Horror and their target audience

Horror films and their target audience

'Saw' Franchise 
This film has a certificate of 18 yet a range of different ages watch these films. People who are younger watch these films because they want to see how much they can take of the gore. Also men would be targeted to watch this franchise because they are seen to be able to watch gore and violence a lot easier than women. 

'The Conjuring' 
This film has a certificate of 15. The target audience for this film are couples, young men and women. This is because they can both enjoy it because it only involves getting scared in this film, not violence and gore. Also many women are target audiences because there were man strong female characters within this film. 

'Paranormal Activity 4' 

This film has a certificate of 15. The target audience are a younger age range because the main characters are a young female and male teenager. By having these two teenagers being the main characters the film immediately becomes more interesting to young teens who like horror. Also because of the way its filmed it means that the audience can relate what’s going on in the characters life, giving a much more realistic feel and so is much scarier. Even though the target audience is  between the range of 16-24 it will also target fans of supernatural horrors in general. 

'Sinister'
This film has a certificate of 15. Sinister is as much of a drama about family as it is a horror movie. It doesn't involve much gore instead directing and editing with interesting angles,spooky imagery,and with some great jump out of your seat moments are used. The target audience would be people who are between the age of teenagers and adults because it keeps you interested. 

Storyboards

After producing a storyboard of an extract of a short story, 'The Un-door' I thought that it was much better showing creativity through scripts because storyboards seem to limit you to how much you can actually do.

Things that I think make a good storyboard are:

• Having new ideas
• Plan it out on paper first
• Mind map the story
• Showing what is going on effectively with the correct amount of detail

In my opinion I would prefer to do a script for my pre-production because scripts are wider and don't limit you to doing less things.

Scripts

When I took part in 'guess the genre' in class today and reading other people's scripts, it made me think; how could the other members of class get so much detail into their script? because it took me a while to just think of what the actual story would be before I even started writing mine. 

I think that a good script should include:

• An original and exciting concept
• A main character with a goal
• Getting to the story quickly
• Conflict
• Surprises
• Obstacles
• A good ending

As I knew a lot about my chosen genre for the script I wrote (which was a fantasy horror)I found it easier to write about because I knew the type of things that would be included for a typical script of that genre.

Avatar script analysis - Sci-fi

Avatar script analysis 

 How did the script introduce the narrative (story), setting, time period, the characters and the genre? 

The script starts with non-digetic sounds in the form of drums getting louder and louder. The only information we are given on the setting of the film isn't much as it says; "WE ARE FLYING through mist, a dimly glimpsed forest below". This makes us wonder in what form are they flying and who are the people or things that are flying as it only tells us "we". 

"When I was lying there in the VA hospital, with a big hole blown through the middle of my life, I started having these dreams of flying". This is when we are introduced to one of the characters it makes me think that he is the main character because he was the first person to speak in the script.  This extract makes me ask lots of questions and what has affected his life so dramatically that a "big hole" has been blown through it.  Also when he says; "I started having dreams of flying" this could be an enigma code for what is going to happen later on in this film. 

"Sooner or later though, you always have to wake up..." This is what the character says second. This gives us a look into how his character is, it makes me think that he is a realist and doesn't dwell on dreams that may not even come true and he lives in the real world. 

How did it engage you? 
This script engages me because it made me ask lots of questions and makes me want to read all of it and find out what happened to him and what will happen. 

coraline script analysis

'Coraline' - script analysis (fantasy film)

How did the script introduce the narrative (story), setting, time period, the characters and the genre?

- In the script for 'Coraline' the first thing mentioned is a "HAUNTING LULLABY plays" the way the music is played could suggest the film having a horror theme even though it is a fantasy film.

Also there is a charcter mentioned in the indroduction of the script which is cutting the clothing off a doll it says; "The doll - which resembles a YOUNG BLACK GIRL in old -fashioned clothes". The character doing this to the doll then changes the doll's appearence to having "blue yarn hair" and a "little yellow raincoat" this suggests to me that the film is set in the past and present day.

"CORALINE JONES, 11, steps onto the porch in a YELLOW RAINCOAT with a shoulder bag. WE - SPY'S POV - CLICK to a CLOSE-UP to find this new tenant has BLUE HAIR and a skeptical face". This is how the script introduces the character Coraline. With Coraline and the doll mentioned earlier in the script wearing a similar kind of coat this makes us wonder if there is any connection between these two characters.

 How did the script engage you?

This script engages me because it makes me feel curious about what will happen later on. It also makes me wonder who was the character making the dolls at the start and if we will come to find out their identity later on also.

 

Scripts and their interpretation

'Les Miserables' script  

for this task we were asked to analyse the 'les miserables' script. 
1) How did the script introduce the narrative (story), setting, time period, the characters and the genre?

This script introduces the year of which it was set, the history of it and where it is set. 

"The year is 1815.The French revolution is a distant memory. Napoleon has been defeated. France is   ruled by a King again".     

 - This gives the audience the gist of the history of the film in the script before it even starts. This also uses short simple sentences which attracts the audiences attention because if it was a paragraph of writing they would not want to read it all.          

Some parts of the script also make the setting appear miserable, gloomy and dark because at one part it says; "Winter rain slices the air" and "Storm-lashed sea and driving rain". These small parts of information could make the audience believe that throughout the film the gloomy and dark theme will be continued. 

Also in this script it lets the reader know that these men are in fact convicts if they hadn't guessed     that already, it says; "The convicts sing in time with the rhythmic pulls on the rope". This also lets the audience know that this film is a musical genre.

Throughout the script it focuses on one convict in particular which makes us think about his importance in the film and if he is a main character, this character is "Jean Valjean".  Despite the physical labor he is doing and being "up to his waist in water, chained by two sets of manacles". This does not bother him because "he seems to feel nothing". This makes the audience wonder why he feels nothing despite being "a great brute of a man".

2. How does it engage you?

This script engages me because it gives me details of what it would be like for the convicts at that time and with accurate descriptions of the shots, it lets me imagine what it would be like. Also this script has made me learn not to go into too much detail with script writing because it engages the audience more with less details. 

3. How did the film-clip introduce the narrative (story), setting, time period, the characters and the genre?

At the very beginning of the 'Les miserables' opening clip, it tells us information already, it says; "1815 twenty six years after the start of the french revolution a king is once again on the throne of france". This gives the   audience a part of the historical background of the film and where it is set. Also the year "1815" was much bigger than the rest of the text and it makes the audience wonder if it is significant and if the don't know why they explain it later on in the opening text. After the text is shown non-digetic sound in the form of music is playing which is powerful, which makes the audience think that what they are about to see next could be similar. 

The camera shots are then wide angled focusing on the many men that are pulling on ropes which are attached to a ship. The camera focuses on one of all these men in particular which is Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean). This may trigger the audience into thinking if he plays a significant part in the film because he is in most of the shots. some people may think that these man are being forced into this physical labor but when you look closely you can see that each of the men are wearing shackles around their necks and chains, this lets the audience know that they're actually convicts. 

Also at one part of the opening clip Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean) is walking in a line with the other convicts which appears in a long angled shot, the officer in charge "Javert" makes Jean Valjean retrieve the flagpole with the flag attached which snapped off onto the floor. This makes me think that Javert chose Jean to do it out of all of those convicts because he shows strength and Javert doesn't seem to like people being stronger than  him so he wants to break Jean. 

4) How did it engage you?

The script engaged me because it  gave me lots of information than I would have got if I just watched the clip alone. On the other hand the clip was also good because it gave me an idea of what the characters were like   and their relationships. 

Factors of media representation

GENDER:

On this ‘REPS!’ magazine front cover, men are represented as being extremely masculine through the way they make their body look and this is for women to believe that they are more attractive and to other men they would seem admirable.  The effect that a muscular man being on the front cover is that many other men would think that they want to achieve that look so therefore they would buy the magazine.  On the other hand if a skinny man was on the front cover no one would end up buying that magazine.  This is a stereotypical male shown on the cover as males are typically ‘stronger’ than females.

AGE: 

In the ‘Catherine Tate show’ the character ‘Nan’ is represented to be a typical nice and kind old aged pensioner, before she lets her true feelings be known about things,  by using lots of bad language.  This represents the older generation to be very opinionated and blunt.

ISSUES:  

The media can oppose unrealistic representations of men’s and women's bodies. One example is the Dove real women advert of 2010  which was created by Dove to show how images of women are manipulated in the media and this reduced negative effects on confidence of young girls bodies when they looked at pictures of extremely thin models after seeing the Dove advert.

NATIONAL AND REGIONAL IDENTITY:  

The Valleys is a British reality television series based in Cardiff, Wales and broadcast on MTV. The show premiered on 25 September 2012.  This TV show has represented the Welsh to be common or an embarrassment to Wales.  the show is called 'The Valleys' but it doesn't happen in the Valleys, it is set in Cardiff. It’s all about people getting very drunk and being deliberately outrageous and that’s not what the Valleys are like.  This means that what the audience watch at home is not the real representation of people in Wales.

EVENTS:

The London riots represent youths to be careless, reckless and no regard to anyone/anything else but not only were some of the parents at the riots themselves, but many of those taking part were not the hooded as many newspapers say so you cannot see the youths faces, teenage delinquents on which many have pinned the blame for the worst street riots Britain has seen.

Film analysis: 'Avatar'

'Avatar film analysis'

This film is a Sci-fi hybrid with fantasy it is set in the future on another planet called 'Pandora'.  Throughout this film humans and the avatars are in conflict. Futuristic themes in this film attract the viewers because it makes them wonder whether the future will really be like that. The types of camera angles used are different but one of the most used camera angles are the establishing shots these type of shots let the audience get a better view of the futuristic themes within the film which are in all sci-fi films. Other types of shots that are used are medium and full body shots these were used during the fight scenes within the film tracking shots are also used in fight scenes too and this makes the audience feel as though they are there with the characters. 

The film-making technology is also good because they use some special 3-D imaging which makes the film seem more real to watch even if the audience are watching it in 2-D.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVdO-cx-McA

Sci-Fi poster analysis - 'Avatar'

Warner Bros. Film studio tour - Harry Potter

Introduction

     As a class we all went to the Harry Potter studio tour in London on the 7th October. We went here to learn more things about media such as; design, marketing, filming ect..

Summary of events

     During this day we did many things. First we started the studio tour by getting told about what our day would consist of, then we went into a cinema and it showed us things that went into making the film such as the filming, designers, makeup, hair ect. After that the doors to the great hall were revealed and opened and we were able to walk through and take as many photos as we liked. Then the tour carried on even further until we had our class 'movie marketing' after that the tour was continued and then brought to an end. 

Movie marketing

     In our 'movie marketing' class we were given a talk about many things. First we were asked to say what we thought of the word 'marketing' and the majority of people said 'selling' or 'advertising'. Then we were told what a real pitch for a film would be like and the man who listens to pitches and the Warner Bros. studios apparently only listens to 25 words or less about your idea for a film and it has to be a good one that they think they can make their money back on because making a film has lots and lots of money involved. Also we were told that every little thing in a film has lots of jobs to be done to it and different people are assigned one job in that actual job itself, so everyone has to be very precise. 

My highlights

1. I never realised how much goes into making the Harry Potter world real and the tour gave such an incredible insight of how it was all made, such as the castle, it was first made with a mini white 3D model and then made into a larger scale as shown below.

2. I loved seeing all of the sets and the props because they were interesting to look at and knowing how much time and effort went into making them and how they play a huge part in the film. 

3. There were good videos set up all around showing you how it was filmed and I especially liked the quidditch ones because you had the chance to experience it yourself by riding on a broom with a green screened background. This is the image from the day below.

4. The creatures that were made for these films were also on display. There was a huge life size Aragog suspended from the ceiling above the buckbeak and basilisk display and this gives the audience a view on how big they would actually be if they were real and stood next to them.

5. One thing that I thought was good on the tour was that the showed the actual costumes that was worn by the actors/actresses that played characters in the films and there were hundreds of costumes made for the characters. 

conclusion
     The skills and knowledge that I gained on this trip will impact my work on this course because it gives me an insight on how things work in films and how it is done such as; green screen, design, movie marketing. It also will help me know if things are good ideas or not from that movie marketing class we all took part in.

Film genre mind map

Film opening

Film opening - 'The Conjuring'

Audio codes of the film opening:

• Non-digetic sound in the form of scary music
• dialogue 
• a light switch clicks
• people having a conversation
• conversation stopped another scene starts
• non-digetic sound again
• creaking of wood
• two girls laughing
• dialogue
• non-digetic sound

Visual codes of the film opening:

• black screen and the the warner bros. logo fades onto the screen
• whilst the screen is still black the non-digetic sound starts with dialogue
• a light is switched on and then a china doll's face appears in an extreme close up (only half of the face was shown) and dialogue continues
• panning between the people
• three people, one male and two female talking to people (cut screen shots used)
• the room is dark (low key lighting) with only light shining through the curtains
• scenes of what happened in the past
• the two young women open the door
• a note is on the floor it reads; 'miss me?' 
• the doll is sat on the floor when they didn't move it
• one woman opens a door
• the room is smashed/destroyed

Film table

Film: Horror

Horror films

My favorite source of media are films, to be specific, horror films. I like horror films as they contain many aspects to them such as;

• they touch onto emotions that other films don't - letting people have an escape from reality.
• adrenaline rush - this keeps the person/people watching glued to the screen for the whole time which other films don't tend to have. ect

I like horror films and so do many young people that I know, this is because they are appealing to a younger audience. This is said because they are apparently more likely to want to have intense experiences and older audiences find everyday life scary enough without having to escape in a horror film. 

Also, there a different sorts of horrors that appeal to people, my favourite are horrors that you need to think about and have good story-lines. others may like ones that have sickly gore, funny story-lines or get you on the edge of your seat.