Completed Horror Film - A School's Nightmare

Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

From the initial preliminary task, I have progressed sufficiently with my editing skills and knowledge of camera angles. In the preliminary task we learnt about the 180 degree rule, match on action and shot/reverse shot. We used 2 of techniques in our final horror film. We used shot reverse shot plenty of times during our title sequence to show a clear link between the driver and the teenagers.

Because we changed software between the Preliminary Task and the Final Product, we were open to a lot more editing opportunities with Final Cut Pro X whereas with Adobe Première Pro which we used for the Preliminary Task. With Final Cut Pro we were able more freedom with the editing we had. We had better control on the frame of a shot so we could change what could be seen in the shot. We had a large range of effects we could of used in the film. We decided on one which we used throughout the film. This effect made the film look dark but not black and white.

With the camera work, we had a lot more freedom with actual horror film. Because of the location of our film, we had plenty of space to change the camera angle and movement with ease. We learnt that we needed to show the right amount of detail per a shot. We did not want to give the identity of the driver during the title sequence to we always had the camera to the side of him never showing his face. With the car approaching the teenagers in the title sequence, we had room to make a lot of movement with the camera to make the title sequence flow better so it didn't become boring too quickly.

Here is an example of how we developed our uses on Match on Action. We used it to prevent having to film the car actually hit the teenager. We used also in the initial Preliminary task as you can see the screen caps below.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have used a wide range of software during the creation of my horror film. We used Microsoft word throughout for planning.

For sound I have used Garageband and Adobe Audition to cut and edit the music we found to fit right into our 2 minute extract.I used Audition at home and Garageband at school on the Apple Macs.

When we were filming we used a SPEED HD-120Z High Definition Camcorder, this provided us with great detail on our videos and allowed us to film in HD in 1080p. We attached the camera to a tripod when filming to a have smooth stable shot.

 

  We used an Apple Mac with Final Cut Pro X to edit our film. The software allowed us to edit our film much more advancely than we did with Premiere Pro for preliminary task.

Our blogs are powered by Blogger and videos are uploaded to YouTube to allow anyone to view it online easily in good quality. We uploaded our film 720p as it good quality for people to view in.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our target audience aged 15-25

We established an audience for our film by conducting a survey to see what the target audience was for our film.

Survey
We conducted a survey of our two minute extract to see if our target audience enjoyed what they saw, if they would watch the full thing and what they would change if they were editing and filming. The survey was answered by a group of Year 13 students, the centre of our target audience range, 15 -25.

Everyone from the survey said they would watch the full thing if it was turned into a full film. Everyone thought the characters; the teenagers and the driver were represented well and that the quality of film overall was good. The only criticism was a slight sound problem we had with the wind interfering and that the title font was not appropriate. We fixed the problem with the sound and changed the main title of our font to a more suitable one for a horror film. The results showed that teenagers defiantly do relate better to films when a character is a similar age group is in them and that fonts and sounds are very important in the genre of the film because it helps create the mood.

Psychographics
Teenagers are a prime audience because their age range like to go out and socialise, one of these playing being the cinema. Our film is based in a school and the opening scene features 4 teenagers allowing our target audience to relate to the characters within the film. With the music being dramatic and the scene with the car and the ghost version of Jon adds the horror and mysterious gripping the audience and our target audience which are interested in this genre of film. We would like to make our viewers believe that the film was based on a true story so they could possibly put themselves in the film.

Demographics
As we said, our target audience age range is 16-25. We know that this age range take a particular liking to the genre of horror. Males will be more interested in this film stereotypically but we have not narrowed out females from watching. They would be interested in watching if they like the genre of horror. We would mainly focus on the middle and working class as the film focuses on these two classes. However, any class would be interested in watching. We have not aimed our film at a particular race or geographical area. With the use of teenagers throughout and being based in a school allows us to attract a broad demographic while focusing on some particular areas.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

This includes a commentary over the film about Distribution of our film.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

We have compared Jon, the teenager who gets run over with to Billy, a boy of similar age from the film 'Jeeper Creeper 2'. We chose to compare Jon to him as similarly he dies in a horror film very early on. They are of similar age and are placed in the same position of being vulnerable involuntary very early on in the film. They are also dressed similar, both in white shirts to connote innocence. Overall, they are both similar because they were both victims due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time to the main character being the antagonist.

Our film represents the typical social group of today because we use a stereotypical group of teenagers which you would expect to see these days in towns and cities. We represent them positively with no negative behaviours or characteristics shown.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

1. Title of the Film - We chose the title for our film based on the fact that the majority of the film would be based in a school. We thought that mentioning a school in the title would entice people into watching the film because people relate the location of a school because everyone has been there. The familiar setting may encourage people to see the film. Using the word nightmare tells the audience the genre of the film because of the connotations of nightmare. It tells people that its going to be scary.

2. Setting & Location - The setting for our film was crucial, we wanted a place that looked like it was on the edge of a built up area such as a town but was quiet enough so an unnoticeable murder could occure. The place we filmed at was a quiet location with a few buildings in the background. The trees around added to the effect mystery in the scenes. Overall, the setting and location added to climatic introduction and built up suspense with the film.

3. Costumes & Props - Costumes of the teenagers were not important although we made Jon (the person who was run over) where a white t-shirt so when once he was hit, the blood was very visable and clear. The driver, we made wear a suit to look like he was a teacher, this was important to show that the scenes fitted in with the rest of the story. With props, we made the teenager, Jon have an iPod for a reason that he needed to distracted when crossing the road so he didn't hear the car approaching. We made the driver look at his phone while he was driving also so he didn't see Jon. All the props and costumes were used to make the story make sense and be compelling as a horror film.

4. Camerawork & Editing - We wanted the title sequence to be smooth and but seem mysterious. During the editing process, we made all the scenes look darker to make it look more creepier and scarier. We also did crucial editing to Jon once he was in ghost form to make it look like he was disapearing, this one was done as a camera trick. The effect makes the film defiantly confirm its identity as a horror film.

5. Title Font & Style - The font for our title sequence is serious plain font. We used 'Times New Roman' in white because it shows how the film is serious with what its showing. The white text makes it stand out and contrasts the black and white grainy scenes their showing on. The main title for film 'A Schools Nightmare' has different font because we wanted it to have a unique style which could be distinguishable from other films making it have an identity. The font for that was looks like it has blood on it showing the genre of the film just from the title and again in white to contrast the background and surroundings. In the title sequence the main title is shown on a plain black background making it clearly stand out. The fonts and style helped to show the theme of the film and to give the audience an idea of what to expect by 'teasing' them if the title shot was used in trailers and other promotion material.

6. Story & How the Opening Sets It Up - Our story was typical for a horror film, the whole film would contain blood, gore, and would be based on a physiological story. The story would also involve ghosts, a typical feature of a horror film. Using all these aspects in our story would entice people to see the film as they would what to expect slightly. You can't have a film too different as it would be a big gamble if people would like it plus critics too would like it. Our opening sets up well for the main storyline. We needed an initial trigger to teacher being haunted by a ghost so we came up with the idea of him accidentally running over one of his pupils, this over time would make him go 'mad'. The opening climaxing up to the opening scene where everything calms down but from then, the characters within the film and the audience watching would know this isn't the end of things to come.

7. Genre & How the Opening Suggests This - The opening to our film fits nicely with the horror genre because of the conventions we used. The whole opening uses a dark effect to make the shots look gloomy plus the lack of colour anywhere adds to this also. The shots of Jon standing in the road after he had been run over clearly shows something spooky and mysterious has happened defining the genre of the film.

8. How Characters Are Introduced -  The 4 teenagers are first seen together walking along a path then splitting up, from what you can tell from their talking, they look like best friends. They all say bye to Jon and he walks off in a different direction. We can now tell Jon is going somewhere different to other teenagers creating a sense of mystery. The driver isn't shown fully until after the title sequence. This is to draw the audience in. He is portrayed as evil as he never seen happy plus the shots he is in are especially dark.

9. Special Effects - We used two special effects significantly during our two minute extract to help convey a horror film. The use of making the whole film darker was done by using a special effect in Final Cut Studio X and the fading out of Jon at the end. Both were used to make the film more spooky and creepy.

Horror Film - Draft

Here is the first draft our horror film.

Horror Film Planning - Title & Plot

After discussing with my group today about the plot of our horror film. We have an outline for the story lead on to the intro and opening scene been planned. From the story been agreed on we decided on the name "A School's Nightmare".

Here is the final outline of our story:

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After a teacher is driving from work at the local school, he looses concentrartion as his phone rings. Meanwhile a young teenager was crossing the road and gets hit by the teacher driving. The driver gets out and panics seeing all the blood but no body. The driver gets back in his car and drives away. Unnoticed by the driver, but the viewers are fully aware of the reflection on the car of the young teenager and in rearview mirror.

Once the driver is home he seems unsettled because of him hitting the teen. He goes to work the next day, and is aware of student being missing, possible the teenager he hit. He is panicing and then learns that the missing teenager is the teen he killed.
The teacher seems to think every is ok but people start to notice in the change of behaviour of the teacher. Especially the group of teens who were walking home with the killed teenager. They go out to see if they find any clues.

After people get more and more worried about the missing student and people start to notice that the teacher is acting strange, he panics and goes on a mass murdering spree of teachers and pupils. After killing a class full of pupils, the police turn up and it becomes a hostile situation. After the teacher takes a pupil hostage, a sniper takes the teacher out. (Bullet Time) The final shots shows the ghost form of every person who has died in the film, including the teacher.

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We had several ideas ideas before this but the story above is what we chose as our final decision.