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

QUESTION 2: How effective is the combination or your main product and your ancillary texts?

QUESTION 3: What have your learnt from audience feedback?

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

Website

Poster

Teaser Trailer

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

Teaser Trailer


As demonstrated in our previous posts, we have deconstructed teaser trailers from our chosen genre - Supernatural Horror - to identify codes and conventions used for a professional and successful trailer, such as 'Orphan' and 'Grudge'.

Our narrative constantly changed throughout the beginning of our coursework production. We had to improve certain aspects such as our chosen characters, locations and main plot to make our narrative look believable. We finally chose a sub-genre 'Super-natural' and drew inspiration from 'Grudge', particularly with Mise en Scene.

We used typical codes and conventions for our Villain's makeup and costuming. We painted her face a dull white/grey colour representing her as ghostly and unnatural and highlighted her facial features using dark colours, black and green. We experimented with different products in her hair to try and demonstrate a greasy and unkempt look. This character was to create fear among an audience and play on the idea of the 'undead'.

To make a successful teaser trailer we had to research the differences between a theatrical trailer and a teaser. We found that the less narrative shown the more effective the teaser trailer is. After deconstructing teaser trailers from the Horror genre, we found that they use very fast transitions and a parallel soundtrack to create a climax. We needed to present footage that would play on the audience's fears, create intrigue and persuade the audience to see the film.


We intentionally presented Gothic colours - red, white and black - throughout our trailer. Transitions, such as straight cut to black created a dramatic effect and black has typical conventions such as death, darkness, evil, and fear. It is a typical code of a horror film. At the beginning of our trailer, we used fade in and out to black which was inspired by 'Grudge'. These slow transitions were used to create equilibrium from the idea of Todorov's theory, this made it easier for us to gradually build a climax and create disequilibrium.


Anchorage was used continually through the trailer, we keep it consistent by using the same font, size and colour. The language used was to create intrigue and suspense before chaos was created. We found that 'Grudge' used anchorage before disequilibrium was created and we were inspired by this technique.

For our narrative we wanted to challenge the typical gender stereotypes of men and women. We subverted the role of men being more powerful and dominant and cast a female as the villain. Her costuming challenged other villains from real media products because her white dress has immediate connotations of innocence and vulnerability. This idea was inspired by 'Orphan'. We originally wanted to present a child as the villain in our teaser trailer, however this proved difficult because we were unable to cast such a young character who would be able to act as well as we wanted.
We were able to develop these gender stereotypes by using two female characters as binary oppositions, rather than the typical male versus female scenario. Even though our trailer does not demonstrate this, our initial idea was to have these two characters from the same family. This helped us with location ideas (using the home) and we were then able to subvert the connotations of a safe, family orientated home and play on the audience's fears even more.


Todorov's theory was also developed through our teaser trailer. Our trailer began with slow transitions and non-diegetic soundtrack - which was calm yet eerie - creating equilibrium. A climax was then created by increasing the pace of shots and overlapping a faster and tension building non-diegetic soundtrack - this was our disequilibrium. This chaos did not gradually decrease into a state on equilibrium for the end, it finished suddenly after a diegetic scream - used to frighten the audience - anchorage was then used over a black screen while our first soundtrack faded in. After revealing the date the film would be released a sudden increase of a sound clip was used combined with a quick shot of our main character 'roaring' into the camera, directly at the audience. The trailer finishes on the clip, so we were ale to end on disequilibrium and use it as another persuasive technique.




Poster

For our ancillary tasks we kept continuity by using the same Gothic colouring throughout, red back and white. Firstly we needed some professional photography of our main character - depending on which character we chose to display - this proved very difficult as we had a limited allowance, so we skillfully edited our photographs to make them look more professional. We photographed our actress in the dark using an artificial spotlight to highlight her facial features and makeup.

We analysed different film posters from the horror genre to gain inspiration, firstly looking at 'Grudge'. This poster used the same colouring we had already demonstrated in our teaser trailer. The main focus of their poster is the villain in the 'Golden Section'. We used the same idea and photographed our character looking directly into the camera - and therefore at the audience - to try and create intimidation, her head is tilted to one side which makes her look more menacing and threatening. We enlarged the image of our character face as much as possible and deliberitely positioned it to the left side of the poster.

The 'Grudge' Poster displays the film's name horizontal to the character's eye with the tag line at the bottom of the poster. We found that in our other poster analysis's that tag lines were deliberately positioned away from the film's title. We wanted to challenge this particular convention and place the tag line beneath the 'Vendetta'. We used a small font so their audience would have to focus and pay more attention to read it. The tag line's font was white and the same font we had used for anchorage throughout our teaser trailer, as we wanted to keep continuity.

Website

After analysing websites for different films of the Horror genre, we found that the majority displayed their trailer on the homepage. We wanted to challenge conventions of real media products and designed our hompage without our teaser trailer, however we included easily accessible links to view it.

We kept continuity throughout the anciliary tasks by using the same gothic colouring to our teaser trailer and poster, as it was a typical convention on a horror film. The links displayed are the same font used for our anchorage and tagline. We used inspiration form 'The Ring' homepage. When the users hover over a link, it becomes animated. We used the same technique and used a red glow on our titles when they are highlighted.

We created social networking sights for our film, including Fcaebook, Twitter and Youtube, which helped create convergence. The links have been activated, and they are also highlighted when the user hovers over the icons.



QUESTION 2: How effective is the combination or your main product and your ancillary texts?

The main aim of our teaser trailer combined with the ancillary tasks was to produce an advertising, appealing package which clearly connotes key code and conventions of the supernatural horror genre. It was important that we kept continuity through all the tasks which demonstrated the genre of the film.

Typography

Codes and conventions of the supernatural horror were expressed through experimentation using the software Serif Draw Plus. By particularly focusing on the colours red, using shadowed effects and the combination of dark colours we created an eerie atmosphere, as it signifies death, horror and fear. The node tool allowed us to alter the placement of letters and adjust the style of individual letters to suit the supernatural horror genre. Our typography was used at the climax in our teaser trailer, with red, black and white the main colours used to create fear and suspense.

We kept to a Gothic colour style of typography throughout our ancillary tasks. The same red typography was used against a stark black background standing as the main focus point, following the golden section theory.– we resulted in using a white, simplistic style of font for the anchorage and tag lines on our poster. The combination of the colours red, black and white are used in current real media products such as ‘The Grudge’, ’28 Days Later’, ‘The Last House on the Left’ etc. Through analysis and experimentation we concluded that the audience is drawn towards the strong colours of red and white when positioned against a black background. 

 Mise en Scene

The main focus throughout our ancillary tasks was to focus on the villain of the narrative. Following a typical code and convention of other real media products, the emphasis of the villain was most notably through close up shots, highlighting her facial expressions. We wanted the villain to pose as an intimidating and threatening being - Make up and costuming was crucial in representing the villain as harmful with dark blue and grey colours defining the characters stern, emotionless features. This immediately creates fear amongst the audience. The villain remained as the main focus of our ancillary tasks – the villain’s disturbing image instantly displays the supernatural horror genre and attracts the attention of the audience.

Black was the predominant colour used through our teaser trailer as we needed to focus on the darkness, which brings connotations of fear, the sense of the unknown and the power to build on the audiences fears. We continued the use of the black through frequent straight cuts and fade in transitions to the anchorage, which kept focussed to the genre of supernatural genre. Through research, we understood that black is a colour of mystery and evil, and signifies power.

The website and poster uses the colour black as the background colour as it allows the un-nerving, glowing image of the villain to stand out and intimidate the audience. By combining the colour black with red and white, we formed a Gothic style. We used these three main colours in our teaser trailer - For example, we purposely wrote on the mirror in red lipstick to bring connotations of blood and death.

Camera Shots and Character Positioning

In the teaser trailer, the villain was represented through close ups to highlight her menacing, emotionless facial expressions; with mid shots and long shots framing the dark, isolated woodland as the setting. We used a similar positioning in our ancillary tasks to keep continuity of our representation of the villain, creating a foreboding, un-nerving atmosphere. 

The website’s homepage displayed the villain positioned in the centre of a long shot, following the rule of 3. This shot immediately forces the audience to focus on the unusual, creepy stance of the villain, whilst also highlighting the darkness surrounding the villain – this character positioning is crucial for the supernatural horror genre

Similarly in our poster, a close up was used of the villain to stand as a murderous character, immediately allowing the audience to empathise with the victim in the film. The strong facial expressions combined with the unsettling tilted head of the villain makes the audience feel confronted, bringing fear and want to see the film.

Sound

The non-diagetic soundtrack runs parallel to the imagery in our teaser trailer. This is particular in the establishing shot, with the eerie tones and slower pace creating equilibrium, indicating that chaos and disequilibrium was near. 

We included a steady, eerie section of the sound in our website, as it demonstrates the key codes and conventions of the supernatural horror genre. It acts as a slow suspense builder, introducing the genre to the audience.

Editing

Using I-movie, we edited the picture quality of the teaser trailer using exposure and contrast tools to define and highlight light and dark. This was specifically used in close ups to enhance the darkened blue, dull features of the villain. 

We relied on editing in our ancillary tasks to adjust the colours of the original photographs which were taken. Our main aim was to improve the brightness of the colours red and white against the stern black background – by using a glow effect, specifically for the website, this displayed characteristics of a supernatural being.

QUESTION 3: What have your learnt from audience feedback?

Feedback from audience (target or other) has been a key factor with decision making in the production of our teaser trailer, film poster and website. We gathered audience feedback in a variety of ways, for example, small focus groups which enabled us to get feedback from a chosen group (e.g media students, or non media students of different ages.)

To gain original, primary research and opinions, we devised a simple questionnaire which helped us make important original decisions, such as genre, and begin to compose a narrative. The questionnaire was developed and then distributed to different target audiences, with paper copies being handed out, and an online version posted. Posting it on the internet allowed us to access a wider audience to fill it out. By finding out what the target audience found most effective, and which films they had previously enjoyed, we were able to look into these and use them for inspiration for our coursework production, for example basing make up on the grudge.

 This audience feedback was most important and key in the research and planning stages, as before we started production, a clear idea of what we wanted to create and present to the audience was needed.

Throughout our filming and the other ancillary tasks, we constantly asked for feedback from peers, as they fit our target audience. We did this by simply showing designs of posters, or layouts of websites, and asking which they preferred, and found most suited our genre. We also did this for typography.

To receive feedback following making our teaser trailer, a screening to media students was organised. They were asked to complete an evaluation form, which enabled us to see what they found effective, and how it was conveyed to them. These small focus groups give rich valuable feedback as they can be formed of people from our collective target audience. Participants also feel they can give detailed thoughts, ideas, and constructive criticism. Also, we were able to ask them any extra particular questions about our trailer, and how we would be able to improve. This feedback also enabled us to analyse our trailer, and see how well we stuck to our brief.

We also posted our original video on youtube and facebook, and asked for feedback from people who watched the trailer.

We found that most said they found it “creepy” and that “the last bit really made me jump”. These comments gave us a broader evaluation of our trailer. Also, we recieved a few comments about the anchorage, and how it would be better if it was larger and easier to read. We made these changes as a result of audience feedback. Other comments also included "the use of darkness really adds to the scary atmosphere" and that the end shot of the close up scream was really effective. This was also the feedback we recieved from our screening to media students.

We have found that all audience feedback was vital in creating all of our products. Even simple feedback, informing us as to what they felt was more effective was important when decision-making. (The audience would be the viewers, and therefore should have power and a voice, and their opinions on our products are vital. )

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.