Tuesday, 28 March 2017

Evaluation: Question 3

Q3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

For a film to have access it is important that the distribution process is done correctly as film distributors make the film available for viewing to the target audience. Distribution is also the process of marketing, advertising as well as the movement of the products to certain retailers where the consumers can have access to them. There are different types of institutions who distribute into markets such as conglomerates which is a media group who strive on producing across the globe as well as independents in which films are produced outside big media studios and tend to be distributed national or local. There are different target audiences within the industry. A global tent-pole is a large audience, in which the film would most likely be distributed by one of the ‘Big 6’ conglomerates: Warner Bros, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Columbia, Universal and Walt Disney Studios.

On the other hand, there are films that target a smaller audience which may be local or national. These films would aim to get distributed by an independent film company such as BBC, Film4, Lionsgate, Microwave Pathe or Studio Canal.

Films will have different target audiences for many reasons. For example the film producers may only want to focus on being niche and domestic. In this case they would most likely wish to approach a British Independent film company as they are not able to take the film global. Also the film budget will also affect their target market as if the amount of money a film as is not enough, the film will not be able to get distributed globally. On a small budget it is most likely the film is distributed by an independent company, nationally.



Film 4 is a British digital television channel available for people within the United Kingdom. It is owned by Channel Four Television Corporation and produces films. The company started in 1982 as a film production company, who distributed films that were made in the UK. They helped distribute the films Amy, A Most Wanted Man, A Field in England and Shaun of the Dead. The films made by Film 4 all have small budgets for example the film Amy had a budget of 3.4 million USD.  





BBC Films is the film-making aspect within the BBC where they are always trying to find and develop new talents, where they collaborate with writers and directors within the industry to then distribute the production to the public. This company was founded in 1990 and has co-produced many well-known films in the UK. Some examples of films produced by BBC films would be Billy Elliot, Revolutionary Road, Pride and Fish Tank. As a company they produce films that have a smaller budget as their target market is national, an example would be Fish Tank with a budget of 3 million USD. BBC Films can differ from working with major international companies to smaller UK distributors.






Lionsgate Films is an American/Canadian film production or distribution studio. It was founded at first in 1962 however it was called as Cinepix Film Propertiesand was located in Montreal. However in 1998 in Vancouver, British Columbia as Lionsgate Films. This company focuses mainly on foreign, independent films however it has also distributed many successful film series such as The Hunger Games, The Twilight Saga, The Expendables and The Divergent Series. Most films they distribute are at a global scale. There film budgets can vary for example LOL the film had a budget of 11 million USD which is a huge comparison to The Hunger Games budget of 493 million USD.



Pathe is a multimedia platform that produces and distributes films. It owns a large number of cinema chains across Europe (more in France) and is also the 2nd oldest film company that is still operating as it was founded in 1896. Pathe has created films such as Selma, Pride, Slumdog Millionaire and 127 hours. An example of their film budget would be Selma at 20 million, which means that the films they distribute are not really of a small budget.































Evaluation: Question 2

Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The protagonist within my film follows the stereotype commonly seen in horror films. This is because, Niamh (Isla) plays the role of the damsel in distress and the ‘dumb blonde’ who gets killed first due to curiosity. It also follows the stereotype of the leading teenage girl as she is caucasian with blonde however. However her role in the film opening is subverted through her costume and does not encode the representation as she is wearing plain jeans, trainers, a jumper and a black coat which is not stereotypical for a girl to where and has connotations for what a male would stereotypically wear. This subversion of the stereotype can also be challenged through her make-up which is very minimal and natural when normally women wear lipstick and eye liner in horror films. On the other hand I still wanted to identify Niamh’s character as a girl so I decided that it would be best for her hair to be down.

In addition, another stereotype that is seen in teenagers is that they are always on their phone on social media. At the start of the scene I used the phone as a prop for the teenagers to hold which supports the stereotype. I used this prop to encode the representation as I believe it the teenagers watching the film would relate to the characters.

Also, within my film opening even though I decided the follow the stereotype of women with the damsel in distress I also subverted the stereotype with the antagonist. This is because in horror films the antagonist is normally a male and if it is a women they have promiscuous connotations. The subversion is seen through the mise en scene where she is seen wearing all black with trousers, a jumper, a coat and a black bag. However, her identity is unknown until later on in the film so if I could change anything I would show her female gender more in the film opening. Not only this, by stereotypically women are seen as weak and not in control within horror films and in my film opening the female antagonist clearly subverts this. Throughout the scene the antagonist is in control and is far from weak when she grabs Isla (Niamh’s character).

Another way the stereotype was challenged was the location as stereotypically in horror films when the scene is in a forest it is normally at night, with low-key lighting. However this was subverted in my film opening as the scene was filled in the day time so the lighting was more high-key. If I could change anything it would be to have the scene set at night but it wasn’t possible as the camera quality would have been bad. To make up for not having low-key lighting I made sure the weather was gloomy and unpleasant to add pathetic fallacy and still meet the conventions of the horror genre.



Evaluation: Question 1

She's the Killer by Nina Pavlin on Scribd

Wednesday, 11 January 2017

Media studies - Representation

11th January 2017 

Within my media lesson we did a lesson on representation and how certain things can be constructed and mediated to present a person in a particular way to the audience. This lead me to select the correct people to act in my film opening, as horror conventions will need to be met and the person will need to be a clear representation of horror. Instead of Beth who was going to play Olivia within my film opening I chose Niamh as she fits the conventions within horror of the vulnerable innocent female. Also I have learnt about ethnicity within media, which gave me the idea of using caucasians, mixed race and black people I did this to subvert the popular culture of caucasians being the only people within films. 

Friday, 6 January 2017

Horror Mood Board


Within my mood board, I have made sure to gather images which are clear conventions of the horror genre. I decided to use images such with blood and knifes as in most horror films they will be used when their is a death. Also most of the images I have put in the board are dark and morbid which is a well-known connotation within the horror genre. My mood board gives me clear indication on what my film opening should contain. 

Wednesday, 23 November 2016

Planning: Call sheets

Call sheet 1

Location-My House

Storyboard scene no.s - 3-8, 10, 11

Cast - (Protagonist scene)

Beth Espey - Olivia
Niamh Tunbridge -
Extras (at the party)

Wardrobe: Dresses, quite a bit of makeup (eyeliner and bright-lipstick), hair down

Props

  • A car
  • Cups (with 'alcohol' inside)
  • An iphone




Call sheet 2

Location - Forest area next to Silverstone

Cast - Protagonist, Jason (and his friends)

Beth Espey - Olivia
                         - Jason
Extras - (Jasons friends)

Wardrobe: Casual clothing such as jeans, a top, jumper and trainers

Props
  • An iphone







Call sheet 3

Location - Forest area next to Silverstone

Cast - Protagonist and Antagonist

Beth Espey - Olivia
                    - Masked killer

Wardrobe: Antagonist - Wearing black clothing 

Props
  • Mask for antagonist