Evaluation Q3

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

My film is an independent so will have a small budget and so therefore will not be a mainstream film or 'Blockbuster' therefore it can’t target a mass audience as effectively as a major film due to its limited resources. When my film was in development I considered about how it would be funded. For a small amount of money I would consider creating a funding page like 'KickStarter' where members of the public could provide donations to get the film budget. I would also consider approaching businessmen and entrepreneurs for funding in exchange for producer credits. I would then take my film once completed to independent film festivals such as 'Raindance' and 'Sundance' to gain interest and also a distributor. However it might be easier if I approached a film and production company like Lionsgate or Blumhouse, who are well known for producing and distributing Horror Films.

I will want to use the resources and experience of a well established film distribution company such as Hammer Film Productions. Hammer is a British film production company established in 1934 and has its head office in London. This production company is a well renowned for its Gothic films that it made between 1950s and 1970s. They are so well known that they have their own subgenre in horror named after them known as 'Hammer' films . Recently Its most successful and well known film is ‘The Women in Black’ starring Daniel Radcliffe and based on the longest running theatre production of the same name.  Hammer can credit its success due its distribution partnerships with Warner Bros. With Hammer being a very British horror film company they will have good knowledge of the British Horror film market but if my film proves successful in Britain they have the business links with Warner Brothers who are owned by the conglomerate Time Warner. RUN requires very few inexpensive special effects therefore it will be a low budget production. This would suit Hammer. Traditionally horror are technically the most successful types of films in regards to production budget and gross profit. One of the most successful films of all time in this respect is the Blair witch project that had a production budget of just $60,000 and has made $240,500,000. Although my production budget wont be this small and my profit probably wont be this high I am hoping for a similar outcome. Hammer, with their experience will be a valuable provider and distributor 

However, Time Warner aren't particularly a Studio that specialises in Horror Films. Their Stereotypical genre is Action and Adventure. Therefore when trying to break the American Market I would consider approaching Blumhouse Productions. This American film and television production company was founded by Jason Blum and is world famous producing and distributing some of the most successful modern low-budget horror films. Their filmography includes such titles as  'Paranormal Activity', 'Insidious', 'The Purge', and most recently 'Get Out'. The company currently has a 10-year first-look deal with the studio Universal pictures. Universal pictures are traditionally a studio that also markets and distributes Horror films. Having this level of Expertise attached to my film would be invaluable. RUN is a low budget production like the rest of the films Blumhouse has produced. Blumhouse also produced the film Hush which was the film that I got most of my inspiration from; the opening to RUN has many similar aspects to the film Hush. Hush was a very successful film for Blumhouse therefore I think RUN would be successful as well if it was to be distributed by this company. There is also a gap in the market for RUN as it is a British produced film; Blumhouse has not distributed any British films so far. As my film is similar to an already proven film like HUSH they know the structure of my story already works. also the British film industry is currently enjoying a golden era of film making so most products that have a British edge are seen as good quality. Blumhouse would also have a very similar audience to my target audience and already know how to attract them for example those who enjoyed split and paranormal activity would hopefully be interested in RUN.

Evaluation Q2

How does you media product represent particular social groups?

My media product has one obvious representation of a social group, white British teenage girls. I constructed the protagonist, Amy to follow the conventions of the stereotypical First Girl that often appears in Horror Slashers. She is Blonde, White and Middle class. Throughout the sequence she is portrayed as frighten, isolated and in need of help. This is a negative stereotype of females as often women in the media are shown to be vulnerable and in need of rescuing. This is underlined during the sequence when she texts a male character either a brother or boyfriend asking for help. She clearly is a 'Damsel in distress' needing a male prince charming to come and save her.  It represents gender in a stereotypical way as females are stereotyped as soft and dominated by males. This clearly reinforces stereotypes. 


 Throughout the sequence she continues to make poor decisions that puts her in further jeopardy some might consider her to lack intelligence on this front. Again this can be conveyed through her blonde hair as the typical negative stereotype of females with blonde hair is that they lack intelligence on top of this she is young and there for naive which is another common stereotype. 

As stated earlier Amy does not represent the female gender in a very positive way because she relys on the help of males. this is shown where she texsts her brother or male freind to 'come home'. this is to imply that she is frightened and feels unsafe and needs him to be the hero and come and save her. When Amy gets home she goes straight to the window to get her mothers attention as she pulls out the drive. this also backs up the fact she is weak and needs her mother help. Both of these aspects of the opening are there to emphisise the fact she is weak and cant really help herself. She also gets herself killed and she is killed by a male, many will perceive this as  very negative representation for young females.

 Teenagers are often represented as a social group that are concerned about their image. The narrative starts with her running through the forest to keep fit which conveys this stereotype. She is also a stereotypical teenager and is actually very ordinary as she undertakes common activivities and pass times associated with them. She is seen texting on her iphone and listening to music throughout most of the opening. This adds to the fact that she is oblivious to her surroundings and strenghens the first girl convention wich are commonly represented as a ditsy blonde girl. Her middle class, British status is represented through her ordinary lifestyle and through her props, costume and her house. she wears  fairly nice sports clothing, she has an iPhone and a pair of beats headphones. This is typical of a British teen who is middle class and lives in the suburbs especially the iPhone which is very common for a teenaged girl to have.The screenshot below shows Amy sitting in her nice modern living room,listning to music and texting on her iphone clearly showing her middle class and also privelidged lifestyle. These typical conventions of her social group will be familiarised with the target audiance because most of the audiance will most likely be her age and most likely to be white, British, middle class teenagers. Establishing shots of the house show that its a fairly large suburban home surrounded by forest, the house has a very old British design to it but has modern aspects to it especially in the inside of the house, this conveys the house as a nice middle class house which makes everything appear ordinary and relatable. (establishing shot of the house below)

Evaluation Q1

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

Conventions of real media products:

In order to create my Opening Sequence I carried out a lot of research into other existing Media texts. therefore I was able to form a better understanding of the codes and conventions of Horror Films; particularly that in the sub-genre of Slasher. My media product has a lot of forms and conventions of real media products in its genre. My product is a horror film but belongs in the sub genre of American, Slasher and Psychological horror. 

Props Narrative Theory suggests that a common set of reoccurring characters flows throughout a story. Often a narrative will have a Protagonist and Antagonist. This is no different in Horror films. However, Slashers also have a common set of reoccurring characters that is unique to the Sub-Genre. One of these characters i have used in my opening sequence. She is know as the First Girl. As a Slasher horror it typically includes ‘the first girl’ stereotype. This is the convention where the first character killed is typically a blond teen aged girl. This is common in most American horror films such as Scream where the first girl, who is blonde, stereo typically vulnerable, often sexually active and is often a bit clueless (ditsy). 

Other classic conventions of slasher horrors are a masked, male killer, a knife, and a suburban house. These type of films are usually shot in a suburban area in a normal lifestyle because this gives of the impression of "it could happen to you!" and makes the setting more relatable to the audience.

How I have USED conventions:
My main character (Amy, above) is a teenage girl who is represented as vulnerable. I achieved this through making her isolated and frightened. This is shown by her actions and facial expressions. The soundtrack and sound effects emphasises the panic and tension that she feels throughout the opening. She makes poor decisions during the opening; this will make the audience see her as immature and possibly ditsy. She is shown going downstairs alone into a dark basement when there is nobody else in the house. The way in which she dresses, acts, texts on her iPhone are all typical of a teenage character. I therefore created a character who reinforces the 'first girl' classic victim stereotype.

I have also set my film in a suburban area, representing a normal lifestyle. This makes the settings and characters more realistic, and therefore more frightening. The film being set in a forest also gives the impression of isolation and danger. I have done this through repeated establishing shots that show the vast forest and how it is empty besides the main character. From looking at industry standard films such as Hush I noticed the use of a lot of extreme close ups which appeared to create a lot of mystery and build up a lot of suspense, so I used this idea in my film opening (see below).

The setting that I chose for Amy's house was very modern. The camerawork emphasises how it is large but that Amy is the only one home. This creates a sense that something is going to go wrong. This often occurs in Slasher films such as Hush. The film is set in a large Modern home in America thats located in the middle of the forest. Throughout the film you are given a sense of venerability due to its large and isolated setting.

The basement/boiler room contrasts with the rest of the house; it is old, messy and industrial. This signals danger to the audience because it is dark. There are lots of dark spaces which makes it hard to see and suggests that someone is watching and hiding.As well as Hush having similar settings There is a  scene similar to this in Scream where a young blonde girl is murdered in the garage or basement when she goes to retrieve something.

The screen shot below shows the modern and well-lit room. The character is therefore likely to feel relaxed and safe on the sofa. However she doesn't realise the danger that she is in as the killer enters the house with a large knife. The audience are therefore scared for the character as they are aware of the danger she is in.

I also noticed the sound used in horror films and how this played a huge role in making the audience feel uneasy. The diegetetic and ambient sounds were also very intense which was very effective. This was also used in my film opening to create the atmosphere in the forest and in the house scene; the music I used was similar to other horror films I’ve studied such as 'Let Me In' which was used to build up tension.

How I have DEVELOPED conventions:
A significant part of my film was the part where the dart is thrown at the wall next to the teenage protagonist because I feel this was most effective, the mix of extreme close ups and non-diegetic sounds made this look great. This idea was stemmed from hush were the killer shoots an arrow at the victim and it hits the wall next to her. This along with the SFX provided a decent jump scare. As well as it being an aggressive act. Below is a screen shot of the shot in Hush where the arrow hits the door compared with the shot in RUN where the dart hits the wall. This shows how I have used conventions from existing media texts. Additionally i was influenced by German Lightening blah expressionism blah and gave the dart a long stretched shadow. I found this added more effect to the scene.  I actually came up with this idea on set, I remembered how this made me feel when I watched the arrow shot in Hush so I came up with this idea from materials I have in my house, considering this was not planned I think it was very successful.

How I have CHALLENGED conventions:
My media product challenges the genre in the way that there is no talking at all in the opening, this is because the character is completely on her own, no dialogue adds to the realism and creates a feeling of isolation. Having no dialogue also allowed me to focus on the build-up of suspense which was my key objective for making the film.

Using and expanding from these conventions have allowed me to create a successful product because it allows the audience to be familiar with the product and attracts an audience.

target audiance profile

  Target Audience Profile by Anonymous K6dNTRvxe1 on Scribd

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The target audience for the film RUN is based 15 year old boys. Although it will be aimed at this group it doesn't exclude older ages from watching it and also females from watching the film. i beleive that the film will attract both genders through the conventions ive used and the plot. RUN is also not too violent and is more about the suspense and the story line rather then the disturbing gory mess associated with alot of todays horror films. Although the film is rated 15 I still expect people as young as 13 to be watching this as well because realistically 13 and 15 year olds have similar interests and 13 and 14 year olds will also find the film more appealing and more exiting because of the age rating This group will be best suited for the film because its what they like to see, they like horror films with suspense. This age is also the age where social media becomes a huge part of there lives, this means that they could promote the film with social media platforms such as twitter and snap chat. Above is a mood bored of  typical things I would associate with the target audience.

target audiance survey results

The purpose of this survey was to help identify my target audiance and to find out what everyone else likes.I now know that i need to make the film as thrilling and as full as suspense as possible. I can achive this by adjusting the plot slightly, changing some shots and using good sound tracks and effects.From this survey i now know that my target audiance are 15 year olds and above, however this does not mean that the target audiance cant also be 14 year olds or 20 year olds. from the results i have also found out that the target audiance will be mainly male.



 Power Point Analysis by Anonymous GpR08j1cN on Scribd

Audience research

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props,Equipment and softwares

In creating my media product i have had to use a range of equipment, props and software's.This blog created using blogger, i used survey monkey for making surveys and Scribd for uploading presentations. i shot my film with a Cannon video camera i also needed to use a tripod and background lights. I used range of props to create the scene and to build up the representations of characters. when filmed i uploaded all the shots onto the computer and constructed it using an eddittitng software called Adobe premiere pro.

Equipment

Props

software