Beth Resendez A2 Media

In order to gauge the reaction from actual audience members it was vital that we showed our final product to those who would be within our desired demographic. Stuart Hall's reception theory states that everybody has the ability to interpret a text differently and that without an audience a text doesn't have a meaning all together. Media does not exist without audience, and ultimately our piece was made to entertain an audience and gain gratification, thus making the more/most effective feedback, the better.  Working in classroom setting helped greatly in that we gained a lot of verbal responses from almost everyone in our group. Something most of them noted was the use of music, 'Baby Mine' at the beginning was particularly effective, as well as the creepy toy box music used later, which 'made the film's childish themes more creepy', as said by a particular class mate. There was the general response on the originality of it- 'how weird' being perh...

My final short film, poster and double page spread all interlink and present a certain depiction of our film. The poster and double page spread succinctly present the stylistics of our film, in that they are also original in their design. Our film is anything but stereotypical in a sense and is, as said in my double page spread almost 'David Lynch-ian.' In saying that all three aspects did of course incorporate a good amount of conventional aspects also, in order to have a certain appeal and still remain within the bounds of the genre, while gearing towards a niche audience. We did this in order to accommodate to Steve Neale's genre theory wherein we repeated certain genre traditions in order to remain within the realms of horror, while remaining unique enough in order to gain interest from an audience. For one, our poster and double page spread both use direct screenshots from the production itself, presenting an obvious narrative which is then presented through our...

Our ideal demographic is a man or woman who is already an avid fan of film. This person would know the conventions of horror and would be well versed in the tropes that apply to each sub-genre/grouping and would be a frequent viewer of horror movies. We image that he or she would be 30+ as they would ideally have experience of parenthood- although this is not necessarily vital for the film to have its full effect. We don’t believe that many people under the age of 18 would be the target audience as they don’t have the life experiences to access the full horror, based on the popularity of such films as Paranormal Activity to a younger demographic- unless said person is a fan of horror. The socio-economic grade would be ABC1 however there is a wide range of overlap to the C2DE range; there are no direct mentions or indicators of class or social difference. This definitely impacted the way we went about making our film. The aim we wanted our film to achieve was that nobody (characters or ...

 "We want to create a film which will shock the audience, through carefully chosen sound and mise en scene, with a plot and story line which are not overly complicated but are still engaging due to the importance of babies and children in society. Through our film we hope to challenge the conventions that maternal capacity comes in one, identifiable look. Mother figures don't need to be pristine, biological, female or fit a certain mould. Love should be unconditional, and in our films case, it will be provided by a poltergeist who lost her son, many years prior to a new family with a baby boy moving into the house she used to occupy. We want the fear and tension in our film to be understated and kooky; to cater to a sophisticated audience of film enthusiasts & to be created through graphic matches, heightened sound, choice of editing order, and the slight distortion of everyday settings and scenarios"

This is our final poster for our short film. After much investigation we decided we liked the idea of a landscape poster- perhaps something you would see on a billboard- as our final piece. We still wanted to stick to the conventions of a film poster while maintaining our off-kilter brand of sorts. I believe that it is a poster that makes you stop and look in order to catch all of the details, with is ultimately what a film producer hopes for. The bizarre mystery of each image, the font, reviews and slogan is a mix that has the desired effect: to intrigue and sell. We were inspired by the poster for 'Thor' when we were researching different ideas for posters. We thought that considering our narrative and shots that we could incorporate this idea in a different way, by having the two faces at the end in a kind of 'stand-off' manner, which between a ghost and a baby is perhaps quite strange, but yet again fulfilling the intrigue ideology, with the use of red font st...

The actors that were shown or incorporated in the film in any way each had to sign a release form to approve us using them in the film. In film-making terms, this is the legal agreement between director and actor.  Without a signed actor release form, you do not have the right to use an actor’s image, voice, or performance, and you can’t sell or distribute your film  without those rights. In movie release sense, this is the consent form to use the actors for promotional value also, so for us, we used our actors in our short film, poster and double page spread. It was vital to get these signed before production began to ensure everyone was in agreement to be used in filming- something that would be publicly posted online.  Even Edward had to be accounted for, of which he gave his consent, as proven below. 

A location release is used when granting permission to use a location to film- it is something every scene shot on location must use and be accounted for when film making, and again is an aspect that we wanted to replicate. Considering we were shooting in someone else's house we also considered this a necessity in order to make eveyone feel comfortable when filming on location, we did this in order to gauge a naturalistic feel; a normal house a new mum would be living in, complete with a baby's bedroom and playthings. Of course we also did not want to take baby Edward anywhere he was unsure of and this was ultimately used to gain both a simple and thus scarier experience and allow everyone to feel comfortable when filming. 

Auteur Theory is another film theory that depicts the idea that t he director is viewed as the major creative force in a motion picture, which arose  in France in the late 1940s and is associated with the French 'new wave.' They are essentially the 'author' of the movie as opposed to the writer of the screenplay. The director has a specif mark all control over thematic or stylistic consistencies, personal aesthetic vision, recurring themes, established techniques, and has a defined view of the world. Thus, their films are recognisable and consistent within their own technique and specific style. Often film tropes and memes are broken in order for their own individual style to shine through.  Tim Burton is an example of an Auteur director. Similar themes, camera shots and even actors and constantly used in all of his films i.e. the outstanding character who doesnt fit in with society: Edward Scissorhand, Jack Skeleton, Beetlejuice. Wes Anderson also, is considered a...

Another vital aspect of planning, that goes hand in hand with a call sheet, is a risk assessment. Often when filming, accidents can happen particularly in dangerous locations. In a horror movie particularly when objects such a knives are involved. For us, not only was this important in gaining the full film production experience, it was also vital due to the fact that babies and knives do not promote the safest of environments; our worse case scenario really was the absolute worst case scenario. These documents are intended to foresee any potential dangers and therefore prevent them from happening.

In making a film i discovered that call sheets were a necessity on every film set. The aim of a call sheet is to create some type of order to the production in terms of timing and efficiency. We wanted to make our call sheet as simple yet professional as possible and so by using a template we were able to create our own. This allowed everyone involved in the production to know what they needed to do and when they needed to do it.

Our initial planning was for the 'failed project.' Within this we created a mind-map of general ideas, release forms and a script. In our case, translating the script to screen was proven to be very difficult. With a group of untrained-unpaid- actors and a three month old baby the process caused for a very stilted and unnatural performance which was ultimately our failing point.  Our mind-map allowed us to visually see our ideas on page, helping us to create the image of how we wanted our film to look. Through discussion we were able to decipher exactly what we wanted to put into our final film. Another downfall on our part was how we got too carried away with the in-depth story. This was a five minute, low budget, film- something we tended to forget. As mentioned, it was this failing that helped us in creating our final piece that we are proud of. We were able to see which aspects we wanted to keep and what appeared scary or effective. Less dialogue alongside more intricate ...

Our generation specifically seems to find itself attaching to the villains that our depicted in our media. If you were to think of your favourite TV show's/movie's and within them who your favourite character is, its more than likely to be someone who's not exactly morally just. Often the person who we are designed to like is made out to be a typical villain. We root for the man cooking the meth rather than the person trying to stop them. Why is it that when given a character who in real life we would probably cross the street to avoid, we instead find ourselves latching on to? We are said to be in a golden age of television, and so within this is the formation of new lead characters. And instead of the funny, family man who tries his best, that our parents are most likely used to loving, we are given the cheating, lying man and the manipulative women- the anti-heroes. As mentioned previously, one of the most popular and well nominted TV shows is about a drug lord who i...

The British Board of Film Classification. This is the board that puts the 12A, 15, PG, etc, ratings on your favourite films. They decide who should be able to see this film and what characteristics place that film within that category.  "The British Board of Film Classification is an independent, non-governmental body which has classified cinema films since it was set up in 1912 and videos/ DVDs since the Video Recordings Act was passed in 1984." It is used in order to protect children from unsuitable and even harmful content in films and videos and to give consumers information they might need about a particular film or video before deciding whether or not to view it.  "We look at issues such as discrimination, drugs, horror, dangerous and easily imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex, and violence when making decisions. The theme of the work is also an important consideration. We also consider context, the tone and likely impact of a work on the potent...

When it came to filming, something that clearly needed to be deeply considered were the type of shots we were going to use. We didn't want to merely turn up the day- of our second attempt- without some type of idea formed in our minds of how we wanted our film to look. Camera shots are the entirety of the film, obviously, mise en scene, editing etc, came after and so it was vitally important for us to get this right and in order to do so, we needed to research. Key camera shots Aerial Shot: An exterior shot filmed from the air. This is often used to establish a scene/setting. Without an access to a drone or anything too high-tech, throwing our GoPro into the air probably wasn't going to cut it. Instead in order to establish the setting we used an establishing shot.  https://youtu.be/cgEHriNqUD8 Close up: A shot that has only the face in full frame. This often connotes immense emotion, drama, or terror.  Medium shot:  The shot that utilis...

This is an interesting video i found when researching for my film. Its particularly insightful into the psychological aspect of horror and picks apart the reasons we find things so creepy, talking about previously mentioned points such as the 'uncanny valley.' Its definitely worth a watch, and helped me gain a different insight when it came to shooting the film. 

Babies and innocence was something we knew we wanted to incorporate. With the popularity of films such as 'Mama' and 'The conjuring', of which both play with innocence and children, we knew this would make for a great and well received film. However our first attempt was not something to be proud of, it has to be said. We went in with little planning, with the intention of completing our film as early as possible, giving us plenty of time to edit. In hindsight- a pretty silly idea. Sharing our initial attempt at a short film isn't particularly enjoyable but alas, here is the film in all its, cringe inducing, bizarre and badly acted glory. A mistake it may be, but it also served as a learning point. We knew which shots looked best, what editing worked, that I should never pursue acting and what came across as most creepy. Truly, if it wasn't for the cuteness of baby Edward the film would of been kaput from the get go. This film also allowed us to have a go an...

Genre is a practical and necessary aspect to film makers, critics and audiences alike. Each film is constantly being assessed by genre throughout each stage of its existence. Their impact on history, the film's stars, where they place themselves on the shelves of the now nonexistent DVD stores, the screenwriters initial thoughts, and so on, all come into play in analysing a films genre. A film is unable to market itself if its genre is not adapted and played upon.  Categorising and Defining  Genre is ultimately endless. There are subgenres, hybrids, genres and groupings. Within all of these is a further subsection, and another and another until its all senseless and completely individual. Essentially each and every film could come under a very specific genre i.e. 'Musical, vibrant, love themes, death themes, french themes, Ewan Mcgregor.' (Baz Luhrman's Moulin Rouge.) Of course in the real world, or the Netflix categories, genre is much more broad. While some movies ...

Before any piece of media text is created the audience needs to be considered. All media texts are catered towards a specific demographic or else it has no meaning. Because of this audiences receive, read and respond to media in a certain way, of which analysts have attempted to decipher and explain how exactly this media is transferred and used. Thus, certain effects models have been formed by said media analysts in order to deconstruct the relationship the relationship between audience and text, one of these being ' The Hypodermic Needle Model.'  This theory dates back to the 1920's, when media was really beginning to be produced commercially and to a global audience. The model now perhaps seems crude as it states the idea that audiences merely passively intake information via the media without any attempt on their part to challenge or assess the data. In a world fresh off of the back of the First World War wherein propaganda was in full swing this is perhaps an idealis...

Horror films are made to cause a reaction from an audience. Other genres only hope to cause a visceral reaction but with horror, if the watcher isn't jumping or screaming, then it hasn't done its job. Because of this people can have certain responses to certain horror films. “What happens for most people is that you have an arousal of your sympathetic nervous system and an activation [to produce] adrenaline,” said Psychology professor Heidi Mathers. Adrenaline is a natural high and can ultimately become addictive. This is why horror movies have such an effect on people- no other genre elicits such a strong emotional response, no other genre causes you to lose sleep or in extreme cases seek out therapy or cause a change in body and mind. The Emotion Theory states that our interpretation of these same physiological cues can be different depending on the individual. So most people experience the rapid heartbeat and increased breaths. However, those who find horror movies enjoy...