My Evaluation

In What Way Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions Of Real Media Products?

Our media product sticks to the conventions of a stereotypical horror film, this is present from our first shot of the pre-title sequence. “RAWR productions presents” is the first title to appear, it is written in a gothic font and a blood red colour. These two attributes are very popular conventions of the horror genre and proved to be very effective. Another way our media product used the conventions of a horror film was through the use of a zombie. Zombies are extremely familiar conventions of horror films and I believe by including this, we did not only stick to codes of the genre, but maybe exceeded other groups. I say this as the media board mention there being a mass influx of generic productions, a brief example would be “A girl being followed in the woods by a masked stalker.” One way we challenged forms and conventions of existing media products was through races of the protagonists and antagonists. I played the lead role and me being from afro-Caribbean descent challenges conventions as in horror films, the main protagonist is usually Caucasian. Another way our group stuck to conventions was through the soundtrack used in our sequence. During the pre-title sequence the music played was dark, eerie music which fits the horror genre.  We also added sounds of screaming to our film which are almost portrayed in every horror film.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

As written in my blog I believe that the demographic for our film would be a 15+. I say this as I believe in this current climate, it is what most 15+ year olds would be interested in seeing. In terms of social class, I honestly believe that the film would be able to reach out from class E all the way to class A. I believe this as many Hollywood horror films premier to people of the highest class and are then released into cinemas where they can be viewed by the other classes. I wouldn’t say that our film is aimed at a particular social group as during the sequence there aren’t many social schemas present. If we were producing a ‘gangster film’ then individuals from such backgrounds could relate, but our film is a horror with zombies; not many people can relate that to everyday life!

What Kind Of Media Institution Might Distribute Your Media Product and Why?

If I were to choose a media institution that would distribute I would probably say that it would be Hammer Studios. Hammer studios dominated the media industry in terms of horror films and as our film is of the same genre, they would be the best option. Hammer Film Productions produced classics such as Dracula, The Mummy and The Curse of Frankenstein. Hammers business levels and experience would be key selling points as to why we would be interested in them distributing our media product. Hammer film productions were founded in 1934 making them one of the most experienced companies in the industry and they now have a very reputable name. I believe that they would be interested in distributing our media product as ‘Rays of the Dead’ seems like a working title that Hammer productions would make. Our media product sticks to many codes and conventions, the same codes that are present in many Hammer films. A final way that working with Hammer Film Productions would benefit us would be alone its reputable name. To have Hammer productions working alongside you immediately boosts public awareness and increases chances of success.

Who Would Be The Audience For Your Media Product?

I believe that the main audience for our media product would be those aged fifteen and higher. Many teenagers and young adults would be interested in watching our film as my questionnaire showed that Horror/Thriller tend to be their favourite genre. I do believe that member of an older demographic, maybe aged 30 upwards would also be interested in the film although it would not be the key audience. Our film does not hold any prejudice’s or negative schemas towards any religion or race so that would not decrease the audience in any way such.

How did you attract/Address your audience?

One way we attracted our audience was through a mini promotion we ran before we started filming. As we had different ideas to what our final idea is now we decided to hold a casting session for people who wanted to be in our film. This helped raise awareness of the film being produced and has lead to anticipation of other people wanting to see it. One way we addressed our audience was through use of the soundtrack in the film. In our title sequence we used the son “Centerfolds and Empty screens” by a band called “We have have Band” They are an up and coming trio who’s music is popular with youth culture. This may raise awareness about the media product and encourage more people to watch it. Another song used on the soundtrack was “Day in Day out” by a band called “Architects” These are also an up and coming band and this would hopefully have the same effect. Another way in which we attracted our audience was through using ourselves as characters in the sequence. William and I are pretty popular members of Birmingham Metropolitan College, us being in it helped promote ‘Rays of the Dead’ awareness as people were interested in seeing what we both had to offer as actors.

What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process Of Constructing This Product?

During the process of making this film, I have learnt about many different technologies, firstly through use of the camera. We first encountered problems with it as the camera we were given would not record over our tape, we quickly overcame this solution and were given another camera. As I acted in the film I did not use the camera much but I was familiar on using it as I filmed our preliminary task. Software I believe I have now became fluent in using is Final cut pro. By the end of the production I was very confident in using this software. I used the software to change the lighting on our entire film to give it a yellow hint, the connotations of this were that the suns radiation had become too strong thus tinting the world in this yellow light. I also did the complete soundtrack for our production. I did this by transferring Mp3 files from my mobile phone onto the computer, then onto final cut pro. We did encounter a few problems at first, such as the mp3’s not saving properly but through trial and error this was later corrected by myself. I, Raheem Hall, also log and captured some of the film. This however was not a difficult process, I just had to make sure that I captured a few seconds before every clip.

Looking Back At Your Preliminary Task, What Do You Feel You Have Learnt In The Progression From It To The Full Product?

I believe that I have learnt so much and came such a long way since the preliminary task in many aspects. Before we started working as a group, our ideas were very separate and coming to conclusions was a very difficult task. We almost spent two lessons deciding on the colour for our title sequences, things were not going to plan. As time went on we started to gel as a group and the continuous ideas flourished into what is the final product today, Rays of the dead. Co-operation and compromise are two extremely important factors that must be taken into account when working as a group. Our group displayed such attributes which I believe gave us and edge against others. I would now feel confident in making another product working with the same team, the same great team that showed very little promise when production began in January. I have learnt key media concepts, how to operate all the necessary technology and how to work together as a team. I believe that our final product is a major improvement as to what our work was at the beginning of term, thank to everyone who worked in our group.