EVALUATION: TRANSCRIPT

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

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

3.       What have you learned from your audience feedback?  

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

The purpose of producing a media product is for it to sell. In order for it to sell successfully it has to meet the codes and conventions of the genre it is relevant to. For my media product inclusive of film teaser trailer, magazine and a poster I have kept in mind the codes and conventions of the horror genre and of each distribution platform. The forms and conventions are both challenged and developed in my media package. The films that I researched include: I Spit on your grave, The Conjuring, Orphan and Halloween. During my research on horror films I came across a few forms and conventions of typical horror films. Firstly, I noticed in most of the horror films the character who is targeted is always a female. For example, Females are presented damsel in distress always longing for help. This links to Propp’s theory about characters in a film. The theory suggests that there are certain characters in a film one of which is the heroine who is usually portrayed as weak and vulnerable. This is a very important convention as bringing this would mean targeting a very different target audience to what is already there for horror films. For example, one of the horror trailers that I looked at is Lights Out, the trailer had a female protagonist as she was always in the know of the happenings around her. The centre of attention in the trailer was her as it is immediately clear to the audience that she is the problem solver. Keeping this in mind, for my film trailer I also decided to stick to a female protagonist, making the story revolve around her and her problems with spirits in the film. This would help me attract a larger female audience as it would be more relatable for them. Horror films stereotypically have a target audiences aged 15-30 and additionally people who are thrill seekers and love the concept of horror. The female protagonist in my film fights against the bad herself by looking for answers that she requires to free herself from the terror of the spirit.  Another aspect that I came across during my research on horror trailers was that they were short and included shots that are very brief and didn’t give away too much about the full story of the film. The market research I did before the making of the trailer allowed me to find that most of our target audience wanted the trailer to end on a cliff hanger. Trailers like Don’t Breath, Lights Out and The Conjuring all ended on a cliff hanger, which would make the audience wanting to go watch the full film when it comes out. For example, towards the end of Don’t Breathe trailer both the protagonists are stuck in the house with the blind man trying to find their way out. The scream of the girl is when the trailer finishes which creates a thrill amongst the audience leaving the trailer on a cliff hanger. Cliff hangers are crucial for horror film as they keep the thrill and leave the story to the audience's imagination and create a sense of enigma for them. They are an effective way to attract the audience. This makes them curious and brings them to watch the actual film. As this is a very common convention amongst all the horror trailers the decision was made to also leave my teaser trailer on a cliff hanger as it attracts the audience's attention and allows the film to attract audiences. In the last scene of my teaser trailer is the mother going crazy with the blood writing next to her stating "you're next". The mother holds on to her head and moves it back and forth which connotes her loss of control over herself. This proposes that she has lost her senses and what she is doing is not in her control anymore. Therefore, conforming to the codes and convention of the horror genre.  

Also, through my research I found that most of the horror films are set in an isolated house which is either possessed with an evil spirit or  something has had happened in the house in the past that no one wants to reside in the house. For example, in The Conjuring 2, the new family moves to a house possessed by a spirit. They don’t realise it until there is some unusual activity in the house that makes the mother think that the house is not normal and it is the house that is causing problems in her family. In analysing the mis-en-scene I found that the key element in making a house look creepy is lighting, it is crucial. Although, during the pre-production stage I had initially decided to film in a school setting and a house setting but because the trailer did not have to be as long, we did not add the school scenes and did those in the home settings as well to save me time. This was helpful because I did not have to fluctuate between two different locations making it easier for us to film. The house was made to appear frightening by the use of low key lighting. For example, in the scene where someone is being dragged on the floor the lighting is very dark making it scary for the audience.

The purpose of the task was to create a promotional package which consisted of three things across different platforms including the teaser trailer, magazine front cover and a poster. For the magazine front cover, I analysed different magazine covers in depth which allowed me to understand the conventions of a typical magazine cover such as the layout of the image, masthead and cover lines and the design used, for example, all Empire magazines followed the house style by having the text from the top right all the way across the bottom. Whilst I was making my magazine cover it had to be kept in mind that the genre for our film was horror so the magazine should also show that. During the magazine research I found that the most common conventions of a magazine are the positioning of the masthead, skyline, and cover lines. The magazine had a common house style which was useful for the audience as it makes it easier for them to recognise the magazine cover. I always recognised that the magazine cover should include the USP of the film and the main character in order for the audience to be able to make a link between the trailer, cover and poster. Therefore, for my magazine cover I used a still image from the teaser trailer for it to make it recognisable for the audience and further promote the film. Also, for my poster I used a close up shot of the eye that is also a clip from the film. This is helpful as they would allow my target audience to recognise and relate the three with each other. Whilst I was making my own magazine cover, I had a few ideas in my mind for the positioning of everything so I created a few flat plans which helped me while making the cover as the position of all the things was sorted on it and I just had to follow it. Most of the magazine covers used close up shot of the character. This is effective because this allows the audience to connect with the character on a personal level making it relatable for them. I kept this in mind and used a still shot from our trailer for the magazine cover to represent the link between the magazine and the film. It was also a close up shot which I then further edited on Photoshop with the help of the tools available to make the image look frightening and promote the film. For example, I used the blur tool to make the background black which would allow my image to stand out and I used the same tool to blur the face a little bit to make it looked merged with the background. The aim was to create a promotional package that would complement the film teaser trailer and help promote the film further. The magazine cover and the poster had to follow the same house style in order for the audience to be able to recognise it with the film trailer as it is essential for the promotion of the film. This is essential in order to make the film expand and attract and keep the audiences interested in the film.

During the poster research I analysed horror posters such as The Eye, Fright Night. This helped me in understanding the purpose of the poster which is to promote the film by just advertising the film through the title and a main image that could be a still shot from the film. Colour and the title and tagline are the main elements of the poster which grab the attention of the audience and anchor the image creating a further enigma for the audience. When I created my own poster for the film, I used a still shot from the film itself to which provides synergy by being the image featuring in the film and the poster. This allows the audience to create a link between the film and the poster. By just adding one image on the poster it makes it easier for the audience to understand what is happening in the poster and what their focus of attention should be. The tagline on the magazine had to be something linked to the film which would promote the film and attract the audience. However, in order for the three products to become successful brand they need to link with each other. The focus group of the film should immediately be able to tell that the poster and the magazine are our film Visions.

Both of the texts have the same title which is the name of the film which makes it obvious for the audience to tell that they are synergised together. Next is the colour used on both the texts are similar, I tried to follow the same colour scheme for both my magazine front cover and poster for them to complement the film. This is important because in order for my target audience to recognise each one of the promotional package they have to be able to draw links between them. This can be a common still shot from the teaser trailer itself that is used for the magazine and the poster. I have mainly used dark tones of red, black and white for both to also make sure that I abide with the codes and convention of a horror genre. I decided to use dark tones because throughout the teaser trailer the lighting is dim and gloomy making it conform to the codes and conventions of horror and to give it further connotations of danger. The tagline for all three of the products is the same which makes it obvious that the products are in sync for the promotion of the film.

During my market research I created a questionnaire targeting a focus group. This was essential as the questionnaires helped me get an idea of audience expectations from a horror teaser, magazine and poster. Audience feedback is very important as it allows the company to know what to create to meet the needs and wants of the audience. I analysed all the questionnaires to make sure I don’t miss out on what my audience expects to see. The feedback allowed me to make changes in my promotional package. Whilst making the three products the audience opinion was kept in mind. After we had created a rough cut for our film we showed it to our focus group, all who were part of our target audience to receive feedback on how we can improve and what can we change. There was a lot of positive feedback as some people liked the music and some suggested that they like the storyline that is presented. On the other hand, the focus group gave us ideas on how we can improve and what we can change in order for our product to meet their expectations. After this, we then went back and looked at our teaser trailer to see what we can improve after the audience’s feedback. This was very helpful as it gave us an idea about the audience’s needs and wants which would then be kept in mind for all three of the products.

There were different technologies used for the making of the promotional package including: Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, iMovie. During the research I found that all the trailers that were made were of high quality and this can only be ensured by using proper equipment’s. During my research I made use of the online websites to present my work such as Prezi and slide share to make presentations on my research and findings which would further help me with the making of the promotional package. This helped me to show the different ways I used to present my ideas. It further allowed me to produce more detailed and organised work which was appealing for people looking at it. This portrayed my understanding of how to use different platforms on the internet to distribute my presentations more productively. The internet was the main source for most of the information that I was able to extract for about the genre. I used websites such as Google and YouTube. Google was mainly used to research about the different horror trailers and the making process of them. I also used it to look up for different magazine covers and posters for my ancillary task analysis. All the magazine covers and posters that I analysed were taken from Google. This helped me to get an idea of what I want my magazine and poster to look like. Also, allowing me to have instant access which was quicker and more efficient. My phone was also helpful for YouTube as sometimes when the internet was not working on the computer I was able to look at teasers on YouTube through my phone. There were also websites of the actual films that I was looking and websites of the magazine covers. This helped me get an idea of what is there inside the magazine so I could plant cover lines accordingly on the front cover for the audience to navigate through the magazine. The most important part of the coursework was the use of Blogger. I used Blogger to keep track of all my work and distribute it across the web. This allowed me to stay organised and up to date with all the work that I used to put up on my blog. The purpose of a blog is to make sure all the work is done up to date and all the work is saved and protected. Everything that was happening from research to evaluation was kept as record on the Blogger. I used Blogger like a diary constantly updating it with different ideas that came to my mind and progress that was being made throughout such filming day logs and editing day logs. I also used an online website called Surveynuts to create a questionnaire for my magazine and poster. This was helpful as I did not have to keep papers, my focus group could simply go online to my blog fill it out and I would get the results. For the teaser questionnaire I used Microsoft word as I just made the questions myself. For the analysing of questionnaires I used Microsoft excel. The analysis of my questionnaires allowed me to have get a better idea of the audience expectations. My personal phone was very helpful throughout the filming stage as I was taking pictures and using them for my logs. During the editing stage of the film, I used IPad to do the research for music and sound for the film. During the production stage, we were filming using a DSLR camera, to make sure that the videos that were shot were high quality and clear. Using a DSLR was helpful because there were many things that could be done in the setting such as fixing the lighting.

The teaser trailer works together with cross-media platforms because of the similarities in the colours used in both the poster and the magazine. I tried to use similar colours which would help the audience to understand that the products are in synergy. The title of the film ‘Visions’ is common in the promotional package, this helps make the promotion of the film better as all three work tandem in supporting the release of the film. Cross-media platforms would help me attract different types of audiences. For instance, the people that are huge horror fans and follow horror closely would look at all cross-media to find out information about the film. Whereas, some audiences may get attracted towards the poster that they see and think about watching the film. Therefore, Different cross-media platform allows to attract more audiences for the film.