My final film trailer

My finished 30 second trailer

My final 15 second trailer

FINAL MAGAZINE FRONT COVER

FINAL POSTER

Question 1

 
INSERT UPDATED VIDEO

Paranormal Activity

 

Here is an effective example of a Paranormal Activity trailer where text has been used to create suspence and give the audience information about the storyline.

 

The Soundtracs I have used in my trailer

 

Sinster soundtrack

Breathing sound effect

Dead silence sound track

 

The Conjuring - Similar 'loosing picture' effect

In terms of location (mise-en-scene) I chose to use one of the most generic settings for my trailer so it was clear from the start of what the genre was. Through my research on existing trailers I found that the most common and most effective was a derelict forest, and as a result I chose to use this setting for my own trailer. From the research I carried out I also found that the most common time of day to shoot was at night. I think this is because people automatically seem to become more scared in darkness, because not as much can be seen, but as the quality of my filming would be better in the daylight I chose to just add the ‘day to night’ effect over the top of all my footage to create a similar effect. Filming I the daylight come to some advantage as it allowed me to create a silhouette when the antagonists are shown following Francesca and Rio into the forest. This I feel acts as a scary effect as the viewer can see the dark outline of the antagonists following the protagonists, making them appear scary and almost ‘unseen’.

A statement to back up my point

Tessa Perkins says stereotypes - can be held about one's own group

"This I believe to be true. The main stereotype about teens is that

they are all ‘thugs’ or ‘chavs’. Although there are many of us that fight this very well indeed, there is defiantly a large minority ofpeople who make this stereotype worse for the rest of us."

 

Link to the site found on

 

 

An example of the protagonist filming themself during a trailer

Horror movie mistakes

Everyone Is an Idiot (to be explained on the slide below)

For a horror film to work, people have to make some pretty awful decisions. Splitting a group up seems especially stupid when dealing with a serial killer who picks people off individually, but horror film characters do it all the time. Inexplicably holding back valuable information when talking to people who might help you (as Ethan Hawke does with his box of snuff films in 'Sinister') offers another example of horror film idiocy. There a whole universe of horror stupidity. But if everyone did the smart thing, we'd have no more horror to watch.

 

Link

          I have cleverly linked this part in the trailer to one earlier by the rhyme 'Twinkle twinkle little star'. I feel this helps to create a sense of continuity within the trailer and almost warns the audience that the antagonists are near.

 

         

         Throughout my trailer I have also followed more conventions in relation to mise-en-scene. I chose for Francesca to wear a red hooded top for two reasons. The first being that the colour red connotes danger and anger and this suggests to the audience that she is the character who is going to get taken in the end. I also chose to dress the two antagonists in pale coloured clothes. I did this to almost trick the audience into thinking that they are not the antagonists because white is a pure and calm colour, connoting no danger. The pale colour could also show that they are ghosts coming back to get Francesca. Finally I chose to dress the antagonists in matching clothes to show to the audience that they are sisters, as this helps the audience understand the storyline better.

         I have chosen to challenge conventions in my trailer so that it stands out from all of the other existing horror trailers that may be shown at the same screening as mine. Although following conventions makes a professional looking trailer, I feel challenging some of them can make a more interesting trailer that stands out as being slightly different, in a good way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question 1

(As seen on my 'analysis of a collection of horror film posters' post)

 

 

From these horror film posters I have found that there is a very dark tone throughout them all. The dark and often black back ground helps to communicate the genre well. I feel the most effective colour for the title on these posters is red. I think this because the colour red connotes evil and danger again relating to the genre of the film. The red colour also helps to look prominent on the black background of the poster. The scratched and often ‘dripping’or ‘elongated’ effect of some of the letters in some titles help to create a spooky effect to promote the film.

I believe every image on these images used has been edited to create a surreal or spooky effect. I plan to edit my image on Photoshop, however I am going to use a screen grab from my trailer to do this so the two products relate directly.

The text in these posters often includes come text or a quote that helps to incise and tease the public to tease the film. The also include important information such as the release date, which is often in a different colour, the actors included in the film, and the name of the film. Along the bottom of the posters there are small logos of the production company which helps promote the films producers.

My final film poster

 

 

I have chosen the colour red to use in my title as this is a very conventional colour for a horror genre poster title. The red colour has many connotations including: danger, evil and fire all which help communicate the genre of the film to the viewer. As a viewer the colour red may spark off other, more personal connotations which will in effect make the viewer think about the film and have it stuck in their mind. The red title links with the red scratch effect I have included of the internet (google.com – dust and scratches) and this again helps to link the different features of the poster together.

The name itself I thought about carefully because I wanted it to mean more than just the name of the film. I thought about this hard and did lots of different research before I came up with the name ‘The Terror’

(as seen in my 'the terror - final name' post)

 

When deciding on the name for my film I chose to look at the different definitions.

1. Extreme fear

" people fled in terror
synonyms: extreme fear, dread, fear and trembling, fright, trepidation, alarm, panic, shock

2. a person, especially a child, that causes trouble or annoyance
synonyms: rascal, devil, imp, monkey, wrench, scamp, mischief-maker, trouble maker.

I have chosen 'The Terror' as the title for my film becasue of the connotations and denotations surrounding the word 'Terror'.

(Sourced from Google ^)

The definition of the word ‘Terror’ has two main meanings, one being extreme fear and the other being the name for a child who causes trouble. This is effective for my film as the genre is horror/paranormally and the first denotation expresses fear. Fear is the emotion that I want the audience to feel when they see my film trailer so I think this works well. However the second definition of the word ‘terror’ is the name for a small child who causes trouble. The antagonist for my film is a young child who is going to cause all trouble and fear in my film so this also works very well with the name in which I have chosen.

I believe people will read the title of my film and instantly know that it is a horror film, this is effective for me as this could make the viewer’s read more about the film as they will already guess the genre without even seeing the trailer. Making the audience read more about my film will almost always end up in them watching the trailer, meaning they should then want to see the whole film as a result.

 

In the main image of my poster only a small piece of Francesca’s face can be seen. I think this is effective as she appears to be screaming, showing that she is scared or possibly possessed. If a member of public was to see this poster I feel they would be able to predict that she is the character who gets taken in the end and this will act as an advantage as it could possibly make them want to know what happens to her in the film. It is conventional to have a scary picture on the films poster as it is used to interest the viewer and show the genre of the film and I think the image on my poster does this well.

 

 

I have included my production logo in the bottom right hand corner of my poster. I did this because as a viewer our eyes work their way left to right whilst making their way from top to bottom, so effectively this is the last thing they will see when looking at the poster. I think it’s important to include on the poster who produced the film however it’s not and shouldn’t be one of the main features in the poster so this is why I have chosen to place it where I have, because it is guaranteed to be seen, even though it is only small.

Overall I think my poster follows many conventions of a horror film poster and I think this is why it looks so effective and realistic. The dark eerie colours alongside with the scratched effects and unusual fonts help  to display the genre of the film well.

Question 1

My final front magazine cover

 

 

I took the inspiration for the unique layout of my front cover from an Empire magazine I came across during my research for this text. Although it may look like there is alot going on, this is the effect I was going for.

 

 

Although the advertisement on the front of this existing magazine front cover is not for a horror film I liked the overall look it gave. It caught my eye how it looked like the text was being pulled into the middle of the page which also draws the viewer’s eye into the main picture. In terms of layout this magazine is where I took my inspiration from, even though it may not be the most conventional.

 

The usual and conventional red hast head for the Empire film magazine. For comparison.

 

 

 

In terms of cover stories I have used a very unconventional layout. The existing Empire magazine shown previously in this post inspired me to use an unusual layout for the cover stories in a way that makes them appear to be expanding out of the page. I created this effect by using the perspective tool on Photoshop and it think it is effective as it makes the font cover look very modern and almost clean cut, hopefully catching the buyer’s eye.  This perspective edit has allowed me to create leading lines within the text which draw the viewer’s eye directly into the middle of the main image on the front cover.  I have used a shadowing effect on this text again to make it stand out from the background, otherwise as you can see on my earlier edits, it looks slightly lost. I feel this shadowing effect also helps to make the text look professional and less 2D, helping the overall look of the front cover. 

The main image I have used on my film magazine front cover looks like it could have been taken from the footage from my trailer, however it is not. I took some photographs on the day of filming especially for this reason. Using my skills in Photoshop I have highlighted the area around the two antagonists so this part of the image stands out. I have also darkened around the edge of the image using levels and a layer mask. The image shows the back of the antagonists so that the magazine isn’t giving too much away to the buyer, and this could effectively want them to read the magazine or even go to watch the film. I made the sky a pink colour by using the colour look up tool as I thought this would help create a spooky looking front cover, helping to show the horror genre of my featured horror film.

Overall I am happy with my finished front cover and I think it is very convincing. I believe it could be sold in shops as part of the Empire series of magazines and I believe it includes all of the right conventions to be able to sell.

Question 2

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary text?

Along with my film trailer I produced a film poster and the front cover for a film magazine. All three texts work well together and link in various conventional ways. The purpose of a film poster is to advertise a film that is soon to be released, letting the public know important information about it, like the release date, title of the film, the actors/talent and the production crediting etc. The poster advertising an upcoming film is used to tease the audience and generate hype within the target audience, effectively creating a mass audience for when the film is released in the cinema or on DVD etc. In terms of verbal feedback for the film poster I found that may people liked the overall of the poster. They liked how the image portrayed the horror genre of the film and some people also said that the font linked in too, creating a scratched and blurred effect. The only bad feedback I got from my poster was that the font used for the title of my film didn’t link with my other texts, but I challenged these conventions intentionally to make my media products better overall.

The purpose of a film magazine is to inform the public about upcoming films or films that have newly been released, often including reviews and ratings inside. The front cover of a film magazine should be eye-catching and easy on the eye, however the information on it should all be easily read. When gathering verbal feedback to improve upon my magazine front cover as I was creating it I found that many people said I have followed all of the correct conventions (mast head, cover lines, bar code, price, date, plugs etc.) however, included an interesting and eye catching twist on the appearance. My target audience all agreed that the final front cover was very convincing and could be sold in shops today, alongside other existing magazines.

When looking for feedback on my poster and magazine cover together my audience could see a link however some said they could have linked better by using the same font throughout. I chose not to do this as I thought that the fonts used on each text worked well for that text alone. If I was to use the same font on all of my texts I don’t think the overall piece would have looks as effective and professional as it was found that the text looked lost on the often busy background of my media products. I took a risk in challenging this convention in my media products however I believe as the creator of them that this was the best option in making my products as effective as they could be. I feel challenging this convention has allowed my products to stand out from any others making them unique to look at, and in effect making them memorable.

My target audience liked that different characters were used in the poster and on the magazine front cover as they felt it gave them a good insight into the film, making them want to know more about the story. I chose to do this as I wanted the audience to be able to explore my film in their own mind, guessing the story line and out come before they endure the film/trailer as a whole. I felt this would get people talking about my trailer effectively creating a bigger audience.

Although I have challenged some conventions in all of my media products I feel they all link together through the constant horror genre theme shown strongly throughout. Overall I had some very positive feedback about my media products separately and combined with my audience agreeing that the combination of my trailers, poster and magazine worked very effectively and professionally together. As a whole I feel my media products have achieved their intended purpose as media texts separately and together as a whole, as they all do there intended job of promoting the film soon to be released.

Question 3

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

This is the questionnaire in which I gave to a class of students who were in the target audience for my film

The aim of this questionnaire was to find out if my target audience opinion on my media products including if they found them interesting and if not what they would change. (Some of these answers were taken into consideration when finalising my media texts and changes have been made because of the answers that were given)

Questionarre

 

1)      Can you tell from the beginning of the trailer what the genre is? If so why? If not, what would you change?

2)      Does my production company logo look realistic? If not, what would you change?

3)      Can you tell that the flashes of the two young girls in the beginning of the trailer have been included to show you that they are the antagonists? If not, what would you change?

4)      Does the trailer make you feel in suspense? If not, what would you change?

5)      Did you find any parts boring or uninteresting in any parts of my trailer or in my other media products? If not, what would you change?

6)      Did you enjoy watching the trailer? If not, what would you change?

7)      Did you find the film poster and magazine cover interesting to look at? If not, what would you change?

8)     What age range do you think these media products are aimed at?

The first question of my questionnaire was very successful as all of the answers were very similae. It allowed me to see that the public could defiantly tell the horror genre of my trailer. I have selected similar answers and graphed them together so I could see which was the most effective feature in making people aware that this was a horror trailer.

Can you tell from the beginning of the trailer what the genre is? If so why? If not, what would you change?

 

From this pie chart it is clear to me that the eerie atmospheric music clearly helps the audience to identify the horror genre of this trailer, and I think this is because spooky music is very conventional of and horror film trailer. Slightly less than three quarters of the people who were asked this question agreed that from the music/soundtrack it was obvious of the genre. This goes to show how effective the music is in my trailer and I am please it has given the desired effect.

 

I can also see from my pie chart that a small number of people said that there was conventional shot typed used as the beginning of my trailer that gave it away. I am very happy with getting this answer as I feel it is very difficult to show the genre of a trailer though the use of shot types alone. I feel I gave achieved this through careful use of planning and careful editing.

 

The minority of people said that the text about the crash and the dark lighting gave the genre away. This is believable as dark lighting is conventional in many horror films, so these viewers may have related my trailer to other horror trailers they have seen. Similarly, the text at the beginning of my trailer is seen in the trailer of Paranormal Activity so this collection of people may have related to that existing trailer.

 

From this feedback I have found that the music backing my trailer is very effective and serves its purpose well. The effectiveness of the whole soundtrack in my full length trailer has also persuaded me to use the same or similar music in my two other shorter trailers.

 

My second question was asked to find out if my production logo looked professional and realistic. This question was asked before I had created the final edit of my trailer so some of the answers have already been taken into account and added or taken away from my trailer.

 

2) Does my production company logo look realistic? If not, what would you change?

 

I chose to include this pie chart so that I could see how many people replied yes, compared to the other answers which gave me suggestions on how to improve my logo. It is clear to see that the majority of people asked this questio did believe that my production company logo looked realistic, however there were some comments which said otherwise and I have taken these into consideration.

 

Over half the people who suggested improvements said that I should show the production logo again towards the end of my trailer. Since this questionnaire has taken place this has been taken into consideration and I have chosen to include it again at the end, along with the title of my film. Overall I think this looks better and I think it helps to promote my production company better whilst also reminding the viewers the name of the film. Other suggestions say that I should show my logo for a logger period of time, however I think I have responded to this suggestion my including the logo again at the end. Some people said that I should use bolder writing however I wanted my production logo to look sophisticated and professional so I used a font which I though expressed this. One answer clearly said that he didn’t see my logo, but I personally think that it is easy to spot. Overall this question has helped me in making my trailer more professional and pleasing for the viewers.

Question three was asked to check that the public understood the layered parts of the video, without having to explain the meaning of the before hand.

Can you tell that the flashes of the two young girls in the beginning of the trailer have been included to show you that they are the antagonists? If not, what would you change?

There was various answers to this question but the most common answer was simply ‘Yes’. The second most common gave me some kind of indication to how you could tell that the two young girls were antagonists and the most common reply was ‘because of the way they are dresses’ and also ‘because of the hand held video’. I was please with this answer as my carefully thought out costume for them (mise-en-scene) was shown to be effective and also my careful consideration of camera movement (cinematography) was also seen as effective by my target audience. It was clear to me that my target audience understood layered parts in my trailer and this is the answer I was hoping for. Effectively it meant that I didn’t need to change the beginning of my trailer.

I asked question 4 to see if my trailer was effective in making the viewers of it feel suspense, like they were on the edge of there seats. I knew that if I had created this than my overall trailer was a success.

Does the trailer make you feel in suspense? If not, what would you change?

From this question it made me realise how much of an impact the music had in creating suspence within different points in the trailer. The music change and points where it comes to a crechendo really adds to the impact of the action and I realised this when I watched my trailer back with no sound. After getting this feedback I chose to enhanse this even further by turning up the volume at the climax of some of the music helping to add suspence within the action.

Some of my feed back said it made them feel in suspence because they want to know what happened to the other female character and they also want to know what the young girls do. This I found was the best answer as this is the main perpose of a trailer. This answer told me that my target audience were left wanting to know more and this will effectivly make them want to watch the full film.

This question in my questionarre has helped me to realise how effectrive my trailer really is in relation to existing and already successful ones. It includes many conventionalfeatures of a horror trailer and I think this is why it is so successful.

I included question 5 to help highlight, from an audience’s point of view, the boring or plain parts in any of my media product. I found this would be a useful question to ask as it would highlight any points to me that needed to be changed or adapted.

Did you find any parts boring or uninteresting in any parts of my trailer or in my other media products? If not, what would you change?

 

I didn’t realise when watching the trailer myself how long the beginning was untill I showed it to a group of the target audience for the trailer. This question came to be verry effective as it made me cut lots of clips short at the beginning of the traielr to make it more snappy and fast paced. Appart from this small change the audience who I shoed this trailer too found it very interesting. The target audience also didn’t find any faults in any of my media products including my poster and magazine front cover. Overall from the feedback of this question it has given me confidence that all my my media products are very successful.

Question 6 was just a general question to see the target audiences interest in my trailer

6) Did you enjoy watching the trailer? If not, what would you change?

When I asked this question a lot of the responses included praise to the effective editing of the trailer. I found this as a nice surprise as I spent a lot of time making the editing and effects correct so that my trailer could look the best it could be. 25% of the people who responded to this question relied with ‘Yes, I wanted to see what happened next’ and this again displays to me the effectiveness of the trailer as this is the overall purpose of a film trailer. Finally some of the feed back said that they found the home video was effective. I think this may perhaps be because it is a conventional feature included in many horror trailers and the audience who watched my trailer may have related the two. From this question it has told me that my target audience for my film really enjoyed my trailer and are eager to watch the whole film because of the suspense created.

I asked question 7 to see if my other two media products got such a positive responce.

7) Did you find the film poster and magazine cover interesting to look at? If not, what would you change?

This question also had a positive response from the audience with comments such as ‘Yes they look very professional’ and ‘Yes they look very effective’, however I did get some criticism suggesting that they could link slightly better. I think this is because of the vitiation in the text used in my media products. I feel this criticism had been said because of the conventions we are used to seeing in media products for example the same text and colour used throughout. I chose to challenge the conventions in my media products so that they were unique from any existing products, however I feel that they include enough conventions to still appear as successful media products. Overall this question has made me aware that the public are aware of the changes I have chosen to make, but some are unsure on how to take it.

Finally I asked the target audience for my media products what they thought the target audience was to see what response they gave

 8)What age range do you think these media products are aimed at?

Most of the people I asked this question to believed that the target audience for my media products is 15+. This in some respects could be true, however I was aiming towards an audience of 16/17+. The reason I feel most of my responses are this low is because of the lack of blood and violence involved in my trailer but because of my low budget on producing this trailer I didn’t want to include anything that looked very amature, taking away the prosessional dge on my trailer (ketchup as blood). There was a large majority however who said they though my trailer was for age 18/16-18/teens-young adults, and these responses are what I was hoping to get. From this questionnare overall I have been able to highlight features in all of my medua products both good and bad and make changes depending on this. Lots of changes were made through my own judgement also but these were recorded through different stages in my design and editing shown on my blog.

I thought that getting feedback from my teachers would also be a helpful source of feedback and this was the response.

This feed back from a more experienced person in media helped to highlights effects that I had forgot to include and also suggested some extra things I could include to make my trailer better. The suggestion of a voice over seemed daunting at first but I am glad I took on this advice as overall I feel it had improved my trailer drematically.

All of my feedback from different types/genderes/ages of people has allowed me to cater for a wide variaty of people. Whilst focusing my products to a spercific target audience I feel it was important to get feedback from someone who has a wide variaty of media knowledge as this was bound to help me  make improvements