Audience Profiling

I have researched into the types of films that are similar to my own. This survey is from the film Sorority Row which shows a similar target audience that we would use for our own film. This is what we found; Sorority Row age gender 4-6 0% male 52% 7-11 0% female 48% 12-14 0% class 15-24 57% AB 21% 25-34 31% C1 37% 35-44 5% C2 18% 45+  7% DE 24% source: CAVIAR From what we can see it shows that our audience would be mainly male aged 15-24. Considering that the females in the film are targeted to a male audience by how the characters are portrayed for example, what they are wearing. However, as our film as some romantic comedy to it, it will also be portrayed to the female audience.

Halloween



 

Halloween: H20
age			gender
4-6	0%		male	59%
7-11	0%		female	41%
12-14	0%		class
15-24	61%		AB	15%
25-34	24%		C1	33%
35-44	12%		C2	19%
45+	3%		DE	33%
source: CAVIAR

• The second film survey I have researched into is the film Halloween. From what we can see from this survey, it shows that the audience for this film is aimed towards the male audience ages 15-24. Considering that most of the actors in the film are males are portrayed as being stereotypical, strong and violent.

• Overall, the research I have found out shows that my film will be targeted to the male audience aged 15-24, however, my group and I feel that our film will be aimed to the female audience too by the way that the characters are portrayed and shown. 
• The certificate of our film will be 15, as from the research I have found it shows that our film will not be suitable for the age 15 and under, by the use of violence and tense dramatic scenes in the film.

Further research and planning

• Last lesson in Media my group and I decided to assign tasks for each one of us in the group so we each play an equal role in the research and planning. 
• This included, Kate taking pictures of the settings, Sarah researching into the non-diagetic music and my role was to draw out the story board and upload the pictures. 
• I have finished the story board and will shortly be uploading the pictures to my blog, whereby I will then be able to write in more detail about each shot about the type of shot, camera movement, dialogue and sound.

Location ideas for filming

 

• For our film we have chosen the house and the surroundings of the house (woods, alley ways) for the main setting. We decided to use our main setting in a house as its stereotypical where most horror films are set. 
• We would be filming when it is dark to give the impression of disorientation and which it will give the audience a tense feeling like in most horror films. 
• The outline could give the underlying tone of danger as seen in many of the classic horror films, for example, Kate edited the letter box to the colour red to show danger and to make the picture look more realistic. 
• We thought that we would do something different and use the door letter box where we will see the killers eyes popping up as the last image the audience will see/have of the film, as not many horror films include letter box's. 

• Overall, my group and I are happy with our setting and i feel that we all know how to make a good setting for our film, however, we will need to take into consideration the weather as we will be filming outside. 

scene/shot list

My group and I have worked together to plan out our different scenes and shot list, the shot list consists of 19 shots;


1. The first shot is an establishing shot of a house to show the audience where the film will be taking place


2. High angle shot, showing Emma and Ben in bed asleep which is to make them look vulnerable


3. Close up shot of the phone ringing, to show the audience that the phone is important in the film


4. Medium shot of Emma picking up the phone 


5. Long shot of the killer standing in the alley way


6. Over the shoulder shot of Ben opening the door to Bel


7. Arc shot to show that the camera is following the action 


8. Long shot and camera tracking to show Ben and Bel walking towards/into the kitchen


9. Medium shot from behind the killer walking towards the house 


10. Close-up-shot of the killer scrolling down their phone looking through contacts


11. Close-up-shot of the phone ringing in the house


12. Extreme close-up of the killers finger on the door bell of the house


13. Over the shoulder shot of Emma opening the front door expecting someone to be standing behind it...


14. Long shot showing the killers back 


15. Close-up-shot of the death threat that flys through the letter box


16. Medium shot showing Emma holding onto the death threat with a scared facial expression 


17. Long shot of Ben walking out of the kitchen over towards Emma


18. Medium shot of Ben's arm around Emma


19. Extreme close-up showing the killers eyes through the letter box

Film title ideas

Today in lesson Sarah, Kate and myself came up with some good ideas as to what our film could be called. We haven't yet decided on the exact title as it is still yet to be confirmed, as we still need to create our story boards and shot list of events for the film that will be created.


Title ideas;

- Night of HELL

- Someone's watching you

- Paranoid

- Killer

- Two girls, One Boy and a Killer

Brief summary of each character/character representations

I have decided in my planning to include a brief summary and an individual picture of each of the characters in my film.


The Killer - George Bayman

• My group and I have chosen to use George Bayman as we feel he is the best person to play the killer. 
• George is tall and hunk and he will be represented as the villain, scary, intimidating, terrifying and frightful. 
• George will be dressed in black as this is a stereotype of how killers are usually portrayed, he will also be wearing black gloves and a balaclava to make his face invisible to not give his face away and which will keep the audience tense.

• A similar character that is a good representation of a 'killer' is Michael Myers who played the leading role in halloween. The way that George (Killer in my own film,) and Michael in halloween are portrayed are very similar, both characters are out to stalk and kill people in the neighborhood, and to the give the audience a vibe to be scared of that character or aware of them. 
• Their clothing is quite similar, how Michael wears gloves in the film which gives the audience a thought that he's trying to hide his trace marks, this is similar to how George in my own film will be portrayed, and also how they both wear dark clothing which is stereotypical to how killers should be portrayed and represented in horror films. 

Main Character - Emma

• Emma will be represented as a vulnerable, scared character who shows emotion which is stereotypical how most main girl characters in horror films are portrayed. 
• Emma will be dressed in a cardigan and pyjama bottoms to show her character as liking to be chilled and comfy in what she is wearing, Emma will also have little make up on to represent her character.

• A similar character that I would base Emma on would be Shannon Sossamon who plays the main girl in one missed call. 
• I have chosen Shannon Sossamon as a representation of the character Emma, because both characters are portrayed as the vulnerable victim. 
• Both characters wear similar clothing, and little make-up to show their vulnerability.

Bel - Emma's sister

• My group and I have decided to use Bel as one of the main characters being played as Emma's sister as we feel that she will be excellent for the part! As myself and Bel are sisters in real life we feel that it will make our film look more realistic considering that we are both playing sisters in the film. 
• Bel will be represented as out going, kind, bubbly, friendly and sociable. We will be able to tell that Bel is sociable as she comes home from a friends house later on in the night. 
• Bel will be dressed as casual/dressy which will represent her personality. 

• A similar character that I have chosen to represent the character Bel is Silver from the American TV show 90210. 
• Both characters are portrayed as out going, party girls, and bubbly. 
• They both dress in a similar way and are both at a similar age. 

Ben - Ambrose

• My group and I have chosen to use Ambrose (Ben, Emma's boyfriend) as one of the main characters. In my own opinion I would say that my group and I have a strong relationship with Ambrose which will make our acting look a lot more realistic to the audience. 
• Ben will be portayed as the stereotypical boyfriend hero. 
• Ben will be dressed in Pyjama bottoms and either a dressing gown or a jumper. Ben will be represented as, Loving, kind, humorous and out going. 

• A similar character i would base Ben on would be Bobby (Scott Porter), who plays the boyfriend hero in prom night. 
• The way that Ben and Bobby are similar, is they both play the 'hero boyfriend' and are both portrayed in a similar way, caring, rescuer, knight in shining armor and are a similar age to each other.

Plot Summary

My group and I have been doing our research and planning and have finally come up with the plot summary of our film;


Emma and her boyfriend Ben decide to have an early night in, until they are woken by a mysterious phone call and appearance at the front door, from Emma's sister Bel. All may seem like a normal night to Emma and Ben at the start of the night, but they are shortly mistaken, as they start to recieve more than one mysterious phone call and numerous door bell rings..this night could possibly become the night of HELL!


The plot will be changed or added to to at a later date!

Brief Plot

For my research and planning my group and I have come up with our plot step by step which will then be followed on in a different post of a full summary of the plot.

- The plot line at the moment of my main film is that the film will start off when its late at night and Emma and Ben are in bed asleep


- Emma and Ben wake up from hearing the phone ringing, Emma gets up and goes downstairs to answer the phone..no one is there
- Whilst Emma is downstairs picking up the phone the door bell rings, Emma is confused whether or not to open the door as she doesn't know who it may be so calls Ben downstairs to open the door
- The camera cuts to showing where the killer is (alley way near the house) on the phone trying to ring Emma
- Ambrose opens the door only to find that it is Bel, Emma's sister. Emma is relieved but confused as to why her sister is at the door as she thought Bel was staying at a friends
- Ben, Emma and Bel go into the living room to chat
- A Few seconds later Bel and Ben decide to go into the kitchen leaving Emma by herself
- The camera jumps to the killer walking towards the house
- The phone rings again, Emma picks up and hears breathing
- The camera cuts to the killer outside the house
- The door bell rings
- Ben and Bel don't hear the door bell ringing as they are in the kitchen with loud music on
- Emma walks out of the living room to open the front door, only to find that nobody is outside
- The camera cuts to showing the killer outside the front door
- Emma walks back into the living room (sits on sofar) and hears tapping on the front door, something flys through the letter box
- Emma gets up and looks at what has just been posted through the letter box
and looks at it confusingly
- Ben walks out of the kitchen to find Emma looking scared, Emma shows Ambrose what has been posted and thinks someone is playing a nasty trick on her and tells her to look through the letter box
- As Emma looks through the letter box, the killer pops up through the letter box and appears with ''Hello Emma''....


The camera will always jump cut to the different actions that is going on between the killer getting closer and to the characters inside the house.

Characters

For my planning my group and I have come up with characters and the names of the characters;

George Bayman - KILLER
Emma Pennington - Main girl
Bel Pennington - Emma's sister
Ambrose Fullalove - Ben (Emma's boyfriend)

Comedy and Sc-fi Cliches

Today in lesson we were looking at joe Queenan's guide to comedy and Sci-Fi cliches, finding out what is included in a stereotypical comedy cliche. Our task was to go through and highlight the key factors of what happens and what you would expect to happen in a comedy cliche.


The main key factors that i highlighted from Joe Queenan's comedy cliches; 

• The contemporary comedy is generally about a young man who is a jerk, a loser or a shmuck. The contemporary comedy deals with the loser who must part company with his loser friends in order to become a man. 
• Little boys in comedies tend to be mop-topped weenies who pout a lot and want their dads to take them to see the yankees the way he promised to, but didn't. 
• Comedies must have a gimmick. A person who wakes up in the morning and some seismic shift has occured in his life. 
• Lots of stuff about bodily functions. Lots of physical comedy. 
• Comedies often involve idiots who work in tandem, the one guy is a slob or a bozo or a pig and the other guy would like to be less of a slob/bozo/pig. 
• Typical comedy films; The 40 Year Old Virgin, The Hangover!

The main key factors that I highlighted in Joe Queenan's guide to Sc-Fi cliches; 

• There is always something out there in the classic science fiction film. When the alien death ship makes its first appearance it will be hundreds of times larger than the vessel sent to defeat it. 
• Women play an important role in sci-fi movies. Feisty, resourceful, indomitable women have pivotal roles in all the Star Wars films, the Aliens franchise and the Terminator movies.
• Callow youths play a major role in sc-fi films, they will question authority and they will lock horns with their superiors.

Settings - Images

• Tonight one of my group members (Katie Coombs) will be taking images of the settings of where our film is going to be taking place and we will then be uploading them onto our blogs. 
• Katie will be taking pictures at night when its dark outside to show the pictures to be more realistic. 
• The pictures will be taken of the alley way where we will see the killer walking towards the house, a picture of the street which will lead tension to the audience to show the killer getting nearer to the house, a picture outside the house to show where the film will be taking place and lastly the living room where the main two girl characters will be placed.

Planning - Representations

• The type of representation of characters that my group and I have decided to use are stereotypical girls, for example the girls from Sorority Row are very similar character wise as the characters that will be used in my own film. 
• The way that the girls are dressed; slutty, not much clothing, short tops and skirts, heels, boots, represent in a simialr way how the character Bel in my own film will be portrayed and look. 

• The girls played in Sorority Row are a similar age to the characters Emma and Bel that will be played in my own film.
•  They are portrayed in a similar way, personalities being; confident,out going, vulnrable. 
• I will be using similar camera shots and settings to represent my film as horror. 
• My group and I have decided to use George Bayman as the 'killer' as we think he will be the best person to act as the killer! 
• I will be using two girls playing the lead roles who will be in the house acting as the vulnrable, scared teenagers! One of the leading girl roles will be played by myself and the other leading role will be a student.

Different film genres

For the past 3 lessons at the start of each lesson we have studied Joe Queenan's guide to different film genres such as; romance, horror, action, and crime and have had to highlight the main features in the articles. The next lesson we will be looking at sci-fi. I am finding it helpful to study each genre as it gives you an idea of the stereotypical features of that particular genre. As my group and I have chosen to do our film on horror we have been looking at typical cliches included in a horror film.

• Horror movies are divided into serveral very different categories and these being: slasher, zombie, vampirwe, mainstream horror, asian horror and revolting Eli Roth Films. Horror is the one genre in which the absence of cliches would ruin everything. 
• Small children are oftern evil in horror movies. It is very rare to hear a baritone or heldentenor on the soundtrack of a horror movie. 
• Horror films work best in rural settings, because rusticsare scary in and of themselves, and because there are lots of frightening farm tools on hand and also because there are no neighbours to beg for help when the flaying and amateur surgery get into full swing.
• Horror movies almost always contain a scene in which a woman washes her face in a sink, and when she straightens up and looks in the mirror, a girl missing half her face is staring directly back at her. If she decides to take a bath, the tub will soon fill up with hair, blood or a woman with purple skin and one eye missing. 
• Horror movies also contain lots of scenes in which the living dead or the living undead zip past an open door or window, but nobody sees them. It is always a bad idea to go to sleep in horror films, or accept a ride from strangers, or respond to a personal ad. It is an even worse idea to get in an elevator, a popular hideout of the promiscuously dead. 

From what is said from Joe Queenan's guide to horror cliches,it has given me a better understanding of the typical cliches you will find in a horror film. I think that Sarah, Kate and I, could use many of the conventions stated to make our film a clear and effective horror film.