Paranoia

Production and Evaluation

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

a.     In what ways does your opening film sequence of a new fiction film use Horror forms/genres/conventions?

The opening of my film sequence utilizes the forms and conventions of established horror genres in several ways.

One example of the ways it uses sound, for instance, has been established from as early as Halloween (1978), but especially influenced by the newer horror film Insidious in the way that, when the title of the film appears during the opening titles, it cuts to it being there rather than a slow fade, and a harrowing scream can be heard, which sets the scene for later scenes of the film.

Other than this though, I have utilized even more modern media methods to entice the audience, as both the plot and sound effects are heavily influenced by the experimental horror game Korsakovia by The Chinese Room, which utilized sounds specifically engineered to produce a fear response from the audience by using certain bands of pitch, intermittently broken by white noise, as well as a major inclination towards a plotline from the viewpoint of a protagonist viewing the world in an alternate perspective caused by mental illness, in this case being schizophrenia causing a broken reality, where only certain events are remembered, with others forgotten, seeming never to have happened.

The film is set in a small, run down town, and a house that is close to falling apart, with a protagonist who’s own mind is the antagonist, while the camera techniques which include POV and handheld camera shots allow the audience to better see the world from his perspective. The iconography includes white titles with a red aura, which suggests purity hiding evil, or even that evil is slowly enveloping the good of the character, these are in keeping with the conventions common with horrors, as even modern movies such as Insidious uses red text in their titles.

Horror narratives and themes that are in line with the codes and conventions of the horror genre include mental illness (in this case schizophrenia), monsters, hallucinations and a vulnerable protagonist.

b.     In what ways does your opening film sequence of a new fiction film use, develop or challenge form/genre/conventions?

There are several ways and methods with which the film opening both develops and challenges the codes and conventions of the horror genre.

One way in which it challenges the genre is that the protagonist is mentally instable, rather than the antagonist, which I will elaborate on later in this essay; the protagonist is a male Caucasian, which, while deviating from the traditionally weak female, gives more sense to the plot when used in context, due to a higher level of socialised aggression in males, which can easily be exploited by his illness.

The antagonist in horror genres are usually some monstrous creature, murderous sociopath or deceptively innocent child with untold destructive powers, such as Resident Evil (2002), Friday the 13^th (1980), or Carrie (1976), this production instead uses an immaterial antagonist, where the protagonist’s mind is against him as his perception grows gradually more and more abstract and disjointed, his paranoia growing and hallucination more frequent and intense.

Another way in which it challenges usual conventions of the genre is that the camera angles never reveal the protagonist’s face, only ever his arms, which provides further opportunity to relate with the character by not seeing his face, as it allows them to imagine themselves in that position, as most of the angles are POV, and only some are handheld.

The production also develops on the theme of paranoia, in which case the usual tropes and conventions are used, such as indistinct voices, subtle whispers and hallucinations are used, but while most films vilify drugs, this film actually elaborates on the consequences of not taking legally prescribed drugs, such as the intensification of hallucination and distortion of reality.

2.     How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The movie opening portrays some of the lesser-publicized social groups, mainly being that of the mentally disabled or disturbed.

It does this because the main protagonist of the film is part of this group, and suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and audio-visual hallucinations, but he is not inherently evil, as many films portray people with mental illnesses to be. Instead, it challenges the forms and conventions by portraying mental illnesses as something more malicious and subconscious, uncontrollable by the human mind and willpower, so that it corrupts perception so that they don’t hear/see/feel the same as a normal person would.

However, other than this, to provide a sense of aloneness throughout the production, there are no other actors other than the hallucinations, which are, in reality, immaterial and unreal, but according to the viewer, they seem terrifying and strange.

3.     What kind of Film Studio, TV company might distribute your film and why? – What studios would release a typical horror film, a Rom-com, a thriller film? Is your film a big budget venture or a smaller independent film?

Film studios that might choose to distribute the film include Alliance Films, who distributed Insidious, a mid-range budget horror based on ghosts, demons and spiritual projection and well known for it’s sudden movements and lighting, Paramount Pictures, who distributed Paranormal Activities, a film based on malicious ghosts targeting a series of connected characters, encouraging the feel of anxious tension and claustrophobia, and Columbia Pictures, which produced The Grudge, a well-known horror film with emphasis on the fact that almost every witness dies alone.

These studios have a monopoly on horror films, and are constantly looking for new material to revitalise the different genres, and a controversial product such as Paranoid would make for an enormous press release and publicity, which in turn brings in profit and popularity.

4.     Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audiences that the production would likely attract range from 13-24 year olds in general would be attracted to the horror genre, as it is something that is “not for young teens” and “too scary for adults” in many cases, and so they want to set themselves apart from the younger ages, establishing independence as well as experiencing something new and strange, or at least this is what Hollywood seems to suggest. The audience wants to be scared, “creeped out” and exhilarated, which extends into the primal, instinctual part of the brain, which seeks to master threatening situations, because although the audience can logically tell themselves that they do not experience danger, the brain and body reacts as if they are in fact, in danger, and to come away unscathed rewards them with a feeling of accomplishment. This effect is most potent during puberty and shortly after, while some may find themselves conditioned to have a positive reaction after repeated exposure to horror movies.

5.     How did you attract/address your audience?

The certificate of the film is to be a 15, as the film, although being about drugs and the consequences surrounding them, does not contain much strong language, references to sex, sadistic menace or glamourize the misuse of drugs. This will likely attract the audience for a number of reasons:

·       Larger demographic

o   While some parents would let a 15 year old watch a 18 horror film, others are particularly strict and will not likely allow their children to see an 18 rated DVD, and by the time they are 18, the film will most likely be forgotten or replaced by a newer, higher budget, 3DHD alternative, so it is often important to appeal to as large an audience as possible.

·       Less “dangerous” content

o   For this reason, audiences are more likely to be less scared to watch the film, despite it being classed as a horror, it may seem less intimidating.

Another way the film may attract audiences is by the storyline and even the title.

It does this by taking a lesser known illness, and showing just how bad it can be. While being quite controversial, this controversy often leads to publicity and by this, more viewers and more money. The name Paranoia tells the audience already that the film will contain a lot of nervous tension, a massive attraction to horror movie-goers, who are tired of cheap jumps and tired tropes.

Some of the marketing strategies I would use to publicize the movie would be to upload several anonymous trailers under different usernames to YouTube with names from the film, such as “HelpMeImGoingMad”, or “TheyWontStopFollowingMe”, a year or so before the actual film, making sure to post on larger forums such as 4chan or /b/ to increase the amount of “underground” viewers that are aware of the film, a publicity stunt to attract those who enjoy solving conspiracies or following breadcrumb trails, much like the film Super 8, or even the game Portal 2, which gave players a chance to participate in the press release before it went truly public.

Doing this encourages the audience to spread awareness of the film via word of mouth, which increases grassroots support for the film. Around a month before the film is publicly announced, trailers would be released on IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes to another select audience, which would be a much larger, discerning audience with an invested interest in films, and are more likely to talk about new films, further increasing knowledge and popularity. After the film is publicly confirmed, trailers would be released on television, the internet and radio, as well as posters and point-of-sale displays to bombard the public with the film’s image, increasing the attention it gets, and the amount of people who want to see it.

6.     What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

During the process of constructing the film opening, I have learned a lot about the different technologies utilized in the creation of a film.

I learned how to use multiple monitors on a Mac computer to perform more than one task a time, mainly being modification and preview of a scene.

Other technologies I have learned how to manipulate is the Sony HD touchscreen camera for filming, and Adobe Premiere Pro for editing the footage, and using several royalty-free music sites to add soundtracks to the production, then using BlogSpot to upload all my work to the internet.

Having done all this, I feel capable to extend onto other, larger projects.

7.     Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Since the preliminary task, I have learned that asking others to be actors or help to produce the final product often results in unreliable support, and that a film may have to be produced without such assistance. To combat this, I have filmed mainly from a first-person perspective and provided a voiceover to assist in the explanation of the plot's beginning, and used props and lighting to create silhouettes for use as characters.

However, I have also re-learned my camera angles and rules, including the 180^o rule and match-on-action, establishing shots and different camera angles, even if I was not able to implement many of these techniques.
As well as this though, I have learned about socio-economic demographics which allowed me to target a specific audience with which I can generate the most profit.

Storyboards

Questionnaire answer analysis

Favourite villains:


Micheal Myers (Halloween) (Horror)


Al Capone (The Untouchables) (Action)


Jeremy Irons (Die Hard 3) (Action)


Zerg (Toy Story) (Family)


The Kurgen (Highlander) (Action)


Red Mist (Kickass) (Action)


The Joker (Batman – Dark Knight) (Action)


Jigsaw (Saw) (Horror)


From the looks of things here, many of these characters seem to be selfish, psychopathic, and have few redeeming qualities. However, it can also be noted that this seems to be the stereotype for action characters, and if we look at the horror characters, they seem to be "born evil" and don't seem to stray from this; although, having said this, in comparison to the horror genre, the only Family Film antagonist aids the protagonists at the end of the film.


Favourite Heros:


Woody (Toy Story) (Family)
Spiderman (Family)
Superman (Family)
John Mclane (Die Hard) (Action)
Oh (Year One) (Comedy)
Jason Bourne (Bourne Trilogy) (Action)
Robert Neville (I am Legend) (Horror/Thriller)
Graham (Red Dragon Rising) (Horror/Thriller)


It seems here that the favoured protagonists here seem to be family film characters, closely followed by action and Horror/Thriller heroes. In family and films, the hero is seemingly invariably "good", and always survives the film with a soaring rise in popularity and/or power. Having said this, it is worth comparing those characters to that of Robert Neville and Graham, who are vulnerable throughout the film and have questionable ethics and a deep history.

Favourite Genre:
Horror – “Gets heart pumping, stays in mind longer” “I like suspense and gore!” “I like films that make me scared”
Rom-Com
Thriller
Action/Adventure – “They are entertaining”
Comedy – “It’s funny” “It makes me laugh” “I like to laugh”

Horror title colours: Red, black, grey, white


Rom-com title colours: Pink, white, red


Comedy title colours: Purple, orange, green, colours not associated with gender


Action title colours: Red, orange


Thriller title colours: Black, silver, gold, white






Whether people prefer linear plotlines:
7:2 people preferred a linear plotline in their films, and this means that disturbing this would disorientate the audience and cause them to feel unnerved.

Favoured underlying themes:

All the participants of the questionnaire prefer an antagonist with a detailed past, so it is best that the character made should be a complex, 3d character, rather than a character put in place for the express purpose of making a movie. 

This indicates that despite the difference in releases, Horror made, on average, less than Romance, this could be argued that the Romance are often predominantly family films, meaning they have a larger audience, whereas Horror films are generally 18+, and therefor have a far smaller audience.


Combined with this, the top performing title for Romance is the Twilight Saga, which is built upon the foundation set by a series of books and therefor had a pre-existing fan-base to cause additional profits to offset the cost of expensive special effects given from the massive budget ($68m). On the other hand, Paranormal Activity had an extremely low budget for special effects, and had no pre-existing fan-base, which meant that the fact that it succeeded to become the top performing title of its genre implies that it made massive profits despite the low budget ($3m), which is what we will have to work with.


Paranormal Activity 2 grossed $177,512,032 so the film made $174m profit from a very small audience and almost no special effects.


Eclipse grossed $698,491,347 so the film made $630m profit from a far larger audience, being a family romance suitable for all audiences with powerful CGI.










In conclusion, I have decided to film a psychological horror with relatively little violence and a main concentration on camera angles and sound to create tension. This is due to the relatively large profit made from the smaller audience while using a low budget.


This would likely obtain a 15+ certificate from the BBFC for several reasons:
The film contains a several scenes about taking drugs, but the context is medical and does not encourage misuse or glamourise the use of easy-to-get drugs.
There is a strong theme of menace and/or threat throughout the film, but it is not sadistic or sexualised.
Dangerous behaviour is either so low that it does not create a lasting impression on the viewer, or does not exist at all.
There is no "Frequent use of strong language", there is little enough dialogue at all.
There is no nudity, sexualised or otherwise.
There are no references to sex.
Scenes which include violence do not dwell on the infliction or pain of the subject and there is little gore, as well as this, none of the violence is sexualised or is in a sexual context.


This would be beneficial for profit, as it advertises that the film is not something for children to watch, so adolescents which are likely to be emerging from childhood into adulthood will be pushed to watch more "grown-up" films, such as Paranoia, as well as established 18+ year old audiences. 
The fact that the film would receive a 15 certificate would mean that the image below:

would have to be printed on each and every copy of the DVD, Blu-ray, Video Cassette, and poster for the film in order to make the rating available to the audience to induce the correct response.
Until the certificate is confirmed however, they would have to be printed with 

Which means "To Be Classified", meaning that the film has yet to be formally recognised as a film to be released with any particular certificate.

Questionnaire

Character Profiles

Character Name: Mary

Age: Late teens
Gender: Female
Occupation/Part Played: Antagonist, hallucination, stalker
Appearance: Pale, long dark hair conceals her face for most part, bare foot, white clothes.

Characteristics: Hallucination, moves slowly when seen, disappears and reappears closer when unseen.


Character Name: Michael Jones
Age: Late teens
Gender: Male
Occupation/Part Played: Protagonist, POV, Student
Appearance: Jacket, t-shirt, jeans, trainers.

Characteristics: Twitchy, scared, hallucinating schizophrenic.

Mindmap for film