Marxism

Marxist theory can be applied particularly to any text which is about consuming other products, adverts and promotional materials are obvious examples of this. Therefore Marxist theory can be applied to my product as I am creating a product which I am trying to sell, and therefore will be playing the role of a capitalist.

Does my text promote or advertise another product?
Marxist theory looks at how capitalists can often exploit a consumer into parting with their money more than once, this is done by promoting a particular product on another product. My magazine 'Viewer' does this as readers of the magazine would purchase the magazine, giving money to the capitalists, and would then be sold the idea from the magazine that they should view the film featured which is my product 'Deception' and therefore the reader would be parting with their money again. This could also work the other way round in that, if the consumer had been to see the film and enjoyed it, they may then buy the magazine to read about this product which is featured as they know it is good. This could also work on my film poster, where endorsements are used from magazines rating the film, this promotes the film as its a poster advertising the film, but also people may then purchase the magazines/newspapers mentioned on the poster to get a better idea of what they have said about the film, since the poster only gives a 'star rating' and therefore this teases the reader into wanting to read more.

Does it conceal the economic conditions of the production itself or the product it promotes?
Often in productions only the final product is shown and the audience have little idea on what lies behind this product, for example with a film, only the final product will be shown and the audience will be oblivious to all the production work behind this and only be notified on the most important factors such as the production company and the director etc (e.g the capitalists). This is shown in my production through the trailer, there is no mention of workers who have put together this trailer, however there is mention of the production companies and so this promotes them, this relates to Marxism as this will then retain their capitalist power, and if people like the film they will then recognise this film from its production company and so be exploited further by this company in the future and therefore make more money for the capitalists. However my poster does slightly challenge this as there is a credit block at the bottom of the poster which lists some of the production team behind aspects such as 'sound', 'make-up', 'special effects' however this is still minimal and only the most important 'head of department' people are listed.

Does it promote consumerism?
All of the products I have created promote consumerism as they are all promoting the film and telling people that they should go to see the film, which relates to Marxism as it is exploited the consumer by telling them that they NEED to go and see the film, which leads to them parting with their money and the capitalists then gaining this money and retaining their power. The poster promotes the film using endorsements, people will be attracted to going to see a film if reliable sources have given the film a good rating. The poster also promotes the film using actor names across the top of the page, people often go to see films if the actors are well known. The trailer promotes the film by showing the most important parts of the film and therefore teasing the reader into watching a film, when in reality they have most likely seen the important parts through the trailer however they will still be exploited into parting with their money to go and watch the full film.

Filming Schedule

09/02/2012 - Taking some practice shots, to see what lighting etc looks like when filming is put onto computer.


11/02/2012 - Taking the first lot of filming where only Kayleigh is needed:

• Video Scene 
• Dragging Scene
• Shed Scene 

12/02/2012 - Scene with the knife (as gloves were used I just got my mam to do it) 

01/03/2012 - Filming with both Kayleigh and Dave 

• Coming home scene 
• Door scene 
• Newspaper scene 

02/03/2012 - Filming with Mark and Kayleigh 

Quotes from my target audience

After doing my questionnaires I was able to get a better idea of who my target audience would be, I then found people of this target audience and asked them a few open ended questions in order to get more valid answers than the closed questions of my questionnaire. Here are a few examples of what was said:

What do you like most about horror films? 

"I like how the sound can change what would be a small shock, to a jump out your seat moment"

"I like the dark creepy settings and big shocks"

"The girls" 

What is your favourite horror film and why? 

"Saw, because it has the best gore scenes" 

"The strangers because the story line is quite original , and based on true story!" 

What attracts you into going to see a new horror film? 

"A good cast" 

"story lines that make me want to find out more, shouldn't give too much away"

"Having actors that I like in it" 

How will this affect my product:

From doing this research I was able to see what my target audience where expecting from a film in my genre, this has allowed me to develop the ideas for my production further in a way that suits the expectations of my target audience, although I cannot get a star filled cast, I am still able to use the ideas such as dark and creepy settings and sound effects that suit whats happening in the trailer.

Online research

I have done some online research into films in the same genre as my own, looking at the cast, information and sales etc, this is so I can get a better idea on what my product would be looking to aim for if it was a real production.

The ring was produced in 2002 (2003 in the UK) by Dream Works which is a huge American film company and therefore this film would have had no problem it getting advertised in the cinema, and also on the TV ad breaks. Its box office statistics are as follows: 

Budget:

 $48,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

 $15,015,393 (USA) (20 October 2002) (1981 Screens)

Gross:

 $128,579,698 (USA) (2 February 2003)

it is clear from these statistics that the film did very well in its takings and therefore it was able to use this money to create a sequel 'The Ring Two' which was released also by Dream Works in 2005  which was an even bigger success taking $35,065,237 in the USA alone for its opening weekend and totalling a gross of $143,024,542 worldwide by the 18th of April 2005. 

How can this be used in relation to my own product? 

This could be related to my product if it was a real life production as it shows the importance of getting a good company to produce/invest in the film in order for it to be successful, because 'The Ring' was produced by a company as big as Dream Works it was able to afford advertising that gained it millions in just its opening weekend. 

The Unborn was produced in 2009 by Rogue Pictures, which is on a much smaller level to Dream Works, with only around 25 titles in its library, however many of these have been successful films such as 'Shaun of the Dead' 'American Pie' and 'Hot Fuzz', because the company does have past successful films it will of had a decent budget for filming and advertising and therefore would still make good profits, these are as follows: 

Budget:

 $16,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

 $19,810,585 (USA) (11 January 2009) (2357 Screens)

Gross:

 $42,638,165 (USA) (1 March 2009)

Although these profits are not as good as what 'The Ring' made it cannot be compared as 'The Ring' is classed as one of the greatest horror films of its time. The profits that this company has made are also good for it being a smaller company and would still give them the desired amount for paying back any potential investors, and to carry on producing new films with more money for advertising and filming. 

How does this relate to my product? 

This shows how although the company may be small, if the right actions are taken and advertising is done cleverly then the product can still be very successful, this film is also newer and so has the advantage of the internet, which my product also would, the internet can spread the word of new films quicker and faster than anything before, through the use of youtube trailers and sharing on social networking sites such as FaceBook and Twitter. 

Organisation of personnel and equipment

For my trailer there is two main characters, one of these being a friend, and the other my mam's boyfriend and so the organisation of these should be fairly easy as the setting is in my house and so it just requires me to get a set time for them both to be at my house for filming. There is a scene which uses another character however this will be filmed outside college and so it will be easy for me to get him to film with me.

The equipment that I will be using for my filming is a video camera, this will be loaned from the learning centre in college and so I will have to make sure that I have one on loan for the time that I choose for filming, and to make sure to renew it/take it back whenever I need to. 

Script

Mark: So what about your parents then, what are they like?
Kayleigh: Well its just me and my dad, my mam died of cancer when I was younger

Kayleigh: [Looking through box of old things] hmm what is this?

[Video Plays]
Kayleigh: -Shocked- oh my god

Dad: Kayleigh im home, you in?
Kayleigh: urm yeah dad

This is the only speech in the filming as the rest will be quick cuts that only have non-diagetic sound, which will be the backing music to the trailer.

Costume and Make-up Planning

The costume and make-up that I will be using for the trailer is mainly quite typical, just everyday clothing however there are some scenes which need things such as fake blood and pale make-up but this can be done with make-up that I own, so I can do this quite easily.

Moving Image Planning and Recce

Are there any potential hazards that could pose as a health and safety risk where your filming will take place?
The filming will mainly take place inside my house, where there is no real potential hazards. However there is a scene in the shed outside which does have equipment in it, however we will be clearing this out to make space before filming so this should not pose any hazards whilst filming. 


Will the time of day/weather affect the outcome on the filming?
The filming will be done mainly indoors, and so lighting is adjustable however as it is a horror I have chosen for the filming to take place at night time, and then just the indoor lights on so I will stick to the times when it is dark outside for filming. With the outdoor filming in the shed the weather is not necessarily going to affect it as it will be dark, and if it is raining then this will just create an even scarier effect, however the rain is not necessary as I would rather get the filming done when I have everyone organised and together instead of waiting for the rain. 


Have you considered the setting to your filming?
The setting is mainly inside my house which although not too scary is often used as scenes for horror films as they are typical scenes in any film and add to the 'real' factor for the audience seeing a typical everyday setting. 


Have you considered lighting?
Yes, the lighting will be house lighting as the filming is taking place inside my house but will be taking place when it is dark outside. 


Do you need permission/to book a time to take photos in the place/venue you have in mind?
No.


Are you reliant on lists/props/friends/?
The props that I am reliant on can all be found inside my house, a knife, photo albums and a video tape, and so these are easily reachable. 
I am reliant of my friend for filming and so I need to check with when we are at work for sorting out times when we are both available for filming. 

Target Audience

I have done some research such as questionnaires and secondary research to help me discover who the target audience for my film will be, my initial thoughts were that they would be between the ages of 15-30 as because the film is a horror it is likely to have a 15/18 to it and so aiming it at anybody younger would be bad as they may not be able to view it anyway, I also had initial thoughts that the film would target both males and females, as both tend to be interested in horror films, which tends to be because there is both action, typically some romance, and girls in little clothing, which appeals to both sexes. My questionnaires backed up both of these as I looked at a range of different people and found that it was the older audiences which would not be interested in seeing a horror film, and the range of people who said they would be interested where from both sexes.

Other students work

I have taken a look at some past trailers relating with my genre to see how well or not they worked, and if it created a real looking film trailer. This will be effective and useful for my own work as I can see what a top level standard is for a student instead of just looking at Hollywood trailers which have teams of people working on them, and much more available funding for effects and actors etc, so this will give me a more realistic picture of what I'm aiming to create.

Exposure 
What was Effective about it? 

• costume and make-up was done very well, eye contacts used, pale make-up, messy hair, scars created with wax and red make-up. 
• setting went well with the genre, dark scary room, eery, dirty. 
• quick cuts to match the tension and suspense of the trailer, used to show the girl getting closer and closer which is commonly used in the horror genre, adds to suspense and shock factor. 
• good use of editing, fades to black etc. 
• effective lighting, dark and gloomy however some bright lighting to highlight things that needed to be seen. 
• good use of camera angles, extreme close ups, zooms, panning, etc. 

What wasn't Effective about it? 

• Used an unoriginal image with the company logo. 
• Wasn't sure about the story line as it was a teaser trailer but the music seemed unfitting, sounded more like a soundtrack for a action film or something like Indiana Jones. 

Apart from these it seemed like a really good trailer, in the description they said it got full marks and so there isn't many improvements I can find. I could definitely use some ideas from this trailer as inspiration such as lighting and editing techniques which would work well with the story line of my trailer. 

Masked
What was effective about it?

• Good story line - original
• Camera angles suited each scene and what was happening, for example the front over the shoulder shot where the masked man is stood in the distance, and then the zoom shot into his face.
• Good editing effects fades and the fire burning
• Kept the audience in suspence
• Text and Clouding worked well on title slides.

What wasn't effective about it?

• No narrative - no voice over, no speech and only one title slide, however filing did tell story line well.
• No original image for company logos.

This trailer also got an A grade and so again there is not many bad points to pick out however it has helped me to see how effective camera angles and sound effects can make a trailer.

Post Modernism

We did a session on Post Modernism in lesson, where we took notes and also watched some relatable videos that show elements of Post Modernism.
Post Modernism in media is an artistic movement, it can be traced back to 'modernism' which was an artistic movement around the 1890's. Post modernism challenged traditional methods of media, it produced fragmented forms made up of random elements, and referred to their own fictional or constructed nature (reflexivity - a text doesn't try to be real).
Modernism was often pessimistic about the idea of a world in which nothing was worth believing, whether it was religion, Marxism, or the myth of scientific progress, in contrast Post Modernism enjoys the absence of such beliefs and finds the loss of order liberating and exciting. This is shown in the texts produced in the Post Modernism Age, some of the typical features that are seen in these texts include a blurred distinction between genres, camera angles and affects that remind the audience that the text isn't real but constructed, a mixtures between lower and upper class elements.

How does this relate to my product?
This could be related to my product as I do plan on using a few Post Modernism features, for example there is a scene in my trailer where the victim is dragged down the stairs, I want to use an affect on this where the scene quickly repeats itself like a broken record type style, which would be a clear reminder to the audience that this text is not real and has in fact been constructed. Another way in which I will be reminding the audience that this is constructed is through some of the camera angles that I will be using when filming such as over the shoulder shots, and panning shots that again change to over the shoulder shots. However apart from this there will not be many Post Modernism features used in my text as I do want the audience to feel like the film is real using semiotics, as this will add to the fear in the film, I have been able to establish that I don't want to use any more features of Post Modernism by watching some related texts that do use Post Modernisms features to see how they were similar/different from what I want my finished product to look like, also the films which we did look at where not in the same genre of my film and were often mixed genres whereas my film will just be one genre.

Romeo and Juliet 
Romeo and Juliet was one of the texts which I watched which incorporates a lot of Post Modernism features, such as a mix of genres (Romance, Period Drama, Musical, Action Film), also blurs the time of the film - it is un-obvious to the audience when the film is supposed to be set as there is old Shakespearian language but also elements of modern day situations, affects are used to remind audience that it is not real, and it mixes elements of high and low culture.

Moulin Rouge 
The Moulin Rouge was another text which we watched which incorporates Post Modernism Features, such as mixing elements of both high and low culture, effects to show the audience that the text is not real such as glowing effects and slow motion to remind audience the text is not real, a mixtures of genres (musical, romance, drama), people braking into song in the middle of conversations, forced perspective.

Photos for Ancillary Task

I took the photos for my ancillary task in the green room at Sunderland University's media centre, I chose this setting as the ancillary tasks included a poster advertising the film and a magazine front cover featuring the film, from the research that I have done on the genre of my product I have found that typically a horror image will feature a main item or character set against a black background or simple eery setting, although I planned on having both images set against a black background there was a creepy looking doorway in the green room that I decided to try out for my pictures and then decided to use in the final image for the poster, this also meant that there was more of a variation between the film poster and the magazine front cover.

Pictures that I didn't use: 

When in the green room I decided to try and make it appear like there was a hand in the image touching her shoulder.. using a glove. This clearly didn't work, which is the main reason for this picture not being used in either of the ancillary tasks, however I also haven't used this image due to her facial expression which looks to happy for the situation.

This image was not used for a number of reasons, the composition is not right and one hand is slightly lower than the other, again the facial expression is not right, as it looks like more of a surprise than a scare, and the overall image does not have the desired affect that I was looking for which was total fear, as the colours are also very dull looking.

This image was again not used because of the facial expression, it was caught at the wrong moment and she appears to be smiling, which would not suit the genre of my film. This image has also came out too bright and so the colours are too pale but not vibrant enough for what I was looking for.

For this image we found a prop in the green room which was just a broken piece of wood/metal which I decided to use to see if it could be some form of weapon, however due to the length of it and because she's wearing a fur coat it appears to be a skiing picture rather than a horror picture. There's also the problem that this was more of a long shot and because she is wearing black leggings she appears to be floating.

Simpsons Task

In order to gain better skills with premier pro, which is the programme I will be using when editing my filming, we were set a simpsons task which was to create a film trailer for The Simpsons Movie, which would feature clips from the film and show the film title, release date, and film website, This also allowed me to get a better understanding of how to construct a trailer and to see what looks good and what doesn't. There were however alot of problems with the sound in premier pro and so as this is only a task to gain more skills I have now uploaded it, the film timing should all be correct however the sound may not be as I could not always hear to edit it properly, however I needed to spend more time with my actual filming and so have left it how it is, becuase I now know that I have a good enough understnading of premier pro to be able to use it effectivley when editing my own filming

Story board

I have created this story board in order to get some ideas for filming for my production, it has allowed me to look at camera angles and shots that will be good for my trailer, after creating this I have also found what will and what won't work, for example some of the scenes I have decided to change such as the scene where she finds her mother in the shed, I will be changing this too her finding something like a bloody dress. I am also adding in a scene that shows a close up of the knife which the dad is planning on using to kill her.

Ancillary Tasks

Re-cap of camera angles and shots

Last year we studied a lot on camera angles, and as this year I have to create a film trailer I have decided to take a look back on the camera angles, the purpose of this task is for me to revise the camera angles and also become familiar with the specific types of camera angles that are used in trailers in order to make them successful in the short time that they have. I have chosen the film trailer for 'Abduction' and will be looking at the first fifty seconds of the trailer as this has some links with the storyline of my own product and so I will be able to get inspiration from this.

0:11 - close up, side shot
0:12 - close up, dolly shot - these shots are both used to establish the main character straight away
0:13 - long shot
0:14 - zoom shot (smash zoom) - again used to establish the main character, shows action as he is on a bike, zoom gives it a sense of speed and action.
0:14 - long shot
0:15 - over the shoulder shot
0:16 - close up reaction shot
0:17 - over the shoulder shot
0:18 - mid shot
0:19 - close up reaction shot
0:20 - long shot - used to establish the scene of a party, long shot allows everything thats happening to be seen.
0:22 - mid shot
0:24 - close up reaction shot
0:25 - over the shoulder zoom shot - shows the importance of what he is looking at, gives a pov of the character for the audience, but also shows his reflection to show similarities.
0:27 - extreme close up - shows the characters reaction to the shot before, also allows us to see the similarities in the picture of the missing child, to him.
0:29 - mid shot
0:34 - two shot
0:39 - over the shoulder shot zoom shot - importance again on what is on the screen and gives audience a pov from the main character, zoom intensifies the action.
0:45 - high angle long shot

Questionnaire Results and Findings

In order to gain some research on my target audience, who else will be watching my film, and what they expect from the film, I have done some primary research, this research was quantitative research as I was focusing on the numbers for this part of my research. The questionnaire was taken by 20 people, although mainly teenagers, there was a variation in age groups, gender, and tastes in film. The results of my findings have been put into pie charts so that they are easier to read and interoperate.

From the first question 'Are you male or female?' we can see that there was a variation of girls and boys however there were slightly more girls than boys. I have chosen to look at both genders as I feel that my film will be aimed at both males and females as horror films tend to have a mixed genre target audience.
From the second question 'What age are you?' we can see that the most popular age group was the 15-18 this could be because my surveys were sent around college but also because this is the main target audience for horror films, this means that I would probably produce my film to be a 15 certificate so that the main target audience group would be able to go and see the film when released in the cinema, and also purchase the film. However the 18-30 group was following closely, but the certificate would still remain at 15, as this does not restrict this group from viewing/purchasing the film.
From the third and fourth questions 'How often do you watch films?' and 'How often do you go to the cinema to watch newly released films?' I found that more people watch films on a regular basis than what go to see a film at the cinema, most people went to the cinema only once a month, however most people watched films weekly, which would suggest that in order to sell my product, the advertising would have to be good in order to get people to want to spend the money to see it at the cinema.

From the fifth question 'Do you like horror films?' we can see that 14 out of the 20 participants enjoy horror films, which is a large figure, this means that my target audience from different age ranges, sex and gender, would be looking to cater for and draw in a good half of the suitable population.
The plot/story line will have to be a strong point for my product as this is what almost half of the participants said attracts them into going to see a new film, the genre of the film was following this and so this could suggest that if the story line was strong enough, an audience of the trailer may stray from their regular genre to watch my product. This can be seen from the question 'What most attracts you into going to see a new film?'
There was a range of answers given for question seven 'Which of the below most scare you when watching a horror film?' with masked killers coming up highest and aliens taking the lowest position.
There was also a range of answers given for question eight 'What is it about horror films that appeal to you?' however suspense was the answer that came out on top and so this is something that I will look to incorporate into my product.
The last question 'Which type of horror film do you prefer?' gave almost even results, between slasher, super natural and gory horror films, my horror film is a mix between supernatural and slasher which would hopefully cater for a wide range of the audiences needs.