This is my final zombie horror film.
Wednesday, 2 March 2016
Evaluation question 1
Our media project was to plan and film the first two minutes, which was the title sequence of our proposed film. The film my group made was called “The Undead Rush”. The plot was four young people running away from zombies in a building. Later on Monroe (me) comforts Erin (Kisha) after the deaths of her boyfriend James, her friend Anna and another friend spencer.
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
We have mainly developed rather than challenged the forms and conventions of real media products. We used the convention of a group of people running away from zombies. This is always used the horror genre and especially in zombie films. The diegetic sound of footsteps and a few gun shots can be heard while we are running to emphasise the dramatic effect.
The zombies cannot be seen while we are running which adds a feeling of dramatic tension because the audience do not know what they are running from. This develops forms and conventions used in horror films. We of course used the form and convention of guns which is always used in zombie films to fight of the zombies, kill zombies or protect members of the group. The character, James, uses a gun while the other three don’t. This conforms to the stereotypical male leader.
Furthermore, there is death in our film which is an important aspect in all horror films. The audience is informed that the character of Erin’s boyfriend died earlier on. This adds an emotional aspect so that Erin can be filled with hatred for the zombies and also that without James is vulnerable. Both of these aspects of our film develop forms and conventions used in real media products. The character Anna also dies; this was not intentional.
We planned that no one would die, intending to challenge the horror genre. However, the actress who played Anna could not come on the day we filmed the emotional scene. We therefore added a line, and later on a scene to show that the character died. I think this turned out to be a positive change because it added to the sadness of the scene and fitted more closely to the horror genre.
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
We have mainly developed rather than challenged the forms and conventions of real media products. We used the convention of a group of people running away from zombies. This is always used the horror genre and especially in zombie films. The diegetic sound of footsteps and a few gun shots can be heard while we are running to emphasise the dramatic effect.
The zombies cannot be seen while we are running which adds a feeling of dramatic tension because the audience do not know what they are running from. This develops forms and conventions used in horror films. We of course used the form and convention of guns which is always used in zombie films to fight of the zombies, kill zombies or protect members of the group. The character, James, uses a gun while the other three don’t. This conforms to the stereotypical male leader.
Furthermore, there is death in our film which is an important aspect in all horror films. The audience is informed that the character of Erin’s boyfriend died earlier on. This adds an emotional aspect so that Erin can be filled with hatred for the zombies and also that without James is vulnerable. Both of these aspects of our film develop forms and conventions used in real media products. The character Anna also dies; this was not intentional.
We planned that no one would die, intending to challenge the horror genre. However, the actress who played Anna could not come on the day we filmed the emotional scene. We therefore added a line, and later on a scene to show that the character died. I think this turned out to be a positive change because it added to the sadness of the scene and fitted more closely to the horror genre.
Tuesday, 1 March 2016
Evaluation question 2
2. How does your Media product represent particular social groups?
I think my group’s media product could be argued to represent a number of social groups. The character James represents the stereotypical masculine man. The character is the only one that carries a gun, he uses it to defend himself and the others; this seems quite a masculine aspect. There is one shot of him looking from one side to the other to check if the zombies were close; this is an army technique which is also very masculine. He also looks out for and defends the other characters. He also has blood on his face in the last scene. This seems quite fitting because horror is also stereotypically watched by males, especially teenage boys who like fighting and guns. So this character would appeal to the boys who would watch it.
The character Erin represents the (again) stereotypical emotional and defenceless woman. There are two shots of Erin crying and saying how both her boyfriend and Anna have died while Monroe comforts her. This seems a particularly stereotypical reaction for a female character; while the men carry on doing their job the women care about those who have died. However she does face the dangers of Zombies by running in to the building, this is not terribly stereotypical of the defenceless woman. This would appeal to all the girls and women watching the film because they would like to identify with a caring female character that is upset by the deaths of her team mates and would probably feel annoyed with the male characters for their uncaring attitude. However they would probably like the fact that she is also a strong main character who is involved in combating the zombie threat.
The character Anna does not have such a big role in our film. However she could represent the more vulnerable people that others care about, look after and fight for.
The character Monroe (me) represents the not so stereotypical masculine man, who does not like to fight or do battle. Monroe does not carry a gun or fight the Zombies like James does. The audience can see him comforting Erin when she is upset towards the end. This does not seem terribly masculine because masculine men would want to show the masculine instinct of survival and not sit around comforting people who are distressed. He is also the only one who holds the banister of the stairs when they are running up it. This represents those who think about health and safety at all times, even when they are in trouble. I think this does challenge forms and conventions of real media products because main characters normally do not care about health and safety but care about defeating or getting away from whatever is pursuing them.
The character Monroe (me) represents the not so stereotypical masculine man, who does not like to fight or do battle. Monroe does not carry a gun or fight the Zombies like James does. The audience can see him comforting Erin when she is upset towards the end. This does not seem terribly masculine because masculine men would want to show the masculine instinct of survival and not sit around comforting people who are distressed. He is also the only one who holds the banister of the stairs when they are running up it. This represents those who think about health and safety at all times, even when they are in trouble. I think this does challenge forms and conventions of real media products because main characters normally do not care about health and safety but care about defeating or getting away from whatever is pursuing them.
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