Horror parody research

A parody is an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect. this is when you use someone else's idea and turn it into a mock film.  Examples of horror parody are: 
Shaun of the Dead (2004; parody of zombie films)

Shaun of the dead is a parody of zombie films, it is mocking zombie films because the zombies portrayed in here are not really how they are portrayed in Resident Evil. Parodies are made for people's entertainment, parodies just basically imitate other movies just like Shaun Of The Dead imitating Resident Evil. They also show how nothing is without flaw, much like human nature. Parodies show how each situation has humour in it, no matter how bad the situation may be. They show how trivial many things may be, especially those highly commercialized by society. 

Horror genre research

Gothic fiction sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. This genre is used to play on the audience's  emotions. In most cases Gothic horror films or books always have a damsel in distress and there is always someone portrayed as being powerful and someone portrayed as being weak. Gothic horrors tend to have the supernatural, death, demons and etc.Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is also part of Gothic horror. This film indicates what Gothic horror is about. It includes things like guilt, sadness, going against religion, revenge, death and romance. Most of these things are common in Gothic horrors for example in  movies like Dracula, there's always romance and death.In Dracula they also use props for example castles, crosses, holy water and religion is also a very important part in these movies because we believe that if we have God and a cross by our side we are safe and protected. 

Gothic tales depend primarily on atmosphere for their effect on the reader: such as creaky staircases, damp
dungeons, and gloomy mansions are used, sometimes with elements of the Occult, to produce a sense of inescapable Gloom and Doom which threatens the Heroine with unmentioned terrors. The plot of such stories almost always involves the heroine meeting a Dark and Forbidding Lord, who winds up rescuing her from the menace - or whom she rescues. Monsters, Vampires and the Undead, combined with buckets of blood and gore, are the usual tools employed. Sometimes, this genre brings out the "Monsters Under The Bed" of small towns,  Sometimes it can be socially valuable, as with Frankenstein, in which the monster is actually the victim of intolerance. In some Gothic horrors the monsters are just plain folks. Think of misery.

Media studies:
Questions for evaluation

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

Our media product uses shot reverse shots to get the ideas of our film across to the audience and a clear view of what is happening instead of taking a long shot or a close up one. 

The match on match action technique is seen when the protagonist walks towards the door and then walks in to the room. The way we have used this media technique is standard, but improvement may be needed for the shots to flow more naturally. A suggestion for this could include a shot of the main character turning the door knob before walking into the room. This may help the scene flow easier, and avoid the viewer from being confused. Our media product also obeys the 180 degree rule. You can see this during the shot reverse shot. Towards the end of our media product, the shots are taken from the other side. Though this seems wrong, it is relevant and goes well with the rest of the finished media product.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
 
 Our film represents a mentally unstable person in need of help and has come to talk to their psychiatrist .There aren't any other social groups represented in the film. It represents mentally unstable people in a subtle and mild way, compared to most other media products involved in this kind of (probably horrific) genre. It conveys the situations of the mentally ill person through speech, though the music is played over some bits of the conversation.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

A media institution that may be interested in distributing our short film would be a magazine or the internet to provide assistance for those that need it in their condition and possibly unstable state. This could be because for example, in a magazine it would re-tell the film in text and pictures, making it clear for readers and others to understand. And by the internet, comments on this topic and references to professional psychiatrists would be available, offering a variety of readers' thoughts and opinions and ultimately aiding mentally unstable people. 
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
  
The targeted audience for our media product are people who are able to appreciate mentally unstable people in society and also individuals with less confidence than others. A young audience would benefit from this, learning and maybe gain some knowledge and quite a fright, if our media product is to be displayed as a genre of horror.

5. How did you attract/ address your audience?
  We did this by giving the impression of a mentally unstable character in our media product seeking help and a general check-up from a psychiatrist. We also established certain traits to both characters to develop a more reserved and not an out-of-place atmosphere. 

6) What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have learned that to produce a media product- such as a 90 minute film or even a short advertisement-it takes a lot of effort and time to get everything just right. There are many things to be aware of like continuity errors and checking that the camera is fully charged. All sorts of technologies require extra care in constructing and producing the overall media product. Our group have learned to make this our first priority throughout this preliminary task and we have taken this responsibility knowing that our media product would be successful.
in our main task we are going to make sure we don't use a hand held camera. though there are areas we could work on to try and improve and develop our preliminary task.

Overall our media project is not as good as it we can do far better if we could redo it.

Preliminary task

ABBA and VERTIGO mash up

This is the video mash up we made of the opening sequence of Hitchcock's Vertigo and part of the ABBA Mamma mia music video. In the ABBA video, there is a camera technique (focus) which we attempted. Instead, we used the same shot composition because the focus was difficult to execute on the camera.