Also our film contains scenes of violence therefore we felt it was
appropriate to make the film a certificate 15. In addition felt it would be
suited for young adults because they would be able to relate to some of the characters
in our film. Such as most young adults like drinking and sex, for that reason
we have incorporated this into our film as Donald tries to get Shelly drunk and
he tries it on with her. Our film is
aimed at both genders. After conducting
secondary research we found that there is only a small gap between women and
men who are more likely to watch a horror film. Therefore we thought it was
best to aim our film at both genders as both men and women would enjoy the
film. To attract men we added violence, shown in the murder scene between
Shelly and Sandra. We also made Donald into the typical teenage boy obsessed
with drinking and girls. This should attract men as statistics show they like
violence and they may be able to relate to Donald’s character. On the contrary
to attract women we used role reversal, shown where Sandra has power over
Donald. This would empower women and make them feel like they are not always
perceived as the typical naive girl. There is not a specific region for our film, however we feel young adults from East London would benefit more as this is where the film was set, although any British young adult would enjoy the film. Lastly race, after conducting research there seemed to be no significant race that watched Horror films more. Therefore our film can be watched by any race.
How did you attract/
address your audience?
In order to attract/ address our audience we used a variety
of research methods. By carrying out research we were able to find out what
types of horror films people liked and what age group best liked horror films.
We carried out a questionnaire in the local shopping centre to gather
information about what types of horror films people like to watch and what age
group watched them the most. By doing this we found out that thriller was the
most favourite genre followed by romance. And the age group was 18-24. The
research was very helpful as it gave us an insight to what types of horror
films people where watching and what age group to aim our film at. By gathering
this knowledge we were able to apply what viewers liked to our film. 
Once our
film was completed we uploaded it to Facebook, where our friends could watch
the film and give feedback about their likes and dislikes. This is a non biased
way on gathering feedback as there was a variety of people watching our film
and they all gave their individual opinion. We also used YouTube to attract our audience as it is free and easy to upload videos. Using the information gathered we
came up with the plot of our film. By having the first scene set by school
lockers we hoped it would engage the young adults as school is a familiar place
to them. We also used typical stereotypes that would be able to attract our
specific audience such as the vulnerable naive girl and the typical teenage
boy.
What have you learnt about
technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Other technologies
used by our group were YouTube; we frequently used YouTube to research thriller
opening clips and sound tracks. We have also used programmes such as Premier,
we used this to upload and edit our film, and we could also add music and
graphics. I have never used premier before, however it was easy to pick
up. Celtx was another programme we used;
this programme was used to create a script, story board and master catalogue.
As I have never used this before it took time to use however I picked up the
skills eventually. Microsoft and Facebook were technologies that I have already
used so it was quick and convenient. Finally, Blogger was one of the main
technologies we used during the construction it enabled us to upload our work
and it was free for the public to look at our work. Blogger was easy to
navigate so it was easy to use.
How does your media
product represent particular social groups?
Our film focused mainly on gender and age representation. We
focused on these two particularly because we thought our audience would be able
to relate to these the majority of our viewers where young adults. In our media
product we showed gender representation through each of our characters. Liam
who plays Donald was portrayed as the typical male. He had power over both of
the other female characters and he had a higher authority. We showed this by
Donald taking power and making Shelly drink alcohol even though she had
refused. Gender representation was also shown through Shelly’s character as she
fits the stereotype of the typical teenage girl. Shelly was subservient to
Donald and let him take control of the situation. She was also very naive as
she believed Donald had her round to revise. In contrast Emily’s character
Sandra did not fit the usual stereotype this is known as role reversal. Sandra has power over both Shelly and Donald.
On the other hand she does conform slightly to the stereotype as she kills
Shelly out of revenge because she fancies Donald and is jealous. All of the
characters in our film are portrayed as teenagers and therefore representation
of these characters are extremely important to the film. Youths are seen by
society as being people who are violent, like to get drunk and have sex. We
portrayed this stereotype in our film by having the characters drink and by
adding a violent attack.
What kind of media
institution might distribute your media product and why?
As our film is an independent film it would not be shown in
the big mainstream cinemas such as Vue and Oden as we would not have the
finance. To start off I would put our film on YouTube as it is the cheapest and
quickest way to get our film noticed. 
The next step would be small independent
cinemas which are usually found in areas such as Soho or film institutions such
as Film 4, the UK film council and the BBC. The UK film association support
upcoming directors’ by funding their film in order to attract a wider
audience. Film 4 shows and produce a
large number of British films such as ‘This is England’. Finally, the BBC
produces many feature films and is committed to finding new talents. However if the film was a great success with Film 4, I could consider going to big producers such as Vue or international producers, so the film could go international. This would be the best achievement for the film as it will gain a lot of popularity and money. For my
film I would consider approaching all of these institutions, so that my budget
would be covered.
Looking back at your
preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it
to the full product?
Looking back at my preliminary task I feel as if I have
improved immensely with regards to my time management, filming and editing. From
the preliminary task up to the final film I have looked back at my work and
realised I have made a vast improvement on filming. During the preliminary I
was new to using the camera and tripod therefore some of my shots where rather unstable.
However, after some practice by the time it came to film the final product I
was much more confident and was able to film well using the camera and tripod.
Secondly, while filming the preliminary I learnt that you cannot film directly
into sunlight as you will not be able to see the actor’s faces. As a result,
when filming our actual piece I made sure there was never direct sunlight.
Something else we learnt from our preliminary task was to always take more than one shot of a scene. While filming our preliminary we had a lot of continuity issues, which were very time consuming as we had to re film. Therefore, when filming the final product we made sure we took a few takes for each shot. By doing this we were not set back as we had other footage to rely on.
In what ways does
your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real
media products? 
In many thriller films camera shots and angles are used to
capture tense moments, reveal facial expressions and create suspense. In our
film we used many camera shots and angles which are commonly used in thriller
films. Such as Point of view, high angles, low angle, close up, extreme close
up. 
In our film we used non diegetic and
diegetic sound. This is commonly used in thrillers as it can make a scene more
suspenseful as non diegetic sound can add instant suspense. With a thriller
genre its aim is to make people jump. Therefore by incorporating non diegetic
music into our film it will build anticipation for the viewer. Diegetic sound
is used in thrillers to emphasise and add effect it could be a punch or a
slamming of a door. We have diegetic sound in our film for the same reason; to
create effect.Mise en scene consists of lighting, costumes, props and space. This is very important as the audience will be able to tell through costume and props what type of film it is. In our film we used low key lighting, which is where the subject is not fully lit; this will add suspense and mystery. This can be shown in our film where Sandra is at the top of the stairs. Low key lighting is used to create tension. We used alcohol bottles and knife for props as well as others. We used these to live up to the stereotype of teenagers and alcohol. We used the knife to show the viewers how the victim was killed.
I believe our film challenges the conventions of a real media product because usually it is the men who have power over women. However our film Sandra has power over Donald and Shelly as Sandra is the one who is the killer. However, this is also challenging the genre because usually when a woman has power in a film it is due to sexual objectification, whereas in our film the villain is not sexually objectified. On the other hand we did follow the typical genre pattern as Donald is portrayed as a typical teenage boy who has the power over Shelly. We also followed the genre pattern by showing Shelly as the vulnerable, naive and weak as she ended up dead in the end.
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