The document discusses a student's evaluation of their short horror film project. It covers various aspects of the film including its use of horror conventions, representation of social groups, target audience, and what the student learned about film technologies. The student conducted audience research which found that viewers could relate to characters, felt the plot was believable, and rated the opening sequence highly overall.
2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
3. Generic conventions of horror employed within our piece We used the representational colours within our piece to convey personalities and attitudes. Here the protagonist is dressed in white connoting innocence/ naivety, a technique often used in horror to present the victim. Her blonde hair also furthers this technique.
4. Links to existing Films We used costumes within our piece in a similar way to Scream (1996). Within the film, the victim wears white and has blonde hair, conveying her innocence and naivety to the audience. We attempted to re-create this within our piece by using a similar costume and an actor with blonde hair. In this instance we kept to a traditional convention of horror films- victim is innocent and unsuspecting.
5. Antagonist remains anonymous throughout, coupled with black attire hinting at her victim’s fate and presenting the character as ominous Generic conventions of horror employed within our piece
6. Generic conventions of horror employed within our piece We developed the convention of the victim being innocent and unsuspecting- the audience can see what is about to happen but she can’t, building tension. The victim is also wearing a black coat when she leaves the house-again hints at her fate as black connotes death.
7. Links to existing Films As in Psycho (1960), the audience of our film is aware of the antagonist and can see what is ultimately going to happen, but the victim can not. We used this convention to build dramatic tension.
8. Generic conventions of horror employed within our piece Death of protagonist not shown- a convention of many psychological horrors to scare the audience mentally rather than graphically
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10. Conventions of title sequences within our piece Names of actors/ producers presented throughout opening sequence- a technique used in many existing films.
11. Conventions of title sequences within our piece Media institution logo and title of film
12. Conventions of horror we challenged within our piece Within our piece we challenged the traditional horror convention of a male antagonist. Although this was originally unintentional, I feel it provides and interesting twist on typical character stereotypes within the genre.
13. Antagonists within existing films Norman Bates (Psycho,1960) Jack Torrance (The Shining, 1980) Sweeny Todd (Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, 2007) Most antagonists within horror films are typically male (see left) but there are some exceptions to this convention where, like our film a female antagonist has been used (see below). Peyton Flanders (The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, 1992) Baby Jane Hudson (Whatever happened to Baby Jane?, 1962)
14. Influence from existing horror films One specific horror that particularly influenced our work was Psycho (1960) directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The famous ‘shower scene’ has a similar format to that of the murder scene within our piece. In both cases, the victim is unaware of the danger they are in. Soon the audience becomes aware of the antagonist although the victim remains oblivious, building tension. Then the inevitable murder takes place. Within our piece we made the decision not to show the death of the victim, whereas within Psycho the murder is more graphic. Clip of Psycho shower scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VP5jEAP3K4
15. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
16. Representation of gender Within our piece, both the victim and antagonist are female. Through this depiction we are developing the convention of a female victim, presenting her as innocent and defenceless but challenging the stereotype of a male antagonist. This represents the fact that it is not only men that commit murder (although media portrayal seems to focus on men as being more malicious) and not only men that suffer from mental disorders. It makes the situation seem more realistic.
17. Representations of age All the actors used within our piece were 16 or 17. In some respects I feel this benefits the film as we were aiming the film at the 15-25 age group and the audience should hopefully be able to relate to the characters and their situations, but I think the plot would have been more believable had the psychiatric nurses been adults.
18. Representations of Race We used different races within our piece to show that the murder could have happened to anybody- emphasising the fact that Mark and Jane were just an ordinary couple and that the murder could’ve happened to anybody, regardless of race, gender, age etc.
19. Representations of Class From the decor and size of the couples’ house, the audience can see that Mark and Jane are fairly well off- particularly for their age. From their argument however, the audience realises that the earning of money and who contributes to bill paying is an issue between the couple, and something they have argued about in the past. It also shows that although the couple are seemingly wealthy, they seem unable to trust each other, perhaps hinting that money doesn’t bring happiness.
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21. Protagonist and links to audience The story is told from the character Jane’s point of view. By doing this hopefully the audience will relate to her character and the situations she encounters and will empathise with her. The decision to use an ‘ordinary’ teenager also reflects the fact that the murder was random and could happen to anybody, a thought that will remain with the audience after they have witnessed the film. During the couple’s argument, Jane is portrayed as a strong, almost aggressive character- deviating away from the traditional quiet, subservient fashion in which females (and indeed victims) are presented within horror films. This further reiterates the feeling that it does not matter how strong/ forceful you are as a person, nobody is safe from the antagonist.
22. What kind of institution might distribute your media product and why?
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28. Who would be the audience for your media product?
38. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
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41. Problems encountered during the filming process The first problem we encountered was during our first filming session. We were not able to film in the location we had intended to for the staffroom scene, meaning we had to recreate the look of the location we had envisaged in a different room. Although originally we felt this was going to be a big problem, by working together we managed to successfully set up in the new location fairly quickly and recreated a staffroom setting that we were happy with. The ‘staffroom’ during set up and within final film
