My script appeals to its target audience of 18-29 males because of the way Miss Richards looks and acts. She is sexy and acts flirty with the boys in the class. It will also appeal to young females because of the power Miss Richards has over the boys, this element I mentioned in Blog 2. Within this age group horror is a mainstream genre of film so my film should appeal to the majority of people around this age. I think I am aiming it socio-economic class of Bs, C1s, C2s and Ds, which is quite a large range. As it is mainstrean within the age group many people of different classes would watch it, but I think As (lawyers/doctors) would not be interested in this genre and not have time with their busy lifestyle. Es would likely watch the film on DVD but as this socio-economic is unemployed people and students then they might not be able to afford to go see the film in the cinema.
My script reflects the "teen horror" genre because it is set in a school with lots of teenagers, typical of this genre. Teenagers will easily be able to relate to the characters and be interested in the film. Male teens would find Miss Richards enticingly attractive and draw them into the film.
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Blog 9 - Analysis of 2 film posters
Jennifer's Body Poster
There is quotations written in a typeface that looks like handwriting on the blackboard, this fits in well. The quotations give positive feedback of the film to persuade the audience to come watch the film. Lots of alliteration is used e.g. "Smart sassy and sexy as well". The words roll of your tongue and make it easier to read. The colours used on the poster is red, black and white. Red has connotations of blood, anger and love/sex and black has connotations of death and evil. All these link in with the film and give the audience and idea what kind of film it is, horror. The photo of Jennifer also links in with the colour scheme because she is wearing red heels and top, and her hair is black tying in with her skirt. The hand that is shut in the desk she is sitting on is an added touch which is not immediately obvious. It gives an insight into Jennifer's character. Her costume is revealing (showing a lot of flesh) and sexy, linking to the quotes and showing what she is like. Jennifer's posture in the photo is laid back and careless. Her facial expression looks evil and seductive. The names of the two main actresses in the film (Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfied who may draw in an audience) are positioned at the top of the poster in a clear white capital font. In the same font a quote from the film is written below the blackboard, "She's evil... And not just high school evil." Another insight into the film and what Jennifer is like. The main images in the poster is the photo of Jennifer on the highschool desk (giving audience idea of where it is set and who it is aimed at - teens, especially 16-24 men because of attractive actress) and the blackboard (also showing it is set in a highschool, place of education). The image of Jennifer is positioned in the first third so the audience sees this first, Jennifer is the selling point and insight into the film.
Sorority Row Poster
The poster has also used serif typeface for the title of the film but have added a Greek element to it because of the Greek symbol incorporated into the letter "O". This gives it a traditional feel too linking to the meaning of "Sorority". This poster is very similar to the DVD cover as they have used the same photo of the 6 main actresses and the beam of light. This shows a clear link, the audience are aware it is the same film. The fire on the building in the background is a lot clearer in this poster and gives more of a dangerous look and insight into the film. The colour scheme is the same with the black and orange. The facial expressions on the actresses faces are serious and draw you in as they seem to be all looking at you. "Sisters for life.. And death" is written in capitals above the title of the film to create enigma, also drawing the audience in.
The poster has also used serif typeface for the title of the film but have added a Greek element to it because of the Greek symbol incorporated into the letter "O". This gives it a traditional feel too linking to the meaning of "Sorority". This poster is very similar to the DVD cover as they have used the same photo of the 6 main actresses and the beam of light. This shows a clear link, the audience are aware it is the same film. The fire on the building in the background is a lot clearer in this poster and gives more of a dangerous look and insight into the film. The colour scheme is the same with the black and orange. The facial expressions on the actresses faces are serious and draw you in as they seem to be all looking at you. "Sisters for life.. And death" is written in capitals above the title of the film to create enigma, also drawing the audience in.
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
Blog 8 - Analysis of 2 DVD covers
Jennifer's Body
The title of the film Jennifer's Body is bold and capitals to stand out. The word "Jennifer's" is in white contrasting from the word "Body" in red. I think this could represent the character (Jennifer) changing from innocent to evil, connotations of the colours white and red. The letters look like they are decaying gradually connotations of rotting bodies. The overall colour scheme is red, green and black. I think these colours have been used to connote the genre of the film, horror. These colours are similar to the poster apart from the colour green is added here. Green could also connote decaying (like the letters in the title). In my poster and DVD cover I will use similar colour scheme to show they are linked, the same film. Blood is smeared on the blackboard and on the floor which continues the horror element. There are photos on the back cover to give a flavour or what happens in the film, along with the synopsis. It also can show the scale of the film, for example the photo of Needy with the burning building behind her. This shows realistic special effects are used in the film. The position of the photos are on the left so it is what you see first. Therefore I will make sure the photos I present on the back cover are positioned left. "Special Features" are emphasised by the red fill behind it. The photo of Jennifer is the same as the poster but with added extras like blood running down her chin. This also links the two, showing it is the same film. I will make sure I make links like this. The rating of the film (15) is clear, shown on the front cover, spine and back cover. It also says on the back cover that the film contains very strong language, bloody horror, sex references and drug use. This shows that children shouldn't be watching this film. From this DVD cover I would guess that the film would appeal to 16-24 year olds, especially males because of the attractive photo of Megan Fox on the front cover.
Sorority Row
The serif typeface is quite traditional linking to the word "Sorority" which is a traditional meaning for a social organisation of woman students in a college or university. There is a quote on the front cover "The best horror film since scream" which compares the film to another high rated horror. This shows the films genre and some positive feedback from it, persuading the audience to watch it, to see if they agree with the statement. The colour scheme is oranges and black. I think the black has connotations of death and evil which seems to always be used for horror films. And the orange contrasts the black, standing out and lighting the photo of the actresses on the front cover. The orange is also used because of the house being on fire. The two main contrasting characters (bitchy Jessica and innocent Cassidy) are forward in the photo. The other four are standing behind, the focal point of the photo is the beam of light, this could be the good trying to get in to the sorority. Or linking to the saying of "look into the light when dying". The film features a lot of death so this would link to it.
The serif typeface is quite traditional linking to the word "Sorority" which is a traditional meaning for a social organisation of woman students in a college or university. There is a quote on the front cover "The best horror film since scream" which compares the film to another high rated horror. This shows the films genre and some positive feedback from it, persuading the audience to watch it, to see if they agree with the statement. The colour scheme is oranges and black. I think the black has connotations of death and evil which seems to always be used for horror films. And the orange contrasts the black, standing out and lighting the photo of the actresses on the front cover. The orange is also used because of the house being on fire. The two main contrasting characters (bitchy Jessica and innocent Cassidy) are forward in the photo. The other four are standing behind, the focal point of the photo is the beam of light, this could be the good trying to get in to the sorority. Or linking to the saying of "look into the light when dying". The film features a lot of death so this would link to it.
Blog 7 - Introduction - Production
I have to produce a promotional pack for the teen horror film I have created. This will include a DVD cover and a poster for the film cinema release.
I will also extend the blog I made for the pre-production coursework.
This will include:
I will also extend the blog I made for the pre-production coursework.
This will include:
- An outline of the task
- Analysis of two dvd covers
- Analysis of two film posters
- Two scanned in flat plans of your dvd design ideas
- Two scanned in flat plans of your poster design ideas
- An evaluation of the feedback received from the intended audience
- An evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the production through a comparison of your production with existing media products.
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Blog 5 - Evidence of Wider Reading
From researching, I found a definition for the teen horror genre: "Horror films where the body count is skewed toward the 15-19 year old range, portrayed by people who haven t been 15 in a loooong time. Sex, drugs, and alcohol also tend to get you killed frequently."
Jennifer's Body
Looking at reviews of Jennifer's Body I noticed the good points which make the film suited for teen horror but also the bad points. Reviews said that using teenage dialogue is "a lot of fun to watch" for example, using the word "salty" instead of "good looking", the characters say such unusual things with such ease and normalcy. I think this aspect of dialogue I could use in my teen horror film. However some reviews thought this was used too much in parts of the film, "laid on too thick", so I need to consider the amount of quirky teenage words I use.
"Fun details" was also an added extra to the film which made it more interesting, the comedy aspect is a plus.
I found that having relateable characters who you can sympathise with (Needy) is important in the film. I agree with this because as a teenager I want to be able to relate to the characters, situations and dialogue in a film. I think this makes the film seem more "real" even though it is extremely superficial. The horror of the film comes alive if you can relate to it and believe it is real.
A couple of reviews I read thought there was too many pop culture references. Therefore I should use some in my film but be careful not to use too many.
Commented a lot in reviews was how good Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried (lead roles). Having good lead actors/actresses is also important to portray the characters as wanted.
The overall review of Jennifer's Body is it is definitely not the best but then not the worse, its "different". So making my film a bit different from all the rest, finding some orginality but keeping within the genre is a selling point in making my film successful.
Sorority Row
Jennifer's Body
Looking at reviews of Jennifer's Body I noticed the good points which make the film suited for teen horror but also the bad points. Reviews said that using teenage dialogue is "a lot of fun to watch" for example, using the word "salty" instead of "good looking", the characters say such unusual things with such ease and normalcy. I think this aspect of dialogue I could use in my teen horror film. However some reviews thought this was used too much in parts of the film, "laid on too thick", so I need to consider the amount of quirky teenage words I use.
"Fun details" was also an added extra to the film which made it more interesting, the comedy aspect is a plus.
I found that having relateable characters who you can sympathise with (Needy) is important in the film. I agree with this because as a teenager I want to be able to relate to the characters, situations and dialogue in a film. I think this makes the film seem more "real" even though it is extremely superficial. The horror of the film comes alive if you can relate to it and believe it is real.
A couple of reviews I read thought there was too many pop culture references. Therefore I should use some in my film but be careful not to use too many.
Commented a lot in reviews was how good Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried (lead roles). Having good lead actors/actresses is also important to portray the characters as wanted.
The overall review of Jennifer's Body is it is definitely not the best but then not the worse, its "different". So making my film a bit different from all the rest, finding some orginality but keeping within the genre is a selling point in making my film successful.
Sorority Row
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
Blog 4 - Analysis of Opening Sequences
I watched an opening clip of Jennifer's Body and Sorority Row.
Jennifer's Body
The protagonist is the character Needy Lesnicky. She is presented as a agressive teenage girl in a prison. It then flashes back to before this when she is a quiet timid teenage girl who follows her best friend Jennifer Check. Jennifer is the opposite character to Needy, she is very confident. Although they have nothing in common, they are like sisters. The language they use is informal as they play typical american teenagers. The opening scene is of a house in the distance. It is dark windy night which sets a spooky atmosphere. The music over the top creates suspense, certain sounds e.g wind are emphasised by increasing the volume over other sounds like the television. When it flashes back to high school, the clothes the characters are wearing reflect their personalities. Throughout the film Jennifer wears clothes that show off her figure, e.g. tight jeans, short tight t-shirt and tight zip up jacket. Needy wears a different look, baggy loose fitting clothes e.g loose fitting jeans, t-shirt and baggy cardigan. The audience gets drawn into the film because of it starting when Needy is in prison, you question why she is there and how she got there, so carry on watching to find out. At the beginning of the film there is no real horror element to it as nothing terrifying happens, it makes you want to know why Jennifer becomes evil and what she does.
Sorority Row
The protagonist isn't clear in the opening of this film but my guess would be the character Cassidy Tappan because she seems the sensible one out of the group of girls. The group of girls all seem to play a main role in the film, all having different personalities but all close friends. The clothes they wear also reflect their personality like in Jennifer's Body. For example, The film starts set in a chaotic, busy, typical teenage graduation house party. But the opening scene starts from outside the party, zooming in on to the house, it is very dark and you can hear the sounds of crashing building up the tension.. Then you hear a girl scream, which you then realise is only a girl having fun at the party. I think this is clever because it is unexpected to the audience. You then hear the music played at the party and the sounds of people chatting and enjoying themselves which sets the scene. Five of the group of friends are toasting each other in a bedroom and then the ring leader, Jessica Pierson, reveals the prank they are playing. The prank goes terribly wrong and one of the girls is murdered.
The protagonist is the character Needy Lesnicky. She is presented as a agressive teenage girl in a prison. It then flashes back to before this when she is a quiet timid teenage girl who follows her best friend Jennifer Check. Jennifer is the opposite character to Needy, she is very confident. Although they have nothing in common, they are like sisters. The language they use is informal as they play typical american teenagers. The opening scene is of a house in the distance. It is dark windy night which sets a spooky atmosphere. The music over the top creates suspense, certain sounds e.g wind are emphasised by increasing the volume over other sounds like the television. When it flashes back to high school, the clothes the characters are wearing reflect their personalities. Throughout the film Jennifer wears clothes that show off her figure, e.g. tight jeans, short tight t-shirt and tight zip up jacket. Needy wears a different look, baggy loose fitting clothes e.g loose fitting jeans, t-shirt and baggy cardigan. The audience gets drawn into the film because of it starting when Needy is in prison, you question why she is there and how she got there, so carry on watching to find out. At the beginning of the film there is no real horror element to it as nothing terrifying happens, it makes you want to know why Jennifer becomes evil and what she does.
Sorority Row
The protagonist isn't clear in the opening of this film but my guess would be the character Cassidy Tappan because she seems the sensible one out of the group of girls. The group of girls all seem to play a main role in the film, all having different personalities but all close friends. The clothes they wear also reflect their personality like in Jennifer's Body. For example, The film starts set in a chaotic, busy, typical teenage graduation house party. But the opening scene starts from outside the party, zooming in on to the house, it is very dark and you can hear the sounds of crashing building up the tension.. Then you hear a girl scream, which you then realise is only a girl having fun at the party. I think this is clever because it is unexpected to the audience. You then hear the music played at the party and the sounds of people chatting and enjoying themselves which sets the scene. Five of the group of friends are toasting each other in a bedroom and then the ring leader, Jessica Pierson, reveals the prank they are playing. The prank goes terribly wrong and one of the girls is murdered.
Blog 3 - Institutional Contexts
Jennifer's Body
The estimated budget for this film was $16,000,000. On the opening weekend in the USA they made $6,868,397 (2,707 Screens) and in the UK £736,535 (314 Screens). Must be a popular well known film because of the amount of screens it was shown at and the amount of money they made in the opening weekend.
The film was made by production companies Fox Atomic (a well known film company), Dune Entertainment and Hard C.
Sorority Row
The estimated budget for this film was also $16,000,00 the same as Jennifer's Body. On the opening weekend in the USA they made $5,059,802 (2,665 Screens) and in the UK £782,693 (345 Screens). Sorority Row showed in less Screens in the USA than Jennifer's Body and made less money there. Sorority Row showed in more Screens in the UK than Jennifer's Body and made more money there. This shows that both films were successful, Jennifer's Body more in the USA and Sorority Row more in the UK.
The film was made by production companies Karz Entertainment and Summit Entertainment.
From researching, I can imagine I have a $16,000,00 budget for my film because both teenage horror films I have looked at (Jennifer's Body and Sorority Row) have this same budget and have been successful. This means I can be quite adventurous with my ideas.
The estimated budget for this film was $16,000,000. On the opening weekend in the USA they made $6,868,397 (2,707 Screens) and in the UK £736,535 (314 Screens). Must be a popular well known film because of the amount of screens it was shown at and the amount of money they made in the opening weekend.
The film was made by production companies Fox Atomic (a well known film company), Dune Entertainment and Hard C.
Sorority Row
The estimated budget for this film was also $16,000,00 the same as Jennifer's Body. On the opening weekend in the USA they made $5,059,802 (2,665 Screens) and in the UK £782,693 (345 Screens). Sorority Row showed in less Screens in the USA than Jennifer's Body and made less money there. Sorority Row showed in more Screens in the UK than Jennifer's Body and made more money there. This shows that both films were successful, Jennifer's Body more in the USA and Sorority Row more in the UK.
The film was made by production companies Karz Entertainment and Summit Entertainment.
From researching, I can imagine I have a $16,000,00 budget for my film because both teenage horror films I have looked at (Jennifer's Body and Sorority Row) have this same budget and have been successful. This means I can be quite adventurous with my ideas.
Blog 2 - Target Audience
From looking at the graph I can see that males give the most votes, majority who are 18-29. My guess to the reason for this is that the film is aimed at older teenagers, the rating for it is 15. And the reason for males giving most votes is that there is Megan Fox an attractive young actress staring in it. Aged under 18, females under 18 and females aged 18-19 have the highest average rating "5.8". The reason for under 18 people rate it higher could be because they find the film more terrifying as they are younger. And the reason for females rating it high could be because in the film a female is slaying males, a woman over powering men.
On the opening weekend that the film was released, in the USA they made $6,868,397 (2,707 Screens) and in the UK £736,535 (314 Screens). This shows the film is quite mainstream because of the amount of screens it was shown at.
From looking at the graph I can observe that males have also made the most votes, majority aged 18-29. (Same as Jennifer's Body.) Strangely females aged 45+ have the highest average rating "6.2". But I think this is not very reliable because there has only been 35 votes the least amount of votes taken for a category. Therefore males under 18 who on average rated the film at "5.9" is the highest. However there has only been 162 votes taken probably because the rating for the film is 18. The under age men who did see the film obviously enjoyed it the most. For the same reason as Jennifer's Body I think the males went to see it and liked it because of the attractive young actresses in it. The females also probably liked it for similar reason to Jennifer's Body because of the women having the power over the men.
From looking at the rating reports for both these teenage horror films I think I'm going to aim my film at aged 18-29 males because they seem to give the most votes (most viewings). I've observed that young females rate both films high because of the likely reason that in the films the women have the power over the men. I think if I have this element of one gender having power over the other gender it will increase ratings for the particular gender. By aiming my film at the right audience my film would be more likely to be successful.
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Blog 1 - Introduction - Pre-production
Write a script for the opening of a teen horror film.
Also produce a blog entry outlining the research done into teen horror.
Also produce a blog entry outlining the research done into teen horror.
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