Photos in the same style as my researched director

Keeping the conventions of that I have outlined in my previous post in mind her is the first photo that I have edited and the stages of the editing process.

Original image: I decided to take a picture of my own eye, as throughout Kubrick's work there is a strong emphasis upon faces etc. I also decided to accentuate my eye by wearing brightly coloured make-up.

Here is the first stage of the editing process: I have cropped the picture in order to focus upon the eye.

Again, to edit the image further (and to draw the audience’s attention to the main focal point of the photograph, I have cropped this image.

After fully cropping the image, I went on to increase the brightness and contrast levels in order to make the pupil of the eye look darker and more mysterious - akin to Kubrick's work.

Final image: Finally, I added a "green filter" to the picture in order to brighten the colour intensity of the make-up on my eye lid, whilst making the small specs of green colour in my eye become more visible.

Work in the style of my chosen director

During class we were set the task to produce two pictures that were in the same style as our chosen researched director - ( my chosen director being Stanley Kubrick). In order to complete this task I decided to look at some of Stanley Kubrick's movie posters etc to get some ideas. Here are the posters that I have considered...

After looking for common themes throughout these posters I came up with this list of common (almost) conventions within Kubrick posters:

·         Close ups of faces

·         Focus on eyes

·         people holding knives

·         The colour black is commonly used

·         People in real-life colour

·         Faces featured are without blemishes - perfect skin

·         Make-up is clearly used

Director research - Stanley Kubrick

[The photos used within this clip are taken from google images under the search words: Stanley Kubrick]

Research

Before I begin producing any of my main or ancillary elements in my A2 media portfolio I am going to carry out some wider research. In class, we were set the task of researching a film director; and as horror is my genre, I aim research a director that has directed movies of the horror genre; and so I have decided to research Stanley Kubrick.

Basic Plan going forward

My Target Audience

When thinking about my target audience I thought it would be sensible to mind map my thoughts and ideas ( see below ).

Horror Movie questionnaire and results

Open publication - Free publishing - More ancillary task

Here are my questionnaire results.

As my target audience is predominantly young to middle aged people aged between 18 and 25, I have endeavoured to give this questionnaire to people within this age range. However, I felt that it was important that I did not exclude any age category and so opened the questionnaire to all aged groups welcoming a variety of responses.  

The conventions of Horror movies

Then I decided to think about the conventions of horror movies. Here is a mood board of all the conventions that I associate with horror movies. 

A2 Media Coursework Brief

Planning & Research

My Set Brief:  You will produce:

1) A media portfolio, comprising of a main and ancillary texts.

 2)A presentation of your research, planning and evaluation in electronic format(s).

Brief 2

}  A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the following three options:

}  A film magazine front cover, featuring the film

}  A poster for the film

Firstly, to inform myself more than anything, I have decided to do some research on my chosen Genre.

Genre:  After much deliberation, I have decided that my chosen film genre will be horror. I have chosen this genre as I wanted to choose a genre that would challenge me and be out of my comfort zone; as normally I prefer to watch romantic comedy and action films.

Firstly I searched for the dictionary definition of a horror film:

Horror film: - definition

1.   a film that is intended to frighten people, especially one about murders, frightening creatures, or evil people

The horror film genre aims to provoke a negative response from the audience by incorporating the audiences fears of things such as insects or death. Most often, horror movies feature scenes that shock the viewer as they have strong parallels with the supernatural.  Furthermore, the horror genre frequently overlaps with thriller films as both employ shock tactics.

“The term "horror movie" first appears in the writings of critics and film industry commentators in response to the release of Universal's Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931) but has since been applied in retrospect to similar films from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.” – Source: Wikipedia.

"If movies are the dreams of the mass culture... horror movies are the nightmares"- Source: Stephen King, Danse Macabre

Horror Films: Why We Like To Watch?

Horror movies have long served both purposes. They deliver thrills by the hearseload, as well as telling us stories of the dark, forbidden side of life (and death) - cautionary tales for grown ups. They also provide a revealing mirror image of the anxieties of their time. Nosferatu (1922) is not simply a tale of vampirism, but offers heart-rending images of a town beleaguered by premature and random deaths, echoes of the Great War and the Great Flu Epidemic fatalities. At the other end of the century Blade (1998) is not just a tale of vampirism either, but reflects a fear of the powerful yet irresponsible elements in society, echoes down the corridor indeed of the seemingly impunitive behaviour of those at the top.­-Source: www.horrorfilmhistory.com/