What have you learnt about technology from the process of constructing this product.

Whilst constructing this product I have learnt a lot about new media technologies. I didn't do GCSE media so therefore came into this process blind. As previously stated I had never used Apple macs, Imovie, Camcorders and Garageband so I feel like I have achieved a really good product.

In this process I have learnt a great deal about filming, camera shots and angles and how these can help when making an effective product. I used a variety of camera shots in my opening as well as filming statically on a tripod and using it hand held to create the point of view shot.

I had never noticed different camera angles before when watch films or never really thought about it. But creating, mid shots, long shots, close ups and point of view shots for my product has helped me not only in my own work but looking at other peoples work.

I also learnt within this process about not breaking the 180 degree rule. It is a basic guideline for all film makers that states: two characters (or in my case objects) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes the two objects then this is called crossing the line. In my opening I stuck with this convention and did not break the 180 degree rule even though the opening of my film was made to confuse the audience.

Imovie: This programme can be very confusing. However, as I was constructing my final media product I found that it became easier to use. I have learnt to edit tightly so that the opening of my film flows coherently into the next shot. I used cross dissolves and fades to do this. Before hand I would have not been able to do this and not added cuts and fades into my work.

I edited the black and white and dream like state into the film. This took time and patients to get the same look on all the shots. I was able to do this well because I had learnt how to use Imovie effectively in the process of editing shots together.

Having re-done and tightened the film I made the titles on the screen stay up longer to make the product more conventional.

I think the main thing that I have learnt within constructing a new media product was that keep everything conventional, including the technologies; so camera shots, type of camera and in the editing stages, with the titles, cuts and music. The music is the big difference between my previous attempt and my final version. I am glad I put the music in because it now feels conventional to a horror film opening.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?

I have always remained with the idea that the opening of this film and the film in its entirety would be produced by an independant film company. However, I would distribute my film globally to cinemas.
The director of 'The Blair Witch Project' used a production company called 'Haxan Films' who have only produced a couple of short films. This is what I would aim to do, produce this film with a small production company but later on distribute it with a global and successful company; Pathe.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185937/companycredits
If you click the link above you will see the Company credits for 'The Blair Witch Project.'

As they used a global company to distribute but produced it on an independant basis, this is what I would do. This is because it has been successful for them and already has a market out there who want to see an independant horror movie. As this is a British film I would have to find a different distributor than Pathe films as they are a British company. If I were to take the distribution on a smaller scale I would use IFC films to distribute globally. However, if I use my muse as 'The Blair Witch Project' then I would use a bigger global distributor for America: Warner Bros Pictures. You have to think would this company want to be attached to the film and to the genre. Warner Bros have distributed horror films before so I would be sticking to there own companies conventions of what genre the company distribute.
In the U.K I would chose a company like Optimum Releasing to distribute my film to the cinemas. Internationally, I would have to consider many different companies for different countries; Studio Canal, 20th Century Fox.
As it was made in an independant production company I would need to distribute globally to create a profit. This is what any film maker sets out to do, make a good film that will entertain millions and achieve a profit.

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

When I made the preliminary task it was the first time I had used new media technologies and created a media product. Making the preliminary task was helpful when learning to use the technology I had to use for my main product.

Imovie:

When I edited the preliminary task I was completly alien to Imovie. I was unsure of how to add music, titles and cuts. However, as the time went past I learnt how to use all of the above effectively. I feel I have done this well and can now produce an efffective media product.
I also added in music on top of the film, I was able to do this because I had learnt how to edit the music in from another source; GarageBand. In my preliminary task I simply used the music from Imovie and used it without editing it.

My editing skills have improved immensly. This is evident from the preliminary tasks. I have used cross dissolves and fades to allow the opening to flow. I didn't use any cuts in the preliminary task. I feel thatI have made a huge improvement from editing my preliminary task to editing my final product.

Panasonic Camcorder: Before making my preliminary task I had never used a panasonic camcorder. I was taught how it work and I felt that I used it simply during the preliminary task.

However, I am more confident with the camcorder now. I can use it effectively and make the work on the screen look interesting. When creating my final media product I experimented with the camera instead of using static shots like in my prelim task. Not only did I use a tripod I did sections of the film hand held like 'The Blair Witch Project' and I also span the camera round, going back to the shot of the eye of the mask dissoling into the human eye. I did reverse shots on the camera and filmed things backwards. I did this because I wanted it to look interesting and real, I didn't reverse the shot in the editing process I filmed backwards.
I also used a varierty of different camera angles. In the preliminary task I was restricted to the camera angles I was able to use; Over the shoulder shot, not breaking the 180 degree rule and mid shots. As I didn't use people in my opening I had to become creative with the camera. I used zooms, close ups, mid shots and long shots to create the journey through the barn. The camera acts as the eye of the character, this is a point of view shot. I wanted to use the point of view shot so that I remains to the conventions of 'The Blair Witch Project' which is all shot on a hand held camera and there are a range of point of view shots.

As you can see I have become a lot more confident and experimental with the camera after creating my preliminary task to the main product.

Garage Band:

I added music to the main product and did this through garage band. I didn't use garageband in the preliminary task I just used the sounds that were already made in Imovie. I couldn't do this for this task. I had to create my own piece of music. I didn't want a full piece of music because it took the eerie atmosphere away and I wanted the opening to be as realisitic as possible. Therefore I looked at a website were I could download a simple note and then edit it to become a longer and more eerie sound. I did this for all the music I have on the film. I had to play around with garage band as it is quite a complex programme. I wasn't given the opportunity to use it within the preliminary task. I think I have done a good job in creating an eerie opening and adding effective music over it.

How did you attract and address your audience?

'The majority of horror film openings are predictable. They begin with a happy character or character's who have perfect lives and don't think anything can harm them.'


The statement above remained in my mind when I was considering making a horror film opening. I wanted my target audience to be excited about an original and unique horror film opening. Therefore I researched into classic horror film openings to note down the key conventions. I not only watched the openings but the trailers helped aswell when deciding on a story. The trailers always give away a couple of opening/early scenes...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux3HnYZDSNI&feature=fvsr

In the opening sequence to this trailer the audience can see the happy 'opening scenes' where the characters are having fun and are not expecting whats going to happen. Even though I haven't made a trailer I found researching openings to films and looking at trailers helpful when wanting to make a unique opening to attract a different audience.

That was my aim: Attract an audience who would want to watch an independant horror film opening. Therefore I immediatly looked into independant horror films. Two of the most credible independant horrors are 'Paranormal Activity' and the 'Blair Witch Project'. So therefore I could instantly attract a new audience into a unique independent horror film.

I addressed this proposition by creating a disequilibrium beginning and using the enigma code.

Equilibrium, disequilibrium and new equilibrium are the three main parts to a movie. In most films there is an equilibrium state in the opening, there is a pleasant atmosphere. However, I chose to instantly address my audience with a problem/ unfortunate event called a disequilibrium. This normaly doesn't get seen till later on in the film. I used the enigma code on the audience. This means that they wonder why the disequilibrium is being used now?, what is going to happen?, and how will this be resolved? There are only a few films that do this. Another example is the opening of 'The Orphan.'
I wanted to immediatly captivate and address my audience by exciting them, scaring them and giving them a situation to work out so that they would keep watching the rest of the film.
I feel I captured this through the use of the music, camera shots and the use of the mask. What relevance does the mask have in the rest of the film? Now even I am asking questions...
All of this would play on the audiences mind and this is what would attract a wider audience to the horror genre.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

As I have made an opening to a horror film I feel that there is no specific target audience when taking into consideration both a male and female audience. Also when considering a target audience, most people from all socio-economic groups enjoy a good horror film. Therefore, I feel my opening to a horror film is appealing to all.

However, from my audience feedback which features in my blog it is evident that the opening appeals to the more mature teenager. Like the openings counterpart 'The Blair Witch Project', which was my main muse, I would be targeting teenagers aged 15 and above. As you can see to the left 'The Blair Witch Project' is rated at a 15. Like the opening of my film it plays on peoples minds. My film would also need a mature target audience due to the disequilbrium beginning. Having a younger target audience may not necessarily understand what is happening and consequently want to watch the rest of the film.

Having taken all of this into consideration my target audience would be of both genders and from no specific socio economic grouping; which is conventional to all horror films. However, I would rate the opening 15 and over due to the complexity of the storyline and the fact that a younger audience would not necessarily enjoy watching a horror film opening.

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

I did a vocal analysis as to what I believe I challenged, used and developed conventionally when making a new horror film opening:

In the original version of the opening I challenged the convention of having music played onto the images due to the fact one of my stimuluses was 'The Birds' by Alfred Hitchcock. However, in the newer version I have stuck to conventions from the other two films I used by adding ambient sound and diachronic sounds. This is very effective and some of my audience felt even more un-nerved when watching the opening.

One of the most iconic shots from 'Psycho' by Alfred Hitchcock is the close up of the eye after she has been murdered and then the eye cross dissolves into the plug hole. I have almost copied this shot in the opening of my film to make it conventional to the horror genre. You can see the close up cross dissolve towards the end when the camera zooms in on the masks eye and then dissolves into the actresses eye. This is effective because it's the first time the audience see the protagonist. I have taken an iconic shot and developed it further to work into my own film.

I feel that this film is more conventional and looks professional enough to be the opening of a horror film.

The Edited, Final Version of Changing Faces

This is the final version of 'Changing Faces.' I

have worked hard trying to make the opening as conventional to a horror/thriller film as possible. There is still no dialogue as the opening is about the main character alone in the barn and the audience will still have to continue to watch the film to solve the disequilibrium beginning.I believe the opening is conventional to three different films th

at I had previously studied:

The first one is the village. (poster is to the left of the text) This film has an eerie location, which I believe my film has. The opening credits of this particular film are of the actors names and the images of trees and branches pass over the screen. My film also

contains images of trees which look eerie and adding the correct music to them sets the film up to look like a horror film.

The second film that I took typical conventions from is 'The

Blair Witch Project.' This film is shot completely on a hand held camera and is a low budget film and this is the catergory that my film will fall into. This film went from being an independent, low budget film. To becoming a worldwide phenomenon, so it proves that my film may start off as a low budget, art house film but over time people will begin to like it and then it would create a huge profit. Look at films such as 'Paranormal Activity.' It did exactly the same as 'The Blair Witch Project', so it can be done. The location of 'The Blair Witch Project' is very similar to mine which is another typical convention of a horror film. Also the use of the hand held camera makes it appear more

realistic than a high budgeted film, because these types of scenarios could happen to anyone. I believe that an unknown cast (which is what I have done) also makes the audience believe that the events are actually taking place.

The director which I chose to use conventions from is Alfred Hitchcock. Originally I didn't want to use music because I felt as though it didn't necessarily fit with the theme of the opening. However, looking back at that I know now that to create the ultimate impact on an audience is to create suspense using music. Alfred Hitchcock used music in his horror film 'Psycho' and the music is well known globally. It still haunts people to this very day and this is the kind of impact I wanted to create when people watched the opening of my film. The music I chose is chilling and un-nerving and fits into all horror conventions.

I also used a shot that Alfred Hitchcock used. When the lead woman is stabbed in the shower there is a close up on her eye and then the eye dissolves into the bath plug hole. You can see this shot in my film where the camera zooms in on the eye of the mask and then the shot dissolves into the eye of the lead females. In 'Psycho' this doesn't happen in the opening of the film however it shows the influence- as a director, that Hitchcock had on other directors (me). His ideas were inspiring to me and some worked well and others didn't, but I believe now, that I have created an original yet conventional opening to a horror film.