Critical Reflection: horror movie By Lexy Cintron

How does your product use or challenge conventions? In the film, my group and I used isolation. Isolation makes the film seem scarier and more suspenseful because an environment where the protagonist is stuck and cornered is created. This makes him/her seem helpless and creates fear to the audience. We had the victim all alone in a hallway, making it easier for the killer to attack.

How does the product represent social groups or issues? Social groups and issues that occur in high school are represented in our film. The problem in the film is about kids fitting in and being bullied. Our killer was being bullied by the victim, and in this scene he takes revenge. In high school, there are usually groups of kids such as the popular kids, the average kids, and the rejected kids. Our film shows the rejected group (the killer) and the popular group (the victim).

How does your product engage with audiences? Our film engages with audiences through emotions. Fear and suspense are the major emotions used in this scene. Once the audience sees the killer through the slot in the door, fear is felt. Fear is also used once the victim is already hit, and she is being dragged away by the killer. The score that speeds up as the killer gets closer adds suspense to the audience.

How would your project be distributed as a real media text? Our film would be distributed through the movie theaters because of it’s audience. The audience for this film would be high school to college students because they could easily relate to the plot of the film. My group and I would release teaser trailers (this scene could be one) to attract the audience before the movie even came out.

How did your production skills develop throughout this project? Before the film, my production skills weren’t bad, but were very limited. With some programs, I was, at the most, able to put the scenes together and cut them down to the desired length. After this film, though, I now know not only how to organize scenes, but how to add and delete sounds and add transitions to the scene so the cuts wouldn’t look choppy.

How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware, and online – in this project? Our group used an editing program, music from online, a camera with a tripod, and an audio recorder in this project. We got the suspenseful music from online. We used Adobe Premiere Pro CC as our editing program and a camera with a tripod to record every shot. An audio recorder was used to record the book hitting the ground and the victim’s feet when she walked in the beginning of the scene.