The Enigma Codes Theory applied to our production "The Disturbed"

Enigma codes pose questions to the audience which will then be answered later in the film. Examples of enigma codes are 'Who is that?', 'Where are they going?' etc. Enigma codes are an important aspect of any film as it enables the audience to become intrigued about the film and influence them to continue watching the film. In our trailer we have used various enigma codes to entice the audience. For example the audience will be asking 'Who is that?' when they are shown an over the shoulder shot of a suspicious figure following the victim. This means that the killers identity is an enigma as the audience will want to find out who the killer is by watching the film. This leads on to the next question 'Why is the victim being followed?' and 'Where is the victim going?'. These questions are all questions the audience wants answered and the only way to get these answers is to continue watching the film. 

Other enigma codes we used were 'What has happened to them?'. This is when the audience are shown a long shot of the victim being dragged through the woods. The audience cannot be sure what has exactly happened to them but will be intrigued to find out which, again, will make them want to continue watching our film. These enigma codes have all been recognisable in our trailer. During our audience feedback a strength of our film was that our mixed story line made the audience question what is happening which enticed them to continue watching.

Todrov's Theory applied to our production "The Disturbed"

Todorov's theory states that a film and a trailer can be broken down into five sections. These sections are an equilibrium at the start, a disruption of that equilibrium, a recognition of the disruption, an attempt to repair the disruption and the final stage of where the equilibrium is restored. In our film we applied three parts of this theory. The first section of the trailer focuses on the character of Cory in his house, which seems to be an uneventful scene as he seems relaxed. Then Cory is followed and murdered in the woods-showing the disruption of the equilibrium. Other characters in the film recognise the disappearance of the victim and are then targeted themselves. The trailer then ends with a bloody hand print on the door suggesting our protagonist, Rachel, is in trouble. This flouts Todrov's theory as the equilibrium is left un-restored and instead an enigma is created, leaving the audience with more questions than answers. 

The Cultivation Theory applied to our production "The Disturbed"

The theory states that repeated exposure to the same message, such as an advertisement, will have an effect on the audiences attitudes and values. A similar idea is know as desensitisation-which suggests that long term exposure to violent media makes the audience less likely to be shocked by violence and more likely to behave in that manner. We apply George Gerbner's Cultivation theory to our film by using a black hooded murderer as the main antagonist. We also use the idea of a girl home-alone and being vulnerable in her own home which has a horrifying effect on the audience; they believe it could easily happen to them, even in the sanctuary of their own home. The mise-en-scene of the antagonist is another way we incorporated the theory into our film as the antagonist wore a black hoodie-creating a negative perception of those who wear hoodies, causing the audience to see them as dangers. The black hoodie could also be associated with gangs which could make the audience fearful of gang culture.

The Uses and Gratifications Theory applied to our production "The Disturbed"

Our film also makes use of the Uses and Gratifications theory which states that there are five reasons why audiences consume media products-to be informed and educated, to identify with characters and situations, to be entertained, to be able to socialise by discussing the film and to escape from everyday life. Four of these are applied to our film but we do not inform or educate the audience as the purpose is to frighten and entertain them.  Our audience will have many reasons to watch our film, one of which would be to identify with the characters. In our film, the characters have day to day lives that our audiences could relate to. They also offer different vices and virtues that, we like to think, our audience can relate to. The opening "Based on a true story" also allows the audience to relate to the film; it was a true event that could possibly happen to them. Another reason why our audience would enjoy our film is because its' main focus is to terrify and entertain the audience as they are left trembling in their seats. The third reason would be to offer escapism as our film allows the audience to follow the lives of other people and see how they deal with the terrifying situation they have found themselves in. It also allows the audience to immerse themselves in a world distant from their own-allowing to forget their problems and enjoy the film. The final reason of socialising and discussing aspects of the film can also be applied; there are many enigmas established throughout the film, leaving the audience with more questions than answers which could prompt a discussion to see the views of others.

The Male Gaze Theory applied to our production "The Disturbed"

The Male Gaze theory states that films are from a male perspective and objectify women, such as in Cabin in the Woods. This theory can also be applied to our film as we use two women in our trailer, in which one of them wears provocative clothing. However only one of the women has a main speaking role whereas the other is only there to fulfil the satisfaction of the male viewers. The plot does, however, focus on the female character of Rachel as she is the main protagonist and the character to solve and stop the killings in Surrey. This subverts the theory as the woman plays a bigger part than the male characters, which allows the film to appeal to both sexes as it does not, solely, focus on one gender.

Research and Planning

What real media and audiences did you look at?

We looked at a variety of different horror films such as 'Cabin In The Woods', 'The Blair Witch Project' and 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'. We looked at these films because these all adhere to many of the typical conventions of a horror film. This meant we were able to take on board what we have seen in these films and work them into our film. This would mean that our film would be more recognisable as a horror film to our audience. This would make our film more enjoyable for the audience.
We also looked at our target audience. We looked at individuals who had a keen interest in horror films. We did this because they would know the typical conventions in a horror film. This meant when we questioned them about what they would like to see in our film it would be reliable and accurately similar to real horror films, therefore making our film similar to successful well known horror films. We used the same media and audiences for both AS and A2. We did this because we chose horror as the genre for both our media productions which meant all our research was relevant to both our productions. For our AS production we had to construct a two minute opening, so we looked at successful horror film openings. However, for A2 we needed to construct a trailer so we looked at horror film trailers such as House At The End Of The Street.



How did they inform your thinking about your media production?

The real audiences we looked at informed us about what they would like to see in our horror film.
This helped us with ideas for our 2 minute opening and trailer as they would be our target audience so we wanted to include things they most wanted to see. Also, if we made it appealing to the small sample of people we looked at, it would most likely appeal to a much wider audience.


How did you record all that research?

We recorded our research for our AS production by analysing two minute openings and making a note of what conventions the openings have adhered to. We could then use these conventions in our own film to make it more appealing to the audience. For A2 we used the same method, however instead of analysing two minute openings, we analysed horror film trailers. These informed us about what we should included in our trailer, therefore making it more conforming to the horror genre.

What primary research was undertaken?

AS: The primary research we undertook for our AS production was a questionnaire that we distributed to a number of people. The type of questions we included were about where they would most like to see the location for the film set, which murder weapon they preferred and if the murderer should have an iconic costume. The purpose of this questionnaire was to get an idea about what our typical audience members expected to see. This meant that we were able to adapt our opening two minutes to live up to the audiences expectations which, in turn, would make our film more enjoyable for our audience.

A2: The primary research we undertook for our A2 production was the same as what we did for AS. We kept the same method for extracting our primary data as it was the most effective way to reliable results.



How did it inform the production?

AS: We were able to understand what our target audience most wanted to see in our film e.g. murder weapon, location etc. So, as the most popular location was a woods we set the location for our film in a woods. This meant the audience would be most likely to enjoy watching our film as they would prefer the location.

A2: Similar to AS it meant we were able to include what the audience most wanted to see into our trailer. We changed some of our ideas in order to cooperate with the audiences preferences. E.g location.



What is the effectiveness of these kinds of research?

For both AS and A2 this research was very effective as it provided us with up to date information about our target audiences preferences. This meant we were able to adapt our production in order to suit our audience which would make it more enjoyable for them.



What quantitative and qualitative analysis methods were employed?

For both AS and A2 the quantitative analysis methods we used were questionnaires. We used closed questions in our questionnaire which meant the individuals answering the questionnaire had to chose one of the answers we had written on the page. This meant we were able to get a quantitative result which made it easier for us to understand what are target audience's preferences are.

The qualitative analysis methods we used were interviews with target audience members. This meant that we were able to get unique answers from each individual but could also be relatable to other target audience members.

How did the results from these inform the production?

These results informed the production as we were able to determine what our target audience would like to see, which allowed us to successfully modify our film ideas to adhere to what the audience wants to see.



What is the effectiveness of these kinds of research?

These kinds of research are extremely effective as it means we were able to successfully adapt our film to suit the audiences tastes. This means that they would be most likely to enjoy our film. It also means our film is likely to be successful as we know that from our research we are including things the audience wants to see. This lessens the risk of failure for our film.

Evaluation Activity 4

Adobe Premiere Elements 10- We used Adobe Premiere Elements 10 to edit our film. We decided to choose adobe because it was fairly simple and easy to use. Our film was only just after one minute long so we didn't need to use really complicated software to edit. Also because our film was relatively simple we didn't need anything too complicated. Adobe Premiere Elements 10 was best suited to our film. The group and I have no experience in editing as we have never edited before so we also didn't want to use anything too complicated otherwise it would of taken us too long to edit which would have pushed back our finishing time. Despite Adobe Premiere Elements 10 being fairly simple in our editing process, it did offer a variety of different effects and transitions. This was good because it allowed us to choose between different effects and transitions which would best fit in with our film to make it the best it can be.

Blogger- We used blogger to upload everything we have done throughout the year. Blogger was an effective website that we used as we were able to document our progress and keep a track of everything we have done. It has showed our journey right from the very start up until now so it allows us to see the progress we have made over the past few months.

Camera- The camera we used was a DV1 camera. This was the most important aspect in the making of our film because it was the item that captured our film. It was a decent camera as it did the basics (take pictures, film etc.) however it was not as good as we would have hoped. The picture was fairly clear however we had issues with zooming. Throughout our film we needed to zoom in during one of our shots however we were not able to do this. This was because when you zoomed in during one of the shots it was very jumpy which resulted in a very bad quality clip. This therefore meant that we could not zoom in during our shots.




Youtube- We used youtube to share our finished product with our audience. It is very simple to use so did not cause us any problems when it came to sharing our film. Youtube also played a big part in our research. We were able to watch other openings to films of our genre and get ideas from them and also see the conventions they follow and if they subvert any of the conventions. This helped us establish what we needed to do to make our film successful.