Evaluation Question 3

'Carolina' was made on a low budget and so it doesn't resemble blockbuster Hollywood films. However it does contain the necessary elements needed for a horror film.So it would most likely start off by being screened at a film festival such as the London Short Film Festival (LSFF) which is recognized as the premier UK showcase for cutting-edge UK independent film, showcasing the very best of the country's raw talent.

This will be a great opportunity for our film to receive good reception which I believe it will , then it might become mainstream and be screened at multiplexes such as Vue and Odeon in their smaller screens. After its showings at the cinemas, we would release our film on DVD so that it could be bought in stores including HMV and large supermarket chains such as Tesco's as many people go there for their groceries therefore our film we'll be reaching a wider audience. For locals to also enjoy their leisure time to watch our film we could also screen it at local arty cinemas such as 'Ritzy' in Brixton.

our production company 'Coldgate Productions' would seek to employ a good distributor such as 'Paramount Pictures UK' who have distributed highly acclaimed horrors including The Ring, Friday the 13th, April Fools Day etc. Although they are in the UK they are based in Hollywood, California which would be a great platform for our film, if it were to succeed to reach american audiences.

our product demonstrates the effectiveness of using a young girl character as the villain in a film because it something people aren't used to. stereo-typically children are viewed as harmless and innocent so when they are being portrayed as psychos it creates a discomforting feel for the audience which conforms with the horror conventions. That specific element of a film that makes the audience feel a certain way and in this case its terror. This portrayal of young girls has been used in successful horrors including 'The Ring' and has been very popular.
I think our film should be screened in big cinemas because although it isn't on the Hollywood level, it is professional and conforms to the conventions of a horror and therefore it will appeal to a mass market.

From my research of current or horrors due for release this year I can say that the horror genre is in demand as more and more films are being made. However looking into Cineworld, Odeon and Vue there are currently no horrors being shown so this leaves plenty of room for our film to be noticed. I think it would be better ton screen our film at VUE cinemas as they are accessible to many and they are not showing no horror, therefore ours would capture all their regular horror lovers attention.

To make our film reach a global audience we would take advantage of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc and put up trailers and advertisement posters making people aware of the film so that they'll share it with their friends and family. We could also put our film on a website such as https://www.kickstarter.com/ which is the worlds largest funding platform for creative projects, funding young filmmakers like myself and showcasing their work. This would be good to gain popularity, as word-of-mouth is the best form of marketing. Because of our low budget we may not be able to advertise in a magazine or television therefore will use YouTube to post a clip maybe a teaser of the film to attract attention and gain exposure.

Evaluation Question 4

This is Justine Skye, she is 17 years old and lives in Shoreditch, London. She has a unique dress sense, she doesn't like to be like everybody else but puts her own twists on simple pieces.
She enjoys weekends out with her mates, from evening dinners, parties and retail therapy here and then.
She loves shopping and her favourite stores are, Topshop, urban outfitters and American apparel. As well as these big name stores she also enjoys a little bargain here and there from eBay.
Justine also enjoys her films and has a few favourites including, love and basketball, Tyler perry movies the purge, the cabin in the woods, sinister and scream. She doesn't have a specific genre that she enjoys but whatever grabs her she'll happily watch. Justine loves going to the cinema to watch movies but also staying in with friends or family and watching DVDs and movies on Blu-Ray.
TV drama is one her favourite things on telly , her favourite shows include Hollyoaks and EastEnders. Apart from these popular soaps, Justine also enjoys watching reality shows such as Keeping up with the kardashians which is her favourite and she also loves her crime drama shows her favourites being CSI and criminal minds. She loves all these shows because of the unexpected things that take place and the drama involved. Which is why horror films are her more preferable choice of film because of the shock factor inside of it.
Justine loves all types of music. House, RnB and bashment are her favourites. My horror film would appeal to Justine and someone of her character because it is unique and it doesn't follow a strategic format that most horror films have but the storyline is unpredictable which is something people like Justine enjoy in a horror film. The startling feeling you get when something unanticipated happens. My horror film incorporated this element and this is why 15/18-25 year old will enjoy the film.

Evaluation Question 7

The Preliminary Task allowed me to explore different camera shot types and using each camera type so that it made sense with what I was trying to show , this progressed when I did my final product because  I thought about how I wanted my audience to feel whilst watching the film so the Preliminary task helped with this. It also made realize that film-making process isn't easy, every shot used and editing done to the clip will determine the whole product. However the preliminary task helped me to become more prepared and confident for when I did my final piece. Which was very beneficial.

   

These two images are showing an 'over the shoulder' camera shot. The image at the top is from the preliminary task and it was much harder to achieve than the right image which is from the horror film opening which was much easier compared to the prelim one. Both images are showing the same shot but the meanings are completely different. For the preliminary task we wanted to show the teacher character who can be seen the most in the shot as the superior character to all the rest because we are looking over a student's shoulder we see the teacher in full and feel his authority and importance. Although the meaning of the shot is clear it wasn't easy to achieve, whilst filming we faced different problems including the positioning of the camera, the proxemics between the characters etc. But these problems were all overcome. The horror film 'over the shoulder shot' was also quite a struggle to achieve at the start but we wanted to show the character as an innocent victim of her own thoughts , in the shot you see that image she draws is the same as the dream she had so the audience will have a different reaction to the girl. This is what we wanted to achieve through the use of the 'over the shoulder shot'.

    

The images above show the 'two shots' from both the preliminary task and the horror film opening. As you can see the images are different from each other and suggest different things. The two shot used in the preliminary task on the left you see both characters, teacher and student. The shot shows the teacher standing and the student sitting down so you can see the different levels between the characters which also so which character has the more authoritative role. In this shot we wanted the teacher to be more superior to the student and this is shown because the student is sitting down showing that she is weaker compared to her teacher. However the bottom image which is taken from the horror film opening you can see both characters laying on the ground so the audience see both characters at a vulnerable and weak position compared to the superior teacher character in the top image. The image at the bottom is showing two dead characters. This was also emphasized by the use of a pan so you could see both the characters dead facial expressions. Achieving the 'two shot' was easier during the preliminary task compared to the horror film opening because in the horror film opening a pan was also incorporated into the shot so this made the two shot less achievable.

    These images are very similar as they both show clocks so suggest the passing of time in both scenes. Although both images show very simple close ups they were equally as hard to record right during shooting. The top image taken from the preliminary task was difficult to get right because we only wanted to show the clock in the camera frame not the whole watch and because we were restricted from using 'zoom' on the camera this made the close up really hard to achieve. Because of the difficulty we had when recording the watch during the preliminary task we knew we had to make adjustments when recording the alarm clock for the horror film. So we removed all the things that were surrounding the alarm clock so you could only see the alarm clock in the camera frame , we also switched the light off to create a creepy atmosphere which conforms with horror film conventions.

   

These final images taken from the preliminary task and the horror film opening show two varied shots. In the top image you see the teacher from the preliminary task at the forefront of the camera and the audience is looking at him from a lower angle. We used a low angle in this shot to emphasize the teacher's superiority to the rest of the characters and as the low angle was taken at quite a close angle the audience will also feel the teacher's authority as they watch his character from this angle. However in the horror film we altered this shot so that it would conform with the conventions of a horror. Instead of just filming the main character at a low angle my group and I decided that we wanted to create a disorientated feeling and make the audience feel uncomfortable. So to portray this we decided to use a tilt and shoot her character from bottom to top , slowly introducing her character to the audience. As the two cut out images from the horror film show, we filmed Carolina from her feet upwards.This will build tension and create disorientation which is a vital element for a horror movie so the audience feel discomfort.

preparing for the preliminary task was much more concise and brief compared to the main task the horror film opening where we really thought about our ideas , researched the horror conventions and mapped out the location , characters, props etc. Whereas in the preliminary task we did no research as we weren't targeting a specific audience but just using the task as practice for the horror film opening. During the whole shooting process for the preliminary tasks it really hit me how important the mass time we had to prepare for the film opening was. When we were shooting for the task it took us quite a while just to find a spare room so because of the large amount of time we had for the film opening we were able to plan the location, characters and other necessities. The preliminary task taught me a lot about planning and timing and how crucial they are to achieve the perfect product.

Evaluation Question 1

Having gone through the final version of my project I have selected several distinct frames from my horror film opening clip that have developed the conventions of horror films and some that challenge them. The main inspiration for our film was from the film 'Sinister' which used varied camera angles that heightened the viewing experience for the audience which is exactly what we wanted to do.

   

TITLE : with our title we didn't want to make it dramatic but very simple, as in horror films it isn't normal to see bright colors and creative fonts of writing as this would take away from the horror effect were trying to create. As the image above shows the title is set on a black screen with white writing to create suspense and excitement for what would happen next. The Sinister title also reveals this simplicity by using dull colors and the font in small white writing just like ours. It doesn't give away what will happen in the story but makes consumers want to watch.

FONT AND STYLE :  we chose a simple font style to match the simplicity we wanted to show in the title as a whole. The style of writing we chose makes it readable for the audience and also makes the title quick to read because of the short length , this already reflects that there's something to look forward to in the film because the title doesn't reveal much therefore the audience will be more eager to watch the film.

SETTING/LOCATION : while researching horror conventions and looking at the typical type of settings and location we came across many including small communities, isolated places, house etc. Our horror film was shot in two locations including a garden and bedroom. As the image above shows you see the young girls character swinging in a garden. This shouldn't be a bizarre thing but it creates a creepy atmosphere because the supposed young villain girl is swinging in broad day light which suggests that there is something dangerous going to take place. This conforms with the horror film conventions because homes are typically used in horror film to foreshadow the danger that will occur later. 

We also used a bedroom a to create the same disorientated affect we were portraying in the garden because your room should be your safe haven yet this girl isn't a normal girl and shows her psychotic behavior later in the clip.

COSTUME/PROPS : the horror convention research revealed how colors can determine a characters personality in a film so knowing this we were really cautious with our decision. We decided to dress our character in plain white to show her purity as a young girl whilst also foreshadowing to the audience that this young girl isn't as pure and innocent as the white costume may suggest. Her hair was also a very dark color which conforms with the conventions creating a creepy child character.
she was also wearing a red anklet which was an indicator for the audience to know that as the film continued she was the one causing all the deaths and other horrific events. We chose red because its represents danger and we wanted to added that element of uncertainty to the girls character so that she wouldn't be seen as completely harmless.

CAMERAWORK AND EDITING: in the image above you can see the initial image of Carolina sitting up transitioning into another scene. We decided to use the transition here to make it clear to the audience that everything that had happened before hand in the clip was a dream that she had. I think this was effective because the story line became clear to the audience yet still created a feeling of suspense as your not sure what is going to happen next.
During the horror film opening you see varied camera shots including a pan at the start which we took inspiration from sinister as it was something different , the characters were introduced in a discomforting way that conformed to the conventions of a horror. We also used close ups to reveal the characters emotions, a high angle shot to connote fear and several others.

STORY AND HOW OPENING IS SET UP:  We wanted the opening to captivate our audience therefore we knew that we had to make it something that would leave them in shock and wanting more. Because we enjoyed the use of the pan shot in sinister so much we decided that we wanted to incorporate that into our own , whilst also showing continuous shots of the young girl from different angles. This conforms with the conventions of a horror because every horror film opening leaves the audience wanting whether it be a specific character or camera shot type used.

   

HOW CHARACTERS ARE INTRODUCED:  the characters in opening were introduced in different ways. our main character 'Carolina' was introduced with a medium close up shot where we saw the settings and also her characters facial expressions which were quite unclear at the start but this conforms to the horror conventions as a suspense must be created the story shouldn't be revealed. The dead characters were introduced using a pan shot , we saw this in sinister and it was effective because you could see that the characters were dead in their faces, the proxemics and mise en scene. The pan also revealed that something bad had happened and would probably happen again so the pan was an effective way to introduce these characters.

GENRE AND HOW OPENING SUGGESTS IT: the genre of the film is horror/mystery/ drama all together. There are elements of all three genres in the clip through the use of camera, sound etc.The opening suggests that the opening is a horror by starting off with dreary sound, an effect that creates a dysfunctional feel leaving the audience confused yet spooked out. The start of the clip is also dark , showing dead people it really reiterates the feeling of terror.

I think my group and I approached the task in a non-typical way. We wanted to incorporate the elements of horror conventions but we wanted to make our clip unique so that it wasn't one of the typical story lines but an unexpected one. We achieved this  through the varied camera angles we used including the pan and the tilt which created creepy atmospheres during the clip and also through costume, sound, the title and editing.

Evaluation Question 2

The lead social group in our horror film opening is teenagers, we've represented teenagers in different ways showing them as weak and vulnerable characters compared to children. Our main character being a young girl appears to have more authority over the older teenage girls in the film. She is the villain in the film and this conforms to the stereotype where there is a villain however the villain in the film is brunette compared to the stereotypical dumb blonde.

         

the top image in the right hand corner shows our main character 'Carolina' who is a young girl and we portrayed her as a young girl so that the audience would sympathize with her character. This was also effective because although she is the character you mainly see it isn't absolutely obvious that she has a problem and enjoys killing people, so this leaves the audience anxious. The second image shows the character Samara Morgan from the ring because her character is exactly what my group and I wanted to achieve with Carolina. The innocent vulnerable that looks like she needs to be loved yet makes people aware of her sufferings then kills them. This conforms with the stereotype of horror film conventions having 'creepy children' as it creates an usual feel because everyone believes children are harmless so this will really freak someone out. 

Evaluation Question 6

During this project, I have encountered some new technologies and improved my skills on the ones I was already familiar with.

• I learnt the most from using Final Cut because I was so unfamiliar with it that made me more anxious to learn and become independent to use it. Final Cut allowed me to edit and put together my clip effectively this included adding titles and different transitions. It made me eager to try this out independently.
• Prezi was also new to me, this allowed me to create a presentation but in such a creative way. The small boxes provided enabled me to put in concise detail but not write unnecessary things. The prezi presentation is also more engaging because of the different transitions and movements of the slides. 
• free sfx was really beneficial to my group and I because we were able to download sounds but not illegally. There were so many sounds that I didn't know were available for download, so this was really beneficial for my clips.
• I also learnt how to use Blogger, i'd never written a blog before so I found it useful. It makes publishing work enjoyable because you can choose colours and the layout of your blog. It's also an effective way of publishing your work for others to see and take inspiration for their own.
• Survey Monkey was also a beneficial media source because I was able to create a questionnaire on it that allowed me to find out information about my chosen audience. This meant that I was able to create a film that would cater to their horror film expectations but still using the normal horror film conventions.
• lastly,YouTube this is the perfect source for any video. I'm always watching videos on it but never thought that i'd be creating my own account so it is useful in making your work known.

Final Cut - "CAROLINA"

My partners and i have now finished our horror film opening after a long process. The experience in creating the horror film has been a good one although there were obstacles to overcome we overcame them and now have a our finished product. We took on board all the criticism we received from our first and second rough cut showings and in cooperated the ideas into the film to create something unique yet simple. 

Please click the link below to view the final piece, 

CAROLINA