Day 47 : Early stages of our production

This video highlights me and Priscilla's perspective on how our creation progress has been so far, highlighting research we have carried out, discussions as a group and gaining opinions from people outside our group. Afreen was unable to appear in this video, however she engaged fully in our creative process so far.

Day 46 : Update

Last week we created drafts for our storyboards. This will be greatly useful when creating our final trailer as we could refer back to it for details regarding shots and angles but also transitions in terms of editing. This week we are creating final drafts for a our storyboard, which means they will be published to each members blog in due course. I will post about the challenges we faced but also what are strengths were as a group but also me as a individual. 

Reference: http://japaneseemoticons.net/

Day 45 : Our Narrative - "Insanity"

Here is our narrative that we produced as a group. Aspects of this narrative will be told in our trailer, however we will sustain an element of enigma so that our audience is curious to see "Insanity".    

Day 43 : Exploring Narrative

Narrative refers to the order and sequence of events which characterise a plot. Before creating our trailer we must consider what the narrative of our film will include, which proved difficult at first as we originally thought of our narrative in terms of our trailer. 

When considering the concept of narrative it is important to evaluate what makes a good or bad narrative, but also what themes are reflected within it especially in terms of the Horror genre. 

I thought Well's perspective of the genre of Horror films was important to consider before writing a narrative, as I strongly agree Horror portrays fears in society. 

Below is a brainstorm I made which reflects potential fears we could portray in our trailers. 

Creating this brainstorm using Bubbl.us helped me gain a sense of what themes we could potentially include in our narrative, but also that most Horror movies are based on a fear which is still evident in contemporary society e.g the constant theme of fearing outsiders is presented in media everyday with the demonised presentation of subgroups like gypsies. 

Day 44 : Working as a Group

Here is a slideshare I made which presents the progress and development we have made as a group so far, in terms of movie names, narrative and who the main protagonists will be.

So far me Afreen and Priscilla have worked well as a group, demonstrating good use of time and communication using social networking through Web 2.0. In the future these skills will be beneficial as we will have to stay behind after school and plan ahead when finding actresses and actors to be in our trailer.

Day 42 part 2 : My Own Qualitative Market Research - Representation of Women in Horror

When creating this questionnaire I purposely added  an element of influence to one of the questions ("Do you think Horror should have a diverse range of women, in terms of representations? If yes describe), to see whether there were women who disagreed with women gaining more opportunities and roles. I than had a debate with this participant to find out further why she answered no on this question.

Overall my sample consisted of  7 people of which one was male, it produced mainly qualitative research but also quantitative.  I specifically wanted to focus on women as I believe women should be represented in variety, as in terms of modelling and intimation it could lead to some women being socialized into thinking they can't do the same things that men can do. 

In regards to the other 6 participants they all agreed women should have equal opportunities to men. Question 1 asked "What do you think about the representation of women in Horror movies?". One participant answered that "women are often perceived as scared, screaming and in the need of protection", he disliked the limitation in representations women faced which highlights the idea that some men do infact want equal opportunities for women. 

In Question 2 I asked "Do you find the "Final Girl" a character which is revolutionary in terms of the typical representations of women? Describe in the lines below. The majority of participants except from "A" and others found the "Final Girl" unifying to a certain extent as they believed in current times women are now "taking the lead more than men" in terms of the representation in Horror. This relates to the idea that opportunities for women have have increased, however I believe it hasn't improved enough. 

Lastly in Question 3 6 out of 7 participants agreed "women should have a diverse range of representations" I (quoted from a participants answer)This research made me even more determined to subvert the typical representation of women in our trailer, as personally I believe women shouldn't be marginalized in the movie industry due to their biological differences to men. This relates to postmodernist film as Postmodern film often subverts the typical representations, in terms of social class, gender, age, ethnicity and narrative.

Reference : http://wifflegif.com/tags/131459-feminist-rant-gifs

Day 42 : Market Research to develop knowledge of audience

Today me and Priscilla carried out research to develop our understanding of audiences. Here is a video which presents their reactions and views regarding their fears. The clips compiled below only demonstrate the best reactions, which are mainly in relation to shocking imagery, use of sound to scare the audience and a sense of enigma through the narrative.

The reaction video with best bits is below

These pictures represent our findings but also why we changed specific aspects of our research.

We also made a video addressing our findings.

Carrying out market research enabled me to gain a deeper understanding of what our audience would like to see changed, what they found the most effective and how certain presentations make them feel uncomfortable. Age group and gender certainly had an impact on our market research as yr 7 - yr 9 found the more violent and suggestive imagery uncomfortable. In terms of gender only 2 of our participants were male, however they were less reactive when shown trailers in comparison to the women and girls. This could be due to their gender, however the research is not representative as our samples were extremely small. When deciding our audience we will have to take into consideration ethics of our participants but also classifications as certain age groups can't watch certain images. I will definitely refer back to this research in the future when gaining reasoning behind decisions I make or put forward in my group.

Day 41 part 2 : Our Prelim Task + Evaluation

This week we were put into our final groups. Our first task was to produce a prelim in 2 days which involved us having a variety of camera angles, movements and shots, good use of sound and effective editing in terms of fades and transitions. This was a challenging task due to a limited amount of time, however we used the most of the time we had meeting at lunch time and staying behind after school to improve our piece after audience criticisms.

Here's our prelim which was influenced by Halloween (1978)

The constructive criticism was extremely helpful and I plan to refer back to this post, throughout the whole production process of our media products. Personally I have learnt a lot in regards to editing, as previously I did not know how to transition 2 clips together which was one of the best elements of our trailer. I would love for me and my group members to use this style again in our final trailer as it was evident our class as an audience liked it. Also I realized from witnessing other groups remakes of scenes that the more simple it was, the more effective a scene could be. Our trailer was too complicated which resulted in us having limited time to trim long clips and edit mistakes through camerawork. However what worked well was our ability to work as a team and decide on what worked and what could be improved. For example whilst I was editing, I would refer back to Afreen and Priscilla for advice. This process was also good as it allowed Priscilla to come up with the suggestion of using heavy breathing, which reinforces the theme of fearing the unknown and Afreen to spot un-smooth editing which could often let down a media products overall feeling.

Here's a list of the feedback we received:

- Make sure if you change the angle of the camera that it work well
- Make sure the colour balance is even (use white balance)
- Make sure when doing camera movements it's a smooth shot
- Make sure all mise en scene relates to how you want the audience to perceive a particular person or setting
- Don't overcomplicate your scenes
- There's a good variety of shots and angles
- The use of sound was effective
- The transitioning effects worked well
- The opening scenes use of fades was attention grabbing
- Good portrayal of narrative

Quick Summary of whole process:

When producing our final piece I'm determined to improve all my skills, however my  filming skills in particular. This would involve doing a detailed plan of each shot and repeating a shot at least 5 times, just in case you finish filming and dis-acknowledge that some of the clips don't work well due to acting, people getting cut out of the shot, lack of colour balance (which would require using white balance), unfocused shots and a "shakey"camera.

Day 41 : Alvardo et al

Alvardo et al found four key themes in terms of racial representations in the media. 

1. EXOTIC

2. DANGEROUS 

3. HUMOROUS 

4. PITIED

It is a current issue of ethnic minorities being misrepresented in the media. I was curious to whether society still sees ethnic representation as an issue as after all it has improved compared to the situation of the past. I personally believe that media has changed for the better, however there's still a sense of "othering" and out casting those not of the host culture if representing them at all.

I decided to do some research on contemporary opinions in regards to ethnic representation, when I came across an article on "Newstateman" which was published on the 14th of October this year. Samantha Asumadu is a documentary film maker, campaigner and founder of Media Diversity UK.

Here's the article hyperlinked below:

Challenging the lack of ethnic minority representation in the media

Asumadu's aim was to tackle the limited representations of ethnic minorities and enable people to have a deeper understanding of global issues, rather than demonizing and blaming a whole subgroup of individuals. This reinforces the "Dangerous" and "Pitied" representations in which Alvardo et al argued is prevalent  however I believe the "Humorous" and "Exotic" is more relevant in terms of film and shows. 

In hybrid Horror movies ethnic minorities are often the joke and due to them not being represented a lot they are exotified and presented as different to the norm.  The Scary Movie series is a clear example. 

Scary Movie - Brenda Meeks is incredibly stereotypical with her loud and brash personality 

which is comedic. I can't help but wonder whether some Black actors/actresses are sick of playing the same marginalizing roles over and over. 

Scary Movie 5 - Maria : This role was incredibly stereotypical and cringeworthy, I personally didn't find it funny however Scary Movie is known for playing on typical representations and making a joke out of it.

The representation of ethnic minorities is clearly still an issue in current times, which is why I believe subverting the representation of ethnic minorities in our trailer could be more effective as the audience would love to see something new.

Day 40 : Our first task as a group

Today's lesson we were put in our final groups in which we will create a magazine, trailer and poster. I'm working in a group of 3 with Afreen and Priscilla. We were required to film a scene from any Horror movie or trailer that we found interesting. This involved us having a group discussion, where we decided recreating Mychael from Halloween's POV shots would work well.

This is a sheet in which sir gave us in class and as a camerawoman I made sure to intertwine these elements in our piece. 

Here's the brainstorm in which we created as a group. It covers aspects of mise en scene, setting, camera techniques and sound in relation to our given task. When filming I took on the role of camerawoman which involved setting up the camera in terms of the tripod, suggesting what shots could work well when relating back to the brainstorm, making sure each characters in the frame and including a variety of shots. Priscilla took on the role of director over seeing the actors/actresses body language and giving suggestions on how they could improve and Afreen was an actress playing homage to Mychael's sister in Halloween, with a twist as ethnic minorities aren't often presented in Horror. When editing has begun I will evaluate our scene as a whole and weigh out what went well and what could have worked better.

Day 39 : Classifications

Before constructing a Horror trailer the being aware of classifications is a key aspect, as we will need to target a specific audience which involves age as a factor. 

The BBFC is a company which provides ratings for films and video games. Both of these media products often present violent or explicit material, which could be inappropriate for certain age groups.

In the audio snippet below I will talking about each ratings and BBFC in relation to the genre of Horror.

Record and upload audio >>

Whilst reading through BBFC's website I found out that "horror' films were banned from distribution in the latter years of the Second World War in case they damaged public morale" . Straight away this reminded me of Harold Laswell and his Hypodermic Model theory, as he believed the government used media to influence people's opinions and keep them taking part in the great war effort. In Horror there is always a link to society in the themes they represent. Relating back to classifications themes and age interlink as foul language, sexual themes and violence will not be presented in any rating under 15.  When creating my trailer I will have to take into consideration different age groups, as you have to acknowledge that different age groups may be more sensitive to certain images. 

Reference: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/education-resources/student-guide/issues-introduction/horror

Day 38 : Recreating POV shots from Halloween

Here's a mini video I made recreating the POV shots through a mask like Mychael from Halloween. Whilst watching Halloween this shot in particular stood out to me, as it was extremely effective in terms of placing the audience in an uncomfortable position as a killer. I choose to put the sound of an heartbeat over some of the clips I had filmed to build tension this was a sucuessful aspect, however I realised after creating this mini film that using fast cuts and fade to blacks would have been more appropriate and effective. In my final trailer I hope to use POV shots as I think they work well in the Horror genre.

Day 37 : Films which follow Todorov's Narrative Theory

Through the process of researching various Horror movies, I realised that a lot of them fufil Todorov's narrative theory.

Here are a few examples below :

The fact that both Psycho and The Cabin in the Woods follow Todorov's theory, shows that there is a trend for Horror movies narratives to function in this specific way. When creating my own narrative I could gain inspiration from Todorov as narratives of this structure clearly work well, in terms of Psycho and Cabin in the Woods.

Day 36 : Doing our own Market Research

Introduction

Doing our own research will enable me to gain a deeper understanding on my potential target audience and any other particular topic I want to strengthen my knowledge or prove a hypothesis from. For example if I believed that women would generally enjoy watching women who are, unified, strong and powerful in contrast to the "Damsel in Distress", I would have to do research to prove it.

Me and Priscilla are working together as researchers, to carry out our own market research. Below are pictures which represent our planning, development and ideas so far.

What I've learnt 

From planning research, I realised how much needs to be taken into consideration before carrying it out. When conducting research you must evaluate your plans as if there are any errors the data could be effected, this could result in the data having low validity. This was illustrated when me and Priscilla were creating questions for the survey, as we realised the research could be stronger if we used one trailer and focused on a variety of concepts in relation to one specific trailer. Next week we will be carrying out this research and I will evaluate what went well and what could be improved.

Day 35 part 3 : Getting into terms with Horror trailers

Introduction

In the next couple of weeks we will be getting into groups and starting are final products. To demonstrate organisation skills and the ability to work in a team, me Priscilla and Adelina decided to create a detailed plan as if we were working together to create our final pieces.

Priscilla created the poster and took photos, Adelina created character profiles. We made a list of each job which needs to be completed and allocated roles within our team. Here's a list which presents who was doing what.

Here's a list which we created as a group. It presents potential settings we aimed to film the trailer, but also brainstorms for poster ideas and jobs each member could do.

Priscilla and Adelina's roles 

What I contributed

Conclusion/What I've learnt

I was in charge of creating the storyboard and writing a narrative summary. Creating a storyboard was difficult at first, however when referring back to trailers I had deconstructed and seen in the past it was easier to describe each aspect, in terms of shots, angles, transitions and sound.

Making a narrative summary meant I had to reveal  just the right amount of the story, so that the audience would be intrigued to watch the movie and find out what will happen next. I used Barthes's Enigma code theory as inspiration whilst writing the summary, as I believe in terms of Horror narratives, movies which keep the audience curious to what will happen next are the best stories. An example through trailers would be Cabin in the Woods, as the trailer hinted aspects of the storyline which made me curious to find out the unknown.

In the final piece I hope to use theorists, movies, directors and layouts as inspiration when creating the trailer, magazine and poster however doing a practice plan was a good process. When creating my final trailer, I hope to refer back to this project in terms of how I have improved but also how doing detailed research can strengthen the creation process.

Day 35 part 2 : Cabin in the Woods Article

Here are key quotes which I found the most interesting whilst reading his article, about 2012 film Cabin in the Woods. 

- “The opening sequence introduces five college “types”, including the archetypal Whore, Athlete, Fool, Scholar and Virgin.” This quote illustrates the idea that in some ways the characters presented in Cabin in the Wood's are conventional, however if you have seen the film you could argue that the "Fool" is actually the most intelligent character, as he senses something is not right straight away.

- “Dana is the smart and innocent, yet ridiculously attractive “Virgin”. The fact that Ryan Richardson describes Dana as ridiculously attractive, highlights the idea that the intelligent girl is often unattractive so Dana is an unconventional character in terms of the representations of women.

- “The characters leave the city for a weekend at the cabin in the woods, and the traditional “backwards versus city” Levi-Strauss binary oppositions are set up”. This highlights the idea that theorists can often underline the reasoning for choices made in film. In my trailer I hope to use theorists as inspiration.

- “This movie actively draws attention to the scopophilla of film. Monitors, windows, mirrors and eyes are repeated signifiers used by the director throughout the film to draw attention to the spectacle of Horror.” This presents a theme of voyeurism which is consistently represented in Horror, as we as an audience are voyeurs due to things we see that we shouldn’t but characters also become voyeurs.

Conclusion

This article explores themes which reinforce aspects of subversion, but also traditional conversions presented in Horror films. Especially in terms of character representation, which is why in my final trailer I think it could potentially engage with the audience more, in terms of interest and curiosity if there are characters which are underrepresented or if there's a twist in terms of narrative and genre. This relates to the concept of Postmodern film which is subverting the norm and creating something new, which is why I would love to use Cabin in the Wood's as inspiration in terms of representations, but also camera techniques, mise en scene, setting and sound.  

Day 35 : What is Research?

Research includes any gathering of data, information, opinions and facts for the advancement of knowledge. Research is mainly carried out with an aim or belief which they want to reinforce with data. For example sociologists often make a statement, e.g "There's social class inequality in the UK". They would then have to carry out experiments to strengthen their statements. 

Research produces data which can be split into 2 research types. These are represented in the table below. 

Summary

Both these research methods can produce quantitative and qualitative research. When creating our Horror trailers we need to have a deep understanding of our target audience. I could possibly carry out observational research to gain a perspective of what scares people, or a quasi-experiment to find out about representations in terms of characters and how they psychologically impact individuals views of a specific subgroup, e.g what do you think of this character from this picture. 

Day 34 : The Promotion and Marketing of Horror Films

Whilst analysing trailers, I've learnt that camera techniques, mise en scene, editing and the use of sound can make a trailer more effective. In this post I plan to explore how the market campaign and promotion, can impact how successful a movie is. 

Here's a video I made which explores the role of a marketing campaign in promoting movies, what makes potential audiences go out and watch a Horror movie and how the title can convey the narrative and genre. Throughout this course I need to understand what makes people attracted to Horror films, so that I can apply it to my audience research.

Day 33 : Short Film - Porcelain Rising

What I liked the most:

• In terms of casting I thought the actress who played the young girl was extremely convincing, which made her likable as a viewer but also relatable as I wanted her to conquer the villain. This relates to Carol J Clover's (Men, Women and Chainsaw) statement where she argued that audiences identify more with the victim than people present. 
• I liked the low angle shot as the main protagonist walked over to the wardrobe. The fact that we could only see her feet from a perspective underneath the bed created tension, as we are curious to whether she's in danger or not. 
• In terms of conventions a scary doll is an expected aspect of Horror movies. However in this film the doll is quite unconventional, as the girl then becomes the doll at the end. I thought this was quite unique and in terms of narrative, I enjoyed the way the twist was at the very end when her father walked in.
• In terms of setting there's the constant flashing of lightning, which in terms of Horror movies is conventional as the weather often reflects the idea that something bad will take place. In relation to this film the weather is extremely effective in this film, as we know the doll is coming to get her.

What I learnt: 

I really enjoyed this short film, as it highlights the idea that making things simple often works the best, as if you over complicate things it may not flow well. I also learnt that when making a product of a short duration all aspects of mise en scene, camera techniques and setting which are dominant in a wide variety in movies can be just as effective when the product is a trailer or short scene.