Our product “CAPTUM” entails an entitled teenage sister who takes her brother’s kindness and gift for granted. Her ungratefulness ends with her being haunted by an entity that longs to be set free from its unfortunate fate. With that being said our Social group focuses on Teenagers & Entitled people with the main social Issue of Entitlement.

 

     The main Protagonist of our product KC is a representation of said “entitled teens”. Our opening title helped establish that KC was a wealthy character by starting in a relatively large living room. Further characteristics were implemented such as her entitlement by having KC rudely rejecting her brother’s gift and throwing said gift back at him. Her dialogue & her room’s set design also helped establish semiotics that again point to her being entitled and ungrateful, example; MAC Laptop, Luxurious bags, Large room, etc. Furthermore, She was also briefly seen scrolling through her Twitter feed scoughing over seeing her friends’ pictures, being somewhat jealous. A representation of her ungratefulness towards her wealth and the opportunity she is in, the opportunity of being in the upper class.

 

     On the other hand, the antagonist referred to as the “Entity” found itself in the opposite position KC is in. The Entity is Trapped in the Super 8 camera that had been gifted by Joshua, KC’s brother, to KC. Which was then angrily turned down in disgust by KC. It takes notice of her entitlement and ungratefulness thus begins haunting KC in hopes that it is accepted. With that said, the antagonist is meant to represent retribution. The entity haunts the protagonist as an act of vengeance for rejecting and taking it for granted.

 

     To address the product’s branding, We made sure to have a continuous use of the super 8 film style. Said style was inspired by the horror film Sinister, where the demon “Bagul” had a similar connection with the camera. We made sure to reinforce this the style by showing the audience the perspective of the super 8 film when ever hauntings happen. The camera in retrospect represents the eyes of the entity. What the camera sees, it sees. The team and I also included the super 8 film frame on our marketing materials such as film posters, teasers and post card. 

 

     The colour red, inspired by 1977’s Suspira, also plays a crucial role in branding, as it was commonly used throughout the film, whenever KC was in distress. Thus was also included in the film poster, along with the poster is the continuous font used called Angst. Valerie and I chose the font as it matched the convention of a crooked handwritten font commonly used in other horror films. The same font can be see in our opening title and other promotional materials.

 

     The targeted demographic for our product are horror enthusiasts.  I believe that these fanatics are our primary audience because our media text was able to meet conventions of the genre, along with our creepy or eerie branding in which would also make them our dominant readers. While our secondary audience would be teenagers or parents.

 

     Our product was able to engage with the audience through the means of mystery & Moral conflict. Being a product of the horror genre, it was a must that we gave the audience a sense of mystery on what it haunting KC by not clearly giving the entity a physical form. Allowing the audience to engage their imagination on what they think it is. I believe that this “mystery” is an important role than seeps fear into the heads of the media consumers.

 

     The moral conflict was also evident for the audience to engage in, allowing the audience to evaluate their morals and perhaps judge KC’s acts of entitlement. KC’s action would then have an effect on the audience’ sympathy towards KC, feasibly thinking whether she deserves the hauntings & her fate or not.

 

     The team and I were able to attain ideas on the conventions of horror while researching for conventions and tips for making horror films. To be more specific, I learned from online sources like Youtube, other blog sites, and primarily other horror films.

 

     Films that I used as a guide for my final product’s concept were 2020’s Come Play, 2016’s Lights Out, 2012’s Sinister and the classic 1977’s Suspira. The films mentioned above truly impacted and influenced the concept of "CAPTUM" as it gave insight in challenging conventions, for example Sinister. After watching the film Sinister, I took notice of its use of the vintage Super 8 camera, how it was able to heightened the film’s creep factor. We adapted the camera idea, which contributed in meeting the convention of a haunted object (like Anabelle from Conjuring), yet still challenges it as there aren’t many film that make use of old cameras. While the 2020 indie horror “Come Play” inspired our film to take on the idea of the entity being trapped in a device, a perfect example of how conventions were challenged.

 

     The Costume/character design on the other hand, was inspired by the 2016 film “Lights Out”. The entity was made to look as dark as possible so that only its silhouette could be seen. This allows the audience to be mystified and wonder what the entity actually looks like, following the horror convention of “fear of the unknown”. 

 

     Youtube videos was extremely helpful with editing and practical effects. The Glowing eyes effect was achieved through using reflective paper and a low light. I learn this and more from David F. Sandberg’s How to direct and in the making of “Lights Out” videos. Other Youtube Channels like Film Riot and Aputure also contributed in figuring out how to light scenes and further practical/digital effects.

 

     In conclusion, I was able to implement tips and lessons from learned from my class, Youtube videos and films. Creating a simulated experience of being a legitimate production team that completely forms the mise en scene, semiotics and other elements that improved our horror short “CAPTUM”.