Media Evaluation Questions

1) In what ways does your media product use, develop, or challenge forms and conventions

of real media products?

In preparation of creating my short film introduction, I have studied the many ways of how horror

films are made. I presented a variety of footage from horror films, or scenes with a horrific element

to it, and described what I thought was microelements that contributed to the horror genre. For

example, in ‘Night of the Living Dead’ the phrase made by Johnny ‘They’re coming to get you

Barbara’ is said in a taunting way which obviously frightens Barbara, and actually comes true when

the man comes over to attack them. I also studied the costumes often found in horror films, and

found that unless the horror film was unrealistic (such as ‘IT’ and the clown costume) there wasn’t a

set outfit to use. I thought that having casual outfits to reflect the storyline of the film, for example,

the casual and classic outfit of the victim, may reflect that terror can effect anyone and everyone.

Most horror films deal with the idea of being hunted down by a unknown character or thing, which I

feel is stated in my project, emphasised especially by the first onscreen woman seen to be running

away from something. My film opening doesn’t follow the general conventions of a typical horror

film because instead of having a short story to introduce the drama included in the film, my film

opening blatantly foreshadows happenings of what occurs later on in the production. The format

and style of my project also defies the usual construction of a horror film. There are obviously some

examples of the horror genre so that I fulfil the brief I was given and also keeps the audience

engaged and interested in my project. I have changed some of the predictable factors of my film to

suit a more niche audience of the horror genre. For example, in my film you never see the

perpetrator, only sense that he/she is there. I had mostly non-diegetic sound in this project because

I wanted to plug the feeling of the abnormal setting. The sound also cuts through the silence in an

attempt to focus the audience’s attention on what’s about to happen. The sound compliments the

film’s intensity and certain shots that are cut abruptly with the use the chopping sound, and shots

like the repeated shots are complimented by the echo of the bell ringing. These element are all in

the style of a horror genre film. In my research I looked at the opening scene to ‘The Babadook’, in

which there is no speech to describe or give intel on what is happening in the scene, and I found that

it was quite a psychological twist which can unnerve audiences. The editing of the film also have

factors of horror echoed throughout the film. The few first shots of the my film are very short due to

the credits cutting in every few seconds. The audience gains interest and is eager for more

information as to what’s going on, which is normal for horror film. I have limited mise-en-scene in

my project because I have found that in most horror films there are not a lot of creative or dramatic

costumes or props to be used. Instead I have used mise-en-scene to generate intrigue by using a

make-up artist to create a bloody wound on my actor’s face. I have used this type of mise-en-scene

because it is something the audience is familiar with in a horror film and can pick up on the

atmosphere from it. The location of the film is also significant. I didn’t want a well-known place to be

featured in my project, instead I wanted an open space for the recurring shots, but a small alley so

that a sense of claustrophobia and panic could be sensed. I have used a mixture of shots for this

project, however the use of close ups are rather apparent, which can show the important features of

actor in question. This can be effective when showing a person’s facial expressions because it can

give the impression of the atmosphere of the scene. I feel like I have achieved in making a non-

typical horror opening scene. A large influence of my project was director Ben Wheatley’s ‘A Field in

England’. Not the opening scene, but an equally disturbing and interesting way of creating tension

and unnerving the audience was a scene where the main character eats mushrooms which leads him

into a drug sequence. I loved how this scene made me feel quite uncomfortable (not unusual in a

horror film) and on edge. I wished to in some way use this as a structure to create my project on.

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

In my project I have portrayed characteristics of young adults; such as naïve, scared, etc.. I did this

because in modern day societies it is usually young adults who cause concern over experimental and

recreational drug hypes, which is a suggested theme in my film opening (shown by how I have edited

the product and how there are unexplained and unusual actions made by the actors). If I chose a

gender biased view of my project, it would appear that I have disregarded society’s expectation of

man being the protector, since my only male character appears to have been the only one who was

injured whist his female co-stars are the ones who are surviving. I feel that this shows the realism of

how the world is and that women are not subservient to men. That being said all the characters are

represented in a way that can give cause for audiences to relate to them in some way or another. An

example of this is the film ‘The Conjuring’, where three scared young adults at the beginning of the

film are talking about the paranormal events that have been happening. Although films tend to

relate to an older generation for the protagonist like in ‘The Conjuring’, it is more often than not the

younger characters who play the victims. I feel that my target audience will also be more likely to

come see this film, so having relatable characters will build a tense experience for them, because

they can easily envision themselves being in the film. I feel this was an important feature in my film.

The mise-en-scene in this film helps portray young adults as average. Their clothing isn’t anything

out of the ordinary, which can help the audience relate to the characters more. I think this helped to

show the audience the confusion and naivety of young adults.

3) What kind of media institutions might distribute your media product and why?

I would describe my film opening to be an independent film production due to its less than

mainstream style, and so a smaller and less well known media institution would be likely to

distribute it. Independent films tend to have a lower budget than mainstream films, such as

Hollywood movies, and are aimed at a smaller audience. Indie films tend to be more about art and

cultural expression, whereas mainstream tend to focus on escapist entertainment. A questionnaire I

created for my audience and genre research, I included a question asking about which of five film-

related productions or events. The results can also be related to this question. Two of the option

were media institutions which can help distribute and produce film products; Lionsgate and British

Film Institution (BFI). I found that none of my participants had heard of the BFI, but 30 % had heard

of the more mainstream Lionsgate. The BFI is a British based film institution who award Lottery

funding to film production, distribution, education, audience development and market intelligence

and research. They also support DVD release and theatrical release of chosen films. Due to the

nature of my film, its off-stream quality and use of British locations etc., BFI could be a possible

institution that would be interested in producing and help to distribute a film such as mine. An

example of this would be some of director Ben Wheatley’s films, for example ‘A Field in England’ and

‘High Rise’. He is well known for his attachments with the BFI funding foundation who have helped

distribute and produce some of his projects. A possible way to generate a hype about my film would

be to possible hand out free merchandise supporting the project out at independent film showcases,

such as badges, posters etc. This will draw people’s attention towards this project. This will also

attract my target audience in a suitable way; people who attend independent film festivals would be

likely to be interested in my film. I experienced this example when I went to a showing of a horror

film and received a free badge with characters or vital images from the movie on them. Another way

would be two produce a short clip/trailer of the film and share it websites to produce the viral

distribution. For ‘A Field in England’, Wheatley did a blanket release for his film; the production

came out in cinemas at the same time as on TV channels at home. To get his audience interested

and aware, he took clips from his film and produced a two minute trailer. He also took to Twitter

where promotional posters and information about his films were posted. All of this contributed to

the promotion of and marketing of his film, and which I could also use to help promote my film and

to target my audience.

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

Niche groups of independent cinema lovers were my idea of target audiences for this project

because they would be more appreciative in the controversy of the film rather than its storyline. Just

how the project is I would give it a 15 certificate due to the suggestion of drug-related behaviour.

However if the project would have turned into a feature length film I would have given it an 18

certificate, and would have involved even more sensitive issues. 18+ tend to be people who would

have been more mature about abstract projects. This would have given me the possibility to allow

very strong violence, frequent strong language, strong portrayals of sexual activity, scenes of a

sexual violence, strong horror, strong blood and gore, discriminatory language and behaviour. I feel

that an 18 certificate would be appropriate for an independent film which have a stereotype of

being lazy, unimaginative creations from pretentious directors. Having the freedom of an 18

certificate allows directors and independent films the ability to shock and impress they’re audiences.

Most horror films I have studied for this project have generally been in the 15-18 certificate

boundary, 15 age range more than 18.

My brother attended a Q+A session with me to see Ben Wheatley and his new film ‘High Rise’. Since

Wheatley’s influence is shown in my film, my brother would be an ideal candidate to see my film

since he is interested in a similar projects. For example, my film echoes editing skill similar to

Wheatley’s ‘A Field in England’, and also lack of description to what is directly happening on the

screen. My project is also filmed in a local area so my local community may also be interested in this

project.

I created a questionnaire to help me gain a general target audience. My participants were between

17 – 22 years old, which all are above the age restriction that I would rate my project. The majority

of this sample was female. Over 40% of this sample chose horror to be one of their favourite choice

of film to watch. The most common was a comedy, the least favourites were romantic films,

westerns, children’s entertainment and musicals. I included a question about the different of types

of horror films they would enjoy the most, with the results coming back at a tie between

psychological horror and paranormal horror. I decided to choose the psychological horror or the

paranormal because I found it to be a more interesting topic to play with. When asked about the

aspects of horror films that they preferred, the participants answered that the way the film involved

special effects and sounds helped the atmosphere of the entire film. These are two key factors of my

film which I have heavily focused on and which I feel give the greatest effect.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/NSZ9BLK

5) How did you attract/address your audience?

To fully understand what my audience found interesting in my film, I created a questionnaire for my

participants to fill in. One of the questions asked them to give specific details to the microelements

of the film which they found that complimented the horror genre and atmosphere of the film. Some

of their statements complied with what I created; i.e., they commented on the way the sound

contributed to helping with the feel of the film, and how the editing process made them feel

uncomfortable and left an impression on them. Other comments included how the camera angles

and movement were ‘odd and disorientating’, which could reference to how I reversed some shots,

or how I placed the camera at canted angle. The colour, or lack of, was also commented on, claiming

that the film looked like a flashback of someone’s life, like in other films. Limitations of this project

that were mentioned in their statements were mostly comments of the how intense the film could

have been. Some thought that the sound could have been more dramatic, and build up to a

moment, or that the sound could make the audience jump like in other horror films, and others

thought that the film showed juvenile mistakes like the camera sometimes going out of focus. If I

were to re-do this project, I would take account of these comments and work to make the film give

more of an impact to its audience. It is important to ‘hook’ your audience in the first few minutes of

the film because they could get bored during the majority of the film and not enjoy it as much as

they could have if they were engaged straight from the beginning.

As I have said before, Ben Wheatley has had a large influence over this project, and so I feel like

some characteristics of his work has made its way into mine. For example, in his ‘A Field in England’

film, there is an editing process which ‘flickers’ through scenes which have already passed in an

unnatural way, leaving the audience tense and immersed in the film. The sound in this sequence was

minimum, the sound of a drum and bells can be heard but mostly their echoes. In Wheatley’s ‘High

Rise’ film, there’s a scene from a child’s perspective who is looking through a kaleidoscope at a man

who I being killed by a group of women. The shot shows the patterns and the constant turning of a

kaleidoscope at the being murdered. I found these elements of the films compelling and they lull the

audience into a sort of serenity, only being interrupted with sound or a horrific sight. I feel that

those who are interested in Wheatley’s work would be interested in watching my film due to the

similar elements and effects.

A major element of my film which can be discussed could be drug trafficking and crime, youths,

power over naïve people. I think this would attract a more political audience who are interested in

the moral justice of young adults. As I have stated before, I included actors of a certain age so that

they could be more relatable to my target audience. The project was filmed in my local area, so

people in my town may also be interested in watching this film.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ZT9SKMG

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

Before taking this project on, I have not had a lot of experience using different type of technologies

to create a media product. Throughout this development I have used a variety of different processes

to construct my project.

I began with my research about the genre of my project, and I posted my different ideas onto my

blog. I used website called blogger to create this website, which allowed me to share my work for

others to see, for example story boards, photo stills, presentations etc. My teacher could give me

instant feedback on my work and on how to improve it. Having all of my work on one page reduces

the possibility of loss of work and paper folders. I could also link others work on my blog which

related to the same work I was doing, for example my classmates. If I were to create a PowerPoint to

present my ideas, I would need to upload this to SlideShare. This allows me to embed my

PowerPoint into a HTML, which I can upload to the blog.

I used YouTube when I was researching about the different types of horror films and what

microelements they used to give the full effect. YouTube was very handy in these cases because it is

a recognisable platform to work with and I could embed videos into some of my work as evidence of

my theories. I also gave my own examples of location photos and videos, which I was able to upload

to YouTube as a video format. This is shown in my Location Videos presentation on my blog.

When the hands-on work came into practise, I used a DSLR Fujifilm camera. Not only did this help

me with providing sources of data for my research but allowed me to film my project with a depth of

field. Using a DSLR instead of a point and shoot for example is beneficial because the quality of the

footage us generally better due to a larger ISO, resulting in fast shutter speeds and a less grainy shot,

whereas a point and shoot camera has limited ISO which reduces the possibility of different shooting

conditions. However, something the camera lacked was the ability to film in black and white, which

was my intention.

I edited my film on a Mac at my sixth form which had iMovie 11’ on it. I found iMovie to be simple

but sufficient software to edit my film on. It allowed me to remove parts of clips that I didn’t want,

to split clips for the desired effect I wanted, to alter the colour saturation to the monochromatic

filter I wanted.

For the sound effects I was given an iPad with Garage Band App. I decided that I didn’t want

traditional music in my film and so wanted to create my own sound effects. This allowed me to

record separate sounds to input into my project. In the film ‘Berberian Sound Studio’, actor Toby

Jones uses vegetables and other equipment to make the lifelike sound of flesh being stabbed. I

wanted to use this in my film because I feel like it would be as close to the sound a cutting flesh and

bones breaking as possible. I also feel that independent films have more rustic atmosphere to them

and so I wanted to create the sounds, home-made, to go with the film. I used a kitchen knife on a

chopping board, a hand bell in a large room, and a watermelon slice being crushed in my hand. This

is a clip from Berberian Sound Studio, where the studio in questions make sounds for Italian film.

Garage Band also gave me options to directly edit the sounds on the app, instead of having to

upload the sounds onto editing software.

7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression

from it to the main task?

This was the first time I was using a camera to film a short scene. The first task was basic and my

version wasn’t smooth and had problems like breaking the 180 degree rule. We worked in groups for

the preliminary task, which was interesting as we all shared ideas together to create the task.

This is my preliminary task. The basis of this task was to produce a short clip of someone walking

into a room, having a conversation with someone, and then leaving the room. Within in this scene,

our group had to show that we understood the 180 degree rule and match on match action, and

apply it to our preliminary task. We place the camera on a tripod and tracked the man’s movement

to show how he enters the room. Once inside, we place the camera facing him so that we saw him

enter and walk into the room. We thought that this would help when it came to editing the scene so

that the clip ran smoothly and that there were no jumps into how he walked into the room. We

placed the camera outside to film the next character, also on a tripod. However, when we came to

filming the next part, the person looking away in a different direction, the camera wasn’t on a tripod

and instead was handheld. This made editing the clip a struggle because it was obvious that there

were two types of camera work and it didn’t run smoothly. When the person goes up to the glass

window, we placed the camera on the inside of the room facing the outside, so that it had a more

effective perspective, rather than if we filmed the back of the person looking into the room. When

the two people begin conversing, we began the over-the-shoulder shots, which showed the 180

degree rule in practise. For the establishing shot, we placed the camera facing both the people at

head height so that it felt as if there was the audience watching them from within the room.

However, when it came to editing this sequence we realised that we had broken the 180 degree

rule. I have since learned from this and have made improvements on my final project to assure that

this would not happen again. We edited the preliminary task on iMovie 11’. In my preliminary task I

found that it was difficult to edit due to shoddy film work; I struggled with match-on-match action

due to there being limited shots which could follow from another. I learnt from this when I was

filming my film, making certain that if I had any scenes with multiple shots I would make sure that

my actors would repeat the actions with precision and in the exact same way every take.

However, in my final project I worked on my own due to the lack numbers in our media class. The

preliminary task was very basic with no real meaning or storyline. This shows the development of my

work in my final project which has more of a plot and solid framework to graft with. I was able to

develop characters, mis-en-scene, lighting, camera shots etc in my final project. For example, the

colour of the costume of my characters was deliberate so that when I came to edit the scene, the

monochromatic filter would bring out the deeper colours of their clothing, and brighten the areas of

their costume which were lighter. For my film I created a storyboard and planned the dates and

times to work with. If I felt that the film would work better without some features I disregarded

them, either in place for something else or scrapped it totally. For example, in my original script I

had another actor involved who would play ‘the axe man’ and is the one who would swing the

sword. When it came to shooting the film, I decided that it wouldn’t be needed and decided to leave

the character out. This creative decision making was essential for the success of my film. I have also

learnt more about different camera angles and shots which could work to my advantage.

Throughout my research I have learnt to film shots of movements more than I thought to at the

beginning of this project. For example, in my film there are close-ups of my actor’s face which sows

their emotions and the details of their face. For my final project I was able to personally pick the

actors for the part, whereas when my preliminary task was a case of availability within the time limit

I was given. A skill I have learnt from both of these challenges is that with time limits I was given, I

cannot create an over stimulating plot. However, another area I have improved on is to insert titles

and credits, in the preliminary task it seemed unnecessary to include it. My skills as a director and

film-maker has developed in how I approach the tasks. Storyboards and research was made in the

progression of my final project, I scouted the local area in search of an appropriate location to shoot

my film, and took pictures and videos. I created several possible storyboards of which I could make a

film. I found that this helped me make my film because I had several varieties of stories to fall back

on if the featured storyboard wouldn’t work. I took my storyboard with me to my shoots. I found

that it was easier to keep referring back to the storyboard when I was stuck so I knew which path to

take. The quality of my filming has also developed.