Evaluation Activity 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

This is a key character from our film, the Victim. Harriet Austin (this is who plays the victim, see above picture) is the stereotypical victim. This is because she is totally oblivious to what is happening, She has no idea that she is being followed and carries on like everything is normal. As you will see in the film she is quite popular and has a close circle of friends. She is conforming to the typical horror movie victim as she is needing help but is unaware of it. As you can see Harriet is in casual clothing as she is at school. By having the character in casual clothing it takes some of the attention off of Harriet so that the audience can focus on more important events happening around her.

A character like Harriet in another film is the women out of scream. She is also totally unaware that she is being targeted. She is also represented as the popular one as she thinks that her friends are prank calling her. This is not the case. Th scream character also wears casual clothing as she is just lounging around at home this represents a natural setting like our setting in the film. This is the same as Harriet, they do not want to draw much attention to what the woman is wearing as they want them to focus on other things, such as the phone ringing in this case. A difference between the two is that the actress in scream becomes aware that something is out to get her and is very frightened but in our film Harriet is never aware so gets on with her day to day activities. However another clear difference of these two is that one is filmed at night and one is during the day. It makes it more scary when it is dark so this might explain why the scream character is more scared than what our victim is.

Evaluation Activity 1 - Special effects

We did not use many special effects in our film. However there were a few which were subtle but really made our film look just that bit better.

One major special effect that we used was the make up on Harriet's head. We thought this really made our film as it represented the way Harriet would have been killed. This was all done with special effect make up. We had one of our friends do this for us as she has had experience doing this sort of thing before and knew how to make it look very realistic. We thought this was one of the best things in our film as it really represented that it was a horror movie.

Horror films don't ofen tend to have big budgets and therefore rely on clever uses of small budgets to appeal to their audiences.  Make-up and costumes tend to be key to successful scenes in horror films and we think that what we achieved with our small budget was realistic and lifelike.

In the production of our film we used subtle effects with the text. We choose to use a smear effect on each of our titles. We felt like this really gave it a scary effect as it is like it is being dragged away. It fitted in perfectly with the creepy vibe that was in each scene. We put them on all of the titles to make sure they all looked the same and gave off the same effect.

Evaluation Activity 1 - How characters are introduced

All of our characters were introduced in different ways. By having them introduced in different ways it really tells you what type of person their character is and what role they will have in the film.

Harriet's character, the victim, was first seen in a classroom. She was introduced as a hard working student, who is quiet and does not want any trouble. Harriet's character is given prevalence throughout the whole film. We know this because she is the character that the camera focuses on the most and who the story line is based on. This is an unconventional character as the victims in horror movies are usually very ditsy, unintelligent and clueless. However Harriet subverts to all of these conventions.

We chose to have an unconventional character killed off in our opening.  In Jaws the first characters to be killed are a teenage couple who split off from the group to swim naked in the sea - the risk-takers are the first ones to die and the more conservative characters who are sensible tend to be the only survivors, with the genre reinforcing conservative values to the audience.  In Scream the first character to be killed off is the typical dumb blonde. We know that this character is unintelligent and clueless by the way she is represented. She flirts with the killer on the phone, not having a clue that she is going to be killed by this person and doesn't realise the danger she is in as she is naive. We thought by having an unconventional character killed off it would shake things up a bit and stand out from all the other horror movies which are all the same with the conventions.  Harriet's character is conscientious, hardworking and conservatively dressed - to kill her off early on in the film suggests to the audience that no one is safe and would make the film more challenging, original and tense. 

Sammie's character, the antagonist, was first seen in the classroom as well as Harriet but you only saw Sammie's hand.  When you first saw a part of Sammie you instantly knew she was the antagonist in the film. This was because she was in all black which connotes darkness and mystery. Throughout the film you only see snippets of Sammie Jo's character as we thought this would build suspense. Sammie conforms to the typical conventions of a antagonist as she is creepy and you do not see her face for a while, her identity is hidden to create more tension.

Alex's character, the best friend, was first seen socialising with some other students. Alex was introduced as very calm and always up for a laugh but at the same time really cares about his friends. You do not see much of Alex in the film but its enough. When you do see Alex he is always asking about Harriet's character, this shows he is worried about her and this really shows off his caring side. Alex is also dressed in casual clothes as he is representing a student. Alex's character conforms to the conventions of a typical best friend. This is because he is very laid back and is up for joking around and getting o with everyone, however he still has that caring side that best friends have.

Evaluation Activity 1 - Genre and how the opening suggests it

The genre of out film is horror. We have included many conventions and cliches of horror movies in our opening two minutes.

One major feature that stands our for being a horror movie is the victim being followed. This is a typical convention of a horror movie because they want to make the audience feel uncomfortable. We thought we would do the exact same. We felt like this was a really good idea to include in our film because it really catches your attention, especially when the target audience for the film is the same age as the characters in our film so it really gets them thinking what would they be like if that was them in the victims shoes.

Another cliche that we in our film is the music. We include some creepy music all the way through our film. We thought this really brought our film together. We had two different types of horror music included in our film, one was more tonned than the other. We used the first one, which was played all the way throughout the film, and the second one which was only used at the end. This was because it was more dramatic and was really gripping. With the first horror movie music we made it different volumes with different scenes, this was because we didn't want to get rid of it completely but we didn't want it to overpower some of the events that were happening in the film. We decided to use the more dramatic one at the end because that is when the biggest event in the film takes place, which is the most shocking event as well. This was when the victim was killed and we really wanted to grab the audiences attention.

This takes us on to the make up that was on the victims head. This was another typical cliche because it was a bit gory but not too gory at the same time, as our film was only rated a 15. This really highlighted the fact that this was a horror movie as only things like this happen in horror/crime films and TV. This was the last scene of our film so it is left on a cliff hanger.

Evaluation Activity 1 - Story and how the opening sets it up

The opening two minutes to a film tends to either introduce the premise for the wider narrative or simply introduce a key character to establish a relationship with them and the audience.  We chose to introduce the set-up for the wider film - which involves a friendship group being killed, one by one, by an outsider in a college setting.

The opening of our film established setting.  The first shot after our production credits was a classroom with one of the main characters doing some work. We chose to do a long shot for the first scene as it shows the audience where they are and who is in the room. We then moved onto an over the shoulder shot to see what she was doing on the computer, this shows her doing some work, the audience could relate to this main character because they are also still at collage or are in some form of education. At the very start of the film you find out who the main character is. This is because the camera is mainly focused on her. You catch a glimpse of the antagonist, but this is only their hand. We also used quite a few close ups in our film to really get the audience focusing on a specific thing. We thought these were effective because it gets the audience thinking why are we just seeing this item. As you can see it is set in a school but what makes it stand out is there is no one there except the friendship group and the antagonist. This really sets the scene because schools are usually filled with students but this one is not so this gives the film and edgy feeling as to why no one else is there.

Later on in the film we find our victim dead on the floor and the film ends, this leaves it on a real cliff hanger. Throughout the rest of the film the antagonist goes on a killing spree and ends up killing each members of the friendship group. There will be one person left and this is when we will find out why the antagonist has killed all of them and people may start to sympathies with the antagonist and understand why she has gone and done such a horrible crime.

Our film has a lot of horror film cliches included in it. One being the creepy music we put over the top, this music really makes it feel like a horror movie because its always there and throughout the film gets louder and quieter. We also added in some booms to shock the audience and to make them jump. We thought this would make the film more exciting and interest the audience to make them want to see the rest of the film. We also have the typical antagonist where they follow a certain victim. This may make the audience feel uncomfortable and anxious for the victim as they do not know they are being followed but the audience do. This could make the audience feel sorry for the victim as they have no clue what is going on.

Evaluation Activity 1 - Title font and style

For our font we chose a simple/classic type. This is because we didn't want to take the attention off the scenes in the film but we still made sure the titles were seen. We made the titles all in bold, capital letters. This is because it helps them stand out and is conventional. We made the titles white because black didn't look as nice and would have stood out way too much and as i said earlier we didn't want to draw lots of attention to the titles. White also went with most of the locations we used. All the titles were faded in. We done this so they wouldn't as sharp coming onto the screen and it looked more professional. On the end of each title we put a transition, this was called smear. We thought this would fit perfectly with the horror movie conventions because its quite creepy but looks good at the same time.

Evaluation Activity 1 - Camerawork and editing

During our film we used many different camera angles/shots. The first photo shows a close up. We used quite a few of these in our film. This was because it shows it in more detail and really gets the audience focusing on one thing. We thought it would be effective to use it on the phone scene because it lets the audience know something that the victim does not and makes them feel sorry for the victim. In the second photo we used an over the shoulder shot. We had to think very carefully about where we placed the camera as we didn't want to be able to see it in the mirror. This shot is very effective because yet again the audience are able to see somethings that the victim cannot. This creates a lot of tension because of the way the angle of the shot is placed. This was one of my favourite shits out of the entire film because it was so well thought out and think it really shows off all the hard work and effect we put into making this film the best we could. Lastly in the bottom photo you see the victims hand pushing a door open. We used match cutting for this shot. We thought this would be very effective because it makes it seem conventional and creates a dynamic pace. We thought by using this type of shot it would make it look like a proper film and really get the audience gripped.

One major scene that stands out in the film because of the editing is the scene where the victim is walking past the tennis court. This is very fast pace, it cuts from one shot to another in just a few seconds. This makes the film become more interesting and tense as it builds up adrenaline and gets the audience thinking why is it speeding up whats going to happen. Another part in the film where the editing stands out is when the victim is on the toilet floor dead. This time it is slow pace editing as we were trying to build tension and really get them on the edge of the seats. We done this by slowing panning up from different limbs of her body and then cutting straight to a close up of her head wound.