Final Evaluation Section 3

Audience feedback helped us to get the best final result for our trailer, poster and magazine cover. Before putting the music to our trailer we asked a few members of our group if the trailer made sense to them and whether they had enough time to read the text. This was helpful as it meant we could get the lengths of the clips right before we made our music to fit the production. With our poster we used a more formal way of gathering audience feedback, this was by giving our questionnaires to a selection of people. Once we had got these back it meant we could see which poster design was their favourite and also if we needed to change anything on it. We also asked a selection of people what they thought about our magazine cover so we could do the same.

We used digital technologies in all of the stages of our project. For the planning and research phases we used Youtube to look at existing film trailers, IMDb to get an idea of what movies sold and what sort didn't, Google to see existing film posters and the Total Film website to look at magazine covers.

Once it got to the construction stages we started to use more technical programmes. For example when we first started to create our music I had a go on the programme Logic. However this proved very difficult as I had not used it before so we ended up using Garage Band because I felt it was easier to use. For our animatic and trailer we used the editing programme Imovie. I had already used this in my AS level production so I found it fairly easy to use although some of the more technical features took a while to use. To create our poster and magazine cover we used the programme PaintShop Pro which I was already familiar with as I use it in other subjects. This allowed us to experiment with different features and effects to create impressive outcomes. All of the pictures that were taken through out the construction stage had been shot on a Sony A 330 which is a digital SLR. Unfortunately we could not use this to film our trailer with as it does not have a record setting so instead we used a Canon DC310 camcorder.

The web site blogger.com has been used to create posts on the research, planning and other stages that have been involved in our coursework. This has been a useful way of working because there is no need to email work back and forth from school, also I find that my work is in a better organised format.

There are a couple of things I would have improved if I were to go back and do it again. For example I have already mentioned in my evaluation that we had to make a second story board which resulted in us going out to film a number of different times. This meant we had a shorter period of time to edit our final trailer. I believe if we had accessed a high definition camcorder then some of the shots would have given our trailer a more professional look as some of the clips with low levels of light looked a bit grainy. I was very happy with the outcome of the poster and the only improvement that I would have made to it was getting more of the axe in the image that the tree so the poster looked less confusing.

The final change that I am considering still to make is to mute the clip with the swearing. This is so our trailer could be shown to a wider audience. However when I did mute the clip it made the plot far less obvious. If I had more time I would go back to the location and re film this scene, making sure that we did not include a swear word in the narrative.




   

Final Evaluation Section 2

We started researching into different genres by watching a broad range of film trailers and briefly analysing them. After we had looked at a good amount of trailers from each genre as a group we had a vote on which genre we would most like to do. All three of us decided on different genres so we researched further into each one that was picked (action, comedy and horror). We decided that the best way to choose whose genre we would go with was for each of us to pick a trailer, that best favoured our genre, and analyse it in our group to see which bits we could use and develop for our production.

Although the action trailer looked visually impressive and made me want to see the film we realised that there would have been a huge budget set aside for some of the scenes and a lot of computer generated imagery had been used. Because we had a very limited budget, whatever me and my two other group members put in, and no access to use CGI we came to the decision that action would not be the best genre for us to do. The next genre of trailer to analyse was horror. This looked more promising from the start as the first clip didn't use CGI or look very expensive to produce. We liked the way that the music and editing was linked so that the trailer built up tension through out. Our final genre of film trailer we were going to analyse was comedy. I was sceptical about this genre from the off set as it takes incredibly clever scripting to make a comedy sucsessful and especially in the trailer as usually the funniest parts are shown. However it was only fair that we looked at the trailer as we had done for the other two genres. Although the trailer did make me want to watch the film, I think it was because of the green light actors that were starring and the hilarious script. One of the other awkward factors that we found when analysing this trailer was that there were quite a lot of characters. If we were to have done a comedy it would have meant that we would need to rely on lots of our friends to be around when we wanted to film. The one plus side to making out production a comedy was the cost, however we decided to go with horror.

Once we had decided to go with horror we again started to analyse trailers. This time the analysis was to find out key factors that horror trailers included, location, camera angles that are commenly used, editing, props and costumes. The most helpful trailer that we analysed was "The Blair Witch Project" as this was filmed using a low budget.

By researching into audience it helped us know who our target market would be and also what age certificate to give our trailer. We knew from researching horror films that it was very rare to get a film with a classification below the age rating 15. We wanted to inlude violence and strong language to give a stronger effect to our production. However we did not want it to get a certificate of 18 as this would limit the size of our target audience. To make sure a classification on 15 was not to low or high we went on the BBFC's web site (http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/guidelines) and read through the guidelines used to classify films. Through using secondary research gathered from the internet I saw that people from age 16 to 24 are most likely to watch horror trailers. This meant that if we were to advertise our trailer comercially we would know the key places to do so. Because I and many of my friends are in that age group I know that "facebook" "e4" and "mtv" would be prime places for advertising our film. However because of the small budget, setting up a film fan page on "facebook" would be a more realistic approach.

Before we shot our trailer we used a set of planning techniques that would make our production more successful and make us more organised when filming. The first method of planning we used was analysing horror trailers. We looked out for the locations they were set, The camera angles they had chosen, what type of editing had been used, the props that they included and the costumes that the characters wore. Some of the key things we had picked up from analysing the trailer for "The Blair Witch Project" were: A lot of hand held point of view shots had been used, the characters were younger rather than older, they were lost in a wood where there were lots of unusual things e.g. hanging stick men. When planning out our plot we drew a spider diagram and tried to include some of these ideas, however being careful not to make the plot too similar, as we knew if we included some of these plot characteristics then our production was more likely to be successful.

The next stage of planning was making a story board. This showed the possible stages that could take place in our film. Once we were happy with the stages we could decided on which camera angle to use for each shot. By doing this it meant when we came to film we would be more organised. I think we rushed the inital story board as we were excited to get out and film. This is why after filming the shots from our first story board and watching them back we were not one hundred percent satisfied with all of them so we created another story board this time thinking more carefully about the stages in the trailer and the camera angles used to create scarier shots.

The last planning technique we used was our animatic. This was basically a slide show of images taken from the locations we were going to set our production in and using some of the props to briefly show what our scenes would look like. This helped so we could see what our trailer would look like in picture form and also allowed us to get feedback from other members of the class about the locations and props we used.

General discussion in our group was used throughout our planning phase. This helped us to take each idea and together develop them resulting in a stronger film trailer.

Final Evaluation Section 1

Our media product used and developed the forms and conventions of real horror movies. One stereotypical plot was teens getting lost in a remote environment and being killed off one by one.

My first example shot was chosen because it is set in a village in the afternoon which gives a feeling of security which will contrast with the later location, emphasising the darkness of the forest which aims to create a more tense atmosphere. In particular the afternoon sun light and the houses, which give a sense of safety. The teens getting into the car gives the audience a suspicion that the car may later crash or break down .This is dramatic irony (when the audience knows something the characters don't) which adds to the tension. The music starts off after the diagetic sound of the car being loaded up so that the loud slam of the doors shutting is emphasised to add confusion to the safe environment at the beginning.Once the music fades in it is calm, adding to the atmosphere of normality.

The next shot, of the car turning the corner, represents the characters going off the main road to a more remote place, which adds to a feeling of isolation and helplessness. The car music can be heard over the soundtrack which shows that the teenagers are careless, as well as not indicating when going round the corner, This makes them running out of oil more believable.The shadows show the sun going down which represents a transition between the safety of the day and village and insecurity of the night time and the forest. There are no other cars on the road which shows they are alone.

The low camera angle in the next shot emphasises that they are off a normal road, in the mud and isolated. Voices can be heard over the music which allows the audience to hear clearly that the characters are in trouble. The music is beginning to speed up at this point, gradually increasing the tension. With tensions between the characters they are in a more vulnerable position. The character in the green hoodie is not included because that way the clothing is darker reflecting the change in mood.

The mist in this shot adds mystery and the idea that anything could happen. It also suggests that something or someone could be hiding in this dark, obscured woodland. The lighting has trees silhouetted against the light which makes a contrast. The panning shot allows the audience to get a better sense of their surroundings which are crucial to the feeling of eeriness and they are surrounded by water which gives a sense of isolation.
Because of the hand held camera they relate more with the characters so they feel more scared. This technique was used in "The Blair Witch Project".

The sudden change of music in this shot, along with the word "Alone" helps the audience empathise with the characters to realise just what a bad situation they are in. The combination of the change in music and the word alone adds to a shift in the mood which creates tension.

This scene was filmed using a low angle shot. We used this angle because the axe was hanging high up in a tree. By having branches behind the axe instead of simply just plain sky it creates more uncertainty for the auidence because the shot only lasts for a few seconds it is unclear whether it is an axe hanging in the tree or just a pattern made by the branches. When editing our production we faded the corners of the shot. This was to emphasise the fact that it was getting dark and also make it seem like the dark was closing in on the characters. 

To get enough light into the shed that we filmed this part of the trailer in we had to use a torch and light the candles. Instead of pretending that the torch was not there and that it was just providing light for the scene, we included it as a prop earlier in the trailer so it seemed deliberate. We used a hand held point of view shot in the shed so the audience could witness the unusual objects which were on the shelf but they could do so from the point of view of one of the characters from inside. The diegetic sound of the door slamming at then end of the shot leads the audience sharply into the next scene.

The hand help camera technique shows one of the characters running through the forest. This technique makes the audience unsure on what could be chasing the character. We decided to aim the camera at high up so the shot did not look too dark. Also by doing this it showed the over hanging branches, which gives an air of spookiness. At this point the music is at its quickest which shows this is the climax of the trailer.   

Our poster

Here is our final poster that would be used to advertise our film.  The poster has been made up from two different pictures that have been layered on top of each other and with changed transparency levels so that one shows through less. We chose to use this effect because while researching posters we found a number of different posters which had done it and gave a strong visual effect, for example "The Abandoned". By layering the photographs in this way it creates a ghostly effect, this makes the poster seem more eery and therefore relate to the genre of film we are trying to advertise. The clearer picture of the pond and the trees was taken from the same place that we filmed a scene in our trailer. This will suggest to our audience that the water may be a significant part in our film, even though we have not made this obvious in our trailer, so as not to spoil too much of the plot.

The typical, generic conventions we found when researching posters were: they all include the title of the film, a portrait layout, the production companies and distributors names, usually an age rating and all of the posters linked to the genre of film they were trying to advertise. The conventions that were specific to the horror genre were: they had a tag line that would be catchy, scary fonts were used for wording and most of them were not just a clear image. For example some of them were masked by fog, darkness, another image layered on top or simply distorted. So far we had applied almost all of these factors to our poster so that our end result would be more likely a success. However we chose not to set out poster out in the typical portrait style but instead to do the opposite and have the lay out landscape. We thought by simply having the orientation different to most other posters it might help to draw in the potential customer more, because by seeing a different style of poster they may then think that our film is going to have something different about it compared to all the other films in the horror genre.  

The last Rave Magazine Cover



This is the magazine cover that I produced for our film "The Last Rave". I have made the title the main focus on the page so it stands out in the shops. Also I chose to have it in red as this is a conitation of blood which is a common factor in most horror films. I highlighted other words in red to keep with the horror theme and make the layout of the cover more interessting. To make my magazine cover look more realistic I included a price, issue, barcode and sub headings. There are also features for other films, this would be expected when in a film magazine. 

I produced the magazine cover using paint shop pro. Using the "Layer" tool allowed me to have two images with different transparency which meant I could achieve a ghostly effect. Once I had the back ground, title and barcode I merged the layers together and saved it. To finish the cover off I opened it in word and added text that is commonly found on film magazine covers.

Feed back comments:

"I think the cover looks great. The way everything lines up gives the magazine cover a proffesinal look". 

"The cover fits with the horror genre well".

"This makes a convinsing film magazine cover. However the picture quality doesn't look very clear".

The Last Rave Trailer

Poster and Poster research

After looking through existing film posters I decided that this one for "The Abandoned" had the greatest effect on me. The poster looks like it has been merged together with another similar picture to create a more three dimensional effect. The back ground consists of a foggy or smokey setting with half of a head showing from within a boat. The title of the film has been produced in a battered looking font and been selected in the colour red, this is a connotation of death which along with the layering of images and the smokey back ground results in a very eery poster. Because I thought these three factors worked so well I tried to make sure we tried them out on our groups poster.

Poster design one

This is our first design for a poster to advertise our film "The Last Rave".  Experimenting with the programme "Paint Shop Pro" we managed to layer two images one top of each other then change the transparency of the top image. To create the smokey effect we already had the fog from the original image as it was a foggy day, we just had to decide on what to include in the fore ground. Because an axe had been included in a variety of our shots in the trailer we thought it would be a good image to chose. When setting the transparency we tried to make the axe seem fainter than the background, hoping that as you could see the axe less clearly it would add to the uncertainty about weather it was there or if it was just your eyes playing tricks on you.  

Poster design two



With our second poster design we took a more abstract approach. Because the target audience for our film is late teens to late 20's my group and I decided on giving the poster a more modern effect than eery like the previous design. Although I personally think that the traditional eery posters makes you want to watch the film more it was still very useful taking a completely different approach to our second design as then when we got our questionnaire results back we would know which technique was preferred, resulting in us picking the right poster to use. i decided to give my questionnaires to a class of year 12's as they would be in the main age group that we are aiming our film at. 

Questionnaire and results

Audience Poster Questionnaire Data

Which poster do you prefer? (1: A short cut to death) (2: The road to death)

          16 people said they liked poster 1 best.

          8 said poster 2 looked best. 

What do you think the genre of film do you think each poster is advertising?

         Poster 1) 20 people said horror 4 people thought it was advertising an action film.

         Poster 2) 18 people thought horror 4 thought action and 2 person thought sifi.

Which poster makes you want to see the film more?

        Poster 1) 14 people

        Poster 2) 10 people

Do you like the title or would you change it? If so what would you change it to?

        Yes) 18

        No) 4

        Other) One person said "Rave, as it is more catchy" the other person thought it should be called       "Short Cut to Death"  

In your opinion do you think the font used fits the in with the genre of the poster?

       Yes) 20

       No) 4

which poster do you find more eye catching?

       Poster 1) 9 people

       Poster 2) 15

Is there anything you would change about poster one?

        Yes) 3

        Suggestion) "I would give it a black boarder", "Make the tag line bigger", "change the title and thw whole poster is too dark to see what it is clearly"

        No) 21

Is there anything you would change about poster two?

        Yes) 4 people said they would change it

        Suggestion) "Make the title bigger", "Make the tag line bigger", "I would like to see more resemberlance of horror", "Move the title to the bottom of the poster"

        No) 20

Research analysis

After getting the results back from my questionnaire we have changed our final poster so that it is slightly lighter. Although there was other ideas for improvements other results contradicted these ideas there for we decided not to make all of the changes. 

Filming

Low down angle of character checking out the car after it breaks down in the forest on the way to their rave. We have used a low angle shot as it shows a lot of the muddy groud, this shows that they have driven on a rarely used road which creates a secluded, alone feel.




For one of our scenes we wanted to have Rosie walking through the forest and an axe swings down behind her. This meant we had to carefully attached an axe to some rope and loop it over a branch of the tree. We waited until Rosie was well past the point where the axe would swing until jack let go of it. Jack was out of shot at all time.

This picture is of Rosie setting up the tripod at a low angle to record the teens' walking through the forest.

Stages of this shot. From the camera to Jack, who is out of shot, to Rosie walking past where the axe swings.

Over the shoulder tripod shot of me strangling Jack with an axe. We didn't end up using this one as we thought we would leave his death as a mystery so we did n give to much of the story line away in the trailer.

Point of view shot from one of the characters. By having it hand help and from their point of view it emphasises the creepiness of the random building in the forest. 

Animatic

http://www.slideshare.net/rosiea2media/animatic-7357990

Our animatic helped us to get a quick insight into what our trailer will look like but in picture form. Obviously it did not seem as scary becuase it is hard to build tension with photographs and no sound but it gave us a guide when it came to filming, even if we did not use all of the stages in our animatic. We took the picutes using my digital slr and editied and made them into a series using an Apple mac. 

Representation in our trailer

Characters:

The characters in our trailer are supposed to represent stereo typical working class teenagers who would be likely to attend illegal raves and parties. To achieve this we carefully thought about what each character should wear and how they would act. The clothing we chose includes things like New Era caps, hoodies, jeans, and trainers. Also the way in which they wore this clothing showed that they were teens. For example jeans were worn low so boxers were visible, this is a connotation of gangster lifestyle which an American audience could also relate to if our film was to successful. By wearing well known brands like New Era, Nike, and Adidas shows that they are conscious about their image as these brands are popular with young people/teens. We also ensured that the way our characters speak accurately represents the language which modern day teenagers use.       

Mise-en-scene:

We have chosen to set most of our trailer in a forest, however we have a couple of shots from a rural village where the teens live.  The forest represents mystery as you can only see as far as the next few trees.  We also waited until there was a dull, foggy evening to film.  As when we filmed some of our original footage it did not give a scary enough feeling for a horror movie.   This location and weather contrasts with the safe, nicely weathered setting of the rural village they set off from. 

Sound:

We have chosen to use diegetic sound as well as non diegetic. the scene with me driving around a corrner with my music playing is a diegetic sound. We decided to have my music turned up loud so that it helps to portray stereo typical teenagers. The non diegetic sound that we have added is the sound track, this helps to build up the tension and makes the trailer seem more professional.  

Props:

the props we have used are a torch, some bags and an axe. the rucksacks have been used to make it look more like the teenagers are actually going to a rave in the forest. the torch adds to the uncertainty of what might be around the corner as it emphasises the fact that it is getting dark. With the axe we got verious different shots of it hanging, sticking into a tree, being held and a shot of it swinging. Although we did not use all of the shots the few selected worked towards creating a scary trailer as an axe can be seen as a murder weapon therefore it is a connotation of death.

Magazine Cover Analysis

This "Total film" poster for "Inception" has be laid out to suit the style of the film and includes information about other films.  It also includes different denotations and connotations.  These are the key factors that will effect how successful your magazine cover is and will also contribute to the total number of views your film will have.

Almost all of the magazine covers I have looked at have included a big picture of their main character set in the middle of the page with a title and short sentence beneath it.  On this particular magazine cover the main picture is of Leonardo DiCaprio wearing a suit and holding in his gloved hands a silenced pistol, although you can not actually see all of it.  The connotation of the gun along with the gloves and suit gives us the impression that this character will be sinister.  The fact that his face is shaded on one side could possibly give us the impression that Cobb, the name of the character on the cover, has two different sides to him or perhaps a hidden secret.  The title and general wording on the cover is in a font which is sharp and formal looking which means it will be taken seriously my most when the look at it.  The title of the film and magazine is bigger than the other writing on the cover.  The graphic designers would have done this so that when people glanse at it they will be able to read the title first, which may draw them into the magazine and if it doesnt then at least that word may stick in their head which will help to premote the film.  Bold colour has also been used to draw the protential customers in, however they have only used it on a couple of lines as if they use it too much of it it will create the opposite effect, so nothing will stand out.

Behind the wording and the picture of Cobb is a back ground of an urban environment.  this relates well to the film as alsmost all of it is set in these urban environments which inturn adds to the uncertenty of the film.     

Story board

This story board is our original version. However after filming these shots and watching them back on the macs we decided that they did not look scary enough because it was filmed when it was still light. After darkening the footage on "I movie" we decided that our original clips still didn't quite cut it so we did another story board. The focus of this was to think of shots that can cause more panic and uncertainty. If we could do successfully I knew along with the editing and music our trailer will be very effective which in turn will result in a thrilling trailer.

This is our second story board, some of the steps are the same as before. For example the three teens' loading up the car worked well as the urban housing estate was a stereotypical environment for teenagers who attend raves to live. When it came to filming the scenes we had added in it proved surprisingly challenging. We went out a few days after doing our new story board, but we let it get too dark, even thought we could see clearly, the camera was not picking up the moving image. Despite the camera not working very well at dust we still wanted to try and achieve an eary feel  in the new scenes, to our luck in the next couple of days there was an extremely foggy evening. This created that effect perfectly and the camera picked it up clearly.