Evaluation

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

We chose our title sequence as we felt it reflected the genre of horror successfully through the black background and the “light shining on the title” effect. I felt this was a technique that connoted “light in the darkness” which is a concept used in horror films by the binary oppositional characters Livy being the light, Harriet haunting her house being the dark domain with the absence of light. We experimented with title ideas trying to keep with a “one liner” in existing films such as “The Uninvited” and “The Grudge”. After considering the possibilities we decided the haunting was most effective. We felt it connoted the narrative and genre effectively with the simple use of the verb “Haunting”.

The location we chose was Escot House in Escot Gardens. We chose this setting due to its isolated nature, creating an atmosphere of loneliness and abandonment. The mansion the film is primary set in was chosen as usually old, grand houses are generally used. (shown in the picture below) For example a recent horror film that has come out is the woman in black, this is set in an isolated house in the marshes, haunted by a woman – this film was released after we made ours! We also set the film during the night, as you can see there is a clear difference between the day and night house (The house in the day is shown below). The nighttime creates Barthes enigma code, creating a mystery and curious instinct in the audience to explore the house. The grounds also appear more frightening because darkness is associated with horror films so the cultural background of my audience will associate the darkness with fear. The house appears daunting and imposing more so in the dark which is the preferred reading of my film. An abhorrent reading would be that the house is welcoming as there are a few lights on, but we counteracted this reading by adding a soundtrack to make it seem more frightening.

The costume we used for Livy represented her as a teenager between the ages of 18-20, this was so she seemed more helpless and weak. [Insert pic] We dressed her in a white and blue short dress for the male gaze but also because it modernizes her, emphasizes her feminity and the colour white is associated with purity. Primarily males like the genre and therefore we needed to adhere to this demographic and supply them with what they like in a horror film: attractive women and jumpy parts. She represents the modern woman in today’s society with her fashionable costume, and her feminist actions when she checks her engine - contrasting Barthes Cultural Myths and supporting the 'Girl Power Theory'. Our antagonist Harriet is in a white, dirty, night dress, which connotes she’s possibly died in her sleep, and due to cultural experience in the western world, the gown is associated with character’s in horror films such as “The Ring”.  The use of this We messed up her hair and pulled it over her face so she seemed more threatening. We also used props such as the rotten apple which is used in snow white to connote evil but also as early as biblical times in the garden of eden and the fact the apple is rotten perhaps reflects Harriet’s rotten corpse. Our film will appeal to a younger audience (18-30) because of the characters, they will empathize with Livy but also an older audience due to the “fear factor”. Because our film is available to a wide audience, distributers such as Warner Bros and Universal Studios would be interested in our film. Our Film’s USP would be the unique female antagonist only recently being approached in horror films, whereas pre 1990’s horror films were males playing the dominant roles. 

I've also used iMove to upload myself answering this question, raising new points but not addressing others!

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
My ancillary texts have the Antagonist silhouetted which is a re-occuirng motif in our film, whereby Harriet is never fully seen. The Caption shown in both my review and poster identifies the problem in the film, Livy feels uncomfortable and confused but ignores the feeling. The hook line is used to grab my audiences attention and using Barthes Enigma Code it makes them curious to find out what happens as a result of her ignoring this sensation of being followed. The Genre of my film is connoted through the blue tinge to the poster (used in the poltergeist), the intimidating silhouetted shape of our antagonist and the contrasting two sides of  the poster, black and white. Which could represent the "good vs evil" theme throughout our film (Levi-Straus' Binary Opposition). The font I chose to use is blunt and plain which is a typical feature of horror posters. On my Review I used screen shots of our film which I thought were the scariest and most haunting bits. This will instantly connote the genre so people who like horror films will want to watch it (Uses and Gratification). We also have the shroud our antagonist is wearing silhouetting her body which entices the "male gaze" drawing a male audience to our film. However we subvert the stereotype of the typical Male antagonist, giving our film an edge and a feminist attitude that female audiences will appreciate - going against Barthes Cultural Myths. The connotations of the white shroud the antagonist is dressed in are that associated with other horror films such as "The Ring" which, due to our cultural experiences in the western world is instantaneously associated with death and haunting demonic figures. We would promote our film on a multiplatform level, using websites, youtube adverts, television adverts, posters and film reviews in order to promote our film. The images promote our film with the enigma and the screen shots in the review would intice our audience to watch it.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Using many different techniques I gained a lot from my audience feedback, I was able to shape and mould my product in order to cater for the needs of my target audience, horror genre from ages 18+. My use of an online poll helped me to structure my narrative like other favourite horror films. The results of that showed more people favoured a film with a protagonist that was haunting the antagonist. The sense of "no escape" and fear is therefore a universal empathy as the audience imagine themselves in that situation. We also received some audience feedback which helped us to construct out film around the loves and hates that our audience had. This helped us to realise and change our film to fit the needs and expectations they have of a horror film. Mainly that "adrenaline rush" felt after watching a horror film, so Jono and I will strive to achieve that. I also then asked for audience feedback after creating my preliminary task. The feedback was very encouraging, it was a success among my target audience and they said they wanted to see my film, the desired effect of my poster! The multi-platform society of web2.0 has given us the opportunity to put our film on youtube and then upload it to Facebook so our non-passive audience can actively tell us their views of our film. I recognise the importance of audience feedback in order to present a successful film as it shapes the outcome because you want to satisfy their tastes and needs from a film. As you can see our film was a success and they all really liked it. We were able to talk to and discuss our film with our audience and because of this we have created a film that they specified they desired from a horror. Audience theories we applied to our film would be the "Uses and Gratification" theory whereby it suggests our audience will read our film according to their own ideas of what they find appealing. To achieve this Jono and I left the ending of our film ambigious and also never told the audience why Harriet is tormenting Livy. We did this so our audience could interprit the film how they felt would please their expectations which worked as in our audience feedback on facebook it was one of the comments made. Another theory we could apply to our film was the "Limmited Effects Paradigm."  This theory suggests that our film cannot be origonal anymore and the horror genre is beomcing tiresom. Jono and I used a female antagonist - contrary to popular horror films, and made our protagonist combat ideas of a weak female by having her check her car for faults. Our audience are shown to be actively suggesting what they like through the media which goes against the "Hyperdermic Needle Theory" as they tell us what they like and want from a horror film.

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

With the construction of our film we researched existing short films on youtube by google chrome and safari to explore different genres and pre existing material. The film that caught our immediate attention was Love field. The horror genre that is initially hinted at in the film is portrayed through the camera shots, sound effects and the iconic images such as the crow. We were inspired to create a horror film and so we began our mood board on existing horror films exploring their narratives and the film noir horror films which rely highly on shadows and lighting to create the tension. We were also inspired by strangers where the lack of narrative adds to the realistic desire of the film. We then set to work on creating a brief narrative for our film, Jono drew the images using charcoal which we thought added to the texture and film noir inspirations we'd previous looked at. We uploaded these images using a scanner to the Mac. Setting this brief outline and ideas for shots helped us to risk assess our film and analyse the possible dangers when filming. It also meant we could create an equipment list and think about costume for our characters.  I then created a powerpoint which I uploaded to slide share that helped me to look at preexisting horror films and what codes and conventions they used to make their films successful. This made it easier to imitate the conventions in our film so it would be successful at portraying our intended genre of horror. Our location for our film was then chosen and I drove out to the location and took some images in the light of the mansion (It looks very different in the light!) Jono and I also used safari to go on youtube and get some trailers of films we found inspiring and used some of there concepts for our own piece. We then set about creating the storyboard for our film planning it in detail so it would be easier to organise ourselves on set and we could work efficiently. Before filming we needed to test our equipment, which included the camera, tripod, and use of shots. I used a camera to take the pictures of Jono practising. Jono and I then discussed in detail what costume we wanted our protagonist and antagonist to wear in order to convey the correct desired messages of a horror film to our audiences. We used the search engine google to do this. Jono and I then used excel to create a filming schedule that we could use to efficiently create our film. We then used a camera to take photos of our target audience and their feedback of our ideas to ensure we were creating a film they would want to watch. We then used wordle to display our title ideas in a creative manner. We used new lighting technologies at our school to show the effect of silhouetting our antagonist and creating the enigma we wanted her to have. I also deconstructed some exiting media to explore the ideas for my own ancillary texts, and uploaded these by taking a photo and posting it on my blog. I then used photobucket and photoshop to edit both my review and post for my film. Jono and I uploaded a rough cut of our film that we had only partially edited on iMovie on my macbook onto youtube so we could display it on our blogs. We then used iTunes and iLife sound effects on our film to show how effective the sound can be to add tension to our horror and we upoloaded it from a memory stick to a mac and then uploaded it to youtube in the same way, but in a higher resolution. I have also portayed all my work on blogger and used many hyperlinks for efficiency when reading. Finally due to the web 2.0 we're able to speak directly to our audiences on facebook and reviece their response to our film as the consumers become producers I felt it was important to see their views.

Final Film

This is our final film for our media A2 course.

Our title sequence is black and white which we thought emphasised the binary opposition in our film: good VS evil. We thought the transition of the title sequence should be slow to emphasise tension. Our establishing shot is a long shot of Livy walking along the car park to her car in a short white dress connoting her innocence and her femininity and attracting the male gaze. the wind creates an eery atmosphere and the darkness and shadows give an impression that something is amiss. Next we cut away to a voyeristic shot through the tree line to Livy walking along, this gives the feeling that Livy is being watched and we see this from our antagonists, Harriets, perspective. We then see a mid shot of Livy looking over her shoulder implying she is feeling uncomfortable like she knows someone is looking at her but she is trying to ignore that feeling (hence the caption on the poster).  We then have an extremem close up on Livy's phone of a text she is going to spend explaining that she needs to go home a different route. This shot is used to explain the narrative to our audiences and how the narrative unveils itself. Moving on to the mid shot of Livy shivering in her car, this could be that "hairs standing on end" universal feeling our audiences can empathise with when they feel scared or tense. This shot adds to the tension as by use of dramatic irony, we know she is being watched, and she is just starting to feel it herself. The next poignant shot is the shot of Livy's eyes in the rear view mirror where she is unaware Harriet is standing behind her. We blurred harriet out by use of depth of field showing Livy is unaware of her presence. Finally in this scene we see Livy pull away unaware of Harriets presence next to her car. We felt this shot was particularly creepy as dramatic irony has the audience feeling like screaming at Livy telling her to look behind her - Typical of a horror film. We chose not to have Harriets face shown as it creates more of an enigma as we know less abut her as we cannot see her facial expression and therefore we fear her more.

Our next scene is outside Escot House as we see another voyeristic shot through the window watching Livy's car suddenly stop in the road. This makes the audience assume Harriet is responsible.  Livy gets out of the car and checks the engine - not typical of a female protagonist. So there is an element of feminist attitudes in our film which will please the female audience. She tries to ring home but cannot because she hasn't any signal, we showed this through sound effects on iLife. We then zoom over to the house adding a sound effect to emphasis its forbidding nature. We used pathetic fallacy by the thunderclap and thunder roll sound effects to add to the forbidding element and the isolation of the house by the footsteps sound effect being so loud in amongst the silence. We also added the door squeaking with a defining thud which we felt connoted the "there is no escape" feel.

We next see Livy in the Library where we used the lighting to be quite dim which typical represents an old haunted house. The mise en scene of the library is all old pictures which has been used in horror films to connote its age and the deceased people who have lived within the house. Then we go to a shot of Livy looking at the books and then the piano is played eerily so Livy runs out of the room feeling quite creeped out.

Livy explores the basement after hearing some footsteps, the metal gate looks almost like jail bars which connotes the forbidding element and the age of the house. The basement is a typical setting for a horror film as it smothering and really connotes the "no escape" motif running throughout our film. She passes a mirror where she jumps at her own reflection and then notices an apple on the chair. The apple we thought could signify, through cultural experiences, evil. This is by references made to apples in films such as "Snow White" and in the bible the apple represents sin. Livy looks back up in the mirror and see's Harriet standing behind her and the sound effect makes it jumpy. She drops the apple and we shot a close up of it rolling on the floor. We then see Livy running back out of the basement and Harriet slowly walking behind her - almost mockingly teasing her like a cat and mouse. Harriet walks slowly through the gate and we added a sound effect where it emphasises her presence being evil. We cut away to Livy running into another room and slamming the door with a heart beat loudly pumping, which creates tension. We cut away to Livy and Harriet which adds to the chase scene being important and tense. Livy slowly opens the door with a close up on her hand, we then see a point of view looking out the door from left to right to left again where Harriet suddenly appears and then blackout. This leaves the ending as an enigma and the audience is left wondering why or how harriet got there unnoticeably.

Jono and I chose sound effects which we felt wither created tension or conveyed the forboding nature of our film. We used non-diegetic and diegetic sounds, contrasting them with total silence - which shown to work well in our audience feedback on facebook. We used cut aways and jump cuts throughout our film as we felt it made it more realistic, therefore gripping the audience more and built the tension up better. We edited our clip to have a reddish tinge throughout the scenes in the house which connotes the passion, danger and blood that horror films revolve around. We used dark lighting throughout as the shadows and darkness are instantaneously recognisable to the audience as frightening. We used short camera shots to build tension up effectively, many shots of Livy's expression so the audience empathise with her and sometimes shakey shots which are used lots in horror in films such as "The Blaire Witch Project".

The Woman In Black

The Woman In Black (TWIB) is a film that was recently released after Jono and I created our film, but the similarities are brilliant for comparison. The Mise En Scene of the isolated "haunted house" concept is paramount in both mine and Jono's film and TWIB. The idea of this is powerful as due to the cultural experiences in the western world our audiences infer this to be a frightening location. The Isolation plays up to the idea of "no escape" and "no-one can hear you scream" which is a key concept used in many horror films. Another key idea that is similar is the haunting ghost-like figure in both films. However the costume differs largely. TWIB chose to represent their antagonist in black to connote her evil, darkness and mystery. However Jono and I thought it would be more effective to dress our antagonist in a white shroud-like nightgown. This causes Barthes Enigma code to be prominant in our film. The audience is left questioning her dress. Did she die in her nightgown? Was she sick? Or perhaps was she murdered in her sleep? Is that the cause of her unrelenting cruelty? Or is she just pure evil? As these questions are swirling round our audiences heads our film becomes more intriguing. The cruelty of TWIB is explained, her son was taken away from her and killed in the marshes that surround the house. Our Antagonist's reasoning for her cruelty is never explained, we chose to do this so our audience can make their own decisions about this as it pleases them - Uses and Gratification Theory. We modernised our film, and set it in the present day so it had more of a universal feel that people could easily relate to.

Rough cut

I have uploaded the rough cut of our film to show the initial stages of our editing, we have not uploaded any sounds to the film, or completed editing our clips. I've done this to show the powerful effect soundtrack can have on a film, it builds the tension in our film and the diegetic sound effects are powerful against the silence in some of our clips, making the jumps - typical of a horror - even more effective. We've edited the lighting to give it a red tinge to connote the "danger" and "blood lust" of our antagonist.