1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of conventions of real media products? Camera, shots and angles I started my research for my film by analysing different short horror clips, and then decided to write up a film synopsis which narrowed down exactly what we wanted achieve overall. Our short film was filled with different types of camera angles and shots, so it kept the audience on their toes and didn’t seem repetitive. We used a ‘wide-shot’ camera angle to set the scene and show the surroundings that we filmed in which matched the stereotypical horror description, for example eerie woods and large dark looking fields. We wanted the camera shots and angles to have a specific meaning that we wanted the audience to react to. For example we used a ‘close-up’ shot on one of the characters face to get the audience gripped, as the shot showed the young girl in distress and in fear of the unknown.

2. Sound, Editing and Music At the beginning I did some research on horror theme tunes which related to the genre we decide to feature as our own film. We wanted the music to set an atmosphere for the film so the audience know the genre from the start. When we all came to a decision on what type of music/sounds we wanted to use, we chose a famous theme tune which is used in One Missed Call. We edited this into our film at the start of the clip and used it at the end as well. We used a number of cuts and effects to join it all together, which then made it into a short film. For example we used effects like dissolves, black-out and ‘sharp/fast’ cuts. We also made a decision to record my voice explaining the events that have gone on in the past, which was played over the entering theme tune at the start of the clip. At the beginning I did some research on horror theme tunes which related to the genre we decide to feature as our own film. We wanted the music to set an atmosphere for the film so the audience know the genre from the start. When we all came to a decision on what type of music/sounds we wanted to use, we chose a famous theme tune which is used in One Missed Call. We edited this into our film at the start of the clip and used it at the end as well. We used a number of cuts and effects to join it all together, which then made it into a short film. For example we used effects like dissolves, black-out and ‘sharp/fast’ cuts. We also made a decision to record my voice explaining the events that have gone on in the past, which was played over the entering theme tune at the start of the clip.

3. Different shots 1. Extreme close-ups to show fear and panic as the protagonist hears a scream. 2. Close Up – Shows subjects expression and makes it more powerful. 3. Long Shots – Will show more than one subject. 4. Over Shoulder shot – camera looking over the shoulder of a character onto another character. 1 2 3 4

4. Intertextuality One of the main movie we used as a starting point for our movie was ‘Sorority Row’. The story line is extremely over the top in this film but it’s still based on starting off with a bunch of girls, which follows onto turning into a complete disaster. This film is mostly based on a prank that went wrong, the meaning behind this was that the girlfriend (Megan) found out her boyfriend (Garret) was cheating on her so she and her friends wanted to get revenge. We had elements of revenge and friend betrayal during our film which is the basic idea we got from Sorority Row. ‘One Missed Call’ is another film that sparked our imaginations for our own film. We had decided to have one suspicious phone call that leads to the main events in the film, taken by a prank from a group of teenage girls. In this remake of the Japanese horror film “Chakushin Ari” (2003), several people start receiving voice-mails from their future selves. These are messages which include the date, time, and some of the details of their deaths. This relates to our movie in the thriller and distorted sense. Another example would be Scream 1, 2, 3 and 4 - A killer known as “ghost face” begins killing off teenagers, and as the body count begins rising, one girl and her friends find themselves contemplating the “Rules” of horror films as they find themselves living in a real-life one.

5. Mise-en-scene and Lighting ► In the film we used many props such as pillows, popcorn, sweets, phones, make-up, blood, music quietly playing and a bloody knife. Each one of these props would have had a specific meaning, for example a bloody knife indicates a murder. Our main concern in this short film was the lighting because every time we came to film outside the weather was always different, but in one section of the film we managed to film when it was a dark, rainy gloomy day which matched with our description of ‘horror’. When we were filming inside we used all artificial lighting to show that we were filming in the evening, and we still wanted to show that dark lighting effect towards the audience.

6. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? This is my poster for my film Back Stabber. We decided to set the characters out in a line but with the two killers at the front with their backs slightly turned in as they are the secretive ‘back stabbers’ towards the other girls, hence the title. The remaining two characters are stood at each end with their backs turned in. The expressions on their faces show fear which relates to their feelings in the film. We used four colours to create colour cohesion as it makes it stand out; grey, red, white and black all work together and give of the horror image with the red relating to blood and gore. We used Photoshop to edit this photo into black and white but left the blood on the knives remain red to draw the audience in. The blood on the knife is an iconic object for ‘slasher’ movies. We also edited the background out so that it is just the characters on the page and nothing else but the figures and bold writing to draw attention to the expressions and the blood.

7. Article I decided to have my double page spread article as in interview with T4 magazine and the four main characters on Back Stabber. I decided to ask questions which gave a deeper insight to the film so that our ‘teen’ audience could relate to the actors lives instead of just the characters in our film. I created this on In Design and spread the text out in four separate columns. I also picked two colours to have the article text (red and black – symbolic to my ‘horror genre’) so that the audience can clearly read who is the interviewer and which actor is speaking. I included a giant picture of a bloody knife to represent betrayal and gore, and also a photograph of the poster, for familiarity of the film. The title of the article is ‘BACK STABBER’ which immediately draws the audience in and titles the page so people know it is about that film.

8. What have you learned from your audience feedback? From the feedback we received for our film we found that there was a clear build up of tension and events, there is also an excellent use of disequilibrium. Some of the audience also said they liked the hand held camera work and over the shoulder/POV shots. From the feedback the reoccurring genre that people would says this film fits is ‘teen horror' which is exactly what we were trying to get across. From the feedback we received for our film we found that there was a clear build up of tension and events, there is also an excellent use of disequilibrium. Some of the audience also said they liked the hand held camera work and over the shoulder/POV shots. From the feedback the reoccurring genre that people would says this film fits is ‘teen horror' which is exactly what we were trying to get across. After looking at our poster, our audience said that the knives that we are holding works especially well as a semiotic symbol of violence. Also many said that just from looking at the poster it would encourage them into watching the film as the relationships between the characters on the cover seems complex. The article also gave off relevant information, especially the way the film has affected the lives of the cast and it gave personal information about the actors so our audience could relate more. After looking at our poster, our audience said that the knives that we are holding works especially well as a semiotic symbol of violence. Also many said that just from looking at the poster it would encourage them into watching the film as the relationships between the characters on the cover seems complex. The article also gave off relevant information, especially the way the film has affected the lives of the cast and it gave personal information about the actors so our audience could relate more.

9. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? The media technologies that I used when constructing and carrying out research for my film were; The media technologies that I used when constructing and carrying out research for my film were; ► Wordpress ► Google ► Youtube ► DVDs of similar films ► iMovie ► Photoshop ► In Design

10. Photoshop We used Photoshop to create our poster; We used Photoshop to create our poster; By using this form of media technology we were able to edit out parts of the previous image to get our end result of this. Colours were important as certain colours can represent different things, by the red of the blood we decided to use only three specific colours for the font to create colour cohesion; red, white and grey. We outlined the characters to get rid of the background of the picture and replaced it with a plain white background. This outlines the characters which shows the importance of them. We also changed the photo to black and white but decided to keep the blood on the knives in red which signifies the main weapon used throughout the film. Without Photoshop we were unable to get specific ideas across. By using this form of media technology we were able to edit out parts of the previous image to get our end result of this. Colours were important as certain colours can represent different things, by the red of the blood we decided to use only three specific colours for the font to create colour cohesion; red, white and grey. We outlined the characters to get rid of the background of the picture and replaced it with a plain white background. This outlines the characters which shows the importance of them. We also changed the photo to black and white but decided to keep the blood on the knives in red which signifies the main weapon used throughout the film. Without Photoshop we were unable to get specific ideas across.