My media product uses the conventions of Horror having moments of suspension and creating a tense atmosphere with speedy shots, we also used sinister eerie music for our opening sequence which is again a convention in horror.  My horror also challenges the conventions by showing some of the crucial moments at the start, bringing the film full circle at the end. 

My media product is very traditional and follows the social group of teenagers going to the woods to drink underage and have a good time, it also shows the female social group in the sense that from the start when they first hear a strange noise they both jump and are 'freaked out', where as stereotypically males wouldn't react this way.  There is a slight twist on the antagonist although in horrors there are often creepy little girls we added the twist of having it be a woman with the mind of a child giving it that slight advance on horror conventions.

Personally i believe that two major institutions that would distribute my film would be Hammer especially if you look at some of their productions like 'Beyond The Rave' and i believe that Lions Gate would also release a film like mine especially after the infamous torture franchise of saw.

My target audience would be teens to mid-twenties, male, any ethnicity, but mainly the white and black communities and social grade wouldn't have a massive effect but if i had to choose i would say C1 and below, i have decided this based on my research conduct in my questionnaire

I feel i have attracted my audience by first showing them the scene mixed in with some titles and music this would make them wonder what they are about to see and be intrigued as to how such a picturesque place could be turned into a place of bloodshed and torture.
In terms of marketing i would use my institution to help me spread the story and make it larger than life, i would also try and have some form of synergy with another brand, such as galaxy, promoted with a free chocolate bar for everyone who purchased a cinema ticket for my film.  I would also have trailers put on tv and in cinemas.  I would also make some form of promotion using fandom giving people who are amped up to see the film a day where they can do something, this would not only let the fans feel involved but also promote my film further.

I have learnt how to use the mini DV camera's in ways i didn't know before, whilst filming i've learnt how to take freeze-frames, change the settings, put on night mode, a timer and how to zoom correctly.  I also learnt how to put up a tripod and get it straight.
I had never used final cut pro before now and once i had gotten over how complicated it looked i could see how to change things, i started small with a rough edit then started adding and taking away things like replacing original sounds with music and adding transitions to create a smooth cut.
I had also never blogged before and using blogger at first was a bit difficult but once i had gotten used to it i have discovered the potential that it holds i now know how to add pictures, videos, alter text size colour and font, i learnt how to use it that much that i started enjoying it and now have my own blog separate to this

In the preliminary task i noticed how my recording was shocking, i couldn't hold the camera still without a tripod and began doubting the work we would get at the end of the year, after a few trial and errors and finally learning how the tripod worked it became easier to shoot things and filming match on action, shot-reverse-shot's and the 180-degree rule became second nature.  Once i had gained this knowledge i then wanted to make sure that it reflected in my final task and so made sure that i made a note of how i got the shots i did and how the tripod worked and how to edit them into place.

Pitch

The following is my pitch which i feel would get people to want to produce and be a part of my film,

''Classic Horror is no longer shown in our cinemas, you see sci-horror, horror-thriller, horror-comedy, but never a traditional slasher, with shots that make the mind tick and think, ones that can only make the audience imagine the horrors behind this unseen moments.  I want to bring traditional horror back, the unpredictable devlish turns of each plot and narrative device.  My film is based around a rare mental disorder known as Munchousens Syndrome By Proxy, a form of child abuse, however with the mind of a child what can she do but abuse those around her?  Some have been known to go to the extent of killing their own for attention.  So this woman in the woods who hasn't left since her home burnt down and hundreds of patients escaped has been offered two unsuspecting teenagers to torture until their final demise.  The woman in question will slowly hunt the teenagers and play tricks on their minds, she then attacks in the night, making one teenager so ill by bleeding her making her look sucidal, when found she couldn't form a word let alone a sentence, then the second teenager makes a run for it as her friend slowly stops breathing.  The woman then finds the second teenager and does her the honour of breaking both of her legs leaving her helpless the woman is then seen being motherly and talking of how she should get her to the hospital to fix her and make her better, so that people will think she's a hero,  The woman then cradles the teen holding her head, she then swiftly breaks her neck yet continues to cradle her.  Now that the woman has no one she wanders aimlessly, she doens't like that she can't get any attention now and so decides to hang herself so that people will see her and give her body attention.  This being the end, a twist where the killer kills themselves.''

Film Planning

Due to my audience questionnaire and statistics from the UK Film Council website: http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/information/statistics/yearbook/?pf=&low=&y=2005&c==5&s=
i decided that the best film i could do would be a Horror and so i began my planning

Firstly i made a mood board: I took an A3 piece of paper, rubbed it with a mixture or dirt, water, grass and green food dye to show the ground and the setting which is a forest.  I then used a black marker to write down the various ideas i had which were things like:
Woman-mind of little girl
Teddy Bear
Rocking Chair
Mental Asylum
Knife
Cannibalism

and various other ideas.
Eventually i decided that i wanted to have the teddy bear to represent the mentally disturbed woman and her thoughts, the teddy bear had been torn apart and was severely aged and dirty.  I then filmed my film at an abandoned mental asylum, however upon filming i decided on just using the forest surroundings due to buildings and modernization occurring around the wreckage. 

Audience Research Results

Gender: 20 Males 20 Females

Age:  10 - under 18's        10 - 20-35's           10 - 36-50's           10 - 51's+

Household Income:  13 - under £25,000       18 - £25,000-£50,000           3 - £50,000-£75,000       1 - £75,000+             5 - N/A

Ethnicity:  4 - White-Irish           14 - White-British          8 - Black-British           6 - Asian-British        8 - N/A

Q1: Rom-Com: 8           Thriller: 16          Horror: 16

Q2: 0: 27           1: 9              2: 3              3: 1

Q3:   Weekly:  1       Fortnightly:  8     Monthly:  15       Yearly:  8      Never: 8

Q4:  Varied, majority were in the horror/thriller genre


Q5:  Director: 5      Cast:  3       Storyline: 8        Genre: 13        Trailer:  11

Q6:  Internet: 0      Television:  9        Magazines: 2       Posters: 5          Trailers: 24

So from this questionnaire i gathered that most people favoured thriller and horror, visiting the cinema once a month who based their decision on either genre or trailer and they had access to films from trailers seen either in cinema, through word of mouth or on television.

Audience Research

I tested the audiences preferences, likes and dislikes with a questionnaire before deciding what i was going to film.  Below is an example of my questionnaire my next post will show the results

Gender:               Age:      Household Income (optional):                     Ethnicity (optional):

Q1: If you were going to the cinema which type of film would you want to watch?
Rom-Com                     Thriller                    Horror                      Other........................

Q2: How many people under 18 are in your household or would accompany you to the cinema?
...........................

Q3: How often do you visit the cinema?
Weekly                  Fortnightly                 Once a month                   Once a year                   Never

Q4: What films have you seen this year?
....................................................................................................................................................................
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Q5: What makes you want to watch a film?
Director                   Cast                 Storyline                 Genre                    Trailer

Q6: How do you find out about new films?
Internet                 Television                Magazines                Posters                   Trailers

Tzevetan Todorov

Tzvetan Todorov (1939-present day)

• Bulgarian philosopher
• suggested conventional narratives are structured in 5 stages which are:

1. State of equilibrium at the outset
2. Disruption of equilibrium by some action
3. Recognition that there has been a disruption
4. Attempt to repair the disruption
5. Reinstatement of equilibrium

Joseph John Campbell

Joseph John Campbell (1904-1987)

• Proffessor, author and lecturer
• Campbell came up with the theory of monomyth
• Monomyth - often referred to as the hero's journey
• Refers to pattern supposedly found in many narratives from around the world
• widely-ditributed pattern described by Campbell in his book 'The Hero With A Thousand Faces' (1949)
• Campbell proposed that there are three stages to every story, essentially a beginning a middle and an end, the stages are:
• Stage 1 (Departure) - Hero ventures forth on quest
• Stage 2 (Initiation) - Hero's adventure along the way
• Stage 3 (Return) - Hero returns home with new knowledge or powers acquired along the journey

Note how this is a simplified version of Propps theories and essentially puts the 31 steps into 3 simple stages.

Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp

Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp (1895-1970)

• Russian Theorist/Scholar
• Very interested in folktales and myths
• Propp specifically studied Russian folktales however, his theory applies to all stories so the fact they were Russian folktales is disposable
• Propp proposed the theory of Morphology, Morphology suggests that there are only eight character 'types' in the thousands of tales he analysed.  Propp also said that all story tellers in humanity are predictable
• Propp called the character types 'Spheres Of Action'
• Propp also believed that there were 31 functions in every tale which are as follows:

After the initial situation is depicted, the tale takes the following sequence of 31 functions:

1. ABSENTATION: A member of a family leaves the security of the home environment. This may be the hero or some other member of the family that the hero will later need to rescue. This division of the cohesive family injects initial tension into the storyline. The hero may also be introduced here, often being shown as an ordinary person.
2. INTERDICTION: An interdiction is addressed to the hero ('don't go there', 'don't do this'). The hero is warned against some action (given an 'interdiction').
3. VIOLATION of INTERDICTION. The interdiction is violated (villain enters the tale). This generally proves to be a bad move and the villain enters the story, although not necessarily confronting the hero. Perhaps they are just a lurking presence or perhaps they attack the family whilst the hero is away.
4. RECONNAISSANCE: The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance (either villain tries to find the children/jewels etc.; or intended victim questions the villain). The villain (often in disguise) makes an active attempt at seeking information, for example searching for something valuable or trying to actively capture someone. They may speak with a member of the family who innocently divulges information. They may also seek to meet the hero, perhaps knowing already the hero is special in some way.
5. DELIVERY: The villain gains information about the victim. The villain's seeking now pays off and he or she now acquires some form of information, often about the hero or victim. Other information can be gained, for example about a map or treasure location.
6. TRICKERY: The villain attempts to deceive the victim to take possession of victim or victim's belongings (trickery; villain disguised, tries to win confidence of victim). The villain now presses further, often using the information gained in seeking to deceive the hero or victim in some way, perhaps appearing in disguise. This may include capture of the victim, getting the hero to give the villain something or persuading them that the villain is actually a friend and thereby gaining collaboration.
7. COMPLICITY: Victim taken in by deception, unwittingly helping the enemy. The trickery of the villain now works and the hero or victim naively acts in a way that helps the villain. This may range from providing the villain with something (perhaps a map or magical weapon) to actively working against good people (perhaps the villain has persuaded the hero that these other people are actually bad).
8. VILLAINY or LACK: Villain causes harm/injury to family member (by abduction, theft of magical agent, spoiling crops, plunders in other forms, causes a disappearance, expels someone, casts spell on someone, substitutes child etc., comits murder, imprisons/detains someone, threatens forced marriage, provides nightly torments); Alternatively, a member of family lacks something or desires something (magical potion etc.). There are two options for this function, either or both of which may appear in the story. In the first option, the villain causes some kind of harm, for example carrying away a victim or the desired magical object (which must be then be retrieved). In the second option, a sense of lack is identified, for example in the hero's family or within a community, whereby something is identified as lost or something becomes desirable for some reason, for example a magical object that will save people in some way.
9. MEDIATION: Misfortune or lack is made known, (hero is dispatched, hears call for help etc./ alternative is that victimized hero is sent away, freed from imprisonment). The hero now discovers the act of villainy or lack, perhaps finding their family or community devastated or caught up in a state of anguish and woe.
10. BEGINNING COUNTER-ACTION: Seeker agrees to, or decides upon counter-action. The hero now decides to act in a way that will resolve the lack, for example finding a needed magical item, rescuing those who are captured or otherwise defeating the villain. This is a defining moment for the hero as this is the decision that sets the course of future actions and by which a previously ordinary person takes on the mantle of heroism.
11. DEPARTURE: Hero leaves home;
12. FIRST FUNCTION OF THE DONOR: Hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc., preparing the way for his/her receiving magical agent or helper (donor);
13. HERO'S REACTION: Hero reacts to actions of future donor (withstands/fails the test, frees captive, reconciles disputants, performs service, uses adversary's powers against him);
14. RECEIPT OF A MAGICAL AGENT: Hero acquires use of a magical agent (directly transferred, located, purchased, prepared, spontaneously appears, eaten/drunk, help offered by other characters);
15. GUIDANCE: Hero is transferred, delivered or led to whereabouts of an object of the search;
16. STRUGGLE: Hero and villain join in direct combat;
17. BRANDING: Hero is branded (wounded/marked, receives ring or scarf);
18. VICTORY: Villain is defeated (killed in combat, defeated in contest, killed while asleep, banished);
19. LIQUIDATION: Initial misfortune or lack is resolved (object of search distributed, spell broken, slain person revived, captive freed);
20. RETURN: Hero returns;
21. PURSUIT: Hero is pursued (pursuer tries to kill, eat, undermine the hero);
22. RESCUE: Hero is rescued from pursuit (obstacles delay pursuer, hero hides or is hidden, hero transforms unrecognisably, hero saved from attempt on his/her life);
23. UNRECOGNIZED ARRIVAL: Hero unrecognized, arrives home or in another country;
24. UNFOUNDED CLAIMS: False hero presents unfounded claims;
25. DIFFICULT TASK: Difficult task proposed to the hero (trial by ordeal, riddles, test of strength/endurance, other tasks);
26. SOLUTION: Task is resolved;
27. RECOGNITION: Hero is recognized (by mark, brand, or thing given to him/her);
28. EXPOSURE: False hero or villain is exposed;
29. TRANSFIGURATION: Hero is given a new appearance (is made whole, handsome, new garments etc.);
30. PUNISHMENT: Villain is punished;
31. WEDDING: Hero marries and ascends the throne (is rewarded/promoted).

• The Eight Spheres of Action are as follows:
  
  1. The villain — struggles against the hero.
  2. The donor —character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.
  3. The (magical) helper — helps the hero in the quest.
  4. The princess or prize — the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. the hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess, thereby beating the villain.
  5. her father — gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father can not be clearly distinguished.
  6. The dispatcher —prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.
  7. The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess.
  8. False hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.
  One character could engage in acts as more than one role, as a father could send his son on the quest and give him a sword, acting as both dispatcher and donor.  Also, there can be more than one of each character, for example there could be two villains rather than one, or a princess AND a prize.
  
  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Propp)