Component 1 – Critical Reflection By: Cody Hughes

How Does Your Product Use or Challenge Conventions? Some of the ways that our product follows the conventions of a horror film are: We use a long shot in the opening scene to establish the isolation and vulnerability of the vehicles occupants. This long shot of the vehicle was inspired by the movie Jeepers Creepers features a car driving down an isolated road. Additionally, the low-key lighting sets the dark mysterious mood for the audience. We also used make-up to create a wound on the neck. We were inspired to use this particular type of wound by its many uses in films. One such film that sparked the idea was The Gravedancers.

How Does Your Product Use or Challenge Conventions? Some of the ways that our product challenges conventions of a horror film are: Our film features a female lead character portrayed by Diana. This idea was inspired by the movie Halloween. We felt that a female character highlighted the vulnerability of the character and made the scene more suspenseful. Our film challenges ordinary horror film conventions by not following the traditional structure of a horror film. Our film starts in the action with the killer hunting the female survivor. The plot is confusing and overwhelms the audience. This structure is to get the audience to wonder about the rest of the film and what will unfold.

How Does Your Product Represent Social Groups or Issues? One social group our film represents is women. We chose to have a female in the lead role because it is not a common feature in many films. Usually, the female plays the partner or the love interest, but we felt that a woman in the lead role would be different, refreshing, and create more impact with the audience. In addition, our film represents those who suffer from psychological disorders such as psychopathy which can lead to killing. If we could continue the film process past the opening scene, we would delve into the human aspect of the killer. We as a society tend to write killers off as “unfixable” or “unworthy,” but sometimes there’s a cause of a killers actions such as genetics or a punishing childhood.

How Does Your Product Engage With Audiences? Our product focuses on teens and young adults with an affinity for elaborate storytelling, mystery, gore, and horror. Our film attempts to engage these audience through our use of a suspenseful opening score, short takes, low-key lighting, and a mysterious opening plot. Our film also targets a female audience by casting a female as the main protagonist.

How Would Your Product Be Distributed As a Real Media Text? Our product would be distributed first in IMAX. This would allow us as filmmakers to earn a larger revenue per ticket as IMAX viewings are generally more expensive than normal theaters. Additionally, most believe IMAX creates the best atmosphere for movie watching, thus, the opinion of our movie may be positively affected. One week later our film would appear in theaters as a slasher horror film. Those who have heard the reviews from the IMAX viewers, but have not seen the film yet will have built up hype and anticipation for the movie.

How Did Your Production Skills Develop Throughout This Process? Building off my knowledge of the previous two film projects I felt like I was in an adequate position in terms of filmmaking skills. However, again, during this filming process I was able to learn even more. One skill in particular is trying to explain how you want an actor to act in a scene. For example, should they be scared, confused, or horrified? Additionally, I learned to visualize what I wanted from a scene before filming it. I played the role of co-director and learned of the challenges involved with the role and how to succeed. One of the challenges of playing director was choosing the setting for shots. My group and I labored over the right location for each part of our video. We had to filmed shots in three areas before settling on a location that fit for our film.

How Did You Integrate Technologies in This Project? Technology was heavily integrated behind the scenes in our video, for example, we used a Canon Vixia HF M40 HD camera to film. The camera included a Dynamic SuperRange OIS which allowed us a full range of motion while filming. To edit we utilized iMovie and Adobe After Effects. These editing software allowed us to achieve our desired mood for the video.