A2 MEDIA STUDIES

ADVANCED PORTFOLIO

RESEARCH & PLANNING

CENTRE NO: 11049

ST FRANCIS XAVIER COLLEGE

Sara Rodrigues

Candidate No: 1553

My main portfolio project is:My main portfolio project is:

An Opening SequenceAn Opening Sequencewith 2 ancillary projects:with 2 ancillary projects:

Film posterFilm poster

Film ReviewFilm Review

The genre(s) of my main project is: Horror

The title is: Wrath

• The target audience are males and females between the age of 15-25

Model 1

So I have researched as follows:

What I learnt from this was that opening sequences normally begin with a calm mood and slowly building up

tension and fear. Also the way it is edited is also an important part of the opening sequence, the editing format is linear, telling a story, one step after the other. The sound is also important as it affects the audience and can inflict

fear and create a lot of tension.

For my main project the target audience is males and females between the age of 15-25.

I came to this conclusion as horror movies normally have a pg rating 15, therefore I decided to also have this rating as the content of my opening sequence is suitable for 15 year olds. I have also decided to have a 10 year age range as I know people throughout this age range that watch this genre and enjoy it, whereas I found that people over 25 don’t watch this genre as often.

Image of target audienceHere is an image of how I imagine a typical members of my target audience.

Their characteristics are: they are both male and females, aged between 15-25.

Target Audience

Here are 4 original photographs for the storyboard……

I modified each photograph; here is the original next to the final version:

Raw 1 Final 1I have sharpened the image so it is clearer and I have also darken the image to in order to make it more scarier and dark to create allow some objects to be darker so people don’t pay too much attention.

And the second one: Raw 2 Final 2

I toned down the temperature and the saturation of this image to give the image a colder feel as is shows a corpse on the floor. I have also darkened the image to make the mood darker.

And the third one: Raw 3

Final 3

In this image I simply darkened it, to give the effect of a later time in the day, to create more tension.

And the last one: Raw 4 Final 4

I changed the darkness and contrast of this image as I wanted to create the feel of a darker time of day.

What I learned from audience feedback about my main task

From the audience feedback I got for my main task, I learnt that the use of many different shots is very effective to convey the sense of fear, also that the sound is also very important to create the desired effect and feeling of the main task. I also learnt that acting skills are also important as there is a scene in the opening sequence that creates some laughter when it shouldn’t, and therefore may take away the feeling of tension and fear, which is not what was intended.

What I have learned Model 1

Professional Model 1 for Ancillary 1

I've noticed the poster is mainly black and it doesn't contain many colours, just white and red, this makes it simple but still effective.The mask inflicts fear and end on the mask is shaped as the end of a blade, which links to the film.

What I have learnedModel 2

Professional Model 2 for Ancillary 1

 It has various shades of red and brown and also has black. It has a sombre feel, therefore fitting to the genre of horror. The image itself is also quite creepy and scary, the face of the subject is also hidden with a hat. I’ve noticed that it has a small phrase which is there to give you insight on what the genre of the film is.

It appeals to my audience as I have included the symbol of PG 15, allowing people to know that it is suitable for people over the age of 15 to watch, I have also included a small phrase and the image itself can be associated to the genre of horror.

This is my ancillary task 1Poster

What I learned from audience feedback about ancillary task 1

I received good feedback from my ancillary task 1, people mentioned that the image I used was very effective and created a sense of fear and mystery. I asked some people if they would watch the film if they saw my poster on billboards and everyone said they would be interested to see the film, which was a great response.

From this review from “Film Star” I have seen that the layout is quite complex, however there is not much text. There is a little box with concise information and star ratings given by newspapers or other magazines.

The background of the review is basic, white background with just a line on the top and bottom of the page.

Model 1

Professional Model 1 for Ancillary 2

From this double page review it is clear that there are many images and very little text, which in my opinion is the best approach as some people just look at the images and don’t read the text.

Model 1

Professional Model 2 for Ancillary 2

For my review page I have decided to carry on the theme of only having 3 main colours.

I also don’t have much text and also have a box with concise information about the film and I have balanced out the amount of text with 2 images.

This is my ancillary project 2

This is how key concepts link main task, ancillary tasks 1 and 2

Narrative:

Genre: In the main task and both my ancillaries, I have made sure to show generic conventions of horror, for example in the main task we see the killer wearing a mask and killing with a knife, I have linked this to ancillary task one by using the image of the killer wearing the mask, I have also done this in my second ancillary.

Representation: In all my tasks I have not deviated from the same representation, i.e. the killer is always wearing the same clothes and the victim is a female, following the conventions of horror and the representation that women may be the weaker sex.

According to the feedback that I got from my second ancillary task, I made a few

amendments to it, as I added more text as people said that I didn’t have enough text. They

also mentioned that the layout looked like something they'd see on a magazine, therefore I

got some positive feedback.

What I learned from audience feedback about ancillary task 2?

The changes I made to the main task were mainly to make the opening sequence shorter as it ran over 5 minutes. I also lowered the volume of some scenes as they were too loud according to other scenes and also was too loud so the non-diegetic sound couldn’t be heard.

Changes made in the re-draft of main task?

The changes I made to my poster were minor but could be crucial. I shrank the size of the text in the poster to make it look more like a professional product. I also changed font of the title of the film. I changed it to the same font of the title from the main task (the opening sequence).

Changes made in the re-draft of ancillary task 1

My 3 products work together to appeal to my target audience as with all my products the target audience may see all my products with a negotiated reading or hegemonic reading, following the reception theory. They also appeal to my target audience as I maintain generic characteristics of horror in all my tasks, therefore not confusing the audience as to what genre it is. The narrative structure of the main task is quite straight forward, following Todorov’s equilibrium theory.

How my 3 products work together to appeal to target audience