Rough Cut

Final magazine

The poster background does not follow the typical conventions of a horror poster due to the fact that it is not black, this converts the usual conventions and highlights the fact that the purity is being taken over by the blackness of the dark. The fact that the eye is still blue out of the whole of the poster shows that it has something to do with the eye, as well as being called the blind spot.

Recent update of poster

DRAFT OF POSTER

Over the past week I have been working on the rough cut of the trailer and have almost completed the poster.

first attempt at the poster

Research and planning essay

The task which we had to complete in AS was to construct a music magazine in the genre of our choice. My magazine was based upon dance music, a very bright and colourful theme runs throughout this genre and the conventions were very generic. In A2 the task was to create a horror trailer, alongside a magazine and poster which had similar aspects to the AS task. Both tasks needed a lot of deep analysis which came from researching general conventions to looking at other magazines and watching different trailers. 

Both the AS and the A2 work included individual research based upon the genre of the magazine and the genre of the horror trailer. My independent research skills have greatly developed from AS to A2 due to the fact that at AS, in the preliminary task I only looked at one magazine that was poorly done by another student meaning that I was not able to research that well. However in the horror trailer research I watched over 12 trailers and around 4 full length movies to gain more ideas for research. In addition to this, I also researched the background of horror films in my genre research which gave me even more knowledge before starting my trailer. The fact that I was able to incorporate theories to match up to the horror research made it easier to recreate the trailer and I had more creativity due to looking at more examples. This shows that over the course of the two years my research skills have developed greatly. 

The second skill that I feel I have developed since AS is the ability to plan before I complete a task. This is shown in the magazine task when we had to do drafts for the magazine before starting it on photoshop. The planning allowed me to put a few ideas on paper but they did not really help me when completing the magazine. However in A2 I needed to plan a story board before going out to shoot as well create recces which would help us when filming. Planning the story board help a lot when filming due to the fact that it gave us an outline to follow rather than trying to film it straight from our heads. The recces also show that there was more in depth planning put into it compared to the magazine in AS. This shows that from the magazine to now my research and planning skills have developed greatly. 

To conclude I feel as though my research and planning skills have been improved since the beginning of the course. This is due to the detail that I have learned to put into this section as it does pay off in the final outcome.

Analysis of real media texts essay

1.      Describe how your analysis of the conventions of real media texts informed your own creative media practice. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time.

I feel the analysis of conventions of real life media texts has greatly helped me over the course of the media A-level. In AS the task was to create a magazine front page and double page spread which was based upon dance music in the UK which consisted of all the latest DJ’s which would appeal to a wide audience. My A2 work consisted of a horror trailer as well as a poster and magazine which would be used to promote my film which was about the darkness attacking and killing the teenage victims due to their rebellion against society.

My analysis of real media text conventions in my AS work consisted of looking at real life magazines to see where I could gain ideas to put in my magazine. This involved creating mind maps of the magazines and then annotating them to see where they have or haven’t followed the generic conventions. In addition creating textual analysis’s which I also did at A2 when analysing different horror films. I then furthered my research to look at certain DJ’s websites and the way that they promoted themselves, this allowed me to base my magazine on Photoshop around this. My Photoshop skills were developed through this as I continuously had to change aspects of the magazine to suit the music genre such as image manipulation and text font and placement. This then furthered into A2 when I had to create a film poster for my original idea which meant I had a greater depth of knowledge about how to use Photoshop and how to create a realistic poster. I think that without the use of Photoshop from AS to A2 I would not have been able to create such realistic work especially without doing the original analysis of real media texts.

Secondly, my drafting skills have also developed a lot during the course as in AS the task was to draft magazine ideas to help us create the final product. The drafts that I completed did not really differ and I did not add much detail at all when it came to drawing the images on the drafts. However, in A2 my task was to create a storyboard that consisted of around 30 images of the trailer and they had to be detailed. I have been able to use a lot more shading as well as creating more lifelike images to make it easier for me to shoot the actual trailer based on the storyboard. I did the drawing by focusing completely on the drawing alone and using pencils to add detail rather than colouring pens which I did at AS. 

research and planning

Today I called St Dunstans in the east and souhtwark cathedral to check the availability for filming within the sites.

Car Park and Woods test shot locations

Animatic

Audience Essay

When it comes to the audience in media there are two aspects which should be taken into consideration, whether it is a mass audience or active audience theory. The mass audience is the one which can manipulate many people and they all listen to what they are told but active audience are the individuals who think about what they are being told and interpret it. Horror films are designed to scare the mass audience but make the active audience interpret what they are viewing. They can be used as a form of escapism for some people as they overlap fantasy as well as being out of their comfort zone whilst watching. 

The hypodermic model suggests that the mass audience are injected with the information which they do not chose to interpret but take literally therefore they are seen to be brainwashed by the media. The effects model is used by high authority people to make the audience in a drugged like state to show their control over them. This in some ways can be seen within my horror movie due to the fact that the teenagers are being killed off due to old views therefore it can be interpreted that the director is trying to use this hypodermic effect to tell people to condemn all teenage behavior. 

Reception theory is the theory that suggests there are 3 views, the dominant, the negotiated and the opposition. The dominant view is the the one where the audience interprets the message in the way that the producer wants. The negotiated is where the audience see it in the way that the producer wants but also has a second opinion on it and the opposition view is when they do not agree at all with the dominant view. In my horror trailer this can be applied as the dominant view would be that it is scary, the negotiated view would be that it is scary in some parts and not others and the opposition view would be that it is not scary at all. 

Cultivation theory, this was suggested by Gerbner who said that the more time that people are exposed to media the more 'cultivated' they are when it comes to their perceptions of reality. His theory suggests that the more people concentrate and watch the media, the more mainstream out views will become meaning that there will never be a change in views. This related to my film trailer due to the fact that people would think that there is a lot of violence going on in the world if they were exposed to this form of media text for a long time and their view of reality would be that it is violent. 

The copycat theory suggests that people will copy what they see in the media therefore many killings in the world could have been triggered by the media. For example, the high increase of underage gaming means that children are more exposed to open killing on games such as GTA and even SIMS due to the fact that they can kill people and get away with it. The theory suggests that people will copy what they see and the most recent example is the child play 3 killings that were though to be triggered from that. This does not relate to my movie trailer as I do not want to be giving across the message that people should go out and kill teenagers for their antisocial behavior.

Finally the catharsis theory suggests that the large amount of exposure to violence is justified by the concept of catharsis. By watching the tragic events within a characters life it is said to cleanse our own meaning that it will do good for individuals as well as society to be cleansed. The main point about catharsis theory is that the imaginary aggressive behavior does not actually have to be competed in real life but only in the make believe. This relates to my film trailer due to the fact that people can be cleansed by watching my film as they will constantly be seeing tragic moments for my characters. 

Representation essay

Representation is the way that the media changes or interprets different meanings about the world that we live in. This way they construct their own beliefs through film and high important directors pass their own message on through the films they create. There are many different theories when it comes to representation and this essay will explain them. 

Firstly, Berger is a theorist that suggested that within the media, men act and women appear and that women watch themselves being watched. This idea comes from the fact that he suggests that if we class someone as male or female then we are doing so on a biological basis. However, in the media if someone is seen as more masculine it is due to their social construction which means the way they act, talk and look. This coincides with my trailer as the slutty character within the trailer is always being watched by the other men in the film. This supports the theory in the way that she watches herself being watched by the other men. However, my trailer also subverts this as there is a final girl who is more masculine than all the men and fights off the killers. This is a subversion due to the fact that she does not watch herself being looked at and doesn't just appear, but instead she fights back. 

Secondly, Laura Mulvey suggest the theory of the male gaze in which the woman's body on TV is displayed through the eyes of a man in a way that makes it pleasurable for a man to watch on TV. This gaze controls the woman and makes her an object for the male to view at his own erotic pleasure. This theory is supported by my film trailer as many slashers films are the ones that create this gaze over the women, for example in the film psycho the gaze can be seen when the camera moves up and down her body in the shower. This also relates to my movie as the slut character will be portrayed very sexually due to the fact that it is her nature within the role therefore the gaze will be very prominent.

Moreover, Clovers theory of the final girl who is the last female within a movie that usually survives due to her more masculine features and her inability to take part in sex, drugs or alcohol consumption. Clover says that the final girl usually has a unisex name, doesn't partake in drugs and is a virgin. This theory is supported within my film trailer as it is a slasher and I do have a final girl who conquers the antagonists. This shows that even in the modern horror movies today that there is a still a final girl character as it is a classic feature of a horror movie. 

Charles Derry is another theorists who is known for three main topics which are haunting and demonic possession, apocalypse and the human monster. He says that haunting and demonic possession play on the fear of the unknown and use religion to back it up to be more realistic and scary. The character that usually gets possessed is a young girl and they are always entered, he says that this could be seen as trying to scare young children about puberty or taking control of the weaker sex. He says that the apocalypse is where a large amount of inhuman creatures come together to take over the world and kill humans, whether it be animals or a virus or aliens. The fact that these animals rise up against humans is not usually for a specific reason but does have the subtext that there is ecological inequality or it is resembling a rebellion of some sort. The human monster comes from psychopaths such as deranged killers in the film psycho or scream. However some can be born with no morals what so ever and some can be born into a society that forces them to be evil. This last point coincides with my trailer due to the fact that the killers come from a deranged background therefore kill off all of my characters for that reason. 

Finally, Dobbs suggested that there are hardly any women behind the camera and that within horror the women that get remembered most are the 'scream queens' who are always attractive on screen. She suggests that there is some feminism within horror due tot he fact that it appeals widely more to a male audience even though it could appeal to both just as much due tot he fact that it is a way of being scared without being in any real danger. Even though there are problems with the final girl trope, it is not hard to feel victorious about the fact that the final girl always wins and that there are so many films with the final girl around. 

  

Make up designs

Storyboard

Trailer timeline- the blind spot

Student 3 research

Student 2 research

Narrative 30 min essay

The narrative of s tory is always created with a certain layout that has to be followed in order for it to be seen as a ‘movie.’ There are many theorists that have come up with ideas on how a film is constructed.

The first theorists was Todorov who came up with the idea that a movie was created on the simple structure of equilibrium, disequilibrium and resolution. The equilibrium is the beginning where everything seems fine and the story is told to create the first scene and the characters are introduced. The disequilibrium is the middle where all the problems start to occur and characters usually die. The resolution is where everything is solved and the final girl usually overrides the villain. This theory relates to my trailer as I will base my trailer in the same way, I will add a small chunk of the equilibrium and then the rest will be the disequilibrium where I show different parts of the main events.  However this theory also doesn’t link t my trailer in the way that I will not show the resolution otherwise that will give away the whole movie and the audience will not want to go and see it.

The second theorist was Propp who suggested that there were always these main characters within a movie that can be seen. The characters were: The villain, the hero, the donor, the helper, the princess, the dispatcher and the false hero. The idea that these characters are usually found in a movie does show in my movie as I have the characters that he has listed. I have the villains, the hero, the helper, the princess, the false hero and the donor which shows that Prop’s theory is relatable to my trailer. However in some cases this theory might not coincide with all horrors as it could be a zombie film and they are a lone character most of the time.

Levi Strauss is the next theorists who created the idea that in every movie there are binary opposites which can be seen everywhere. In horror the main binary opposites are good vs evil however it can be seen in simple things such as hero and villain. This coincides with my trailer as in the trailer you will be able to see the hero vs the villain showing that the theory of binary opposites is true. This theory also links across all the sub-genres within a horror as there is always good fighting evil.

To conclude, I believe that all three narrative theorists have made distinct connections between the basic conventions of a horror movie to make their theories correct. All three have had an impact on my trailer and can be seen when the trailer will be built.

What I have done so far:

Progress log : 28/9

This weekend I have completed the essay that was on theorists and how they apply to our trailers as well as creating a power point for my movie pitch to improve on the previous one. I have also completed one power point for the horror genre research and started the other two that I have to do. By Friday I need to complete all three of the horror genre researches meaning I would have completed the student 1 work as well as completing the essay that is due for Wednesday. 

trailer pitch

Short essay on genre

The horror genre has been around for many years and there have been many theorists that have come up with ideas that not only help create horror movies, but all films in general. There are five theorists that will be explored in this essay and the way that they apply to my movie trailer.

Firstly, Metz is a theorist that suggested there are 4 stages of the genre development of a film, the experimental, classical, revisionist and parodic. These four stages are what a sub-genre goes through up until the post modernism time that we are in today, meaning that all films are being taken and recreated. The experimental stage is when the first movie of the genre is made, for example, the movie psycho was the first slasher ever created which is where my inspiration comes from. This is applied to my movie trailer as without the Metz creating these stages, I would not be able to gain ‘ingredients’ from each stage that would improve my trailer such as the masks, the murder weapons and the settings.

The second theorist is Altman who suggested that there are two pleasures when it comes to watching a horror movie, emotional pleasure and visceral pleasure. Emotional pleasure is when it generates a strong audience response, such as a mood or a feeling, this would be implied to movies from the J-horror genre but does not really apply to my slasher movie as it is more visceral pleasure. Visceral pleasure is the gut feeling you get within a movie, knowing that something is going to happen as well as jump scares making the experience like a roller coaster. I have applied Altman to my movie trailer as without him I would not be able to create visceral pleasure as I use jump scares within my trailer and gore with the slasher killing the victims.

Another theorist is Steve Neale who said that pleasure comes from repetition and difference as it stretches the genre to match the constant changing tastes of the audience. This would definitely apply to my horror trailer as I am taking parts from different movies to make one movie such as using masks which I got from the strangers and using a knife which was from the movie psycho. This shows that his theory has been acknowledged and used within my trailer meaning my movie should give the audience pleasure as it will be different but repeated.

Chandler is another theorist who simply said that all genres have sub-genres which is true as the horror genre has 9 sub-genres. My sub-genre is slasher which shows that his theory is applied to my movie therefore making it evidence that the theory is correct.

The main theorist is Burton who suggested everything to do with conventions and the characters within a novel. He said that there was always a protagonist, stock characters, stock situations, icons, background and themes in a movie. These all apply to my movie as the protagonists are a group of friends that go out on Halloween. The stock characters in my movie are the 5 typical ones which are the jock, the nerd, the fool, the slut and the final girl. The stock situations are the scenes in a horror movie that you always see such as getting dragged into the dark and being chased. These are all going to be in my horror trailer therefore it applies to the theorist. There are also many icons in my movie such as the knife, the mask, blood as well as the background being in typical horror settings meaning that Burton knew exactly what a horror movie should look like. My settings are in a car park, woods and a block of flats which shows that my trailer applied to his theory.

Horror genre research 1

Ben and Sheenay's propp theory

Summer work horror poster

Thinglink of the sub genre's

Sinister official trailer, user rating 7, target audience would be makers of horrors that are similar e.g mama or insidious, attracted mainly males aged 18-25 due to the fact that it is a modern horror and has jump scares.

Alien (1979) official trailer, user rating 8.5, target audience would be sci-fi and monster genre lovers, attracted males ages 30-44 due to the fact that it is an older film as well as the main protagonist being Sigourney Weaver.

Insidious official trailer, user rating 6.8. target audience anyone over 18 but attracted males aged 18-29 because it is another jump scare that will make men want to go and see it.

The conjuring official trailer, user rating 7.5, target audience anyone aged over 18, attracted the majority of males aged 18-29 due to the fact that it was a jump scare film and attracts thrill seekers.

Let the right one in official trailer, user rating 8, target audience anyone over 18 but attracted mostly males aged 18-25 possibly because of the female characters.

The Cabin In the Woods official trailer, user rating 7, target audience anyone over 18 but attracted females aged 18-29 possibly because of the main character being Chris Hemsworth.

The Devils Backbone official trailer, user rating 7.5, target audience anyone over 18 but attracted majority males aged 30-44 possibly because of the main actors age is close to that.

28 Weeks later Official Trailer:Zombie horror, User rating- 7, target audience is anyone over the age of 18, attracted mostly males aged 18-29, mainly for thrill seekers as it was described as 'gripping.'