Final Film: NEXT

Evaluation

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

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

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

                           

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

           

         
5) How did you attract/address your audience?

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

                           

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

Evaluation

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

 

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

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

Distribution of a Film from Emily Greenman

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

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Attracting/Addressing Our Audience

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

Make your own mind maps with Mindomo.

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

Make your own mind maps with Mindomo.

Storyline Questionnaire Responses

Here are the results from the first questionnaire we created to help us with the storyline for our film.

 

http://tolu.na/VmOpbD

Title Sequence Analysis 2

ZOMBIELAND

Title Sequence From Art of The Title

(Click above to see the full video)

The first shot seen in the title sequence to Zombie land is this, an out of focus shot of an american flag, which is an establishing shot as it sets the scene instantly. The shot is quite blurred and out of focus to start with, and that could suggest that there is something a bit off about the first scene, although if you've read the film title you'll realise what happens next.

The same shot then starts to zoom out, showing that the once thought upright american flag is actually flying upside down, which is shown by the upside down buildings in the background. An upside down flag can have connotations of something/someone is in distress.

The shot then turns it even more blurred, and is made to look as it is a handheld camera that been dropped and broken. The camera the starts to move, and there is panicked heavy breathing to suggest that the camera is being held by someone.

The shot then moves up, and the car with the flag on ,which was obviously owned by someone of high political ranking (this also shows distress if the president or someone of high ranking has been in a car accident), is now shown to be in flames, which adds to the effect that this film is related to some sort of disaster.  

The guy then moves the camera back down to see splattered blood across the posh car's window, and a gun just outside the window, which is a clearly connotation that someone inside the car didnt want to live anymore, or someone in the car was trying to stay alive, which either way didnt work out because of the large splash of blood.

The camera then moves up really fast and the whole screen is blurred, then a figure is suddenly seen jumping over the car and the guy holding the camera starts to panick even more, which would suggest to the audience that the person jumping over the car isnt here to save the camera guy.

As the person comes closer, The person with the camera is seen to try to run away but fall with the movement of the camera, which shows a heavily bloodied-up person (or zombie as the audience soon finds out) at a high angle showing the power they have over the guy with the handheld.

The zombie then jumps on this man and digs its mouth and teeth into him, spitting blood everywhere, which i think was shown to make the audience cringe (well, I know it made me cringe). The way this cannibal is dressed looks like he was once an average business man, but something obviously went very wrong.

The zombie then notices the camera, and shoves his face really close to it, showing that he can obviously see his reflection. He then sticks his fingers in his mouth, and makes a movement as if pulling food out of his teeth, but in this case, is human flesh. This adds even more to the audiences disgust.

The next couple of screen shots i have are after the sot as done an extreme zoom, and shows what looks like the earth, with fire and flames everywhere, which gives the impression that the world is in mahem. Itthen starts zoom back in what looks like an American football field, which is a strange place to start a disaster film.

It then moves onto a overweight man running across the football field, with a guy that looks very similar to the zombie in the scene before, chasing him. The displays irony, as does the film as a whole, as the guy being chased has probably never ran on a football field before. 

It then moves to a high up shot of the guy running, clearly getting tired out by now, and this is when we see the first st of text in the title sequence. This then thickens the irony of the film as it reads 'Rule #1; Cardio' which is clearly a stab at the huge guy being chased by this undead man, bt also has some truth behind it as if has been healthier he probably could have got away from this creature.

This is a great shot, showing and almost reverse over the shoulder shot, showing the guy being chased with a face of pure horror, which shouldnt be funny to the audience, but it is. And then it shows the chase chasing him, and you can almost see a smile behind all the rotting flesh, which is menacing in a way. This all adds to the irony of the whole film, giving the audience a comletely different view on zombie films.

The fat guy the falls, and the zombie grabs him. These are the few shots of the title sequence that are pure gruesome. It shows that although the film is basically a comedic horror film, there are shots like this that will make the audience cringe. Badly.

It then moves to a different scenery, showing a car crash, which would be a typical scene in a distaster movie, but this is no typical disaster movie. This isnt the man focus of this scene, so it is brushed past pretty quickly, showing this isnt the most significant part of the scene (so what happens next MUST be bad, I mean that was a car crash, which isnt taken lightly in everyday life). 

A man who looks to be dressed in police uniform then slides over the front of a car, and at a first glance looks to be running to help someone, as thats what a police officer would be doing. After sliding off the car, his hat falls off and the audience discovers that this officer is running to do the exact opposite, which is shown in his bloody gory face.

 A woman then moves on screen, and she shoots the undead officer in the head, which should give relief to her and the audience. Here is the next rule given to the audience, and it says 'Rule #2; Double Tap'. This is clearly an ironic premonition of what is to happen next, and is something that now the audience should have grasped about the film.

As she then moves to walk away, the zombie that had fallen to his second 'death''s eyes shoot open, and it grabs the first thing it can. This, coincidentally, is the woman from befores leg.

This is another shot, and there is a theme here ladies and gentlemen, of the zombie pulling flesh from the womans leg. This is another shot that would just make the audience cringe.

The next scene shows a gritty, very unsanitary bathroom, which seems to be in theme with the film so far as everything has been grubby and gross, which is typical of a zombie film. It starts to zoom in to the cubical, giving the impression that there may be something interesting behind the cubical door.

Then a man is shown reading on the toilet. Not that interesting. Something that could shake the audience a little is that there is a slam on the door, but because the man sat in the cubical non-chalantly shouts for the 'guy' to wait his turn,it gives the impression to the audience that this guy is going to regret that, which will then be entertaining for the audience.

The 'guy' that was slamming on the door then crawls underneath it to reveal his horrifically gory face, and screams at the guy sat trying to have a peaceful time in the bathroom. This could scary the audience in an average horror film, but because the producers have created such a comedic ambiance to the film so far the audience would probably just laugh.

^^This guys face just makes it all doesnt it? He's now just as horrified as the first guy to be killed, but becasue of the atmosphee of the film it brings laughs and joy to the audience as the next rule comes up in the following shot. It reads 'Rule #3; Beware of Bathrooms' which again is ironic as if this guy knew this rule already he may be still alive and kicking. Or not, given the situation.

 

The title sequence then moves onto a very scared looking woman jumping it into her car, which gives the impression that she is trying to get away from something, which makes the next shot that little more confusing.

The shot then changes to an establishing one, and this is why the womans behaviour is odd as it looks like an average little girls birthday party. This could also suggest that she might be the mother of one of the girls there, which adds to the fact that her behaviour is strange for the situation.

It then shows her scream at the window, and the clips moves to the window where there are tiny little children zombies trying to get into the car. This then explains the womans behaviour, as she is clearly trying to get away. I have a feeling the producers had to tread carefully ith this scene as having children zombes is obviously inevitable, but not something many zombie films pick up on as it is a bit surreal for people to watch.

As she drives off, the shot moves tot he back of the car which shows a bumper sticker with the words 'My kid is an honor student' on it. This again is irony as the honor student child she had has now turned into a mushy brained zombie that is now out to get her nice warm flesh.

It then shows the kids trying to get on the car as it drives off, which is extremely dangerous for an average child to do, but these are no average children clearly. This goes against stereotypes, as the children that are being shown are dressed as princesses for the party, which would mean they were probably quite girly and innocent before they were turned.

Because she is concentrating on her children trying to eat her, the woman doesnt notice the truck in the middle of the road and ends up straight through the front window of her car. This is also irony has instead of being eaten like most of the others so far, she gets killed by herself trying to get away from being eaten.

As her body scrapes across the road, which is also very cringe-worthy, the next 'rule' seems to be printed onto the road, reading 'Rule #4; Seatbelts', Whcih adds tot he irony of how she dies.

Before these screen shots, the title sequence was more of an introduction to the style of film the audience is about to watch. Now it moves onto the proper titles, and the next few screen shots are with different (and extremely irony-fueled) situations people are being put in because of this zombie apocalypse. The titles are also placed cleverly, and this is because as someone moves (whether it be running away or falling) the titles crumble or squash together, giving the impression that the titles are being moved by the people on screen. The style is also fitting, as they are red to show the blood (and there is a lot of blood).

I love this, a crazy old man that clearly knew the world was gunna end, but no one listened to him did they? Well, it doesnt look as if knowing got him very far anyway.

 

The title for the film is shown in the same style as the rest of the text, which is consistent.

Again, the next couple of clips are of situations people are in becasue of this zombie apocalypse. However, the difference in the irony of a few of these is that some of the people before they were turned were important people in society, like the fireman. These clips are all shown in slow motion too, and this is so that the people in the audeince can really take in the expressions of the people and the zombies. 

But lets face it, everythings funnier in slow motion.

Review Number 3

Halloween (1978)

 Oh yes, a very good film. I found it absolutely gripping from start to finish. The story is about a young boy who kills his sister and then gets put in a mental asylum. But 15 years later, he returns, stalking a teenage girl who doesn’t believe in superstition. The stalking then turns into killing, which is done well, not dwelling on the dying process for too long and its fairly simplistic so the use of prosthetics and special effects isn’t needed. The overall effect is rather good.  

   It is definitely a suspense horror, the theme music just adds to it. It made me think that anything could happen at any time, you could never tell what was going to happen next. The build ups weren’t false though, and never lead to nothing. The music played every time just before Michael appeared, but it wasn’t predictable, you couldn’t tell when or where he was going to turn up.

    I also thought the fact that it was set at Halloween made it even better because it makes you think, people must cry wolf all the time so people, especially on Halloween, probably won’t believe you if you start banging on their door screaming, “Help me! Please!”

   But back to the film, the acting was good, it was believable and certainly over dramatic. The deaths were very convincing and you could see the relationship between each of the characters. The actors and actresses they chose for the characters fitted perfectly. A very good casting.

   The way in which each character is killed differs. There isn’t a set way Michael chooses to murder, but he does favour a large knife. This makes sense because that is weapon he used to kill his sister. However, as he just wants people dead, he isn’t particularly choosy about how it does it. I like that because it keeps the film fresh and makes it a lot more intense.

   The pace of the film was good, I didn’t bored or fed up, urging for something to happen because I always felt that something was just around the corner.

   The only downfall in my opinion is that it would have been nice to have a few more deaths, mainly because they were all in the second half of the film. It also took awhile for Annie to die.

   I liked the little touch towards the end where Annie was laid on the bed with Judith’s headstone above her. It brought the film together and gave the murders a personal touch.

   I had heard good things about this film and that is why I decided to watch it. My expectations were lived up to and it is definitely a film I would recommend to others. As well as most likely watch again myself, on Halloween if I’m brave enough.  I can safely say Michael was very creepy and sent shivers down my spine. This film completely deserves its 4 shiny gold stars! 

Other People's Thoughts and Feelings about 'Halloween'

RetroSlashers

Empire

TvGuide

Evaluation

Our media product does relate and conform to some conventions that you expect to see in horror films. For example in the kitchen when the main character is seen to be buttering toast, there is a red plate that is being used. This could signify the presence of danger upcoming. We have also used a significant event to be shown before the credits. This however helps the audience to relate and get engrossed into what we are showing without seeing the credits and getting a idea of what the film will be about from the title, rather than making their own mind up. We have however avoided social conventions in the horror genre, by using unusual sound on tension building events. Even though we avoided this is tension building events, we did use off angled shots to show that there is something wrong to the audience with out having to show them something obvious. I would say that we used a paced editing to fit in to the genre of this certain film. Silence is something we decided not to use on purpose, as we needed to make this 2 minute film as scary as possible.

Our media product reflects social classes on an equal level. This is shown when the main character is in the kitchen with her mother. Both the mother's camera shots as well as the main character's are on the same level. As the mother is taller it shows that she could have more power rather than the main character. We challenge stereotypes by making the villain totally someone different. The costume that the villain wears looks like a ninja's outfit but in the context that we use it in, it does look like a scary character. We have also questioned power in a room with the way that our film is represented. There is one room, where the mother is found dead, which has an effect on; it gives the walls a yellowy tint. This gives the room a lot of power as the audience can feel belittled as for seeing what happens in this room.

An independent institution would have to distribute our film. I think that our plot isn't mainstream enough and wouldn't be brought out into the cinema without a pilot screening. Warner Brothers would not distribute out film as it it too hard to grasp the concept of. Warp films could let us distribute the film for example. They would not have a problem with us and our plot as other distributing companies may want us t change some of the details in our film. I however, found an independent distributing company that distributes horror films. This means that for our age rating we could get as gory as possible and have a chance at being distributed. Warp films have distributed a film similar to ours called Hush.  

The audience for our media  product would be young people over the age of 15. The clothes that the main character wears suggest that she takes care of herself and isn't the type of person that lays about doing nothing with her life. Other people who have active lifestyles could be a possible audience type for our genre of film. The habits and hobbies of the main character Alexandra is to dance, horse ride, hang out with her friends, do her make up, do her hair and most importantly SHOP. The people that may like to watch films with this sort of character in would be people who like karma for people that deserve it. With the way that Alexandra is portrayed it shows that she is a bit snobby in the full film. Any age or occupation would be applicable. As long as they have spare time to watch our film. We sort of did post production into what sort of films that they like which was included in the Audience Feedback Survey which was essentially a questionnaire that allowed people to evaluate as well as get their own interests across as well.

I think that we have reached our target audience because of the questionnaire that we have done and got audience feedback from. In the column that we asked there age, all but one had picked the answer which was 15-25. The one person which had answered different was under the age of 15. We thought that the subject matter would interest our audience with parts of it being set inside a college which most people above that age would most likely be doing. In the audience feedback we had a comment saying  'the wood scene looked a bit jumpy, unless it was supposed to be like that'. This is what we were aiming for, we were aiming for the audience to feel quite confused and panicked just like the actor. 
Another thing that the audience were please about was the music which apparently fitted in quite well. The audience feedback showed that the improvements that we could make were filming in the woods on a night to make it more creepier.