Evaluation

By Danielle Wilson

Creeper
Using, developing and challenging the
conventions of a horror film.
In many ways our film fits with the conventions that subscribe to the criteria of a
successful horror movie.
The crazed killer standing outside with a knife and the amounts of blood used
in most horror films is clearly show in our opening.
Typical conventions for a horror film would be a killer, a victim, blood, a big
house, and a scary night time setting.
We have included all of these in our film so it would definitely be recognised by
our audience as being in the horror genre.
We made sure our victim was wearing white and our killer was in dark clothing,
this was representing the personalities in the two characters, as in the victim
is pure and innocent in white and the killer is dark and evil. This is also
fitting in with the typical conventions of a horror film.
We also realised that villains are normally men, and we didn’t go against this
idea, we thought it was more effective to have a male villain/killer.
We have also filmed a lot of our shots in darkness, this was hard but again we
thought that our whole film being in a darker setting would be better at
creating that scary atmosphere which is needed for a successful horror film
which is again helping it maintain them typical horror film conventions.
 Representations of social groups
• The villain: Represented to be male, this is stereotyping the fact that we always relate horrific
murders of women to men.
Men are seen as the dominant sex, and nowadays some of them feel like they have to prove that,
by doing very disturbing things, and this could lead to women being the victim of rape, a violent
attack or even murder.
• We wanted to have a male villain because of the fact they are seen to be dominant, and being
able to do whatever they want. We have also made our killer seem to be quite young, due to the
hoodie he is wearing, which people normally associate with the younger generation.

We have used Levi-Strauss’s theory of binary oppositions, by juxtaposing the representation of our
villain and victim.

• The victim: Represented to be a young female, this is showing her to be defenceless. It is also
shown in the setting, the bathroom, with candles creating a soft relaxed light, this could also
represent her mood. The girl has blond hair, blond haired girls are stereotypically seen to be
stupid and and venerable to everyone, she wears a white dressing gown this could be to show
her innocence to the situation that is about to happen. Also we have put our film so as the
audience is knowing that the killer is coming for her but she has no idea. This again shows the
vulnerability of her age and gender.
 What kind of media institutions might distribute
your film and why?
We have chosen to rate our film as a 15.
This is because there is implied violence, and some gory scenes.
I believe the best production company to produce our film would be Lionsgate, I thought
this because after looking at the films they have previously produced I thought our
film would be appropriate for the things they are interested in. They have produced
films such as SAW, Hostel and the Haunting in Connecticut.
All these films are more gory than physiological which is what our film is like.
I also think our film should show in American and British cinemas such as
Cineworld, Odeon and SR.
I think that after leaving cinemas it should be available to buy from
Places such as HMV, Lovefilm.com and Whsmith.
I think these would be the best places because younger people tend to go
In them quite a lot, and it means it would be available to buy online and in
Stores, which means our target audience would be able to purchase it without difficulty.
However if we wanted our film to be more low budget, we would go with more of an
independent company such as Cineova, which is a non profit organisation. And has
more experience in distributing low budget films in the same genre as ours.
 Who would be the audience for your
media product?
• This would be a good film for anyone aged 15 or above, this is because I
have chosen to give it a 15 age certificate.
• The audience would also need to be a fan of horror films since this is the
genre of our film, and we want our audience to enjoy what they are
watching.
• The fact that we have used a teenage cast may also attract a good teenage
audience because they may feel that they can connect with the characters
better.
• After showing it to some people aged 15-17 we have had positive feedback,
after testing it on our preferred target audience and receiving good
feedback, it means that a big production company such as Lionsgate would
be interested in taking on our film knowing it would make money, due to its
pre released interest.
 How did you attract/address your
audience?
We addressed the audience by first carrying out a questionnaire, this
then gave us the information on what people like in horror films and
what they would expect. From this we got the initial idea of what we
should include to make sure our audience would enjoy our film and for
it to be successful.
After making the first rough draft of our film we gave a preview to a
selection of people aged 15-17, from this we were given feedback on
what we could improve on. Our film received good feedback and most
people said they felt it was quite eerie, and the best part was when
you see the hand covered in blood, and also the candles.
However our music was letting us down, after knowing this we
changed our music around several times, and now we are happy that
it fits our film perfectly and reflects that eerie feel.
By giving our audience input into our film I feel that it will make it more
successful because you are giving the viewer exactly what they want.
 What have you learnt about technologies from
the process of constructing this product?
• Before this course I had never touched a video recorder, however now I can defiantly
say that I am able to use one efficiently, I have also learnt how to upload the camera
footage onto a Mac computer.
• I have learnt how to use a Mac computer, and how to use specific programmes such
as imovie and garage band. In the imovie programme I have learnt how to edit my
film, by changing speeds, colours, lengths and volume of my film clips.
• Garage band was hard to use at first but after going to the CLC and being taught to
use it I can say that I’m confident in making my own music with this programme. I am
now able to change the sound and tempo of instruments, create loops and record to
put it into the song.
• I have also learnt how to make a good blog, which included adding labels, including
external links, embedding videos from youtube and uploading photos.
 Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel
you have learnt in the progressing from it to the full?

From the preliminary task I learnt about basic camera shots needed in any kind
of film, and also the 180 degree rule. This would be all be important when
filming ‘creeper’.
I have also learnt about good editing skills, this wasn’t really needed much in
the preliminary task, because you had filmed the same thing just at different
angles, so when it came to the real film you had to make sure that you could
edit clips together without it looking messy.
I learnt new editing skills since the preliminary task, such as slowing clips down,
making them faster, putting effects on top, and changing the volume, we did
not get a chance to do anything like this in the preliminary task because it
was just basic editing.
And finally that it is important to storyboard your work, we done it with our
preliminary task and we done it with ‘creeper’, this is because you need a
set plan before you start filming so you are able to get exactly what footage
you want.