How do you intend to use the four areas of the media theoretical framework to communicate meaning and meet the requirements of your chosen brief? (approx. 400 words)
How do you intend to link your media products to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the digitally convergent nature of your media production?
My brief is to produce an opening scene for a horror television series, aimed at a 16-25-year-old middle and upmarket media literate audience. My series will not be aimed at any specific gender as horror series and films tend to be aimed at both genders. In my research, I have found that horror films and tv series are often set in large family houses. I have chosen to use this because it will fit with my story and is accessible to me and the resources I have. I am also going to set my series at night, which is also a convention of the horror genre. The narrative will follow a teenage girl (who will be relatable and engaging to my young target audience) who is home alone at night, as I have found that this is a common theme in existing films/series. The intention of my TV series is to entertain the audience and I will do this by creating suspense and fear through the use of lighting, pacing, editing, and sound, all of which I have found are importantly used in horror.
As there are few websites for horror TV series, I researched
a range of websites for horror films and Sci-fi TV series. I also found
inspiration from Netflix's website which has various pages for horror TV
series, such as 'The Watcher'. My research has found that most websites used
dark colours (mainly black backgrounds) which I have also used as I think it
helps to reinforce the genre. I will use a large image from my television
product on the home page of my website, with the title of the series in a large,
clear front, as this can be seen in all of the websites I have researched. The
purpose of the website is to promote the series so it will include trailers and
interactive elements such as social media links - a feature that will reflect
my target demographic as most 16-25-year-olds use social media.
The website will promote the television series by including
behind the scenes footage and exclusive clips which will encourage viewers to
watch. In accordance with my research into the codes and conventions of horror
series/film websites, I aim to make the viewer feel that they are entering the
world of the series. This can be seen on the 'Smiler' website as it asks the
question, "what makes you smile?" which engages the viewer by using
direct address.
