Evaluation Activity 4

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research and planning stage and evaluation stage?



The part of research and planning we did for our trailer was so decide on the genre and have a small idea what the storyline would consist of. We used a number of Microsoft programmes which allowed us to make a lift of the different genres and their clichés. After making the list we then narrowed our ideas down and had a new ideas for a trailer in either a horror genre or action. We then again made a mind map of this genres along we the ideas consisting of the advantages and disadvantages, as well as any problems we could encounter whilst making the trailer.

Before coming to a conclusion we then used a combination of blogger to upload and organise the ideas we have. Along with YouTube which allowed us analyse other trailers, helping us make a final decision and giving us a few ideas with storyline, camera angles and editing. We had used this throughout the foundation and advanced courses of media, and they have been very helpful as blogger allows us the present our work and track our progress very easily. Where as YouTube allows us to look at other films of a similar genre, aiding our research and planning.

After some analysis of other film trailers on YouTube we then came up with about three final ideas for a film trailer. We went though a similar procedure in making mind maps of strengths and weaknesses of the various ideas. We outlined some of the difficulties we could have, but also some of the things we could do very well

Once we made the decision to make a horror film we came up with an outline of the plot. We drew up a storyboard based on the ideas we had. Once this was done we were then able to take pictures of each individual part and upload it to windows movie maker in order to create an animatic. Which now at the evaluation stage has shown us how our work has progressed since the beginning.

Another idea we had was to create the mood board using prezi, this again was very helpful as it allowed us the create the mood board showing different aspects of the horror genre in a number of ways, mainly though pictures. However once it was made on prezi it was easy to move to the blog, organise and make us of it when it came to filming.

Once we were comfortable with the research and planning we then began filming. We used the cameras the school provided for most of the shots along with the tripod to keep the shots steady. As we had been using the camera for the last year or so we found it easy to use, and then upload to a computer to begin the editing process.

We used Adobe Premier Elements to edit our footage, like the camera a tripod as we have used this software before we were very familiar with it. This allowed us to add it information about our institutions, use specific transitions at suit to the horror genre and add two pieces of sound/music at the right time.

 

Once the editing was complete we then moved onto the film poster and magazine front cover, which we put together on Photoshop. Photoshop as a media technology was fairly new to us both, however after spending time on it we quickly adapted and were able to create the items we needed in order for all three of our products to fit together.

 

 

 

 



 Lastly we other media technologies we used where social network sights, these were used to speak to our target audience and help us gain answers to our questionnaires, which we needed to understand more about what the audience would expect from a horror film trailer.

Evalution Activity 3

What have you learnt from your audience from your Audience feedback?

 

 

The filmed audience feedback has given us the opportunity to hear the pros and cons of our film. This is very helpful to us as we can work with these views and bear them in mind in any future projects.This is the feedback the audience gave.

 

Pros:

•The use of short shots and jump cuts paired with the heart beat kept the tension going, having an impact on the viewer.

•The change in camera angles, the combination of both handheld camera shots, which allowed Point Of View shots and positioned camera shots.

•The mixture of the heart beat and the shots made it "work really well"

 

Cons:

•The transitions of the first bits of music cut out too abruptly and just stops dead.

• We could have given a bit more of the plot away.

 

Other comments:

•It doesn't give too much away so it's typical of a teaser trailer.

•The titles give information on who the film's made by and who's staring in the film which is effective as it lets the audience know that well-known actors star.

 

 

The feedback has taught us a lot as a group and we now feel we have a better idea on how to create an effective trailer. Some of the comments were interesting as we had contrasted opinions between the audience, one member said we could have given more of the plot away whereas another said how not giving too much away was typical of a teaser trailer. We feel that being a teaser trailer there is a fine line between giving too much and too little away, and we didn't want to cross over the line but we could have afforded to show a little more as the trailer was slightly ambiguous. From the feedback we learned that our choice in the  music and sound to add was good but our idea of transitions was not, looking back on it the transitions is far too sharp and sudden, if we were to do it again we would make the transition smoother. We are happy with the titles we added although we feel that adding more could be even more effective. It was nice to hear the strengths of our trailer and it taught us just how effective good sound effects mixed with suitable footage can be, should we do it again we would use more sound effects over clips.

Evalution activity 2

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


Overall i believe that the three final products myself and Sidney had put together all worked very well as a combination. As our target audience is around 18+ and more targeted towards males, our main protagonist in the film is also male as it will able the audience to put themselves in the same situation during the film, hopefully adding a greater element of horror. Also after having a main character in our trailer being the main focus point it was key that we incorporated it into our other texts, the poster and magazine cover. Which is shown by the key picture on the magazine cover being an actual shot from our trailer (Seen in the two pictures below), meaning that when members of the audience see it, this will automatically make them think of this certain film after seeing the trailer. Which in return will hopefully create a high level of interest and audience following before the film is released.

Another thing that works well as a combination is the fact that our teaser trailer gives very little of the storyline away, however it shows enough action and clips to have the genre clear and hopefully make people want to see our film. That along with the poster and magazine cover again create a sense of anticipation about our film. Making the audience want to see more of the action and become involved with the storyline, so inside the magazine we allude to a tour round the setting of our film. The house which is one of the first things the audience see in our trailer has great importance. So using this in combination with the teaser trailer and how the audience could relate to our main character (though the male gaze theory) would work well as an advertisement in grabbing our target audiences attention and getting them involved with the film.

Carrying on from the way our teaser trailer gives little of the storyline away, we used this intentionally to create more of an interest and following inside the target audience. As the introduction of a website appears on our film poster this would be used as an extra part of our advertisement in order to gain a greater relationship between the audience and our film/characters. On the website there would be exclusive information which would reveal more of the storyline as we get closer to the release date. So with use of the combination of our trailer and poster this should increase the advertising campaign, and gain us a close following based on our target audience.

Also another focus of our three media text were to keep a similar colour scheme, consisting of the traditional horror colours of black, red and at time white as it gives a paranormal feel (Shown in the pictures below), this was evident in the titles used for our trailer, some of the shots and many aspects of our magazine cover and poster. This abled us to have a link between all the three products and hopefully allows members of the audience whom haven't followed our advertising campaign as much as our main target audience to instantly recognise the genre of the film.

Overall I believe that the use of the three media texts as a combination works very well in trying to achieve a close following and large members of our target audience to want to see our film when it is finally released. They also link well together as they share the same colour scheme throughout and many of the same pictures allowing the audience to relate them altogether

Evaluation Activity 1

                       

1. TITLE - The title of our film is 'the paranormal' and we feel this fits the conventions of a horror film, especially our sub-genre. The film has a similar theme to the 'paranormal Activity' films and so it is fitting to have a similar name, it suggests the films have common themes and factors, for this reason we decided to conform to the conventions. We spent a fairly long time trying to think of a title for our film but most either had little relevance to our film or sounded like a really cheesy, low-budget horror flick which you would watch for a laugh. We wanted to avoid this so we looked for inspiration and found it in the paranormal activity films which are extremely popular and grossed huge amounts at the box office, this is the type of film we wanted to be associated with, the most important thing to put in a trailer is the title, so we needed it to sound like the sort of film we would want to go and watch.

 

 

 

 

2. SETTING - Our film is set in an abandoned, haunted house which is overgrown and in the middle of no-where. The untidy bush, faded window frames, door with a torn up sign on it and smashed window all give this impression and the establishing shot of the house shows what a great setting for a horror movie it is. The house has a lot in common with the setting of other popular horror movies such as the Amytiville horror and the shining. Although we conformed to many of the conventions and clichés of horror location, the establishing shot of the house could have been more effective in a different light. If the shot was darker, it is likely that the connotations of the house would be too. We had problems with trying to get a clear shot of the house later at night because the camera we had at our disposal was not suited to dark lights, and we did not have access to lighting sufficient to create the perfect degree of light. Our setting fits the the conventions of the horror genre, some of the most successful and famous horror films have been set in an isolated, spooky building.

 

 

 

 

3. CAMERA WORK AND EDITING  -  Typically in horror films and trailers you would see low angle shots of the antagonist to make them look big, scary and powerful. You would also expect to see high angle shots of the victims to make them look weak and defenceless. We conformed to the high angle shots, although we only had one character, there is multiple high angle shots of him which often make him look vulnerable. Making the antagonist look powerful with angle of shots was difficult because we cannot see it, although we developed our own technique. The shot of the character getting pulled up the stairs is a steep low angle shot which shows the protagonist clearly having no control which gives the idea of power to the invisible force which is pulling him; this makes it carries the connotation that the invisible force is too powerful for the Human victim. Scenes which show the antagonist clearly overpowering its victims are common in horror films and are often the most memorable scenes; the end scene of paranormal activity 3 is very memorable when the possessed woman tosses another across the room. In almost every trailer the audience will witness a change of pace, in action and horror movies the pace often starts off slow and calm but gets faster and faster, and often louder as the trailer progresses. This is something we have conformed to in our trailer, at the start of the trailer the shots are long and some have slow fades, this sets the pace and keeps the audience calm, although later on in the trailer the shots are lasting less than a second and are shown in quick succession of one another. This gets the audience’s hearts going as the pace builds as does their attention, then the climax hits them and the title is shown which is very effective as the audience’s interest and concentration is at its peak during the action, so showing the title afterwards makes it much more likely the audience will take  notice of it and increases the chance of them remembering the name of the film. The increased excitement that the audience experiences at the end of the trailer makes it much more likely they will go and see it. We have conformed to the conventions of horror trailers with our camera work and editing although in most horror trailers there would most likely be a wider variety of camera shots and angles.

 

 

 

 

4. COSTUME - Unlike the opening 2 minutes of films, trailers are rarely set in chronological order, this meant that you can expect to see a character in numerous costumes. In our trailer the character wears several costumes which suggests to the audience the time frame of the trailer. Having the character wear more than one outfit conforms to the norm of trailers as you very rarely see a trailer where the characters are dressed in same outfit all the way through, this is probably due to the fact that the huge majority of films are set over an extended period of time. The costume generally fits the setting in the trailer which is common but not necessarily a cliche. In the first shot of the character and the house he is dressed in black jeans and a grey jacket; dark, dull colours which have the connotations of horror and match the state of the house well. Similarly the shot of the character in the kitchen he is dressed in bright colours which matches the brightness of the shot. The more dominant costume cliches and conventions in horror films are based on the antagonist, this makes it more difficult to show conforming or subversion as our antagonist is not visible, although the costumes of our protagonist fits the conventions. We set the costume for the character to look like a normal guy, dressed as many would daily. We did this in order to enable the audience to relate more effectively and gives them the idea that no matter what you're doing the evil can still get you.

 

 

5.GENRE AND HOW THE TRAILER SUGGESTS IT - The genre of the film is obvious form the start of the film, Blumhouse Productions is synonymous with horror films, and the font of the Brain Damage films title further suggests this. The gothic red font with a black background fits the horror conventions and stereotypes perfectly. Once the clips start going we see a slow pan of an obviously run-down house and later on we see shots of some very spooky things happening but the lighting and camera angles also suggest the genre. The run-down house with smashed windows is a favourite location in horror films as seen in films like Amytiville horror. dark places are very common in horror films so the shots we have in a dark room are effective at suggesting the genre. The slamming doors and characters being dragged about are things you see in the paranormal activity films, these films are extremely popular especially with the current horror target audience, this means that seeing clips like this show the audience this film is a horror. Many horror trailers feature an establishing shot of where the film is set, this is a convention that we conformed to during our trailer but, those trailer also likely to show more footage from the film especially of the scariest bits happening. In our trailer we didn't show as much footage from the trailer so this was a subversion of the conventions.

 

6. HOW CHARACTERS ARE INTRODUCED - Many film trailers show and introduce multiple characters, ours only introduces the protagonist, this is because he is the only character that has any significant role in the film and as we only needed to show him in our trailer for it to come together as we had hoped, there was no point in introducing anyone else. The establishing shot of the trailer is a pan on the house where the film is set, the character is first introduced walking towards that house. Having the character walking towards the established point of importance suggests that the character has a main role in the film. In the next clip we see the character talking about noises in the house and we see him going to the source, this shows him to be a mixture of brave and extremely stupid which i what the audience love. there is always a character that looks in the closet, opens the door or goes into the dark room in search of the bad guy, these are the characters that get the audience saying the famously cliche "don't go in there" Although these character generally have a very short lifespan, they are responsible for a large amount of the action. The character is shown to be in the middle of the action as well as in a large risk of danger especially in the scene with him being dragged up the stairs. The way the character is introduced is similar to how 'Katie' is introduced in the paranormal activity trailer, they are both shown to be targeted by the evil. This shows the conforming to the genre's conventions.

 

7.SPECIAL EFFECTS – Special effects are used in the huge majority of films and you will see these in their trailers and it is often huge very effective scenes that cost huge amounts of money to make, especially in action films. Being a horror film there will still be special effects and although they are often nothing compared to the special effects seen in a film like Avatar, they will be expensive. We didn’t have access to a big budget allowing us the luxury of amazing special effects so we had to work with what we had. Getting the shots that conform to the horror genre would not have been possible in our case without special effects, a great example of this is the scene with the character being pulled up the stairs backwards. Using ropes or stings to pull the actor could be painful as well as very difficult to edit out on our budget and/or skill level but we used easy cheap methods. For that shot the actor went down the stairs on his stomach and then we reversed the clip in Adobe Premiere Elements. This was easy and extremely effective as it looks like something you would see in a big budget movie. In other shots where spooky things happened such as doors slamming and blankets being ripped off were done by us ourselves, to do this we just placed people in the right spots so they weren’t seen but could execute the job. We decided against ropes or wires as we thought it would look more realistic doing it with our hands. Although we didn’t have any blood or gore which you see in a lot of horror movies in would not really fit into our sub-genre very well so in all we conformed to most of the conventions and clichés of horror trailers as far as special effects is concerned.

 

 

 

 

 

8. STORY AND HOW THE TRAILER SETS IT UP - Looking back at our trailer this is one of the things we should have concentrated on more, being a teaser trailer we should have had more of an in depth introduction not the story, using a vice over or more dialogue/monologue we could have achieved this fairly easily. From the trailer you get a good idea of what the story could be but you are not told about it too much. From the order of the clips the audience knows that there is a derelict house which the character ends up spending time in and that strange things happen to him, but with a voice over or dialogue/monologue we could tell the audience that the character had bought the house and these things started happening, letting the audience know this would make the film make more sense to them. Having uncertainty could be effective at peaking audience interest as they will leave the trailer wondering what the story is behind it but it is a very risky tactic. Starting the trailer of slow and without spooky events helps give the connotations that everything was fine until he entered the house. The numerous things that happen such as doors slamming and the character being dragged up the stairs gives the audience a taste of the horror that will be in the film.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. TITLE FONT AND STYLE - We used 'Garamond' font for all titles except for the film title, we chose this font because it's not too fancy and it is the perfect thickness. Having a really intricate font can distract the audience from what the title says as they are concentrating on the font itself, another reason for having a fairly basic looking font is brings the audience back to reality much less, it preserves the audiences engrossment in the trailer as they aren't being reminded that it s a film, not reality. The thickness of the font added appeal to it as it made it more predominant compared to similar fonts like times new roman. We used a red font with black fade as red is synonymous with the horror genre but the black fade made it blend in with the background, much like the antagonist. The font for 'The Paranormal' is completely different from the others, it is white, not red and has a glowing effect, this adds a ghostly feel to it which fits in well with our film. Although all sorts of fonts are used in horror trailers they are often more fancy and intricate compared to the ones we used, but equally there is films that use even more basic fonts than us as well. Having red font is an extremely popular cliché in the horror genre to which we have conformed. As there is such a massive range of fonts used in horror trailers its hard to say whether or not we have conformed.

Final Finished Film Poster

Final Magazine Front Cover

Our Final Finished Trailer