Critical Reflection

 How do your products represent social groups or issues?

My film touches upon two main topics, breaking and entering, and murder. People who have their homes broken into would understand this issue best. It is traumatizing to have your home broken into and the victims can be left feeling vulnerable. In the film, the main character Myles forgets to lock his door, (which is such a common occurrence in households) because he was too excited over a package that came in the mail. My home was personally broken into and I as well as my family felt as though we were trapped behind closed doors and had no clue what was going on. We wanted to stop what was going on and defend our home, but we were too scared to do anything. This can happen to any social group, no one is above this possibility. This movie was originally filmed with the mentality that locking doors is very important. There are 4 different doors used, multiple ones are locked and used in almost every scene. I wanted to stress how locking doors can save you from an unfortunate situation. Many people experience something like an attempted break-in or possibly a murder attempt. I also wanted to touch on how people feel if there is a death related to a break-in. The main character cries out “what did you do to my sister” in the film, after seeing a picture of her with a pole through her face. This is to represent the stress, and confusion one goes through in a situation like this, where they are not sure of what is going on.

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

There were multiple types of branding I did for my film. This included a website, postcard/poster, and social media accounts, as well as a YouTube channel. I used these elements to spread the message of my film by directing it to the younger generation who frequents social media with specific teasers and wording. I also used Facebook to target some of the older population by using more professional language and teasers to get adults interested. The website I created includes a small description of my short film and pictures of the main character. I also included mentions of the date and release location. This information is on all the different platforms which can be used by anyone, including those who come across it and are out of the targeted range. People can use social media with filters, for example, if people have their Instagram filtered to show horror or thriller movies, my movie will most likely come across their screen more than once. For those who are not interested in horror or thriller, they will not be affected by the targeting of my film. I kept the viewers of my film engaged with the film before it was finished by updating behind the scenes of props and progress updates on social media. Each of my media websites has a picture of the film's main character with his hood up as well as the killer with his weapon. I did this to entice the viewer into looking at the entire film.

How do your products engage with the audience?

My products include social media accounts which are enforced to engage with the audience. My film specifically is based around the age gap between teens and young adults who are the primary candidates to use social media websites such as Twitter and Instagram, now for Facebook that one targets the audience based around older age as it was created long ago. My Instagram contains certain audience attractions, now these are specifically targeted to engage with the audience by asking within the comments of the post why or what may happen, it’s a bit of a puzzle as my post contains certain aspects of my horror genre while also pertaining to have the audience interact with said post. Twitter has the same effect with certain young teens being able to connect with the movie progress by commenting and giving their preferences. My other products consist of my postcard now with this card comes information that everyone can gather, however, the cover art is more appealing to the younger thrill-seeking teens who may have first looks and interests in watching my film. The more color-based it is with horror aspects the more connection it will bring with the younger audience. My final product contains the website, this website included a brief description of my short film to engage the audience on the suspense of what can be expected, as well as certain little details like the main picture designed behind the horror genre and certain rating and reviews from big companies and titles which are known by many people between ages.

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

The genre in which my film was produced was horror. The research put into my products were contained from old classic horror titles and projects. The portrayal of a burglar within my film was taken from the idea behind multiple horror films about home invasion. I researched certain weapons that were shown in multiple horror films including knives, pipes, or bats. Types of weapons like guns and crossbows are unlikely to be seen in horror, which is why the research put into the weapon was consistent through many horror movies through past time. It is much more common for household items such as bats or pipes to be used in attacks as they are more likely to be had. My title is also connected to the research behind creative titles of movies based on home invasion, recent examples were “Alone”, and “Locked’, while my title was “doors”. Doors was a pitch idea behind the breaking and entering of multiple spaces which included several doors throughout the movie, the target behind the title was an obstacle faced within the movie to cause suspense and overall bring effect into the horror aspect of a man being kidnapped and taken into multiple rooms as he travels through the house alone and eventually killed. I also researched the horror film “Psycho” were the entire film brought a feeling of suspense and thrill just like any other horror film, but it was entirely silent. I used this in my film to keep my dialogue to a minimum and try to build suspense with the visuals of my movie.