My Evaluation

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

Our media product, which is a horror film, uses the codes and conventions of a horror film very well as we have included most of the conventions of a horror film and used them in an effective way which will hopefully interest the audience in our film and even more so when they see our title sequence. The main convention of a horror film that we use is that our killer has a unique trademark. Our killer, Damien, is a 16 year old boy who as a child was caught up in an extreme house fire thus leaving him with a horrible burn scar on the side of his face. This lead to Damien being extremly bullied throughout school, one for his scar and the other one being that his mum was killed in the house fire. This lead Damien to rebel against his bullies as he left school at the age of sixteen and then went on to burn and behead his bullies so they understood exactly how he felt.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

We have not really represented any certain social groups in our film because we wasnt really meant to. I believe that our film has steered clear of creating any kind of stereotyope that every person who is burnt of disfigured gets bullied. Although, our film could send out a moral message to any people who are bullies that watch our film as they may realise what they are doing and the potential consequences of their actions. Our killer is not meant to represent disfigure people as a group.He is just meant to be presented as a scared young man who has been bullied to the point that he cant take it anymore.

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

The institution that we decided would be the best to distribute our film is Hammer Films. The reason for this is that Hammer Films are a UK based company which is where our film would be set and filmed. Also, Hammer Films specialise in making low budget horror films and they would knbow the best way to distribute our film.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

We decided that the main audience for our film would be 18 year old's and over. We gave the film an 18 rating due to the fact that the film would be extremly graphic and potentially very disturbing for any younger audiences that may want to see it. We considered lowering the age rating to 15 but then we realised that just because a film has an age rating of 18, that does not mean that younger audiences would not be able to view it via online streaming or other sources. In the end we decided to keep the rating as 18 because we felt that anyone younger than this would not be able to handle the graphic imagery and horror of this film.

How did you attract/address your audience?

We attracted our audiences by casting famous actors such as Shia LaBeouf (Transformers), who would play older Damien, as he is a very popular and well respected figure within the film company. We also decided on casting Shia for the fact that he can play a bad character very well as he showed in the 2007 film, Disturbia. We also decided to cast Alan Rickman as Damien's father as he can play a dark and mysterious character very effectively which is shown when he played Snape in the Harry Potter franchise. We thought Rickman would be a good cast member  as he has the potential to play a bad father whilst still having a slight caring side. We also cast Freddie Highmore as Young Damien. Although he would only feature in a small part of the film, We felt this was a good choice as he looks very young and innocent which is the exact look we was going for when casting him as young Damien.

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

In this project i used Final Cut Pro which i have never used before. I enjoyed using this as, if used properly, it creates a very proffesional looking final piece. I helped with the final editing which i didnt find to challenging as i found Final Cut Pro quite simple to use. I also used Garage Band which i have used before but never completed a project on. We used Garage Band to create the song that would go in the background of our title sequence. I created a first draft of the film which we then edited at a later stage to give it a more dramatical effect when played over the footage of our title sequence. I also used blogger very in depth as i have never used blogger before. I found this an extremly good way to keep everybody, including myself, up to date on my coursework progress.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
In the progression of this coursework project i feel like i have definately improved on my editing skills as i can now use Final Cut Pro effectively. I also feel like i have learnt quite alot about the process of creating a film and everything that is to be considered when making a film. Our title sequence was complicated in the sense that didnt give ourselves enough time to complete it to the standard that we would've preffered. If we created a title sequence again, i thinbk i would choose a more simple idea to focus on which would hopefully give us more time to focus on the final outcome of our product.

Childs Play Details

Another film that is similar to ours is the 1988 Horror Movie, Childs Play. Childs play features a unique trademark and that is that the killer is a child's doll. This is similar to our film in the way that the killer features a trademark. The movie also features the classic codes and conventions of a horror film which are;

Good Vs. Evil,

Victims are normally young and innocent,

Killer has a trademark,

The main character survives.

and also:

 Dark/shadowy lighting
Isolated location
Female victim
Disruption of normality
Sub plot of male/female relationship
Defeat of monster

Child's Play is a 1988 American Slasher film written by Don Mancini and directed by Tom Holland. The film was released on November 9, 1988 and stars Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Alex Vincent and Brad Dourif. The official tagline of the film was "You'll Wish it Was Only Make-Believe."

The film met with moderate success upon its release, and has since developed a cult following among fans of the horror genre. The film is the first in the Child's Play film series and was the only film in the series released by MGM/UA, as the rights to the series were sold to Universal beginning with Child's Play 2. In 2008, a remake of the film was discussed and slated for a 2012 or 2013 release.

Box Office Takings:

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$6,583,000 (USA) (13 November 1988) (1377 Screens)

Gross:

$44,196,684 (Worldwide)

The Omen Horror Movie

The Omen is a film that is very similar to ours as it also features a child killer with a tardemark and like our film, has an 18 rating. Below is the storyline and details of the film which give an idea to the possible budget of our film, Damein;

The Omen  is a 1976 American suspense horror film directed by Richard Donner. The film stars Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Stephens, Billie Whitelaw, Patrick Troughton, Martin Benson and Leo McKern. It is the first film in The Omen series and was scripted by David Seltzer, who also wrote the novel. A remake, The Omen, was released on June 6, 2006. This date was chosen as a reference to the Number of the Beast (666).

Plot:

The newborn son of Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) and his wife, Katherine (Lee Remick), dies shortly after birth in Rome. Robert is coerced by Father Spiletto (Martin Benson) into substituting for the dead child an orphan whose mother died at the same moment, without telling Katherine.

Box Office Takings: 

Budget:

$2,800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$4,273,886 (USA) (27 June 1976) (515 Screens)

Gross:

$60,922,980 (USA) (1976)

Halloween

Here is the title sequence for The movie Halloween. I have decided to research this film as it is quite similar to our film, Damien as they both feature a child killer. Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film directed, produced, and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut and the first installment in the Halloween franchise. The film is set in the fictional midwestern town of Haddonfield, Illinois. On Halloween 1963, six year old Micheal Myers murders his older sister by stabbing her with a kitchen knife. Fifteen years later, he escapes from a psychiatric hospital, returns home, and stalks teenager Laurie Strode and her friends. Michael's psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis suspects Michael's intentions, and follows him to Haddonfield to try to prevent him from killing.

The films Box Office takings were as Follows:

Budget:

$320,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$60,000,000 (Worldwide) (1978)

Groundhog Day Title Sequence

Shot 1

                                                 Shot 2

Shot 3

Shot 4

Above is the Groundhog day title sequence that we created. I was in a group with Beverley and Billy.

Our Titles

Below are the first draft of the titles that we wanted to use. We had to change these as Ryan left the group and we replaced Clint Eastwood as Damien's father with Alan Rickman due to the class feedback.

Our Distribution Company

This is the production company that we have chosen to distribute our film. The reason for this is that Hammer Films are a UK based production company that mainly produces and distributes low budget Horror films. So we believed that they would be the best company to distribute our film as they are experienced in this genre of films.