Feedback regarding our horror film pitch 

 Having missed Thursday's lesson, after speaking with Kristal and Fernanda, I discovered that we received both positive and constructive feedback from both my classmates and Miss Hiltunen.
I discovered that many of my peers liked our initial idea of having a young girl as our main protagonists  ( due to the fact that they feel that playing on childhood fears creates a certain atmosphere which makes them feel scared and uncomfortable) but also felt that we could further develop our ideas in order to add effect to our opening scene such as having less dialogue to create a much more effective atmosphere.
    As a group, we have taken these suggestions on board and have since made changes to our initial story such as adding additional scenes such as :
- More of a detailed opening
- Adding more actors/ actresses to fulfil the role of additional characters ( e.g adding an extra male to fit in with the 'bullying' of the protagonist)- This will make our initial idea of 'teenagers walking through the park' much more realistic.
- Including various other shot types in addition to the shots types we have previously discussed.
These suggestions will further improve our film opening and the additional scenes that we incorporated really take our film opening to a new level which we previously unable to reach due to the fact that we had no/very little  outside suggestions from our peers.

Prelim task 
I have gained many skills whilst recording my preliminary task. I was able plan my ideas , discuss them and storyboard them correctly I was also able to manipulate the camera into various positions to create various shot types in order to fulfil the task given. In addition to this, I have also also learned how to edit correctly which enabled me to make better use of the shots taken and discard any excess dialogue or unnecessary background noises that may cloud the dialogue hence making it inaudible.
Here is a link to my preliminary task which has been uploaded on Youtube..http://youtu.be/vrCqnWrfRQc

My blog

I'm really into comedy shows such 
as '8 out of 10 cats' and ' Live at the Apollo' 

I have never really been into playing games on consoles such as  playstation or Xbox so I have replaced it with the use of social networking sites such as :

1-Facebook 

2-twitter 

3-Instagram 

4- whatsapp 

I am always logged into these sites on my Phone ! 

I don't specifically have a favorite movie but I do enjoy watching films such as the saw collection , white chicks and the James Bond trilogy.

Here is a link to the white chicks trailer... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtlRjfWSk30

TARGET AUDIENCE PROFILE 

My movie is aimed at young males who are roughly around the age of 18-24 this is due to the fact that my Film will include many childhood fears and i feel that this age group will be  able to relate to these fears more than people within a slightly older age bracket. 

In an ideal world, members of my target audience will be fans of sadistic horror movies which include mental trauma ( films such as 'the hand that rocks the cradle' ) 

my target audience will include many young, energetic people who are very adventurous and enjoy being scared. This will add to the effect of my horror movie. 

I would prefer if my target audience were to live in a busy city such as London because my Horror  film introduction will be shot in London which will enable my target audience to really relate to the scenes within the movie which in turn, makes the film a lot more realistic.  

Here is a profile for my target audience. 

Gender-male

age-18-24 

political party-Labour 

Favourite sport-Rugby/Football

Favourite Cereal-Rice krispies (Shows their youth-vulnerabillity which makes it easier to play on their childhood fears)  

Here is an example of a member of my target audience: 

WHAT I DISCOVERED 

My survey enabled me to gain a better insight as to what people like when it comes to horror movies but most importantly, what scares them the most.

I have discovered that most people prefer the movie to be set in a house where some sort of activity is taking place (e.g. A party or a sleepover) 

I have also discovered that the majority of the people asked liked the idea of having a innocent-looking child ( preferably a girl ) to play the villain because they feel that a young girl who appears to be innocent would be a lot scarier than a generic fictional monster that they know does not exist.

Here is an example of how children are used within the horror film industry to portray demons http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeFHeccv8hg&safe=active

HORROR FILM CONVECTIONS 

From my research, I have obtained various pieces of information about the various codes and conventions associated with horror movies.

What are codes and conventions ?

According to media online dictionary, codes and conventions are the familiar and predictable forms and techniques used by the media to communicate certain ideas or to convey a desired impression. Technical codes include camera angles, sound, and lighting. Symbolic codes include the language, dress, and actions of characters. 

Typical horror movie themes

Many horror movies have very traditional themes for their horror movies which almost certainly include violent scenes with blood and gore. However, the horror films that do not feature such scenes ( such as the hand that rocks the cradle) generally feature a sadistic protagonist who leads the audience on a trail of redherrings whilst leaving very little clues  this is effective because it keeps the audience guessing whilst simultaneously forcing the audience lose their self-consciousness which means that they start to question themselves which alters their judgement of reality. This cerebral approach enables the target audience to really dissect the storyline and build a mental picture which makes a change to the non-stop violence that features in a large proportion of horror movies.

Here are some other popular horror movie themes:

·         Good vs evil

·         Revenge

·         Supernatural

·         Nightmares

·         Fantasy

·         Childhood issues

·         Abductions

 

There are also many character types that typically feature within these movies. The most common ones include:

·         Villains i.e. zombies, ghosts

·         Mysterious, warped children

·         Multiple redherrings

·         Main protagonist

·         A person with authority e.g an adult who plays the hero/villain role.

Horror movies almost always incorporate their camera views to add effect to a particular scene  e.g a P.O.V shot which enables the audience to step into the protagonist’s shoes and experience the fear that is conveyed through their eyes which adds to the effect.

Traditional horror movies have also been known to manipulate the lighting (e.g adding thunder into a scene)  in order to add to the effect. This technique is effective because such lighting has sinister connotations which keeps the viewer entertained and eager to discover what will occur within the following scenes.