Moving on...

Moving forward into A2 means a new blog is needed! Link here.

Dear Examiner,

I hope you enjoy looking through my Media AS work. I have made posts throughout the year to produce this; a blog recording my exploration of opening sequences and my final piece in which I- along with a group- planned and recorded our own opening sequence to a horror film.

Opening Sequence

Below is our final opening sequence:

Below is a short outtakes video:

AS Media Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop, or challenge the forms and conventions of real media products?

I answered this question in a short video, filmed on my phone using the app VideoFX Live.

Here is the link to The Black Parade music video.

Here is the link to the opening sequence of  The Conjuring.

AS Media Question 2 - How does your media product represent a particular social group?

AS Media Question 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

AS Question 3

AS Media Question 4 - Who would the target audience be for your film?

I knew the opening sequence would be aimed at teenagers because the message I wanted to portray through it was specifically aimed at them; these years are tough and it will feel like you're too different compared to everyone else, but you will get a happy ending.

At first I thought an age rating of 12 would be suitable for 'Freaks', but after some consideration and looking at the BBFC website I decided it would be better to have it rated a 15. This is because of the discriminatory behaviour and language used towards the teenagers in the freak show, and also because of the strong language.

I did a poll on the popular social networking site Facebook to research what genres teenagers are most interested in. Here are the the top results:

AS Media Question 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

To answer this question I have made a website homepage on Wix.com. Click here.

AS Media Question 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

To answer this question I have composed a presentation on Prezi. Click here.

AS Media Question 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Preliminary Task

Podcast

Main Task

Behind the Scenes

Sound

I experimented with different locations while recording the voiceover for our opening sequence, and put some examples into a brief video below.

Main Task Inspiration

The Vampire's Assistant, based off the book Cirque Du Freak - A story about a young boy who is turned into a vampire and is taken into a circus full of freaks.
The Black Parade - An album and concept by Gerard Way, about a man who dies of cancer. Death comes to collect him in the form of a parade that his father took him to when he was a boy.
The Birthday Massacre 'Blue' - The ending tune to this song is very eerie and almost childlike, inspiring the creepiness of our music.
American Horror Story Freak Show - A show about people who are too weird to be accepted in society, and instead put on shows together.

Mood Board

A lot of our piece is influenced by a monochrome colour scheme, as well as an increase in noise on the clips to give an aged feel. A lot of inspiration was taken from films and music already done, for example My Chemical Romance's 'The Black Parade' influenced the ringmaster's costume and Charlie's freak make-up.

Main Task Storyboard

This is our storyboard for our final piece. It is about a ringmaster of a freakshow who is going on a hunt to find one of the freaks who has escaped. It opens with the ringmaster presenting his show to an audience, before cutting to a montage of Charlie, Royann, and I dressed as some of the other freaks trapped in cages. After, we plan on cutting to a wide shot of the missing freak boy running away, before having a close-up on his face to show the fear as he tries to hide.

Main Task and Key Ideas

A short video about our main task brief, and the key ideas behind our opening sequence.

Make-up and Costume

For our ringmaster we needed an obvious costume for the circus, but still with a dark twist which we showed with the main colour of black. For our escaping freak we wanted a shabby look to highlight his mistreatment and make the audience feel more sympathetic towards him and question the ringmaster's morality. Our three freaks needed their own themes to portray them as being abnormal compared to 'normal' people. Charlie is playing a skeleton girl, made clear with her skull facepaint. The inspiration for her character came from the Black Parade era of the emo band My Chemical Romance. Royann is a wild cat child, shown with her messy hair and tooth necklace. I am playing a snake boy; my make up, shirt, and leggings having a snake print to make this obvious. The inspiration for my character came from the snake boy in the film The Vampire's Assistant.