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

Here is my video where i have discussed all of the video's we have filmed and posted onto blogger since the very beginging of my a.s year at bilborough college right up to our final horror film. 

Question 6: What have you leant about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Question 6: what have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product? on Prezi

Question 3 - Katie Smyth - film poster ideas

Distribution

Distribution is getting the product out to its customers/audiences, so it is seen and known to the public, which gets more people viewing the film. This is done in many ways such as:

• Posters
• Trailers - at the beginning of other films in the cinema or during TV adverts.
• Film festivals
• Internet advertising 
• magazines / newspapers
• Chat shows 
• Social sites
• radios (e.g interviews)

Here i have researched 2 independent production companies and 2 major production companies, and i have been comparing the difference between them and how they distribute films.

House of the dead was by Brightlight pictures, which is a major production company as uses artisan entertainment distribution company, so this is likely to have more publicity and viewers as it has major distribution company, so will have good distribution of this film.

Mirrors is produced from a major media institution, regency enterprises. 20th century fox was the distribution company of mirrors, which is a major corporation, which is likely why mirrors is a very well known film.

nightmare is a hammers film productions film, which is an independent film production company. For nightmare the distribution companies were rank (in the uk) and universal (in the us), rank defunct in 1995 and universal is no longer independent it is owned by comcast. 

There is a big deifference compared to major film production companies and independent, as you can see that the major company's have made a lot more films that the independent ones, the film from the independent production company hammers, is very old and not well known, as now days its more like likely to know of a film or go see a film from one of the major production companies. however they are both similar as they both distribute posters and trailers for their film.

Film festivals

Film festivals are a great way to distribute your film, and get it well known by the public.

Here is my production company logo:

Here is universal production company's logo (a competitor):

They are both similar as have both black backgrounds, which i think makes the images clearer and look more professional. Our's is slightly a bit bluryer where we have edited it on photoshop, as there is very clear. We both have our production company name in the centre of the image. Their's is a lot more general, so could be used on different genre films, where as our's is obviously for vampire films as you can tell by the image, so wouldn't be able to use it in other types of films. Their's is also more colour full, but mine works well for a horror film with the colours and such. They both have clear writing that goes with the image well.

Here are some sample posters that helped us with film idea's for our film. Heres one horizontal and one vertical, but in the end we went with the horizontal:

Here is our finished film poster:

Here i have included the name of our film when our film will becoming our in the cinema, also our film will be out on dvd in january the 4th. Also in the poster it includes our logo at the bottom right with our film productions company on it. 

Here is a trailer that would be similar to ours, as the main characters are teenagers like ours, and the victim is a vulnerable teenage girl, which a vampire is after. 

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups? - Van Helsing

Here is my question 2, where i will be answering the question: how does your media product represent particular social groups? I will be analysing 2 video's i have up loaded and a test shot of my actor in relation to age/race and genre.

We got ideas about representation from the video below in terms of how they use stereotypes to engage the audience.  We have been directly influenced as we have included in our film a female victim.  This  follows the stereotype as females are seen as more weak and vulnerable.


Here is another video i have uploaded from my sub genre, which i will analyse in relation to age/gender and race.
is

Here all off the threats you can see are mainly males such as Dracula, the werewolves, and frankinstein, these follow sterotypes, as it is normally males seen as the threats, however it does challenge it as there are 3 woman vampires, however you could see it as it doesn't as they aren't the main vampire, as the main vampire is male (Dracula). Van Helsing who is male also follow the stereotype as he is the one that kills them and hunts them as a strong man, and men are normally seen as the ones that kill the threat, however he does have help who is a women and she kills a vampire which challenges the stereotype as she is strong and such. They are all adults, which are normally used in a vampire film. Also The cast is pretty much all white, so that doesn't challenge the stereotype of having the main characters as white.

We chose her as our actor, as she will be the main character as a victim and the main vampire throughout of film, which challenges existing conventions, as usually the main vampire character is male, such as Dracula in van helsing and the film dracula and edward in twilight, so we wanted to be different and challenge it and have a female as our main character. Also she will be a good victim as is a woman and seen as more vulnerable, which follows existing conventions, as otherwise, people won't be as scared for her when they watch it, so won't crete enough fear. She also has an innocent look which will soon change once she becomes a vampire.

Audience feedback 

The audience feedback was good they thought we represented age/gender and race well. 

Here are some screen grabs that establishes social group representations, which in ours is a normal teenages girl on her phone walking along the street and also her just walking down a normal jiti(path) that a lot of teenagers normally use on a day to day bases. This is similar to twilight where bella is a normal teenager as seen in the picture below, as she is in high school with her friend.  

questions 4: who would be the audience for your media product? and question 5: how did you attract/address your audience?

Here i have have researched who would be the audience to our media product as it is important to know, such as their age and gender, so that we can make our film interesting to them, so they will want to watch it and like it. 

28 days later is an 18, we want ours to be an 18 to like this, as our target audience is 18 - 29 year olds as most viewers of vampire films from our imdb rating are 18 - 29 years olds, so we are aiming it at them.

Dracula is an 18, like we have decided ours to be as we want ours scary like this and to be violent with lots of blood.

 This is a 15, an ours will be like this but more scary and gory and violent, so won't be suitables for 15 or anyone under 18.

Twilight is a 12a and hows will be a lot more gory and violent so ours will be not suitable for a 12A, and will be a lot scaryer so we are going to have our at 18.

This is also a 12A, and ours will have more strong language and violent and too gory for anyone under the age of 18, as in van helsing, it doesn't have that much strong language and ors will be way goryer.

We will be aiming ours at 18 as will have a lot of violence and guryness and such which isn't suitable for anyone under that ages, also our target is 18 - 29 year olds, and they will be more appealed if it is 18 as if it was a 12 or 15, they may think it won't interest them as much, and other films that are 15 that i have researched won't be as gory and as violent and scary as ours. 

One horrorfilm i have watched is van helsing, this film represents issues such as age/gender/race and such. In it all off the threats you can see are mainly males such as Dracula, the werewolves, and frankinstein, these follow sterotypes, as it is normally males seen as the threats, however it does challenge it as there are 3 woman vampires, however you could see it as it doesn't as they aren't the main vampire, as the main vampire is male (Dracula). Van Helsing who is male also follow the stereotype as he is the one that kills them and hunts them as a strong man, and men are normally seen as the ones that kill the threat, however he does have help who is a women and she kills a vampire which challenges the stereotype as she is strong and such. They are all adults, which are normally used in a vampire film. Also The cast is pretty much all white, so that doesn't challenge the stereotype of having the main characters as white.

No-one younger than 18 may see an ‘18’ film in a cinema or buy or rent and 18 rated film.

Sex education at ‘18’

Where sex material genuinely seeks to inform and educate in matters such as human sexuality, safer sex and health, explicit images of sexual activity may be permitted.

Sex works at ‘18’

Sex works are works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation. Sex works containing only material which may be simulated are generally passed ‘18’. Sex works containing clear images of real sex, strong fetish material, sexually explicit animated images, or other very strong sexual images will be confined to the ‘R18’ category. Material which is unacceptable in a sex work at ‘R18’ is also unacceptable in a sex work at ‘18’

We will be aiming ours at 18 as will have a lot of violence and guryness and such which isn't suitable for anyone under that ages, also our target is 18 - 29 year olds, and they will be more appealed if it is 18 as if it was a 12 or 15, they may think it won;t interest them as much.

Suitable only for 15 years and over

No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema or rent or buy a film that is a 15.

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour, this would be ok so out film as we follow this..

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable. There aren't any drugs in our film so is ok.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised, in our horror its going to be really scare, so could be ok for 15 but is that suitable enough, so will have it as an 18.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest  terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable. In our, we will have it as an 18 as we will not have suitable strong language for anyone under 18.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification. Ours has to be an 18 as will have a lot of violence that isn't suitable for 15 as will dwell on the infliction of pain and will be extremely gory.

Suitable for 12 years and over

Exactly the same criteria are used to classify works at ‘12A’ and ‘12’. The ‘12A’ category exists only for cinema films. No one younger than 12 may see a ‘12A’ film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. The ‘12’ category exists only for dvd works. No one younger than 12 may rent or buy a ‘12’ rated video work..

Horror

Moderate physical and psychological threat may be permitted, provided disturbing sequences are not frequent or sustained. Ours will be very scary so not suitable.

Language

Moderate language is allowed. The use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’) must be infrequent. We will be having strong language used throughout the film which isn't suitable for people 12 and under.

Violence

Moderate violence is allowed but should not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood, but occasional gory moments may be permitted if justified by the context. Sexual violence may only be implied or briefly and discreetly indicated, and must have a strong contextual justification. We can't have our film at a 12 as we will have a lot of unsuitable violence for this age.

how did you attract/address your audience?


We planed to make it gory and and scary so older people above the 18 would want to watch it.  Since we were targeting it at males, they would probably be more interested in seeing a film with more females in that males and with a lot of blood and violence as there older, as if they were younger it wouldn't be suitabe to be to gory and violent, so we added blood and we had all female characters. We chose to shoot it at a graveyard as it will engage the audience as its spooky and creepy and the atmosphere where you know something bad it going to happen so it will build suspense. We didn't think many props were needed as there wasn't a murder weapon or anything like that as she was bitten. It follows most conventions as most vampire films are set in a graveyard and with a bite scene however we have female vampires  which you don't see often as the main vampires which challenge existing conventions. I think our casting of the threat engages the audience, as it is first seen when they walk past the camera when it is on the victim, which shows something is there as it passes but the audience doesn't know what, but they know it will be scary and probably kill the victim which builds suspence and fear for the audience, and which will make them fear for the victim more, so our casting of the victim of being unaware engages the audience as they will be scared for them. 
The title sequence will engage the audience as we thought we would jump straight in with the bite seen in the titles, so it is interesting a scary and is in the graveyard, which will engage the audience as it isn't boring at the begining with just boring titles.

The music will engage the audience, as it works really well with the background noise from when filming, to create a spooky, scary atmosphere, and builds suspense well, and fits in really well with the film. 

I think we feedback we got was really good, as they said how they would like to continue watching the film so it must have had engaged the audience as they want to continue watching it.  We listened to what they said and what they said that wasn't so good but most of it was just the end which we hadn't finished editing, also they said it need sound which we had but the mac we were on sounds wasn't working properly.

Here is a wordle from the audience feed back: 

This image below is specifically designed to reach your target audience as it is gory so more for 18's and around that ages, so especially not children should be able to see this image:

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups? - Eclipse

Here is a video i have uploaded from my sub genre, which i will analyse in relation to age/gender and race.


 Here they challenge the stereotype for age as they it is different as they are very young and getting married, however they don't as a lot of vampire films are based around older teenagers and such.  This challengers gender as the red headed vampire is the threat, or the girl in the valtory, and usually it is a male vampire which is the threat, however they still use a female victim like most vampire films, as they are usually seen as more vulnerable. Also like most vampire films the cast is mainly white such as Bella and Edward, who are the two main characters, and as usual there is a black character, but he isn't as important in the film and isn't seen as much, and does get killed off.

Question 1: in what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? - Katie Smyth

Here is my question 1, in this i am comparing 9 key shots of my film with 9 shots of existing films, i am also answering 2 questions which are: 1. how does the image use, develop or challenge existing conventions from you sub-genre? and 2. how does the titles and company use, develop or challenge existing conventions from you sub- genre? This will help me with my film as will give me a lot of different ideas.

This summit entertainment logo is similar to the twilight logo as the writing is white and slim.

Twilight logo

This is dark and shows night, which relates to vampires, however could be seen as challenging our genre and doesn’t look very spooky like a horror film.

Titles from true blood

These images develop existing conventions from my sub genre as it’s about vampires and blood and such as there is an image here of teeth with red around them which implies blood and that there with me blood and biting and such in it. Also there is an old abandoned car which creates a spooky atmosphere and a good place to have a good vampire location. 

Image from twilight, which is a vampire genre but also a romance.

This image develops existing conventions as it is a vampire however they have developed it into a romance, and it’s a different setting to usual so challenges it as its not some castle or woods it is at a school dance, and a vampire is dancing with a human, and normal they would be killing them, so is more every day, and normally in camera shots you would like have close ups of vampires teeth and such where as in this it is of both of them and he’s not trying to kill her. So the company is challenging existing conventions as it is more of a romance, which is difference to normal vampire horrors.

Image from van helsing.

This image uses existing conventions as it is villages and a dark, grey miserable background and quite olden days setting, however it develops it as van helsing has more modern weapons, and the woman character is also dressed slightly more modern clothing compared to other village women characters.

This is an image from van helsing of mis en scene, as you can see the main character, and he is holding a weapon so you can see the props used, which they kill the vampires with. You can also see how even in day light it is still very dull, and gloomy and miserable, rather than sunny.

This uses existing conventions as he is killing the vampires with a cross bow, which is used often in vampire films such as Buffy the vampire slayer, however the weapon looks more advance so also has developed existing conventions. They also have used the same conventions as in the setting, which is a grey, miserable gloomy atmosphere, which makes it more spooky.

Buffy the vampire slayer the movie

Here is a key image as she has just killed her first vampire.

This uses existing conventions, as is in a graveyard with a steak to kill them, which is used a lot, as many vampire films are set in grave yards and use that weapon and such. However it challenges existing conventions, as it is a girl who is the main character and the one who kills them unlike, in others like blade where it is a man and van helsing that is a man that kills vampires, so it challenges it as if different.

Here is important as she is killing a vampire.

This also uses existing conventions as again she has a steak and is stabbing him in the heart, which is away most vampire films use to kill the vampires, as they normally aim for the heart, and also the setting looks like it in the woods and at night which is also an existing convention, however this challengers as again it is a women who is killing them, which is different to others which usually use males, also very young as in school still as normally it is an adult killing vampires. Also it is more modern, such as their clothes, compared to existing conventions which are can be set in more olden days.

Here in the film she is training to fight the vampires, so you know there is going to be a fight.

This challenges existing conventions as the woman is very strong and athletic and good at fighting, where normally it is usually a man, and women at normally seen as weak and defenceless and are normally they ones that need saving. Also challenges existing films as set in a school gym, where most aren’t set in schools.

Here she is in her normal life, which makes it seem more real to the audience.

This challenges existing conventions, as it is an everyday life of a high school girl, which is not normally used in a vampire film.

 

From My Film: 

Here is a image of my opening logo, in it, it says the name of our production company. Here we have also used a vampires mouth as the background to show our sub genre of a vampire film , as it relates to our film, which follows the existing conventions for a vampire film and you can see there teeth/fangs which most vampires always have. The font used for OPAC productions will be the font we use on our other film logo's and such so there all similar and show our production company. We used white as the font as it shows up best so it stands out, even when our logo is smaller, you will still be able to se the name of our production company, also we will use white whenever our production company name is used, which will show up on most backgrounds. The Font could challenge existing conventions, as most would use reed for blood and such, but we thought it looked best white and clear and more professional, and still looks scary. 

Here is an image from our titles. Here the writing titles and company use existing conventions from my sub genre as the writing in a in a creepy horror film font which goes with vampire.  Also the titles she is in a grave yard which uses existing conventions as this is where a lot of vampire films are based, also our sound when you can hear church bells, a lot of other films use this to crete and ire vibe and build tension and to show she's in a church yard in vampire films. However in the titles it shows the two vampires are female, which challenges existing conventions as most vampire films the vampires are males, so we thought this would be good as different. However it does follow existing conventions as we use a female victim, like most vampire/horror films as females are seen as more weaker and more vulnerable, so we fear for them more. Also our editing here uses existing conventions as just before the vampire bites her, the vampire suddenly appears, which a lot of vampire films use to make the audience jump.



This image establishes our sub genre of vampire, as you can see the vampire bite and blood, which every vampire film has, so this mis en scene follows existing conventions. Also the sounds builds tension like most existing conventions in this shot.

This image establishes character of our films. As you can she that she is changing into a vampire, as she has one eye changed colour and her teeth are coming through, these follow existing conventions as every vampire film they have vampire fangs and a lot of vampire films they change eye colour, but we developed it as we chose white not the usual red and we thought it looked better for our film and creepier.  Also the sounds follows existing conventions as she is grunting and deep breathing like most vampire films. 

This image establishes mis en scene and uses most existing conventions as it helped us create a good vampire setting, as it is dark at night, which is spookier and you can see she is in a grave yard as you can see the head stones.

Here are four key images from my final film:

I think this is a key image as is a high angled master shot to show her location in a room and where she is to the vampires that are asleep, which helps the audience to understand the setting.  Here you can see the 2 female vampires which challenges existing conventions as they are usually male vampires.  This shot is a key image as you can have a good look at the room and can see its a mess and obviously where they live and pretty dull, so gives a good idea of the location and where she is positioned in the room so it doesn't confuse the audience in the rest of the opening to our film.

This is a key images as it is the first image of the vampire, as if passes the camera, so the audience can see how there's something following her, but they don't know what it is yet. This uses existing conventions as in many other vampire films, the vampire normally follows the victim for a while first, which builds up the tension and fear of the audience so it scarier.

This is a key image as, here she has heard a noise, and is looking round, this uses existing conventions as normally they here something, when the vampires following them and is also set in a graveyard and uses existing conventions as she is female which most horror film use as the audience sees her more vulnerable than you would a guy.

This is a key image as it is the bite seen, which every vampire film has, so this uses existing conventions, however it is by a female which develops the idea of being bitten and challenges as usually the vampire is male.

So these are lots of different screen grabs from my film there a key images and are important in my film.