Thursday, 5 May 2016
Evaluation: Question 3 and 4
What kind of media institution might distribute your film and why?
We decided the kind of media institution that would distribute our film would be an independent company like Curzon Artificial Eye as they are very good at distributing smaller budget films to a wide range of audiences particularly audiences who like independent movies.
Who would be the audience for your film?
Our chosen demographic is 18-24 year olds as they our the age range which seem to enjoy horror movies most as they are old enough to be exposed to sensitive areas like blood and violence but also young enough to enjoy the adrenaline rush of jump-cares and the shock value in horror movies.
We decided the kind of media institution that would distribute our film would be an independent company like Curzon Artificial Eye as they are very good at distributing smaller budget films to a wide range of audiences particularly audiences who like independent movies.
Who would be the audience for your film?
Our chosen demographic is 18-24 year olds as they our the age range which seem to enjoy horror movies most as they are old enough to be exposed to sensitive areas like blood and violence but also young enough to enjoy the adrenaline rush of jump-cares and the shock value in horror movies.
We want to aim our our horror opening at more "film buffs" who are quite sophisticated as they would enjoy the psychological sub-genre of our opening more. Therefore our film would be aimed at 18-24 year old film fans, typically attending university, who would be more likely to go see independent horror movies like ours.
Soundtrack evaluation
I made the soundtrack for our group's opening horror sequence
This is the first draft for the soundtrack I made. I started with the organ playing a simple four chord sequence in a minor key as that would add to the creepy atmosphere. Then I added the violin and cello sounds over it, composing the violin melody myself. After that I recorded and edited an extract from an ebook of the Bible as that would fit with the religious connotations in our title sequence. I used a passage from deuteronomy as the line about "purge out wickedness" fitted the themes of evil.
I sent this draft to the rest of my group for feedback and they said it wasn't creepy enough which I agreed with and I needed to make it longer - so I took these into consideration for my second draft.
For the second draft I changed the soundtrack quite dramatically. Firstly, I scrapped the violin melody I had made before and exchanged it for the strings which I added at the end. I like the new string section better as it's a lot more lamentable. Additionally, I added drums/percussion, starting with a simple kick drum at the start to a more intense beat as the other instruments kick in. One of the instruments in particular I used was my glockenspiel which I recorded a simple melody on and edited it to make it sound really creepy - I'm very happy with the sound I produced as it adds to the atmosphere a lot. I also layered a myriad of samples from the internet like sounds of scratches and screams which really makes the soundtrack quite jaunting and scary.
In the final version I added the finishing touches by making all the sounds build up to a crescendo at the end of the song to build tension for the audience and added samples of a man praying and layered his voice so he kept repeating the words "forgive" and "deliver us from evil" which is a key theme in the film and made the soundtrack a lot scarier
This is the first draft for the soundtrack I made. I started with the organ playing a simple four chord sequence in a minor key as that would add to the creepy atmosphere. Then I added the violin and cello sounds over it, composing the violin melody myself. After that I recorded and edited an extract from an ebook of the Bible as that would fit with the religious connotations in our title sequence. I used a passage from deuteronomy as the line about "purge out wickedness" fitted the themes of evil.
I sent this draft to the rest of my group for feedback and they said it wasn't creepy enough which I agreed with and I needed to make it longer - so I took these into consideration for my second draft.
For the second draft I changed the soundtrack quite dramatically. Firstly, I scrapped the violin melody I had made before and exchanged it for the strings which I added at the end. I like the new string section better as it's a lot more lamentable. Additionally, I added drums/percussion, starting with a simple kick drum at the start to a more intense beat as the other instruments kick in. One of the instruments in particular I used was my glockenspiel which I recorded a simple melody on and edited it to make it sound really creepy - I'm very happy with the sound I produced as it adds to the atmosphere a lot. I also layered a myriad of samples from the internet like sounds of scratches and screams which really makes the soundtrack quite jaunting and scary.
In the final version I added the finishing touches by making all the sounds build up to a crescendo at the end of the song to build tension for the audience and added samples of a man praying and layered his voice so he kept repeating the words "forgive" and "deliver us from evil" which is a key theme in the film and made the soundtrack a lot scarier
Sunday, 10 April 2016
Sunday, 24 January 2016
Themes Explored in our Opening
RELIGION
religion is a theme which we will heavily explore in our opening as it is a key part of the plot of our movie therefore we want to reflect this in our opening using a lot of religious imagery such as churches, bibles, an other religious icons.
INNOCENCE
we will also explore innocence in our opening and especially how innocence can be tainted. We will do this through the use of the colour white, particularly with white lillies as white represents innocence and lillies are mainly used at funerals therefore the innocence would be juxtaposed with the idea of death/funerals.
VIOLENCE
our opening will have suggestions of violence with things like blood stains without actually showing violence or anyone being attacked as this will come in the rest of the film, therefore the audience will be enticed with what else is to come in the movie.
religion is a theme which we will heavily explore in our opening as it is a key part of the plot of our movie therefore we want to reflect this in our opening using a lot of religious imagery such as churches, bibles, an other religious icons.
INNOCENCE
we will also explore innocence in our opening and especially how innocence can be tainted. We will do this through the use of the colour white, particularly with white lillies as white represents innocence and lillies are mainly used at funerals therefore the innocence would be juxtaposed with the idea of death/funerals.
VIOLENCE
our opening will have suggestions of violence with things like blood stains without actually showing violence or anyone being attacked as this will come in the rest of the film, therefore the audience will be enticed with what else is to come in the movie.
Representational Issues
Representation in the horror genre is a controversial topic as horror movies tend to have the most hegemonic representations of certain people - especially through the uses of gender.
GENDER
Females are almost always portrayed as victims in horror movies. This leads to a perpetuation of misogynistic representations of women as victims as they're "weaker".
RACE
Additionally, representations of race in horror movies are extremely one-note as characters in the genre are almost always white. This representation is unrealistic as society is incredibly diverse therefore horror movies neglect to reflect society as it is. This is understandable as horror movies are more concerned with portraying the story and the visceral elements such as jump-scares rather than the social implications of the race/gender of the characters.
Despite this, our group's horror film will be more pluralistic as we will portray a female killer with male victims. This subversion of stereotypes surrounding gender will contribute to a more pluralistic movie.
GENDER
Females are almost always portrayed as victims in horror movies. This leads to a perpetuation of misogynistic representations of women as victims as they're "weaker".
RACE
Additionally, representations of race in horror movies are extremely one-note as characters in the genre are almost always white. This representation is unrealistic as society is incredibly diverse therefore horror movies neglect to reflect society as it is. This is understandable as horror movies are more concerned with portraying the story and the visceral elements such as jump-scares rather than the social implications of the race/gender of the characters.
Despite this, our group's horror film will be more pluralistic as we will portray a female killer with male victims. This subversion of stereotypes surrounding gender will contribute to a more pluralistic movie.
Thursday, 7 January 2016
Monday, 4 January 2016
BBFC Guidelines
The British Board of Film Classification have a number of age restrictions on films - particularly horror films as they include sensitive issues like violence, bad language and nudity/sex.
Most horror films are classified as 18 as that means the audience will all be adults therefore they will not be offended by any material used in the horror movie.
I think our group will use this certification as it gives us free reign over what content we choose to show as we may be using blood/gore and maybe nudity for our opening.
Most horror films are classified as 18 as that means the audience will all be adults therefore they will not be offended by any material used in the horror movie.
I think our group will use this certification as it gives us free reign over what content we choose to show as we may be using blood/gore and maybe nudity for our opening.
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