6.What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

During the progression of my production, I have learnt many different things about different technologies. I created the script for our film, so I was mainly using Microsoft Word. However, I also worked on the editing and helped with the camera work, so I can give a full account of how the different technologies worked.

During the progress of our film, I didn't encounter any real problems whilst creating the script. This was because I was using Microsoft Word to create it. The reason why I didn't encounter any problems with this software was because it is a very simple program to use, there are many different options such as text size, font etc. There is also a very simple layout, and it is easy to find different options. The other reason why I didn't encounter any problems with Microsoft Word was because I have had LOADS of experience with it. I have been using the program for at least eight years, so I know how to use the software extensively, and there was no problem that I couldn't overcome. I also learnt that Microsoft Word was quite a useful software, because I was able to quickly create a professional script for my main production with ease.

I also helped with the editing on our main production. The software we used to edit our film was Adobe Premier Elements 9. There were many useful options that helped us to create our horror film in this program. For example, we could use options to change the brightness of certain scenes in our film, to make it suitable for our product. We could also cut different segments of our clip and place them in different areas, so we could easily improve on our continuity editing. Even though there were many useful features in Premier Elements, we also faced many problems whilst editing. The main problem we faced was with the extra audio files. The main problem we faced was with the audio files not playing, they had no volume so this was a huge setback for our film. I knew that this was a problem in Premier Elements because the file worked fine when it was played on Windows Media Player. I didn't know the cause of the problem for these audio files, but luckily the sound files worked in the end, so we were able to add in these audio files in the end.

I also helped to set up the camera positions while we were filming our horror film. The main thing I learnt about the camera during this time was that it was quite confusing to operate. Even though there were the simple buttons for recording and zooming, there were still many different configurations that could adjust the focus and sound levels on the camera. It is clear that there is a fault with the focus in some shots. For instance, in one shot our cameraman tried to adjust the manual focus so that a religious figure would be in focus, while the background would be out of focus. But instead of this, the whole shot is blurry. I also learnt that with the camera we used, we could adjust the brightness the brightness for different locations, similar to the brightness option in Adobe Premier Elements 9.

5.How did you attract/address your audience?

The product that I created attracted my target audience through many different means. The product's plot and characters are both unique, so I attracted my audience through a unique film experience. I also managed to address my audience through the genre of my film. The film I made was a horror film set in a high school, so this would've addressed my audience because they are teenagers who also go to high school.

The main feature that made my product attractive was its unique characters and plot. For example, rather than having stereotypical characters in the film, I decided to create unique characters; also more realistic ones. I decided to have characters like this because it would have made the film more realistic in my opinion, this is because stereotypical characters aren't really realistic or believable. I thought that if I made the characters original, it would also enhance the horror element in our film. If the characters were more realistic, then the audience would be able to relate to the characters, and they would see a realistic aspect to the film. This also made our film unique because there were original characters that had a more realistic personality compared to stereotypical ones. 

The characters such as the student and teacher are both original, and they challenge the typical conventions of horror films. For example, rather than having our student be a typical bad student, I decided to make him intelligent and morally good. This way the audience would be able to feel some kind of sympathy for the student because he was wrongly sent into detention. This would also show that even good characters were vulnerable. Some people in our audience would also be able to relate to this character. 

The teacher is also unique, he also changes the typical horror conventions like the student. Rather than having him be the typical intelligent, upper class teacher wearing a suit, I made him quite the opposite. So instead, he really isn't intelligent, and he isn't of an upper class background. He also may have wrongly accused the student of doing a wrongdoing. These two characters have had a role reversal. Rather than the teacher being the smart individual, and the student being the typical mischief, they have quite the opposite role. I also decided to show these characters like this to show that it can be quite believable in real life.

The other main feature that attracts our audience is the fact that it is a type of slasher film, set in a high school. This is one of the main factors that attract our audience because they will also be attending a high school. The audience can now relate to our product because it is set in a high school, so they will understand the environment and characters in our film.

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

For this question, I have completed an audio recording.
Here is the link to the recording : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUH9xOSlVcI&feature=youtu.be

In this question I talk about the different things I have learnt since finishing the preliminary exercise, I also talk about mistakes that I made, but learnt from in the progression on the main task.

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

The target audience for our media product would be teenagers (aged 15+), and hound adults. The main reason why our film is aimed at teenagers is because it is a horror film that is set in school, so it is somewhat similar to a slasher film.

The other reason why we decided to create a film aimed at teenagers was because we have a good idea of what type of film conventions would be suitable for people our age. If we had a better understanding of what our audience wanted, then we could create a film that would also be enjoyable for our audience.

Our horror film also contains bloody scenes, so we decided to have our target audience aged 15+. If we decided to rate our film 18+ we would have lost many viewers, it was important that younger people could watch our film because this would increase the chance of our film being a success. We also decided to have our target audience be 15+ because the student in our film is around the same age. This way the audience can relate to the characters, and if they see the characters being in danger, it would emphasis on the scariness of our film, because the audience may feel threatned.

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

The film company that would distribute our film would most probably be Dimension Films, a company that has distributed many popular films, including horror series such as Halloween and Scream. I think that this company would be the most suitable to distribute our film because their target audience usually rangers from teenagers to adults.

Their films, like Scream and Halloween are similar to our media product, because we also have a film that is aimed at teenagers from the age of fifteen or above. I think that because they have had previous experience in distributing these types of films it would help our film to also become successful, because both film series have generated millions of pounds.

The other similarity with these types of films with our film is that they are all slasher films, and they are usually set in high schools. Of course if our film was too similar to these films then the company wouldn't want to distribute it, but because our film is unique because of it's characters and plot, it would be a new movie that would survive on the market.

This film distributing company has also gained lots of money through its release of it's films, so this would appeal to us because we would also want to have our product be successful. I also decided to choose this company because they have good experience in distributing films.

2.How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product represents social groups in a few different ways. For example, some of the characters are represented in quite a stereotypical way such as the teacher, while other characters have a unique representation, such as the student.

We decided to present different characters in different ways to give a varied representation, this would give a fresh view for our audience, it would make our horror film  unique so our target audience wouldn't get bored of our film.

The main unique character in our film is the student, because he isn't the stereotypical bad student who always gets in trouble. He is actually a responsible smart student who be wrongly accused of being mischievous, we decided to have a character like this because the audience would see him as innocent, rather than thinking the character deserved to be killed if he was a bad student. I believe that presenting the character in this way would make the audience sympathise with him, but more importantly I think it will enuance the scary factor, because innocent characters will be the victims of the antagonist, the audience may feel that they too may be vulnerable. It would give a more realistic interpretation in my opinion.

The other unique character in our film is the teacher. He is presented as a casual laidback teacher, rather than a teacher in a suit who is dedicated to his job. This teacher also seems to be quite strict, because he makes his student stay in detention, even though the student may seem innocent. We decided to present the teacher in this way because not all teachers in real life are fair, some teachers in school wrongly accuse students of wrongdoings. We thought this was a realistic view on what happens in school classrooms, so our target audience would understand the situation, and how these characters also act in real life.

Evaluation questions - 1.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In many ways, our media product is quite typical of the horror genre, and of real horror films. Our product seems to have many typical conventions that are seen in other products out in the market. This was our intention when we were creating our film, we wanted to create a teen horror film that had similar conventions, but to still have an original and unique story.

The product we have created can be compared to quite a few other horror films, such as Scream (which is set in a high school), and a more recent film, The Cabin In The Woods (which is also a horror film aimed at teenage audiences). The plot of our film is more related to the Scream films, because our film is also about a serial killer who is killing school students. The setting and characters therefore are fairly similar to the Scream series.

It is quite typical for a teenage slasher film to be set in locations such as high schools, so we wanted this adapted into our own film so that our audience would obviously feel a relation to the setting, so that they could also relate to the characters in our film. The target audience for our film would be teenagers aged 15+, so we decided to set our film in a high school so the audience could relate with the characters and setting. I think this will enhance the scariness of our film, and this would be good for our horror film. It could even create a sense of paranoia in our audience, due to the realism also incorporated into our film.

The intro of our film is also similar to teen horror films in the past, we were mainly inspired by the intro of Scream, in which a school student is chased by the serial killer. However, in our opening there are many significant differences, because the teacher is also murdered and also because our main antagonist is quite mysterious.

The way our film differs from typical teenage slasher films is that our main villain isn't revealed in our film. The main villain in our film won't be revealed by the audience, so there will be this certain mysterious factor associated with this character, and this emphasises on the audience's fear of the unknown. We believed that the audience would be more scared of a villain that isn't fully revealed to the audience, rather than a serial killer who you can see in the whole camera shot. This character makes our film unique, and changes the views of the audience about serial killers. Our product can now be associated slightly with a psychological horror, because we don't really see the whole villain in camera shot.

Overall, our film tends be quite conventional of the teenage slasher genre, but there are still a few factors that can also challenge the genre. Factors such as our characters and plot will also create twists in our film, making it unique and original.