Saturday 11 February 2012

Our Final Magazine Cover


Our magazine front cover also works well due to the fact that we have adopted existing conventions from the horror genre, such as blood and red lettering. In addition, we have also used conventions from magazines, such as the price and bar-code. These are features of the retail industry which allow for the easy sale of products. We have also tried to replicate a mirrored camera cover, to inform the reader that the storyline of our film revolves around a reality TV show, in which people are being filmed.

Our Final Film Poster


I think that our final horror poster for 'Escape Reality' conveys the genre well. The depiction of blood is a regularly used convention within the Horror genre. We have replicated the use of this convention with our bloody hand print, as well as the red font that we have used, symbolising  blood. We also used Photoshop to make it seem as if there was a camera within the eye of the subject featured in the poster, informing the viewer of the poster that the film is based on some form of reality show. Following the conventions of existing film posters, we included the names of the production members and associated film studios. To connect with the young target market, we indicated that information regarding our film could be found on both Facebook and Twitter. This is a free source of additional advertising, which has the potential to reach millions of people. 

Thursday 9 February 2012

Our Final Trailer



To make our trailer seem more professional, we added a green American Film Association screen at the start, although this is a convention of American films, our film would most likely to be funded by a American film company, and distributed world wide. This is also the reason why we felt that it was appropriate to use music that was copyrighted.

Wednesday 8 February 2012

What have you Learned from Audience Feedback?



Channel 4 Feedback

Overall Channel 4 felt that our editing was our strongest point, the consensus being the editing was excellent, Georgina even saying that it had the ‘wow factor’. To some extent, I think that the audience found the narrative slightly unclear; Chris indicating that he struggled to get a handle on the storyline. They may not have fully understood that the characters think that they are on a reality TV show. This problem could be solved by including some narrative dialogue, for example; ‘I’ve been accepted onto the show.’ Most at channel 4 liked our theme and thought it matched the genre well. Ade commented; ‘well edited and great horror theme’. 



We received a mixed response when it came to the soundtrack for our trailer, Georgina and Mat both felt that it had the ‘wow factor’, whereas Chris felt that it had minimal effect. This may be because he dislikes the song choice. 





To get feedback from our target market  we asked student Max Kirby what he thought after viewing our trailer. Max is from our target market of 15-25 year olds. This is what he said:


How effective is the combination of your trailer, film magazine cover and film poster?

Thursday 2 February 2012

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








For further information on the programs we used please see: Using Programs to Create our Movie Trailer (link opens in new window)













During the filming process we were able to use an audio recorder, which works alongside the DSLR Camera. The audio recorder allowed us to ensure that the speech within our trailer was heard clearly and sounded professional.

To ensure that we did not end up with strange sound transitions, we recorded a ‘wild track’, which consisted of us recording in a silent room.  Once we had placed the wild track under the audio of our trailer, there were no points where the sound could be heard cutting off.  Although the audio recorder was useful, it was quite time consuming recording a wild track in every room that we filmed in, and we did not need to use every wild track. 

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






Tuesday 31 January 2012

Using Programs to Create our Movie Trailer


We used the program Adobe Premier to edit our trailer, this picture demonstrates how we combined both sound and video within our product. we were able to add multiple layers of sound, which gives depth to the audio. This made our trailer seem more professional and added to its overall impact on the viewer. 


We were able to import titles from After Effects, the titles allowed us to convey narrative to our trailer. Using Adobe Premier we were able to adjust the length and speed of the titles. 


Adobe Premier allowed us to split up video and sound to create an atmosphere, we added a heartbeat and made it rapidly accelerate to create tension. We also made the screen straight cut to black which interrupts the flow, adding enigma to our trailer. 


After Effects enabled us to apply a randomised stepped fade to the text within our titles, this made them more intriguing and followed the conventions of titles within existing trailers. 


We used the program Celtx to type out the script, Celtx was very beneficial to us, as once we had input the script and character names, it created a shot list and production schedule. 


We used the converter MPEG Streamclip to convert the cannons default movie setting into DV, so that it was compatible with Adobe Premier. 

Using Fake Blood


make-up - slideshow maker with music


The first fake blood that we tested was relatively inexpensive, and bought from a costume shop. The blood had a thicker consistency than normal blood; though it still looked realistic on the skin, through the lens of a camera. However, due to the thickness of the fake blood, it did not drip well, which was the effect we were intending to create. Therefore, we decided to make our own fake blood. 


Experimenting with Make-Up effects - slideshow maker with music


Secondly, we attempted to make our own fake blood using syrup and red food colouring. Its constancy was good, and after we added some more syrup its colour turned to crimson red, which looked extremely realistic. We also added coffee granules to give the blood a texture.

We were happy with the result of our second test; and we use this blood during our filming. 

Monday 30 January 2012

Character types in Our Film



The Popular Girl 




Our Final Girl













The popular girl is most often white, tall, blond but sometimes brunet. She is attractive and has an athletic boyfriend and she the envy of all the other female characters. Her parents are rich and most likely not divorced, and her life is seemly perfect. The popular girl has the ability to make others feel bad about themselves and she is the benchmark for popularity and success. Jessica from the film ‘Sorority Row’ is the archetypal popular girl. She uses her beauty and popularity to influence others, which eventually leads to her own demise. Another example of this character type is Britney from ‘Bring It On: All or Nothing’, a cheerleader living the American dream. Other popular girls include Danni from ‘Piranha’ and Kirby from ‘Scream 4’.
The Jock 



Our Jock










The jock is also a regularly used character stereotype in the film industry. In some ways the jock is a male version of the popular girl. He is alethic and is popular with women, although rarely is a jock good at anything other than sports. Jocks often bully weaker classmates and it is unlikely that they will make it to the end of the film without some misfortune coming to them. An example of an archetypal jock is Hunt Wynorski from ‘Final Destination 4’; he is often depicted having sex with beautiful women, but struggles to comprehend the concept that he is being chased by death.


The Final Girl 


Our Final Girl 










The final girl is a generic survivor and the last remaining female character, who had managed to escape from the killer and evade death. An example of this is Sindy from the scream franchise. The final girl is much more intelligent than the popular girl, however usually less attractive. She also gives film producers an opportunity to produce a sequel, while still maintaining popular characters from the previous film. 

film certification

We anticipate that our film will carry a rating of 15 years and above. This is due to the fact that our film contains an atmosphere of strong threat and menace.



‘Suitable only for 15 years and over. No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.’

Discrimination: ‘The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.’

Our film has a mixture of different races and sexualities meaning that no minority has been discriminated against.

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.’

The setting of our film is a reality show; therefore, drugs would not be assessable in this setting.

Horror: ‘Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.’

Although our film does evolve around a sense of threat, it is not sadistic or sexualised menace, the villain is simply trapping the victims in a house as a form of revenge.

Imitable behaviour: Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.’

No imitable behaviour can be seen in our film, the way in which the villain traps and kills his victims is elaborate, and would not be easy to replicate.

Language: ‘There may be frequent use of strong language. The strongest terms may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.’

There would be some strong language featured within our film, which would be used by the victims, but justified within their situation. However, there would be few, if not no uses of the strongest language. No strong language will feature in the trailer.
 
Nudity: ‘Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.’

There is no nudity in our film, making it well suited to the 15 years and above certificate.

Sex: ‘Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.’

There are no sexual scenes within our film.

Theme: ‘No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.’

Our film features the theme of revenge and immorality, both of which are completely acceptable for this certification.

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.’

Although the violence in our film could be considered strong, it is not sexual. There may also be gory themes within the films; however they are presented pragmatically rather that visually.


Saturday 28 January 2012

Risk Assessment

Prior to filming we created a risk assessment to minimise any possible damages. We took inspiration from the style of forms, after investigating how other companies evaluate their risk. To create this form we used excel, due to its calculation capabilities.


Here we have evaluated one of the many risks that comes with filming; injury to actors:







(click image to view form)

Sunday 11 December 2011

Digital Strategy - How we can use the internet to advertise our film


We could upload our trailer to YouTube, this is a free service which would allow millions of people to view our trailer on-line for free. People would also be able to embed our trailer on their own website or social networking page, allowing it to be viewed by even more people. YouTube users would also be able to share the link to watch our trailer with their friends, via e-mail and social networking.


We could also use social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter as a means of advertising our film. We could create profiles for our characters; to generate a hype surrounding our film. We could also create a page for the film itself. On Facebook, users would be able to 'like' our page. This would result in their friends seeing that they have liked our page, and subsequently viewing our page themselves. Likewise, on Twitter users would be able to tweet or retweet about our film for the same effect.

Thursday 8 December 2011

Our Target Market

Demographic Profile:

15-25

Working Class – Middle Class

Male/Female

Lives in the UK

Psychographic Profile:

A fan of reality shows

Not offended by violence in films

A fan of the horror genre 

Wednesday 9 November 2011

Tittle and Tagline

Tittle: Escape Reality 

The title of the film works well due to the fact that it has a double meaning. On one hand it could make reference to the fact that the characters are entering the house in an attempt to escape from their day-today lives or their own reality. On the other hand it suggest that the characters are trying to escape from the reality show that puts their lives at risk. 

Tagline: 'Who Dies, He Decides' 

 
The tagline for the film 'who dies? he decides' is a pun, derived from the big brother tagline; 'who goes? you decide'. This immediately tells the the reader that the film is based on some kind of reality show, and attracts viewers of the big brother franchise.

Shot List

In order to help us plan our shooting process, as part of the production of our horror trailer, Leslie-Anne and I came up with a shot list. The shot list is arranged in order of shot location, rather than the order the shot appears within the trailer, meaning we are not constantly changing locations, saving time. This is also practised in the film industry, as it saves money.

The shots list informs us of the location of the shot, the type of shot, the length of the shot, the camera movement, as well as the camera angle. 

Storyboard: 'Escape Reality' trailer

Storyboard
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We created a storyboard in order to visually represent the narrative within our trailer. The storyboard is an integral part of the planning process, greatly helping in the positioning of characters and props, when it comes to actual filming. Our storyboard is broken down into different scenes, with one scene being on each page, allowing the storyboard to correlate with the shot list. 

Friday 4 November 2011

Screenplay of 'Escape Reality'

Screenplay
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We made our screenplay using the pre-production software Celtex. Using Celtex greatly increased the speed and ease in which were able to work. Celtex had a template which we were able to type our screenplay into, this meant that character names, props, locations, speech and directions were all in the right format. Once we had input the days we were filming into Celtex, it created a production schedule for us. The production schedule will allow us to know what actors and props we will need on particular days, as well as what locations we will need to film in. 

Wednesday 2 November 2011

The synopsis of 'Escape Reality'


Escape Reality

A deadbeat producer preys on a group of fame hungry teenagers living the reality dream.  Alice, eager to pull the silver spoon out of her mouth, enters the house to irritate her parents and turn her back on her private education. Stacy, who was born to be famous, is used to unwanted male attention, but finds herself unable to escape the camera’s stare. Even tough boy Josh struggles to escape the screenplay in which his character makes an early departure.

The unlucky seven wannabes have barely finished sipping their champagne when the producer starts to have his wicked way with them. Who dies? He decides.

This is the Synopsis for 'Escape Reality'. I think that it is successful in the fact that it creates a sense of enigma surrounding the film. However, it does not give away the resolution to the plot, it simply states the disruption of the equilibrium and to some extent shows how the characters attempts to repair the equilibrium. This leaves the reader wanting to see the film to discover how and which characters survive. The synopsis also introduces the main characters, and hints at what  might happen to them later on in the film. 


Thursday 20 October 2011

Praticing Shooting



In preparation for filming our horror trailer, we shot a sequence of me opening a door. Although it was only a short sequence, we needed to think about the angels, shot types, framing as well as the duration of our shots. We filmed the same sequence of me opening a door multiple times, in order to shoot it from various angles. Therefore we had to ensure that I did the exact same thing each time. We predominately used mid-shots, with one point of view shot, to build tension. In addition to this,we made the segment of me opening the door handle slow motion, to create an ominous atmosphere. Once we had finished filming, we added synchronous, tense music, to create a sense of anticipation