INFATUATION DECLINE
COMPLETED MOVIESYNOPSIS
'INFATUATION DECLINE' is horror/romance following the life of a young man (Micheal Oji) who likes the idea of falling in love, however the women he falls in love with perceives him as someone who tend to suffocate his girlfriend and does not give them any personal space, all in all too 'clingy'. This results in a lot of rejection, but this rejection is not taken likely by this young man , and because of his bad temper and strive to get revenge he ends up stalking these women and murdering them.
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EVALUATION ACTIVITY 1
In what ways does your media product use,develop or challenge forms and conventions of real Media products?
THE TITLE OF THE FILM
The title of my film came from the storyline; 'INFATUATION' means unreasoned passion of love, or a desire to want to be with someone for the moment. 'DECLINE' means rejection or not accepted. It is displayed at the end of the opening because i wanted the shock that will come from the audience when they see the font of the title to differ from the next seen which would have been the actual beginning of the film. The storyline is about a character who has fallen in love with different woman but they don't seem to love him back and because of this rejection he kill them or hurt them,in order to feel the satisfaction of revenge.
LOCATION/SETTING
The location used in the movie varies;it depends on where the character believes it would be easier to harm his victims such as his Private room/basement, however we have location such as the park, educational locations, the library etc where this character can stalk the women. The setting is always dark except if it is outside in the day time to show that dangerous thoughts are mainly used in the movies.
A friend's music studio was borrowed and transformed into the main characters hide out, he plans and brings the women to kill.
COSTUMES AND PROPS
Every film must have costumes and props therefore making this a typical media convention,props such as the laptop,printed pictures on the wall, play ground swings and much were all there because it was useful for the scene, for example the laptop was used by the main character to search for girls on social networks.The costumes used show the character personality, i believe the costumes it self tell a story .e.g the main character is always wearing a hood,it tells the audience the he is secretive, private,mysterious. Props such as the different womens' picture on the mysterious guys wall show the audience just how obsessed he is with these women.The costumes for the opening was carefully planed. The main characters costume were clothes that would be able to hide his identity for example the hoodies. The women's clothes varied from glamours(heels,blazers,shirts,handbags and trousers)which suited vain,confident and independent women, to causal (jeans,tops and side bag) which suite timid but also independent women, i wanted to show how the main characters interest in women varied.
CAMERAWORK/EDITING
Being on the camera as well as directing may sound difficult but in practise it was easy because it gave me more control and i believe things run smoothly when am in control. I was able to get the shot and movement by the actors the exact way that i wanted because i knew what i wanted, But i had to keep going back and forth directing and filming to see if the camera angles or shot were correct. Being the director as well as the camerawoman and also the editor was an advantage,combing the key shot and turning it into a sequence was a good experience; giving me an inside of how films are made.
TITLE FONT AND STYLE
The font and style of the main title which is 'infatuation decline' was designed by me at www.refpnt.com because it had a variety of fonts, it gave me options. The font i used is called 'creepyvile' relating to the mystery in the movie and the colour is bright red symbolising 'blood and danger'. The other titles used to show the director and so on was designed using finale cut express on a MAC computer, they are all in bold italic and also the colour is white so it can stand out more.
INTRODUCTION OF CHARACTER
The characters are not properly introduced in the opening, they would have been fully introduced in the movie,however the audience see the women and they are beautiful so the audience realises the main character is into appearance, also they are introduced as scared, terrified and paranoid they believe they are being followed; then we are introduced to the main character as organised as he arranges his pictures on the wall, also mysterious and Private because his identity is not revealed yet.
OPENING AND GENRE/SPECIAL EFFECTS
The opening of the movie is very effective,it is filmed in a way that build suspense in the audience and makes them wonder what is going to happen in the rest of the movie, with the creepy back ground music and Constance appearance of a character in a hood makes the audience wonder who is underneath it. The genre of my movie is horror-romance and the opening suggest this through the use of dark lighting,creepy music/sounds, an unidentified character, and the connection between characters. But the violence is what kept viewers' eyes glued to the screen and so thus the violence in the opening is limited to keep the audience wanting more. The point of view shots of the main character are in black and white effects and it relates to his belief that the women are lifeless and are just subjects that makes him feel better about himself,the audio argument and also the sound of the first woman being killed are what puts the film in a horror genre, at the beginning we see one of the victim point of view very blurry this could be because the main character has harmed her of some sort.
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EVALUATION ACTIVITY 2
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
THE HIDDEN IDENTITY OF THE VILLAINS
Many horror films relies upon a well developed villain character and violence in order to draw in audiences and keep them coming back for more.
INFATUATION DECLINE
2011 Directed by Sandra Amoa
SCREAM
1996 Directed by Wes Craven 
HALLOWEEN
2007 Directed by Rob Zombie
The social characteristics of these character can be classified as 'alienation', they represent people who believe them selves as the 'out group' and they tend so isolate them self from the rest of the world because they think they do not fit in or are not accepted by society.The villains are unpredictable because they are not noticed and that is their advantage over the rest of the world;their victims,using this advantage to stalk or find information about them. Not only do their attitudes,behaviour and values differ from regular people, but the mise-en-scene in terms of their costume shows their isolation;they do not want their identity known, for example wearing masks or hoods. In contrast the victims tend to be sociable, identified as vain or smart, regular lives in terms of occupations and social lives and most of the times popular, they are known as the 'in-group'. The different social groups within the movie appeals to a wider audience. The majority of villains are males which show the stereotypical view that males have more strength and tends to use it to prey others,
These characters have a similarity of having a hidden identity in the movies, it creates the mystery and also allows the audience to imagine how they look, they are hiding behind a mask and even though my character is not hiding behind a mask, the audience still do not know his identity and that adds a touch of mystery. Their clothes/costumes tend to be dark colour such as black or grey, these colours represents rebellion, evil, outcast from family or society,threatening and much more, also the dark harsh light used in some scene symbolises the villain is near (found in my movie). Theses are the element that makes these villains character effective and able to grab the audience attention. Their roles in the movies are the same;they are the killers and the elements of horror comes from them for example the killing, however the villain in my movie actually interacts with his victims in terms of getting emotional attached to them, getting involved in a relationship with them and much more.
The villains in 'Scream' and 'Halloween' were slow methodical masked killer who never spoke and delighted in targeting teens and then displaying their bodies in order to scare new victims, but in contrast my villain had major lines in the movie and his killing of victims tend to secretive and swift then disposing of the body. Another difference between my villain and the other villains is that he is not physical scary.
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EVALUATION ACTIVITY 3
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
'directors commentary' explaining which institution might distribute my media product.
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EVALUATION ACTIVITY 4
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Teens Adults
The primary audience for my media product would be teenager of all gender and race from 15 to 20 however anyone above 20 may watch as well, however they would be known as my secondary targeted audience. I have targeted both genders because through my questionnaire I concluded that women also enjoyed horror/thrillers and this widens my audience.
Having realising that the majority of horror films audience tend to be teenagers,this making my movie a 15 or 18 certified, My movie would give my audience the thrill,it would get them scared as well as excited with the danger of killing and stalking as well as the horrific music.
The element of surprise and shock comes through the music , because of the different levels of the music it starts of with a slow pace when nothing is happening but when the music starts to build up the audience knows and acknowledges that something is about to happen because of the tension being built,the suspense and the build up of the music raises up at the same time as their fear and when that final shock or event happens whether it is the killing of a character or a scary face ,we get the best reaction from the audience, which is their screams. This allows the audience to explore their fears and challenge there mind, making them my perfect audience. Because my targeted audience are teenagers most characters in my film are also teens,this gives them a chance to relate and feel a connection with the characters. Through the satisfaction of my audience with my film,my movie would be able to make it to the IMDb charts and also the box office charts, making it popular and possibly worldwide recognised,my audience is where the profit of my movie would be due to their purchases of the movie and going to watch it in the cinema. My movie is a crossover-genre 'horror/romance' this helps it to target more audience and again widens the audience, so from national audience it could move on to having an international audience Having realising that the majority of horror films audience tend to be teenagers,this making my movie a 15 or 18 certified, My movie would give my audience the thrill,it would get them scared as well as excited with the danger of killing and stalking as well as the horrific music.
The interest of teenager tends to be in MUSIC, SOCIAL NETWORKS,SPORTS,SHOPPING, INTERACTING WITH PEER GROUPS among other things, they are stereotypical viewed as living in their own world and excluding the rest of the worlds cultures and view. I believe teenagers would shop at urban stores such as JD SPORTS. The genre of music teenagers would listen to would be HIP-HOP, ROCK N ROLL, RN B and POP and this is based on the images of the artist who sings these music, they tend to be young,image conscious and unique sense of style. TV programs which would be favoured by teenagers would be TV drama such as 90210 and sub-TV drama such as teen drama proven by the number of people that watched misfits second season episode 1. another program British teen may favour would be EASTENDERS because they can relate to it, in terms of culture,language,location etc, there is more of a connection between consumers and suppliers.
Mobile phones, electronic devices such as the iPod linking to music, movies, television programs, websites, sports, video games and clothes are heavily marketed and often popular amongst teenagers, thus they are the targeted audience.
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How did you attract/address your audience?
I made this video explaining how i attracted or address my audience
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EVALUATION ACTIVITY 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
From constructing this product i have learned about and how to use technologies such as the cameras,MAC computers and tripods. I have now developed skills from first hand experience with the equipments on how to record footage and how to work a camera. From how to replay,zoom in and out,focus amongst other things. I learned how a tripod is very important when recording a film, in order for the shots to be still and not shakey, a tripod must be used to steady the camera. With the mac computer i feel that it is my biggest achievement, i can now properly use a mac, not just for editing films but also for anything else, i am not as confused about it as i was at the start of this project. I have learned how to explore different camera angles and have developed my camera skills further.
This is of me practising with the camera before we started shooting the film.
- CAMERA- i used the camera to record the drawings i had made on my storyboard making it into visual image and movement shots. My school provided amazing,HD suitable cameras in which i used some of our budget to rent over night to film, i filmed in HD because i wanted my audience to watch this movie in the highest quality possible.
- TRIPOD-A tripod is a general term for a stand or support with three legs. The tripod is what i used to support the camera in order for all my shorts be still and not shaky unless i intended for that particular scene to be shaky making it a point of view shot.
me using the MAC feature finale cut express to edit.
- MAC COMPUTER- the MAC computer was used in editing,i discovered the great features of a mac computer during this project such as final cut in which i used to edit my movie,i get complete manual control over my sounds and video and it produces perfect movies at the end also i used final cut express to edit my dairy entries,director's commentary,evaluation activity 2 where i filmed my self and edited. Using i-movie to create titles for my movie,learning how to render and the use of rendering while editing to generate an audio or frames to the correct model.
- BLOGGER- lastly through this project i was introduced to blog spot. Blogger is a blog publishing service that allows private or multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. It is easier to use blogger than completing paperwork, it is more fun due to choosing colours, pictures,uploading videos and etc also it is quicker for to type than write up things.
All of these new technology that i have come to acknowledged through media studies will now become a part of my life,because i will continue to use these soft wares and mac programs for individual use.
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EVALUATION ACTIVITY 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?
For the preliminary task, we were asked to make a short continuity sequence that included a conversation, someone entering through a door, and using the 180° rule and other techniques such as shot-reverse-shot. From producing my preliminary task i gained the confident and knowledge i need to make my final movie much better in terms of camera shots and angles, editing and script. If I had not done my preliminary, I would have lacked the experience of creating a movie and about the whole idea of filming. One of the differences was the duration; the main task was much longer, and we had to include much more content. We had longer time to produce the main task, but it was more difficult and time-consuming, so all-in-all, more challenging. The planning of the preliminary was very brief, we did not have to make it perfect or put as much effort into it as the main task because it was more like a practise. We used the college's premises as location where as in the main task we booked locations and had a variety of locations as well as the college also asking actors to participate.
The production process for the preliminary task was very calm because we did not have much to do whereas due to lack of time the real film was more hectic and more organised. The shooting process of the real film was the same as the shooting process for the preliminary task because I found the way I had done it worked well for me as the person on camera duties, for example shooting a scene several times to make sure when editing i have more variety and something to fall back on.
The editing for the preliminary task was not as time consuming as the real film, it involved only cutting the clips together; however in our final task, we had to do a lot more editing and ensure it made sense and flowed, using careful continuity sequences and techniques enhancing its professional look. I edited many different versions of the sequence of the real movie on different time lines to see if other order of the sequence suited best, and i made comparisons whereas in the editing of the preliminary task it was all done on one timeline.
The production process for the preliminary task was very calm because we did not have much to do whereas due to lack of time the real film was more hectic and more organised. The shooting process of the real film was the same as the shooting process for the preliminary task because I found the way I had done it worked well for me as the person on camera duties, for example shooting a scene several times to make sure when editing i have more variety and something to fall back on.
The editing for the preliminary task was not as time consuming as the real film, it involved only cutting the clips together; however in our final task, we had to do a lot more editing and ensure it made sense and flowed, using careful continuity sequences and techniques enhancing its professional look. I edited many different versions of the sequence of the real movie on different time lines to see if other order of the sequence suited best, and i made comparisons whereas in the editing of the preliminary task it was all done on one timeline.
At the end of the preliminary task, i was very happy with the practise movie i had produced. For someone who had never filmed, edited or plan a movie in my life , i believe the preliminary task mead it easier for me to move on to my real movie taking with me all that i had learned from the practise task. However I made mistakes, which was good because it meant I didn’t have to make the same ones in the actual film task. For example, I learnt to leave a pause between dialogue lines, also not to make unnecessary cuts and be careful when filming so i did not have to have cuts in scenes.
