My media product; planning

Before we started working on our media product, we devised a plan in order to follow and make sense of what our opening was based around. The rough drawings shown above represented the action taking place in each of the shots used, however, the more time we experimented with the camera, the more shots were gradually included. As a group we personally feel we stuck to the plan as an overall, trying our best efforts to include everything we hoped to require in our product. The description of each shot is visually displayed in our opening, sustaining the genre and elements significantly seen by the protagonist. Finally, after filming and uploading our media product, we included a track which fit in best with what we wanted, this being, rock music suited to teenagers between the ages of 16 and 25.

Scene in The Amityville Horror

In the Amityville horror, the fear in it is builded up and created through the use of many techniques, mainly on the use of sound. The backing music played up the stairs represents the desire to escape, with the instrumental use of the orchestra and more significantly the violins. These are typical instruments which can effectively be played in minor key inflicting a fearful mood and tone.

There are many sound effects which appear in this particular scene of the film, some being the cocking of the gun to build tension as to whether the male protagonist is going to fire it, and evetually the actual gunshot itself which gives a jumpy, anxious effect because the hole caused by the shot is in a hard object and not yet a person. other noises such as the smashing of the glass frame exhibits the anger from the man and physical objects in the household being broken, so he is not concerned with his possessions let alone his family. The window slamming is abrupt. Due to its suddeness, the viewers fear is sustained as they are not ready for another sound to 'stand their hairs.'

The noises made from the characters themselves are also effective for the sense of fear, terror and dis-comfort. Examples of these include the heavy breathing which denotes them panicking. The feeling can reflect on viewers as they also become curious for what horror may occur next. The screaming from the family victims is also evident as their panic is verbally released as their reaction to the situation. During the mans flashback to past memories is an instinctive constrast to the fear of the present moment as the lighting is vividly different because of its general brighter weather and playfulness from the whole family. However, while this is visualised, the words 'kill them' is played over which shows the reality of the moment and that it will not go away. The tone of the voice is not of an everyday one but as a whispery, guttered insect which makes the flashback creepy and not happy, calm and jolly like it is ironically meant to be.

Lighting is also significant to the overall effect of fear because of its use. There is a constant flashing/flickering of lightening outdoors. These weather conditions are often grey and glum, inflicting a negative and hopeless mood onto viewers in this case. They are also factors to what add to the dramatic scene as there is no sustainable source of light despite is mainly appearing natural. When the man falls off the roof into the mud, his eyes open with the timing of the thunder and lightening flickering which may symbolize the fear having not yet gone nor soon to be going. The house light indoors also flickers when the man passes it, so perhaps he has more power than we suspect as he is in control of everything around him.

There are many images which are visually fearful and frightful to look at during the scene. The face which suddenly appears at the window which looked through by the woman is unexpected and resembles an old man who as we know, haunts the house. This disturbing element is enhanced as we are aware the film is based on a true event. Skulled images of the characters faces are also images which occur more than once on the protagonists faces when the man looks directly at them, and due to him being possessed, views his family in this light which continues to force the urge for him wanting to murder them.

The way the shots are used, present the element of fear effectively, many of them being medium and close-up shots as they display the body language and facial expressions of each character to the moments in the scene. The tensed faces and hunched backs are evident of the anxiety and fear the victims preserve unlike the straight faced man whom is trying to kill everyone in his family. There are close-ups of objects such as the hole in the door caused by the gun which had been shot, showing the whereabouts the bullet was fired and the damage it had caused. An object such as the long, straight stick the man is holding in intention of hitting his son over with is also displayed as a close-up, as this dangerous object inflicts a sense of fear as we are aware of the damage the man can physically case. Very low angle shots are also common in the scene to display the characters on the roof top, focusing on their slow, steady foot movement in order to present the man hearing them pace along it. The overall camera work is primarily filmed with a tracker shot, so the action is followed. This makes the audience feel part of the action as it is done at such a fast speed.

Overall, everything which takes place in this particular scene basis around creating fear and for the audience to also feel the sense of fear the protagonists are so they are able to relate to the reality of what happened, and sympathise with what happened.

This scene in the film resembled the opening of my product and was influential in the sense of creating a character who was vunerable aganist another, and whom displayed their sense of fear, inflicting this onto the viewers which grasps their attention making them wanting to watch on. The use of many close-ups was vital in my opening as well as this particular scene, so significant objects were focused on, displaying their importance and representation.

My media product; evaluation

The synopsis of my media product is as follows: Poppy Iris appeared to live the life of a typical teenage girl whom was raised in a stable household, having no outside problems to her family life. However, what her friends and others known to her don't know is that in fact she is going through a tough phase in her life where being bullied by another is taken out of hand, inflicting pain and torture onto her loved ones as well as herself. The only way she is able to overcome this trouble is economically, paying money in exchange for the lives and well-being of the entire Iris family.

Questions to ask viewers:

-What is your age? All of the viewers were in between the ages of 16-18.

-What is your favourite genre? Do you enjoy horrors that are disturbing and can occasionally make you jump? Many of the viewers primarily enjoy horrors as there following scenes to come are unexpected, being disturbing and not seizing to make them jump.

-What is you job? How much are you paid? (optional) The majority of the people questioned were students alone, however, four had part time week-end jobs, working behind tills and stacking shelfs.

-Are you appealed to watch complicated movies or movies which are easy to follow? Movies which were easy to follow were mainly preferred as they are able to relate themselves to the plot and understand what the protagonists are aiming to display.

-What is your gender? Seven were females, eight were males.

-Where do you usually go on holiday? Is that holiday ideal for you? Those who went on holiday often went to Spain/Greece/Cyprus. However, their ideal holiday was more expensive and out of Europe, the most popular being America.

-Do you find our film synopsis interesting? Eleven said yes as they are teenagers themselves and would enjoy to view another of their ages group living a life more complex and dis-functional as their own.

-Did you notice any editing techniques? All of those questionned notcied the three snap snots that were used in effect to show Poppy, the protagonist, trashing the toliet cubicle. They also noticed how the title at the begginning appeared and dissapeared from the screen in accordance as they had been edited to do so in a specific way.

-How did you find the vommiting in the toliet? Do you think it was realistic? Ten thought that the vommiting was sickely yet effective whilst the other five thought that it was effective yet hadnt much of a reaction towards it.

-Do you think that the backing track fits in well with the genre? Thirteen of the people answered yes, and that it resembled well with the idea of youth as well as following the action taking place. However the other two thought that although the track was suitable for what was taking place, it didnt resemble the idea of a tragic plots hence the title 'teenage tragedy.'

After watching the opening sequence, are you eager to watch the rest of the movie? All viewers answered yes, and that they were keen to discover what happens to the girl and whether she survives after being left on a cliffhanger whist all they could hear was her screaming.

Evaluation questions

-In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? The situation the protagonist in the opening of the film is in, relates to others in unavoidable circumstances which lead to devasting results, in this case, the cliff hanger of her screaming whilst we are aware she is in the toliet with another person whom she is trying to avoid. The camera work is yet another example of how certain shots are used in order to present a scene in a specific way to convey what you are trying to. In this case, high angle shots in the product displayed Poppy, the protagonist trashing the toliet cubicle, displaying her as a victim as the camera is pointing down to her, making her vunererable which foreshadows what may come next. There are also many close-ups used which focus on features which are significant to not only the location, but also to the character e.g. a close-up of the characters hand slamming the wall was vital, not only to display her frustration being let out, but also on her painted nails and tribal braclets which are typical of what many teenagers would wear. The opening as an overall used the majority of conventions of real products as it is structured likewise to many other film openings through the use of titles, features, themes, location, character, shots, language, features and editing.

-How does your media product represent particular social groups? The media product represents the idea of a typical teenage girl, displayed through the use of her appearance and outfit as well as closer features focused on such as the tribal braclets and painted nails. The fact that she owns a mobile phone is yet another representation of youth as the majority of teenagers own one nowadays. However, the antagonist we do not fully see in the opening but only her converse shoes alone presents teenage girls more negatively, as a bully who wont stop hurting another till they suceed in getting what they desire.

-What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? Media institutions such as 'revolver entertainment' would distribute my product due to the effective storyline despite the film being of a low budget, However, this was deliberate, making the opening scene more realistic instead of a completely made up plot, highly edited.

-Who would be the audience for your media product? Those between the ages of 15 and 21 would be more of an ideal audience, particulary female as they could be going through or know of a similar experience, perhaps not so drastic. They could be from any background, however, having the trait as being family-orienated as the overall film is based around the idea of a situation causing distress and turnings on relationships within a family. As the film is open to anyone economically, their ideal holiday to choice of newspaper can vary but all of what may be considered as a 'typical teenage choice' . In this instance, the majority of teenages my group questionned, would primarily like to visit places such as America.

-How did you attract/address your audience? In order to gain a wider audience, advertisement was key. However, as the film was of a low budget, adverts on the television were not possible, so as a replacement, film posters and a general synopsis box in local papers were vital with immediate effect, attracting a numerous amount of viewers, a large number being teenagers. The use of bright, primary colours and bold distinctive fonts such as Arial were used to characterize the different sources of advertisement to appeal to many.

-What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? I have learnt that working on a product with such a low budget, requires more time and effort in order to construct and later develop the product. This can be done be editing on a computer such as an apple to make it unique yet realistic.

-Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? I feel that I personally have learnt a lot of new skills and ideas since first starting on the preliminary task up to finishing my final product. This includes the variation of camera work and new shots that can be used that I wasnt aware could be done on a basic camera beforehand. After experimenting with these and uploading my work onto a computer, I discovered many ways in which I could edit the product some being by including titles, sound and the different ways the shots can be displayed. For example, two shots shown in a split screen to contrast the two different ideas.