Soundtrack Evaluation

Soundtrack Evaluation

Like most horror film openings, the music must create suspense and keep the audience wondering whats going to happen next. The music should make the viewers seem uncomfortable, which I think this piece does by Peder B. Helland. After a long time of searching for the perfect soundtrack, I stumbled across this brilliant piece of music and decided to use it in my final piece. 

An example of a horror film that features Omnious scary music in the opening is Scream (1978). Yet again, the music in this is trying to make the audience feel really uncomfortable and on edge so they do not know what is going to happen. The music starts around 0:39.

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment

Storyboards (new & old)

Below are the New Story Boards

Our new story boards included a much easier idea which involved the use of a forest out the back of Morgans garden which didn't require us to get any authorisation as it is a public place. It also made the perfect spot for our idea as it followed a typical horror convention of being in a forest which is typically seen as a place for stalker like monsters/characters to kill or torture their prey.

Below are the old story boards

Our old story boards were at a completely different setting which would have been more difficult for us to film at as it was in an abandoned home and being able to get authorised to film there may have been difficult. Some of the shots that we also planned would have been difficult as if we were not able to get in the house we would not have been able to shoot. When we attempted to shoot this we also had an issue with lighting because it was outside of school and at the time it was getting dark early and didn't leave us much time to get all of the shots.

Cast List

Cast List For 'The Forest'

 

 

 

Survey Evaluation

Survey Evaluation
9 people took part in my survey and i collected the results and presented the data using charts and percentages?

Question 1

6 out of 9 people that took part in my survey are males and 3 out of 9 are females this shows more males are interested in taking part in a survey bout horror films. this can then show me that males are more likely to watch a horror film than females.

Question 2

Question two shows that 6 out of 9 people that participated were between 14 and 17 which means that the target audience would be for the horror genre would be teens and young adults.

Question 3

66% of people said they like horror films but don't love or hate them so that tells me that the horror genre may not be the most popular genre.

From this i decided to do some research into the most popular genres and found that horror falls 7th and has a 4.58% share in the industry where as the most popular is comedy with a 22.01% share closely followed by adventure which has a 21.80% share.

Question 4

(not all responses could fit in the table)

From these responses i can see that most people that watch scary films enjoy the tension building and a jump scare. This tells me that this is a vital part of the film for those that enjoy watching it.

Question 5

From this question i can see that people would expect jump scares and tension straight from the start as well as introducing the scary characters and themes. 

Question 6

From this i can gather that people would not like to see things you would see in a happy comedy/family film as it is unconventional and would not suit the genre.

Question 7

This shows me how often people are watching horror films and majority never watch them or only watch them 1 or 2 times every four months. This then backs up that horror films may not be the most popular option similar to how it fell 7th in terms of the most popular genre.

Question 8

This has told me that people like to go out to the cinema to watch movies or watch films off of streaming services like Netflix which have become massively popular recently. It also shows that people do not like to watch films while on the television or by DVD and VHS.

Main Task

AS Media Main Task - The Forest - Jack Hillyer & Morgan Sumner

Main Task Evaluation

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

Our media product ‘The Forest’ created by me(Jack Hillyer) and my partner Morgan sumner, is based on the horror genre and we have followed typical conventions such as there being dark gloomy shots, a ‘monster’ following the main characters filmed using a pov shot. Typical conventions for a horror setting are small communities or isolated places, urban environments, dark streets and narrow alleyways, large cities or run down ghost towns, anything that connotes isolation or being alone. Often sometimes places with “dark” history, like abandoned houses, hotels and insane asylums. The setting for our horror opening is an isolated forest in the winter season with bare trees, floor covered in leaves, dark gloomy sky. Locations for any good horror genre film could be: Lakes, Countryside, Barns, Farms, Dark Woods, Woodlands, Houses, Cabins, Cities, Subways, Gloomy Underground Tunnels, Creepy Hotels, Abounded Houses, Haunted Houses, Space-Stations (for Sci-Fi Horror), Graveyard (Or Cemetery), Dungeons, Space Ships, Alien Planets (Like Predators), basements, attics, meat factories, science lab, London Underground, Shopping Mall, Cornfield, Pirate Ship, Tundra, Asylum, Deep Water, Blizzards and many other dark locations. Our work follows conventional camerawork for our genre, as camerawork is very expressive and not natural. High and Low angles can connote fear and nightmares. Handheld shots make it difficult for the audience to make out what is happening. Cloverfield is one prime example of this, since the entire movie is shot with a handheld camera to promote the feeling of terror and the unknown. Similar to how we used handheld camerawork to shoot our scene in which the monster was behind the branches and one of the final scenes where the camera follows one of the main characters when he turns around to look at the monster on the swing. Sometimes framework uses the depth of field, makes it harder to see the monster creeping up behind the protagonist. Disturbing sounds are very important in a horror movie. Ambient diegetic sounds like footsteps and non-diegetic sounds (like a heartbeat). Again this is similar to how we used a disturbing crescendo sound effect which helped to intensify the jump scare. We also used a heartbeat sound effect when the main character turns around to see the monster approaching. Our use of character types also follows the stereotypical horror conventions like The Main Protagonist, often the “victim/hero” of the movie. In our case the protagonist being the victim. The Villain, often a monster, mutated freak, alien or serial killer. Ours being a man that has been killed in the same area as the main characters walk through and has now come back to kill the young teens this then follows the other stereotypical convention that the stupid/immoral teenagers that always get killed.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our piece represents the youth social group as the storyline is based upon two teenaged boys and portrays an accurate representation of what youths actually do, they are normally shown to be causing havoc around a town or stealing a granny's purse. The Forest represents them in an accurate way because they are doing what a normal youth would be doing, walking with a mate having a chat. This also relates to our target audience because we were aiming it at people aged 16+.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?

A media institution that would distribute my horror opening would be lionsgate films or hammer films, especially hammer films because they are specially known for making horror films. So then people would see that our film has been distributed by hammer and can expect a horror film. After researching ‘The Woman in Black’ I discovered that they are a film company that make/produce/distribute British horror films. As my piece is low budget and doesn’t contain famous actors, a better company would be The Artificial Eye company. My film is unlikely to be distributed by a company like Universal Studios.

Who would the audience be for your media product?

Our audience would be people aged 16 - 25 because it is based around youth that age and will be appealing because the main characters are of a similar age. This also appeals to young people because they tend to like going to watch horror films with their boyfriend or girlfriend so that the boyfriend can then play the comfort role. Horror films also fill young people with adrenaline and fear that get the heart rate going as they connect to the characters and feel the same fear that they are feeling even knowing they are safe behind the screen.

How did you attract/address the audience?

We attracted and addressed our audience by basing it upon modern day youth as it gives an accurate representation of what they actually do, they are stereotypically portrayed as being violent reckless teenagers that will be out vandalising other peoples property, doing drugs, drinking alcohol whereas youth of today are normally out with friends being harmless, playing video games, communicating using social media.

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

From constructing this product i have gained various skills ranging from editing to filming and photoshopping. The first skill i learnt when constructing my piece was to film and all the different types of shots that there are to make a piece look professional e.g. close up, cut away, point of view, etc... I have also learnt how different angles have different representations of characters and how they can portray class and status e.g. A high angle shows the subject from above, i.e. the camera is angled down towards the subject. This has the effect of diminishing the subject, making them appear less powerful, less significant or even submissive and then low angle this shows the subject from below, giving them the impression of being more powerful or dominant. This helps to give the correct impressions across to the audience so they can understand what a characters role in the film is. There are also a few rules that i learnt about filming which help to keep the film flowing correctly and make sure it looks professional one being the rule of thirds which is a concept in video and film production in which the frame is divided into into nine imaginary sections. This creates reference points which act as guides for framing the image. Another rule i learnt is the 180° rule which is a very important concept in video and film production. It refers to an imaginary line which cuts through the middle of the scene, from side to side with respect to the camera. Crossing the line changes the viewer's perspective in such as way that it causes disorientation and confusion. For this reason, crossing the line is something to be avoided. This helps to keep the audiences perspective straight so that they don't get confused as to what is happening in the scene. Another skill that i have learnt in the construction of this product is using editing programmes such as adobe premiere pro and adobe after effects while using adobe premiere pro i learnt various skills such as how to cut clips together to make a short movie opening and how to make a match to action cut which is a key factor when making a movie as it ensures that the film flows smoothly. Match to action is an editing technique for continuity editing in which one shot cuts to another shot portraying the action of the subject in the first shot. This creates the impression of a sense of continuity – the action carrying through creates a “visual bridge” which draws the viewer’s attention away from slight cutting or continuity issues. This is not a graphic match or match cut, it portrays a continuous sense of the same action rather than matching two separate things. I also learnt using premiere pro how to add a sound effect and sound track onto a piece to help create suspense and tension during the piece. The skills i learnt using after effects were how to make a professional looking intro and title (sinister studios & the forest). This gives off the impression to the audience that the people making the film know what they are doing and are professional. Finally i learnt skills using adobe photoshop when i made a replica of a bbfc age classification certificate which is a convention of all films shown in movies this. By using photoshop i learnt how to remove certain parts of an image to replace with other parts, how to add text to an image, how to add different layers on an image and how to make it look professional.

So overall i think that i have learnt a whole variety of skills that have been useful in the production of my movie opening and will help in creating other pieces in future. They are also skills that can be taken into the professional industry.

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

From doing the preliminary task I learnt various things. I learnt that the 180 degree rule is majorly important as it plays an important role in helping the viewers understand what is happening in the scene and doesn't confuse them as to where the characters are in the scene and what direction they are travelling in. I have also learnt that the match to action shot also plays a massive role in the perception of the audience and making sure that the piece flows smoothly and is not jumpy. One of the main things i learnt from the preliminary task is to follow a time schedule/plan because it helps to make sure things get done by a certain date and stops everything being left to the last minute and rushed.