Evaluation 4

There are numerous advantages for the low-budget film-maker with regards to using Web 2.0 software. When it comes to research, sites like SurveyMonkey allow a company of any size to collect primary data from a potential audience, creating demographic, psychographic and socio-economic information that is available to anyone. Google Docs allows for collaboration through the internet in the writing of a planning document, meaning that part-time film-makers are able to proceed through pre-production in a time-(and-space-)efficient manner. Sites like Dafont allow for acquiring of production resources that aren't otherwise available to low-budget film-makers. When it comes to release, video-based social networks like YouTube or Vimeo offer a free space to host the film whilst also promoting it through internal algorithms. Used software Different technologies were used within the pre-production and production stages of development to varying degrees of ease and success. For editing both the trailer and all video entries to the blog, Adobe Premier Pro was used. Firstly, the clips and media were chosen, cut to an acceptable length with the razor tool and placed in an order in the timeline. Then, transition and video effects were added to the clips to change the feel and look of the piece. Additional audio was recorded and placed on the timeline. Within the essay videos, text was added to the clips using the 'title' tool. This software was relatively easy to use due to its standard video-production-software UI. The texts created using this tool were of a good quality, although the lack of colour grading within the software meant other software had to be used. The colour grading tool used for the trailer was DaVinci Resolve. The exported Premier Pro file was imported and placed into the editing timeline. There, editing keyframes were added to each transition and the colour variables were changed within the 'Color' tab (highlights, shadows, red balance etc.). It was then exported as a separate file and uploaded to YouTube. The main problems with this software came about due to the quality of the clips, some of which were overexposed or grainy, making it hard to grade effectively. However, the final product looked markedly better than the input video. YouTube was used to host the video content that was produced. Due to the ease-of-use of the software, uploading was simple and embedding was a case of clicking the share button, copying the embed code and pasting it into the Blogger blog. There was a loss of quality in the upload, although this was minimal. Blogger was used to host all the content for the coursework (including this). Each post was given a title and a label to find it easily, and then the appropriate content was embedded or pasted into it. There were a few problems using at first, especially with mislabelling entries, but this was changed later on to be consistent. Prezi was used to present information, much like Powerpoint. This software was more time-consuming than Powerpoint due to a path system of navigation that can be a little awkward, although it is easy to use. It could have been better utilised within the coursework, as it was used like Powerpoint rather than as its own software. Photoshop was a major tool with the creation of the magazine and poster. To create the poster, a black background was created using the fill tool. Then a photograph taken with the camera was placed onto a new layer and placed using the transformation tool. The polygonal lasso selection was used to select specific areas on the image which were then cut, pasted onto a new layer and then filled in with a colour. Once the whole image had been replaced like this, the polygonal lasso was then used to select shadows, which were filled with a darker colour to create a 3D effect. Text was added and edited using the 'Character and Paragraph' tab, then placed accordingly. The magazine was created with the same first step as the poster. Then the main source photograph was placed on a new layer and cut out with the lasso. From there, the edges were blurred using the feather tool and then refined with several adjustments under the image tab. The text was placed and edited as above, with the 'H' and 'E' in 'Horrorcore' edited using the pen tool, then the text layers were given a drop shadow using the FX tab. The cover graphics were created using the rectangle tool and the elliptical marquee tool. The final results produced with this software are quite effective, with the poster being simple but cohesive and effective, and the magazine looking more professional than actual horror genre magazines. Conclusion Throughout this project, my creativity, skills and knowledge have developed. My knowledge of colour theory and image editing has improved, and this can be shown with the grading of the trailer and the composition of the magazine and poster. Using different editing software has honed my knowledge of editing as a whole and how different methods can be used to come to a similar outcome. My knowledge of framing and shot set-up has progressed, and now I understand that making sure that the quality of the shot is incredibly important when it comes to editing and grading. When it comes to skills, my ability to grade has gone from absolutely nothing to being able to do an acceptable piece. My ability in using Photoshop has improved greatly, and this has allowed me to create more advanced pieces than my previous portfolio. The merging of my personal increase in knowledge and skills has led to greater creativity as my reference pool became bigger and my ability to execute ideas became larger. The trailer subverted conventions in a way that added to a piece, and these choices wouldn't have been made by me a year ago as I would not have had the knowledge nor skills to challenge those elements of the horror genre in a way that did not ruin the text. This has led to mostly-professional pieces that are effective and manipulate the audience into an emotional response.

Representation of Women in Slashers

A lens to view the representation of females in slashers through is the Four Role Theory, developed by Jeremy Tunstall in the meta-analysis The Media in Britain (1983). Tunstall argued that women represented in the media (fictional or real) fit into four non-exclusive roles; that of the Domestic, the Consumer, the Marital and the Sexual. The Domestic woman is defined in relation to the household, to motherly activities or to caring in some way, and represents the role of women in society as mothers and primary care-givers. The Consumer, however, is defined in terms of their consumerist behaviour, their object wealth or their social status; this represents the role of women in society as non-workers with spare time and money to spend whilst they are supported by a male (usually their husband). The Marital woman is defined by their relation to a man or men (usually through marriage or romantic relationship), and this represents the support role of woman in society. Finally, the Sexual female is defined by their supplying of sexual gratification to men, and this represents the view of society that heterosexual males are the ‘normal state’ and that they should be gratified first and foremost. Slashers are just as much representative of their society and the creator’s own views as any other piece of media, and using Tunstall’s theory to analyse how slasher’s present females is essential to understanding the genre. The ‘Other Girls’ – the women within the text that aren’t the Final Girl – are usually a combination of the Consumer, the Sexual and the Marital, and they are punished for this (usually through death). The first two categories relate directly to Christian morality; non-marital sex is deemed as sinful under Christian values, as is the worship of money and the love of wealth. An example of an Other Girl being of the Sexual and the Consumer is Paige Edwards in House of Wax. She is shown to do sexual acts, which is talked about by her boyfriend (“Are you two gonna have sex with each other? 'Cause me and Paige are.”) and is displayed to the audience in the scene where the protagonists see her giving a mid-journey blowjob to her boyfriend. This is taken further with a scene where she strips for Blake, and the camera tilts whilst having her body in shot to allow the straight, male audience members to receive sexual gratification from her body (this use of camera techniques to allow for sexual gratification to straight men is often referred to as the 'male gaze'). In addition, she is very concerned with looks and cosmetics (“Lip balm. I dropped my stupid lip balm.”), even giving another character a make-over in one scene, which communicates to the audience that she is obsessed with object-wealth and social status through aesthetic. Both of these points are enforced by the choice of actor, Paris Hilton, who is represented in the media as a “vapid slut” that is only interested in style (“Jet-setter Paris Hilton dons black and white ensembles after flying home from Zürich” - Mail Online, 7th January 2016) and sex (“Paris Hilton: Nude for Paper Magazine!” - thehollywoodgossip.com, 2nd December 2015), and as such makes the audience quickly associate these traits with the character. By having this character punished with a death scene, the announcement is made that these actions are morally wrong; death as moral punishment is a theme dating back to the era of the Old Testament (e.g. the flooding of the world). This doesn't necessarily just apply to the fictional world of the film, but could potentially affect how people view morality in the real world (in the same way that people consuming crime fiction that endorses criminal profiling are more likely to endorse criminal profiling themselves - MEDIA EFFECTS AND THE CRIMINAL PROFILING ILLUSION: HOW FICTIONAL REPRESENTATIONS INFLUENCE THE PERCEPTION OF POLICE EFFICACY, by Michael-Anthony Lutfy). The third aspect, the Marital, seems to be in response to the second-wave feminism of the 1960s onwards, where the socio-political stance was that women are equal to men and should be treated as such both in law and in the media. This led to reactionary organisations that preached independence from men (e.g. National Organisation for Women); because this was then associated with the destructuralist movements of the time ('hippie' movement, black equality movements), independence entered the Zeitgeist as 'good' (and, by association, that reliance on a male is 'bad'). As a consequence of this, those females that are of the Marital in slashers are more likely to be 'Other Girls' and thus receive moral punishment through their deaths. An example of this would be Lynda Van der Klok in Halloween (1978), who is of the Marital (as well as the Sexual and the Consumer). Lynda appears in three scenes throughout the film, those being the scene where the three teenage females walk and talk about hooking up with their boyfriends, the scene where she is with her boyfriend and ignores the Final Girl's concerns, and the scene where she has sex and is subsequently murdered. In the first scene, Lynda is not shown with her boyfriend but instead talks about him (“Oh come on Annie! Bob and I have been planning it for weeks.”). The only time she seems happy about something is when she refers to him, with her complaining about all her hobbies (“It's totally insane. We have three new cheers to learn in the morning, the game is in the afternoon, I have to get my hair done at five, and the dance is at eight! I'll be totally wiped out!”) and books (“So who cares? I always forget my chemistry book and my math book, and my English book, and my, let's see, my French book, and... well who needs books anyway, I don't need books, I always forget all my books,”). She is then shown in the second scene to be with her boyfriend, where she makes sexual innuendo (“We sure will.”, in response to Laurie telling her to 'have a good time') whilst her hair and clothes are messed up, suggesting sexual activities with her boyfriend. By rejecting Laurie's concerns, this Other Girl puts a man first and is defined by him, thus making her of the Marital and, by extension, morally inferior (and the sexual aspect compounds this). Finally, the last scene shows her having sex with her boyfriend – thus completing her inclusion in the Sexual – and then being murdered, giving her a consequence for her immoral actions.

Evaluation 2: Introduction

Final Product: Trailer

Magazine Draft

Final Ancillary Text: Magazine

Film Distribution

Film distributors are in charge of all aspects of releasing a film, from marketing the product to secondary releases. As film studios handle the funding of projects and production companies produce the final piece, distributors fulfil a vital role within the industry. Firstly, distributors acquire the rights to the film; this allows them to sell the product, use copyrighted material within ancillary texts and change content within the film itself to better cater to the target audience, all without legal issues such as breaking copyright laws or the DMCA. The particular contract and deal that is made to acquire the rights is different for every project, and is between the three companies involved (studio, production, distribution). Secondly, the distributors must market the film ready for primary release. A budget is set for this task (often 30% of the films production costs, although this is not a steadfast rule) which establishes the financial parameters of this task. The company will try and market using as many media as possible in an attempt to get the attention from the target audience (who may not all be engaged or reached through a singular medium) and thus increasing the success of the release. To do this, distributors produce ancillary texts such as trailers and posters (often outsourced to specialised companies) which utilise content from the film itself. It is important that all ancillary products and the film maintain a consistent aesthetic and theming so as not to cause confusion in the consumer. During this, singular or plural USPs (Unique Selling Points) will be established and used throughout the marketing as a way of separating the product from similar films. In recent years, social media has become a more popular way of marketing a film due to its effective cost-to-reach ratio, and as a means of increasing the interaction the audience has with the product (which is essential in social media marketing), actors are often made to market the film on their Twitter and Facebook accounts. An optional step for distributors is licensing merchandise, which is an additional revenue stream that can lead to both increased profit and the establishing of a fan-base that will buy further products within that series, or a waste of time and finances that results in a drop in profit. Generally, film series are the only times that mass merchandise is produced. Before release, the distributors evaluate the product for the level of cultural appropriateness; if there are any legal issues (such as the depiction of minors in a sexual manner) or cultural issues (e.g. religious references) with the film, the product will be adjusted. Translations for other countries and regions will also be funded and implemented. The final (and potentially most important step) of the distributor is releasing the product so that the audience can buy it and profit can be generated. The primary release is in cinemas, where the first week of sales is the most important and indicates the success of the film – there are exceptions to this (known colloquially as “sleeper hits”), but they are few and far between – and the distributors decide which cinemas and how many get the cinema cut of the product. After this, secondary releases are produced and sold (e.g. DVDs, Blu-Rays, digital streaming cuts, etc.) with numbers based on the success of the primary release.

Poster Draft

Final Ancillary Text: Poster

The Horror Genre

Research Effect

Risk Assessment

Location Release

Individual Trailer Ideas

Talent Releases

Group Planning

Final Group Idea

Plot and Characters

Trailer Inspirations

Research into Existing Horror Texts

Risk Assessment