When looking at the target audiences for 'Jennifers Body' and 'Sorority Row' I realised they had the same target audience this is shown in my tables in blog 2. The age they were both aimed at was 18-29 but they had more males then females watching these films. So I decided to target my film at males in the age group 18-29. The type of viewers both 'Jennifers Body' and 'Sorority Row' were aimed at were mainstreamers so I decided to aim my script at the same people. The reason mainstreamers are such a popular category for the media is because this is majority of teenagers, when one person watches a film and talks to their friends about it they will all immediately want to see the film so they can get involved in the conversation. I will also be aiming my film at the same socio-economic class as 'Jennifers Body' and 'Sorority Row', this will be 'B-C2'.
My film genre is teen horror, my script shows this because there are a few events that happen that cause the characters to be scared and curious which lead the audience to want to know why and how they happened. The character that is in trouble in the film is the same age as the viewers and very vulnerable, this helps them to care and relate to her. The film is set at night so it is dark which gives it mystery and adds effect to make it scarier. It is set on Halloween, this is a good day to set it on because people associate Halloween with ghosts and monsters so the horror scene is already set before anything happens. My film is similar to 'Jennifers Body' and 'Sorority Row' because the main characters are girl best friends that are very good looking and wear revealing clothes. The opening scene for 'Sorority Row' was a house party with lots of teenagers, this is the same as my opening scene. The beginning of 'Jennifers Body' shows that Jennifer and 'Needy' have a close friendship, this is always shown at the beginning of my film. There are also some differences between my film, 'Jennifers Body' and 'Sorority Row'. My film is set on Halloween neither 'Jennifers Body' or 'Sorority Row' are set on special occasions like Halloween so this gives the film some originality. My script also raises questions towards of the end, this is called enigma.
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
Friday, 8 October 2010
Blog 5 - Evidence Of Wider Reading
I decided I would research 'Teen Horror' to help me come up with some good ideas for my own teen horror movie. The first film I decided to look at was 'Sorority Row' this is a slasher movie, the reason viewers liked this film was because they were kept in suspense always wanting to know who would get it next (and how), and who is doing it. One review liked the idea of not knowing who the murderer was as it started '..who is the murderer guessing game'. This shows that they like a sense of mystery in the film so keeping the antagonist a secret in my film would be a good idea. The second film I decided to look at was 'Jennifer's Body' this is about a possessed teenage serial killer specializing in killing her male classmates. Viewers liked this film because it was sexy and flirty 'The fact they used megan fox gained them a lot more male viewers because she's very attractive'. This shows that the type of target audience I am aiming at like to have young attractive women in the films, so this would be a good idea for me to use them. The film 'Sorority Row' is shown in the order that it happens, where as in 'Jennifers Body' the film begins at the end leading viewers wanting to know why the ending happened. Both of these 'Teen horrors' have the same setting in there opening sequence, a big house surrounded by woods and its night time. Setting my opening sequence at night would be a good idea because it adds mystery and fear the the film before you even learn anything about the plot and characters. The music used in both 'Teen Horrors' is a low beat that gets faster and louder without any words in, this makes you get worked up thinking that the music is leading you to a big event that could happen. This can also give away when something is about happen because the viewers would be expecting it and so it wouldn't be as scary or thrilling to them. Making sure that the cast I use in my film are teenagers is important because my target audience is going the be for 18-29 years olds. They prefer to have teenagers/young adults as the cast because they find it easier to relate and connect to them. My research showed that more males watched 'Sorority Row' and 'Jennifers Body' than females, so having young attractive women in the film could also be an important factor.
Monday, 4 October 2010
Blog 4 - Analysis Of Opening Sequences
Looking at the opening sequence of 'Jennifer's Body' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCSzYioSeT0 you can see there is a typical 'Teen Horror' setting, a house in the middle of the woods at night time. It was very dark and mysterious with lots of shodows, you then you find a young girl in the house by herself with her windows wide open leaving her very vulnerable. It was set in a little town called Devil's Kettle Falls, Minnesota, USA not many people know of the town and they don't usually get many outsiders. Jennifer was a very pretty, popular cheerleader who was liked by everyone all the girls wanted to be her best friend and the guys wanted to date her. Jennifer usually wore very girly clothing that was very revealing and sexy, but her bestfriend 'Needy' was the opposite. 'Needy' was a geek, she wasn't as pretty as Jennifer and she didn't dress as well as either, she was seen more 'cute' than 'sexy'. Jennifer would also wear alot of make up so she would have big black eyes and deep red lips, 'Needy' on the other hand wore no make up but had big round glasses on, a complete contrast. 'Jennifers Body' appeals to its target audience of males aged 18-29 because the cast are teenagers around the same age so there easier to relate to. It's also the perfect film to get away from reality, the events in the film are never going to happen in the veiwers lives. The type of language used in the film was more 'teen speak' than formal language, they used words such as 'salty' rather than good looking. This would appeal to the viewers because its language that they may use when there with there friends. Using young teenagers in my film would be a good idea to attract more male viewers to watch my film. Starting it off at night with a dark surrounding and a single house would be a good idea because it shows they are excluded from any interaction with others if they need help. Using girls as the main characters is popular with teen horrors because they are easily vulnerable, both male and females like to watch films with a female cast but boys are less likely to want to watch a film with a majority male cast. Having a few scenes that are unrealistic in my movie could also be a good idea because people like to get away from reality sometimes but it shouldn't be to unrealistic otherwise it may not be scary any more and become cheesy.
I also looked at the opening sequence of 'Sorority Row' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXhea0Y1pQ8 there is a very simular setting, a lonley house in the middle of the woods at night time. There is a college Sorority party going on with lots of screaming/shouting and glass being broken. The college girls weren't wearing much clothing dancing around on the tables and doing cheer leading routines. Pillows are being thrown around and feathers are flying everywhere making it hard to see. The mother of the Sorority house is in the dark kitchen by herself with scary music playing like it was building up to an event when two boys burst through the door drunk. Then there is the scene when Megan, one of the Sorority girls, tricks her ex boyfriend into thinking he killed her with 'Roofies' which backfires when they take the prank to far and he ends up stabbing her with a tyre iron 'to let the air out her lungs' they have to dispose of the body and tyre iron in a mineshaft. The film was set in Pennsylvania, USA so there locations aren't very far apart. All the Sorority sisters are young, slim and pretty girls, they wore short shorts and little vest tops, they all wore make up. 'Sorority Row' appeals to it's target audience of males aged 18-29 because they would like lots of girls running around the house without much clothing on and the storyline is again not very believable so they can have a sense of getting away from reality. The language used in this film isn't as much 'teen speak' as 'Jennifer's Body' they haven't made any words up in the dialogue. A party is a good setting for this target audience as it is something most teenagers this age would do on a regular basis. Girls wearing little clothing is also a good idea because a majority of boys like seeing girls in revealing clothes and girls usually resent them. Pranks are also a good idea as teenagers are often pulling them on their friends in real life, taking a prank and turning it into the plot is a very good idea.
I also looked at the opening sequence of 'Sorority Row' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXhea0Y1pQ8 there is a very simular setting, a lonley house in the middle of the woods at night time. There is a college Sorority party going on with lots of screaming/shouting and glass being broken. The college girls weren't wearing much clothing dancing around on the tables and doing cheer leading routines. Pillows are being thrown around and feathers are flying everywhere making it hard to see. The mother of the Sorority house is in the dark kitchen by herself with scary music playing like it was building up to an event when two boys burst through the door drunk. Then there is the scene when Megan, one of the Sorority girls, tricks her ex boyfriend into thinking he killed her with 'Roofies' which backfires when they take the prank to far and he ends up stabbing her with a tyre iron 'to let the air out her lungs' they have to dispose of the body and tyre iron in a mineshaft. The film was set in Pennsylvania, USA so there locations aren't very far apart. All the Sorority sisters are young, slim and pretty girls, they wore short shorts and little vest tops, they all wore make up. 'Sorority Row' appeals to it's target audience of males aged 18-29 because they would like lots of girls running around the house without much clothing on and the storyline is again not very believable so they can have a sense of getting away from reality. The language used in this film isn't as much 'teen speak' as 'Jennifer's Body' they haven't made any words up in the dialogue. A party is a good setting for this target audience as it is something most teenagers this age would do on a regular basis. Girls wearing little clothing is also a good idea because a majority of boys like seeing girls in revealing clothes and girls usually resent them. Pranks are also a good idea as teenagers are often pulling them on their friends in real life, taking a prank and turning it into the plot is a very good idea.
Blog 3 - Institutional Contexts
To find out which companies create films in the teen horror genre I decided to research two films, these were 'Jennifers body and 'Sorority Row'. There were 3 companies involved in the production of 'Jennifers Body'. They were 'Fox Atomic', 'Dune Entertainment' and 'Hard C'. The companies that produced 'Sorority Row' were Karz Entertainment and Summit Entertainment. These companies are some examples of the type of companies who produce films in the teen genre.
The estimated budget for 'Jennifers Body' was around $16,000,000, the same budget was estimated for 'Sorority Row'. This shows that teen horrors cost about the same amount to make. I would use this budget for the special effects in the film to add drama. I would also make sure the character was someone people could relate to all over the world.
The estimated budget for 'Jennifers Body' was around $16,000,000, the same budget was estimated for 'Sorority Row'. This shows that teen horrors cost about the same amount to make. I would use this budget for the special effects in the film to add drama. I would also make sure the character was someone people could relate to all over the world.
Friday, 1 October 2010
Blog 2 - Target Audience
We watched the opening scenes of two teen horrors, these were 'Jennifer's Body' and 'Sorority Row'. To find out the target audience these films are aimed at I went onto imdb.com to get the actual film ratings.
The picture below shows that more males rated 'Jennifer's Body', but they didnt rate as high as females. The age group that rated the film the most was 18-29 year olds. So this means that the main target audience for 'Jennifers Body' would be males aged 18-29. Again the same happened for 'Sorority Row', more males rated this film but it was the females who rated it higher. The age bracket that rated this film the most was also the same, 18-29 year olds. So the main target audience for 'Sorority Row' would again be males between the age of 18-29, this is shown in the picture for 'Sorority Row' below.
The type of viewers that these teen horror movies would be targeted at would be mainstreamers. This would be the majority of teenagers as when one person watches the film all of their friends would then want to watch it so they don't feel like the odd one out. This would be the best audience to target at so you get as many teenagers buy the DVD as possible. The socio-economic class these DVD's may be aimed at would be 'B-C2'. The reason for this is because many people in this class have enough money to buy the DVD and they also have the time as well, other classes may have a job which is to time consuming or a job which doesnt earn them enough money for luxuries.
The picture below shows that more males rated 'Jennifer's Body', but they didnt rate as high as females. The age group that rated the film the most was 18-29 year olds. So this means that the main target audience for 'Jennifers Body' would be males aged 18-29. Again the same happened for 'Sorority Row', more males rated this film but it was the females who rated it higher. The age bracket that rated this film the most was also the same, 18-29 year olds. So the main target audience for 'Sorority Row' would again be males between the age of 18-29, this is shown in the picture for 'Sorority Row' below.
The type of viewers that these teen horror movies would be targeted at would be mainstreamers. This would be the majority of teenagers as when one person watches the film all of their friends would then want to watch it so they don't feel like the odd one out. This would be the best audience to target at so you get as many teenagers buy the DVD as possible. The socio-economic class these DVD's may be aimed at would be 'B-C2'. The reason for this is because many people in this class have enough money to buy the DVD and they also have the time as well, other classes may have a job which is to time consuming or a job which doesnt earn them enough money for luxuries.
 |
| Jennifer's Body |
 |
| Sorority Row |
Blog 1 - Intorduction - Pre-producion
Our pre-production coursework is to write the opening scene for a teen horror.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)