PowerPoint Presentation

Question 1)How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social group or issues?

Answer 1)Just like any other horror film my project on a films opening scene is conventional which primarily shows the horror/thriller genre. By producing a horror clip many things have to be taken into consideration unlike any other genre as the whole impact of a horror movie clip comes from the soundtracks, different cuts as well as the mise-en-scene.

There are very common conventions when it comes to mise-en-scene as it is shot in an isolated area where no help is available, also when shot indoors there are common fallacy that is followed in every horror film, or is most likely to occur such as thunder, rain and wind in order to enhance and give a spooky impact. Also the props used are knives, ripped curtains, rocking chairs and much more. But that depends from movie to movie.

As in the video clip that I have shot used a lot of props, as well as the mise-en-scene used were influenced by the horror movies themselves. Such as in my own video clip I tried grasping some of the most common conventions of a horror film.

Not only is it a very common convention of usually having the films black and white, or red and black as they suggest they are in danger and death. But also the lighting of a horror films is used to give an effect of something bad is going to happen for examples shadows, flickering of lights, which automatically causes the audience to feel scared and nervous. For example in my video clip theirs this scene in which when the actor enters the house and as she's asking for where everyone is the lights start to flicker as seen from the extract below. (Pease Play):

As well as lighting can be used to give a mood in horror films usually when someone is scared and its dark and its raining such as in the movie Annabelle there was a scene in which the doll is sitting on the rocking chair, from which I got my inspiration to do the rocking chair scene

With lighting the soundtrack played in the background has a very important impact on the film, as exaggerated diegetic sounds will allow tension to be created in the film. However in the movie Paranormal Activity they were likely to challenge this convention as that movie was filmed without a horror soundtrack and was yet able to leave an impact through showing unusual things such as door slamming, swinging lights.( Please Play):

Though Mise-en-scene and soundtracks are the main focus in the shooting of horror films but also the different angles used such as by using certain camera angles as well as cut ins may also create a situation of panic. (Please Play):

Therefore I believe that the movie clip that I have produced does follow the conventions of a horror movie weather its the mise-e-scene, soundtrack, camera angles and lighting as well as the editing as throughout my video clip I used the vignette effect in order to give an impact, and I was highly unlikely to use any convention that was challenging though the lighting while shooting it outside was challenging in a way as usually horror movies are shot in dark, but I shot it in day light.

And since its a horror opening scene it had no social issues whatsoever

Question2)How does your product engage with audience and how would it be distributed as a real media text? Answer 2)Since my movie is based upon thriller/horror it caters to certain audiences of a few age groups since parental guidance is required for children under 13. It connects to audiences who enjoy watching thriller as it builds up suspense.And since the movie itself was shot in a house that is fifty to sixty years old and is claimed to be a haunted house itself can cause more excitement to the audience and can be used as a unique selling pointIn order to show it to the audience I could propose this movie to the distribution companies such as Dimension films as they are well known to distribute horror movies such as the movie Scream 4

But since this would be my first movie and its not a well known production company, I would most probably distribute my film online such as on Netflix or Torrent.

Question3)How did your production skills develop throughout the project?

Answer 3)Although the course has been quitechallenging, taking Media Studies has been a journey that has truly been a learning experience.At the beginning of this academic year I was unaware of the various features a camera carries within itself. All I was aware of was the button, which took a picture when it was pressed upon. And this was the boundary of my knowledge regarding the camera, as I had no knowledge regarding the use of camera angles.As the year began, I faced many difficulties and hardships due to my nearly nil knowledge regarding the subject. Striving to achieve I kept learning and learning about the subject from my teacher and fellow students. Trial and error was my only friend in this hard time upon which is based most of what I know. As I gained a stable pace I started to learn the various shots and angles that were of critical use in photography as well as in videography for example the portrait, background blur, over the shoulder shots, Dutch tilt, point of view shot, wide shot, close up and many more.

Also with the help of media studies I was able to take a lot of cut-ins such as

Additionally, I learned how important it is for filmmakers to keep a headroom. In one of my projects, this was insufficient, showing me that in the projects to come, I need to continue to make sure I have one.This did not only help my video shooting but I was also able to analyze movies when watching them. Before the class, I never used to pay attention to the angles in a movie, but after learning about them I began to notice them in movies. As a result, I was able to analyze, criticize, and appreciate angles video makers used in movies.

After learning what photography and Videography actually were, I moved towards editing. Picture editing was something I was pretty much familiar with as my skills were much better than average. But video editing was something I was not familiar with. As Before media studies, I had no clue whatsoever about how to edit videos, any knowledge regarding what software to use, or the usage of different editing points such asjump cuts. The different projects given to us in media studies taught me these important skills and error stage did the most of it and multiple hours of editing lead me to where I stand today. Therefore helping me enhance my knowledge on shooting, editing, and adding voice effects. For example, knowing when to add diegetic or non-diegetic sound effects, as well as using sound bridges.( Please play):

My past with the subject, how I learned what I learned is what motivated me towards making my opening clip for the CIE's to be a horror one. The angles, the shots, the sound and video effects. It seemed like the perfect fit and best of all, it was what I looked forward to doing. My hard work for the past year is invested in this short video and I hope with all I have learned that it does not go to waste because I started off with nothing and I am very far away from where I started

Question4)How did you integrate technologies (hardware, software, online) in this project?

Answer4)In my final project, I had used IOS 7 iMovies to edit my project, not only my final project but also my previous videos that I have worked upon.

All the video effects such as the black and white scenes and the Vignette scene used was all done through iMovies. And throughout the outdoor shooting the Vignette video effect was used in order to give it that impact

Many sound effects were also used my iMovies as well such as the Ambient Effect 2 was used throughout the clip continuously, the Drone Dark Suspense was used during the introductory of the car coming down, as well as the heartbeat sound effect which was used when she was entering the house as well when she was running upstairs. ( Please Play)

AS well as the door Squeak was used when she open the door of the house, wind howl was when she enters the house and the lights start to flicker, mystery accent when the mysterious man enters the house giving a source of fear was also done through iMovies sound effects

Where as many sound effects were added by searching online such as when the opening scene starts with the gate opening that was taken from http://www.sounddogs.com/results.asp?CategoryID=1021&SubcategoryID=42&Type=1

And the sound effect added when shown the stairs scene was of the Demon mocking bird taken from http://soundbible.com/tags-horror.html