Risk Assessment by Rachael, Stacey and James

Media Evaluation

By Rachael Booth

Media Evaluation

Our film incorporates generic conventions in the scene where Amelia and Alexis are sat doing work and the killer try’s to strangle Amelia and Alexis pushers the killer to the side in Amelia’s defense. Amelia then only cares about herself and her own safety and runs for the door leaving Alexis alone with the killer. Our film challengers these conventions because the female characters Amelia and Alexis have more personality rather than conforming to the usual stereotypical characteristics of female characters in horror/ thriller films. Our film is similar to the film Paranormal Activity as we decided our film would have multiple endings just like Paranormal Activity has multiple endings. I am going to compare and contrast our opening sequence to the opening sequence of the film Scream. The film Scream starts off with an image of a phone which becomes significant to the story line later on in the film, whereas our opening sequence starts with Stacey’s character Alexis walking down a dark path alone, both opening sequences start with girls being alone in either a house or on there way to college. The location of the film’s opening sequence is also different as in Scream they are indoors and on our film we are outdoors, however they are both dark so this is a similarity. They are also similar in the way that both films are aimed at teenagers and include teenage actors/actresses. Another similarity is the main location is their college.

In our film there is an equal amount of male and female characters who are all in their teenage years and come from similar middle class white British families. Gender is represented in a stereotypical way throughout most of our film, however the scene stated above shows that for a short period of time Stacey’s character Alexis breaks the stereotype.

Our product could be produced by a major Hollywood studio because a major Hollywood studio would be able to afford the equipment and resources needed to make our film look more realistic. Our film is similar to the film Scream, as both our film and Scream’s main story line involves teenagers being stalked in college.

I don’t think our film would be an art house film because I think our film would appeal to a large number of people. I think our film would be shown in the cinema first then released onto DVD, then later released onto blue ray and then finally shown on analogue TV. As our film has multiple endings it gives the audience the opportunity to see the film on more than one occasion, which would result in us making more money.

I think our film target audience is anyone who is over 18 years old, but mainly between the ages 18 to 25. I think this because some of the scenes are inappropriate for under 18 year olds and also the characters in the film are in this age range so it would be easier for an audience with an age range of 18 to 25 to relate to the characters situations. I think our film would appeal to equal numbers of males and females because I think females could relate to Stacey’s character breaking the stereotype and defending my character, Amelia. Whereas the male audience could relate better to a simpler character like Amelia, who lives up to the stereotype by being very stereotypical and running away screaming. I think the most appropriate classification for our film would be an 18 because the weapons we use are quite easy to get hold of, bad language is use throughout the film and there are various violent fight scenes. www.bbfc.co.uk

As I have previously stated the target audience for our film is people aged from 18 to 25. Many people in this age group will still be at college, the characters in our film are hunted and attacked in college so therefore the audience will be able to put themselves in the characters shoes and realize that this could happen to them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaraRs35PyY We asked a small group of people what they thought of our film, the hyper link is above. One negative comment we got was that our title sequence was all white text on a black background and they found this a little boring and not very interesting.This would be something we would look at if we were given this assignment to do again. On a positive note one of the people we interviewed said that they liked the music we put over our film as it fitted in well with what was happening on screen.

For internal shots we used a Sony HDV 1000 camera as we have not used this type of camera before we had a few problems with it to start with, one of these problems was we managed to successfully assemble the equipment, however when it came to taking the tripod down we had a bit of difficulty, we overcame this problem quickly and easily by asking for help. As we hadn’t used this type of camera before we have developed new skills that will help us in the future. For external shots we used a JVC DV camcorder we had used this type of camera before in our previous preliminary task, so therefore our entire group felt confident using this equipment. To edit our film we used finale cut express, as we had not used this software before we had to learn how to use it. I personally found it quite difficult to use to start with however with more practice I feel more confident using this software.

For our film we had to do research into the genre and understand the classification of films doing this research helped us develop a better understanding of what kind of things we needed to include in our film. Also doing this research made it a lot easier for us to produce our film, as we already knew what shots we needed, where they needed to be shot, who was going to be on the shot and who was going to be behind the camera etc. from our preliminary task we gained a better understanding of continuity this was because in our preliminary task we thought we had shot everything fine but then when we came to edit it, it wouldn’t edit together properly because in some of shots we had a door open then in other shots the door was closed. I have improved my understand of shot types and where they should be used because on our preliminary I was mainly on screen so therefore I didn’t really get much opportunity to film. Whereas on this film I am not on screen as much which gave me the opportunity develop my camera skills.

Analysis of Scream

BY Rachael Booth

Analysis of Scream

The title sequence starts with an advertisement of Miramax Home Entertainment then another one for Dimension films. The word Scream then appears in white capital letters on a black background, firstly the letters fill the screen then they close into the centre of the screen in a moderately sized text as they do close together you hear a banging noise. Then the text goes red and you hear a screaming noise and another bang and the text then vanishes. The first shot that appears on screen is a close up shot of telephone. The first character to appear is a female character dressed in a feminine jumper and white tracksuit bottoms in a medium close up shot. The female character then answers the phone and has a very feminine sounding voice in contrast to the voice on the other end of the phone which is deeper and masculine sounding. The voice on the other end of the phone then asks who their speaking to then the female character presumes that it’s a wrong number and puts the phone down. She then turns and walks away from the phone, the phone then starts to ring the female character then turns back round looks at the phone, then we get a close up shot of the telephone, then the camera cuts back to the female character. This is an example of an eye line match which is used to help the audience see what the actors on screen are seeing. The lighting is artificial and mainly background lighting. The camera then moves to a low angle shot looking up at some trees outside the house. Outside the house it’s night time. The camera then shows a close up of a gas hob being lit. The phone then rings again and it’s the same deep, masculine voice as before. The female character then walks round the house and picks some books up from the kitchen table and walks to the front room while she’s still on the phone. Things then get a little bit creepy when the voice says “I want to know who I’m looking at” the females voice then gets quieter she then looks outside and hangs up the phone. She then walks away from the window, the phone rings again however the female character quickly puts down the phone. The female character then answers the phone again and shouts at the voice on the other end, but the voice on the other end sounds angry and threatens the female character, the music then comes in and gets gradually more intense. The female character then runs to the door and locks it, she then looks out of a glass pain on the door and we (the audience) see the path (eye line match). She then hangs up the phone and begins to cry and scream. There is then a knock at door. The phone rings again and the voice on the other end shows tells the female character to look on to the patio she then sees her boyfriend tied to a chair bleeding, with a head wound. We see her boyfriends face in close up shot which then zooms out into a medium shot. She then turns the patio lights off and crouches down. The voice on the phone then tells her to play a game is she answers the questions correctly her and her boyfriend will live however is she answers incorrectly they will die. Her voice quite and tear full. She pleads with the voice on the phone to stop. She answers the first question correctly however this was a warm up question, she then gets the next question wrong and begins to scream and shout down the phone. The camera then cuts to her boyfriend out on the patio there’s very little lighting except some background lighting. The female character then turns the patio lights on and we get a medium shot of her boyfriend bleeding to death. She then crouches down again and listens to the next question, then a chair gets thrown through the patio window and she runs to the kitchen and picks up a knife and hides outside the house. The camera cuts to inside the house and we see a human like figure in the house in black clothing wearing a mask. Then the camera cuts to a car in the distance in a long shot. The music is getting gradually more intense. The female character then turns round and sees the figure behind her they struggle for a while then the figure starts chasing her as she heads for the car. The figure catchers her and stabs her once then the knife comes up and we get a close up of it showing it to the audience covered in blood. She then gets stabbed again as we see too people entering the house. The camera then cuts to the people in the house and there shouting for “Casey” there searching gets more and more frantic, and the female character trys crawling to the house however the figure grabs her and drags her away. The camera then cuts to the people in to house holding on to a phone and they can hear a breathing noise like there’s someone on the other end the camera then cuts back to female character being dragged away with the phone in her hand.

Filmed Questionnaire by Stacey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaraRs35PyY

The Final Product

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjU18tews0k

Storyboard

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Ideas by Rachael, Stacey, James and Scott

Analysis - The Hills Have Eyes by Stacey

The title sequence of “The Hills Have Eyes” introduces the cause behind the horror. There is a small amount of text, telling us that there were many nuclear bombs set off in this particular place in America, and that the government will still not admit to this being the cause of the deformities in the surrounding areas. We are first shown some men in suits testing for radioactivity with Geiger Counters in the desert. They are then attacked by a man with a pick, whose face we do not totally see. There are then images of nuclear bombs, mushroom clouds and buildings being blown away by the shockwaves. In between these images, we are shown distorted pictures of people with deformities, most likely caused by the radiation. We are then introduced to a creepy-looking man shouting “Ruby”. He gives up and goes back to his petrol station where we are introduced to a family who are travelling to California and looking for directions.

The camerawork in the opening sequence is, at first very smooth and drawn out. This makes the viewer feel more relaxed and unprepared for the action that is about to occur. There are lots of shots from behind things so that we cannot totally see what is happening. For example, when the final man in the radiation suit gets killed, we are shown this from behind a rock which lets the audience create their own pictures of what is happening. We are shown point of view shots from the people in the suits so that we can feel more connected to the characters and we can experience more of what they can see. When we are shown the images of the bombs, the camerawork is very steady and we can clearly see what happens. This changes, however, when we start seeing the images of the people with deformities when the camera become shaky and the images become quite hard to see. Once we are introduced to the family, the camerawork is very smooth so that we can clearly see the people in the shots. However, when we see the red coat being stolen, the camera becomes unbalanced to show that there is something about to happen. When the boy is in the toilet, we have a point of view shot of the cabin, and he is looking around a lot because he is panicked about the things that are in the cabin. Once he sees the girl looking at him, the camera jumps as he does, exaggerating his point of view.

At first, the editing of the film is slow; we just have a slow shot of a stream in the desert and the men looking at their Geiger Counters. The editing becomes quicker as the men are attacked and keeps getting faster until the last man is killed. These are all straight cuts between shots. When we see the bombs going off, some of the images are in black and white, others in colour; these are also straight shots. When the images of the people with deformities are shown the pictures are distorted and the shots are very shaky and quick, so that the viewers cannot totally see what is being shown, which will scare them more. When the man is introduced, the shots are very smooth to contrast with his appearance. When he meets the family, the shots are all medium lengths, with mixtures of close-ups, medium shots and long shots.

The music at the beginning is a very ominous orchestral piece which creates an eerie feel to the opening of the movie. The music becomes more dramatic as the men are attacked and we can hear the sounds of them screaming and the pick going through them. During the images of the bombs, there is a western-type song playing that sounds creepy in this context. The petrol station is introduced with the sound of clinking glasses and the pig. When the man is looking for Ruby, there is very little diegetic sound which shows the silence that is facing the man. The family are very noisy when they arrive. The teenagers argue, the parents argue and the young couple’s baby is crying. This covers the noise when the small child steals the red coat and we hear her sadistic childlike giggling and heavy breathing.

The mise-en-scene of this film particularly scares the viewers. In the beginning, there is a lot of smoke on screen in the desert, which creates an ominous feel. The men who are attacked are holding a lot of technical equipment which gives the film a futuristic effect. The first killing we see is of the scientists and this is with a pick axe which is a brutal weapon to be used. The bombs that go off show what caused all of the radiation, and therefore the thing that causes what happens in the film. The setting of the petrol station is secluded, and gives the whole scene an uncomfortable atmosphere. The barbed wire that is around the desert is twisted and broken which could suggest that something has escaped. The fact that the man is holding a gun as he is in the desert shows that he knows that there could be danger. When he is at the petrol pump, there is a sign on the wall that says not to smoke near the pumps, but he has a cigar in his mouth which shows that he doesn’t care much for rules. The pig that the teenagers find is very random and could mean that the man may have some mental issues. The cabin that Bobby goes in is dark, dingy and has things in it that we cannot properly see and that could be anything. When the woman goes into the station building to bring back the dog, she uncovers things that we have already seen; stolen goods, a wallet and a human ear in a takeaway box.

The characters in the opening of this film are obviously scientific people as they know how to use the equipment they have. They are dressed in radiation-proof clothing that covers their face, so that we cannot identify who they are. They also seem to be naïve about what could happen to them while they are out in the desert as they do not know what to do when the man with the pick starts to come after them. The person who is covered in blood is not a character that is on screen for long, but he gives the viewers a sense of what is going to happen to the scientists. The man who kills the people in the suits is a scary character who is not totally shown, which also makes him more mysterious, although we can see enough of him to know that there is something not right about his appearance. The man who owns the petrol station is at first shown in a dim light to make him also look like a mysterious person. He is dressed in scruffy looking clothes, has a dirty beard and doesn’t look to be healthy. The family seem to be an average American family. The mother is dressed in nondescript clothes and is shown to be having a subtle argument with her husband; someone who misses his job because he is wearing a police cap and we find out that he used to be a detective. The teenagers are dressed in casual clothes and seem to have a typical brother - sister relationship – always fighting. The eldest child, is trying to make her husband relax, because he is getting wound up about the fact his wife’s parents hate him. We partly see the character of a little girl stealing a red coat. This character could be Ruby and the red coat could help to identify her later on in the film.

http://www.megavideo.com/?v=YT9TP95K

Evaluation by Scott

1. Our film is a teen/slasher horror, which normally involves a group of teenagers attacked by a serial killer. This is the case in our film as a group of teens in college after hours are hunted by a mysterious killer. The film begins with a girl walking down a path at night, and unbeknownst to her she is being stalked by the killer. You get a point of view shot of the killer as he watches her from behind some trees. This is done to make you feel as if you're in his shoes and make you wonder who it is watching her. This is done in a lot of teen horrors. In most teen horrors the males are dominant and the females very passive, this is not the case in ours as the females have more personality and have a larger part in the story, so incomparison to other teen horrors ours is not stereotypical. What makes our horror a 'teen slasher' horror is the fact that it has a lot of the things that define a teen slasher. Such as, groups of teenagers, a killer, knives, blood etc. Our film has a lot in common with the film Scream, such as the mysterious killer and a goup of teens. But it also has multiple endings like the film Paranormal Activity.

2. The main social group represented in our film is gender, in which two females take the lead roles. Unlike most stereotypical horrors, where the females tend to scream and run awaythe females in ours have a more powerful role andchallenge the killer. All of our characters are teenagers (another social group). Unlike gender, teenagers are represented the same sa they do in all teen horrors. This helps attract an audience for women because it shows that they are strong and none passive by challenging the killer, who is male.

3. I wouldn't say our film would be distributed by a Hollywood studio, nor do I think it would be a small budget film. It would fall into the middle of the two. It shares a similarity with most teen horrors such as Scream; I know what you did last summer, urban legend etc. The film would start as a cinema release. After it had made enough money there it would be released on DVD and Blu-Ray. It would not be an art house film. Although there isn't much merchandise from this film such as toys etc it has the possibility for a sequel or spoof.

4. I would give this film a 15 certificate because it gives more people the chance to watch it at the cinema or buy the DVD, although it may be given an 18 as it has strong language, references to suicide and a lot of 'easy to get' weapons. The target audience is people from the ages of 15-25, although people of other ages will still enjoy it. Our film is similar to Paranormal Activity as they both have multiple choice endings. This also helps the income because hopefully more people will go to see the film again just to watch an alternate ending. The target audience would be for both male and females as mostly males would want to watch it for the blood, violence etc. but it also appeals to women because it has two women in the lead roles and shows them as been strong by confronting the killer.

5. This film attracts both male and female viewers as it appeals to both. It appeals to males as they want to see lots of voilence and gore and appeals to females because it's shows women as strong and passive. Also, because it is filmed in a college it would attract a lot of teenagers because it's a real life situation in their everyday life so it makes them feel as if it could happen to them. One particular good shot is one of the girls doing their work at a table, as they are doing this a cupboard begins opening behind them and the killer slowly walks out.. So the audience can see him coming out holding his weapon whereas the girls can't because they are focusing on their work. This works well because it makes the audience want to 'jump in' and tell the girls that someone is behind them. It also makes he audience very nervous as they don't know what he is going to do to them. There are also point of view shots from the killer's point of view; this has the effect of putting the audience in the killer's shoes, almost reversing the roles, andgiving the audience the power that the killer has. It also makes them want to know what he is planning to do next and builds up the suspense. The longer it goes on the more suspense builds up for the audience.

6. The two cameras we used were the Sony HDV 1000 which we used for internal shots and the JVC -DV camcorder which we used for internal shots. The strengths of the Sony HDV 1000 were that it was a lot easier to focus and the manual settings made it a lot easier to get thing in and out of focus. The weakness was that it was big and heavy so it wasn’t easy to carry around. The strengths of the JVC-DV camcorder were that it was only small and very light so it was easy to do different shots from different angles and easier to carry around. The weaknesses were the microphone was poor so we had little control over sound; it was harder to pull focus and was awkward to rest white balance. Overall the filming went smoothly apart from when we didn’t know how to work the camera properly and it was showing in black and white. Also, the group (including myself) weren’t always available to film on the same day as each other. We resolved this by filming what we could together and then filming the other parts separately. To do the editing we used Final Cut Express which is very good and easy to use. For the music we used copyright CDs and chose music that fitted the film from there.

7. We began by storyboarding the 2 minute part of the film, we then wrote the script for the whole film as well as the 2 minute part. By doing this it helped us because then instead of wondering what shot to do when it came to filming we already had an idea and could get it done quicker. The experience has helped me to determine specific shots such as match on action, point of view and the 180 degree line. It has also made me feel a lot more confident using the equipment and software and understanding it. Overall I think the final product is good and worked out really well and we accomplished the task.

Locations by Stacey

This was the location we chose to film the external scenes, because then it is dark, it looks very eerie.

This was the location we chose to film our internal scenes because when we set it up for filming, it had a definite college feel to it which is what we wanted from our project.