Evaluation

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

I believe that our horror movie trailer is very conventional. The trailer follows Freytag's triangle theory, beginning with the exposition, followed by, rising action, the climax and falling action. The rising action occupies a larger proportion of the trailer, as this theory states it should. We have used longer shots that portray normality at the beginning whilst the trailer remains in a state of equilibrium. The trailer gradually builds in intensity as the mysteries unfold. The pace increases not only through the use of shorter shots but also through the use of sound. We arranged the soundtrack so that it would effectively accompany the editing. The way our trailer 'builds up' is conventional to that of a typical horror trailer. We also used intriguing captions throughout to help 'tell the story', which is another convention of movie trailers. When analysing the trailers for 'Pans labyrinth' and 'Eden Lake' I found that the use of captions completed the trailer. They were particulary key in the Pans labyrinth trailer as there was no dialogue or commentry. As our trailer would have little or no dialogue we decided to use captions to 'explain' the storyline. Each caption is in the same font style and colour helping the trailer to flow, something that is also commonly seen. We conventionally chose to end our trailer with the film title, names of cast/crew and a website address, as it is known that this way the audience are more likely to remember the name of the film - something that is extremely important. This was the case for all of the film trailers that I watched and analysed. We chose to film the majority of our horror trailer in an eerie woods as this sort of location fits the horror genre well. We wanted to find a location similar to the one in the film 'Eden Lake' (image on right). The mise-en-scene is also typical of a horror trailer. We darkened down many of the shots, altering brightness and contrast, to aid in portraying a tense, eerie atmosphere, as is seen in media of the horror genre. As well as this, the protagonist in our trailer is female, whilst the antagonist is male. This is often the case in horror movies. Much of the content of our trailer is typical of the horror genre, for example, our shots include, running, screaming, blood, a fearful victim and a threatening antogonist.

We also used conventions in our film magazine cover. We arranged the page so that the masthead was at the top (to the left), and the majority of coverlines occupied the left-hand third. This arrangement is often seen in conventional magazines, as the left-hand third is the area of the page that is visible when the magazine is stacked on a shop shelf. For this reason it is important that this section of the page contains information that will attract the target audience at point of sale. When researching and analysing film magazine covers I found that the masthead often stretched across the width of the page. Our masthead only stretches across half of the width of the page, so in some ways it could be said that we challenged this convention. However, I have seen covers of other types of magazines, such as 'NME' and 'Q', that also have mastheads that do not stretch across the page. Other conventional features that out magazine cover possesses include, a pug, barcode, date and price. The image on its own is very powerful and is clearly the focus of the page. This was also the case for the two magazine covers I analysed previous to production. The 'EMPIRE' cover on the right features an image of Megan Fox. This coverlines are arranged around and in line with the image. We also based the arrangement of our cover on the composition of the image.

Our film poster also uses many conventions. The release date, production company and website address are all conventional features that we have included on the poster. Conventially a film poster should closely resemble the film it is advertising. The film poster and trailer for 'PANIC ROOM' closely link - the image on the poster is clearly representative of the trailer and the film name is in the same font style and colour for both. We took this into account by making sure that the audience will clearly be able to associate our poster with our film/trailer. We used an image featuring all of the the characters in the same location as the trailer was filmed in. The image also resembles one of the shots in the film. As well as this, we have used the same style of font for the title on both the trailer and poster. We have however challenged conventions with our poster by positioning our film title at the top of the page. Usually the title of the film will be placed at the bottom of the page, however this set up did not work well with our poster image. I think that challenging this convention has paid off as the arrangement of the poster works really well and helps it to stand out amoungst others. (the analysis of each of our finished products also describes the conventions we have used and challenged).

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

Our ancillary texts - film poster and magazine cover - clearly support our horror movie trailer. The images that we have used for our poster and magzine cover have been taken in the same location as the movie trailer was filmed in, and feature the characters as they appeared in the trailer. The images actually resemble 2 of the shots that feature in the trailer (left). We altered the brightness and saturaion of the images, something that we also did with many of the shots in our trailer. We have used the same font style and colour for the film title on both the film poster and trailer, which is conventionally seen. This allows the viewer to immediately link the two. The magazine cover still features the film title however, not in the same recognisable font style. We decided to do this as usually a film title will appear in the same font as other text on the cover - it is rare for the film title to be shown as it is in the trailer and poster. This however is not a real issue as the image on the cover alone will be enough for the audience to easily associate the cover with the trailer and poster. As well as this we followed a main colour scheme of red, white and black throughout all three of our products. We incorporated captions in our trailer, these were shown in white text against a black background. This white text on black theme ran throughout the trailer, the film title was also presented in this way. The poster also follows this trend with the majority of the text in white, again positioned on top of a black background. The magazine cover is slightly different. Most of the text on the page is in red or white/grey font and there is no solid black background. Although this differs from the other two products the same red/white/black theme is still relatively present. It is common for the magazine cover advertisement of a film to differ fairly significantly from the film's trailer and poster.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Throughout the process the group have gathered views and opinions of target audience members in aid of making our products as relevant and appealing as possible. Firstly, I posted a series of around 8 poll questions on my blog. I then sent the link to a random selection of people, asking them to visit my blog and fill out the questions. The sample size was small, only 18 people participated, however I believed that the results I gathered were still more than relevant as the vast majority of people that completed the question were of the age group we were targetting. The results that I gathered mostly helped to re-confirm decisions that we were looking to make. We made no real changes following the results, as peoples answers appeared to coincide with our original plans. This showed us that we were capable of making choices that would appeal to our target audience. The reason for this is likely to be that our group - me, Grace and Katie - also all belong to the target audience our products are aimed towards.

Following the completion of our 3 products we gathered feedback from a small group of target audience members. The feedback that we received was for most part very positive and complementary. The audience members seemed to particularly like the film trailer and film poster, giving little or no criticism on these 2 products. For this reason we decided that no alterations to these products were needed. The magazine cover however did seem to raise a few issues. The feedback brought to our attention a few areas where alterations should be made. One thing that more than one audience member had mentioned was the font styles that were originally used on the film magazine cover. We took this into consideration and made changes accordingly.

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Throughout this coursework unit I have used a variety of media technologies. To start with I had to research and analyse actual media products, and chose to do this by using the internet. I started off looking at music videos as well as film trailers, as to begin with our group was unsure as to which we would produce. I used http://www.youtube.com/ to view a variety of trailers and videos. This site was extremely useful and seemed to contain every trailer or video I could think of. I would then used the embed code to post relevant videos to my blog. My blog was set up using Blogger, which is a free weblog publishing tool from Google. I used this blog to document all of my A2 coursework. As I also documented my AS coursework using Blogger, the technology was very familiar to me and so I had little or no issues with it. When it came to constructing our products we used a variety of different technologies. To begin with we had to learn how to use the HD cameras so that we could capture the footage that we needed for our film trailer. This was relatively simple, the camera, tripod and light that we were given were all easy to transport and simple to use. It took no time at all to figure out how everything worked. On location we also used a digital camera to photograph the images we needed for our promo package - this again was very quick and simple. Then came the tricky bit, actually constructing our products! I had to learn how to use Adobe Premiere Pro, a software that I had never come into contact with before. We used this software to edit together out film trailer. The initial process of dragging and cutting individual clips was relatively simple to begin with but soon became much more complicated once the music and effects were added. It took a while to get the hang of where all the tools were and how to use them, however once everything became more familiar the editing process was actually quite enjoyable. To construct our film magazine cover and film poster we used Adobe photoshop. We also used this software at AS level and so it wasn't completely alien, however it did take a while for me to reacquaint myself with how it all worked.

Our Finished Film Magazine Cover

Initially this was our finished film magazine cover however, following the audience feedback we received, we decided to make some alterations to the texts.









This is our complete film magazine cover. The image that we decided to use represents the film well - the photo has been taken in the woods location that we filmed our trailer in and features the two main characters. The image makes it apparent to the viewer that the film is of the genre horror. I think that the composition is very effective and works well as the main cover image, spliting the page down the middle. The majority of the text is on the left-hand half, mainly due to this section being the area that will be most visible at point of sale. For this reason, this area of the magazine must promote features that will attract audience members. The masthead also only spreads across the width of this half of the page. After receiving audience feedback we decided to change the font style of the masthead and also added some inner and outer glow effects. I think that it now looks a lot classier and stands out more. The left-hand side of the image (behind the tree) is much darker than the right and so helps the text to stand out. There is more 'going on' on the right-hand side of the image and so if much text had been placed on this side its prominance would have been lost. We also altered the fonts and style effects of the coverlines following the feedback we gathered. This definitely helped the cover to look more appealing. The one font that I think works really well is the 'STENCIL' font that has been used for the main coverline. I think that this really stands out amoungst the rest, which is important as that particular text is promoting the film. The main colours that we used were red, grey and white. The majority of the text was in either grey or white, with only what we considered to be the most important features in red. Also on the cover is a pug, price, barcode, date and magazine website address. All of these features are conventional of a magazine cover. I think that the pug really helps to balance the page.

Our Finished Film Poster

This is our finished film poster. We decided to use a long-shot image so that the characters appear inferior against the vast, dark background. We added a 'spotlight' effect to the image so that much of the outer border was black, drawing emphasis in the centre of the image. We also adjusted the brightness, contrast and saturation of the image to give it an eerie, 'horror-like' appearance. When taking the photo we lined the characters up so that they were facing the woods. This arrangement suggests to the audience that the main location in the film will be a forest/woods. It also connotes that the group are about to enter the unknown, where danger awaits them. There is a sense of mystery as the image itself presents no obvious danger and gives away little about the storyline of the film. Conventionally, film posters tend to be arranged so that the film title is at the bottom of the page. We have challenged this convention by placing the film title at the top of the poster, which I think works well due to the composition of the image. The title is in the same style as it appears in the film trailer, which I believe is very important as audience members will be able to clearly link the two. There is a caption in bold just above the title, 'LIVE IT, BREATHE IT, DIE FOR IT', which links in with the storyline of the film well. At the bottom (centre) of the poster is a release date, magazine quote and star rating, and a website address. These are all conventional features. The release date information also informs the viewer that the film is also being screened in IMAX 3D. We wanted to include this feature as currently 3D TV/film is becoming increasingly more available and is growing in popularity. All of this text is arranged neatly in the centre at the bottom which compliments the image well and really helps to balance the whole poster. The majority of the text is in white so that it stands out against the dark background whilst also relating to the film title. The release date is in red so that it is more obvious to the audience at a glance. Also the name of the well know film magazine, 'EMPIRE', is in red. We did a screen grap of the actually magazine masthead so that it would feature on our poster in the same recognisable style. We believed that featuring a quote from a well known film magazine would impress and therefore attract audience members. Finally, in the bottom right hand corner is the logo for the production company, 'GNK Films'. We decided to include this as on conventional film posters the film production company is usually mentioned.

Our Finished Film Trailer

This is our completed Horror movie trailer. We Have used a variety of different shot types to ensure that the trailer remains interesting throughout, so that the viewer's attention is held. The trailer opens with an establishing shot, showing all of the characters that will feature in the film, the content of the shot makes it apparent to the audience that the story involves a trip of some sort. A series of shots follow showing the group travlling to their destination. The shots were set up so that the two main characters, Grace and Jon, stand out as being key. Jon is driving the car in the shots and two shots feature just him, suggesting to the audience that he may play an important role. We positioned Grace in the middle of the car shot of the girls, again to show that she is a key character. There is then a shot that pans from the moving car to a sign that reads 'STRICTLY NO EXIT'. This sign is symbolic of danger and an indication of what is to come. This idea came from the analysis of the 'Eden Lake' trailer. Following this are the camping shots. This sequence of shots begins with a high-angled shot of the entire group, that pans up as the characters walk off into the woods. This not only establishes the new location but is also representative of the group entering a dangerous situation. This shot then cross-dissolves into a shot of the group camping. A mid-shot of just Grace and Jon talking follows, again suggesting to the audience that they are the main characters. There is then a short shot-reverse-shot sequence that shows Grace and Jon having a conversation, where Grace rejects Jon as he tells her he 'likes' her. At this point the music changes, increasing in intensity, as this is the point at which the story begins to move into a state of disequilibrium. Originally, we had the dialogue of the conversation audible as we believed that what takes place is significant. However, we decided to mute the dialogue as the body language and gesture of Grace pushing Jon was enough on its own to tell the story. The long pause and over-the-shoulder shot that ends the sequence also suggests that what has just happened is significant. The next shot fades onto the screen to show that time has passed. The dialogue signifies the turning point in trailer, where the story really starts to unfold and the real mysteries begin. It is known that if the audience are intrigued by unanswered questions then they are more likely to go and see the film that the trailer is promoting. There is then a flash of Jon's (the antagonist) eyes that fits in time with the sound crash that is present. We achieved this by using the razor tool to split the shot and add a 'fade to white' transition. There is then a caption that appears reading, 'who can you really trust?'. This, along with the previous extreme close-up of Jon's eyes, suggests to the audience that Jon may be responsible for the disappearance of them both. The music changes and increases in tempo as we see shots of Grace alone in the woods. Here we have used 2 long shots at different distances to show that Grace is alone and to also portray her as inferior and weak/out of control. There is then a shot framed in the same way as the earlier group shot, again showing how she has been taken from a safe group situation into danger. The final shot in the sequences is shot as being from the antagonist's point of view, as he follows Grace. This helps to build tension. At the end of the shot Grace turns to face the camera, as there is a crash in sound. This is very effective and also helps to bridge this sequence and the next. There is a very brief moment of silence before a new section of music begins, this time much faster in tempo. As the new section of music begins, so does the final sequence of shots. This sequence is the falling action and has been cut together quickly, meaning that the fast tempo music accompanies it well. The short, varied shots help suggest to the viewer that the film is packed full of action. The variety of shot types used make the sequence interesting. One of my favourite shots is the shot of grace hiding with blood on her neck. I think that Grace's acting skills have allowed her to portray fear and panic really well here. I also really like the jump cuts of Jon as he moves from tree to tree. However, my overall favourite has to be the shot of Grace getting dragged, screaming, away from the camera. I think thats this shot ends the sequence dramatically. The film title then appears - which is conventional of a horror trailer. In any trailer the film title will appear at the end so that the viewer is more likely to remember it. To close the trailer there are 2 final shots of a blood stained knife, suggesting that ultimately someone will die, the audience will want to watch the film to find out who! Throughout the trailer we used captions to help 'tell the story'. All captions are in the same font and all increase in size. I believe that this helps the trailer to flow. The production company name and film title also grow in size. I think that our trailer follows many conventions. For example, we have included the production company name at the beginning and the film title at the end, and have also closed the trailer with cast/crew names and a film website. As well as the above conventional traits, our trailer also follows Freytag's pyramid theory and I believe that the overall representation is also typical of a horror.

Audience Feedback - Detailed, of finished products

Once our trailer, film magazine cover and film poster were complete, we asked 6 people belonging to our target audience (3 female, 3 male) to give detailed feedback on all 3 of our products. Below is some of the feedback that we recieved:

Audience member 1 :
'The photos are really good, and I like the framing of the shots.'

Audience member 2 :
'I like the colours you've used for the magazine, very conventional! However, the text styles for it are very basic and bland, and could be varied a bit more to make certain areas stand out.
THE MOVIE POSTER, I LOVE IT! - the contrast between the brightness for the Protagonist and the Darkness which highlights the Antagonist. It is very surreal and the colours are sick, very horror generated colours and not your typical styling either. Plus the shot composition is so good! Love the low angle shot and how it's kind of an establishing shot and because it's very open too, it's like basically saying "anything can happen".'

Audience member 3 :
'Your trailer is really good!'

Audience member 4 :
'I think that the trailer's good but maybe her head should turn a bit quicker in the shot where she is walking away and has got her back to the camera.
I like the picture on the cover of Grace infront of the tree and Jon behind - where she has her head turned and he's facing completely forward.
I like the music on the trailer.'

Audience member 5 :
'I love that trailer! Grace is well good.
It's honestly soo good! - The picture of her with Jon in the background is really realistic I think... looks like an actual british movie.
For the font I think maybe something a bit bolder and different looking is needed.'

Audience member 6 :
'The poster is pretty cool, I like that.
The magazine is good, like the layout and stuff but the fonts are a bit naff,
they don't stand out from the background and the logo isn't very "logo-ey".
However, I like the picture on the magazine, it's nice how it like splits the page and how it's light and dark.
The trailer is pretty amazing, I like the captions because they like give an idea of the story but don't give too much away.
Also, it's good because it has a build up and the pace of the music like builds up with it.'

This feedback has been very useful as it has brought to my attention a few areas where alterations should be made in order to make the product/s more appealing. One thing that more than one audience member has mentioned is the font styles that have been used on the film magazine cover. This is something that we will take into consideration and make changes accordingly. It was really nice to hear that the audience members we asked very much liked the trailer and poster. Following comments on these two products we decided that alterations on either were not necessary.

Audience Feedback - Online Questionnaire Results

Eighteen people completed my online poll - ten male and eight female - meaning that the spread between genders was relatively equal. This is what we hoped for as our trailer is aimed at both genders and so it is important that we obtain feedback from both. The vast majority of the people that answered the questionnaire were aged 16yrs - 19yrs, which means that the feedback we gathered was relevat, as our production work is targetted at 16-25 year olds.
One of the questions we asked was in regards to the location our trailer should be filmed in. The majority selected the 'Forest' option, which is the location that we were planning to use and so this result re-confirmed our decision.
The results of the next question showed the majority vote as wanting the sound/music of the trailer to be a combination of fast and slow tempo sections. This also supported out initial plans for the trailer.
I then asked whether the trailer should contain dialogue and the votes were spread between all three options - yes, no, no preference. We took this into consideration and decided we would add a very small amount of dialogue (only where it was really necessary) and very little diegetic sound.
The next question was about the use of captions in a trailer and whether people find them beneficial. Most answered yes or sometimes, with very few answering no, and so we decided that we would include captions. Personally, I think that they can be useful when trying to 'get across' the storyline of a movie, and can be extremely effective at drawing the audience in.
Finally, the last question was in regards to the title of our film magazine. The title, 'The Cut', recieved 55% of the votes and so we decided that this should be the one that we use. I was very pleased with this result as 'The Cut' was the title that I was most found of as it is blunt, to the point, and relates to both film as a whole and our actual trailer.

Editing Process

Above is a screen shot image of our footage open and edited together in Premiere Pro. After each filming session we would upload the footage into Premiere Pro and pick out the most suitable shots. We would then drag these down into the work area (the bottom mid panel) and edit them individually, making sure that only the parts of the shot that were needed remained. To begin with we didn't get as much filmed as we had hope, so we didn't have many shots to alter. To use the time between filming sessions efficiently we added lighting and in some instances speed/duration special effects to the shots we had. We did this using the drop down menus on the left hand side of the screen - one effect that we used on the majority of our shots was the brightness and contrast effect. This allowed us to darken down shots, so that they would portray more of an eerie, chilling atmosphere, as is seen in horror films/trailers. We didn't start arranging the shots into the correct order until after our main filming day. On this day, we managed to film the majority of our shots. As it was difficult to get all of our actors/actresses together at any one time, we had to make sure we completed the shots that we desperately needed on this day. To make sure that we covered everything I made a shot list and detailed plan of what order the shots should be arranged in when it came to editing together the trailer. Obviously we followed our group storyboard, however the detailed list came in useful as some alterations had been made between the time the storyboard was completed and when filming took place. After this day we uploaded all of the footage and did as we had before, dragging down the shots we wanted and cutting them down individually. Then using the list we began to order the shots and also uploaded out soundtrack. The shots that were going to be quickly cut together at the end of the trailer (to represent the falling action) were left in a 'random' arrangement until the rest of the shots had been put into a suitable order. We used many black 'still title' slides to add captions throughout. We altered the scale of the text as the slide was played so that the text 'grew'. Once we had the basic structure of our trailer in place it was time to tweak and improve certain shots and sequences. We also had to cut the soundtrack right down as to begin with it was over 3 minutes in length and our trailer would be no longer that 1 minute, 30 seconds. To do this we used the Razor tool (on the right) to mark the sections of the music we would cut out. This was extremely frustrating as it was very difficult to get each section to match up with the previous, without sounding 'out of place', and was just a matter of trial and error most of the time. To help the track to flow I used some of the audio effects (on the left), dragging them on top of the soundtrack where the sections joined. This allowed the different areas to fade into one another. Once the soundtrack was roughly the right length we started to arrange the shots in time with the track, which was often complicated and involved repeating the same section over and over until we were happy with its posistion. We left 2 gaps for 2 shots that we were yet to film. These shots later slotted easily into place. Following this it was simply a case of tweaking areas and adding effects. Towards the final days we also had to completely re-edit the soundtrack as the tempo increased too earlier on in the trailer. To solve this issue we repeated the beginning of the track so that the pace/tempo increased as the trailer reached the point of highest intensity. Doing this meant that shots had to be moved and altered so that they would again play in time with the track. This was difficult and we also had to add small sections of the track to Audio layer 3 to help bridge gaps and joins.

Images for Promo Package

Below are some of the photos my group took on the main filming day, these will be used in our promo package, to produce a film magazine cover and film poster. We planned the set-up of each photo beforehand to make sure that we got the images we needed.

This is the photo that we will be using for our film magazine front cover. It took several attempts to achieve as initially it was difficult to get Jon (the boy in the background) to appear threatening. I think it is a really effective image and I especially like the way it is divided down the middle. There is plenty of space for a masthead and coverlines which makes it a suitable image to use for a magazine cover.

I like this image however, Jon's pose makes him appear more relaxed and less of a threat, which is not what we wanted.

This was the first group image we took. The main problem is that I took the photo in landscape format and as film posters are typically portrait, it could not be used.

We will be using this photo as our film poster image. We took several other similar images, as we were unsure about how far away from the camera the characters should be, we didn't want too much background to cause the characters to lose their prominence. This one was definitely the best of the many that we took. We positioned Grace and Jon in the centre of the group as they are the main characters in our trailer.

Here we have added effects to the previous image. We used a spotlight effect to darken down the edges of the image and draw focus on the centre. This effect has enabled Grace and Jon to stand out slightly more than the other characters, which is what we were hoping for. I think that this effect has improved the image, giving it a dark, eerie appearance, fitting with the genre horror.

Film Poster Designs

This is my initial film poster design. The image I have drawn is a rough sketch of the antagonist dressed in a hoodie, facing a wall full of photos of the victim. We are hoping to photograph an image like this. After analysing the poster for the film 'PANIC ROOM', I liked the way the main actors/actresses names were featured at the top of the page and decided to incorporate this in my design. I also found that in the majority of film posters the film name/title was positioned at the bottom of the poster and so decided to base this design on that observation.

I created this design after we had taken the photos for our promo package, basing the composition on the image we were going to use. I decided to unconventionally put the film title at the top of the page, as I belived that this arranged would woork really well with the image. I also left a small amount of space above the title for a caption. At the bottom of the poster there is space for another quote or caption, the release date of the film, cast/crew name, and the production company logo. All of these are conventional features. I have designated more space in this lower section for the release date of the film, as it is very important that this is obvious to the audience.

Film Magazine Cover Designs

This was my first film magazine cover design. We had a very clear vision of what we wanted the image to look like and so I planned the cover designs around this. Conventionally, the magazine masthead/title will be positioned at the top of the cover, and after aalysing 'total FILM' and 'EMPIRE' I decided that our cover should follow this convention. Here the masthead spreads across the full width of the cover, something that I have often seen when analysing magazines. I then decided to put the date, price and barcode to the right, directly below the masthead. This way they would be easily visible to the audience. I'm not sure if this was the best place to put the barcode as the barcode is not a feature that will concern the possible buyer and so maybe it should be placed in an area where it is less prominant. I decided to list all of the coverlines down the left hand side and include a few other images in the bottom left corner. Having all of this on one side will fit well with the 'split' image. Also, the left third is the section of the cover that will be visible when on a shop shelf and so it is important that this third is able to attract the target audience.

This is my second cover design, again based around the image we are planning to use. This design uses the image as a way of seperating the page down the middle. The masthead, some coverlines and pug on the left (next to the tree) and the remaining coverlines and barcode on the right (infront of the tree). Like the previous design, the magazine name is positioned at the top, however this time it only spreads across half of the width of the page. I quite like this idea however I am worried that it doesn't look as significant as it maybe should. I decided to spread the coverlines, having some on either side as I think it makes th page look a little more random and interesting, which may appeal to the target audience - 16 - 25 year olds. The barcode on this design appears more discrete in comparison to the previous. I think that the right-hand bottom corner is the ideal place for it. I have also included a pug in the left-hand third of the cover. I think it will be a good idea to use this to advertise either an offer, competition or special feature, in an obvious, 'eye-catching' way.

Film Poster Analysis

This poster has a simple colour scheme of black, white and red. Only the film title, 'PANIC ROOM' and the words 'coming soon' are in red. As the rest of the page is in black/white/grey these two text are extremely prominant. This is vital as essentially the film title and release date are most important when promoting a film. The use of the word 'PANIC' and the poster image clearly represent the film as a horror. The two panels of black running down either side of the page draw focus on the middle panel, whilst also giving the illusion that the woman in the photo is trapped and in danger. The image used - a close-up of a woman's face, with a person's silhouete in the background - is very powerful. The main actress' name spreads across the width of the page in white text. The use of white enables the text to stand out against the dark background. As Jodie Foster is a well-known actress, her presence in the film may alone attract the audience. At the bottom of the poster, beneath the title, are the names of the crew and cast - this is often seen in film posters.

Brad Pit and Morgan Freeman are two extremely well-known actors. The poster includes a close-up image of each of them, whilst their names are also stated in bold text across the top of the page. The images have been taken with both actors looking directly into the camera, so to give the illusion of the actors looking out to the audience. This is often done in advetisements as it helps the audience to connect, drawing them in. Emphasising their involvment in the film is a sure way to attract audience members. It is often the case that people go to see a film because of who is in it, instead of what it is about. The poster doesn't give much away about what the film may be about. The title 'seven' and the caption that follows, indicates to the audience that the film is about death and the seven deadly sins, however little more is given away, inticing the audience. The main colours used are gold/brown and white. The colour white is used for the title and actors names only and stands out against the 'old', 'worn' looking background. The seven deadly sins are listed down the centre of the poster, clearly linking in with the title and the proposed focus of the film. The seven sins are each crossed out, which adds to the curiosity of the audience.

Film Magazine Cover Analysis

The main attraction of this cover is its sex appeal. Megan Fox is a well-known actress and sex icon. Her bare upper body and tight leather trousers, along with her pose and expression, not only portray her in a sexual manner but the image also has an element of vulnerability. Clearly this will appeal to the male members of the audience, but also any females are likely to find this appealing as they may idolise her. The cover is quite busy, however it still appears relatively 'neat'. The coverlines are positioned in line with Megan Fox, which helps to highlight her importance. Words and phrases such as 'HOT' and '...the most wanted woman in Hollywood' help reinforce the idea of sex appeal. There is a main colour scheme of blue, grey, black and white. The other feature photographs in the bottom left corner also contain these colours. The bold title however does not comply with this colour scheme and is instead in a vibrant bright red. This is the case in the majority of 'EMPIRE' magazines, helping to make the magazine immediately recognisable to past buyers. The magazine's reputation alone may then attract audience members.

This 'TOTAL FILM' magazine cover is very basic and features an extremely limited amount of text. The magazine cover is not conventional in that there are no coverlines or even a main feature headline. The image of 'Harry Potter' (a world renowned fictional character) is clearly emphasised as being the main focus. This alone will attract the audience. The image occupies the foreground, covering the entire page, and overlapping slightly with the magazine title/header. The use of overlapping helps the character to appear 3-Dimensional. The character's stance and expression indicates that the film is of the genre action. 'Harry Potter's' eyes are looking ahead, as his arm reaches/points outward, directly addressing the audience, helping them to connect. The bright patterned background links in with the known theme of the 'Harry Potter' series - magic! The magazine title is positioned at the top of the cover, spreading across the width of the page. The title is simple, to the point and clearly indicates what the magazine will contain. As well as this, the word 'FILM' can easily be read from a distance, which is essential at point of sale.

The magazine website address is the only other text featured on the cover. This minimalistic approach intices the audience to visit the website to find out more about the new 'Harry Potter' film. This promotes the magazine as a whole.

Problems with filming

One of the main problems we encountered when it came to filming our trailer was arranging shoots. Trying to gather together all of the people we needed to feature in our trailer was very difficult. We needed 7 people to feature in our trailer and several of the shots involved all of them. It was hard to find a day when each person was available to film and so there was a relatively long period of time when our group had little, or no footage to edit. When we finally managed to arrange our main filming day, we wanted to make sure that we filmed all of the shots needed, as it would be very difficult to get all of the same people together to film again. We made a detailed plan for the day and stuck to it.

We also had problems with lighting in some of our shots due to the time of day that we filmed. Many of the individual shots of the main character 'Grace' had to be filmed after school at around 4pm. Due to the time of year, natural lighting was often poor. For this reason some shots appeared very 'grainy' and so could not be used in our trailer.

We also found that once we had finished filming we realised that there were a few key shots that were not suitable to use. To solve this issue we left blank gaps in the trailer that we then filled after re-shooting these shots.

Filming schedule and plan

Below is our group's filming schedule and a detailed plan for Tuesday - the day we plan to film the majority of our footage.

Target Audience

Our horror trailer is aimed at both males and females, aged 16-25. The characters in our trailer are all aged between 16 and 18, and so belong to the targeted age group, which helps the trailer to appeal to the audience it is aimed towards. Also, as the main storyline is focused around teenage love and obsession, I would expect people aged 16-25 to find this more appealling than an older audience would. There are 4 female characters and 3 male characters featuring in our trailer, and so a relatively even spread, helping the trailer to appeal to both genders.
It is often said that stereotypically girls/women prefer films that involve love and romance, where as boys/men prefer action packed films, usually containing some element of violence. This trailer incorporates both love and action within the film genre horror and so we expect it to appeal to a broader range of people.
The trailer is set in the present and all clothing and styling will be done according to current trends and fashions. This should again help the trailer to appeal to our target audience who are of ages where looking and dressing according to what is current is often considered key. Below is a fictional example of the type of person our trailer will be targeting:




This is Joe, he is a typical 19 year old boy. He lives in Leeds and is currently studying New media at The University of Leeds. When he is not busy studying Joe enjoys socialising with his friends, going shopping in Leeds city centre, visiting the many bars and attending gigs and club nights. He likes listening to a wide variety of music, including music from artists such as Linkin Park, scouting for girls and The prodigy. He also enjoys trips to the cinema with his friends, particularly when a new horror movie has been released.

Detailed Storyboard

This is our group's detailed storyboard that we produced by combining ideas from each of our initial storyboards. When we film and edit our trailer we will follow this shot by shot storyboard, however, it is expected that changes and alterations will need to be made. There is always room for improvement and it is likely that issues will occur along the way.

Initial Storyboard

Mood Board

This is my mood Board. It consists of images found online and from magazines that I associate with horror and in particular the horror trailer my group will be producing. I have included many close-up images of faces, as close-up shots are often used in horror films to portray key emotions such as fear and pain. I have also selected the words jealous and wrecked as I associate these words with love and obsession, which is the main focus of our storyline. There is also a picture of the woods and some images from the tv drama 'Skins' - the episode when the group of teens go on a camping trip. These images directly relate to our storyline/trailer. The clothing featured in some of the images is also relevant as it is similar to the clothing we are looking to dress our characters in - the leather jacket in particular.

Initial Ideas

Originally my group were looking to produce a music video and had chosen the song Teenage Dream by Katy Perry. Our video was going to focus on a young couple in love so that the song lyrics would closely link. We were hoping to include many scenarios people often associate with teenagers in love. However, in the early stages of planning we were struggling to find actors that were prepared to play the 'loved-up' teenagers and so decided to change our ideas completely and aim to produce a horror film trailer instead. We decided to keep the theme of 'teenage love' but instead produce a twisted dark adaptation of your typical teenage love story. Following this decision we decided that the storyline of our trailer would be about a teenage boy's obsession with his first love.

Ideas for Characters

• Love interest

-Grace
-Katie
-Alex
-Louisa

• Close Friends

-Lucy
-Michelle
-Harriet
-Jess
-Scott
-Tom
-Charlie
-Ed

• Obsessed Boy

-Omar


Locations

Beach
Woods
Car
Road
House

Horror Trailer Brainstorm

Focused Analysis: sound/music

As the trailer begins the soundtrack quickly and quietly builds before an abrupt crash as the first shot appears. For the next few shots the music is almost non-existant whilst dialogue from the film can be heard. The dialogue helps 'set the scene' somewhat, the use of the words 'mental hospital' immediately indicate that the film is likely to be a horror. This dialogue is then followed by a crash in sound that seems to resemble the sound of a person screaming - again indicating that the film is of the genre horror. This sound is accompained by a short, fast sequence of disturbing shots. The music then quietens and more dialogue (this time diegetic) that links in with the previous is heard. There is then another brief sound crash as the shot changes and more dialogue begins. Following this is another short, fast sequence of shots, again with a sound crash that resembles screaming. A conversation between characters is then played out where only the dialogue (no additional soundtrack) is audible. A very faint increase in sound is then heard as the main character hands his gun over. This suggest the action is significant, the character has handed over his 'control'. Diegetic sound is then heard as the music begins to increase in intensity. There is then a sound crash when the Director's name appears and the tempo of the music increases as the rising action begins. The dialogue educates the viewer on what the film will be about, unfolding the mysteries and inticing the audience. Between 0:42 and 1:05 the initial mysteries around the disapearance of the patient unfold. There is mostly dialogue and diegetic sound during this period. There is a faint soundtrack running in the background that remains relative with a few crashes in sound, most of which are in sync with the action on screen. There is then an 'unusual' sound as the rising actions continues to increase followed by the discovery of other, more complicated mysteries. The intensity builds and builds as the storyline appears to become more and more complicated. This build is shown through the use of both sound and editing. There are many crashes in sound that fit with the editing of the sequences, and much diegetic sound and dialogue is also heard. The trailer then reaches its climax at 2:04, followed by the falling action. The next and final sequence of shots (the falling action) builds as the music increases in pace and volume. There is then a final crash as an extreme long shot of the Island flashes on the screen. This shot then transforms into the title of the film - 'Shutter Island'. To end there is a final piece of dialogue - 'you will never leave this island' - before a dramatic crash in sound as the names of the cast and crew are shown.

I found analysing the sound/music used in this trailer very useful. The music changed dramatically in tempo and volume many times throughout which was interesting to see. Each piece of music that was used helped to create an eerie atmosphere and build tension. The many crashes in sound had been purposely synchronized with the on screen action which is something I would like to attempt to do when producing our trailer. Also, this trailer included a lot of dialogue and diegetic sound which is something I will take into account.

Focused Analysis: Characters

The first trailer I have chosen to look at is for the film 'Valentine'. The film is about a man who got teased and rejected by a group of school girls when he was a teenager. The hurt he experienced from this has resulted in him seeking revenge several years later. There are clear links between this storyline and the storyline of our horror trailer, as ours also involves rejection that leads to violent revenge. At the beginning of the trailer it is unclear what genre the film belongs to, as the young woman laying blissfully on the grass seems content. The next sequence of shots are in black and white and show a flashback of the boy at a Valentines dance as he gets shamefully turned down by a group of girls. The dialogue, 'will you dance with me?', is repeated as if it were an echo - this emphasises its importance, also signifying how prominant this memory must be. The comentry throughout this sequence is what first suggests to the viewer that the boy may be seeking revenge due to this event. There are then three shots of the girls (the ones that rejected/tormented the boy) as grown women, wondering what ever happened to the boy that they treated so badly. Following this there is a crash in music and a montage of action shots (the falling action), many showing fear and violence. There are also three captions that appear, all of which reinforce the theme/story. There are shots of the girls running and screaming in panic during this montage and we are planning to include similar scenes in our own production piece.

I also decided to look at the trailer for the film 'Obsessed' as the characters and storyline resemble that of our horror trailer in many ways. As well as this we are looking to name our film/trailer either 'Obsessed' or 'Obsession' which is also why this trailer seemed an appropriate choice. The woman who is 'obsessed' is initially portrayed as your average employee, and everything appears relatively ok. The main characters are all friendly with each other at the onset, however things soon take a turn. The trailer moves into a state of disequilibrium as the story unfolds and her obsession becomes apparent. This is how I believe our trailer should also be set out. Throughout the trailer the comentry says, 'beyond the mystery is a truth you'll never see coming'. I would like this to be suggested to the audience visually in our trailer.

Focused Analysis: Locations and Mise-en-scene

When my group originally came up with the idea for our trailer I immediately remembered an episode of the Tv drama 'skins', where a group of teenagers went on a camping trip. When I was looking for props for filming I used this episode to gather ideas. Our characters will also be dressed in similar clothing.

After completing the detailed analysis of the 'Eden Lake' film trailer I came to the conclusion that this trailer was in many ways similar to the trailer that we are planning to produce - the locations and mise-en-scene in particular. The majority of shots in our trailer will be filmed in a remote wooded location and some, like the 'Eden Lake' trailer, will also involve a car. The mise-en-scene also fits with our trailer, as nearly everything from the lighting to the clothing worn by the characters will be similar.

Detailed Analysis (film trailer) - Eden Lake

The trailer begins with the production company's name/logo on the screen. The slow, melodic music is present from the start. The opening shot of the trailer is of a couple kissing, this is then followed by several shots of landscapes and the car that the couple are travelling in. Along with the dialogue it becomes aparent to the audience that the film is going to be about a 'loved-up' couple going on holiday. This is then reinforced when a caption appears in bold white font, on a black backround, reading 'OUT OF THE CITY'. This suggests that the location is going to be remote. People travelling to unknown, remote locations is often seen in horror movies and so it suggests to the viewer that the film is going to be a horror. In the next few shots a sat nav is shown to be telling the couple to turn the car around, whilst the dialogue also supports this. The shots are representative not only of the time period the film is set in but also that 'danger' lies ahead. On the surface these scenes appear to be in some way humorous however, they are infact acting as a warning of what is to come. The following caption reads 'OFF THE MAP' which again reinforces the idea that the location is remote - if anything happens, would anyone ever know? The caption fades out and there are a few shots showing the couple enjoying their trip, in what appears to be a beautiful location. There is a crash in sound and the rising action begins as the other main characters are introduced. The shots show a group of distruptive youths that the man tries to reason with. There is then another crash in sound and during the following 2 shots a question is asked that builds the viewer's suspition. The music crashes again and the shots are darker, showing that there has been a sudden shift in mood. The next shots of the couple's car answer the previous question, making it apparent that the youths will be playing a main role in the film. There is then a sequence of shots, each shot repeated in a red and black outline effect. These repeated shots that have been edited using a particular effect are flashed on the screen with each crash of the music. The shots become shorter, as the tempo increases and the music hightens as the trailer reaches its climax. The music stops abrubtly and a new sequences begins where diegetic dialogue is the main focus. There is then a crash in sound as a caption that reads 'THIS YEAR' appears on the screen - this caption and the ones to follow are in orange font, opposed to the previous that were in white font. This shows how the storyline has taken a very different, much darker turn. The pace picks up and a montage of a variety of different actions shots follows. The shots all present situations typical of a horror film; running, screaming, fire, pain. Two captions also appear at regular intervals, breaking up the sequence. The captions read, 'GET AWAY' and 'FROM IT ALL'. 'Get away from it all' is something that is often said in a positive sense by people when they are planning to take a holiday. In this trailer it would appear that it is used to portray an element of irony. During the montage the music has a fast tempo before finally fading as the screen turn black and the film title, 'EDEN LAKE' appears in the centre. The title is in the exact same bold, orange font as the previous three captions (helping the trailer to flow), and slowly increases in size. The title is also reflected in the black background, as it would in water, which links in with the lake setting. Finally, there is a very short sequence of shots in a different location. The music hightens for the final time, followed by a sound crash as a quote from a film magazine appears.

I chose to analyse this trailer because there are many ways in which it is similar to the horror trailer my group are aiming to produce. The storyline of our trailer involves a camping trip to the woods, the 'Eden Lake' trailer also features a camping trip and so it seemed an appropriate and relevant choice. Another similarity is the locations that have been used. The 'Eden Lake' trailer is set in a dark, remote woods - as is our film trailer. There are also shots of the characters travelling by car to their destination, which is something we are also planning to include. As well as this I have also developed new ideas based on what I have seen in this trailer. For example, we would also like to include a shot symbolic of danger like the one in the trailer of the sat nav telling the couple to 'turn around'. Also, we are planning to include captions and a montage of action shots and so seeing how this has been done in this trailer has been benefitial.

Detailed Analysis (film trailer) - Pan's Labrinth

There is eery background music, typical of a horror, from the start of the trailer. To begin with the production company's name/logo appears on the screen. This then fades out and the shots begin to show. Four shots flash up on the screen to the timing of the music - a shot appearing each time a piano key is pressed. These shots 'set the scene', giving the audience an initial insight into what type of film the trailer is promoting. A small caption that reads, 'WHAT HAPPENS' is then shown in the centre on a blue/grey errie background. The background fits with the overall mood and colourscheme of the trailer so far. The caption fades out and two more shots fade on and off of the screen followed by another caption of the same style. This again fades out and one more shot appears followed by the final caption that completes the question - 'WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MAKE BELIEVE BELIEVES IT'S REAL?' The question helps to add mystery and intrigue the audience. The music now becomes 'darker' as the caption fades into the next shot. It is much quieter to begin with and gradually builds ending in a crash as the creature suddenly turns to face the camera. This is the climax of the trailer, where it becomes more apparent that the film is a horror. The screen then turns black and the music is almost nonexistant as the directors name appears on the screen in a style similar to that of the previous captions. This similarity helps to give the trailer a sense of flow. Following this the falling action begins, the music increases in volume and tempo as short shots, quickly cut together, appear. There is then a brief fade before the tempo increases further. The final shot, of the girl entering the tree remains on the screen slightly longer than the others, before fading into the film title as it appears. The music gently fades away and finally a quote, website and star rating are shown. The film title and final captions are again in the same style as the first, helping the trailer to flow and keep its theme throughout.

As my group have chosen to do a horror trailer, analysing the trailer for Pan's Labrinth has been beneficial. The trailer effectively draws the audience in, adding mystery and building tension throughout. No dialogue has been used as is with many horror trailers yet it is still relatively clear to the audience what the film is about. The choice of music and captions seem to be essential to the success of this trailer. I am hoping that when it comes to producing our trailer we will include captions of our own and set out the trailer in the same, conventional way - rising action, climax, falling action.

Detailed Analysis (Music Video) - This too shall pass by Ok Go

The music video above by Ok Go appears to have been filmed in one long, continuous, un-broken shot, much like the famous sequence from good fellas. However, this is not the case, infact clever special effects have been used to edit the video, making it appear seemless and as though the shot is continuous, when actually the video is made up of several shots. The plain, dull warehouse is the only location used, however the sequence of connected tricks which is clearly the focus of the video bring the simple location to life. The band members all feature in the video and act as catalysts in the sequence of connected tricks. The sequence ends with the four band members being covered in paint, drawing the focus back to them. The whole set up of the video resembles the well known game 'mouse trap'.

Ok Go often produce music videos that involve just one location and are filmed in one continuous shot. The videos for their songs, 'Here we go again' and 'White knuckle' are just some examples. Again, in these videos the main (and only) characters are the four band members. The videos are all relatively simple and cheap to produce, yet due to their originality they are highly memorable, which is key as essentially a music video is used to promote the band.

I love Ok Go's unique and interesting music videos, however as my groups production will involve creating a horror trailer, we will not be using their videos as inspiration for this project.

General Analysis - Smack my bitch up by Prodigy

Story: The video has a clear narrative, which is unusual for the type of music. There is also a unexpected twist at the end of the video which helps to make it more memorable.

Setting: There are several different locations used, including clubs, bars and the character's appartment. These locations fit the genre of music and appeal to the target audience, who probably visit similar places and can relate to the content of the video in some way.

Character: Like many dance music videos the band do not appear feature in the video. The storyline however seems like something the band would and has experienced. Throughout the audience are made to think that the main character is male, however it is revealed at the end of the video that the main character is in fact a woman.

Costume: The colthing worn by the characters is what you would expect people in nightclubs and bars to wear, which fits the genre, helping to attract the target audience. Also, many of the woman are dressed in sexy, sometimes even erotic, clothing which will appeal to many of the male members of the audience.

Lyrics: There are very few lyrics which is generally expected of dance music. The few lyrics that there are do have a slight link to the narrative.

Special effects: As the entire video is done from the main character's perspective, using point of view shots, some effects have been used to show that the character is drunk.

Camera angles: Point of view shots are used throughout. This helps to hide the main character's identity, allowing for the surprising twist at the end. It also helps to make the video fast and dynamic, fitting the genre of music.

General Analysis - Buddy Holly by Weezer

Story: The story is kept simple so that there is more focus on the fact that the band are appearing in an episode of 'Happy Days'.

Setting: There is only one location used - 'Happy Days, Arnold's'. The location and set-up reflect the simple storyline, whilst also making the video simple to produce. Also, from a technical point of view having just one location makes it easier to combine the old and new footage. 

Characters: The band feature in the video and are clearly the focus, which is what the audience expect. Stars from 'Happy Days' also feature in the video, along with fans. The people dancing whilst listening to the band are representative of the band's fans. 

Costume: Everyone in the video is wearing old, 70's style clothing. This style of clothing is representative of the time period that 'Happy Days' was broadcast during.

Lyrics: The lyrics do not have any relation to the video, however this doesn't matter as the 'Happy Days' episode is selling the band. 

Special effects: The old footage of the 'Happy Days' episode and the new footage of the band have been skillfully combined, so that the band appear as though they are actually featuring in an episode of 'Happy Days'. 

Camera angles: Wide-shots are used to show the band as a unit and the crowd. Close-ups are used to show members of the band and famous 'Happy Days' characters individually.

General Analysis - The scientist by Coldplay, 2002

Story: This video has a clear narrative that is told in reverse. This helps interest the viewer as the song has a relatively slow tempo. Also, Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, is the main focus of the video which will appeal to Coldplay fans.

Setting: The whole video is set outdoors in several different locations, including a highstreet, basketball court, woods and train station. These locations fit the story that is being told, whilst also helping to interest the viewer.

Characters: Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, is the main character. He is very well recognised as being the frontman of Coldplay and so helps to sell the song. The other vital character is Chris Martin's character's girlfriend. The love story between the 2 characters featured in the video will appeal to the majority of the band's audience.

Costume: The clothing worn by the characters in the video is plain and dull, which fits the slow tempo song well. Dressing the characters in ordinary, everyday clothing also helps the audience (average, working class members of the public) to relate.

Lyrics: The lyrics are meaningful and emotive, much like the story being told in the video.

Special effects: The entire video is played in reverse, whilst Chris Martin sings the song. This must have been extremely hard to film as Chris would have had to learn and sing the song backwards during filming, so that the song would play as normal once the video was put into reverse. Telling the story in reverse is unique and interesting and so helps to maintain the viewer's attention throughout the song.

Camera angles: There are many mid-shots and close-ups used. The close-ups are vital as the song and video are emotive, and close-ups help to portray this. The editing throughout is slow to fit the slow tempo.

Music Video - 'We used to wait' by Arcade fire

Arcade fire have converged a normal music video with the internet/web 2.0. To access the video the viewer must visit www.thewildernessdowntown.com and type in the postcode of their childhood address. The song, 'We used to wait' by Arcade fire, is about childhood and the video intends to give the viewer the opportunity to virtualy revisit their childhood home. During the song several windows pop up on the screen containing different footage. The fixed music video footage is of a person running down a street in the darkness - throughout there is always a window playing this. A mixture of long-shots, mid-shots and extreme close-ups are used when tracking the runner. The footage in the other windows is taken from Google maps and Google street view, and varies depending on the postcode entered. Each box pops up to the beat of the music. Towards the end of the song a window opens that allows the user to write a postcard to their younger selves in a tree branch style font.

Grid of 9 - Hancock