Critical Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop, or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Originally horror movies used to be low budget, B movie productions, but the major studios started to recognise and respect certain directors, such as Hitchcock, Polanski and Kubrick. From the main horror genre, hybrids have been created when horror has been teamed with comedy, teen and other genres. They have also created sub-genres, in the form of vampire movies, and sometimes thrillers, slasher movies and suspense can also be recognised as there own form of sub-genre.

Most recently, in the past 10 years, horror movies have focussed on epidemic, and the end of the world, the taking over of the living dead, or zombies. They have also produced several films with the theme of possession of ghosts or spirits who are trying to get a message across or justice for their death. This is what we based our plot around.

For the main horror genre there are many conventions to which a film could be made, for example, the hero, the victims, the villains, blood, death, shadows and darkness, eerie music and isolated settings. In the beginning of Scream, Wes Craven uses a lot of the conventions in the first ten minutes, he has the victims, shadows and darkness, the eerie music and of course the blood and death, that come along with the villain.

Within the plot line that Tessa and I wrote originally, we used similar conventions, with an isolated settings, hero, villain and victim. When we made the trailer we tried to portray these, by using chase sequences, showing the threat of the villain and the setting is quite empty and isolated. The full story line for the film follows a simple narrative, very similar to that of Vladimir Prop’s narrative theory. Everything is ok at the beginning, creating an equilibrium which then becomes disequilibrium as the story progresses and things begin to go wrong. Then at the end when the story and problems are resolved a new state of equilibrium is established, where everything has become ok again, but different to that at the beginning.

If a film were to be produced and distributed, it would need to include forms and conventions of it’s genre to be taken on as a project. This is what is referred to as the winning formula, because this is what sells to the audience, and within the media industry audience is key.

For a teaser trailer, it should be under two minutes long, and intrigue the audience by using lots of clips and not giving anything away. To create a sense of intrigue within our trailer we kept our characters without identity, and we did not show the villains face, so that the threat of the villain is present, but the audience do not know who he is from the trailer.

To show the character and the function of the character we used to colour as a symbolic tool. For the villain his outfit was kept quite dark, as villains are usually wearing black. The ghost, or spirit character is wearing a white coat, this also symbolises her innocence within the storyline. The main character is wearing a red coat, this is two shows her importance within the film, but also to symbolise the danger or threat that she could be in.

According to Prop’s theory on character functions the hero is usually male, where as in our film, our hero is female. Although in our full storyline she becomes the victim and her brother becomes the hero by saving her, so our character functions switch.

We filmed about 30 seconds of each frame that we had planned, to cut down and use as lots of smaller fragments. When I did the editing I really wanted the cuts to flash, really quickly, so I left a tiny gap between each clip to create a black flash to separate the cuts.

I think we kept quite to the conventions that a teaser trailer is supposed to be, when we exhibited the trailer both times, the audience was not sure of the storyline, which I think is a positive as a teaser trailer is designed not to give much away, and too keep an air of mystery about the film.

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


A teaser trailer or trailer is used by the distributor to help market the film, and to create an intrigue about the film prior to its release. A teaser trailer is usually released several months, sometimes a year, before a film is due to be released.

The posters would be seen in cinema lobbies, and would not be shown until nearer the release date, this helps create appeal, and capture audiences. The distributors would decide whether or not a film would have a wider poster campaign in the form of billboards and magazine advertising etc.

The magazine special issue, would be apart of the pre-release press campaign, the distributor hires a PR agency to set up interviews for magazine and television with the stars of the film. Which helps create a buzz around the film and ensures it captures not only the intended audience, but also the ‘drop in’ audience, who would not necessarily go for the type of film being promoted.

The distributor’s have to ensure to the exhibitors that they will gain profit from their film, so having a tight advertising campaign helps them make sure they will capture audience attention. This means completely covering the media in their products, so that audiences can not get away from it. This is total saturation; the distributors make sure that the film is everywhere and is totally absorbed into the media, making it difficult for the consumer not to know about it.

Having the posters and the magazines working alongside the trailer creates a synergy completely dedicated to establishing an audience and ensuring ticket sales, and profit. It is a clever marketing tool, along with saturation that makes sure that their job is done effectively, and that everyone makes a profit.

The combination of our ancillary texts with our trailer, I think works really effectively. If this were a real film these media texts would be seen daily by consumers.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
As a group we decided that our target audience would be 15- 19 year olds, after we had completed our initial research we created a survey to find out what our preferred audience like and dislike about horror movies. This helped us establish what the audience wanted and to come up with ideas that we knew the audience liked. We also used audience feedback after making drafts of the trailer and the posters to see what we could do to improve, and to really make sure that the audience got what they wanted to see to a degree.

The audience is really essential because they are the consumer of the product. Within the film industry, films are sometimes made to winning formulas because institutions know what sell, and they know what the audience wants.

If the institutions an distributor’s did not find out what the audience wanted the film would not sell, and they would not make a profit, so they established forms and conventions for genre’s based on what they audience want to see.

There are many different theories on audience, and how the audience receives and understands the text. One theory is that there are two types of audience, a passive audience, who just sits back and relaxes to watch the film. They do not take in the information, or process it, for example a passive audience watching a horror film already expect to see blood and gore and everything else that makes a horror film.

The other side of audience is the active audience, they take in the text, they read it and they make an understanding of it. They engage with the film, if an active audience was watching a horror movie they would be trying to figure out what was happening, and taking in the information, and picking up on the clues.

In my opinion if someone was a passive watcher, horror movies would not be their thing, as most horror movies have an air of mystery and twist to them, and the audience has to keep up with the film and watch it attentively.

When we first showed our trailer we found that people had no clue what so ever to the plot of the film, and so we had to add more clues in, as we went too far the other way and did not give the audience something to engage with.

Although if we had not exhibited a draft version of the trailer we would not have found this out, so audience, and the audience feedback is important in the film industry to ensure that a film is being perceived in the way they wanted.

How did you use new technologies in the research and planning, construction and evaluation stages?
During all the stages of the production the internet was a helpful resource, we used a blogging website, (https://www.blogger.com/start ) to set up a production blog (http://lyndsay-apb-horror.blogspot.com ), so that we could log what we were doing and so that instead of a folder with the project laid out in it, it was all easily accessible on the internet.
Within the research and planning stages of the project, using the internet for resources was quicker and easier than looking through multiple books; I also practiced using Adobe Premier Elements 1.0, for making a short slide show/ video on the history of the horror movie genre.

When it came to filming, we used a Digital Video camera to collect all the footage we needed. Tessa learnt how to use it more efficiently than I did, as she was the one who was filming. Although we could have used a memory card, which would have been a lot quicker and easier, we used a tape to film with. We put it straight on to the computer using the FireWire cables, and straight into Adobe Premier Elements 1.0. Practising using this software and getting used to it was difficult, I had to figure out how to cut the clips down, add sound, and take away the sound off the original footage.

However once I had got used to how to add in effects and everything, it wasn’t hard to use the programme and create the effect that I wanted.

I also used Adobe Photoshop 3.0 to create titles and the posters, I had used this programme before so I knew how to do what I wanted, and it was only a matter or revising it and remembering how. It didn’t take me long to get the hang of it and design the posters.

On this project I used Macromedia Freehand to create the magazine cover. I had used this software programme before on my As project, but my use of it was quite primitive and was not very skilled, on this project I spent a lot of time practising so that my magazine cover could look the best it could, and so that it had a more professional quality about it.

I also used a programme to edit the sound effects called Audacity; I didn’t do much except for cut down the sounds or lower the levels. It did take a while to learn how to add the echo effect which I had to look on the internet for how to do it.

Audacity and Adobe Premiere Elements were the only two new programmes that I had not used before, so it was quite interesting to learn how to use them. Using all the programmes that I have used before but learning how to do new things on them as well as revising the basics helped me build my skills with these technologies along with learning new ones. It also helped me think about how it would be done professionally, and the similar techniques they would use when making the products I have.

Creativity

When a film is being made, the distributors create advertising campaigns using the posters to promote the film.
Tessa decided that she would get creative and put our posters onto the side of a bus, and on bus shelters, as that is places where film posters can be seen.
She took the posters that I made and adapted it to put it on a picture of a bus that she found on Google images. Then she did the same thing with a picture of a bus shelter.Tessa used Adobe photoshop to create the adverts.
Tessa and I decided that this would help us to see what it would be like if our film was to be produced and made. We also thought it would be a bit of fun, but I really like the outcome.
The pictures are on Tessa's blog :
http://tlh-advancedportfolioblog.blogspot.com/

Final Cut

This is the final copy of the trailer, after we had our second lot of feedback we took on board what people had said, although we had a much more positive response, I decided that there was a couple of things missing.
I decided that I really wanted to put the titles onto the moving image, but previously I could not work out how to do it, so I went onto Google and searched 'how to put text onto image using adobe premiere elements 1.0' and found a page which showed in an easy way how to do it. http://www.adobe.com/tips/preelpseintegrate/pdfs/preelpseintegrate.pdf
Once I had worked that out, and found a good font which Tessa said should be a handwritten style font, as it would look like a diary entry or a letter or something, so we settled on a font called Rage Italic.
I then decided that I wanted to put some extra sounds onto the trailer, some dialogue, but not much. So me and Tessa borrowed a mp3 sound recorder off of one of our media teachers. We found a quiet spot in the school so that we we're not disturbed and recorded Tessa saying 'I never have and never will believe in ghosts', 'hello', 'is there anybody there' and also some heavy panting and a scream.
Once I had copied thes onto the computer, I used a programme called Audacity to mess around and see what I could do with the sounds.

                                                    

I then put these sounds into adobe premiere elements, and slotted them into my trailer. I was really happy with the over all effect, and Tessa agreed and was also really pleased that we had finally got the trailer the way we really wanted it.

Feedback for final Trailer and Poster

We asked 15 students, a mix of female and male and the ages between 16-18 our questionnaire. The first time we gave in our feedback forms, there was a few people absent from the class so this is the reason we have a few more additional numbers from last time.

Question One:
Did you enjoy the Trailer?

Question Two:
What part of the trailer grabbed your attention the most? (Please tick one)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Question Three:
What did you like about the trailer?
There was a mix of answers, and this is what some people had said:
- The editing (faster)
- The story, gave more info
- Good use of sound effects
- More clips included
- Good use of colour

Question Four:
What did you not like about the trailer?  
Some people didn’t say anything about not liking it, but some people gave some criticism;

- Didn’t think the slow music went with the pace of the trailer
- Removed some clips from the last trailer
- Text was too fast
- Footage was shaky and blurry

- The font was too ‘fun’
- Shouldn’t have used the word ‘loft’
- Didn’t understand the concept
- Wasn’t eye catching enough
- Needs to be more ghost like
- The scream didn’t suit the trailer

Question Five:

If there was anything that could be different about the trailer what could it be?
There were some people who did not suggest anything, but there was some suggestions as to what could be different:
- Change the sound, more diegetic, add some dialogue
- Slow down the text
- More clues to the plot
- Change the font
- Should say ‘attic’ instead of ‘loft’
- The original ‘red eyes’ part instead of the new one
- More narrative
- More ghostly
- Longer
- Should have been darker, so that it was creepier

Question Six:

Which trailer did you prefer and why?
Everyone has said that they like this latest trailer, and there was various reasons:
- Just generally better
- Flowed a lot better
- Text was clearer - Gave more insight to the plot - More intriguing
- More effective - More diversity of clips
- Looked more professional
- More concise

Question Seven:

How much does the poster relate to the trailer?

Question Eight:
What is the most eye catching part of the poster? (tick one)
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Question Nine:
What did you like about the poster and why?

There were various things about the poster that people liked:
- More fuller
- New Titles
- Good use of colour
- Good use of Imagery
- Good layering
- Text stands out
- The editing/effects of the images
- The ghost
- The background
- More eye-catching
- More intriguing
- The text looked creepy

Question Ten:
Is there anything about the poster you don’t like?

Some people said that there wasn’t anything that they didn’t like, but there were a few suggestions:
- Didn’t like the second poster because the use of identity didn’t fit with the trailer
- Image to faint
- Text looked unprofessional

Question Eleven:
Is there anything you would change about the poster?  
The answers here were similar to the answers to the previous question.
 
Question Twelve:

Which poster did you prefer and why?
Many people liked the newer posters, and there were various reasons:
- More fuller
- Preferred the back to back image
- Better use of imagery
- Lack of identity is intriguing
- Having two posters is better than just the one
- Preferred the poster with the ghost behind her
- Text is better
- Back to back was a better poster because it looked more clear
- It was symmetrical and well balanced so it doesn’t overload the top or the bottom with information

Question Thirteen:

Would the film trailer and poster make you want to see more/ find out more about the film?

 
 
 








Question Fourteen:
Is there anything about either product you would like to say?
Nobody had anything more to say on the trailer or the posters.


The feedback on these final products were much more postive than the first lot of feedback that we had sent out. Everyone preffered the pace of this newest trailer and the shorter clips. There were some people who said that they still didn't understand the trailer, and that it should be longer, but as I have said previously, it is a teaser trailer and it is supposed to be short and not give much of the plot away.
There were some smaller suggestions like adding dialogue but I liked it having no dialogue because it went along with the lack of identity throughout the trailer, there was also alot of people who didn't like the poster of the girl facing forward for these same reasons.
Another think I disagreed with in the feedback was that someone said we should have used the word 'attic' instead of 'loft' but I thought that 'attic' was more american, and saying it in a british accent was too pronounced, and that the word 'loft' had more of 'fft' sound on the end, sounding more creepy.
Although overall I had practically no negative feedback on the posters.
If I was to make another trialer, I would probably slow down the text, and have a faster pace music to go along with it, because I think the slower music makes the footage look slower even tho it isnt, but other than those points most people liked the trailer and the poster.

Poster Alterations

Like the teaser trailer, our poster had some constructive feedback, so we decided to make alterations in light of this.
As people had said with trailer the font needed changing on the poster as well, so we used the same font;

I also corrected the spelling mistake that I had made on the first copies of the trailer and the poster.
I made this final poster in the same way I made the first one and I added some film listings and the age certification, people had asked for us to use this on the poster, although when I looked back on my intial research for film posters they do not usual include this.
I tried to make the white coat more opaque and ghost like as this is what people had said was the problem, Tessa suggested that I cut out the faces from the hoods, making them look empty and more creepy.

As Tessa had previously suggested the layering of the two characters over eachother for the magazine cover, I decided to use this to make a second final poster, which will give people a choice, and through my research I found that most films have two or more promotional posters.
I made this second poster in the same way that I have made the previous ones;

We will be taking this for second and final feedback with the trailer.

Alterations to Trailer

After we got our feedback we decided to make some alterations to the trailer.
We had a lot of comments of the font that we had used on the first trailer, that it was not clear, or that it was difficult to read, so we found a new font on http://www.dafont.com/ :

Another thing that we decided to do was add in some more titles, because alot of people had said they were not sure as to what was going on, but we still thought that it was a TEASER Trailer so we did not want to give too much away. To solve this we came up with a couple more clues:

Hopefully this will give away some more clues as to what is happening in the trailer.
Another problem was that the clips were to reptetive and that they were too long, so I went back into Adobe Premier Elements, to add the titles and to make the clips shorter, and quicker. I also varied the clips more, and took out alot of the clips of the swing, because there was a lot of feedback saying that there was too much of them.
Once I was happy I exported the trailer, after I did this  I realised I had not changed the contrast and brightness of the clips to create the strong colour balance. So I re-exported it for the final copy. We will be getting more feedback on the final copy of this, along with the final copies of our poster to see if people like the alterations we made.

Magazine Feedback

We showed our magazine cover to our media class, 12 students, males and females and an age range of 17-18.

We asked them the following questions:

Question One:
Did you like the magazine front cover?

Question Two:
What did you like about it?

Question Three:
What didn’t you like about it?


Overall majority was pleased with it, but there was a few points said:

- Too crowded
- Not enough colour
- Image didn’t work on the layout
- Layout too simplistic

Question Four:
Would this cover make you want to read the magazine?

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Question Five:

What changes could be made?

Seven people said that they would not change anything but there were a few people who said small alterations could be changed:
- Needs to be more enticing/ attention grabbing
- Image could be brighter
- More interesting font

From this feedback we can gather that there is not much about the magazine cover that people did not like, so we will not be making any major alterations as the majority of the people were happy with it.
There was only small things like brighter image, more interesting fonts and maybe a little less crowded that people said they did not like about it.
People liked the colour and the image the most off of the cover, with a few people preffering the text and the layout.