Critical Reflection

How do your products represent social groups or issues?

    Our product illustrates how social groups are represented by presenting two guys of younger age and lower socioeconomic status who take on a camping trip. As soon as they finish setting up the campsite, they decide to explore the surrounding area of the campground, while doing so, Jean (white shirt) brings up a story of a person who had gone missing while exploring the same parts which he had read online. Riley responds that Jean is being ridiculous. Jean then further elaborates that the missing person was a child they once knew. Social groups are represented in the film as camping as a vacation is representative of a person who is young and of a lower socioeconomic class, which defines the two boys. The social issue of kidnappings or missing persons is also represented as young people are common victims to kidnappings and that missing persons reports garner very little attention in news media which explains why Riley does not know anything about the missing person that the boys used to go to school with. The case of the missing person can be further elaborated on as it is made clear that the missing person had nobody with them at the time of going missing, which is a common factor in many kidnappings.

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

    We then elaborated on the theme of missing persons by dramatising it and then applying it as a plot for a horror story. The components we employed to develop a mystery and horror branding include self-recorded footage, editing over a camera screen, and using the time of day (sky getting progressively darker) to employ a sense of time. The components all come together to create an atmosphere and style comparable to one found in the Blair Witch Project. Another element which is incorporated to create a setting that makes the characters vulnerable to mischief is the lack of awareness of the campgrounds history. This example of unfamiliarity of setting is present in a lot of horror films, which may begin with characters visiting a new home or any other uncharted territory which sets the foundation to add any chaos to the story as the characters are given little context to the background of the setting. The costumes and outfits also give branding towards the film as we incorporate eerie costumes made up of robes and masks which are inspired by a series of  AI generated birds who had gone viral online in 2023 because of the sense of mysteriousness and otherworldliness that the images create. We tried to use this to our advantage in the development of the branding of our film as we add to the element of mystery to the missing individual. The time of day in which the story occurs also adds to the element of horror. We shot at dusk rather than in the brilliant sunshine as it gives us a colder and darker color scheme in the production which helps add towards eeriness and associates itself more closely with the horror genre. We added branding after shooting the film by selecting a typeface that would associate itself with the genre of horror. In the cover of the movie, we took a photo with all of the villains together outside of the tent which had been done in order to create a sense of horror and terror. In an effort to maintain a Blair Witch-style atmosphere, we tried to make the acting as if it were a real conversation which included stutters, and pauses.

How do your products engage with the audience?

    We engaged the audience in a variety of ways which included immersiveness, surprise, and the process by which the audience learns as the characters learn. In this, the way in which we filmed, found footage style, had created a feeling as if the audience was there with the characters. The audience is also kept engaged by the element of surprise which occurs a multitude of times throughout the film. We kept the audience engaged through storytelling as well, like when we told the story of the missing boy. Surprise is appears as it is expected that it is just one missing boy, but it appears that he is accompanied with a group. We also use surprise at the end when Jean gets kidnapped and Sam pops out from behind the seat. Our products also engage the audience as we had set up accounts on many platforms which give fans something to pay attention to. Another feature of the film which engages viewers is that the movie ends abruptly where it just cuts off which leaves viewers to imagine what might have happened when he showed up. We thought this would have been a fitting conclusion because it would have allowed us to get audience feedback and see how they wanted to see the film developed beyond the short film's conclusion, should we ever need to make another one instead of being limited to simply repeating the events of the previous one. This also pertains to Samuel's narrative and how others are unaware of his leadership status, which he actually has.

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

    The initial research helped us learn about the principles of horror movies and horror movie creation. Costumes, color schemes, and ideas are all imperative when creating a horror movie. We used scary costumes and cold color schemes to fulfil these. Together, we watched a lot of horror movies and had found many similarities in their plot, and their production. We challenged conventions by taking a Blair Witch project approach on the film and had taken a shot at an unconventional type of horror movie. We also ended it in a way that is similar to Inception where the viewer decides what happens at the end. Other than that, we had done our best to adhere to many horror conventions which is tied in with a short film flow and had done our best to try and stay unique.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎
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