In order to attract our audience we designed relatable characters, Melissa and Steve. Both characters were of similar age groups to our target audience of 15-25 therefore meaning the audience could connect with our characters on a personal level. In addition to this our characters featured costumes of similar clothing such as hoodies and crop tops. Oure audience feedback informed us that our characters were relatable. One person said 'I personally felt sympathy for the characters when they were attacked as I found them to be just like me'.
Our audience are also classified as being fans of the horror genre, specifically 'zombie' horrors. Therefore to attract our audience we featured a realistic zombie ccharacter. We conveyed the characters infected 'zombie' state through the use of makeup. One responder to our audience feedback told us 'The zombie looked very real, I loved the gore!'.
The audience feedback also told us that the film flowed well and included good continuity. This is thanks to the extensive planning of a shotlist within our production period.
Our film was set within the zombie genre, so to convey this we used horror iconography, For example the zombie and his makeup as well as other horror coneventions we found out through research. Inparticular the film Zombieland used plenty of makeup and especially gore based effects. Our costumes for the two actors were stereotypical of their age and gender
Other parts of iconography from within the horror genre was a fight scene, Our fight scene was between the Zombie and lead actor Steve, fight scenes are extremely common inside the horror genre as they add tension and offer more reasons to add extra gore. Not only does it fortify the other conventions it engages the audience as they fear for the protaganists survival.
We established our plot through strong foreshadowing as displayed in our news scene which utilised a green screen as well as some of Final cut's editing functionanlity.
Within our title sequence we used forms of typography to create a theme of destruction within the film. The font used was white, block capitals and appears to be damaged and worn. This holds connotations of destruction therefore conveying to the audience that the film features ruin and havoc- fitting with the post-apocalyptic horror genre.
Question 5: How did you attract/ address your audience?
The best place to start attracting was by looking at what genre of film we were going to put out and the age range that was most likely to watch these films, so because we had a zombie films with mild violence and a bit of gore we decided it would be a suitable to class the films as a 15 films. This gave us a suitable age range to work with, we could have appealed to both teenagers and adults if we played it right but decided it was better to focus on the teenager age range because they were not only more likely to be more of the audience that would watch our film but there was a very high supply of them at college making it easy for us to screen the film to them because a lot of the people that go to our college are happy to help and are old enough to watch a film with this certificate.
We soon realised that when making our film if we wanted the film to appeal to our target audience we would have to add in a generous amount of horror conventions and cliches, so we decided it would be a good idea to add things that would be popular with the genre typically such as a realistic looking zombie, the rage scene where the zombie sees red and attacks the male character and having subtle touches like making things realistically bloody and gory to appeal to the hardcore fans of the genre.
We also added both non diegetic and diegetic sound into our clip such as creating a worrying atmosphere with the siren at the end when the screen faded to black and using music over the already worrying atmosphere created by the female reporter, this just made it feel that much more real for the audience and really helped them to get involved with what was going on in the opening sequence
We also added a really quick paced fight scene to the movie so that we could give fans a shock to keep them on the edge of their seat, we did this by making the zombie character and the male engage in a brawl sequence. we really put some thought into this one because we played the fight sequence out just before we faded to black, so we gave the audience a really good thrill before hitting them with some mystery so they would be left wanting to see more of the movie and it worked one person we screened the film to said "My favourite part was when the zombie and the guy were fighting and then it just cut to black with the zombe on the floor because you don't really know weather he is dead or not".
Finally we addressed our audience by way of direct questioning and questionnaires so that we could collect a wider range of data from them, we used the direct questioning to get answers about our film after a private screening and used questionnaires to get answers from an audience about what they would like from our film.
Once having a story line and establishing an audience that we wanted to aim our product towards ;15-25 year old 'zombie' enthusiasts (complying with our age certificate),we decided in order to create a successful film we have to listen to the people we are catering for;the audience.
As a result we asked our audience a series of questions in the form of a questionnaire,so we could work upon the feedback.One of the questions asked was ; Are you a fan of the 'Zombie horror Genre?'.Despite seeming like a simple question it helped us establish that they already liked the generic conventions of the genre.This meant we knew what to add to our film to be more appealing for example;
Blood and gore;
In zombie films there tends to be an excess of blood,gore and violence.This is due to the nature of zombies and there cannibal instincts.Also as a result of them being un-dead, people/characters attempts to kill zombie's just results in limbs coming off etc.
This addition to the film based on the principle that we had an established audience of zombie horror fanatics and therefore all the generic conventions that came with it can be seen in the make up choice of the 'zombie' character; it features blood,a well known piece of iconography for the 'zombie horror' genre.
Another factor that came back from feed back on our story line was that ;the audience wanted it to feel very realistic as many felt that films with in this genre can seem too far fetched,one respondent
saying ''it can all seem too fake,then I cant enjoy the film properly because I know its not real''.
With this in mind our group made conscious efforts when planning to include certain elements that would add to the verisimilitude of the film,for example the use of a green screen in the news reporting scene.This reflected reality because in a situation similar to the story line,the news of the virus would be first reported on TV.
Once the final film was ready to be shown we did a small screening of 'Zebola' and asked the audience to answer another series of questions based on what they had just watched.From this we learnt multiple things about our film both good and bad; one of the main points that was drawn to my attention is that the audience enjoyed the suspense of the black screen and the sirens at the end of 2 minutes, as they felt it built more suspense and and left them intrigued,one of the audience members to say this was Liam (16yrs):''I didn't want it to end,defiantly want to see the rest''.Another aspect of the film that the audience enjoyed was the fight scene because it was a subtle introduction to the action side of the film.
However feedback also brought to our attention some negative points for example; people found the close up shot of the mouth when the zombie is biting Danny(the male protaginist) chaotic and felt it did not link in with the rest of the footage.Tanya (17yrs) said ''it was all a bit weird,it just didn't make sense''.
Overall i feel that we met the expectations of our audience because we presented
them with a new,innovative perspective on the zombie theme but keeping all the blood and gore the genre is known and loved for.Despite this I personally believe there is always room for improvement and in regards to our product we could do this by incorporating a wider range of camera angles and shots in order to ensure we hold the audiences attention throughout the full film.
In the initial stages of making our media product we took a lot of care when planning the details of the film.However without any inspiration we had no set vision.It was at this point we decided to look upon what had already been achieved in the zombie horror genre so we could not only pay homage to the pioneering films before 'Zebola',but also to be able to excel what has already been done.
In order to research I chose to watch and make notes on certain aspects of films with in the 'Zombie Horror genre' for example;28 days later,night of the living dead etc.
When researching into our genre I noticed a lot of common themes and patterns that were generic conventions of the 'Zombie-horror' genre.Theses ranged from the story line itself - the key characters are slowly killed or affected by the virus,leaving the main character isolated and left with the task of saving the city alone,to the lighting choices - low key.
Once decided upon what elements in a film truly define the zombie horror genre, we applied this to our own product.I personally feel that a title sequence is integral to setting the atmosphere and expectations for a film.With this in mind we set to work on creating a fitting title sequence that not only intrigued the audience but allowed them to understand what genre it was.This was done by using a dark color scheme of reds and blacks that had an image of a DNA strand at the forefront,representing the DNA in blood and therefore the virus.We also used slow and eerie music to set our audience on edge. We were inspired to do so by the choice of sounds
for the beginning of the 28 days later trailer:(below)
The clip then proceeds to show a incoming news report.We decided to utilize the opportunity of a news report and allow the news presenter to establish the plot as she explains the on-goings of the virus,therefore making the narrative clear.We chose to use this technique as we had not seen it done in a film of the 'Zombie horror' genre,therefore making 'Zebola' distinctive.
The scene then cuts away from the news reporter to a close up of Melissa's (main female protagonists) face,to display her reaction to what she had just witnessed.From my research I learnt that many films within the Zombie horror genre also use reaction shots to convey there characters emotion towards a zombie attack or perhaps a character seeing a zombie for the first time.We then used a range of essential shots such as mid-shots in order to create professional looking footage.
Whilst 'Zebola's plot may be fictional,we still wanted the scenes to feel real as it allows the audience to suspend their disbelief. For this reason we opted to follow the events in order,as oppose to eliptical editing.This made it easier for the audience to feel like they were truly watching the events unravel before there eyes,therefore adding to the verisimilitude.
The final part of our introduction to the film goes to black;this represents the zombies unconscious state.At this moment police sirens and alarms being to play.This not only builds tension for the audience and foreshadows more danger to come,but it also conforms to the zombie horror genre as such sound effects are used in multiple films with in this genre.
Throughout the film we have put a strong importance on mise en scene as we have considered what clothes the characters wear to the the lighting used in the clip.A key example of this is the make up look we did on the 'zombie' character because not only did it add to the verisimilitude of the character and therefore the film but it also featured a key part of zombie horror iconography- blood.
In zombie films there tends to be an excess of blood,gore and violence.This is due to the nature of zombies and there cannibal instincts.Also as a result of them being un-dead, people/characters attempts to kill zombie's just results in limbs coming off etc.
Upon reflection i feel Jamm productions has used the codes and conventions of the zombie horror genre in order to identify with a established audience of zombie film enthusiasts,who have become a custom to such elements being in a 'Zombie horror film',therefore making our film attractive to a wider audience.It also allows the final product to be more professional as we have done the proper research into such matters as generic conventions and followed them to an extent.
Due to our media product being a horror it narrows down companies or people that would distribute our film. There are some excellent independent companies operating out of the UK and ditributing films worldwide. These include but are not limited to:
Hammer films:
Hammer films is one of the oldest films in the industry with successes ranging from "The Woman In Black", "The Mummy" and "The Curse Of Frankenstein" which have been some pivotal films in the horror genre and "The Mummy" even spawned multiple sequels. Due to them being around some long they have a rich history and have attempted multiple sub-genres of horror and many different approaches to making a horror film. I feel these would be our best choice for a distributor due to their astonishing success with many films.
Left films:
Left films are a company that operates within the UK serving independant producers with a platform to distribute their work through. They claim to offer a fresh approach to film marketing through social media and good audience engagement. I do not think these are a good choice for our product as they seem to specialise in horrors with a comedic story lines such as "Ninjas vs Vampires" and "Cowboys and Zombies".
I discovered codes and conventions of the zombie horror genre through research. For example I analysed the first 5 minutes of the film '28 Days Later' (Dir Danny Boyle 2002). Through researching into this film I became aware of horror conventions such as low key lighting and the iconography of blood. I used this research to then apply to my own film 'Z-bola'.
Iconography within 28 Days Later.
During the first 2 minutes of our zombie horror genre film the narrative is restricted. This is common within horror films as it ensured our audience only knew the same amount of information as our characters. This heightened the fear factor as the audience were shocked with new information such as the 'zombie' appearing. They were previously unaware and this sudden change in plot created tension, the restricted narrative allowed them to then question what would happen next or who would be the next victim. The opening scene finalises with the diegetic sound of a police car, added in post production. This event adds mystery to our scene as the audience is unaware of what will happen next, they are then urged to continue watching.
Our genre is specifically represented through iconography. For example the use of blood throughout. Blood within film holds connotations of death and danger therefore signifying to the audience that the genre is horror and will feature tense situations. The iconography of blood is shown on our 'zombie' character through mise en scene. A close up is used to emphasise the use of make up on the actor to symbolise their infected state. The genre is also conveyed through the use of 'eery' music during the opening titles of the scene. This use of non diegetic music signifies the genre of the film as it is 'creepy'.
A high angle shot is used showing the 'zombie' after being killed. This shows the inferiority of the character and foreshadows to the audience that man will beat the infected. In addition to this hand held shots are used within the fast paced fight scene. This creates urgency within the clip as well as emphasising frantic movements in an attempt of survival. Overlaying the hand held shots is a red hue. The colour red holds connotations of danger and represents the 'zombies' eyes as it is also a point of view shot.
Continuity editing as learned from our preliminary exercise is used throughout. For example as 'Steve' enters the setting of a family home a match on action edit is used. This allows the clips to flow. In addition to this shot reverse shot as well as the 180 degree rule is used. This created realism and therefore verisimilitude within the clip.
The target audience for our film is 15-25 year old 'zombie' enthusiasts, this is fitting to our 15 age certificate of our film.
When planning our production we realised in order to appeal to our audience of horror genre fans we had to include horror conventions. Therefore the production of our film included mise en scene of blood. This added to the verisimilitude of the clip by displaying a realistic looking 'zombie' character, aesthetically pleasing to 'zombie' fans. One respondent to our audience feedback explained 'My favourite part was the look of the zombie, the make up looked very real and gory'.
In order to create mystery and widen our target audience we also included the diegetic sound, added in post production, of a police siren at the end of the first few minutes in our clip. After questioning 15-25 year olds after viewing our film for our audience feedback we learnt that mystery was achieved by the siren. One partaker said 'I enjoyed the siren at the end, it made me wonder what was going to happen next and I wanted to watch more'.
We also added a fast paced fight scene to our film. This was to keep our audience on edge and display the harshness of the virus and therefore creating fear. This worked efficiently as proven by our audience feedback which involves a respondent stating 'I feared for Steve when he was fighting the zombie, I didn't know if he would live or die!'. This feedback suggests that the scene created the tension we aspired to create. However the respondent also said 'I think it would have been so much more tense if there was some action music in time.'. From this feedback we have learnt that to achieve maximum entertainment for the audience during a fight scene we should use 'action' styled non diegetic music during.
During the early stages of the AS Media year each member of our group had a very basic level of skill in terms of filming and editing. This is represented within our preliminary task, shown below, which provides a short clip involving very basic editing skills such as match on action, the 180 degree rule and shot reverse shots, techniques learnt in the first weeks of our academic year. Despite the clips simplicity the experience provided a platform for us to expand our skills.
As our academic year continued we furthered our skills. This is conveyed through our final film 'Z-bola'. We furthered our skills through research into editing and filming techniques such as documentaries showing representations of the techniques in action on well known films and television shows.
In order to finalise our skills we had to apply them practically. We did this through the production of our film 'Z-bola' which involves a difficult level of editing such as a fight scene and coloured overlays. Providing a successful, efficient filming process within our time period involved the formation of a shot list, as also used in our preliminary task. This is an example of how our preliminary task taught us how to be successful within the filming process. The filming of 'Z-bola' was also our second attempt of production as our previous attempt taught us that we needed a more in depth shot list in order to have a successful filming process.
In addition to this whilst filming the dialogue within our first few minutes of our film 'Z-bola' we used the 180 degree rule in order to create continuity and verisimilitude. We had originally set up the camera in a way that would have caused a break in the rule however our previous experience from our preliminary task highlighted to us that it would cause a break in continuity.
We also ventured into different methods of editing such as the use of a green screen. The green screen allowed us to recreate a 'news room' setting. This added verisimilitude to our film and realism. By using the green screen in our practical work it has opened up new editing opportunities, for example if I needed to use the green screen again to recreate a setting in a second piece of practical work I could do so confidently.
Overall I feel we have improved vastly as a group over the course of the year. This is displayed through the difference in quality between our preliminary task and our final film 'Z-bola'. We improved thanks to further research into the logistics of editing in addition to practical application. This is especially thanks to the fact our final film is our second attempt of filming.
The clip below (Jamm production preliminary task) clearly demonstrates how far we have come as a group. It was at this point ,in the very early stages of the year,that we focused purely on executing new techniques, such as using a variety of close ups and mid shots to create a match on action in order to achieve the goal of continuity.Whilst we understood how to do such techniques,the clip reveals that doing so is our main focus.
However as the year continued we as a group became more knowledgeable of what media actually was as oppose to our assumptions.This was done through research and practical experience of making short films.I personally learnt that in order for a media product to be effective, it had to suspend all disbelief that the audience may have and allow them to delve into a world of entertainment.
Once discovering this key piece of information i recognized that techniques within cinematography,mise en scene,editing and sound,although absolutely integral to our film, needed to be subtle in order to create verisimilitude and therefore a better experience for the audience.
With this in mind our group began to consider how we could film this particular clip,thinking more so about what techniques would enhance the plot of our film as oppose to putting unnecessary techniques into the clip in order to tick items off a checklist.As a result we used a shot list to plan the first 2 minutes of the clip in order to be able to work in a systematic way.
I also found myself thinking more about mise en scene for our film than I had done for the preliminary exercise;going into detail about what the characters would where,there body language ect.This allowed the product to have a more professional feel once finished and once again contributed to the verisimilitude. The best way of improving my knowledge and skill set for media personally was to look back at the preliminary task and reflect upon where it was maybe not so good or what we could of done better.The main negative aspect of the task I noticed was that at times the clip could look disjointed and not as seamless as possible.However when it came to editing our raw footage to create the final media product using the software 'Final cut pro' for our film 'Zebola' we focused upon connecting scene to scene with accuracy and taking care in details like sound bridges to ensure maximum fluency.
Jamm also experimented with new techniques that could add a different depth to the film for example the green screen.We used a green screen for the news reporter scene as it allowed us to replicate what we see in a actual news broadcast and therefore mimic reality.By doing so it once again added to the verisimilitude.I personally loved learning about the logistics of working with green screen as it opens up so many new editing opportunities, such as special effects and I consider it an important skill to have when working with film.
Upon reflection i feel we made a huge improvement in all aspects of creating a media product and this is portrayed in the difference in standard between the preliminary task and the first two minutes of our film.However in my opinion we did not achieve this through learning new techniques and applying them (although we did do so);we improved because we understood more so what we wanted from the media product due to research,planning,and our audiences influence through questionnaires,therefore altering our approach and resulting in a more professional final product (shown below).
There are numerous film distributors working within the UK;
20th Century Fox
Icon film
Universal Pictures UK
Dogwoof
Artificial eye
Lionsgate
Some are recognized world wide while others are only know within the UK.The widely recognized distributors tend to work with various genre's of films,where as the UK based distributors tend to specialize in one type of film.
A key part of creating a good film is getting a good,reputable distributor.Without this, all the hard work done before hand is irrelevant; because without the right marketing and promotion it will not reach your audience, which are in fact the people who determine your films success.
As a result we must find a suitable distributor for our film.After researching into various different film distributors,I came to the conclusion that Hammer film productions (British) could be the ideal choice.Founded in 1934 the company has years of experience and longevity which helps us trust the distributor with our film.Having specialized in films within the genre's of horror,science fiction and thrillers,they would be knowledgeable in how to handle and promote our genre of film.When researching further i found that 'Hammer film productions' has even released one of the pioneering British zombie films of that era ; 'The plague of the zombies'.
Moreover the companies success is not only proven in there history,it is also proven in the present,with successful recent releases.For example;
The Woman in black (2012)
The Quiet ones (2014)
Again showing that this distributor is reputable and can evolve in order to stay current.
During the process of constructing our film I learnt about many technologies. During the research section of our film I used google to collect information on the genre of our film and its conventions.
I also used celtx to create a script during the planning section of our film. This allowed us to create a successful script including stage directions with dialogue. This caused successful production of our film in the filming process as actors were aware of their placement within the camera and the dialogue they had to say.
I used blogger as a site to upload my work. This helped me communicate my ideas to the rest of my group as well as embed several forms of media such as images and videos. However blogger is internet dependent meaning I could only upload posts when connected to the internet.
During the production process of our film we used a panasonic hd camcorder. It was my first time using this technology however found the filming process simple as the camera didn't have many buttons or settings, perfect for an amateur.
When editing our film we used final cut express. I had experience working with this software from our preliminary exercise which allowed me to understand how to edit our clips. Despite this I lacked an advance editing skill and struggled to add a red overlay to our film meaning I had to use a tutorial from Youtube to learn how.
7 Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have
learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Looking back at a our preliminary task we have learnt that continuity is harder to achieve than we initially anticipated with discrepancies across our film. Such as people that shouldn't be seen being present within the shot.
From our preliminary excersize we have carried on with the use of match on actions and shot reverse shot. We feel these are strong points with us as they have worked well and effectively within our media product. We have gotten better at editing and our selection and variety of shot within our film. We have used several shots and techniques we didn't use during our preliminary exercise such as POV shots and post editing effects such as turning the screen red to further reinforce the illusion of the viewer seeing what the zombie is seeing.
We decided to use adobe final cut express as our editing
suite as it offers great functionality and ease of use for amateurs like us.
This programme was easily picked up by out group and we all did some editing
together which benefitted us.
We used a small camera with a range of
attachments which was great for us as we were on the move with all our
equipment at once. We used the same small camera throughout and ran into no
problems with it as it greatly catered to our needs or we would've reconsidered
our choice of camera.
Other technologies aided the success of our camera such
as the tripod which allowed for smooth pans and a stable base to operate the
camera from.
One particular good use of final cut express were the zombie's POV
shot in which we used red colour correction to further the zombie effect.
Another great example of final cut express's functionality was our green screen footage in which we told the program to ignore the green screen which helped add to the illusion of a newsroom.
We used blogger as our online platform to post our work and document all our progress within the process.
Our target audience was older teenagers and young adults,
this is due to many factors including violence within our film, the actors
costume and our dialogue. We aimed our production towards people with an already
existing interest in horror, especially the zombie genre. Their lifestyle would
be very much rushed and spontaneous which makes us feel that this product would
benefit hugely from being able to be streamed online as well as being shown in
cinemas, physical copies and digital download. With young people having less
disposable income than the older generation online streaming is the best way to
get our product shown as cinemas can be quite expensive.
Our pre research consisted of asking peers and sending a
review out among them to gauge the sensibility of the plot and the possible
success of the film. We also did a few interviews with members of the public to
gather opinions for our product.
