Evaluation question 1

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

All trailers share some central conventions. They must include the genre, name and production values of the film. I think the genre of our film is easy to distinguish right from the start of our trailer because of the inter-titles describing the killer and his back story. This is then supported through the use of music and mise-en-scene elements like the creepy empty woods setting. The name of our film is also prominent as it has its own shot towards the end of the trailer with nothing to distract from it. The production values, however, are less obvious. All the main characters are seen so it could be said the stars of the film are made known. The directors name isn't given, however this would happen in a real trailer if the director was unknown and therefore couldn't be used as an advertising technique.

Furthermore trailers have to use aspects of the film that the target audience will be interested in. We tried to film clips we thought would grab the attention of our teenage to early twenties audience, for example most of our shots are just of a group of teenagers hanging out, so this is something they could identify with. A trailer should also introduce central characters and their relationships, and also identify the main protagonist. All our characters are shown at some point in the first few shot so the audience knows who will be in the film. I think the shot of Jake (killer) coming out from the bushes as though he had been stalking the other characters portrays him as the villain whereas the shots of Poppy (final girl) looking scared shows her as the main protagonist.

Music is an important part of a trailer, it has to be emotive and in keeping with the genre. It also has to emphasise build-up rather than crescendo. We tried to find music for our trailer that would begin quite calmly whilst the equilibrium was still in balance and then have more of a build-up later on once it was disturbed. Also trailers will use a mixture of dialogue, voice over and inter-titles to introduce the characters and what is happening. We decided that a voice over wasn't right for our trailer but we did use inter-titles to reveal the premise and give some information. although we did have trouble with our sound as we were all new to the software. we also struggled to find music for the first few scenes as these shots were flash backs of the killer and wasnt really the same pace as the rest of our trailor. 

Horror films also have their own set of conventions. For example there are certain settings which are often used. These include locations such as small communities or isolated places, places with a ‘past’ for example in the wood, homes and places at night. We upheld this convention in our trailer as we set our film in some woods.

Horror also uses a specific technical code. It uses conventions such as obscure high and low angles. This creates disorientation as the shots change quickly and are at angles that people don't usually see. Another technical code convention is close ups. We used this towards the end of our trailer when Jake is walking towards the camera, which makes the audience feel slightly uncomfortable as he staring straight at the lens. We placed these clips during the fast shots as this creates an invasion of personal space and keeps the audience on edge We also used a close up of the killers prop a teddy bear which gives an insight into the plot line. Another convention is a fast editing pace to create suspense. We used this is our trailer towards the end as it didn't allow the audience to settle on any one image, so they only got an impression of what was happening and it therefore brought the tension to a peak. Furthermore ambient sound is very important in horror.

Horror also has a specific iconography, for example red and black are visual signifies. We used a lot of black filters and toned are images down so they were a lot darker in our trailer. We used common mise-en-scene elements like weapons (knife). Furthermore horror has character type conventions. For example rebellious teenagers as victims like many horror films do.

 

Evaluation Question 2

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

The Distributor has a very important job in the role of getting a particular movie to its specified target audience and gaining it popularity to ensure its success. They will use such tools as advertisements on television and cinema, public billboards and posters, and online through its own promotional website or through advertisements on other websites.
It is also the Distributors job to come up with a detailed analysis of the target audience which will include the distributor researching the target audience's age, gender, use of internet and social networking sites, media consumption and overall lifestyles. This will then give distributors a better idea of what they need to do in order to reach their target audiences during the process of advertising and promoting the film. Audience profiling must also be carried out for the same reason by the distributor, and this adds to the information collected about the target audience.
It has to be kept in mind that audience's tastes can change dramatically, and sometimes audiences can get bored of the same genres being released too many times over the year or the same storylines being processed over and over again in different sub-genres and genres. Sometimes audiences crave change and this has to be remembered when producing a film which must be successful in order to earn the money to survive in the film industry.

The Distributor also has the job of generating favourable publicity for its movies in order to increase their movies' popularity and ensure its success, and they do so by getting the movies on the front of magazines and creating television and internet advertisements at peak times of use so more audiences can see it. They will do this by buying advertising time on such media, in good knowledge that the advert they are going to show is appropriate and doing its job in terms of conventions and making the film appealable.
My media group took on the role of the distributor for are film and had to think in the similar mind-frame we took into account all of these points when advertising and promoting our movie 'Surprise', especially in regards to our individually processed ancillary tasks.
The film's advertising poster had rules in terms of conventions which I had to try and follow in order for it to be successful. Any poster that advertises a film contains a list of conventional standards one must follow when creating the same. The poster must

• Contain the title of the movie itself.
• Be bold and stand out in terms of displaying horror conventions.
• Propose something different for the viewers from other movies released at this time.
• Contain images from the movie or related to the movie to give viewers a 'sneak peak' at the proposed storyline or to back up titles/tag lines.
• Have a tag-line which relates to the movie in a way which will entice audiences to view the film.
• Credits to the people who have helped make the movie and whatever role they fulfilled.
• A clue as to which genre the movie is e.g. lighting, images, shot preference etc.
• A date or a clue as to when the movie is being released

This is one of many examples of a conventional horror poster.I have included this on my blog as I used an array of examples such as this one to base my very own advertising poster on.

Comparing my poster to the professionally-produced one above, there are many similarities in the conventional horror themes and the layout.
My poster included much from the list stated above. I have contained;

• The release timing; 'released 15th may' is situated at the bottom of the page which is a device used to keep the audience reminded of the film and wanting to know more about it.
• Credits to everyone involved in the production contained within the billing block.
• The main title of the film bold and visually accessible on the poster, (there is nothing in its way so it draws attention and it stands out against the background.)
• A tag-line relating to the movie's title and story line.
• A manipulated image of a prop hinting at some part of the storyline,
• Clues such as the blacked out edges around my poster suggests that it’s a horror poster as it connotes a creepy environment.

The magazine cover was also deeply influenced by previous magazine cover specials dedicated to horror movies. I knew that from previous viewing experience with magazines, conventionally I had to;

• Use bold colourings and lettering to catch the reader’s attention.
• An image which would be easily recognisable from the movie and one which would fit the genre of the proposed magazine I was using to promote my movie.
• The actor's name to produce hype and excitement in regards to the movie - some may recognise them if the actors are famous, or others may assume they are very talented new actors which is why they are so heavily focused on.
• A colour theme appropriate and recognisable to the magazine used.

This was one of many magazine covers I used as a guideline of what to include and I found that this particular example contained how I wanted the layout. Also, "total film” has a more highbrow reputation than other film magazines. Total film also currently features a full cast and crew credit list for each reviewed film. I believe that containing 'Surprise' in this magazine would also show the movie in its most positive light, as the market at the moment is showing a decline for the over-used 'pop-horror' themes and sub-genres used in the storylines, and if our film is being openly promoted by a more "high brow" magazine it will instantly make viewers aware that it is perhaps offering a different type of movie.

Looking at both the professional version of Total film magazine and my individually produced one it is very easy to see where I was heavily influenced. Once again I contained as much as possible from the list above, which included;

• Bold, red colouring and dark, blood-red shading in the background in order to show the genre and the theme of that particular issue of the magazine.
• An image from the film itself which is easily recognisable and shows the horror genre.
• Text at the side of the main article of the magazine which contains information on all of the other horror-movie related articles and features within the 'horror special' article showing that this particular issue is rich in contextual information about horror movies, which in turn will make many more attracted to reading the copy.
• The text including the main actors name creating hype and excitement about the actor used in the main image and the movie itself.
• Getting a particular movie to the front of any film magazine is a good example of successful publicity, and those who notice this will instantly think the movie is set to be a hit.

Also, using this as the front cover and having most of the attention focused on ‘Surprise’ suggests that the movie is going to be a big hit and a popular choice for movie fans, thus creating more hype and publicity for the film.

All three of my products, (the teaser trailer, the poster and the magazine cover), contain reoccurring characters, themes and images which I believe help the film become identifiable and easily recognisable as an up-and-coming movie. This creates a strong foundational ground for promotion and marketing and works as an effective combination of products that work to advertise the film at a successful standard. As a group and as an individual I have tried to make the trailer and the poster promoting ‘Surprise’ work coherently together to create a unified advertising message for our film, which I fulfilled by using as many conventions as I possibly could in regards to colour and shot angles. Also I tried to do so horror-conventionally with the inter titles and screen credits to make the actors and producers/directors seem more popular to create hype. I felt that this made my advertising message easily readable and identifiable within all target audiences and easily recognisable to others whom perhaps do not fall into the target market category, for example those who are not fans of horror and who do not enjoy watching horror genres would still be able to spread the word through recognition of the advertisements around the media and recommendation of what they have seen and heard to people they may think would enjoy it. This then creates a cycle of advertising; people see the advertisements, people pass the advertising on through word of mouth, the people in question then go to view the film and the reviews are once again passed on through word of mouth, creating even more viewers and in turn earning the movie more money. Given that the movie is successful the reviews are hopefully positive, which will again be picked up by the media and used as another subconscious tool of advertisement. With all this in mind, the initial advertisement had to be successful and follow successful horror conventions, and I believe using these themes and conventions at a professional level would ensure its success.

Evaluation Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

The target audience for our 'film' was teenagers and young adults, around 15 - 24 years old, because they not only visit the cinema most often but they are also the age group most attracted to horror films. So when we felt our trailer was finished we played it to the rest of our class as they had an age range of 17 - 20 and were therefore within the range of our target audience. We did this for a few reasons, but mainly to see what the reactions of people outside the project, but within the target audience, would be. This included anything good, bad or even anything they felt was missing.

The feedback from the audience which, as teenagers, were in the target demographic for horror films was very helpful to me and my group as we were able to change appropriate things to change in the trailer. This screening helped us finalise the trailer to make it as good as it can be without any major re-filming.

The first critical point we were met with was in regard to the scene towards the end where Jake is walking into the camera. Some members of the class felt this could be seen as funny, which would be a problem for the trailer of a horror film. However after talking to the rest of the class and watching it again it seems the humour derived from this shot was a product of knowing Jake, and not to do with the shot itself. This theory was supported further when I played the trailer to people who didn't know Jake as they didn't find it funny at all.

The second point was to do with lighting. Originally, and at the time of showing, our trailer was quite light because it was shot during the day. However the class felt that it would possibly look scarier if it was dark, especially as a prominent convention of horror is that bad things happen in the dark. Once again we reviewed this as a group and decided it was a valid point. So in response to this we added a gradual grading across the trailer. This made it seem as if it was getting darker whilst still looking natural.

The third point was in regard to the ‘house of wax’. It was felt by members of the class that our 'film', and therefore our trailer, was quite similar to ‘house of wax’ because it used similar characters and settings such as a forest, and therefore they felt it didn't have anything unique to advertise. However this point was discussed by the whole class and the majority of people felt that this was not the case because our trailer has elements that made it different.

The fourth point was that there was a possible lack of historic knowledge of the film. One member of the class felt that the shot of the old documents began to establish a link between the forest and previous past history but then didn't build on it, which they felt may have been a good thing to do as one conventional horror setting is a place with a 'past'. However we felt this was the effect we wanted because we wanted to hint at previous activity without it becoming too obvious and giving away too much of what had happened in the forest.

The fifth point suggested was adding more glitches, to both the inter-titles and footage, as they helped to give the impression of strange interference and hint at what was happening in the forest. However our group felt that if we added many more then the point would become overstated and annoying and therefore we decided to leave it as it was.

The sixth point from someone in the class was questioning whether there should be a narrative to keep the audience interested as well as subheadings. However we asked the rest of the group and they said they understood enough for this to be a good teaser trailer. Therefore we decided that nothing needed to be done because, if anything, the lack of narrative helped to keep the audience guessing about what would happen in the film, and this was the effect we were trying to create.

In addition to the points above the class also gave us feedback on what they liked. The first thing they pointed out was the camera panning around the forest establishing the main location. They said this was especially effective with the impact sound because it implied danger and helped to maintain that this trailer was for a horror film. The second was the soundtrack, especially towards the end when it speeds up and becomes more intense. They liked this because they said it built tension and put them on edge which made them want to see the film. the third thing that the class said they liked was the begining shots of the young boy swinging as it creates an eary mood with the distored image effects we added as well as setting a back story to understand are trailer. The fourth point was the inter-titles. They liked the clear, consistent font followed by the glitches and static, especially at the start as this was the first impression they had of the film and it helped to establish the genre and premise.

In conclusion I learnt several things from the audience feedback. I learnt that whilst the opinion of a group does matter, the information has to be considered carefully. It would have been impractical and unnecessary to change everything that every member of the group suggested, and in some instances impossible as there were opinions that contradicted each other. However I did gain some invaluable information from the opinions of the class and I think our trailer was changed for the better because of them.

Evaluation Question 4

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

Web 2.0 has transformed the way we use the internet. It allows for user-generated content which I have heavily exploiting in the creation of my Blog. YouTube, Blogger, IMDB, Wikipedia and many other websites allow the user to become the creator.  The internet has become increasingly interactional with many sites encouraging users to contribute in some way. This has allowed me to present my coursework in a far more engaging manner; the reader can watch video clips and watch power point presentations. It is crucial to be able to exploit the many opportunities that Web 2.0 offers when creating and advertising any media text. I enjoyed using the Web 2.0 technology of Blogger.com to produce my coursework as it enabled me to use various formats to present my ideas. It also meant that all my work was in one easily accessible location compared to other essay based subjects where notes and ideas are easily lost on paper. However I found that one disadvantage of the Blog was that uploading images was sometimes problematic as it was difficult to position them correctly. I also find that the tactile of an essay can give satisfaction that a Blog cannot. I believe this is one reason as to why Web 2.0 technologies will not completely take over from paper based products such as magazines as they do not have the tactile or collectable qualities of a print product. I also feel ideas can be explored, developed and articulated further in essay format as they allow for more dense text; however an essay may be appropriate for my other subjects such as English Language but for this project a blog was a far more appropriate format. A Blog is very useful when trying to self-generate a career as you can publish and market your Blog entirely on your own through the use of other Web 2.0 technologies such as Facebook and Twitter.


To start my project i created my own blog on blogger. This enables me to post all my coursework and final products in a presentable manner. it is also easy to keep all my work in one place. another advantage of blogger is that it is compatible with other websites such as youtube and slideshare. This allows my work to be a lot more visual and effective. the vast technologies developments in the in the media means that a multimedia stage is vital when planning and displaying a media product. my blog had other advantages such being visable to the public as my teachers.


Youtube is essential to my product at every stage. i used youtube in the planning stages of my project to gain ideas about horror and trailer conventions from existing products. this gave me many ideas that influenced the production of our trailer. i also used youtube in the production stages as online tutorialshelped me to understand the new software such as final cut pro. i used youtube again in the evaluation stages to gain screen grabs from existing trailers which i could then evaluate my product against. youtube makes a wide change to videos available to everyone and is an ideal way to see what audiences approved of and what they didnt through reading the comments.

final cut pro was the main software we used for the production of our product. this professional software is often used in the film industry. i had never used this software before, therefore i used online tutorials to help me grasp the basic. members of my group also helped me with understanding the software.




Adobe Photoshop CS6 allowed me to produce high quality products for my magazine cover and poster for my film "Surprise." Photoshop is the software that would be used by magazine and poster companies, therefore it gave me the scope to create a product of the same specification. the editing options such as filters and distortion works well to create a horror product. i also used photoshop in the planning stages as it allowed me to create montages and mood boards in order to visualy display my ideas.

we used camcorders to record our footage for our final film product. We then upload are footage to the apple macs. we experimented with many different techniques such as using tri pods, zooms, panning, hand held camera and point of view images.



IMDB and wikipedia have been very helpful websites to use whilst in the stages of planning my projecet. it has given me incite in to different plots of movies which helped with analysing films and also gave me ideas for my own trailer.



Producing a piece of work in media is very different to how this would be done in a more essay based subject such as English. However the research stages may be quite similar, as both make extensive use of the Internet. However whereas media uses websites such as Flickr to then present that research and a blog to host it, a subject such as English would not need presentations of this kind and therefore any useful information found on the Internet would ultimately end up as part of an essay. The actual piece of work would again be different. An essay for English would just be page after page of continuous prose, however, in media; products can be a variety of things such as a video or Photoshop products. Finally evaluation would also be very different. In English you may annotate an essay or write an evaluation paragraph as part of an investigation. However in media there are many means of evaluating ranging from a voice over to a slideshow to some paragraphs of text accompanied by pictures. Both of these approaches have strengths and weaknesses. The traditional approach is simpler and easier for people who are not visually creative. Also it only really needs a pen and paper which can be more reliable than the technology used in media. However the essay approach doesn't allow for any individualism or visual creativity and therefore can be tedious to do.
The media approach allows for this creativity as a blog can be personalised in many ways and lots of different mediums can be used like video and images. Also the making of the products in media allows for practical work, like making the trailer, and more artistic work, like the poster and magazine cover. Furthermore in English there is a word count of say 3000 words for an essay, however on a blog there are no word counts and it’s easy to write 3 or 4 times this amount over the whole blog because each post is its own section and has its own topic, so writing a large amount doesn't become as tedious. Also because there are separate posts the piece of coursework becomes easier to edit because the blog doesn't have to work as fluently as a whole as an essay does. Finally media gives you the opportunity a learn a lot of new skills that traditional subjects don't, such as how to make a blog, edit images on Photoshop and make surveys online. However the media approach does also have weaknesses. It relies very heavily on technology which can go wrong and hinder work. There is also a lot to learn to be able to use programmes like Photoshop to their potential. Finally things can become complicated to someone who is not particularly computer fluent and very difficult for someone who is not particularly visually creative or innovative.
Personally, I prefer the media approach because I find it more interesting. Doing research through a website like YouTube instead of out of a book is not only more engaging but also easier because you can find what you're looking for in seconds by typing in a key word whereas it may take hours to find the right bit of information in a book. Furthermore I enjoy the freedom with pieces of work like the poster and the opportunity to do something practical like the trailer. However I do feel the media approach can be more complicated than the traditional one because some of the programmes we used are quite complex and this can cause problems.  Overall I feel I used a lot of new media this year, with the programmes I had used, like Photoshop and Blogger, I was able to develop my skills further and even carry those skills across into my other lessons.

role of the production company

Production Comapny

A production company provides the physical basis for works in the departments of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video. The production company is responsible for fundraising for the production or may be accomplish this through a parent company, partner, or private investor. It handles budgeting, scheduling, scripting, the supply with talent and resources, the organization of staff, the production itself, post-production, distribution, and marketing. Production companies are often either owned or under contract with a media conglomerate, film studio, entertainment company, or Motion Picture Company, who act as the production company's partner or parent company. This has become known as the "studio system". They can also be mainstream independent or completely independent

Entertainment companies operate as mini conglomerates, operating many divisions or subsidiaries in many different industries. Warner Brothers Entertainment and Lionsgate Entertainment are two companies with this corporate structure. It allows for a single company to maintain control over seemingly unrelated companies that fall within the ranges of entertainment, which increases and centralises the revenue into one company for example a film production company.  A motion picture company, such as Paramount Pictures, specializing only in motion pictures is only connected with its other counterpart industries through its parent company. Instead of performing a corporate reorganization, many motion picture companies often have sister companies they collaborate with in other industries that are subsidiaries owned by their parent company and is often not involved in the making of products that are not motion picture related. A production company can either operate under a contract or as a subsidiary for an entertainment company, motion picture Company, television network, or all, and are generally smaller than the company they are partnered with.

Paramount Pictures Corporation is a film and television production/distribution studio, consistently ranked as one of the largest top-grossing movie studios. It is a unit of American media conglomerate Viacom. Paramount is the fifth oldest existing film studio in the world behind and is still headquartered in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. this componay is a global conglomerate this means that it is a large company that consists of diverse divisions that produce and sell unrelated goods and services.  Conglomerate companies tend to be large multinational corporations with operations in multiple regions of the world.

The Role of the Distributor

Lord Puttnam CBE, President of the Film Distributors' Association, tells us it is 'the task of the distributors to identify and deliver the largest possible audience for every film.' He follows this up by saying 'This is no small task, particularly when so many other entertainment options are available both inside and outside the home; and that's in addition to the 500 or more titles released in UK cinemas every year'. From this we are able to grasp why there has to be a distribution and marketing plan, films can clearly not just be left to sell themselves.

·         Distribution is launching and sustaining films in the market place. The steps a distributor goes through are these:

·         After principal photography begins on a film the distributor develops a release strategy, considers the release date and takes delivery of a master print of the finished film.

·         The Distributor will then present the film to exhibitors and negotiates bilateral agreement to have it shown in cinemas.

·         They will ensure their marketing campaign will create a 'want to see' buzz among target audiences and will launch the film. The film will then be delivered to cinemas.

UK distributors obtain the films they release in several ways:

·         A third-party sales agent, acting on behalf of a producer.

·         A continuous flow of new content from a parent studio.

·         A studio or production company with whom the distributor has negotiated an output deal covering a slate of titles.

The UK has half a dozen major distributors and many independent distributors. Individual distributors may release any number of films, sometimes just one or two or in some cases as many as 25 - 30 a year. Every film has its own distribution plan, which the distributor develops in consultation with the producers and studio. The most important strategic decisions a distributor makes are when and how to release a film in order to optimise its chances. As with every business plan, the goal is to recoup all the costs and turn a profit. Because of this each release is individually planned, taking into account current circumstances, and plans are often only confirmed when the finished product is available to view.

A detailed understanding of the target audience: age group, gender, lifestyles, social networks, media consumption patterns, always informs the subsequent decisions on how and where a particular film is promoted in order to reach them. It's important never to lose sight of a film's core target audience but the distributors challenge is always to attract as wide a spread as possible.

Distributors have to take into account several facts when developing their release plans:

·         Competition - what other films are being released around the same time?

·         Is it an event film, a mass market blockbuster or a specialised film?

·         Is there any star power in the cast of the film?

·         Will any of the cast members do UK/international publicity or attend the premiere?

·         Is the film for a holiday period?

·         Is it likely to be nominated for any awards?

·         Will the film lead the media reviews of that week's new releases?

·         Is there already any buzz about the film?                                   

·         Is it a sequel or franchise entry?

·         Has the film already opened anywhere else?

·         What certificate will the film have?

Complementing the distribution plan, every film has a detailed marketing plan. The marketing plans job is to create visibility, raise awareness and engage interest. This is done in several ways, one of which is a poster telling the audience a bit about the film: its stars, genre etc. Another way is with a trailer, which is probably the most cost-effective marketing technique. A third way is by using the Internet and mobile phones to entice audiences using things like blog posts and video diaries. A fourth way is media advertising which includes things like billboards and advertising in the press. Another way is with publicity such as independently-written news stories, which are more readily believed than advertising because they're not paid for by the film. Publicity also includes things like screenings for national critics, set visits and awards buzz. A further way to generate awareness is promotional partnerships because they promote the films in ways advertising can't such as in shops and restaurants. Two final ways are preview screenings and festivals.

Film magazine cover

Film Poster

Draft for magazine cover

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In the far left corner, Is the image I have chose to take inspiration from when creating my own magazine cover as i like the layout of the text, title and main image. The other two images are in the process of getting completed as i was playing around with different fonts and placements of my titles. I was also choosing the correct fonts and images to suit a horror poster.         

Contact sheets for horror poster and magazine.