Evaluation #5 UPDATED
- 1. HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS YOUR AUDIENCE?
- 2. In order to grab my audience’s attention and attract them I had to include the basic conventions and codes of my chosen genres. When I was researching my chosen genres I found the following areas: setting; camerawork; iconography and narrative structure.
- 3. SETTING Typically apocalyptic films are set in isolated areas, deserted, derelict and overgrown. Places can include villages, towns and cities as well as woods, forests. However, the most common is suburban areas to show the audience the fall of civilisation.
- 4. MY SETTING I chose to use an area of woodlands near to my house which is quiet, deserted and could pass the criteria for an apocalyptic set design.
- 5. Here are screen shots from I Am Legend, they’ve used establishing shots to set the scene and show the audience to derelict, run down areas. Similarly, I’ve used the same type of shots to give the same effect.
- 6. CAMERAWORK Camerawork can differ depending on the film’s budget. For example, some films use handheld cameras to give a more amateur feeling to the film (e.g. Cloverfield, Troll hunter). Other films take a generic approach and shoot it formally. Close up shots and slows zooms are typically found in horror films as well as ‘slow editing’. It builds people up for a jump when no editing has been used between shots for more than a few moments. It builds up the tension and prepares the audience for a ‘jump scare’
- 7. MY CAMERAWORK I used a handheld camera to film my footage but stabilized it in post production to give the impression it was filmed formally. There is a range of grainy, saturated shots as well as high angle and POV shots. It allows us to see the world from May’s eyes. It was filmed handheld in order to add an amateur feeling to the piece, typically of a low budget horror film.
- 8. The screenshots were taken from Land of the Dead where there is a lot of close up shots of the creatures and Armageddon where the camera follows Thornton through a corridor. I’ve used an array of close ups to position the audience close to May as well as following shots so that it almost appears that we are the ones following her.
- 9. ICONOGRAPHY Specific props are used in this genre as use of weaponry. This ranges from guns and ammunition to every day objects such as knives and baseball bats. This is to connote the mass amount of violence used in this genre. Costumes vary from everyday clothing to show the audience that the people represented in the film haven’t given up yet – they’re still clinging onto whatever ounce of humanity they have left. On the other end of the scale, thick heavy costumes to signify that these people have adapted to their new world.
- 10. MY USE OF ICONOGRAPHY Dark colours are used all the way throughout my piece, used to connote the dark, bleak, dangerous world May now lives in. As for weaponry, May carries as golf club to show the audience immediately the violence implied throughout the sequence. May also wears a dark costume which she hides in in the beginning. She has adapted but with obvious consequences as her humanity has been sacrificed on the basis that she’s covered in someone else’s blood. There’s also a couple of props such as an old camping lantern to signify the compromise of technology. May’s had to rely upon the simple items since her world has fallen to pieces.
- 11. Land of the Dead has used close up shots to show the use of blood, an obvious icon used in horror films, to show the danger and gore that is present throughout. WWZ has used many image of everyday life for their opening sequence, to remind the audience of what used to be or what they could loose as a result of the apocalypse. In my product, I’ve used images of her weapon as well as old fashioned items such as battery powered lamps to show May’s compromise of technology in the world she now lives in.
- 12. NARRATIVE STRUCTURE In the opening sequence, news reports can be used as a way to give the audience an overview of the events. However, other films can use enigmas to create a sense of alienation for the audience – they don’t know what has happened or how it has gotten to become the end of the world, essentially.
- 13. MY USE OF NARRATIVE STRUCTURE I’ve used a basis structure full of enigmas. There is narrative as such. The only narrative present is the audience’s interpretation as to what has happened. We don’t know who this girl is, where she’s come from, why she’s there or what she’s done. There are a couple of other enigmas used throughout the piece as well.
- 14. I Am Legend uses new reports to offer the audience an idea of how the apocalypse has come about and gives reasons for it whereas The Day After Tomorrow and The Day the Earth Stood Still uses enigmas and images without the use of dialogue. The audience doesn’t know why they’re there or what has happened or what is yet to come. In my product, I’ve used enigma codes and no dialogue so that the audience feels somewhat alienated and clueless as to what has happened – they’re left second guessing themselves from the first moment and intensifies as more images are shown, hinting at more clues.
- 15. IN CONCLUSION... I have used a range of typical conventions of my genre which I think will leave the audience satisfied with my product, as it contains elements they’re expecting to see – it looks like it is a part of the apocalyptic genre; it belongs.