· In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The genre our media product was made in was horror; the product uses similar aspects that are common in horror films such as death, a killer, tense build ups and scary music. The product is based on a film called ‘When a stranger calls’ but is developed in a way where it appeals to a different audience. Instead of the use of a single girl character we have used two teenage males that live in a house together, one receives a phone call but thinks nothing of it so it comes as a shock when the death happens. In ‘When a Stranger Calls’ the audience is expecting a death so we have developed the idea of surprise in our media product.
· How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The media product focuses its attention on two students who both have jobs and are from a middle class background, this is represented by the house they live in and the way they are in the film. The house is located on an estate where it is common for people of middle class to live; they are neither wealthy nor poor and talk like the majority of people do with a common accent.
·Who would be the audience for your media product?
The target audience is males aged 15-25 as it contains two young students who they can relate to.
·How did you attract/address your audience?
The audience is attracted because they relate to these two students and will see some of themselves in the two characters. The audience is addressed mainly in the way the two characters behave and how they live, they are typical common students that the audience can relate to.
·What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
As a group we have learnt all of the different uses of the recording equipment and how different shots can give of different meaning and also how effective some are compared with others. We have learnt how to edit our footage, cut the things we don’t want and add things in for better effect.
·Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
As a group we defiantly developed our camera use skills, in the preliminary task our mistakes such as positioning of the characters in the shot and also the type of shot we used taught us a great deal and help our media product to become very satisfactory.
Sunday 28 February 2010
A deep dark forrest is a good location for a horror film, but relies on lots of different aspects to make it work. The ground is uneven in forrests, so, like in ‘The Blair Witch Project’ the camera is better to be handheld. The lighting can also be an issue, it is obviously dark in a forrest and not just at night, lighting is an issue in the day time as well as all the trees block out the light, the film makers will have to use special lighting in the forrest to make the film viewable. Of course because it is outside filmakers will have to rely on the weather as well. We tend not to see that many films set in this location, not because it isn’t scary but because sometimes these issues make it unideal to film. The setting is scary because if you have ever been through a forrest it makes you think back to that, and also it makes you not want to go into one again.
Again like a deep dark forrest a dark cave can be a scary but also hard place to film. We generally think of monsters and other scary creatures coming out from caves so this makes it ideal for a horror film. The lighting is a big issue when filming in a cave but what most films include is a flame to help the lighting. The deep dark cave setting is not only used in horrors but in adventure films as well so as it is not specifically for horror it can be seen as less scary because it is common to the audience.
Haunted Houses are by far the most common setting used in horror films but that doesn’t mean they are less scary. We usually see characters home alone or divided so they are on their own in this setting. This is a good technique to use because next time you are home alone you think back to this setting and it scares you even after watching the film. Haunted houses are a lot more scary and petrifying at night rather than in the day but when used in the day it sometimes gives an extra sense of eeriness. We find in this setting lots of creaking doors, creaking floorboards and floors falling through.
This isn’t so much a setting but more an idea of what kind of weather is used in horrors. Pathetic fallacy is used to determine the mood of the film, when it is stormy with rain and thunder and lightning also with darkness it makes whatever is going on seem a lot more edgy.
Thursday 25 February 2010
Psychosis
Our group did some research into what Psychosis is and how it affects people, psychosis can be used in horror films as it is a horrifying symptom that some people may experience.
Psychosis is a medical term used to describe someone that can’t tell the difference between their reality and their imagination. Psychosis is not actually a condition itself but a symptom of other conditions. The most common cause of psychosis is a mental health condition such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Psychosis can also be triggered by excessive alcohol and drug use and medical conditions such as Parkinson’s disease.
People with Psychosis often experience:
Hallucinations- When you hear and see things that are not there
Delusions- Where you believe things that are untrue
The length of time you can experience psychosis for varies, if it is related to drug and alcohol abuse the symptoms may only last a few days but if it is a result of a medical condition it may last for a lifetime if not treated. This is why prompt treatment is recommended as it is thought the earlier you treat it the better the long term effects will be, short-term treatments are just normal antibiotics and medicine whereas the long-term treatment depends on the extent of the condition and may involve strong procedures.
Psychosis is fairly common in the UK with 1 in 200 people affected, some may only experience a psychotic episode on a one off time but for some it will last a lot longer.
Psychosis is a medical term used to describe someone that can’t tell the difference between their reality and their imagination. Psychosis is not actually a condition itself but a symptom of other conditions. The most common cause of psychosis is a mental health condition such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Psychosis can also be triggered by excessive alcohol and drug use and medical conditions such as Parkinson’s disease.
People with Psychosis often experience:
Hallucinations- When you hear and see things that are not there
Delusions- Where you believe things that are untrue
The length of time you can experience psychosis for varies, if it is related to drug and alcohol abuse the symptoms may only last a few days but if it is a result of a medical condition it may last for a lifetime if not treated. This is why prompt treatment is recommended as it is thought the earlier you treat it the better the long term effects will be, short-term treatments are just normal antibiotics and medicine whereas the long-term treatment depends on the extent of the condition and may involve strong procedures.
Psychosis is fairly common in the UK with 1 in 200 people affected, some may only experience a psychotic episode on a one off time but for some it will last a lot longer.
Sunday 21 February 2010
Representation of Gender in horror films
Gender is the most common category we separate human beings into, male or female. Elements of our own identity and the identities we assume others to have, come from concepts of gender. Many things in the media, not just humans but objects as well are represented by the media to be, both masculine or feminine, this happens a lot in advertising and as we grow older we develop an awareness of what is seen as acceptable in terms of representation.
A typical masculine is represented in the media as tough, hard and sweaty whereas females are represented as being fragile, soft and fragrant.
Representation of females in the media has become very constant nowadays and the majority of female representations are the same. Although the changes in women’s roles have changed dramatically, their representation it is still seen as worrying now that how they are portrayed has become very common.
Representations of women across all media:
beauty (lots of make-up)
size/physique (slim)
sexuality (mainly straight)
emotional dealings
relationships (independence/freedom)
Women are usually part of a team or group that work together when represented in the media. They are usually passive rather than active in films and usually take up the role of the helper (Propp). The women that do make it onto the screen are very stereotypical. The way woman are represented in America compared to Europe is very different, the Americans portray their woman as well behaved. When an American remake of the British film ‘Pasty and Edina’ had to be severely toned down because of the way they represent their woman but it proved to be a flop compared to the UK version.
In horror films women are the victims the majority of the time, they are portrayed as vulnerable and as an easy target for the evil guy in the film. The killer and bad guy in horrors usually tends to be a man as of course in the general media they are portrayed as tough, hard and sweaty.
A typical masculine is represented in the media as tough, hard and sweaty whereas females are represented as being fragile, soft and fragrant.
Representation of females in the media has become very constant nowadays and the majority of female representations are the same. Although the changes in women’s roles have changed dramatically, their representation it is still seen as worrying now that how they are portrayed has become very common.
Representations of women across all media:
beauty (lots of make-up)
size/physique (slim)
sexuality (mainly straight)
emotional dealings
relationships (independence/freedom)
Women are usually part of a team or group that work together when represented in the media. They are usually passive rather than active in films and usually take up the role of the helper (Propp). The women that do make it onto the screen are very stereotypical. The way woman are represented in America compared to Europe is very different, the Americans portray their woman as well behaved. When an American remake of the British film ‘Pasty and Edina’ had to be severely toned down because of the way they represent their woman but it proved to be a flop compared to the UK version.
In horror films women are the victims the majority of the time, they are portrayed as vulnerable and as an easy target for the evil guy in the film. The killer and bad guy in horrors usually tends to be a man as of course in the general media they are portrayed as tough, hard and sweaty.
Tuesday 2 February 2010
Target Audience
Target Audience - Horror films
The target audience of the film we are making is teenagers and mainly males. Because horror films show death, blood and gore they are not suitable for young audiences. Although a large percentage of females are shown to watch horror films, studies suggest that the majority of viewers are males. The film being made also involves two teenage boys which means it will appeal to teenagers because they can relate to it.
http://www.valmorgan.com.au/au/audiences/profiles/horror-movies/
The film will appeal to this audience because it is a typical teenage horror.
The horror film involves two males and therefore is targeted at males. It is also a known fact that teenage boys and men in their early twenties enjoy the blood and gore in horror films. The majority of girls tend to find this very scary and do not watch the film if they know there will be blood, death and gore in it.
People in higher classes of society are more likely to go to the cinema because it is a luxury they can afford; the film is also aimed at people with a high class of education as these people tend to have more money than those with a limited education.
The target audience of the film we are making is teenagers and mainly males. Because horror films show death, blood and gore they are not suitable for young audiences. Although a large percentage of females are shown to watch horror films, studies suggest that the majority of viewers are males. The film being made also involves two teenage boys which means it will appeal to teenagers because they can relate to it.
http://www.valmorgan.com.au/au/audiences/profiles/horror-movies/
The film will appeal to this audience because it is a typical teenage horror.
The horror film involves two males and therefore is targeted at males. It is also a known fact that teenage boys and men in their early twenties enjoy the blood and gore in horror films. The majority of girls tend to find this very scary and do not watch the film if they know there will be blood, death and gore in it.
People in higher classes of society are more likely to go to the cinema because it is a luxury they can afford; the film is also aimed at people with a high class of education as these people tend to have more money than those with a limited education.
Time Plan
Repertoire of elements- Friday 8th January 2010
Similar films watched- Friday 15th January 2010
Location Photos- Tuesday 2nd February 2010
Filming- Friday 29th January 2010
Editing- Friday 12th February 2010
Storyboard- Tuesday 12th February 2010
Details of why we filmed and how- Friday 5th February 2010
Evaluation- Tuesday 18th February 2010
Representation of Gender in Horror films- Tuesday 2nd February 2010
These elements of the blog are being completed over a period of time. The deadline for this to be completed is the 29th February 2010 so we are working on it over the weeks in December, January and February. The filming and editing has to be completed by February 12th 2010, the filming will be completed by the end of January which allows the time between then and the deadline to edit the film.
Similar films watched- Friday 15th January 2010
Location Photos- Tuesday 2nd February 2010
Filming- Friday 29th January 2010
Editing- Friday 12th February 2010
Storyboard- Tuesday 12th February 2010
Details of why we filmed and how- Friday 5th February 2010
Evaluation- Tuesday 18th February 2010
Representation of Gender in Horror films- Tuesday 2nd February 2010
These elements of the blog are being completed over a period of time. The deadline for this to be completed is the 29th February 2010 so we are working on it over the weeks in December, January and February. The filming and editing has to be completed by February 12th 2010, the filming will be completed by the end of January which allows the time between then and the deadline to edit the film.
Tuesday 5 January 2010
Horror Films
Friday 13th
Some believe that Friday the 13th is a remake of the film released in 1980 but it’s not. It is an origin story written by Damien Shannon and Mark Swift. The film is constructed in an odd way with an opening 25 minute prologue, the opening credits come up and the story begins. A group of teens are hiking through a woods looking to set up camp for the night. You become aware that they are looking for a large-growth or more obviously a marijuana plant, which they plan on selling. As they set up camp two of the group go into the tent while the others go off to do some extra searching. One of them inevitably dies and the chase is on to capture the other teens. Jason (the killer) ends up killing them all and the title Friday the 13th appears. The story then follows another group of teens in search of what happened to a member from the other group. As the group get into varies troubles from leaving the house they are staying in or ignoring the others instructions and die gory deaths it comes to a final showdown between a character looking for one of the original group and the killer Jason. The film leaves the viewer on the edge and at numerous times we think both are going to die, eventually ‘Ginny’ outwits Jason and kills him. The story then takes an unexpected twist and shows us a flashback and shows why Jason is killing people. The film is part of a series and reminds us what happens if we hadn’t seen it before. This is another unusual bit of structuring as it shows us at the end and not the beginning of the film.
The Final Destination
Alex and his classmates are about to set off on a school trip to Paris when he sees in his mind that it will crash. He causes a panic on the plane and is taken off it with his five friends and a teacher, he tells them what he saw and as the plane takes of it blows up in mid air. Alex believes they have cheated death and comes to the conclusion that they will all die. Firstly a friend slips and accidently hangs himself in the shower, next Alex has this vision of a bus coming down the street when infact there is nothing there, she turns to walk away and is killed by an oncoming bus. The school teacher who was taken of the plane to calm the students down is next to die, she has a serious of accidents in her house which ultimately lead to a computer blowing up in her face.
The remaining characters set off in a car only for it to stall on the railroad tracks, they all get out exept the driver, at the last minute Alex swoops in and saves them, but the train hits a bit of metal and flies through the air to kill his other friend. Alex works out that if the person supposed to die avoids the death it will skip to the next person. His girlfriend is the next in line, lightning strikes a tree at her house and events lead her to be stuck in her car with a powerline on it, Alex swoops in and helps cheat death once again.
Six months later thinking they have finally cheated death for good, they are on a flight to Paris and Alex realises they have not cheated death and he is next in line to die. Another set of wierd events happen and as Alex is about to be hit by an oncoming bus his friend dives in and saves him. They finally feel they have cheated death for good as they have all intervened it but as his friend is thinking about what happened a sign comes crashing down and kills him.
The death is still following them.
When A Stranger Calls
Jill Johnson is forced to babysit at a rich couples mansion all by herslef because she has gone over her phone contract by 800 minutes and she has to pay it back. She settles down and the kids are in bed, she goes to check on them and when she comes to sit back down the phone rings and a stranger on the end asks if the kids are asleep yet. She hangs up and tries to think nothing of it but he rings again and the person on the end makes some more remarks, this freaks her out and she decides to call the police to try and track the call. They tell her that the call is being made from within the house, at this point she is really scared, she runs to get the kids and tries to flee the house.
Friday 13th
Some believe that Friday the 13th is a remake of the film released in 1980 but it’s not. It is an origin story written by Damien Shannon and Mark Swift. The film is constructed in an odd way with an opening 25 minute prologue, the opening credits come up and the story begins. A group of teens are hiking through a woods looking to set up camp for the night. You become aware that they are looking for a large-growth or more obviously a marijuana plant, which they plan on selling. As they set up camp two of the group go into the tent while the others go off to do some extra searching. One of them inevitably dies and the chase is on to capture the other teens. Jason (the killer) ends up killing them all and the title Friday the 13th appears. The story then follows another group of teens in search of what happened to a member from the other group. As the group get into varies troubles from leaving the house they are staying in or ignoring the others instructions and die gory deaths it comes to a final showdown between a character looking for one of the original group and the killer Jason. The film leaves the viewer on the edge and at numerous times we think both are going to die, eventually ‘Ginny’ outwits Jason and kills him. The story then takes an unexpected twist and shows us a flashback and shows why Jason is killing people. The film is part of a series and reminds us what happens if we hadn’t seen it before. This is another unusual bit of structuring as it shows us at the end and not the beginning of the film.
The Final Destination
Alex and his classmates are about to set off on a school trip to Paris when he sees in his mind that it will crash. He causes a panic on the plane and is taken off it with his five friends and a teacher, he tells them what he saw and as the plane takes of it blows up in mid air. Alex believes they have cheated death and comes to the conclusion that they will all die. Firstly a friend slips and accidently hangs himself in the shower, next Alex has this vision of a bus coming down the street when infact there is nothing there, she turns to walk away and is killed by an oncoming bus. The school teacher who was taken of the plane to calm the students down is next to die, she has a serious of accidents in her house which ultimately lead to a computer blowing up in her face.
The remaining characters set off in a car only for it to stall on the railroad tracks, they all get out exept the driver, at the last minute Alex swoops in and saves them, but the train hits a bit of metal and flies through the air to kill his other friend. Alex works out that if the person supposed to die avoids the death it will skip to the next person. His girlfriend is the next in line, lightning strikes a tree at her house and events lead her to be stuck in her car with a powerline on it, Alex swoops in and helps cheat death once again.
Six months later thinking they have finally cheated death for good, they are on a flight to Paris and Alex realises they have not cheated death and he is next in line to die. Another set of wierd events happen and as Alex is about to be hit by an oncoming bus his friend dives in and saves him. They finally feel they have cheated death for good as they have all intervened it but as his friend is thinking about what happened a sign comes crashing down and kills him.
The death is still following them.
When A Stranger Calls
Jill Johnson is forced to babysit at a rich couples mansion all by herslef because she has gone over her phone contract by 800 minutes and she has to pay it back. She settles down and the kids are in bed, she goes to check on them and when she comes to sit back down the phone rings and a stranger on the end asks if the kids are asleep yet. She hangs up and tries to think nothing of it but he rings again and the person on the end makes some more remarks, this freaks her out and she decides to call the police to try and track the call. They tell her that the call is being made from within the house, at this point she is really scared, she runs to get the kids and tries to flee the house.
Research
-Horror
Repertoire of elements
The repertoire of elements in horror films is very different from those used in a romantic comedy for example. While comedies, thrillers and love films create a welcoming and happy feeling, horror creates a dark and scary feeling. The idea of a horror is obviously to put fear into the viewers, some different aspects of repertoire elements have different objectives but all are there to add to the scary effect.Mis en sceneWe generally expect horrors to be set in places such as haunted houses, deep dark gloomy forests and abandoned out of the way places; some are set in normal houses and fit in with a normal lifestyle. This adds to the scary effect because it makes the audience believe that because it is happening in a real place it is real. The moon is a very popular source of light in many films as they want to keep it as dark and scary as possible.
Themes/ Ideas
The main theme of a horror is death; a character usually tends to die fairly near the start and most defiantly at the end of a horror film. A lot of horrors track a particular character who undergoes lots of scary and weird experiences, then comes face to face with death towards the end of the film. Other times the storyline follows that of the killer or the bad guy in the film, this is effective because when we see this person appear at times in the play it is scarier.
Style-Lighting
This plays a key part to how scary a horror may be to the viewer, in most cases it is dark and very gloomy sometimes with bad weather adding to the scary atmosphere. There are horror films that are set in the day though; this is an effective way of making a film believable because although we can relate to the night time most people are at their most active in the day time so when something strange happens it gives it a greater effect on the realism.
Characters and Relationships
The characters vary in horrors, modern day horrors include a lot more humans than they used to. The effect of using humans in a horror is that like some other aspects of the repertoire of elements it adds to the realism and the believability of the film. It is common in horrors that we have for example; ghosts, monsters and characters in masks, these are also effective in making an audience frightened as we think to ourselves when watching about what we would do if we saw that in the real world. The relationship between characters is mainly some sort of grudge that they want to make another character pay for, although sometimes we see a love relationship turn nasty or a friendship group hunted.
All media is constructed and the reason these ideas are used in horror is because it is what people find scary and all of these repertoire of elements contribute to that effect.
Josh Thompson
-Horror
Repertoire of elements
The repertoire of elements in horror films is very different from those used in a romantic comedy for example. While comedies, thrillers and love films create a welcoming and happy feeling, horror creates a dark and scary feeling. The idea of a horror is obviously to put fear into the viewers, some different aspects of repertoire elements have different objectives but all are there to add to the scary effect.Mis en sceneWe generally expect horrors to be set in places such as haunted houses, deep dark gloomy forests and abandoned out of the way places; some are set in normal houses and fit in with a normal lifestyle. This adds to the scary effect because it makes the audience believe that because it is happening in a real place it is real. The moon is a very popular source of light in many films as they want to keep it as dark and scary as possible.
Themes/ Ideas
The main theme of a horror is death; a character usually tends to die fairly near the start and most defiantly at the end of a horror film. A lot of horrors track a particular character who undergoes lots of scary and weird experiences, then comes face to face with death towards the end of the film. Other times the storyline follows that of the killer or the bad guy in the film, this is effective because when we see this person appear at times in the play it is scarier.
Style-Lighting
This plays a key part to how scary a horror may be to the viewer, in most cases it is dark and very gloomy sometimes with bad weather adding to the scary atmosphere. There are horror films that are set in the day though; this is an effective way of making a film believable because although we can relate to the night time most people are at their most active in the day time so when something strange happens it gives it a greater effect on the realism.
Characters and Relationships
The characters vary in horrors, modern day horrors include a lot more humans than they used to. The effect of using humans in a horror is that like some other aspects of the repertoire of elements it adds to the realism and the believability of the film. It is common in horrors that we have for example; ghosts, monsters and characters in masks, these are also effective in making an audience frightened as we think to ourselves when watching about what we would do if we saw that in the real world. The relationship between characters is mainly some sort of grudge that they want to make another character pay for, although sometimes we see a love relationship turn nasty or a friendship group hunted.
All media is constructed and the reason these ideas are used in horror is because it is what people find scary and all of these repertoire of elements contribute to that effect.
Josh Thompson
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