the audience were able to realise that they are starting in the middle of the teenagers busy life, and they get a first impression of what they are like before knowing what has happened for the killing to occur. This helps for them to start to unravel the story from the beginning.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my media product would be teenagers and older, as the content is quite graphic and may frighten people of a younger age. Also due to the gore and graphic killing scenes the rating on this movie would be a 15 or 18. 

By aiming it at my own age range, of a person that is a big horror fan myself, i am able to take into consideration what i enjoy about horror movies and what i find are essential to use in my product. For example, we used a counter type of the original horror characters that we see in some horror movies, by having a girl as the killer, there are some women horror killers but no many well known other than a character such as Carrie.

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

For my film I would decide to use ‘Platinum Dune’ as it would be the perfect institution to distribute my film. Platinum Dune is associated with a large range of horror movies – this therefore means that if the audience that liked the films that they have already done they might be attracted to mine as it is very similar. This institution is also owned by Michael Bay who is a famous director as well as producer. He has directed and produced films such as; The Unborn, Friday the 13^Th, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre; The Beginning and A Nightmare on Elm Street. The original Nightmare on a big hit I think that this institution would get the best reviews for my film. Elm Street was a very big hit, it brought fear and terror to many peoples dreams, with the fright of falling asleep, and this is where I was able to receive my idea of the setting and characters. By it being such a well known horror distributor i feel that many different audiences will be able to appeal to it, for the people that have seen the different movies that they have brought out, which allows the audience to be able to have a thought of what it could be like based on the films that they have seen by this distributor. 

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media project is aimed at teenagers and older, who enjoy horror movies and enjoy a good story line to draw them in. The reason for it being restricted to a certain age group is due to the graphic scenes that are portrayed, showing the acts of murderer and their life – also that they will be diving into the lives of the characters and what happened to them before the killing, the use of drugs and drink. This media project represents the younger generation experiencing life, but not worrying about the consequences when doing these antics. Therefore this is connoting that teenagers are irrespirable, this is a stereotype that teenagers only care about having a good time and don’t take responsibility for their acts. 

This is not specifically aimed at a particular social group, but there are many different sub-groups that can be connected with my film, for example it can be aimed to please people that enjoy horror movies, people that want a good story line as well as people that enjoy films with people of their own age group in. By doing this i didnt have to stick to a specific audience other than keeping my product a horror.

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

My media product connotes a real media issue, which is what can happen to teenagers and the disadvantages of them drinking underage; therefore being irresponsible and drinking too much. This is a big issue ingeneral media, of what teenagers do and what happens to them after they have had too much to drink – when they are out of control. In this media product I was able to convey several different things that happen to people that drink over their boundaries, which is why these terrible things can happen to them. One of the ways that I conveyed one of the ways that alcohol affects you, is by having the camera quite shaky; this connoted what peoples eyes can become like which is why they feel disorientated, and confused by their surroundings. To product this effect I used the camera at a hand held position, making sure that it wasn’t completely smooth and still the whole time. Teenagers behaviour can be affected in different ways for different people but as the girls were stumbling around it helped for the drunken affect shine through more prominently, which helped create the atmosphere for the audience as they could see the shadow of the killer behind them – whereas the girls probably wouldn’t notice them. The tension gained from these shots was chilling and eerie, especially with the music fitting perfectly and changing to different melody and key when different scenes approach i.e. the titles that went in an equal sequence, were all set to a beat in the music – showing the pace.

As my project was aimed to be a horror movie, I decided that a predictable killing or murder scene would happen at last evening night time, so I chose to keep it the same and follow the tradition that was horror movies and the build up to the killing scene. The idea of keep the movie at night was highlighted by the film ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street’ as the most frightening thing for anyone is not knows what could be lurking in the shadows of the night, which is why many have a fear of the dark as children, its all in the mind but with this movie…is it all in the mind – that is the message that I wanted the viewer to receive from watching it. But to increase the spine-chilling atmosphere of the film the day that I filmed it was very foggy, which made the roads look very creepy when the cars were coming towards us with headlights on. From the horror and thriller movies that I researched on my blog a lot of the killers were either masked or unseen, so to relate to this I decided that the killer was going to be hooded – therefore not allowing the audience to see the face of the murderer straight away! Using these different techniques the audience were thrown right into the action of the story; bringing the story to life.

The different angles made it possible for the audience to what was happening in the scene from a variety of different shots, connoting the story in further depth. As well as that it connoted what type of setting they were in and what surroundings they had, therefore connoting that the girls were pretty much isolated from civilisation. By doing this it relates back to the alcohol in their systems, which proves that teenagers do not know what is happening and where they are all the time, because their reactions are too slow to defend themselves and find it difficult recognising their surroundings. When referring back to the research I have looked at on my blog, we see in horror movies they use many jump cuts when building up to an event, such as a chase or killing, this lures the audience in and makes them want to watch what is going to happen but at the same time scared for the character, as they have made a connection with them and feel empathy form them.  

Editing

Gemma and I are now focusing on how we can change the blurriness of our film, as some of the clips are too distorted that it does not look correct. As well as doing this we are re-considering putting some of the original dialogue back into the film, as it will explain the story fully, the audience will be able to see the stereotypes that we chose as well as it will look less like a music video if we were to include some speech. To accomplish this, we have changed the music from being loud to soft and more in the background, so that we can add diegetic sounds - connoting realism and making it more nauralistic. From this i have learnt that by adding diegetic sounds it created a tense atmosphere without meaning to, which leaves the audience with a sense of axiousness.  

Second Edit

After speaking to our teacher, we found that our clips did not run smoothly with the music, however even though the music was jumping it created the eerie atmosphere further, helping to allow the audience to create a opinion of their own about the characters, and how they feel for them. We chose to cut our music is certain parts, connoting the stereotypical killer following them, which also allowed for the movie to become jumpy and creepy, especially with the different cuts that we made for the scene shots. we used and effect to brighten the killers face and body when she was walking towards the camera, therefore the audience were able to see the killer being revealed, connoting the twist that had happened in the friendship groups.

The Script Change

When looking back over my blog, i found that we did chose to use a script in our media project, but after we used the speech in the film, it became apparent that it didn't sound as good as we had hoped. From this we chose to use music, which helped to build tension and show the juxtaposition of the happy, fun, loving girls with the scary music which build up until the killing happened. Also by changing and deciding to go with music, it allowed us to focus on the different effects that we could use to create a eerie and tense atmosphere, therefore connoting the girls emotions becoming more anxious and nervous. 

Music Selection

After looking through many different types of music styles and genres then seeing if they fit with our film, Gemma and I have decided on a piece of music from the movie Dead Silence - which is from the Horror genre, allowing us to relate it to our film. By being able to relate it to our film, we found it built the tense and anxious atmosphere. We thought this piece of music worked the best out of the several pieces that we looked at, as it fitted perfectly with our sequence of clips especially when the slides change from being the friends laughing and joking around, to the killer walking behind them. 


We tested this piece of music with the video and found that it was very nursery rhyme styled at the beginning which worked well, as well as at the end of our film - as though it started with a bookending; when the best friend has been found hanging from the tree. This part of the music made it possible to have smooth transition when we were cutting the music, making it possible for us to take out some of the fast pace music, as the diatonic tones were pretty much the same through out. Therefore making it creepy, building tension when watching as the music is gradually getting louder.

Filming and Devloping

Now that we have finished our filming, even though it was harder due to the dark and the foggy weather conditions, we have now started to edit and develop our film. From starting the editing process, i have found it easy to crop and cut parts of the film to make the transitions smoother, as well as take away the parts that are not relevant. if we are able to finish cutting and cropping out film by tuesday we will be able to put in our titles and effects. By using the 'roller' tool we are able to over lap the two clips, making a smooth transition from where we cut the clip in half.

Timing...

Gemma and I have been trying very hard over the holidays to find days which we can film, but it is not going how we had expected, the filming that we have done, is going to work perfectly in our film but we are trying to find the time to film the last scene which is the most difficult part. 

Filming!

We had our first filming session, in our location which is at the back of Gemma's house where the forest is located, when looking at the map that i have posted you will see exactly where the location of it is. But we had a few difficulties with lighting. We wanted to film most of the scenes in the dark but we also needed the light to see the actor's faces, therefore making it very difficult for us to film in our location. We considered using torches to light up our surroundings more - including the light that we were receiving from the camera, but unfortunately it ruined the affect and lite the location up too much. We were able to film some of our opening sequence, which is based near the pub, but for this we decided to us light from cameras on phones, which were less bright than the torches; keeping the creapy atmosphere. As it was very foggy on the day/s that we decided to film, we used are ignishitive and thought we could use it to our advantage, but unfortunately it did not help when we were filming as it also made it darker and harder to use the lights on our camera that we did have as it did not give us the affect that we needed to develop the anxious atmosphere. We will be filming again, one day this week.