AS Level Media

0:08 - This shot is the first thing we see in the opening of 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'. It appears flickering black and red which suggests blood and death that could foreshadow the future in the film. The font is in the centre of the frame in bold, block capitals and this shows its importance as New Line Cinema are the production company. The 'From' isn't in bold and is smaller than the actual name because obviously it isn't as significant. It is important to have the production institution at the beginning of the film because it lets the audience know straight away who are the producers and in many cases what genre the film is.

1:05 - This shot of the 'claws' of Freddie Cruger is show pretty much straight away which puts the audience on edge from the beginning. It is a iconic part of the film and is shown before the title so even if you are unsure what film your watching you would know as soon as you see the claws. The red of the jumper and the blade both suggests death is on the horizon. The dark shades and objects behind the hand sets the scene of what looks like a workshop and this suggests he is indoors as there is no natural light, therefore he could be underground.

1:10 - The title appears at 1 minute and 10 seconds. 'Nightmare' is in bold, block capitals and in red which represents blood and this links to the genre of the film. 'On elm street' is in white that stands out from the red but has no real dominance on the screen, this also applies to the 'A'. The font of 'Nightmare' is rather unusual because it doesn't look scary but almost quite childish, this is symbolic because nightmares are linked with children. The varied height of each letter could also signify a street and the different houses that are located in it.

1:17 - We are first introduced to the woman at about 1 minute 17 seconds which is shown right after the claws of Freddie are seen to cut through a rag. This is also accompanied by a non-diegetic scream noise, this could symbolise that she is his victim. The background is white which represents a dream and this links to the title because obviously you have nightmares in your dreams. She is wearing white that characterises her as pure, innocent and the 'good' one in the film.

2:00 - This next screen grab is a mid shot of behind the woman, again she is still in the white gown however the fact that we are behind her as a audience puts us in the murderers point of view. She is creeping around which builds suspense and the fact we are put in a voyeuristic view of her she seems very vulnerable. The shot shows her looking down the hall way to what looks like an open door way. The hall is quite dark and there is light beaming through the door way which could symbolise that she is on her way to freedom however she is trapped at the moment as she is seen to be in the dark.

2:10 - Again this shot is interesting because it gives the audience a shot which looks like someone is spying on her. The piping is in the way which could represent she is trapped and has no way of escape but not only this the slight tint of red on the bottom of the pipe signifies that blood and death could be on the horizon. You get the feeling she is worried and lost because you wouldn't just be wondering round a place like that in your night gown.

2:46 - She walks above and as the camera pans down we see the shadow and silhouette of a man (circled in the image), this is the first shot we see of the man full figured. The lighting shining from behind him and the smoke above creates a very sinister and eerie atmosphere keeping the audience alert. This also emphasises that he is the villain in the situation. The camera angle is a high shot looking down on the man, who we assume is the villain, this diminishes the character however there is a diagetic sound of an evil, stereotypical villains laugh which shows he knows what he is doing.

3:19 - Before this next shot, the claws are shown tearing a sheet, which is a repeat as this has previously happened, this reinforces the idea that he will murder the girl. The girl is shown one side of the sheet in the light and the man is stood in the dark which shows good Vs evil. We still only see a silhouette of the man so it is still a mystery to the audience who he is. The girl runs off screaming which shows a strong fear of the man however she is running towards a wall which shows she is trapped.

3:28 - In this shot the girl runs into a dead end with a furnace in the background. The burning fire links to death but also hell which could symbolically imply he is from hell. It could also show that she is going to die and end up in hell which makes the audience wonder if she is really that innocent. The juxtaposition between the black and red in the background with the white of her gown again backs up that she is innocent in this situation. This scene is different to the others because in the previous scene she hasn't really had any way of escape whereas in this one, left of the shot, there is a ladder which shows that she could get away.

1. In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Throughout the course of creating an idea and making our film we were always thinking of ways in which we could make sure we addressed the audience to make sure that they could relate to it more. This would mean that the viewers could then get more involved with the film thus enjoying it more. As our film is quite a low budget film the best way to advertise and attract our audience would be to use the internet. Not only because it's a reasonably cheap way to advertise but because our target audience is 18-26 then they will be the most popular people to be on social networking sites. Facebook, Twitter, Youtube were the main three we wanted to put our advertising out to. We would release a short 30 second clip of our movie about 3-4 months before the release date which could include critics views and also the views of some other people, making the movie seem 'terrifying' and 'a must see movie'. This way people will get the 'hype' about the film long before it even comes to cinemas. This would then get people talking about it on social networking sites which as we all know spreads like wildfire. Closer to the release date of the film in cinemas we could release a trailer quite like the one seen in the clip below of 'The Devil Inside'. As you will see it includes tiny clips from the movie but also clips from the premiere at one of the states of the USA. They made the event a big night and showed the premiere at a church. This would build a lot of excitement for the film a while before it came out. Closer to the release date e.g. 3 weeks, we would release a full length trailer including some quick snippets of the most scary bits of the film which will hopefully even make people scared already.