Evaluation – Question 4 – How did you use media technologies in the construction, research and planning and evaluation stages (Video)

Evaluation - Question 3- What have you learned from your audience feedback

When receiving the audiences’ feedback, we had a focus group which consisted of about 5-8 people within the age range of our target audience. We decided to meet up every week, and discuss our work. In addition to this we also interviewed several people, who are not in our focus group.  We did this because in order to create a media product to attract our intended audience, we had to make sure that what we were doing was the right thing. We also created a Facebook and Twitter page and a YouTube channel. We did this in order to get feedback from people all around the globe.

When creating my ancillary tasks I had my own focus group, which consisted of people 3-5 between the ages of 15-21 to give me feedback. I did this in order to make sure what I was doing was appropriate. Also when creating the Facebook and Twitter page we uploaded our ancillary tasks in order to get feedback.

Evaluation - Question 2 - How effective is the combanination of your main product and ancillary texts (Voiceover)

Evaluation - Question 1- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?(Presentation)

Finnaaaaaaallllllllllll presentation

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The Last Laugh Movie Trailer - Uploaded on Youtube

We have uploaded the video onto Youtube, in order to get the feedback we need from our target audience. Also as other existing trailers are on Youtube, we decided that we should make an account and put our one on it.

The Last Laugh - Twitter and Facebook Poster/Page

We created a Twitter and Facebook page. As Twitter and Facebook are the two biggest social networking sites around and especially seeing as our intended audience is amongst the group of people that are using social networking sites. We decided to create the page in order for our intended audience to give us feedback, as well as asking us questions. So we decided to create another poster to put up on our pages. The poster is simple, we've kept the font choice and style the same, and we've used the image of the iconic mask.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003708185260&sk=wall
http://twitter.com/#!/thelastlaugha2

Shooting The Last Laugh

The Last Laugh - Final Magazine Front Cover (Fangoria)

There are a lot of changes between the 2nd draft and this one, and the reasons why I have made these changes is because like the other changes I have asked my intended audience, and they felt that in the 2nd draft there was a lot going on in the background, and that I should keep it minimalistic and try a white background, and after doing some research I found a Fangoria magazine front cover, with the same layout idea I had in mind, so I decided to use that magazine front cover as a template.

The Last Laugh - Magazine Cover 2nd Draft (Fangoria)

The reason as to why I have gone from an Empire magazine front cover to a Fangoria magazine front cover is because, when showing my intended audience my magazine front cover, they felt that it was too gory for it to be an empire magazine, so they suggested that I should do a Fangoria magazine front cover. After doing further research i found that they were right.

The Last Laugh - Magazine Cover First Draft (Empire)

The Last Laugh - Final Movie Poster

The changes I have made consists of the colour of the font, adding the names of who is starring in the film, and bringing out the red in the image a bit more. The reason why I've made this changes is because when asking my intended audience they thought that the title being in red is a bit too obvious, so going with the black makes it more effective.

The Last Laugh - Movie Poster (1st Draft)

Research Into Film Magazine Covers & Film Posters (Presentation)

http://www.slideshare.net/eleonitaramadani/magazine-front-covers-and-poster-analysis-12296266

The Last Laugh - Final Movie Trailer

The Last Laugh - Choosing The Right Sound.

When choosing the right soundtrack for our film trailer, we decided to look at other existing horror movie soundtracks on YouTube, then decided that we'd make our own soundtrack. In the end we had 2 different soundtracks. We then asked our focus group and teachers which one they preferred, and based our decision on that, the decision was to combine both of the soundtracks together. We had the entire soundtrack of one of them, and a couple of screams from the other one. 

The Last Laugh - Movie Trailer (Without Final Sound).

The Last Laugh - Movie Trailer (1st Draft)

Cast List, Location and Costumes

First Scene: Dance Studio

Cast List:

Katy – Kirby

Eleonita– Nina

Blerina – Tatum

Dannii – Buffy

Shaswot - Thomas

Location: Dance Studio

Costume: Dance wear

Second Scene: Kirby’s Death

Cast List:

Katy – Kirby

Location: Woods/Tennis Courts

 Costume: Casual Clothing; Jeans, top and cardigan.

Third Scene: Bathroom Scene

Cast List:

Blerina – Tatum

Safina – Villain

Location: House (Bathroom)

Costume:

Blerina: Nothing (Bikini)

Safina: Mask, Black clothing

Fourth Scene: Kirby’s death scene

Cast List:

Katy– Kirby

Location: woods/tennis courts

Costume: bloody clothes.

Fifth scene: Tatum’s death

Cast list: Blerina – Tatum

Location: House (Bathroom)

Costume: Nothing (Bikini)

Sixth scene: Nina getting attacked

Cast list:

Ellie – Nina

Safina – Villain

Location: Safina’s house

Costumes:

Nina T-shirt and jeans

Villain: Mask and black clothing.

Seventh scene: woman in black

Cast list:

Ellie – Nina

Safina – villain

Location:  Safina’s house

Costumes:

Nina: shirt and jeans

Villain: mask and black clothing.

Risk Assessment.

Production Schedule.

Changes Made To The Ideas.

Our initial idea was based on the horror film ‘I spit on your grave’ where two friends, Nina and Tatum, are in a dance studio rehearsing their routine and two boys enter. They begin to misbehave with the two girls and as one of them approaches Nina to rape her, Tatum flees leaving her friend helpless. This leads Nina seeking revenge on the rapists and her friend who left her at a time of need. After discussing this idea, we concluded that the story line was complex where the victim resorts to villainous acts blurring the line between Clover’s final girl and the sadistic villain. However we chose to keep the dance studio setting for the focal scene as we thought the mirrors would create a dramatic effect. 

Script.

First Scene:

Dance studio

Establishing shot of the building.

A group of friends are rehearsing, four decide to leave while one remains alone.

Camera Shot

High angle shot -of group, everyone dancing in unison.

Close up shots -of each character as they turn.

                        - they leave

Medium shot- Buffy looking in mirror, masked man standing behind her

Point of view shot- No one there (false scare)

Pan shot- Lights flickering

Point of View shot- Masked villain running towards camera

Risk assessment

Dance floor could be slippery, we will prevent this by wearing appropriate footwear. Any cast or crew suffering from photo- sensitive epilepsy should not be in the room at time of filming.

Second scene

On the way home

Chase sequence

Camera shot

Hand held camera- Kirby running

Break in 180 degree angle- running

Close up shots- Frightened face

Fast/quick cuts-

Risk assessment

Ensure appropriate footwear is worn due to the steepness of the hill. Be aware of the public and dogs.

Third scene

LIVE broadcast

News report

Camera shot

Close up shot- of TV

Risk assessment

0

Fourth scene

Phone call

Nina picks up the phone, camera cuts to phone ringing in Tatum’s house. Voiceover of villain speaking.

Camera Shot

Point of view shot of Nina picking up the phone.

Close up shot of Nina on the phone.

Pan shot of phone ringing in Tatum’s house and same broadcast on TV.

Risk assessment

0

Fifth scene

Bath time

Voiceover of villain answering the call as the villain walks in the bathroom. Tatum has her eyes closed and is having a bath, she lifts her head from the water and looks up to see (a blurred silhouette of) the villain.

The Last Laugh - Story Board

Treatment Analysis.

Conventions:

 Teenagers are popular in horror films as they serve to make the film realistic and engaging for the horror audiences who are predominately young people. The immaturity and extremity of emotions portrayed are convincing thus providing platforms for postmodern films such as ‘Attack the Block’ to be made. Plot lines have always focused on young people with famous slasher films such as Scream, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween being prime examples. Taking this into consideration, our group decided to revolve our trailer around five teenagers: Nina, Tatum, Buffy Kirby and Thomas.

Screaming is an expression of shock and fear hence we have incorporated this into our trailer. Screaming is a depiction of the horror that the character is experiencing and this is dispersed through to the audience who are shown a vulnerable and helpless victim.

 Knives are a good horror weapon as they allow intimate contact and cause a slow and painful death. The majority of our respondents thought that knives were most effective horror weapons consequently our group decided to use them in our trailer. According to Freud’s sadism theory, the knife serves as a misogynistic tool when being used against women and this fits our trailer which has mainly female characters.

Blood is a vital in slasher films to illustrate the extent of the villain’s ruthless quest to inflict pain onto his/her weak victims. By depicting bloodshed and gore, the slasher film subgenre achieves its purpose of representing a dramatic and extreme bloodbath playing on the fears of audiences. 

Masked figure conform to the Structuralist prop paradigms and not knowing the identity of the person behind the mask unsettles the audience. The mask allows the audience to undertake a journey to find out who is behind the mask and this adds mystery conforms to Barthes pleasure of text theory. Our group decided to use the mask paradigm due to its popularity after films like Scream, Friday the 13^th and Halloween.

 Chase scenes add a thrill and excitement which heightens the experience of a watching a horror film. Used in probably all horror films, they serve to build up tension and bring the masochistic viewers to the edge of their seats not knowing whether the victim, usually Clover’s ‘Final Girl’, will triumph or concede defeat to the villain, usually the sadistic voyeur. Our reason for including a chase sequence was to highlight the power difference between the villain and the victim- who despite running as fast as she can, will ultimately be caught by the villain.

Bathroom scenes or scenes where the victim physically lays exposed to the sadistic voyeurs is something which our group found effective after seeing the classic bathroom scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’. The idea of subverting an everyday activity of a tranquil and peaceful bath into a horrific and fatal experience highlights the merciless nature of our victim accurately thus we decided to include this in our trailer.

Darkness is imperative in horror films to create fear of the unknown and startle the audiences when the unexpected happens. Accordingly, all of our scenes are set in darkness to highlight the metaphorical darkness the characters have been plunged into.

  “Names are boundary markers of individual identity” as critic Parker has said emphasizing the significance of the names of characters. As a result of this, our group decided to name our characters based on the denotation of the specific names

The name Nina was our first choice for our final girl but as horror film protagonists usually have an asexual name, we decided to change it to  ---------  Clover’s ‘Final Girl’ theory argued that asexual names were used due to the masculine personality trait adopted by the girl in her final confrontation with the villain.

The name Tatum was chosen to represent a promiscuous girl who is always prevalent in horror films. This character always dies due to her engagement in sexual activities as Clover suggests which is why our group decided to show her death in the bath scene where she lays physically exposed.

 Kirby  is short for Kimberly and the nick name reduces her significance highlighting that she is one of the less important characters who dies early on in the trailer.

 Buffy’s name suggests the stereotypical blonde girl who is first to confront the villain. Conforming to the typical representation of blondes in horror films, due to her own mistake, she decides to remain in the dance studio alone and creates the perfect scenario for the villain to enter and commit his first killing

The boyfriend character is seen in most horror films either protecting the final girl and dying nobly during the course; or assisting the villain in his quest to avenge the final girl. Thomas is a popular everyday name and is relatable to audiences.

We looked at Propp’s character types and used them to create the characters in our trailer.

Extra Stuff For The Treatment.

Propp’s Character types:

• Long sleeves- Geek: Kirby (Scream)
• Short Sleeves- Sporty: Buffy (Buffy The Vampire Slayer)
• Straps/Belly Top- Promiscuous: Tatum (Scream)
• Baggy top- Virgin: Nina (Black Swan)

Shots:

• Scream 4- Masked figure running towards camera, fade to black
• Friday the 13^th-Flickering lights when masked villain is revealed
• Shower scene- break 180 degree rule
• Kirby, stairs, villain looking down at her
• Close up of Nina crying on the floor

Treatment.

Darkness falls on a dance studio. Five friends, dancers: Buffy, Kirby, Tatum Nina and her boyfriend Thomas, come to the end of their rehearsal and prepare to leave. One of them decides to stay behind to perfect her pirouettes. As the friends leave, and the door begins to close, Buffy will soon realize that she’s not alone. Whilst practising her routine, she looks into the mirror and screams as she thinks she has seen someone. In a state of frenzy, she turns around to find no one behind her. Paranoid and frightened, she believes the hallucination was due to lack of sleep and stress. She is unsettled therefore decides to leave. She picks up her belongings and makes her way to the exit when the lights go out. Overpowered by darkness, she calls out to see who’s there. The lights begin to flicker and she sees a masked figure running towards her.

Oblivious to the brutal murder of her friend, Kirby is on her way home and takes her usual route through the park. Engrossed in reading, she is unaware of the presence of the masked villain coming towards her. She bumps into him and briefly apologizes but dismisses it and continues reading. Recalling the brief encounter, she stops to think about the strange appearance of the person. She turns around to reassure herself that she was worrying over nothing and finds the masked person standing facing her ready to attack with a deadly knife. In a state of fear, she screams and begins to run. Unable to hear his footsteps behind her, she turns around hoping that she has lost him and falls in the process. Vulnerable and frightened, she looks up and sees him standing over her.

The next day, Nina is flicking through the channels when she comes across the breaking news of the death of her friends. The reporter emphasizes the similarity of the previous year’s events on the same date where the victim was from the same college. Whilst watching the LIVE broadcast, she notices a masked figure lingering in the far distance. She pauses the screen and edges closer to examine further. Certain that the masked person is truly there she gasps and has a flashback of her involvement in last year’s accidental killing. Fearing Tatum’s safety, she calls to inform her, Tatum doesn’t pick up as she’s having a bath, so she leaves a panicked voicemail ordering her to keep safe. The masked villain answers the call and say’s “It’s all your fault” and then hangs up. Upstairs, an oblivious Tatum is having a bath, unaware that the masked villain has entered her bathroom. The cheerful song juxtaposes the brutal intentions of the villain.  While lying there with her eyes closed, the villain is shown entering the bathroom.  Whilst washing her hair, she dips her head under the water and then rubs her eyes to clear her vision. At opening her eyes, she sees the masked villain standing over her; who blocks her scream by drowning her.

Nina arrives at Tatum’s house to see that the front door is open. She rushes yelling Tatum’s name through the house, finally finding Tatum’s body in the bathroom. Crying and terrified, she collapses onto the ground and begins wailing in utter disbelief. She calls Thomas and explains what she has seen and he replies he will be there shortly; suddenly she hears the front door slam shut. Is Nina destined to have the same fate as her friends?

Plot List.

Plots:

•      Four girls, in a dance studio practising a dace, a boy emerges wearing a v for vendetta mask, then starts      attacking/killing of the kills one by one. One dies in the studio, one on the way home, one in the shower. One final girl, going to be shown running away from the villain 
•      A group of teens maybe 4 or 5, go out to the woods, have a couple of drinks, maybe do drugs, one of them have a psychological breakdown, and “turns” evil. He then starts killing them off one by one. Final girl. 
•      A boy in school gets severely bullied, to a point where he can’t take any of it no more; he then gets revenge on all the bullies.

Out of the 3 plots, as a group we had a discussion, and came to a conclusion, that plot 1, will be our final plot, due to the fact, that it hasn’t been done yet. Also we feel that out of the 3 plots, this one would work better, and might be an easier option.

Questionnaire Analysis.

Questionnaire.

Questionnaire

1. How old are you?

15-18               19-22                22-25               25+

2. Are you:

                    Male                 Female

3. How often do you watch horror films?

             Daily             Weekly               Monthly                             Rarely                   Never

4. How do you prefer to view horror films?

              Cinema               DVD               TV                             Online          

5. What type of horror film interests you most?

Slasher/Gore              Supernatural                              Zombie                             Sci-Fi           

Psychological            Postmodern             

6. What is your favourite horror film? Why?

7. Who is your favourite horror film villain? Why?

8. What setting do you feel is suitable for a horror film? Why?

9. What weapon do you feel is suitable for a horror film? Why?

10. What do you think is most effective in a horror film?

          Sound                Lighting                Costume                    Setting                                 Plot

11.  Should the villain be seen or remain anonymous?

12. Which gender should the final survivor be?

                        Male            Female

13. Which gender should the villain be?

                        Male            Female

14. Is sexual content necessary in horror film? Why?

15. Is gore necessary? Why?

Pitch and Analysis

Bussing Sequence - Evaluation.

As a part of our preliminary task we filmed a bussing sequence, in which the victim, which in this case was me, receiving a false shock, before receiving the real scare. The victim is alone in the school, and goes to play the piano, as she is playing Beethoven “Moonlight sonata” she notices the curtains moving, she gets up to leave, as she turns around to walk out, the piano lid shuts.  She then drops her folders, paper flies everywhere, as she is gathering her papers, the killer (Asha) emerges from the curtains and goes to attack the victim. Throughout filming this bussing sequence, we encountered many problems, and due to constructive criticisms, we overcame them, and learnt from out mistakes.

We had to overcome a few problems whilst filming this bussing sequence, however the biggest problem was the continuity error, due to costume change, as we didn’t finish all the filming in one day, we had to continue filming the next week, and so I had difficulty in getting ahold of the outfit. However we put that aside and carried on filming, we now know that when we film our actual trailer, to take that into consideration and make sure that there will be no continuity errors.

In filming this bussing sequence, we had to think about, what types of shots we would use, how we would edit it, the sound and the mise-en-scene.

At the beginning of this sequence there is an over the shoulder long shot, we have concluded that as a clip on its own, it’s too long. We could’ve had an establishing shot and then a shot of the victim (me) walking up the stairs, in order to establish the setting. A shot from behind the villain (Asha) makes the audience wonder who is behind her, when in fact no one’s there, so it doesn’t have the same effect as it would have done with a shot reverse shot, of my reaction to her appearance.  The diegetic sound editing needs to be smoother as it’s too jerky, could’ve recorded the track and then added it in as a non-diegetic sound, so it’s continuous. In one of the shots, there is too much distance between me and Asha, so it doesn’t make sense for it to be a point of view shot, also my screaming is in a different direction.

As we was split into two groups, we decided to show each other our bussing sequences, in order to get some feedback, in what we did right and what needed to improve on or change.

They commented on the same things we picked up on; the continuity error with the costumes, the jerky diegetic sound of the piano editing.  They commented on my “fall” and concluded that it wasn’t convincing, so in order for it to work, we either eliminate that shot, or somehow make it look realistic. The fact that we didn’t have enough, close up shots of the victim’s face in order to sympathize and identify with the victim.  The low angle shot of my feet walking towards the piano, was a bad shot to use, due to the fact that it doesn’t make me look vulnerable but completely opposite, makes me look strong and powerful. The scene with the piano could of made it creepier but playing some eerie notes. Also as we used too much too much piano diegetic sound, we couldn’t use as much of the non-diegetic sound, so in order to use more non-diegetic sounds, we need to shorten the piano diegetic sound. They commented on our continuity editing in the beginning where I’m peaking round the corner, by the door frame. They suggested that in order to create and build tension, we should if used shorter, quicker shots in order to create that effect. Finally they commented on our ending shot, they said that it faded to end too quickly, however it links to psycho which is good. However overall they agreed that it made sense and it linked, and that there were some aspects which were really good, however there’s a lot of improvements and changes needed in order for it to be really good.

What I have learnt from this experience, is that when filming, you need to have a proper plan set out, as of what props you need, costume, sort out the shots, and maybe get a clue of how you would edit it and where the non-diegetic sounds would go, in order for it to maybe work better.  I have also learnt that, if we needed to continue filming on another day, due to time/weather etc. We need to make sure that the actors have the same costumes/hair/make up etc.

I have also learnt how to use the equipment when filming and editing. I am hoping to improve my knowledge in editing and filming, in hoping to get full marks.

Bussing Sequence - Preliminary Task