CR

 How do your products represent social groups or issues?

My product represents social groups by showing how two guys just expected to go on a camping trip and everything to be okay just like most people. However on their trip they decided to go out and explore the area, this is when one of them mentions something he found when he did research on the area they were camping at. Jean (white shirt) mentions that during his research he found that a kid they once knew was reported missing after going into that forest, Riley then says he’s exaggerating. This could represent how friends will tease one another for being afraid of something they know and are afraid of which could lead to people not wanting to mention how they feel when they are talking about a certain thing. An issue our film can show is people not being cautious enough when they are out exploring an area they aren’t familiar with. One of them did research on the place but didn’t bother to tell his friend about his concerns before arriving at the location. This shows how we have to be careful when going to a new place and to research about if before going because you never know what might happen. An issue we also showed is how people often go missing when they go off on their own (Samuel/Sam). We tried to give the person we knew that went missing a story so we can show how people often go missing in scary places such as a forest if they aren’t careful. 

How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?

The elements we used help us to create a horror brand and a mystery brand. We use elements such as people filming themselves exploring a forest that they aren’t familiar with. This also blends into how most horror movies go, they start by going somewhere they aren’t too familiar with and then something bad ends up happening. We also used costumes that could make someone feel afraid in order to help us create the “horror” brand. The fact that we filmed during the night also helps us show that it’s a horror film instead of it being all sunny and bright outside. Us running away from something we came across also helps us portray a horror feel on how we are afraid and decide our best option is to run and hide from what we just saw. We also tried including other elements that could help us show that our short film is branded as horror. When I made the postcard and website I tried to use a font that could help show that our film was horror based. We tried to choose a photo that would also help us show that our film was a horror film, so we picked a photo where you can see all the bad people wearing their costumes that they wore during the film, we also had them stand in front of the tent that the two guys on a camping trip had set up to create a sense of curiosity on what had happened to them. Just having them stand in front of the tent without any context would leave the potential viewers to create scenarios in their head on what happened during the film and what happened to the campers. We also tried other ways to help establish a horror brand. The candles we used in the film help create a sort of spooky feeling and the dialogue we tried to make it as uncomfortable as it could’ve been to help with the horror aspect. These are some ways we used our elements of our production to help create a sense of horror branding.

How do your products engage with the audience?

We tried our best to try and make our short film engage with the audience as much as we could. We made some scenes where the audience got to decide what happened after. An example of this could be wheaten or not the main leader of the bad guys was Sam or not. We gave a backstory of a friend we had and we mentioned how he went missing in that very forest that we were exploring. Then we ran into a group of people who seemed to be doing something strange and then when we approached them we thought it was Sam but we didn’t get a response. This could leave the audience wondering whether or not if it was Samuel, it’s up to the audience to figure it out but we know that it is Samuel so if we were to make another short film it would be the backstory of the group and Samuel. Another time we engaged the audience was at the very end of the film where we were seen trying to drive off and as we drive off and talk the leader of the group (Samuel) appears from behind me and the film ends there. This leaves the film at an end where the audience gets to create scenarios on what happened after he appeared and if he managed to get me and Riley and how he even got in there without us knowing. We felt as if this would’ve been a good ending so if we ever had to make another short film we weren’t restricted to following a simple ending of what happened in the other film and so we could get feedback from the audience and see how they would like to see the film continue after the ending of the short film. This also applies to Samuel and his story and how people don’t know if he is the leader or not (he is). So if we had to create another short film off this we could make a prequel of sequel, where the prequel follows Samuel and how he got lost and what had happened and how the group formed and the sequel follows the events of what happened in the sequel. 

How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?

The research we did before hand helped us discover how to make a short film and what it needed to be horror. I feel like we could’ve made it more of a horror film and I get this little feeling that it’s sort of a mystery. We researched horror films together and tried taking aspects from them to help us. I don’t think we really challenged any conventions. The only convention I would say we sort of challenged was how most of the time in horror films the main people that you follow usually don’t end up dying and nothing actually happens to them. In our ending however it is unclear what happens to us since we decided to stop the film there in order to let the audience decide what happens, so in their eyes we could have died and in that way we challenge the standard I just mentioned. We didn’t really know how to challenge conventions in this film but we did try our best to follow a horror and short film flow based on our research.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/134ISOAfmUiXpNmjtc1Im7xdOhQ0Fhh9BImNbcmdmf3Q/edit