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

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

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

4. How did you use new technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Handheld Trailers

Our trailer would have handheld shots, hence to get a better concept and understanding of horror, it was imperative to look at previous handheld films to gain expirence and ideas on the potential handheld scenes which would be incoporated into our trailer.

Evaluation (Without illustrations)

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

A convention is extensively used and accepted device or technique used in various elements of life such as in literature drama and painting. Moreover, the proliferation of horror trailers depends significantly on producers and audiences to form a consensus on what could be deemed a horror trailer. For instance, a teenage slasher movie such as Scream 2 would conventionally be located in a barren house supplemented with a mystery killer, hence attracting a potential teenage audience. Thus, during the production of our horror trailer we felt the prerequisite of implementing conventions to make it mirror our specific horror genre of the fear of the supernatural. Generally, I will be analysing my horror trailer in the category of content and form.

Form:                               

The duration of our trailer had to be taken into serious consideration to make sure that all of our imperative shoots could be included. Initially, we planned to make our trailer around 4 minutes long which would require around 3 hours filming prior to editing however, as we researched on lengths of trailers on YouTube we discovered, that a significant amount of trailers including Blair-Witch Project; has a duration of around 2-3 minutes, thus as a collective we felt it was a necessity to follow this convention, as a horror trailer is meant to be a preview, persuading the audience to watch the actual trailer and leaving them in suspense, rather than telling the whole story, hence making it 4 minutes would make our trailer elongated which could result in the trailer not being as good as trailers on YouTube, as the editing process would be more complicated, which could hinder us making any further amendments based on our audience feedback, consequently we followed this paradigm and make our trailer between 2-3 minutes long.

Constructing a spectrum of shoots was fundamental in forming a bound between, the trailers and its target audience. Consequently, using one type of shoot would contradict the conventions of a typical trailer, but could further make the audience scrutinize the trailer rather than urging them to watch the actual movie in the cinema. Hence as we wanted to generate a trailer based on conventions we decided to use a variety of shoots not only for the audience purposes but also to put our AS knowledge on shoot types to practice, as shoots is important when expressing emotions, locations and paradigms in trailers. For instance, the establishing scene filmed in a long shot allows the audience to depict that the trailer is set in an old college; it also reveals that that scene is filmed in the day, which could subconsciously indicate to the reader that the moment of disequilibrium has not occurred yet. Another example, can be illustrated in high angle of the students walking up the stairs, at 00:36 seconds, suggesting that they are vulnerable but also reveals their customs epitomized in Scream 2(00:50). However, our trailer did contradict a conventional horror trailer as we used handled shoots (00:13)

Long shot – 00:05

Medium shot – 00.32

Close up shot – 01:03

Extreme-close up – 01:40

High Angle – 00:36

Low Angle – 02:59

Canted Angle – 01:02

It is obligatory to generate a narrative structure in a horror trailer, as the target audience depends significantly on a narrative to be able to construct semantics, In relation to our trailer, this convention was followed rather than challenged because we wanted our audience to digest the trailer without having to use the logic of reasoning, as we did not implement an voiceover, to narrate the trailer, as the non diegetic sound would be disrupted, which would put constraints on the flow of our horror trailer. Thus we based our trailer on the theorist Todorrov’s who constructed a narrative structure of equilibrium and disequilibrium, most trailers on Youtube used this method such as in scream 2, Eden Lake, Blair witch project and the last Exorcist. So including this method formed a consensus between my colleges, the period of equilibrium would be included in the beginning scenes (00:15). The moment of disequilibrium tells the audience that the mode of the trailer has drastically changed for instance the moment of disequilibrium (01:25) in our trailer, was filmed various times because it was important that it complemented Todorov’s period of disequilibrium would be supplemented by jump cuts.

A convention that is obligatory in a horror trailer is a title, as it allows our target audience to identify with the genre; furthermore headings are imperative to giving the viewer an insight into the genre of a trailer. For instance, Scream 2 would be identified as a horror trailer, based on the concept in the heading of, someone being afraid `Scream’. Thus, as a collective we embarked upon the use of a heading to stimulate the mind of our target audience but also to encourage them to think, thus leaving them in suspense as a result we titled our horror trailer “the summoning” this is because the title represents the ideology that an evil spirit, was present, in an old barren school, which consequently punishes the media students for their sinful act of playing with a Ouija board, and depicts the fear of society. As a collective we wanted to create a title which holds connotes a message rather than selecting a title could only be depicted in its denotation, for instance, a film such as the Grudge 2, can be identified as being a horror trailer based solely on its heading, hence we wanted to create a heading which gave out subliminal messages. Moreover at the end of the trailer, the title of our trailer is highlighted in bold writing (02:09) as a technique aimed for the reader to remember the name of our trailer. However, although our trailer has followed conventions it has also contradicted the convention of implementing a universal logo at the beginning of our trailer, this is because our trailer is created by a small independent company and thus attracting a more specific audience.

The process of editing was an intriguing experience for me because it gave me an insight into how a trailer is produced. We watched a lot of horror trailers on the internet and discovered that a majority of horror trailers uses continuity editing rather than montage editing because it instils more fear into the audience as a result, we also embarked upon this technique in our editing. This can be demonstrated in our use of sound, at the start of the trailer, the non diegetic sound is at slow pace to show that the mood is a subtle, in contrast to the end when the music speeds up to engage the reader with the trailer. The non diegetic sound was produced by Jamie Wilder, which is a convention of horror as most horror trailer, does not use mainstream music on a horror trailer but is rather generated from an artist for that specific trailer, this contradicts Blair-witch project which has used dialogue rather than music. To link our scenes in our trailer together we used a variety of editing techniques which started with fade to blacks and progressed to jump cuts as the trailers mood shifted as well as screen grabs to make the viewer contemplate. The fade to blacks indicates to the audience that time has elapsed and the jump cuts increases the pace of the trailer and stimulates the visual aspect of the reader as it encourages them to focus. However, we also did challenge forms of editing by using a discontinuous editing such as speeding up scenes when the teens are exploiting the Ouija board (01:03) as well as slowing them down (00:53) which is also used in paranormal activity. We also changed the lighting of scenes for instance, the initiating scenes were bright (00:14) in contrast to the dark Ouija board scenes, and this was based on the context as the devil is associated with darkness. Generally, being able to edit placed us in the context of a producer, as the sophisticated Apple Macs granted us the ability to shape our trailer into how we wanted it to appear.

Content:

Our trailers plot was heavily inspired by Scream 2, as the feel of isolation and vulnerability was crucial in instilling fear into the viewers. This was supplemented by our college’s old look which made it more creepy and spooky, as the concept of teenagers being trapped in a desolate school and in conjunction with evil spirits complemented the fear factor of our trailer. The trailer was filmed in the day because college occurs during the day which means that we would not be allowed on the premises as it would raise health and safety issue albeit, we did improve on the apple Macs by changing the lighting at key scenes (00:49).

The characters in this trailer formed aiming to construct a microcosm of society. Hence, having variety of characters from different ethnicities permitted us to craft a representation of a conventional London school. For instance, the character Jared was a stereotypical representation of a black boy through his costume as he wore a shirt, jeans and trainers which indicates that he is fashionable (00:12). Another representation of society can be depicted in Ava, who is meant to be a promiscuous character, this can be conveyed in her dress sense as she is wearing a low cut top and bottoms, which as a result reveals that she immoral (01:51), this supports Ferdinand de Sassure and Roland Bothes theory of, personal identity, as a girl dressed in a short skirt (iconography) would be illustrated as immoral. Sam also represents the final girl theory by Carol clover, as she is the last girl to die.

We also felt the necessity to include props in our horror trailer, which are symbolic of our horror genre. The most significant, would be the handheld camera held by the main character Sam, which was epitomized by Blair-witch Project (00:08). Another example, is the blackberry held by Ava which (00:21) which was symbolic for the futuristic events. Furthermore, we also included alcohol and cigarettes in key scenes because teenagers are stereotypically immoral and like to explore thinks that is associated with adults.

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

The combination of my main product and ancillary text was to a substantial extent effective and efficient, as the ancillary texts complemented the main product. Furthermore, conventionally, a horror trailer is combined with posters and magazines as a method of marketing usually synergistically, which production companies embark upon to increase the circulation and hence profit of a horror movie resulting in a horror trailer being consumed on a wide platform depending on the scale of the production company. For instance, the Warner Bros would be able to advertise much more effectively in contrast to a small production company such as Vertigo. Moreover, I will be analysing my ancillary texts and comparing it to real life products in conjunction with assessing the impact it had as on my main product.

Front Cover

Constructing the front cover of my magazine was a familiar task, as my AS studies required the production of a music magazine which was also produced on the Apple Macs, consequently based on my previous knowledge  of conventions of a magazine, the manufacturing was much more proficient, as the ancillary task, was a mere development of my previous studies.

It was important that my masthead was bold and eye catching as during my investigations and observations of Empire magazines, their headings were usually clear, therefore I embarked upon this technique by using a large font size coloured in red, I decided to use the colour red to green or blue because it is bright primary colour. Conversely, the colour red can also be associated with blood which is a typical paradigm of a slasher sub genre. However, as our trailer is based on the sub genre of the supernatural, the colour red depicts danger which is a parable for the events which occur in the actual trailer, to make the masthead even more outstanding I implemented a white border around the heading to increase its visibility and additionally create a house style.

Mastheads are usually supplemented with subheadings, which in my magazine is placed on the top of the masthead stating `meet the new action A-list!’ this is a paradigm of a magazine and has a function of revealing some of the main content of a magazine. Another feature of a magazine is the barcode which gives the magazine a degree of power and authority. A barcode is frequently complemented with a price tag which is located in the heading costing £3.90; this principle was based on my findings in my research, revealing that Empire magazines allocated its price tag in the letter `M’ as a house style, which is also supplemented with the website address under the masthead as a marketing tool.

An image in a magazine cover is to substantial degree important, as a method of the audience being able to form a relationship between the audience and magazine front cover; hence magazines conventionally use renowned superstars to appear on their front cover to attract their target audience. For instance, a harry potter film would use Daniel Radcliffe as he is the main character in the film but to further grant the audience the ability to identify with the movie. As a result, I felt it was imperative to implement the main character in my trailer which is `Sam’ to form a relationship between the main product and my magazine. The character on my magazine has a large composition on the overall magazine, as she is framed in a medium shot allowing her to express emotions and relate directly to the audience, this can be seen in the magazine as the character looks sad and vulnerable because our trailer is based on fear and danger which is associated with the devil. The Sam is also holding a candle under her face representing the Ouija Board scene in our trailer, the light shining on her face could represent hope. In relation to the layout of my magazine, the main text is situated away from Sam’s eyes because her plank stare is supposed to be creepy and give the audience the feeling of being watched.

Sam’s costume in the trailer was also used in the magazine to form a correlation between my main product and my ancillary task. For instance, if Sam’s costume in the trailer is dark and rugged, it wouldn’t be logic to put images of her dressed formally because it would form a negative correlation but also puzzle the audience, as a result using the same costume in the trailer for my magazine brought about elements of continuity. Sam’s shirt is a convention as stereotypically teenagers seem to be fashionable suggesting that Sam cares about her outer appearance which supports Robin Lakoffs theory of gender representation. However, Sam’s hair is messy which could contradict this theory but her hair style was intentionally implemented to convey the period of disequilibrium by Todorov in which she would have been running about, making her hair messy. 

Magazines follow specific colour schemes which conventionally carry implicit meanings for instance, durind my research I noticed that a vast majority of magazines have around 3-4 different colours on their magazine front covers which varies depending on their target audience. Likewise, I used red, white, yellow grey and black in my magazine as a fundamental technique to make the magazine outstanding, which would draw the attention of the reader.

Images and Mastheads are significant to a magazine but that does not undermine the role in which written text has on the overall look and interpretation of a magazine. The most important piece of text in my magazine is the heading of my trailer `the summoning’ which is coloured in grey to give a misty feel but to also to create a distinction between the main of Sam and the heading. Besides, the heading acts like a splash line promoting my trailer and hence adding my main product. I have also used a variety of pre-modification such as `massive and biggest’, these superlatives makes the magazine seem the best and therefore draws the attention and creates an indirect relationship. Most magazines front covers use Standard English and avoid using slang or potential taboo words although this may vary depending on the audience. In my magazine I wanted to challenge this convention as my audience is teens, the use of dysphemism such as `bloody hell’ highlighted in white and yellow, would not attract a negative response as teenagers stereotypically use non-standard forms of English. Additionally, I used a range of exclamative sentences such as `45 new movies you need to know about right now!’ as a method of interacting with the vibrant personality of my audience, hence the colour yellow suggests happiness representing their personality.

Moreover, a significant amount of magazines use taglines to give the reader an insight into the content of the magazine, which as a result indirectly persuades them to read on, as my magazine represents a real life product, I have embarked upon the use of taglines such as `Scream8: Wes Craven spills on sequel!’ as a magazine consumer myself, and having digested a substantial amount of Empire magazines I knew that taglines are important to suffice a media product.

Poster

Posters are marketing strategies used by production companies such as the Warner bros top raise awareness and keep people cognisant of newly released films, which as a result increases the circulation of a movie resulting in a production company attracting increased revenue. Moreover, in relation to my general production the creation of a poster was an obligation as it allowed me to use another form of advertising, in contrast to the internet. A significant distinction between my magazine and poster is the use of colour, magazines during my research seems to be colourful, but my poster was directly linked to my trailer which is associated with evil, so I decided to use black and white by changing the contrast on Photoshop to generate a strong bond between my main trailer and poster; the grey suggests to the audience that the trailer is associated with darkness and isolation which is a connotation of black and moreover a paradigm of horror.

In contrast, to my magazine in which the masthead is conventionally at the top of the page, the main heading in this text is placed in the middle of the page in bold, black and white writing, to make it bold and as a result outstanding, moreover this idea was gained from my style model Scream in which the posters heading is allocated in the middle, which is complemented by the splash line placed at the top of the page stating `someone has taken their love of scary movies one step too far. Solving this mystery is going to be murder’.

The image in the text is a copy of the image on my magazine front cover; this is because I wanted my target audience to experience an element of continuity, additionally I believe that the more times that you see an image, the more the image becomes familiar which supports the theory of desensitisation, I used this technique to prey on the mind of the reader, which would encourage them to visit the cinema. The image of Sam a vulnerable character who is also the final girl theory by carol clover, as the image of Sam is in a medium shot it was essential that I didn’t place any texts over her eyes as her eyes depict her emotions, granting the audience to relate to the poster, the candles under her face represents hope, which implicitly could be a struggle between good and evil.

Another convention that I noticed from my research of horror posters is the credits which is usually placed on the bottom of the poster to illustrate the process of production, this can be seen as a marketing tool for big movies such as Avatar, as the production team includes renowned celebrities such as David Cameron which would attract a larger audience. As I used scream’s poster, as my style model, I decided to implement the producers under the main heading, which was also used in the poster for `kick ass’. Furthermore, the smaller writing is of the cast such as the main producer the editor and costumes.

Horror posters conventionally have a age rating, as a means if regulating, who can digest a movie. Consequently, I embarked upon this technique and gave my horror trailer an age rating of 15 after deliberating with the BBFC; the 15 age rating is not due to the violence but the psychological effect that it may have on children, as the fear of the evil spirit could result in them copying scenes such as the case of Jamie Bulger. Furthermore, my poster hass used Warner Brothers, Lionsgate and Dolby Digital logos to give the poster more authority and allow the audience to find out the production company for future references.

I also embedded taglines for example `the highly acclaimed new supernatural movie straight from hell’, to create suspense and as a consequence, encourage them to watch the trailer and enticed to watch the movie. Finally, I also implemented the website address so that the viewer could gain information such as the viewing times, how much etc. Generally, the ancillary task was significant to a substantial extent, as a advertising tool for the main product.

3.      What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Production companies such as the Warner brother and 21^st century fox depend extensively on perceptions of their target audiences when producing a renowned horror trailer. Gaining audience feedbacks allows producers to make any amendments to a trailer, or, movie. Thus various production companies show screening to a variety of audiences to create a microcosm of society’s view point. In previous areas gaining a wide observation of a horror trailer would be remote. However, the proliferation of technology has created a cohesive society in which people from a variety of backgrounds can be connected e.g. through the internet such as facebook.

Hence, as a producer I believe that gaining feedback from my target audience would be imperative, consequently during my preliminary production of my trailer, I structured a questionnaire which was specifically designed for gain a feedback which would encourage both positive and critical responses, this was 

achieved by using a variety of open and closed questions. These are some of the example of questions asked:

·         What do you believe is the most effective way of advertising?

·         Do you; prefer the villain in a horror trailer to be revealed?

·         Do you like a horror trailer to leave you in suspense?

·         Which horror certificate do you think is the scariest?

·         What age category do you belong to?

Since the innovation of technology especially the internet, the rate of consumption of horror films and trailers have increased significantly, even to the extent that the cinema is declining and becoming second nature to our generation, as a result of the internet being the most popular form to view horror trailers and films, I will use this method strategically to embark upon the blossoming internet to get more people to view my trailer. So therefore, I might create a website or download my trailer onto YouTube to maximise the amount of views that the trailer I will be making will receive. It also works hand in hand with conversion and synergy. Furthermore, big production companies such as the Warner Brothers and 21^st century fox both use the internet especially YouTube as a marketing tool to establishing a variety of viewers. Consequently, by me implementing my trailer o the internet my trailer has the opportunity to be consumed worldwide.

As my main target audience for the horror trailer is predominately teenagers. I decided to hand out more questionnaires to my target audience to establish their perception of a good horror trailer. However, in relation to the survey I tried to balance my distribution to a wide range of ages so that my questionnaire holds more authority. Furthermore, as a result of handing my questionnaires to people within the category of 17-19 I will base my horror trailer in regards to their common interests. When I was in the process distribution my questionnaires I wanted my audience to be balanced in terms of gender. As a result, I decided to hand out 15 questions to both male and females, so that I could establish a balanced representation of society. Thus I was able to get an equal feedback from both sex, consequently this made my research more reliable and precise.

To summarize: Throughout my result analysis I encountered many different avenues that I would have to embark upon in creating my horror trailer. Probably the most fundamental to me was the results regarding how I was going to market my product, I which prior to the questionnaire was still oblique to me, however, as people are becoming more computer literates it would be crucial to use the internet as a selling point for my trailer. I also learnt significant issues and ideas that my audience would like to use in my sub-genre (supernatural) such as using the unconventional method of a hand held camera to narrate the trailer. It also painted a picture of what makes a bad horror trailer such as the use of too much blood and etc.

Furthermore my research encouraged me to produce a horror trailer set in a barren school because my audience could relate to it as they are teens. Also my research also gave me an insight into how much time they would like to see the trailer last for which as within the region of 2 to 3 minutes. In terms of sound, I wanted my trailer to be established as a horror trailer without my audience watching it visually, therefore, we will embark upon various diegetic and non-diegetic sound to generate suspense for my audience. Generally, the response from my target audience was very positive and has given me a guideline and a template which has set precedence to make sure that it appeals to the audience but also has a touch of uniqueness about it.

With the benefit of hindsight, if I could change anything in regards to my feedback from my audience, I would hand my questionnaire to around 50 people rather than 30 which will allow me to gain more reliable and efficient feedback which would as a result strengthen my trailer.

4.      How did you use new technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Technology has always been the foundation to media; technology is no longer restricted to the affluent people and seems to operate on a wider platform in contrast to 20 years ago. However, more specifically technology is imperative in the production of trailers with advanced hardware, forming a more efficient experience in the consumption of trailers. With hindsight, I believe that my use of technology has significantly enhanced in contrast to my A2 production of a music magazine, in which it was my first time being engaged with using sophisticated software such as the Macs and up to date cameras, however, being more mature as an A2 studies, allowed me to grasp the complex process of producing a trailer and editing on smart and professional equipment such as final cut.

Construction: constructing my horror involved using a substantial amount media related equipment in production, the most renowned was using a Sony DCR-HC48 camcorder with 1080p HD, which efficient as it could be used for multi-purpose, as it was also used to take pictures for my posters and front covers in addition to being used as a microphone. Using camcorder initially was a complicated process, as we kept recording over previous recordings which became time consuming, but as time elapsed we became used to the camcorder. We additionally used a Hama Star Tripod for our steady shots which was resourceful as it made our shots more professional, the preliminary shots were unsteady which meant that we had to shot the scenes again. However, we also used handled shots especially in the chase scenes and when filming high and low angles which were filmed repeatedly to give use a variety of footage.

After we gained around 2 hours of footage for our trailer, we started using hardware by editing it on apple Macs software Premier, used by professional producers such as in the film avatar. The Software, final cut, was a challenging experience for the group especially making sure the trailer followed specific sequences as well as implanting certain effects, such as, blurring tool, slow motion, fast motion, fades to black, black and white, and INBB as it was very technical and to an extent complicated but as the team work was efficient as we kept deleting the work, however, with time we managed to overcome the technicalities by communicating. Although, the majority of editing was conducted by Adaeze, Naima and Korrina, my role in the group cannot be undermined as I suggested different effects to be used, and gave advice on the general progress of the trailer. Moreover, I was able to observe and learn from my colleagues as I was not particularly as proficient at editing as them. We did have problems with the battery life of our recorder, which needed charging regularly; with hindsight we would carry a spare battery to make sure that there was no setbacks in our production outcome.

Although, the production of my horror trailer instigated the use of a significant amount of technology, producing my poster was also a significant experience which involved a use of different technological gadgets. For the production of the poster I used Adobe Photoshop in which I had gained previous knowledge from my AS studies, hence I was able to use the makes productively and efficiently, albeit, I did require help with uploading images and using the tools to edit the pictures as my photography skills was lacking, I struggled with the lighting and mise-en-scene but my group and the help of a photography teacher who generously came into the school to help use take ideal photos which. I further used USB consistently to get logos and pictures for my poster from the internet especially Google images to get suitable images for our task. I also used my mobile phone in my poster production to download pictures and text to my phone and then transfer it to my USB. My front cover pictures were taken from a 10megapixel camera which allowed my images to be at a high quality as it was HD. My poster was then uploaded to Blogger.

In conjunction with my poster I also used Adobe Photoshop to generate my magazine and also used publisher and paint; this is because Photoshop is more enhanced than Microsoft publisher which as result meant that my magazine could acquire better quality which can be illustrated by the gradient tool which allowed me to cut the background out of my images. Furthermore, I also used the internet extensively during my magazine production especially Google to gain style model magazines which gave me an insight into how a magazine front cover should look but my internet at home was not functioning properly so I had to spend a lot of time after school to conduct my production, moreover, I further used Microsoft Word for the main text of my magazine which was transferred to the apple Macs via USB. Additionally, I placed my magazine front cover on Web 2.0 such as Facebook to obtain opinions which would grant me the incentive to improve my magazine.

Research: The internet was the preliminary source for my research into my horror trailer; I used Wikipedia a lot to get information on what a horror trailer consists of, as prior to my A2 studies I had limited knowledge of horror. A vast majority of horror trailers use Web 2.0 as a marketing tool to release trailers, thus I used Youtube and Google frequently, to research into similar products for instance, I was able to view scream 2 and Blair-witch project to get an insight into some of the techniques which they used when producing their trailer which I embedded to by blog by HTML. This could be linked into Gauntletts theory in 2007 that “the introduction of interactive media allows media users and consumers to become more creative”. I also noticed during my research that Slideshare was used a lot by media students, thus I invested time into creating an account in case of future necessities. I also used SurveyMonkey is an online questionnaire service which allows people to make and share questions, making it easier for me to collect data.

Planning: A major of my work was conducted by drawing and writing on paper especially for my ancillary task, this was because I wanted to create drafts of my ancillary production rather than using Photoshop straightway without any practice, thus I did drafts on paper and Microsoft publisher to give me a taste on the outcome of my ancillary task. I used the internet to produce a time table in during the production of my main product, as a means of being efficient and making sure that I have enough time to make amendments to my trailer, the time table was generated on Microsoft Excel. I further used technology in the planning of my ancillary texts by obtaining style models from Google for instance, my magazine and poster images was based on the scream posters which I got from Google images.

Evaluation: During the process of my evaluation I used a smart board to present my evaluation to the class, to get feedback. I further used Adobe Photoshop final cut to put illustrations on my evaluation and to edit parts, which did not fit in, then I placed my data on the new technology blogger. I decided to implement on blogger rather than constructing an interview because my evaluation was lengthy and would exceed the time limit issued, as a result blogger was a more efficient method as, speech is spontaneous and usually shorter than writing especially as it includes a lot of fillers which could make it informal, hence placing it on blogger meant that a variety of audiences read my evaluation and comment, allowing me to make changes. In conclusion, I feel that the use of media technologies has helped to show my development through the whole of my AS and A2 media course, I have built confidence in all of these technologies and hope to further them, although problems did occur these obstacles helped to develop my skills and in the long run helped to create an accomplished task. 

EVALUATION

Analysis of Posters

Analysis of my horror trailer

The trailer begins with a establishing shot of the college in which the main characters attend, the building looks old and haunted which allows the audience to subliminally and subconsciously identify that the trailer is a supernatural horror trailer, this could be viewed by the long shot of the college in a low angle to suggest that the college is the main focus of the trailer. The trailer then fuzzes into a medium shot of the main character Sam in the college corridors holding a hand-held camera which connotes that the trailer is likely to have some hand-held shots incorporated into the trailer. The non-diegetic sound in the background indicates that the the trailer is still in equilibrium as the music is slow and mellow. This is also supported by the characters smiling and laughing throughout which is s stereotypical representation of teenagers who are represented as upbeat and vibrant.

The trailer then illustrates Mitchell and Ava hold a blackberry which suggest that they are up to date and modern, however, the blackberry contains a message from Sam telling the girls to meet up later because Sam has a surprise. the girls then walk of past students by the lockers holding bocks which again allows the audience to establish the location of the trailer (long Shot). The next seen sees Sam and Mitchell walking and laughing filmed in a high angle of them walking up the stairs, this could suggest that they are vulnerable although they are laughing, at this stage the music gradually picks up pace. The next seen illustrates Jared and Ava in a long shot, Ava is sitting on Jared lap whilst they flirt this could imply that they have a love connection. In the background the audience can clearly see the alcohol which could suggest that the teenagers are immoral and are up to no good. Jared And Ava are joined by Sam and Mitchell who seem to partake in the alcohol consumption suggesting impurity.

The next seen sees Ava blowing out a candle in a medium shot which could be symbolic to the futuristic events which is likely to occur, this is complemented by the music which has become louder. The teenagers are the filmed in a transitional long/medium shot of them partaking in the Ouija board game which Sam had brought in, as the this game is associated with darkness the trailers became darker so that the candles could stand out adding flames to the spooky feel as the candles flickered consistently. This is complemented by the tone card "keeps you on the age of your seat" which suggests that something bad is likely to happen prompting a change of mood.

The Ouija board scene is followed by the toilet scene in which the immoral character Ava is smoking which again highlights her impurity. This is follwed by the moment of disequilibrium by Todorov when the toilet door slams and the taps start running without being turned on, the fear in Ava's face can be depicted through the close up and extreme close up shots used to illustrate her emotions, she is then assumed to be killed off by the evil spirit which supports Carol Clovers ideology that the immoral girl always dies first.

The next seen is a chase seen in which Jared, Ava's boyfriend falls whilst running down the stairs from the evil spirits oppressive hand this is illustrated in a long shot which then progresses to a high angle of Jared being filmed in a vulnerable position as he tries to escape. This is then supplemented by Sam and Mitchell running down the strairs trying to escape which is filmed in a unsteady handheld shot at a canted angle to demonstrate tension and fear.

We then see Jared running down the stairs and trying to get into a class room, he opens the door and closes it upon entry as he barracades the door with his body to block the spirit from entering and capturing his soul (medium shot). The Final scene is of the final girl (Carol Clover) Sam who is running in a hand-held shot which clearly illustrates her fright and her emotions, she then drops the camera and she runs into the distance but she has not been found sense.

Analysis of Magazines

Key Features (on my poster)

Final Poster

Poster

Posters are marketing strategies used by production companies such as the Warner bros top raise awareness and keep people cognisant of newly released films, which as a result increases the circulation of a movie resulting in a production company attracting increased revenue. Moreover, in relation to my general production the creation of a poster was an obligation as it allowed me to use another form of advertising, in contrast to the internet. A significant distinction between my magazine and poster is the use of colour, magazines during my research seems to be colourful, but my poster was directly linked to my trailer which is associated with evil, so I decided to use black and white by changing the contrast on Photoshop to generate a strong bond between my main trailer and poster; the grey suggests to the audience that the trailer is associated with darkness and isolation which is a connotation of black and moreover a paradigm of horror.

In contrast, to my magazine in which the masthead is conventionally at the top of the page, the main heading in this text is placed in the middle of the page in bold, black and white writing, to make it bold and as a result outstanding, moreover this idea was gained from my style model Scream in which the posters heading is allocated in the middle, which is complemented by the splash line placed at the top of the page stating `someone has taken their love of scary movies one step too far. Solving this mystery is going to be murder’.

The image in the text is a copy of the image on my magazine front cover; this is because I wanted my target audience to experience an element of continuity, additionally I believe that the more times that you see an image, the more the image becomes familiar which supports the theory of desensitisation, I used this technique to prey on the mind of the reader, which would encourage them to visit the cinema. The image of Sam a vulnerable character who is also the final girl theory by carol clover, as the image of Sam is in a medium shot it was essential that I didn’t place any texts over her eyes as her eyes depict her emotions, granting the audience to relate to the poster, the candles under her face represents hope, which implicitly could be a struggle between good and evil.

Another convention that I noticed from my research of horror posters is the credits which is usually placed on the bottom of the poster to illustrate the process of production, this can be seen as a marketing tool for big movies such as Avatar, as the production team includes renowned celebrities such as David Cameron which would attract a larger audience. As I used scream’s poster, as my style model, I decided to implement the producers under the main heading, which was also used in the poster for `kick ass’. Furthermore, the smaller writing is of the cast such as the main producer the editor and costumes.

Horror posters conventionally have a age rating, as a means if regulating, who can digest a movie. Consequently, I embarked upon this technique and gave my horror trailer an age rating of 15 after deliberating with the BBFC; the 15 age rating is not due to the violence but the psychological effect that it may have on children, as the fear of the evil spirit could result in them copying scenes such as the case of Jamie Bulger. Furthermore, my poster hass used Warner Brothers, Lionsgate and Dolby Digital logos to give the poster more authority and allow the audience to find out the production company for future references.

I also embedded taglines for example `the highly acclaimed new supernatural movie straight from hell’, to create suspense and as a consequence, encourage them to watch the trailer and enticed to watch the movie. Finally, I also implemented the website address so that the viewer could gain information such as the viewing times, how much etc. Generally, the ancillary task was significant to a substantial extent, as a advertising tool for the main product.

My Magazine Front Cover

Front Cover

Constructing the front cover of my magazine was a familiar task, as my AS studies required the production of a music magazine which was also produced on the Apple Macs, consequently based on my previous knowledge  of conventions of a magazine, the manufacturing was much more proficient, as the ancillary task, was a mere development of my previous studies.

It was important that my masthead was bold and eye catching as during my investigations and observations of Empire magazines, their headings were usually clear, therefore I embarked upon this technique by using a large font size coloured in red, I decided to use the colour red to green or blue because it is bright primary colour. Conversely, the colour red can also be associated with blood which is a typical paradigm of a slasher sub genre. However, as our trailer is based on the sub genre of the supernatural, the colour red depicts danger which is a parable for the events which occur in the actual trailer, to make the masthead even more outstanding I implemented a white border around the heading to increase its visibility and additionally create a house style.

Mastheads are usually supplemented with subheadings, which in my magazine is placed on the top of the masthead stating `meet the new action A-list!’ this is a paradigm of a magazine and has a function of revealing some of the main content of a magazine. Another feature of a magazine is the barcode which gives the magazine a degree of power and authority. A barcode is frequently complemented with a price tag which is located in the heading costing £3.90; this principle was based on my findings in my research, revealing that Empire magazines allocated its price tag in the letter `M’ as a house style, which is also supplemented with the website address under the masthead as a marketing tool.

An image in a magazine cover is to substantial degree important, as a method of the audience being able to form a relationship between the audience and magazine front cover; hence magazines conventionally use renowned superstars to appear on their front cover to attract their target audience. For instance, a harry potter film would use Daniel Radcliffe as he is the main character in the film but to further grant the audience the ability to identify with the movie. As a result, I felt it was imperative to implement the main character in my trailer which is `Sam’ to form a relationship between the main product and my magazine. The character on my magazine has a large composition on the overall magazine, as she is framed in a medium shot allowing her to express emotions and relate directly to the audience, this can be seen in the magazine as the character looks sad and vulnerable because our trailer is based on fear and danger which is associated with the devil. The Sam is also holding a candle under her face representing the Ouija Board scene in our trailer, the light shining on her face could represent hope. In relation to the layout of my magazine, the main text is situated away from Sam’s eyes because her plank stare is supposed to be creepy and give the audience the feeling of being watched.

Sam’s costume in the trailer was also used in the magazine to form a correlation between my main product and my ancillary task. For instance, if Sam’s costume in the trailer is dark and rugged, it wouldn’t be logic to put images of her dressed formally because it would form a negative correlation but also puzzle the audience, as a result using the same costume in the trailer for my magazine brought about elements of continuity. Sam’s shirt is a convention as stereotypically teenagers seem to be fashionable suggesting that Sam cares about her outer appearance which supports Robin Lakoffs theory of gender representation. However, Sam’s hair is messy which could contradict this theory but her hair style was intentionally implemented to convey the period of disequilibrium by Todorov in which she would have been running about, making her hair messy. 

Magazines follow specific colour schemes which conventionally carry implicit meanings for instance, durind my research I noticed that a vast majority of magazines have around 3-4 different colours on their magazine front covers which varies depending on their target audience. Likewise, I used red, white, yellow grey and black in my magazine as a fundamental technique to make the magazine outstanding, which would draw the attention of the reader.

Images and Mastheads are significant to a magazine but that does not undermine the role in which written text has on the overall look and interpretation of a magazine. The most important piece of text in my magazine is the heading of my trailer `the summoning’ which is coloured in grey to give a misty feel but to also to create a distinction between the main of Sam and the heading. Besides, the heading acts like a splash line promoting my trailer and hence adding my main product. I have also used a variety of pre-modification such as `massive and biggest’, these superlatives makes the magazine seem the best and therefore draws the attention and creates an indirect relationship. Most magazines front covers use Standard English and avoid using slang or potential taboo words although this may vary depending on the audience. In my magazine I wanted to challenge this convention as my audience is teens, the use of dysphemism such as `bloody hell’ highlighted in white and yellow, would not attract a negative response as teenagers stereotypically use non-standard forms of English. Additionally, I used a range of exclamative sentences such as `45 new movies you need to know about right now!’ as a method of interacting with the vibrant personality of my audience, hence the colour yellow suggests happiness representing their personality.

Moreover, a significant amount of magazines use taglines to give the reader an insight into the content of the magazine, which as a result indirectly persuades them to read on, as my magazine represents a real life product, I have embarked upon the use of taglines such as `Scream8: Wes Craven spills on sequel!’ as a magazine consumer myself, and having digested a substantial amount of Empire magazines I knew that taglines are important to suffice a media product.

Style Model Posters (research)



Ancillary texts

Tone Card

Final Draft

This is the final trailer for "the summoning".It took us a very long time to produce this end product. After considerable thought, we decided to change the order of particualr shots, add in excess tone cards (both transparent and clearly visible ones) and adjusted the speed of particular shots.

Final Trailer (Third Draft)

Final Trailer (second draft)

Trailer (first draft without sound)

This is our final trailer without the non-diegetic sound which would be played over the trailer, we felt that it was important to finish editing on final cut before starting to deliberate on music choice.

Final Trailer

Naming Our Trailer



Giving our horror trailer a title reqiured serious contemplation because a title is supposed to capture the concept. Initially we planned to name our trailer the "supernatural" but this title did not epitomize the events in our trailer. Hence we came to a consensus that we should name our trailer the summoning, the summoning is a connotation for the events which are yet to unfold and is based on the ideology that the devil would come of the Ouija board and capture his servants (the teenagers) moreover, a title is meant to depict genre so it was essential to extract a trailer which has a negative connotation. We thought that our title should be short and straight to the point because to make it more appealing to our target audience of horror consumers.

Blair Witch Project Trailer (handheld)

The blair Witch Project is smiliar to our our trailer as a group of teenagers perform and immoral act in which they get punished, they have also used handheld shots to gain put the audience in the shoes of the characters in the trailer, this was effective to grant us insight inot some of the handheld techniques such as dropping the camera and then illustrating a run scene for the final girl sequence.

Paranormal Activity (handheld)

Our trailer would have handheld shots, hence to get a better concept and understanding of horror, it was imperative to look at previous handheld films to gain expirence and ideas on the potential handheld scenes which would be incoporated into our trailer.

Final Sound Choice

After much deliberation we concluded that it would be best to create our own music, as most of my inital sound choices dont seem to fit into the trailer consequently, Korrina informed a music artisit who was able to generate the music of our trailer which would fit into the sequences perfectly and hence supplement suspense, this was essential because our trailer has not used dialogue which means that the trailers music needed to highlight the mood of key scenes especially the period of equlibrium and disequlibrium.

DEVLIN - BRAINWASHED (sound)

Drag Me To Hell Movie Trailer (sound)

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Kanye West - Runaway (Full-length Clean)

Sound