Thursday, 3 April 2014
Wednesday, 2 April 2014
Evaluation: Does our trailer conform to the theories of media usage?
Audience-
The Hypodermic needle theory suggests that media texts to
inject its ideas, values and attitudes straight into the passive audience. This
however is an outdated approach as it is much more widely understood now that
audiences do bring their own interpretations and understandings to a media texts
and it is no longer believed that media has the absolute power to influence
mass audiences.
By having violence in our trailer, the model would suggest that the audience would take the message that violence is power, however in reality audience’s do understand that it is for entertainment purposes and so they don’t take the media ideology too seriously. It was important to display threat and violence in our trailer to conform to horror conventions and trigger the desired reactions from our audience. This questions the models relevance to contemporary media.
By having violence in our trailer, the model would suggest that the audience would take the message that violence is power, however in reality audience’s do understand that it is for entertainment purposes and so they don’t take the media ideology too seriously. It was important to display threat and violence in our trailer to conform to horror conventions and trigger the desired reactions from our audience. This questions the models relevance to contemporary media.
Negotiated reading: the reader partly shares the programmes code and broadly accepts the preferred reading but modifies it in a way which reflects their positions and interests.
Oppositional reading: the reader does not share the programmes code and rejects the preferred reading, bringing an alternative frame of interpretation.
This is the most modern and developed theory of audience participation in media, based on Stuart Hall’s encoding model, the model states that the producer encodes the media text and the audience decodes it. Their reading is affected by many contextual and personal factors, for example age, gender, social aims, current mood and personal experiences.
We encoded our trailer by using attractive characters that are within the age of our target audience, so the audience are enticed by them. The isolated setting makes the audience believe that escape is not possible, therefore highlighting the fear and panic they experience. The music is designed to create suspense and put the audience on edge, followed by fast paced music with a heavy beat to highlight the action of the characters struggle for survival.
Our audience is most likely to fall into the negotiated reading and the uses and gratifications of watching horror films is very similar across the board and our target audience is at an age where they are quite susceptible to the persuasive intent of media products.
Blumler and Katz state that we consume media in order to satisfy desire. My trailer in particular supplies excitement allowing audiences to be entertained, further allowing them to immerse themselves in the panic of the characters and the struggle forgetting for the time being the predictability of their own lives. Furthermore my target audience are likely to identify with the main characters as they are within the same age group. Furthermore as horror films are often watched in large groups as a social occasion it would make sense for the target audience to want social stimulation from the trailer. Braving the scenes of horror in the trailer allows the audience to show their strength and discuss with their friends.
Our trailer features a ratio of males to females in 1:3 which already complies to the theory of the males gaze, the female characters are attractive and seen as weaker than the male character (with the exception of the antagonist). The female characters dress and present themselves in a way that is preferable to male viewers, conforming With the theory and confirming its relevance.
Genre is often used by audiences to make choices and
discriminations in the issues of taste, preference, identity and pleasure that
are associated with different types of film, hence making genre a concern for
the producers who take these issues into account when trying to appeal to their
target audience.
Through repetition and variation genres tell familiar stories with familiar character and situations, encouraging expectations and experiences.
Genre produces benefits for the institution: film producers can use the concept of genre in both production and marketing of the filming, in our trailer we were able to use the conventions of horror to give our trailer the identity that will attract our target audience, we chose dark colours contrasted with white and red for our marketing and gave our trailer a contemporary horror feel.
It can be used as an economic strategy, we identified the genre that was doing well within our age group to maximise our likelihood of producing a trailer idea that would be a success within the industry.
It can lastly give producers a set of expectations to diverge from which allowed us to choose elements that would be guaranteed to give pleasure to our audience.
Genre produces benefits for audiences: it is a product of the interaction between institutions, audience and text, which works to our advantage as our target audience is a very social group, so media stimulation is very common among them.
Audiences expect both repetition as well as a degree of novelty, which allows us to conform with conventions as well as deviating from the norms of horror film adding an element of surprise to our trailer and keeping audiences interested.
Genres create a clear idea for audiences about what is possible in the films narrative world, therefore by picking a film that is within a genre to their liking, audiences can be pretty sure that they will enjoy the film.
Genre produces benefits for critics: for critics genre is a taxonomy (the practise of classifying films into groups based on similarities of form and content) allowing us to predict the insight critics may have and make our trailer the best it can be, we chose a Christmas theme as this would be a unique selling point and would stop our films being branded as ‘just another horror film’.
Narrative- Through repetition and variation genres tell familiar stories with familiar character and situations, encouraging expectations and experiences.
Genre produces benefits for the institution: film producers can use the concept of genre in both production and marketing of the filming, in our trailer we were able to use the conventions of horror to give our trailer the identity that will attract our target audience, we chose dark colours contrasted with white and red for our marketing and gave our trailer a contemporary horror feel.
It can be used as an economic strategy, we identified the genre that was doing well within our age group to maximise our likelihood of producing a trailer idea that would be a success within the industry.
It can lastly give producers a set of expectations to diverge from which allowed us to choose elements that would be guaranteed to give pleasure to our audience.
Genre produces benefits for audiences: it is a product of the interaction between institutions, audience and text, which works to our advantage as our target audience is a very social group, so media stimulation is very common among them.
Audiences expect both repetition as well as a degree of novelty, which allows us to conform with conventions as well as deviating from the norms of horror film adding an element of surprise to our trailer and keeping audiences interested.
Genres create a clear idea for audiences about what is possible in the films narrative world, therefore by picking a film that is within a genre to their liking, audiences can be pretty sure that they will enjoy the film.
Genre produces benefits for critics: for critics genre is a taxonomy (the practise of classifying films into groups based on similarities of form and content) allowing us to predict the insight critics may have and make our trailer the best it can be, we chose a Christmas theme as this would be a unique selling point and would stop our films being branded as ‘just another horror film’.
Propp’s sphere of action suggested that most films have 7
main characters that fit into a criteria based on a fairy tale, these include:
Villain: Antagonist, seeks to stop the hero
Hero: protagonist, who has to fulfil his destiny
Donor: provides a special device to aid the hero
Helper: sidekick of the hero who helps him
Princess: is the reward for the hero
Father: person who rewards the hero for his achievements
Dispatcher: character who sees that something needs to be done
In our trailer we see evidence of all of these characters except the father (who often doesn’t feature in horror films anyway) and the dispatcher as we have also left the recognition of the problem out of our trailer.
Our Villain is Bryony one of our female characters who is set apart from the others in her simplistic dress code and camera prevalence during the first section of the trailer. Her clothing is darker then that of the others and shows no sign of Christmas cheer. This character is the most familiar with the audience and the one they are most likely to remember which is important because the antagonist is often as main selling point of horror films.
Our hero is one of the female characters, Emma, who has prevalence in the second half of the trailer, she becomes the second most familiar as is also presented to be the most vulnerable and innocent, making audience more likely to root for her survival, over that of the other two.
Our Donor is the male character Jordan as he is physically the strongest out of our victims and theoretically the most likely to survive.
Our helper is the other female victim Shanie as she is the best friend of our hero and they are shot together a lot in the second part of the trailer, it is common in horror films that the helper dies and our trailer furthermore conforms to this as at the end we see what looks like Shanie’s character dead in a bath.
Our princess is survival, which again is very common in horror films; we see the characters fight for their survival all through the second part of the trailer.
Barthes Enigma code refers to any element of the story that is not fully explained so hence becomes a mystery to the reader. The full truth is often avoided in the following ways:
Snares: deliberately avoiding the truth
Equivocations: partial/incomplete answers
Jammings: Openly acknowledging that there is no truth/answer
In our trailer we use snares such as, whether the hero survives and the villain is defeated, why the villain attempts to kill her friends and the recognition of the disruption.
Our Equivocations include, the fate of the helper, and the relationships between all the characters
We didn’t include any jammings as we believe that for full audience satisfaction their must be an answer to all mysteries pledged in the trailer.
Avoiding the truth is very important in trailers as it is this that encourages the audience to find out more by watching the film. The mysteries created in trailers are what grips their attention and sparks their interest in the film.
Villain: Antagonist, seeks to stop the hero
Hero: protagonist, who has to fulfil his destiny
Donor: provides a special device to aid the hero
Helper: sidekick of the hero who helps him
Princess: is the reward for the hero
Father: person who rewards the hero for his achievements
Dispatcher: character who sees that something needs to be done
In our trailer we see evidence of all of these characters except the father (who often doesn’t feature in horror films anyway) and the dispatcher as we have also left the recognition of the problem out of our trailer.
Our Villain is Bryony one of our female characters who is set apart from the others in her simplistic dress code and camera prevalence during the first section of the trailer. Her clothing is darker then that of the others and shows no sign of Christmas cheer. This character is the most familiar with the audience and the one they are most likely to remember which is important because the antagonist is often as main selling point of horror films.
Our hero is one of the female characters, Emma, who has prevalence in the second half of the trailer, she becomes the second most familiar as is also presented to be the most vulnerable and innocent, making audience more likely to root for her survival, over that of the other two.
Our Donor is the male character Jordan as he is physically the strongest out of our victims and theoretically the most likely to survive.
Our helper is the other female victim Shanie as she is the best friend of our hero and they are shot together a lot in the second part of the trailer, it is common in horror films that the helper dies and our trailer furthermore conforms to this as at the end we see what looks like Shanie’s character dead in a bath.
Our princess is survival, which again is very common in horror films; we see the characters fight for their survival all through the second part of the trailer.
Barthes Enigma code refers to any element of the story that is not fully explained so hence becomes a mystery to the reader. The full truth is often avoided in the following ways:
Snares: deliberately avoiding the truth
Equivocations: partial/incomplete answers
Jammings: Openly acknowledging that there is no truth/answer
In our trailer we use snares such as, whether the hero survives and the villain is defeated, why the villain attempts to kill her friends and the recognition of the disruption.
Our Equivocations include, the fate of the helper, and the relationships between all the characters
We didn’t include any jammings as we believe that for full audience satisfaction their must be an answer to all mysteries pledged in the trailer.
Avoiding the truth is very important in trailers as it is this that encourages the audience to find out more by watching the film. The mysteries created in trailers are what grips their attention and sparks their interest in the film.
Todorov suggested that all films follow five stages of
narrative that as a general rule, all films follow. These stages include:
The equilibrium: at the beginning of the film where the status quo is in check
The disruption: were something goes wrong and disrupts the equilibrium
The recognition: where one of the characters recognises that the disruption has occurred and something needs to be done.
The attempts to repair: where characters fight to restore the equilibrium
The reinstatement of the equilibrium: were a new equilibrium is instated
Most trailer tend to show the first four stages and leaving the fifth one out as a way of enticing audiences to watch the film, by showing evidence of the initial stages the audience can get accustomed to the plot and build relationships with the characters making it more memorable. If they were to include evidence of the last stage it would eliminate the point of watching the film.
In our trailer we have only included three of the five stages in an attempt to create more mystery around our plot, we chose to do this to make audience more likely to enquire about the plot and outcome of our film, in this way, it is more likely to be successful.
We have evidence of the Equilibrium at the beginning as the four friends sit together all looking happy and normal. Then we miss at the disruption so the audience are unaware of the cause of the mayhem making the plot more interesting. The recognition comes when we see the fear on the faces of the characters, closely followed by the attempt to repair as they begin to fight back and try to survive.
We effectively created mystery around the plot, however by missing out the disruption we could have caused confusion for the audience.
The equilibrium: at the beginning of the film where the status quo is in check
The disruption: were something goes wrong and disrupts the equilibrium
The recognition: where one of the characters recognises that the disruption has occurred and something needs to be done.
The attempts to repair: where characters fight to restore the equilibrium
The reinstatement of the equilibrium: were a new equilibrium is instated
Most trailer tend to show the first four stages and leaving the fifth one out as a way of enticing audiences to watch the film, by showing evidence of the initial stages the audience can get accustomed to the plot and build relationships with the characters making it more memorable. If they were to include evidence of the last stage it would eliminate the point of watching the film.
In our trailer we have only included three of the five stages in an attempt to create more mystery around our plot, we chose to do this to make audience more likely to enquire about the plot and outcome of our film, in this way, it is more likely to be successful.
We have evidence of the Equilibrium at the beginning as the four friends sit together all looking happy and normal. Then we miss at the disruption so the audience are unaware of the cause of the mayhem making the plot more interesting. The recognition comes when we see the fear on the faces of the characters, closely followed by the attempt to repair as they begin to fight back and try to survive.
We effectively created mystery around the plot, however by missing out the disruption we could have caused confusion for the audience.
Levi-Strauss suggested that Binary oppositions should be
used to make narrative more exciting. The constant creation of
conflict/opposition propels the narrative as it can always end in resolution of
conflict. Opposition can be visual or conceptual. The two main themes of our
horror are binary oppositions, the idea of Christmas versus horror, all through
the trailer the theme of oppositions is reinforced, the black and white of the
titles, purity and darkness, the idea that the girl was young and innocent but
also the antagonist. Binary oppositions keep the audience on their toes and
keep the film interesting.
Sunday, 23 March 2014
Evaluation: Activity 4
How did you use new media technologies in the construction
and research, planning and evaluation stages?
YouTube: we used YouTube to upload our videos onto the
internet. This allowed our friends to watch our product and give their opinions,
so we could make improvements, as we are all within the target audience, it was
really useful to hear what they thought of the different elements we put into
our trailer. Using YouTube allowed us to send links to our friends and ask
their opinion as we went through the editing process.
YouTube also allows us to easily upload clips onto our blogs, keeping them updated with all vital information regarding our production process.
Adobe Premiere Elements 10: we used this software to edit
our piece because it is the best software available to us, and is often used by
professionals; this allows us to get a real feel of what editing is like on a professional
level. The software allowed us to explore many option and even though we haven’t
used a great deal of the special effects, we have gained greater understanding
of what works within our genre and how to work such software, which are
transferable skills.
Photoshop: we used this to create our film titles, magazine cover and film poster. We chose Photoshop as it has the biggest range of functions, allowing us to play around with designs, so we could find the most effective combination. We used the effects to make it black and white, so it was simple but eerie to match the actual font.
Camera: We used the schools camera to do our filming, this meant that the camera was already set up to match the Adobe software, ensuring the resultant clips are the best they could possibly be. We chose to do
this because; having used the schools camera previously in media (our
preliminary task) we had good understanding of the ins and outs of the settings.
We knew how to play around with the focus and contrasts finding what fit our
scenes best. We have had previous
experience of what lighting works best to give us clear shots and slightly pixelated
shots to convey the idea of being isolated and cut off from everyone else.
On some of the shots the camera didn’t provide the greatest resolution, however it was the best camera available to us at the time of filming.
Tripod: We used the tripod to stabilize and elevate the
camera, ensuring our shots matched in height and angle, to make sure we
maintained continuity. Tripods reduce camera shake making sure we achieved
maximum sharpness. The tripod allowed us the film shots in which we all
featured and also allowed us to film continuously making sure we captured
everything.
The mobility of the camera and tripod allowed us to explore a range of different angles and by the end of filming the project we all had in depth knowledge of the camera and tripod functions.
Blogger: We have used blogger to record and evaluate our
journey from the initial research to evaluating our final piece. Blogger allows
us the reference pictures and videos, by uploading them onto our blogs and
analysing them. Viewing our blogs live, shows clearly the journey we have taken
and all the elements that have come into play when creating our trailer.
YouTube: we used YouTube to upload our videos onto the
internet. This allowed our friends to watch our product and give their opinions,
so we could make improvements, as we are all within the target audience, it was
really useful to hear what they thought of the different elements we put into
our trailer. Using YouTube allowed us to send links to our friends and ask
their opinion as we went through the editing process.YouTube also allows us to easily upload clips onto our blogs, keeping them updated with all vital information regarding our production process.
Adobe Premiere Elements 10: we used this software to edit
our piece because it is the best software available to us, and is often used by
professionals; this allows us to get a real feel of what editing is like on a professional
level. The software allowed us to explore many option and even though we haven’t
used a great deal of the special effects, we have gained greater understanding
of what works within our genre and how to work such software, which are
transferable skills.
Adobe allowed us to be precise when cutting our clips, ensuring the trailer
flows well and continuity is maintained. This ensured that match on action
matched perfectly and made the trailer appear more real, increasing the sense
of horror.
It also allowed us to manipulate the contrast and lighting allowing us to reinforce the idea of horror, keeping audiences on the edge and making the trailer more satisfying, as it meets their needs. We could make some shots darker and others lighter making them all more coherent and so more effective. Editing is really important for horror films as in the past they have been known for their over the top special effects and overly dramatized camera angles and shot transfers. Recently however horror films have used special effects to make clever transitions making the film seem more real and more terrifying, we have gone down this route, as over the top gore is dated and less effective nowadays. We used clip duration tools to slow down some of the scenes to create a feel of blind panic, speeding some up to make the audience’s heart rates increase.
The software also allowed us to add our non-diegetic music easily and time it to fit in with the pace and beat of the clips, we could also edit the sound of each different clip to make sure that it flowed smoothly.
We used it to add our titles as well, which was good because it made it easy for us to fit them in to our trailer where they are most effective. We used fonts that link in with our poster and magazine cover as well.
The software allowed us to faded to black into our titles and between shots making the trailer more effective and helping us slow the pace. The fades to black made our trailer look more professional and allow our shots to have more of an effect on the audience.
It also allowed us to manipulate the contrast and lighting allowing us to reinforce the idea of horror, keeping audiences on the edge and making the trailer more satisfying, as it meets their needs. We could make some shots darker and others lighter making them all more coherent and so more effective. Editing is really important for horror films as in the past they have been known for their over the top special effects and overly dramatized camera angles and shot transfers. Recently however horror films have used special effects to make clever transitions making the film seem more real and more terrifying, we have gone down this route, as over the top gore is dated and less effective nowadays. We used clip duration tools to slow down some of the scenes to create a feel of blind panic, speeding some up to make the audience’s heart rates increase.
The software also allowed us to add our non-diegetic music easily and time it to fit in with the pace and beat of the clips, we could also edit the sound of each different clip to make sure that it flowed smoothly.
We used it to add our titles as well, which was good because it made it easy for us to fit them in to our trailer where they are most effective. We used fonts that link in with our poster and magazine cover as well.
The software allowed us to faded to black into our titles and between shots making the trailer more effective and helping us slow the pace. The fades to black made our trailer look more professional and allow our shots to have more of an effect on the audience.
Photoshop: we used this to create our film titles, magazine cover and film poster. We chose Photoshop as it has the biggest range of functions, allowing us to play around with designs, so we could find the most effective combination. We used the effects to make it black and white, so it was simple but eerie to match the actual font.
Photoshop’s various layers and functions allowed us to make effective magazine
cover and posters, as they were made on the same software we could build links
between all three of our products creating a collective identity.
The different tools allowed us to colour, size and edit the different elements so they fitted together and went with the theme of the overall look.
The different tools allowed us to colour, size and edit the different elements so they fitted together and went with the theme of the overall look.
Camera: We used the schools camera to do our filming, this meant that the camera was already set up to match the Adobe software, ensuring the resultant clips are the best they could possibly be. We chose to do
this because; having used the schools camera previously in media (our
preliminary task) we had good understanding of the ins and outs of the settings.
We knew how to play around with the focus and contrasts finding what fit our
scenes best. We have had previous
experience of what lighting works best to give us clear shots and slightly pixelated
shots to convey the idea of being isolated and cut off from everyone else.On some of the shots the camera didn’t provide the greatest resolution, however it was the best camera available to us at the time of filming.
Tripod: We used the tripod to stabilize and elevate the
camera, ensuring our shots matched in height and angle, to make sure we
maintained continuity. Tripods reduce camera shake making sure we achieved
maximum sharpness. The tripod allowed us the film shots in which we all
featured and also allowed us to film continuously making sure we captured
everything.The mobility of the camera and tripod allowed us to explore a range of different angles and by the end of filming the project we all had in depth knowledge of the camera and tripod functions.
Blogger: We have used blogger to record and evaluate our
journey from the initial research to evaluating our final piece. Blogger allows
us the reference pictures and videos, by uploading them onto our blogs and
analysing them. Viewing our blogs live, shows clearly the journey we have taken
and all the elements that have come into play when creating our trailer.Saturday, 22 March 2014
Evaluation: Activity 3
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
Our audience
feedback highlighted the areas of our trailer that were most effective and the
bits that need improvement. As our feedback came from our target audience we
can assume that their opinions would reflect the views of our wider audiences,
so if we were to follow up on the improvements it would make our trailer more
successful and satisfying within our audience.
Our feedback told us that our audience like the red tint of the trailer as it conforms to the conventions of horror, reinforcing the idea of danger and blood, making the trailer scarier.
However they suggested that we should have revealed more about the antagonist so the audience had more of idea about what sub-genre the film falls into, this way audience will have a clearer view on whether they will like the film or not. As the killer in horror films is often a main selling point it would have worked to our advantage to reveal more about her and make her a bigger part of the trailer. However the magazine cover and film poster tell us more about her so as a unit of advertisement they all work well.
Our feedback told us that our audience like the red tint of the trailer as it conforms to the conventions of horror, reinforcing the idea of danger and blood, making the trailer scarier.
However they suggested that we should have revealed more about the antagonist so the audience had more of idea about what sub-genre the film falls into, this way audience will have a clearer view on whether they will like the film or not. As the killer in horror films is often a main selling point it would have worked to our advantage to reveal more about her and make her a bigger part of the trailer. However the magazine cover and film poster tell us more about her so as a unit of advertisement they all work well.
The titles
were effective in creating suspense and revealing small parts of the narrative,
the font fits in well with the genre again reinforcing the idea of horror. The
title is good as it is a play on works and gets the audience to consider it
more, making them more likely to remember it, so they are more likely to go and
see it.
We were also told that our dialogue was too quite in some places; our feedback said that we should have edited to sound on the clips so that the dialogue could be heard over the music, by drowning it out, it made the trailer a bit confusing.
We were also told that our dialogue was too quite in some places; our feedback said that we should have edited to sound on the clips so that the dialogue could be heard over the music, by drowning it out, it made the trailer a bit confusing.
Our audience really
like the spinning camera effect of Emma’s close up, the camera and her facial
expressions create the feeling of blind panic and make audiences feel the dizzy
fear that is reflected across Emma’s face, this forces the audiences to relate
to her character so making the trailer more effective. However they did also
say that we should have used a bigger variety of shot types to make the trailer
more diverse and show off our skill. This way we could have used more dynamic
range of shots to make the trailer more interesting.
The text narrative
was good in teasing some of the story to the audience however we should have
shown more of the disruption as the audience said that this would entice them
more and make them want to watch the film. They needed more detail to get them
hooked onto the plot.
From our feedback
we also learnt that our mise-en-scene was very effective and the use of the
knife was conventional adding to the realism of the trailer, but the audience
also would have liked some more establishing shots so the location of the trailer
is made clear.
Friday, 21 March 2014
Evaluation: Activity 2
How effective is the combination your main product and ancillary
texts?
The poster and magazine cover have a strong link as they
have the same main image and similar font styles and editing patterns, this
helps create a collective identity for our product. This is important as it
reinforces the audience’s memory of our film, making them more likely to do and
see it. The trailer also shares similar fonts and the same mysterious feel,
mystery is one of the more prominent themes of all the products branding them
together.
In all three the theme of Christmas is present, but in all is only subtly referred to, as we don’t take away from the horror feel too much. The way in which we have presented it in our poster and magazine create a sinister veil around what is usually a solely happy theme, this intrigues audiences and makes our film unique.
In all three the theme of Christmas is present, but in all is only subtly referred to, as we don’t take away from the horror feel too much. The way in which we have presented it in our poster and magazine create a sinister veil around what is usually a solely happy theme, this intrigues audiences and makes our film unique.
Both our poster and magazine focus on the antagonist of
our film; they reveal her appearance with a nasty look on her face, making
audiences dislike her and fear her. The magazine cover tells audiences that
there is an exclusive sneak preview including interviews with the cast, this
makes audiences more likely to buy the magazine to cure their interest in the
character of the antagonist. By reading about the cast, audiences will be more
likely to go and see the film as they will feel they have a personal connection
with the film. The magazine cover also displays snippets of the film, linking with
the trailer and teasing the audience with information. The antagonist is
looking straight out of the poster into the eyes of the audience, making them
feel personally connected and like the advertisement is aid solely at them,
this makes the audience more likely to take a closer look at the poster making
the persuasive message more effective.
All of the products disguise the persuasive intent of the message as when audiences know they are being persuaded advertisements are less effective. The magazine cover included both hard and soft sell advertisement following both central and peripheral routes (elaboration likelihood model) to persuasion; this allows it to reach out to a large audience. The trailer and film poster focus more on the peripheral route, as our target audience will be predominantly this.
However we could have made a clearer link between the two paper products and the trailer to give the whole thing a stronger identity.
All of the products disguise the persuasive intent of the message as when audiences know they are being persuaded advertisements are less effective. The magazine cover included both hard and soft sell advertisement following both central and peripheral routes (elaboration likelihood model) to persuasion; this allows it to reach out to a large audience. The trailer and film poster focus more on the peripheral route, as our target audience will be predominantly this.
However we could have made a clearer link between the two paper products and the trailer to give the whole thing a stronger identity.
Thursday, 20 March 2014
Evaluation: Activity 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
We used a simplistic title that connotes both horror (as the
genre) and Christmas (when the film is set). It stands out bold white against
the black background so it, captures and draws the audience’s attention making
it more memorable. This is very typical of teaser trailers as all aim to make their film title stick in the minds of the audience. The contradiction
the two colours also creates a link to our good versus evil theme, again common in contemporary media.
The title features at the end of the trailer so that the action and horror of the images before it can entice the audience, creating interest, so they are more likely to want to remember the films name and look for more information by going to see the film, therefore making it a success. Nearly all teaser trailers follow this pattern as if the title was placed at the beginning of the trailer the images that follow could distract and cause the audience to forget the name.
The white of the title furthermore contradicts the themes of the film as white often connotes purity and simplicity, making the film more mysterious, so scarier as it draws on peoples fear of the unknown. This acknowledges contemporary horror styles as a lot of horror films use this simplistic theme for their titles. The slightly splattered look of the title ‘Christmas Presence’ also give a nod to the past as it was, then conventional to have over the top titles that heavily conveyed the genre and were often blood red. This develops the conventions of media title texts as it combines both contemporary and dated conventions.
The film is set in an old house, in which our main characters
are home alone; we do not reveal much of the outside setting as we wanted to
convey the idea that the house is isolated as it makes all other surroundings
unimportant and inexistent. Later on in the trailer we reveal the view from the
back of the house, which leads on to a wooded area, again portraying the idea
of seclusion and no escape. The idea of being trapped in isolation is very
conventional and gives an element of threat and danger to the trailer, this
puts the audience on edge so making it easy to scare them and get reactions. The
inside of the house has a strong green and red theme linking to the Christmas
element and reinforcing the happiness that typically comes with this subject,
lulling audiences into a false sense of security. Although teaser trailers do
typically use contradictions to confuse the audience these are normally
smaller, where as in our teaser trailer the two most prominent themes
contradict each other completely. The house is very broken up, with all rooms
being very separate to each other, this allowed us to use the corners and dark
places to create tension and make the audience jump, this is also conventional. 
Knives are heavily associated with the genre and are one of
the few props that we reveal in our teaser. The way in which the knife is
handled implies threat and violence, heavily associating with the scream
franchise so making the trailer more effective in putting the audience on edge
and enticing them, as many of the scream fans may also be drawn to our film. We
haven’t shown any other props as not to give too much of what characterises the
antagonist, this creates mystery and tempts audiences to watch the film. This
is again a trick that is often used in teaser trailers of the genre.
All the costumes are simplistic and timeless contradicting the themes and making the characters disposable. By not dressing any of them in a particular or bold manner, the characters are seen as mundane, so audiences are unluckily to take particular liking to them, which could cause dissatisfaction in the event of their death. The protagonist’s clothing connotes winter with jumpers, fur, scarves and reds, these characters are wearing slightly more colour and stand out more against the plain black clothing of the antagonist setting her apart and making her seem suspicious. This is conventional as often in horror films the antagonist will be set apart from the others all through the films. Hence audiences become wary of the character making them more formidable when they start to cause trouble.
We used camera work and editing to show the difference
between the equilibrium and the disruption. It is conventional for horror film
trailers to switch from slow paced mundane camera shots, to fast pace exciting
and more abstract shots. Moreover, in the same way editing also changes to
mirror the change in narrative, shots become darker and more edited as it is
less important for shots to be realistic, as long as continuity is maintained. We
have done both of these in our trailer, on the outset we have used all light
shots that consist of medium, long and over the shoulder shots that convey
happiness and normality. As we reach the climax we increase the number of close
ups showing the extreme emotions on the characters faces, such as fear, making
the panic seem more real to the viewers and make them live the emotions as
well. The shots become increasingly darker, but some light shots are thrown in
to contrast and make the trailer more diverse. The shots are faster paced and
begin to move, making the whole feel of the trailer more exciting, the editing
is complemented by the music which also quickens in pace, the editing and music
more in time together making the end product of our trailer more polished and
maintaining the continuity, which again is common for other trailers of the
genre.
It is very conventional for the camera work to be quite unnatural, as to make audiences uncomfortable, we used some hand held shots to make the production seem more realistic, as if it was happening right then, giving more of an effect on the audience.
Our trailer uses text to briefly explain the plot of the
film, this is conventional of horror as you can’t give too much of the plot
away for fear of ruining the ending or revealing too much about the antagonist.
The colours and meaning behind the text, of the titles connote the idea of good
versus evil and begins to convey the theme of insanity we are going for, as the
pure of the white and darkness of the black contradict each other. This is reinforced
by the contradiction of horror and Christmas.
The trailer starts slow but then quickens which is common in horror films so implies the genre. The screen shot to the side is the turning point of the trailer as it is the first cold dark shot that contradicts the warmth of the previous, giving the audience the first view of the horror the trailer is setting up for. The trailer only briefly shows equilibrium as it is the action that audiences want to be teased with. Hints of narrative still need to be detailed to show the story has a plot to follow and isn’t just cold blood killing. In our trailer we detailed that the antagonist would be one of the four characters shown in the first section of our product, but not which one. However the clothing, behaviour, editing and absence from the struggle, of one of the characters implies which of the friends it could be. In this way the audience feel like they know enough to understand a bit about the film, however enough is still withheld to spark interest and mystery. This is less conventional as normally in horror trailer we see slightly more of the antagonist, at least detailing a bit of their appearance as the killer and the way in which they pick off their victims. However it is very conventional to withhold the identity of the villain, by doing this the audience have a reason to go and see the film as they are interested in the motives and identity of the killer.
The first images that appear during the trailer do not
connote the genre as they reflect happiness and equilibrium, however the eerie
slow pace of the foreboding messages imply that something bad is about to
happen. The simplistic font furthermore connotes conventional horrors and as
the text fades in and out it obscures the audiences view implying that they don’t
know everything that’s going on, it is conventional to keep the audience in the
dark throughout teaser trailers so audiences have to see the film to find out
more. Later on in the trailer the genre becomes very evident as fast paced
shots start to show conventions of the genre, such as dark close ups of terrified
expressions. The shot displayed shows that the character is under distress as
she has makeup dripping down her face, her posture is closed as if trying to
protect herself, looking just passed the camera as if something is pursuing her.
The heavy beats and differencing in pace is conventional as audiences don’t know
what to expect and are easier to scare, the contrast in lighting between the
shots of the second part of the trailer adds to this. The tinted red of some of
the shots refers back to both, horror and Christmas, however due to the pacing
and style of the shots audiences will be more reminded of the horror theme. The
flicker of the camera in some shots, gives them a conventional uneven look
which again is often a feature of horror films.
At first all the friends are introduced together, displaying
them all as equal, the text tells us that the four friends are together trying
to have a good time and despite the imbalance in clothing and prevalence as our
antagonist has her back to the camera. Next we see the antagonist on her own,
in the first part of the trailer she is the only one that is shown in a shot
completely by herself, which familiarises the audience with her and makes her
the most memorable, which is conventionally important as it is vital that the
audiences remember who the antagonist is.
After telling audiences that one of the friends has a secret we then show our antagonist (implying she will become the villain), we used shot types and editing to completely disassociate her from the rest of the group, making her seem more sinister and dangerous. The other characters are still portrayed as stereotypical and ignorant; the antagonist is set apart making her seem more intelligent, important and less disposable.
We don’t discover much about the teenagers in the trailer making the content of the film a bigger mystery; it is more conventional for trailers to reveal more about their characters and less about the struggler however we are using the uncertainty that surrounds our characters to entice the audience to watch the film.
Conventionally
horror trailers show evidence of all the stages of Todorov’s theory of
narrative, with exception to the last. We however have shown very little of our
narrative but still show evidence of the first stage which is the equilibrium,
the third stage being the recognition of the disruption and the fourth stage
the attempts to repair. By withholding information on the actual disruption and
the restoration of the equilibrium it makes audiences want to know more so
making them more likely to watch the full length film.
It is very unconventional to not show stage two, the disruption as often trailers use this to draw the audience in and stimulate their interest in the characteristics of the killer. This then gives greater interest in the film.
On the other hand we stayed quite true to Propp’s theory and this was evident in our trailer, the 3 normal friends made up the Hero, Helper and Donor, with Jordan’s character also being the Dispatcher. The fourth friend was evidently the Villain, this is all very conventional, furthermore as is normal for horror films the Princess is survival. We didn’t have a farther, but it is rare that horror films do.
Our film also follows the typical horror three act rule; in beginning focuses on the main characters, and shows the setting, which is ultimately threatening (in our case home alone), secondly stumbling across something that unleashes a wave of violence, putting the characters at risk and thirdly the climax which generally involves a dramatic showdown between main protagonist and antagonist, then end of the plot often leaves the possibility of the antagonists return. However in our trailer we only see evidence of the first stage, which is unconventional as normally teaser trailers will hint all three stages. Noel Carrol similarly suggested the ‘onset phase’, ‘discovery phase’ and ‘disruption phase’ which similarly fit our narrative but not aren’t all evident in our trailer.
We chose not to use very many special effects, which is very
unconventional as many horror films, especially older ones, are known for their
over use of special effects. We chose to go for a more natural look as we knew
that it would make our horror film appear more realistic and so scarier. We know
how important it is to protect the continuity of horror films, and as the
special effects available to us had the potential to harm this, we chose not
the use them. On some of our shots the colour contrast has been tinted red to reinforce
the idea of horror and the danger the colour connotes. Furthermore on some of
our darker shots we changed the contrast to make the shot more visible and
coherent. The effect of the camera made some of the shot look like they were
hand held shots to make it seem more realistic and like it is happening as the
audience watch.
We used a simplistic title that connotes both horror (as the
genre) and Christmas (when the film is set). It stands out bold white against
the black background so it, captures and draws the audience’s attention making
it more memorable. This is very typical of teaser trailers as all aim to make their film title stick in the minds of the audience. The contradiction
the two colours also creates a link to our good versus evil theme, again common in contemporary media.The title features at the end of the trailer so that the action and horror of the images before it can entice the audience, creating interest, so they are more likely to want to remember the films name and look for more information by going to see the film, therefore making it a success. Nearly all teaser trailers follow this pattern as if the title was placed at the beginning of the trailer the images that follow could distract and cause the audience to forget the name.
The white of the title furthermore contradicts the themes of the film as white often connotes purity and simplicity, making the film more mysterious, so scarier as it draws on peoples fear of the unknown. This acknowledges contemporary horror styles as a lot of horror films use this simplistic theme for their titles. The slightly splattered look of the title ‘Christmas Presence’ also give a nod to the past as it was, then conventional to have over the top titles that heavily conveyed the genre and were often blood red. This develops the conventions of media title texts as it combines both contemporary and dated conventions.
The film is set in an old house, in which our main characters
are home alone; we do not reveal much of the outside setting as we wanted to
convey the idea that the house is isolated as it makes all other surroundings
unimportant and inexistent. Later on in the trailer we reveal the view from the
back of the house, which leads on to a wooded area, again portraying the idea
of seclusion and no escape. The idea of being trapped in isolation is very
conventional and gives an element of threat and danger to the trailer, this
puts the audience on edge so making it easy to scare them and get reactions. The
inside of the house has a strong green and red theme linking to the Christmas
element and reinforcing the happiness that typically comes with this subject,
lulling audiences into a false sense of security. Although teaser trailers do
typically use contradictions to confuse the audience these are normally
smaller, where as in our teaser trailer the two most prominent themes
contradict each other completely. The house is very broken up, with all rooms
being very separate to each other, this allowed us to use the corners and dark
places to create tension and make the audience jump, this is also conventional. All the costumes are simplistic and timeless contradicting the themes and making the characters disposable. By not dressing any of them in a particular or bold manner, the characters are seen as mundane, so audiences are unluckily to take particular liking to them, which could cause dissatisfaction in the event of their death. The protagonist’s clothing connotes winter with jumpers, fur, scarves and reds, these characters are wearing slightly more colour and stand out more against the plain black clothing of the antagonist setting her apart and making her seem suspicious. This is conventional as often in horror films the antagonist will be set apart from the others all through the films. Hence audiences become wary of the character making them more formidable when they start to cause trouble.
We used camera work and editing to show the difference
between the equilibrium and the disruption. It is conventional for horror film
trailers to switch from slow paced mundane camera shots, to fast pace exciting
and more abstract shots. Moreover, in the same way editing also changes to
mirror the change in narrative, shots become darker and more edited as it is
less important for shots to be realistic, as long as continuity is maintained. We
have done both of these in our trailer, on the outset we have used all light
shots that consist of medium, long and over the shoulder shots that convey
happiness and normality. As we reach the climax we increase the number of close
ups showing the extreme emotions on the characters faces, such as fear, making
the panic seem more real to the viewers and make them live the emotions as
well. The shots become increasingly darker, but some light shots are thrown in
to contrast and make the trailer more diverse. The shots are faster paced and
begin to move, making the whole feel of the trailer more exciting, the editing
is complemented by the music which also quickens in pace, the editing and music
more in time together making the end product of our trailer more polished and
maintaining the continuity, which again is common for other trailers of the
genre.It is very conventional for the camera work to be quite unnatural, as to make audiences uncomfortable, we used some hand held shots to make the production seem more realistic, as if it was happening right then, giving more of an effect on the audience.
Our trailer uses text to briefly explain the plot of the
film, this is conventional of horror as you can’t give too much of the plot
away for fear of ruining the ending or revealing too much about the antagonist.
The colours and meaning behind the text, of the titles connote the idea of good
versus evil and begins to convey the theme of insanity we are going for, as the
pure of the white and darkness of the black contradict each other. This is reinforced
by the contradiction of horror and Christmas.The trailer starts slow but then quickens which is common in horror films so implies the genre. The screen shot to the side is the turning point of the trailer as it is the first cold dark shot that contradicts the warmth of the previous, giving the audience the first view of the horror the trailer is setting up for. The trailer only briefly shows equilibrium as it is the action that audiences want to be teased with. Hints of narrative still need to be detailed to show the story has a plot to follow and isn’t just cold blood killing. In our trailer we detailed that the antagonist would be one of the four characters shown in the first section of our product, but not which one. However the clothing, behaviour, editing and absence from the struggle, of one of the characters implies which of the friends it could be. In this way the audience feel like they know enough to understand a bit about the film, however enough is still withheld to spark interest and mystery. This is less conventional as normally in horror trailer we see slightly more of the antagonist, at least detailing a bit of their appearance as the killer and the way in which they pick off their victims. However it is very conventional to withhold the identity of the villain, by doing this the audience have a reason to go and see the film as they are interested in the motives and identity of the killer.
The first images that appear during the trailer do not
connote the genre as they reflect happiness and equilibrium, however the eerie
slow pace of the foreboding messages imply that something bad is about to
happen. The simplistic font furthermore connotes conventional horrors and as
the text fades in and out it obscures the audiences view implying that they don’t
know everything that’s going on, it is conventional to keep the audience in the
dark throughout teaser trailers so audiences have to see the film to find out
more. Later on in the trailer the genre becomes very evident as fast paced
shots start to show conventions of the genre, such as dark close ups of terrified
expressions. The shot displayed shows that the character is under distress as
she has makeup dripping down her face, her posture is closed as if trying to
protect herself, looking just passed the camera as if something is pursuing her.
The heavy beats and differencing in pace is conventional as audiences don’t know
what to expect and are easier to scare, the contrast in lighting between the
shots of the second part of the trailer adds to this. The tinted red of some of
the shots refers back to both, horror and Christmas, however due to the pacing
and style of the shots audiences will be more reminded of the horror theme. The
flicker of the camera in some shots, gives them a conventional uneven look
which again is often a feature of horror films. At first all the friends are introduced together, displaying
them all as equal, the text tells us that the four friends are together trying
to have a good time and despite the imbalance in clothing and prevalence as our
antagonist has her back to the camera. Next we see the antagonist on her own,
in the first part of the trailer she is the only one that is shown in a shot
completely by herself, which familiarises the audience with her and makes her
the most memorable, which is conventionally important as it is vital that the
audiences remember who the antagonist is.After telling audiences that one of the friends has a secret we then show our antagonist (implying she will become the villain), we used shot types and editing to completely disassociate her from the rest of the group, making her seem more sinister and dangerous. The other characters are still portrayed as stereotypical and ignorant; the antagonist is set apart making her seem more intelligent, important and less disposable.
We don’t discover much about the teenagers in the trailer making the content of the film a bigger mystery; it is more conventional for trailers to reveal more about their characters and less about the struggler however we are using the uncertainty that surrounds our characters to entice the audience to watch the film.
Conventionally
horror trailers show evidence of all the stages of Todorov’s theory of
narrative, with exception to the last. We however have shown very little of our
narrative but still show evidence of the first stage which is the equilibrium,
the third stage being the recognition of the disruption and the fourth stage
the attempts to repair. By withholding information on the actual disruption and
the restoration of the equilibrium it makes audiences want to know more so
making them more likely to watch the full length film.It is very unconventional to not show stage two, the disruption as often trailers use this to draw the audience in and stimulate their interest in the characteristics of the killer. This then gives greater interest in the film.
On the other hand we stayed quite true to Propp’s theory and this was evident in our trailer, the 3 normal friends made up the Hero, Helper and Donor, with Jordan’s character also being the Dispatcher. The fourth friend was evidently the Villain, this is all very conventional, furthermore as is normal for horror films the Princess is survival. We didn’t have a farther, but it is rare that horror films do.
Our film also follows the typical horror three act rule; in beginning focuses on the main characters, and shows the setting, which is ultimately threatening (in our case home alone), secondly stumbling across something that unleashes a wave of violence, putting the characters at risk and thirdly the climax which generally involves a dramatic showdown between main protagonist and antagonist, then end of the plot often leaves the possibility of the antagonists return. However in our trailer we only see evidence of the first stage, which is unconventional as normally teaser trailers will hint all three stages. Noel Carrol similarly suggested the ‘onset phase’, ‘discovery phase’ and ‘disruption phase’ which similarly fit our narrative but not aren’t all evident in our trailer.
We chose not to use very many special effects, which is very
unconventional as many horror films, especially older ones, are known for their
over use of special effects. We chose to go for a more natural look as we knew
that it would make our horror film appear more realistic and so scarier. We know
how important it is to protect the continuity of horror films, and as the
special effects available to us had the potential to harm this, we chose not
the use them. On some of our shots the colour contrast has been tinted red to reinforce
the idea of horror and the danger the colour connotes. Furthermore on some of
our darker shots we changed the contrast to make the shot more visible and
coherent. The effect of the camera made some of the shot look like they were
hand held shots to make it seem more realistic and like it is happening as the
audience watch.Tuesday, 18 March 2014
Monday, 17 March 2014
Evaluation Targets
You have worked so well this year and now, albeit in the busiest part of the calendar, you need to push yourself to achieve as many of the twenty marks available to you before the end of this term. Complete the activities set as well including director's commentaries and interviews with each other. Comment on your findings from your target audience and evaluate your progress. Analyse every techincal aspect of your promotional campaign and set future targets for yourself.
Monday, 13 January 2014
Planning: Fliming schedule
We completed our new location filming in two days and
everything seemed to go as planned, and we had lots of fun!
Our first day of filming was Friday the 20th of December,
where we filmed from 9:00am till midday and completed roughly half our shots
Our second day was Monday the 30th of December,
where we finished the last half of the filming!
We were lucky with the conditions on both days, as they
matched at first turning into rain as we began to film the scenes of horror
helping us to create an anti-climax.
Planning: New shot list
1. Medium shot- In the living room sat around laughing two
on sofa one on the floor
2. Medium shot- Someone comes in with popcorn sits on the sofa
3. Medium shot- Nudge the person on the floor towards the TV and throws a DVD towards the TV
4. Medium shot- Chatting messing around one of the teens hits another with a pillow
5. Medium shot- one of the teens points at the presents chatting and smiling
6. Medium shot teens sitting and chatting (knock on the door) confused expressions
7. Close up- gestures for them all to go and answer
8. Medium shot- showing no one is at the door
9. Long shot- from outside the house showing the door being slammed shut (shadow in the living room)
10. Medium shot- present on the floor as the teens come back in
11. Close up- one of the teens looking confused then smiling (‘okay whose joke is this?)
12. Medium shot- the two girls knelt by the present looking wary (‘It wasn’t us’)
13. Close up- Bryony (‘My house my present!’)
14. Close up- Bryony’s hands opening the present
15. Close up- one of the others (‘well that’s rubbish there’s nothing in it’) waves hand dismissively
16. Medium shot- of Bryony transfixed staring in to the box, shakes her head and agrees but seems weird
17. Medium shot- Bryony washing her face, staring into the basin
18. Medium shot- of her looking into the mirror
19. Close up- Her face as if looking into the mirror rubs her eyes looks up with white eyes and jumps backwards
20. Close up- screws her eyes shut when she opens them they are gone again
21. Medium shot- in the dining room of Shanie and Jordan messing around making a cake
22. Medium shot- Bryony comes in acting weird and shouts at them
Titles fade in and out
23. Close up- big knife on the counters, Martha's hand come into the shot picking the knife up (sharp eerie sound)
24. Close up- as the character spins round the camera follows her showing fear on their face, giving the effect that the character is about to faint
25. Medium shot- character running through the door tripping over the landing and slamming the door
26. Medium shot- match on action of the door
27. Medium shot- two characters together crying, looking at each other
28. Medium shot- character standing up looking down at them scared ('there is no escape')
29. Medium shot- character running through the room, in desperation
30. Long shot- antagonist walks down the hall slowly with knife in her hand by her side
31. Close up- character space crying and scared (shouts 'why is this happening?')
32. Medium shot- character peers around the corner, falls to the floor as if their feet have been taken from under them
33. Long shot- same character being dragged backwards with a rope
34. Medium shot- looking at character inside the car trying and failing to start the engine
35. Close up - of the character (still from the outside the car) showing them panting gripping the steering wheel
36. Close up- from inside of the car of the wing mirror showing the antagonist by the car (fast intake of air) flash and she is gone
37. Medium shot- male and female character behind a door crying trying to be silent, girl has hand over her mouth, Martha walks past all you see are her feet.
38. Close up- Christmas tree with sparkly lights which then flicker and turn off
39. Medium shot- character from behind banging on the front door frantically trying to get out
40. Medium shot- character on the floor scrambling backwards away from antagonist who is just outside of the picture frame
41. Long shot- Character backing away down a dark hall slowly
42. Long shot- the same character spins round (as a creak sounds behind her)
43. Medium shot- shows the character turn back around to come face to face with our antagonist
44. Long shot- Bryony in the garden
45. Longshot- same scene but character has moved closer and over to the left
46. Longshot- same scene again but the character moves even closer and towards the middle
47. Close up- an axe being dragged along the floor behind our antagonist, (camera at floor level only shows her bottom half)
48. Long shot- character sprinting through field (really dark)
49. Medium shot- of the back door open
50. Medium shot- female character curled up in the corner of a dark room crying, shadow goes over her (as if someone is standing over her, she looks up and goes to scream
51. Long shot- of the house at night
52. Close up- of antagonist (really short flash)
53. Long shot- of the house at night
54. Close up- of antagonist (really short flash)
55. Long shot- of the house at night
56. Coming soon
57. 31/10/14
2. Medium shot- Someone comes in with popcorn sits on the sofa
3. Medium shot- Nudge the person on the floor towards the TV and throws a DVD towards the TV
4. Medium shot- Chatting messing around one of the teens hits another with a pillow
5. Medium shot- one of the teens points at the presents chatting and smiling
6. Medium shot teens sitting and chatting (knock on the door) confused expressions
7. Close up- gestures for them all to go and answer
8. Medium shot- showing no one is at the door
9. Long shot- from outside the house showing the door being slammed shut (shadow in the living room)
10. Medium shot- present on the floor as the teens come back in
11. Close up- one of the teens looking confused then smiling (‘okay whose joke is this?)
12. Medium shot- the two girls knelt by the present looking wary (‘It wasn’t us’)
13. Close up- Bryony (‘My house my present!’)
14. Close up- Bryony’s hands opening the present
15. Close up- one of the others (‘well that’s rubbish there’s nothing in it’) waves hand dismissively
16. Medium shot- of Bryony transfixed staring in to the box, shakes her head and agrees but seems weird
17. Medium shot- Bryony washing her face, staring into the basin
18. Medium shot- of her looking into the mirror
19. Close up- Her face as if looking into the mirror rubs her eyes looks up with white eyes and jumps backwards
20. Close up- screws her eyes shut when she opens them they are gone again
21. Medium shot- in the dining room of Shanie and Jordan messing around making a cake
22. Medium shot- Bryony comes in acting weird and shouts at them
Titles fade in and out
23. Close up- big knife on the counters, Martha's hand come into the shot picking the knife up (sharp eerie sound)
24. Close up- as the character spins round the camera follows her showing fear on their face, giving the effect that the character is about to faint
25. Medium shot- character running through the door tripping over the landing and slamming the door
26. Medium shot- match on action of the door
27. Medium shot- two characters together crying, looking at each other
28. Medium shot- character standing up looking down at them scared ('there is no escape')
29. Medium shot- character running through the room, in desperation
30. Long shot- antagonist walks down the hall slowly with knife in her hand by her side
31. Close up- character space crying and scared (shouts 'why is this happening?')
32. Medium shot- character peers around the corner, falls to the floor as if their feet have been taken from under them
33. Long shot- same character being dragged backwards with a rope
34. Medium shot- looking at character inside the car trying and failing to start the engine
35. Close up - of the character (still from the outside the car) showing them panting gripping the steering wheel
36. Close up- from inside of the car of the wing mirror showing the antagonist by the car (fast intake of air) flash and she is gone
37. Medium shot- male and female character behind a door crying trying to be silent, girl has hand over her mouth, Martha walks past all you see are her feet.
38. Close up- Christmas tree with sparkly lights which then flicker and turn off
39. Medium shot- character from behind banging on the front door frantically trying to get out
40. Medium shot- character on the floor scrambling backwards away from antagonist who is just outside of the picture frame
41. Long shot- Character backing away down a dark hall slowly
42. Long shot- the same character spins round (as a creak sounds behind her)
43. Medium shot- shows the character turn back around to come face to face with our antagonist
44. Long shot- Bryony in the garden
45. Longshot- same scene but character has moved closer and over to the left
46. Longshot- same scene again but the character moves even closer and towards the middle
47. Close up- an axe being dragged along the floor behind our antagonist, (camera at floor level only shows her bottom half)
48. Long shot- character sprinting through field (really dark)
49. Medium shot- of the back door open
50. Medium shot- female character curled up in the corner of a dark room crying, shadow goes over her (as if someone is standing over her, she looks up and goes to scream
51. Long shot- of the house at night
52. Close up- of antagonist (really short flash)
53. Long shot- of the house at night
54. Close up- of antagonist (really short flash)
55. Long shot- of the house at night
56. Coming soon
57. 31/10/14
Planning:Changes to our idea and justification; Christmas Presence
Due to various reasons we have chosen to change our plot and
remodel our trailer idea. Although filming in Oxfordshire went well and we were
all fond of our first idea, the reasons were out of our control so we had to move our
location to nearer to home, as it allows us to make quick plot changes if
needed. Filming in Fetcham has allowed us to explore a wider range of angles
and experiment with lighting, so this decision to move closer to home has
ultimately benefitted us! With our new idea we have a better unique selling
point as there are very few horror films based around Christmas as the two
themes completely contradict each other.
Our antagonist:
The character changes we have made include only the
antagonist, who in the beginning will be a typical annoying teenager who is
stereotypical of the horror genre, however events will cause her to become
unhinged and similar to our original idea for the antagonist. She will become
cold and lose herself as she attacks her friends.
Costumes:
Again the only changes we have made to costumes is that our
antagonist is going to be warning normal teen clothes, as in the beginning our
character is normal like her friends. This character will however be warning
slightly dark plain clothes so in the scenes of horror her attire does not take
away from her now evil persona.
Our character will still wear the contacts for the reasons explained below.
Our character will still wear the contacts for the reasons explained below.
Font changes:
We did consider using the same font for our new title as for
Martha, but in the end we have decided to use a font slightly related to Christmas to really over play the theme, as it makes it more sinister.
This is our new title font:
This is our new title font:
The black and white font makes the title mysterious and links to the idea of loss of purity from the contrasting if the black and the white. The name is clear and eye catching so we can make sure that it is memorable and sticks in the audience's mind.
Location:
Our new location is my house, not only is this location a
lot more practical, but the interior strongly connotes traditional family Christmas’
with over the top decorations and a big open fire place adding to the red and
green of the carpet and furnishings. This constantly remind the audience of the
theme of the film that contradicts the idea of horror so we can catch them off
guard and lull them into a false sense of security.
Influences of production and sound track:
Are very similar to before with revenge based crimes ending
in the death of a group of stereotypical teens, and emotion manipulating sounds
that build tension up and releases it getting a reaction from the audience.
Friday, 20 December 2013
Research and Planning Provisional Marks
Well done so far Bryony. I would like to see more evidence of your time management and of dates and times of production. A storyboard animatic would show exceptional skills in your use of ICT in the planning stage and include shots your have taken for the poster and magazine productions - what are their strengths and weaknesses? Add some extra comments to recent posts and spend some time looking over your research posts - there may be more room for analysis of the following: mise en scene, camera, editing, sound, location, target audience, unique selling points, branding, narrative, representation, genre indicators, ket moments. Show me that you are an expert when it comes to your genre! 16/20
Thursday, 19 December 2013
Planning: Copyright credits
We should link the copyright credits of our film into its
theme, to round off our trailer and maintain continuity, and keep it scary. The
aim of a horror film is to scare the audience by making the scenes appear real,
so we need to make sure we don’t ruin this by reminding the audience that they
are watching a fictional film.
Tuesday, 17 December 2013
Planning: Location justification
The house looks very dated and old which links to the idea
of a haunting, the area seems left behind and not up to date with technology
making the case of the teenagers seem even more helpless.
The swing again links with innocence and children; this follows the theme we have tried to create suggesting that our antagonist lingers in her past, suggesting the reason for her psychotic behaviour. Swings are often used in horror films as they can make characters seem sinister and uncaring.
Planning: Title and credit fonts
We wanted to create a font that would combine the
conventions of horror but keep it simple so it didn’t look too cliché and
dated. We picked black and white because it is simplistic yet chilling and effective;
it also stands out making it memorable. The font is designed to look a bit like
handwriting, as if our antagonist as scribbled it down. The idea of this
child-like handwriting further links to the idea of the contrast of her
character with innocence.
We chose a font that would be bold and clear to make sure
the audience know the date of the release. This font however still links to the
genre as the sinister simplicity of the text connotes contemporary horror
themes.
Friday, 6 December 2013
Planning: Shot completion list
Key
Red- Filming to be done at Bryony’s house
Green-Filming we have done
Orange-Filming we’re not doing
Blue-To be done on the computer (Title etc.)
Purple-Can be filmed in the drama studio
Pink-Can’t do as we didn’t have time to do it at Shanie’s
Shot list
1. Long shot- the teens come out of the house towards the car, with suitcases looking excited
2. Medium shot- putting the cases in the boot, shutting the boot (dialogue)
38. Close up- as the character spins round the camera follows her showing fear on their face, giving the effect that the character is about to faint
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