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

I believe that the Preliminary task helped me out a lot with the making of our movie. i feel that if we had never got the chance to do it, our opening sequence would be very different, and not as good. The preliminary task gave me great knowledge of the equipment we used including the Camera, Tripod and IMovie HD. I enjoyed both task and the progression i have made between the two, i believe is brilliant.

For the Preliminary task we created a short sequence which included Shot reverse shot, 180 degree rule and match on action. The sequence consisted of two people having a short discussion lasting only a few seconds; this could be set anywhere however, it must contain the three types of shots.This was a great opportunity to use the equipment.  

For the main task, we had to make the opening of a film opening. It had to include titles, music and had to introduce characters. The main task was longer than our preliminary task and it took us much longer to create because we had to story board, film and we had to edit a lot more content than what we had to in the preliminary task.

As a group we all had a lot of different ideas and we took all of them on board, planning to include all of them, however we found that we were over complicating things so we tried to make it more simple, so that it would be easier to achieve, and focus on the shot types and angles and editing more than the storyline.

After filming on the Mac's and editing our whole film, i feel i learnt more when doing the opening sequence because we used more programmes like Garage Band and iTunes because it need more assistance and work used on it.It also needed more editing than the preliminary task. This means Our movie took us a lot to create.

Overall, i believe that our horror movie was made more scary and fearful because of the help we had with the Mac computers to edit and the other helping programmes we used. Although it took us a fair bit of time to work out how to use everything, when we finally knew, we managed to get on with our work and perfect it. The toughest programme we used was Garage Band. This is because we had to use this programme as a group, This is because it was very complicated to use and required a lot of assistance. After using it for a little while we understood it more and it became easier to use.

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

 We used Garage Band to create all the music and sounds in our film. This programme is easy to use and has a wide range of different sounds on it, this shows that we have some versatility throughout our film. 

We used Itunes to save all of the music we made in Garage Band to import on to our film. We also saved and imported a police siren to IMovie HD. This is a non-diegetic sound.

We used IMovie HD throughout the whole process of making the movie. This helped us to put each clip together, use special effects, non-diegetic sounds and tension building sounds.

 We have all been using Blogger to keep updated with our work and to keep other people updated with our work. It has been seen as a record of what we have been doing from the beginning and how everything has developed.

I have previously used Itunes, however the other programmes were new to me. It took time to understand how to use them but after a bit of practice, it became easier and very helpful.

5) How did you attract/address your audience?

This first still frame from our film opening is an establishing shot and pans around the area slowly. The purpose of this shot is to set the scene and give the audience an idea of the film. The CCTV high security sign suggests that the film is set in a secure place leaving the audience to wonder why this could be and where it might be.This is because only highly dangerous places would need such equipment. We, as a group, decided to not use any types of music or sounds in this clip because we believed it would be better to make it seem calm and relatively normal and to create a greater impact when the music starts on the other clips. Many horror movies start of with an establishing shot that begins very with quiet music, an example would be 'The Uninvited', where in the beginning of this it is also quite calm and normal, which makes the viewer wonder why, but then as the film get further into the opening the tension begins to build up as the story unravels. This is often done in horror movies to create a chilling atmosphere and keep the audience intrigued.

This next still is of Cathrine's edited face. She has escaped from a mental hospital. She  is shown in this still to be possessed, we achieved this by using special effects, we edited the contrast and colours of this clip but most importantly we changed her eye colour to red, which is a typical convention of a possessed character in a horror movie. Her eye being red helps to convey that she is evil and the  stare she is doing along with it  helps to re enforce that because it is very incensing and slightly menacing. The effects we used here are useful to attract our target audience because they are different and not how a person would see another person under normal circumstances so the effect helps to distinguish the difference between  normal people and possessed people like Catherine.



This last still is of Catherine as she begins her killing spree , she is shown here killing her first victim, the nurse. In this still there are many visible conventions of a horror movie. The woods  is a typical location because it is an isolated and slightly darker area. We used non-diegetic sound in this clip , cold wind and some music we composed oursleves on garage band, we did this to build up tension and fear as the killing takes place. We used strings music as research showed that it was the most common instrument used for horror films.

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

This is Sinead. She is a typical teenager who we would aim our film at. She is a hard working student in full education. She likes to watch films in the cinema and go shopping with friends. Her favourite shops are Topshop, H&M and Superdry. she is very fashionable and like to keep updated with the latest trends and styles.
Her favourite music artists are Nicki Minaj and Matt Cardle. Her favourite T.V programmes are The X Factor, I'm a Celebrity get me out of here and Misfits. Sinead enjoys reality TV and is highly intrigued by Misfits, which is about super powers and the dark sides to it.


Sinead enjoys Horror movies as she enjoys the fright they produce and the way they make her want to keep watching. She would definitely watch our movie 'The Escaped' because it would give her a thrill and keep her watching to find out what happens next.

In the opening scenes of ‘The Escaped’ there is violence and a murder and as the film would go on this violence would progress and therefore would be classified as Certificate 15.

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

The genre of horror is extremely popular in the television and film world. After some research this is what i found out.

Film 4:

This channel airs a huge range of different genres of film, from rom-com to horror. Recently they were showing a thriller called 'The Devils Backbone'. Previously film 4  have shown various horror movies including 'Night On Elm Street' ,'Saw', 'The Exorcist' , 'The Ring', 'The Omen', 'House of Wax' and many more. These films  all show typical conventions of horror movies. This includes locations, props and costumes. Because of the genre these types of films have to be shown later in the evening and aimed at 18 year old and over only due to the content, meaning younger viewers are not expected to watch.

                            

                                 

Film Festivals:

There are film festivals everywhere in the world. In Los Angeles, Cannes, London, New York and many others are just a few examples of the most common fim festival destinations. In Los Angeles there is a film festival called 'Screamfest'. the events airs the film and produces awards for the best and winning films in each horror category. Everyone who attends the event, including actors, dresses up as horror characters. It is the only requirement.

                                               The Odeon Cinema:

 

My local Odeon in Guildford shows every new release of every genre. The current horror films being shown at the Odeon are 'Saw 3D' and 'Paranormal Activity 2'. Horror is one of the most popular genres to watch, so these types of films are some of the best sellers in the cinema. This is because it gives people a sense of fear and adrenaline.

 

 

I personally believe that our film 'The Escaped' would be viewed in the cinema. i also believe that because of it's genre there is a very likely chance that it could be placed in a film festival such as the 'Screamfest' in Los Angeles.

 

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

On the left hand side of the screen is Catherine. She is the possessed girl in our play, she is seen as the perpetrator in our film. On the right hand side is Samara. She is also a possessed girl from the well know film, 'The Ring'. There are many similarities between the two including the way thy look, the way they dress and the fact their parts in the film are very similar.

The similarities between both of the girls are that they look nearly identical. Their hair is covering their face, this gives the impression that they are hiding behind it because of a secret they hold. This is also showed through their possessed eyes and devilish facial expressions which creates a a scary feel and adds to the genre of horror. Another similarity is the costumes used. Both Catherine and Samara is that they both wear simplistic nightgowns. which adds to the physciatric tendencies. However both girls wear these outside of the mental hospital which gives the suggestion that they are both outsiders. Both characters have similar roles of being violent killers.  

There are also many difference in the two characters. Samara is younger than Catherine and have different coloured hair and style. Catherine's stills are less realistic compared to Samara's as he special effects aren't quite as well done considering we didn't have the same or similar budget opposed to 'The Ring' because we are no where near as big a production company as the creators of The Ring. Because Catherine is younger she has a more mature attitude compared to Samara, this also makes her slightly more educated as she used to live a normal life.

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

1. This is our first of the film. it is a pan shot of a security sign. This fits in will with our genre as it suggests that the premise is under watch because it is extremely dangerous. This also fits in with our film title of 'The Escaped' as it also suggests that CCTV is needed to make the enviroment more secure and safe. This brings a lot of suspense and makes the viewer continue to watch to find out why the destination is under such high security

2. This shot helps that audience to have an initial understanding of what the movie is about and how the 'sicotic' girl escaped the mental institution. the destination we filmed in isn't a typical setting for a horror film, we believe this can have an impact and somehow make the film slightly more scary.  

3.This is one of the only shots we have used dialogue in. The nurse uses the phone to make an important call, warning staff that Catherine has escaped. she makes this call from her office, this is made relevant due to the props we have used, a computer and paperwork/files. the phone can be seen as safe prop as it it commonly used to call for help

 4. This shot gives some background to Catherine. This scene shows the file of Catherine explaining why she was admitted and her state mind being labelled 'Highly Dangerous'. In this shot we have used a lot of different shot types mainly extreme close ups. we have filmed the file in a way that makes the audience feel like they are reading the file. We also zoom into words highly dangerous, this creates a tense feeling making the viewer feel scared and worried about what will happen next.

5. This shot is where we introduce the film title. This scene has a lot happening in it including the chase where the nurse is searching for Catherine, as the nurse walks away, only the audience can see Catherine appear just as the title begin to fade away. we overlayed the shots to make he long scene seem more interesting and worth watching. we chose a simplistic and sans-serif font to make the film a more modern style of horror.

6. In this shot we edited a still of Catherine that shows her possessed by some kind of demon. This shows a great understanding towards the audience about who Catherine is and why people should fear of her. It creates a more scary vibe to the film. this shot relates back to scene four. 

7. This shot shows the typical location of a horror film, being a woods. We placed the camera in different positions to create a more life like feeling. This also creates a sense of fear. the still we have chosen is an over the shoulder shot just before something bad is about to happen. in editing we used garage band to make suspense track to put over the film. This makes the nurse seem vulnerable meaning anything can happen.

8. This is one of the most crucial part of the film as it is when the nurse is strangled to death by Catherine. This has shown an outcome of the great suspense that has been built up. it also introduces Catherine as a murdering and explains why she is 'Highly Dangerous'.

9. In this last shot of the movie we see Catherine leaving the crime scene just as she hears the police sirens become louder. This creates tension and make the viewer want to know if she will get caught and what will happen next. This is what we were aiming for as a cliffhanger is one of the best ways to end a horror film.