Hyde Productions Gmail Communication

In order to send files for the poster e.g. billing block, we used Gmail. This was useful as you could send one email to all members of the group. The billing block was something we can to share and was already done by one member of the group, so in terms of everyone having the same one we had to save the already done copy.

The Team

This Production company includes [from left to right] Chantelle Locsin, Amber Byrne, Chantelle Anonuevo and Cedric Onchuru.

Amber Byrne:

Director, Head Editor and Music Producer. 

This is an important role for making the trailer, she helps keep everyone organised and keeps the shots and actors on track with the trailer. She also has to keep the trailer focused on it's genre with both the music and editing to help both work together to make the trailer give a good thrilling sense both visually and auditory.

Chantelle Anonuevo:

Co-Director, Co-Editor, Producer and Vlogger.

This is another important role for the trailer, having assistance with directing and editing to have a second opinion on what is done. Plus she made the plot from the start so has the visual ideas for the trailer so would know what is needed to fulfil the vision of the trailer. She also vlogs the backstage process.

Chantelle Locsin:

Costume and Props Director, Research and Planning Organiser and Vlog Editor.

This is a role that takes time, money and effort and she puts that in, inside and outside of the group or filming set. She helps research and plan what is needed and what would inspire the trailer, and in addition to that she would buy the props needed that'll help emphasise the iconography of the chosen genre. She also edits the vlogs to help produce visual content of the journey of filming.

Cedric Onchuru:

After Effects Editor

This is a role needed to help make the trailer look professional with conventional aspects such as producing an animated production logo, inter titles, trailer dates and mainly of course the film title. Without these conventions, the trailer wouldn't conform to the norms of trailers and appeals to the audience as more than an edited video but a trailer.

The Purge Poster Analysis

The dystopian nature of The Purge makes it relatable to our own work, because we took inspiration from this as well as other dystopian films, such as V for Vendetta, when devising, planning, and creating our own products. Analysing a poster of a similar genre will enable me to utilise some aspects of it in my own, therefore making my work more professional to look at and effective in enticing our target audience. 

The poster as a whole has a sinister vibe, which is captured by use of dark colours and the malicious, if not evil intent seen in the eyes of the person behind the mask. This expression is juxtaposed with the smile of the mask, which is representative of how no one can be trusted on the night of the purge. 

The texture of the poster itself is quite rough, and looks grainy. This could be a reflection of the hardships the characters of the film will experience in their efforts to "survive the night", as well as showing the chaotic nature of the purge- it's a rough night on everyone and no one is safe. 

The text at the top of the page promotes the producer of the film by naming other successful films that they have worked on, enticing the audience by associating the success of the producer's previous films with the potential this film has to also be successful. The text in the middle of the page is practically in the golden third of the poster, which draws the eye to it. In 3 short lines the plot, name and release date of the film are revealed to the audience which ensures that, even without trying, someone looking at this poster will have enough information to make a decision on whether or not they will want to see this film.

Target Audience collage

This is a collage showing traits we expect the audience we are targeting to have.

Target Audience Research

Audience Research Case Study

Film Pitch

Genre Mood Board- Dystopian and Stalker/Slasher Hybrid

Genre Film Poster Analysis

This is my film poster analysis for the dystopian film genre. I chose to analyse the "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" poster because it has been one of the most popular films of it's type in the recent years and feel that we could use some of the techniques seen in this poster and adapt them to fit our own. 

History and Background of Genre

Stalker/Slasher

Slasher/slasher is a sub-genre of Horror films but mainly due to the involvement of psychopathic killers who stalks and plans murders that are usually random or many within a day etc. The psychopathic killer usually has a sort of disguise like a mask to remain anonymous to the public.

The slasher film as a genre can be connected to a real-life event in the 1957 a man named Ed Gein was known to be a psychopathic killer, who was obsessed with dead human bodies which started to become an extreme case collecting them. This real-life event of Gein inspired a book called Psycho by Robert Bloch in which lead killer movies to be created in the 60's like Hush, hush sweet Charlotte,  What ever happened to baby Jane, Maniac, Satans Bed and Strait Jacket alongside Psycho itself. There are also recent movies within the 2000 till now like Cherry Falls (2000), Cry Wolf (2005) and the well known final destination.

Horror is the main genre of this whole slasher/stalker kind of films so we have to ensure to also have knowledge on this genre as a whole too. Horror's aim is to frighten the audience and induce the whole feeling of terror and horror by creating an eerie and frightening atmosphere throughout the whole film.

Dystopian future

Dystopia is a community or a society that is undesirable and is the opposite of utopia. Dystopian future genres concept produces these undesirable disrupted futures such as dehumanisation, corrupted governments, environmental disaster etc.  The idea of dystopia was cacotopia before hand, which is the word for the imagined seating of the worst government.

One of the earliest dystopian films is Blade Runner from 1982, and American neo-noir dystopian science fiction film based in Los Angeles in November 2019. It is about humans being genetically engineered replicants who are indistinguishable from adult humans created by a mega corporation.

They were made essentially for labor and entertainment purposes and are illegal on earth, if they make it to earth they are to be killed. A Blade runner, a hunter of replicants seek these replicants who wish for their lifespan to be extended.

Films like this with a futuristic disrupted society has helped influence films now like The Purge, The Hunger Games, In Time and Divergent.

Genre Research - Institutional Context

Top rated slasher feature films (IMDb)

-Se7en (Drama, Mystery, Thriller) [1995] - 8.7/10

-The Silence of Lambs (Crime, Drama, Thriller) [1991] - 8.6/10

-Psycho (Horror, Mystery, Thriller) [1991] - 8.6/10

-The Shining (Horror) [1980] - 8.5/10

-Halloween (Horror) [1978] - 7.9/10

-Deep Red (Horror, Mystery, Thriller) [1975] - 7.7/10

-Grindhouse (Action, Horror, Thriller) [2007] - 7.7/10

-Santa Sangre (Drama, Horror) [1989] - 7.7/10

-Man Bites Dog (Comedy, Crime, Drama) [1992] - 7.6/10

-American Psycho (Crime, Drama) [2000] - 7.6/10

Top-Grossing slasher feature films (IMDb)

Hannibal (Crime, Drama, Thriller) [2001] - $165,091,464

Scary Movie (Comedy) [2000] - $157,019,771

The Silence of the Lambs (Crime, Drama, Thriller) [1991] - $130,742,922

Scream (Crime, Horror, Mystery) [1996] - $103,001,286

Scream 2 (Crime, Horror, Mystery) [1997] - $101,334,374

Se7en (Drama, Mystery, Thriller) [1995] - $100,125,643

Red Dragon (Crime, Thriller) [2002] - $92,930,005

Scream 3 (Horror, Mystery) [2000] - $89,138,076

Freddy vs. Jason (Horror) [2003] - $82,163,317

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Horror) [2003] - $80,148,261

Film Productions and Distributions for some 'Slasher' and 'Dystopian Future' feature films

The Purge (Dystopian Future)

Film Production Companies

- Blumhouse Productions

- Platinum Dunes

- Media Rights Capital

Distributed by:

- Universal


The Silence of Lambs (Slasher)

Distributed by:

- Orion Pictures


Divergent (Dystopian Future)

Film Production Companies

- Red Wagon Entertainment

- Summit Entertainment

Distributed by:

- Lionsgrate


Scream [series] (Slasher)

Film Production Company

- Woods Entertainment

Distributed by:

- Dimension Films

- Konrad Pictures

- Outerbanks Entertainment


Hannibal (Slasher)

Film Production Company

- Scott Free Productions

Distributed by:

- Universal Pictures

From the research of some of the films listed, it has come down to a conclusion that Universal Pictures seem to be one of the top distributors for slasher-feature films as well as dystopian future feature-films. It's one of the main and most known film manufacturing companies in the film and media industry. Universal Pictures works with the parent company known as NBC Universal and is also known as one of Hollywood's "Big Six" film studios. The company offers range of production services such as set lighting, grip to proper and special effects. For post-production media services, it also has on offer a variety of services such as sound editorial & design to picture editorial. Universal Pictures is mainly known for its creating and distributing of theatrical and non-theatrical entertainment on film. The Purge: Anarchy has achieved a total gross of $71,562,550 and is ranked number 108 overall the movies produced by Universal Pictures. The company is also in a partnership with Blumhouse Productions, Focus Features, Illumination Entertainment, Laika, Legendary and Working Title.

Blumhouse Productions is an company in partner with Universal Pictures. It's an multi-media American Film Production Company that's founded and run by Jason Blum. The film production company produces low-budget genre films such as Paranormal Activity and Inisidious. The majority of the films Bluehouse Productions produces seem to mainly be horror, thriller and slasher films such as The Purge and The Purge: Anarchy. The film production company is known for it's debut movie 'Paranormal Activity' where the budget is estimated to be about $15,000 and grossed at $107,918,810 in 2010. The film production has more of a known-title within the horror-genre films since for Halloween 2012, they did an event called 'Blumhouse of Horror' which is an innovative haunted house experience located in Downtown Los Angeles; an escape game experience as a sort of marketing for the next upcoming film 'The Purge: Breakout'.

Horror Repertoire of Elements

Repertoire of elements accc from Ced-1014

Trailer Mood Board

This is a mood board showing iconography relevant to our trailer.

Influential Genre Examples

These are the two most influential films I feel are in the stalker/slasher and dystopian genres.

Film Website Analysis

1) Analyse the design style of the website

Immediately we are drawn to the image of the main character in the centre of the screen, and we notice the sword he is holding- a clear indication of the battles to be expected in the final installment of The Hobbit trilogy. The background gives us an idea of the setting of the film, implying that the main action of the film will take place here. The banners at the top and bottom of the webpage make it easy to navigate both within the website and to external social media sites for the trilogy.

2) How does the website market the genre of the film?

The website automatically takes you to the trailer of the film and this provides a perfect opportunity to market the genre of the film. 

3) What does it offer the potential customer?

There is a "fan contest" link to offer fans of the trilogy potential reward. It also offers the potential customers the chance to keep up to date on the last film on various social networks in order to make information/teasers more easily accessible. Finally, there is a shop available from the website that offers merchandise to the customers.

4) Does it have any other additional viral marketing links? Why are these effective?

Links to Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Google, Instsgram, and Tumblr are all shown on the bottom banner on the website. Most people will have an account on at least one of these social medias sites, thus reaching out to many people and expanding the potential audience for these films.

My Film Consumption

I go to the cinema approximately once every 2 months, and some of the films I have watched recently include The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and The Other Woman. I buy roughly 10 DVDs per year, the most recent one being Frozen (I regret nothing :D), but I hardly make any use of demand TV services or film downloads. The convergence technology I use is my laptop, and other than that I only watch films on the television or in the cinema. The only film based website I really use is IMDB. 

Welcome to The Blog

This is the first post on my A2 Media Studies blog. Over the course of the next year I'll be posting about my research, planning, construction, and evaluation processes.

Here we go...