Powerpoint presentation of my Media studies AS levels of my main task evaluation.

2. My media product uses codes and conventions of real media products by
having those elements within the product. For my media product, the codes
and conventions are of the horror slasher genre which my media product
contains eerie music, sustained horror, isolation, protagonists being inferior
and vulnerable to the antagonist, the antagonist being relentless and almost
invincible, the antagonist wearing a scary mask, the antagonist having a
signature weapon and the location having elements of isolation.
The codes and conventions of camera shots – high and low angle shots,
point of view shots, camera movements- hand held, static, and tracking.
The codes and conventions for editing is slow editing, pacing and lighting
(dark).

3. These codes and conventions match horror slasher conventions as you will find
these codes and conventions on horror slasher films such as Halloween (1978) as in
the film of Halloween there is a point of view shot of Michael holding a knife at the
beginning.
The lighting was dark, as at the beginning of Halloween, the inside of the dining
room had a dark purple lighting. The props/ iconography were a knife and white
mask which was the signature weapon and similar mask in my film.
The code and convention of isolation matches the same convention found in the
horror slasher The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), as the protagonists were
stranded on a massive countryside farm which was way out of any civilization.

4. The code and convention of eerie music is a code and convention used in my film
which matches the same code and convention of eerie sinister music on Halloween
when Michael takes a knife from the cutlery draw.
The code and convention of the antagonist being unstoppable and almost
invincible was used in my film which matches the same code and convention used
in the scene Halloween when Michael confronts Laurie (the babysitter) which she
fought him on several occasions and Michael kept getting up, being persistent after
being stabbed, hit, shot and even falling out of a three story house landing on is
back.

5. The characters within the product represent college students of modern
society. This is evident due to their costume which is of casual clothing
which typical college students wear and by their age of the actors being
between the ages of 16 – 17, it makes it more believable for the
audience that these characters are college students.
The antagonist of the film, which represents a killer, possessed
characteristics of relentlessness, intelligence and superiority upon the
protagonists, which is evident within the film as the antagonist hunts and
chases the protagonists expressing the characteristic of relentlessness,
hides and waits for the protagonists to come near him and is expecting
them to come nearby which he jumps out and stabs one of the
protagonists, expressing the characteristic of intelligence and superiority
as the antagonist outsmarts the protagonists and appears to be more
stronger.

6. My inspiration for my characters came from the horror slasher film Halloween
especially the antagonist, as the antagonist within Halloween appears to be
relentless, unstoppable, invincible and tries to outsmart the protagonists, which
these characteristics make a powerful antagonist which creates a strong
vulnerability upon the protagonists making them look weak in comparison, thus
making a gripping and engaging encounter when the antagonist confronts the
protagonists making the audience feel tensed and keep them engaged with the
film.

7. The type of media institution might distribute my media product is Dimensional
films due to the type of genre that they distribute which is the same genre as my
product as the films have the same ideologies and codes and conventions as the
films they have distributed which include eerie music, usually a masked killer,
almost unstoppable killer, gore, sudden appearances of the killer to startle the
audiences, Final girl, masculine males are killed, the props used are usually knifes
or any other type of blade to inflict a slow painful death and to reinforce the fear
of gore, lighting is normally dim which is supported with eerie music to create an
eerie atmosphere, point of view shots, low angle shots, slow editing, the colours
of red, black, and white is used within the film especially in the title sequence.

8. The audience for my media product is based upon my research which was researched
through my questionnaire and by looking at what types of people watch the existing films
that share the same genre as my film.
My questionnaire asked people what their age is and what gender they are, if they enjoy
watching my genre and how often they watch the genre. The majority of people are
female (57%) who answered my questionnaire and the majority of my target audience
enjoy watching my genre.
Target audience gender
Female
57%
Male
43%

9. As mentioned before, I have researched similar products that the audience
watches and it matches the same target audience I have for my product as the
genre is mainly based on characters that are young adults or teenagers that
attend college or school and it creates more of a connection between the
audience and the characters within the film and also creates more of a
connection between the audience and the film as they have recent or past
experiences of those educational establishments which can make the audience
more engaged with the film.
So overall, my target audience is aged between 15 – 25 years old as mentioned
earlier due to that the characters within the films are young adults that attend
college or university which the audience can connect with the characters with
their previous experiences with college and university on the film which will
make the audience more engaged within the film. The majority of the gender is
that of females than males according to my questionnaire results. The
background of my target audience will moderately be middle class which is the
most common consumers/audience due to the accessibility of cinemas and
purchasing the product and the price of how much the product costs.

10. So overall, my target audience is aged between 15 – 25 years old as mentioned earlier
due to that the characters within the films are young adults that attend college or
university which the audience can connect with the characters with their previous
experiences with college and university on the film which will make the audience more
engaged within the film. The majority of the gender is that of females than males
according to my questionnaire results. The background of my target audience will
moderately be middle class which is the most common consumers/audience due to the
accessibility of cinemas and purchasing the product and the price of how much the
product costs.

11. My group and I attracted the audience by including the codes and conventions of a
horror slasher which we included: suspense, sustained horror, masked killer, isolation and
minimal gore (due to questionnaires’ response of disliking gore), but keeping some
elements of gore in line with traditional aspects of a horror slasher. All these codes and
conventions would be found within a horror slasher, which our target audience would
expect to see in horror slasher. Due to the responses from the questionnaires, we
targeted our audience with particular conventions which we tried to improve upon and
make those conventions better.

12. The responses for what makes a horror slasher scary were the unpredictability, size and
scariness of the antagonist (the masked killer). The antagonist was wearing a white mask
which can represent the colour of death as the colour white can be associated with
ghosts and also the colour white stands out better than red or black which those colours
also represents death.
The costume the killer was wearing was black clothing, wearing a black hood to
emphasize the mask that the killer was wearing to make it look more scary as if the
darkness is enveloping the soul (which the mask could represent the soul of the killer as
the colour white can represent a soul or a ghost) of the killer which makes the killer more
sinister and fearful. The prop used for the killer is a knife which a knife is a type of blade
which connotes the convention of a horror slasher of inflicting a slow painful death as the
audience can assume that the killer is going to use their knife on their victims which
makes the audience tense as they do not want the victims within the film being hurt as
they have an understanding of what the victims may feel when they are stabbed by a
blade.

13. The killer is bigger in size than the protagonists/victims to further emphasize the power,
strength and dominance of the killer making the killer more superior and making the
victims/protagonists more inferior making them more vulnerable which makes the
audience tense as it subliminally tells the audience that the killer has a higher chance in
succeeding in killing the victims than the victims overpowering the killer. The costumes
for the students are casual wear, which represents what a student would wear, modern
fashion. We chose students as our target audience for horror slashers are teenagers and
young adults which are students themselves which makes them more immersed within
the film, have more of a connection with the characters, thus making the audience more
scared and tensed when the characters face danger when confronted with the killer.

14. The setting is at late afternoon drawing into the evening as it can connote that darkness
is drawing as it is lurking in the horizon and is soon approaching which builds up the
anticipation of danger approaching which sets the tone for the film at the start. The
location is at an empty college with just two students (the protagonists within the film)
and is set within the woods as well. This was chosen as it creates isolation for the victims
and makes them more vulnerable as no one can help them, as a result of this, the
audience will be more tensed as they do not want the victims hurt or killed when they
are confronted with the killer which no one will be able to help the victims. The sound
used was ominous sinister music which creates and sets a dark eerie tone to the film
which enables the audience to get an understanding of what genre the film as well.

15. Setting
The setting of the film is set at a six form college which appears to be isolated which reinforces the fear of
isolation and vulnerability. The audience can use their past experiences of college and can understand
what the characters could feel and what the thoughts could be going through their head. It creates a sense
of sympathy and reinforces an attachment for the characters from the audience, so as a result, when the
characters are endangered through the encounter of the antagonist, the audience will feel tenser as they
subliminally do not want the characters to be harmed from the antagonist.
Characters
I chose Tawanda Tsanga and Calvin Palin to play the
protagonists/ college students as they had the correct
look as they look like college students, due to the age
of them being 16 – 17 years old, which makes it more
believable to the audience, and they also are shorter
than the antagonist as it creates the illusion to the
audience that they look more inferior and vulnerable
compared to the antagonist, thus creating tension for
the audience when the protagonists are confronted
by the antagonist and creates the feel of desperation
as the audience does not want the protagonists to be
harmed or killed but can sense danger upon the
confrontation of the antagonist and the protagonist.
Colour
The colour for the background was dark/ evening
with a tint of purple to create an eerie, sinister
atmosphere, which follows the code of
convention of horror slashers, as they are
normally set at night as night symbolizes the idea
of when sins, crimes and especially for the horror
genre, death or murders being committed. This
can subliminally create anticipation and fear as
the audience is expecting something bad to
happen, which can create more of an engagement
from the audience.
Camera work
I chose for this shot to be a long shot and a low angle
shot as it makes the protagonists look more inferior
and the long shot emphasizes the size of them making
them look smaller thus creating more vulnerability
upon the protagonists, making the audience feel tense
as there will be a bigger contrast between the inferior
protagonists and the superior antagonist. I also chose
the camera movement to be hand held as it immerses
the audience within the film as it will stimulate the
experience of what the characters are going through
thus creating more of an emotion for the audience
making the audience feel like they are there with the
characters, therefore making the film scarier if
perfected.
Costume
The costume for the protagonists is of
casual college wear such as jeans,
hooded jumper and trainers which can
be described as the stereotype for
teenagers and students which will
appeal to our audience as our audience
are teenagers and young adults which
is common for them to wear this type
of clothing, especially male teenagers
and young male adults, who which
these characters are. It will create
more of a connection with the
audience and the characters within the
film as our audience communicates
with people and have relationships
with these types of people i.e. college
students having friends that has similar
traits to our characters, which
therefore, have more of an attachment
for the characters.

16. I have learnt how to use different technologies for different techniques for constructing
my product. I have learnt how to use iMovie which is the software on the apple mac. I
learnt how to use the camera for our recording of our product and what type of shots
you can use by using the camera which makes the product look more professional. I used
the website YouTube to research different title sequences to use and also how they
portray the codes and conventions of my genre for my product which improves my
product as I have a better understanding of how to present and represent the codes and
conventions of my which overall improves my product.
What I found difficult was editing the film by using the software program iMovie as it can
be hard deciding what parts to edit, what needs improving and to make it look
impressive and be able to understand what each function on the software does and what
it is.

17. I also found difficult to film the shots during different days as the weather varied on
different days as some of the days it was overcast, sunny and some spells of rain. So there
were some days we had to reschedule as there were interruptions with the weather and
some people in the background of our shots. I and my group edited the background by
using IMovie and used editing of the background changing the background of our shots
from day to night which created an sinister eerie feel as my film follows the codes and
conventions of a horror slasher which are set at night as that is where sins and crimes are
committed.
Also, I and my group found it difficult to implement eerie non-diegetic music in the
background of our film at first but we found it quite simple to use after a while and we
were able to implement the non-diegetic music with our film.

18. From when I and my group made our film in our preliminary task, we learnt that planning
particular shots, camera angles and camera movements is vital as the film will look more
professional and look more aesthetically pleasing. It will also have a better flow which
will make the audience more engaged with the film and enjoy the film more.
I feel that I have a better understanding of how to use the hardware and software now
than when I was producing my preliminary task as I know how to use different software
programs and how to use different hardware such as the camera.

19. I feel that I am more confident on how to use an Apple Mac and iMovie which is the
software which I used on the Apple Mac. I also learnt different shooting techniques (in
terms of camera work) and different editing techniques. By developing new editing skills,
it will make our film look more professional and because our film is horror slasher, it will
create more tension through the use of slow editing being implemented within our film
which will keep the audience engaged and gripped to the film.
The pacing of the film is well balanced as tension starts at the beginning of the film
drawing the audience in, creating anticipation, and then the use of use fast editing of the
antagonist chasing the protagonists, making the audience gripped. Then after the chase
scene has finished it reverts back to slow editing making the audience feel relaxed but at
the same time feel tensed and the longer slow editing persists, the more tension builds
keeping the audience gripped. The use of stings and the jump scare startles the audience
through the use of slow editing which overall gives the film a good balance of pacing.