So far I have learnt the following;
I have a better understanding of the history of the horror genre and I now understand where the roots of horror came from and how events such as world wars can have effect on people and the media. I also know how the horror genre has grown and the different directions it has moved in for example in the 2000’s moving into torture porn, plus I now know and understand what video nasties are and the impact they had on society due to the fact the British Board of Film Classification was not allowed to censor any video tapes, their power was only in the cinemas. I understand the different codes and conventions the horror genre has in relation to advertisement in magazines and posters for example; the importance of the images and the style of text. I also now know about different horror magazines and I will use this knowledge when I start to create my own magazine cover. I have also seen how the style of these magazines and posters have changed over the years as the horror genre has gotten more and more gory. I understand the important theories in the media industry for example; the narrative structure of Todorov and how many classic movies follow this, the character types explained by Propp for example the helper and how these are present in basically any day modern movie and the binary oppositions explained by Claude Levi-Strauss for example good vs evil. I can also talk about these theories as I have analysed horror films for example The Crazies. I understand how women are presented in the horror genre and how this links to the theory of final girl explained by Carol Clover and the theory of male gaze explained by Laura Mulvey. I also understand what characteristics both the male gaze female and the final girl must have in order to take this role on. I can explain how the attitude towards women in the media have changed and how much of the attitude has in fact stayed the same with many roles women playing in the media link well to middle class ideology of the role of a female. I have learnt how to analyse a horror film properly discussing different codes and conventions of the horror genre and understanding the importance of the score within the movie and how it sets up the scene. Yet again I can discuss different theories in relation to the film and understand how the key characters fit into the character types explained by Propp. I understand the different common code and conventions of trailers in general for example a voice over. I can also analyse Horror movie trailers which has helped give me a couple of ideas for my own. I have learnt the importance of music within trailers and how many different camera angles, shots for example close ups and the pace in which they change help build tension and grab the viewer. Due to this research I have a better understanding on different elements which work well within a Horror trailer and how they never show the resolution. Due to my work on the movie “The woman in black” I have learnt the importance of advertisement and how using different media platforms allows you to reach your primary target audience easily. I have also learnt and have a better understanding in the way we categorise our target audiences using different methods for example the Hollywood quadrant. Finally I have learnt what a film disturber is and what the role involves, I understand yet again the importance of advertisement in relation to the reach and how different media platforms are used to reach different target audiences. I have learnt what a distribution and marketing plan and have a better understanding in the different roles used while advertising a product or in my case a movie.