Question 5: How did you attract/ address your target audience?

We tried to attract the people in our target audience through a number of different ways.

Our target audience was mainly horror fans, of an age 16+. More specifically thriller-horror fans. We came to this conclusion that this would be our target audience by researching on IMDB and conducting a survey. We chose this target audience because we felt that we could make our film appeal to this audience more than others, through different ways.

First of all we created a film poster that would be used to appeal to people, this poster would be placed in all sorts of places that people are likely to see them for example bus stops. The image that we used on the poster was one from the opening sequence, we used this because it gives the peson viewing the poster something to think about, and also make them wonder what the film was about and why it was called 'hazmat'.

We also used younger actors, as we felt this would best appeal to the target audience, because they may be able to relate to the film a lot more. In addition to this, we felt that as it was a younger target audience, we could advertise and promote our film a lot easier and in many more different ways to the other groups. We created a Facebook page for our film, where we will upload the opening sequence, and the posters etc. This is also a place for people to ask questions about the film, we felt that this would address the target audience well because it would give them more of a personal feel towards the film. Similarly we also created a Twitter account to target people, this way we could search for different hashtags, such as (hashtag horror), this would make our advertising more direct than Facebook because you can see who the horror fans are. Both Twitter and Facebook were both good ways of addressing and attracting our target audience because first of all, our target audience is 16+, and most 16 year olds use Twitter and Facebook so it was very effective, they are both also free, so it did not cost us anything to advertise our product and try to attract our target audience through social media.

In addition to this we uploaded our opening sequence to Youtube, this was once again a free way of advertising our film, we could also interlink these Social media sites, by uploading links to the Twitter and Facebook accounts, this way we could see how many people were watching the video. Our video was also posted on Google+, so this was the main way that we addressed our target audience was through social media. 

Another way in which we attracted our audience is through mise-en-scene. The props which we used (gun,hazmat suit and gas mask) are mostly going to attract people within our target audience, particularly teenage boys.

Film on the IPhone

I have downloaded our film to my phone, enabling me to easily upload it to Facebook and Twitter this can be done through apps that are downloaded and then the video can be uploaded via these, quicker than doing it through the internet. Also we can show it to the public to advertise it. We can also text the film to show our friends and email it quickly.

Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Media evaluation question from aaroncody4

Question 6: Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Evaluation question 4: Who is the main target audience for your product?

Text on the newspaper:

Our opening sequence is going to appeal to horror fans particularly. To be specific it would generally be appealing to thriller-horror fans. The age group that we would like our film to appeal to is 16 and above. Our main target audience are horror fans as our opening sequence is a horror. Our main aim was to film the opening sequence with as much suspense as possible so it will appeal to fans of suspenseful horrors. We wanted the film to have a sense of unknown and mystery about it, so the film is mainly directed at people that are interested by this also.

In addition to this, our film may be appealing to thriller fans, that are not necessarily horror films biggest fans. The hazmat suit and gasmask of the unknown character may be what intrigues people into watching film, which is exactly what our aim was. 

In the bigger picture, our film could generally appeal to everyone, as we wanted to make it to a high quality and well written film.  

We spent a lot of time researching into our target audience; We used websites such as IMDB and we looked at the viewership of horror films. In general we found horror films to be very popular between all ages and genders. This means that the viewership for horrors is very broad, giving us a large target audience. We took these figures into account whilst creating our film. We also did our own research by asking fellow classmates and students and conducting a survey which would be answered by these people to. This is how we came to the conclusion that we would aim to target people of the ages 16+.  We used the website Survey Monkey to create our survey, we sent the survey through email to these people through out the school.

Another reason why we chose to target people of the age 16+ is because the film would be a 15 rated, we wanted to exclude as least amount of people as possible, but we felt as our film is a horror, that it would have violence etc. that it may not be suitable for anyone younger than this bracket. Furthermore, we felt that the film may be too confusing for younger viewers as they may not understand some of the themes involved. Also they would need to make links to different parts in the film, which we felt that younger viewers may not be able to do.

Question 7: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Warp Films, who work closely with Film 4, have produced some great british horror films, such as The Kill List and Dead Man's Shoes. This, combined with the multiple horror seasons Film 4 has featured on it's channel and promoted, shows Film 4 have a keen interest in horror films. The fact our film would be a british independent horror film means Film 4 would likely take interest in distributing it.

Final Film

Below is the opening sequence, mainly finished, however some editing still needs to be done:

Inspiration for Movie Poster

We are creating a movie poster to help promote our opening sequence, below are some movie posters that have been evaluated to get ideas for our own poster.

Halloween 2:

The second film of the new Halloween series features a creepy and effective poster to help advertise it. The center image is strong and features an iconic character, so can hold the poster on its own. A strong image can be used to grab peoples attention. The poster is effective as it tells you all you need to know through a strong image. The masked figure, Michael Myers, and the black and white show it will be a horror film featuring the character on the poster. Information, such as the name and director of the film is found on the bottom left of the poster, allowing viewers to attain the important information about the film without the information detracting from the power of the image in the centre of the poster.
Drawing from this a strong image would allow us to create a simple and effective poster.








30 Days of Night:

Just like the Halloween 2 poster, this poster for the film 30 Days of Night features a strong central image. The central image is heavily stylised and is very effective in catching the attention of viewers. The poster is simple but effective, and the stylisation allows it to appeal to funs of the graphic novel the film is based on. Not much information is displayed on the poster as it is a teaser poster, however it is still useful for inspiration for our own poster. The colours used are also effective. The use of two solid colours such as red and black strikes viewers and helps to grab attention. Red and black also help indicate the film is a horror, with red being the colour of blood and black representing darkness. Drawing from this strong use colour will help us to make a strong poster.

Working Title

We were initially putting Film 4 as our distributer, however, we have changed to Working Title. Working Title formed in 1983, but didn't distribute until 1990 with Chicago Joe and the Show Girl. Working Title are based in the UK, Ireland and the US, distributing films from all three areas. Working Title distribute higher budget films, and their British films include Shaun of the Dead, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Love Actually.

We decided to move to Working Title due to the quality of the films they distribute, and we wanted to make our film seem more professional and high budget. The fact Working Title associate with big names such as the Coen Brothers, distributing most of their films, as well as the likes of Edgar Wright, a
high profile british director, show they are well embedded in the film industry. We have added the working title opening credits to our opening sequence also.

Bloopers

Below are bloopers and shots we didn't end up using, as well as shots we did use before being edited:

Risk Assessment

Below is a powerpoint detailing the risks of filming our sequence in a woodland area:

Movie Poster First Draft

To help promote our sequence we are making film posters, below is a draft of a poster:

There are some notable problems with the poster. Firstly there are no credits at the bottom of the poster, these will need to be added to make the poster look realistic. Secondly, the poster lacks depth. There is nothing going on around the edges of the poster, and the centre image isn't strong enough to hold the poster on it's own. The plain effect doesn't work here. Some colour around the edges would add the needed depth, and credits at the bottom would make the poster look realistic.

Opening Sequence Unedited

Below is an unedited version of the opening sequence:

Video Diary 4: Concluding Filming

Below is the final video diary from when we concluded filming at the end of the saturday we filmed:

Video Diary 3: Saturday

Below is the third video diary from the saturday we filmed:

Video Diary 2: Wednesday

Below is the second video diary from the wednesday we filmed:

Video Diary 1: Tuesday Filming

Below is a video diary from the tuesday we filmed:

The Treatment

Preview

Here is an image of the film to act as a quick preview: