Media evaluation

‘STALKED’ EVALUATION

By Penny Nakan

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

Horror/Thriller movie

Set in the woodsISOLATION

2 SistersREALISTIC TO SOCIETY- connects to the viewer

Age rating of 15

Not too violent but enough to be unsuitable for a younger audience.

Tagline“He stopped following God and followed you instead.”

(Belief in God- strong, powerful and persistent)

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

A typical teaser trailer would be 1 minute 30 seconds. ‘Stalked’ is

1.19


TRAILER

LOCATIONC&C: An isolated

location. (Highgate woods)

-Also seen in Cabin in the woods, Blair

Witch Project.

High and low angles

C&C: Vulnerability of a character in a

low angle. High angles usually are

seen from the villains’

perspective.

SignifiersC&C: Movies often

have a specific object/weapon which is seen

frequently in the trailer/movie which is

repeatedly used. -Sense of foreboding

-Our trailer had a knife.

Also seen in ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ (Directed

by Samuel Bayer 2010)‘Freddy Krueger’s

blade hands

Directed by Daniel Myrick 1999


TRAILER

Character Stereotypes

2 teenage girls. Both the protagonists. Can be seen in movies such as ‘The

Uninvited’ (2 sisters) (Directed by Charles Guard 2009)

C&C: Typical teenager. Wears clothes such as jeans, t-shirts. No stereotype

intended. The more ‘everyday’ the character

seems the more related it is to audiences; as it highlights a possibility of

it happening in everyday life- emphasizing the scare factor.

C&C: The villain, faceless and unidentifiable. Identity kept hidden,

sometimes exposed in the end. Apparel is all black, making it easier to

camouflage with the surroundings and untraceable.

Like ‘Jason X’ (Directed by James Isaac 2001)


TRAILER

Music

Non diegetic sounds-

•Children’s rhyme sung in a spooky

voice. (0.40) • Also seen in ‘Woman

In Black’

•The first track in sync with the flashbacks-

( deep thuds in sound)

Diegetic sounds-

•The screaming of the girls (0.55)

•Breathing/Panting• No speech- builds up

suspense

C&C:•‘REC 2’ (Directed by

Jaume Balagueró 2010) Scream

appears at the end. The build up of silence throughout the trailer.

Fast CutsFade to black

C&C: Fast cuts to speed up the pace of scaring the audience. Fade to black-

emphasizes the suspense.

James Watkins (2012)

A typical teaser trailer would be 1

minute 30 seconds. ‘Stalked’

is 1.19

Victims unaware/oblivious of the villains’ presence.


TRAILER

Villain making a trademark out of his weapon. Signifier to the

audience.

Carvings or messages from the past now appearing in the present day to help emphasize

previous killings etc.

‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ (Directed by Samuel Bayer 2010)

‘The Strangers’ (Directed by Bryan Bertino 2008)

‘The Haunting in Connecticut’ (Directed by Peter Cornwell 2009)


Social media buttons such as Facebook,

Twitter and YouTube

Trailer on the homepage

Billing boxDateline

ButtonsC&C: Viewers can

navigate around and explore any bonus

features to do with the movie- such as actors or

character profiles.

WEBSITE


TaglineC&C: A tag line is used as signifier to help a viewer know

what the movie consists of. A tag line is usually short and straight to the point, (usually in a matter-

of-fact tone.)

Film titleC&C: Text in white-

bold, simple color. (The color white does not clash with any other

colors.) Making it easier to work on the colors of

the poster.

DatelineC&C: Releasing a movie on a

specific date, such as Halloween or Friday 13th to help

emphasize the scare factor. (Makes it exciting for audiences

to see it then too)

POSTER

Directed by Nick Murphy 2011


Actor creditsC&C: When on

billboards, viewers are interested in knowing what actor is in the

movie.

Billing boxC&C: To see who has directed it, and which company the movie is

associated with.

THE IMAGE•C&C: Only one person

visible in the shot. •Face is unseen or

attempted to kept hidden.•The image sets out to

make the environment of the picture seem larger than

the person in the picture- emphasizing isolation.

POSTER

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

• Website is a bit different as the website is designed to have animations, (fog) on therefore the font has

a scar effect. • Color schemes- Black and white, minimalistic.

White font, more visible and simple. No clash.• BRANDING- Image has been kept the same, to

maintain advertisement and branding. • Billing box

• Date line- Released on Halloween• Actors credits in capitals

BRANDING:Actor names- Bold capitals

Billing box- ‘Steel tongs’ fontColor white: No clash with the

image itself.Color scheme: Black & White

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Asked Year 12 Media students

-Media students have a more analysed insight on what the media and its codes and conventions

-Limitations: Sometimes the feedback was vague. ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answers were given.

-I asked strangers- 15-30 for a new perspective. Also seen in my voxpop. Would do that again, except let them see my trailer

-Changes: Given questionnaires to a wider range of people rather than media students. Re-film some scenes. Think/plan the story line in more depth

Good – People understood the plot

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Dateline‘Friday 13th’ (2009) also

released on the 13th

Branding: sense of foreboding. More

interesting to go see.

Change of font- More visible and bold

Subtle colour. More mysterious- soft

colours, not giving too much away.

How do you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

RESEARCH


PLANNING


CONSTRUCTION


CONSTRUCTION


CONSTRUCTION

Technology

Media evaluation