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

Construction

When creating our teaser trailer, we used a standard video camera which could then be connected to the Apple iMacs in order to edit footage. We used a variety of camera shots and techniques to create tension and convey the genre of our film in our trailer.

For example, we kept the camera at the same level as the victim when she is dragged away in order to provoke empathy within the audience. We also used low-angled shots to show dominance, and high-angled shots to show vulnerability in the villain and victim respectively. We also experimented with Point of View shots, which would aim to create the feeling that the victim was being watched, and build tension.

Using iMovie on the Macs enabled us to not only order the footage in such a way that would create the teaser trailer format, but also allowed us to change the exposure, colour and contrast of our clips, adding variety and keeping the pace of the trailer fast.

Research

During the research stage of our coursework, we made use of YouTube by watching tutorials of makeup that was similar to the look we wanted for the villain in our teaser trailer.

 We also used it to watch other teaser trailers of our genre, Supernatural Horror, in order to gain inspiration. These included The Grudge and Orphan.

We deconstructed these teaser trailers in terms of Mise en Scene, editing, camerawork and sound in order to determine what the main codes and conventions of a trailer in our chosen genre were. We also conducted research online into websites and posters, in order to aid our ancillary tasks and to make them look as professional as possible. We deconstructed posters for original media products such as The Last Exorcism, Let Me In and Resident Evil, as these films are all Supernatural Horrors, and this helped us to establish the main features of a film poster we should use in order to create an effective product.

We visited many film websites, including Quarantine, The Grudge and The Ring as, again, these share their genre with our own teaser trailer and it was a useful way to gain inspiration, and to discover what made a good film website.

We set up a Facebook and Twitter account for our film and posted questionnaires on these, to allow us to gain audience feedback and to gain a better understanding about what it was the audience wanted from a teaser trailer. We also posted pictures which people were able to comment on and give feedback.

Planning


We wanted to include a sequence where it appeared that a word was being written onto a mirror by an unseen protagonist, by filming a tiny amount of each letter being drawn on, one at a time, and editing them together, and playing the little clips quickly. The first time we attempted this, we found that just using natural light was unsuitable when aiming for a continuous sequence. Having tested this beforehand allowed us to re-film and improve on this sequence.


We tested many different camera angles and techniques before filming began, and even tried different cameras, using a smaller one for a handheld effect, and a slightly bigger, more advanced camera to give clearer shots and a more professional feel.


We used various copyright free music websites to search for a suitable soundtrack for our teaser trailer that would help keep the pace fast and also create a feeling of fear in the audience. By listening to short clips of the music available to us, we were able to make a shortlist of tracks that we thought would fit with the genre of our trailer. In order to plan our soundtrack, we selected copyright free tracks that we felt were appropriate for our chosen genre and played them together, as we wanted to create a sense of equilibrium at first, and then move into a fast paced section, causing disequilibrium.

Evaluation


Once we had completed our teaser trailer, we uploaded it to our own YouTube account, and posted the link to this on our Facebook and Twitter accounts, so that we could get feedback from people’s comments. This also allowed us, after gaining constructive criticism, to make final changes to our teaser trailer in order to improve it.