Evaluation 4

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I conducted some primary research for my music video by doing audience feedback. I did a few questionnaires and surveys before and after I completed my text. Another thing I did to get audience feedback, was by sitting some of them down, with my trailer in front of us and asked for their opinions and thoughts of what they thought I did well and what they thought I could improve on.

The first person I asked to do this was my sister. She too studied media studies a few years back and has a brief understanding of creating a text. She has similar taste in films, she really likes the horror genre, so it was good to have the opinion of someone who was a fan of my genre, who would give me a critical analysis of my film trailer using media terminologies. The bullets below show her opinions and my thoughts on them.

• 'The thing I thought worked best from your trailer was the opening scene, where the final girl was talking into the camera, shaken up and really frightened. It really made me feel for her and in some ways made me feel really frightened and nervous for her.' - I was really happy at this particular comment she made, as that was the exact effect I was going for. I made the final girl hold the camera, shaking it a little, looking a bit distressed and frightened for her life, to allow the audience feel nervous and frightened for her, which was exactly what sally felt whilst watching the trailer. This comment shows that I was successful in the effect I was trying to put out.

• 'I think that you got the music for your trailer spot on. It really creates a frightening and intense atmosphere, which really goes well with the girl speaking her final words into the camera. Not only this but I think that the music creates that spookiness that goes so well with the theme of the trailer and feel that the lyrics in the song relates really well with what the trailer is about and it almost tells us that something bad is going to happen, but not giving it away, which really keeps us on edge, which is exactly what we want in a horror film trailer.' - This comment, I was also pleased with as it tells me that I have achieved the main outcome of my goal, which was to create a intense atmosphere by the music, putting all the cuts just at the right places, frightening my audience, putting them on edge, making them want more and to really feel the music. I purposely used that children's nursery rhyme, not only because it's filmed in a school, but because it's a tune that everyone was familiar with and so every time they hear this they think of my trailer.

• 'The cuts in your trailer are really effective and I think make the trailer look a lot more professional, giving it more rhythm, and I feel are in the right places, as it is not giving the main plot away, the cuts ensure that. However I think that maybe you shout shorten down a couple of your clips, in particular, the dark scene, where the zombie is coming closer and closer. I feel that this should be cut down because we are looking at a black screen for a long time, at first it is frightening because all you can hear it dragging footsteps, but it just goes on for too long, cutting the tension.' - I'm glad she picked up on the cuts in the trailer, because before hand I didn't include any of them and my trailer was just long clips with no rhythm, which I was just going to leave, but then decided to experiment with fast pace cuts, which proved to work in my favour. I'm glad I got some criticism, as I really do learn from it and this particular one tells me what I can improve on for next time. I need to get into the habit of cutting my clips down, as she included in her comment as it really does cut the tension, especially because it's a horror trailer, which needs to grab the interest of my audience at all times.

• I really liked your two ancillary tasks. The poster was really good. I liked how it wasn't cluttered, which I feel wouldn't be as good, as you wouldn't be able to focus on one thing. You stuck to the convention of using one main image, placed in the center, which is the main character, which I really liked and the use of colours was effective, as they really related to the genre. I have to say, I much preference your DVD cover, as it looks like an existing cover. It has everything you need to include and I think it looks really good.' - I'm happy with these comments and have learnt that simple is good and that things doesn't have to include too much detail to look good.

• 'The thing I was impressed with most would definitely be the news report. I really liked how you made it look realistic and adding it in made the whole thing look more 'real' within the trailer.' - I'm glad that this comment was made, as I wasn't going to add thins bit in, as I felt it gave a sort of jokey look to the trailer, but I now realise that it is just because I didn't want to include myself into the trailer. From this comment I have learnt to include clips that make my trailer look that engender more successful, even if it means I have to be in it.

• Overall, I think you have done a really good job with the creation of the horror trailer, as well as your two tasks. You have followed a lot of the conventions and Even challenged a few. I feel that you have made a successful trailer that you should be proud of and it does, to me give off a professional look. The only thing I would pick up on is that maybe you should add in more sound effects to make the trailer more effective and also I think more camera angles should also be included, they really are effective. I noticed you used a low angle shot which worked really well, creating an intimidating look. Add more shots and your trailer would look even better.' - This comment tells me that I have made a successful horror trailer which was the goal and she has given me points to improve on. I have learnt, from this comment to fairy the shot I use, and not to be afraid to experiment with different camera angles, as it would make my trailer look a lot better and more professional.

The next person I got some feedback from was my friend Nicole. She wasn't a member of my target audience, she even hates the horror genre, I thought it would be interesting to get her thoughts and opinions on my work. She also had no knowledge at all of the subject. Even though her comments weren't on the technical things, like camera shots'angles, mise en scene, editing, sound ect. they were still useful to me and allowed me to learn what I did well, as well as what I could improve on.

• 'I really liked how you made the zombie look realistic and scary.' - Doing the zombie make up took over two hours, so I'm glad I got a realistic look from it, as that was exactly what I wanted. Whilst filming the scenes, I came to realise how important mise en scene really is because without that long black jacket, the zombie didn't look really realistic, as underneath was normal, human like clothes. So clothing was really important and I decided, to put more of a modern twist to it by making the zombie wear normal, human clothes under, wearing black wedged heels, just to give it more of a modern and effective look, which I feel worked in my favour, as Nicole commented, saying it looked realistic.

• 'The setting was good. I like how you filmed in both bright and dark locations.' - At first, I wasn't too sure about filming in bright locations, but was left with no choice, as  I was filming at school, where it was always going to be bright outside. I was going to edit it and make it look dull looking instead, but decided to stick with the bright contrast, as I feel it does look effective and gives my audience a sense of hope for the characters in the trailer, for a split second. I feel that the location of my trailer was successful as it was rather large, so I was able to vary on different setting of the school. Nicole's comment told me that filming a horror trailer in bright locations, doesn't make the trailer any worse, as long as the content and the setting is good, the contrast doesn't matter too much.

• 'I liked the sound effects you used within the trailer.' I was happy that Nicole commented positively on the sound effects I used, as I wasn't too sure if they worked in my favour or not, as I thought the zombie roar effect I added in, was slightly over the top and not very realistic, but within the feedback I got, from Nicole and everyone else, I have learnt that sometimes over the top is good and not always a negative thing and that it is always good have add in sound effects as it makes the trailer look far more interesting and really does capture the audience and is something they can pick up on.

• 'I really like the look of both , the DVD case and the movie poster. It looks effort into it and it looks really good.' - I am glad I've got positive comments on my ancillary tasks as both of them took me a very long time to plan and complete. I'm am glad that she saw that I have put a lot of effort into them, as the poster, doesn't necessarily look as if there is too much detail involved, as I only used one main image, to stick to conventions and believed that less is more, especially for a horror type poster.

• 'Overall, I think that all of your work look great and both, your DVD case and your movie poster relates with your trailer really well.' - Nicole's feedback, overall tells me that I have produced a good piece of work and told me not to be afraid to experiment with the contrast, as well as sound effects.

The last person I sat down and got feedback from was Max. He is a member of my target audience, he is of the age and has a passion for the horror genre. Max is also a Media student, which made his opinions important to me, as he knows what to look for.

• The most effective thing in the trailer was the fast pace cuts from the character from the beginning to a clip related and how this continued for three or four cuts. By doing this it gives the audience a view of what is going on and what the final girl is talking about, which is an important factor.' - A convention I stuck to was fast pace cuts, as it gives off that effective and frightening look that the audience wants to see. I'm glad that Max picked up on this, as I have learnt that if I do decide to create another trailer, fast pace cuts is key, to really get the audience involved, which is the aim of all trailers.

• I really liked the fade to black effects you used and the headings in the trailer, it again involves the audience, as one of them were 'If you thought you were safe in school...' getting them to feel as if they weren't and creating a frightening effect. I also think that adding 'from the makers of...' also gave it a good effect, as it tell the audience what the creators are capable of and if they were scared of the films said in the trailer, they knew that this one would be even scarier and this would really draw them in.' - I was a bit unsure about keeping 'from the creators of...' in, as I wasn't too sure, I didn't think it looked right and didn't fit in with the trailer itself. However by Max saying that, it made me sure about keeping it in. 

• 'Your ancillary tasks work well with the main task. I really like how in the poster the zombie is looking directly into the camera, almost as if it is trying to draw us all in to watch the film.' - This confirmed to me not to worry about the poster, as Max was the third person to compliment the poster, even though I thought I would get a lot of criticism about it because, even though I put so much effort into it, it doesn't look like the most detailed poster and I was worried that everyone would pick up on that and make negative comments towards it. However, now I have learnt and now believe, from everyone's comments, that it doesn't have to be the most detailed poster to be good and effective.

Audience feedback is definitely a huge part of making a successful trailer, as they tell me what I have done right and what I could improve on. Getting negative feedback, also really helps, as it tells me what I need to do to make my trailer better and it makes me determined on turning all the negatives into positives. Gathering opinions from different types of people and not just my target audience was really helpful too, as it showed me what different types of people thought of all three tasks, even those who didn't necessarily like the horror genre, so it was really interesting to get their point of view.

Asking my audience their opinions on my tasks was really helpful as, if someone said something that could benefit my trailer, I would edit my draft and include whatever they said would improve it. Every adjustment I made to my drafts, proved to make it look better and better, which just shows how important every bit of feedback is.

Something I have learned from getting audience feedback is that you can never have too many drafts or advice on how you can improve, as all of this helps you create a better product. I feel that if I hadn't reflected on their opinions in detail, my trailer wouldn't be as successful as it is now.

The overall feedback which I gathered, suggests that they liked the trailer which indicates I have created a trailer which represents the horror genre successfully. From the feedback which is supported by the Uses and Gratifications theory, it is apparent that the main use of my trailer is for enjoyment and pleasure due to it being a gory and frightening video. This is exactly what wanted to achieve as it is typical of the horror genre.

Evaluation 3

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


There are key links between my trailer and two ancillary tasks that make all three combine really well, I will discuss all of these in detail below. The same character from the trailer is used on both my DVD case and film poster, making the creature recognisable to the audience. 


The main technique I have used to give my three media products a joint identity is continuity. As previously stated all three media products feature the same character but have used the ancillary tasks among each other. I feel that by adding the creature to both my ancillary tasks, really links them both to my trailer, as by doing this, it gives the audience a feel of what my trailer is like, giving them a feel of the content of the trailer. In all three products, I have made it more personal, by getting the creature to look directly into the camera, inviting people in to watch the film.

I knew from the beginning, just after deciding the genre of movie I wanted to make, that I wanted the ancillary tasks to have a bit of gore and have a slight frightening effect to it. Whilst researching and looking at existing horror movie posters and cases, I noticed that they all had a certain theme to it, which was that they mostly all contained the same colour on both case and poster, had a scary effect to them and that they mostly all had the 'creature' on the front, looking straight down the camera, creating that personal look. Also I noticed that the text on both products were positioned in a certain way, for example, the title is always positioned at the lower middle of the product, as well as the actors' names positioned in a certain way at the top of the products. I feel that all of these makes the products look more professional and much better and links them to the main product.

My trailer contains a lot of colour and is recorded in colourful surroundings. I did this as I feel that it is important that a horror trailer contains a lot of graphics, as I feel it will make it look much more dramatic and frightening. I wanted to add the same effect to my ancillary tasks, as I wanted the very same effects. Most of the current existing movie trailers I looked at, all contained bright and effective colouring, which I feel made the products more effective. I am therefore, not only creating a link between my ancillary tasks and my main product, but I am also creating a link between my products and the existing products that I researched and looked at, especially the ones I took inspiration from, which was the Evil Dead trailer and products, which I think worked out really well for me, as it allowed me to create better and more successful products.

There was a particular font that I used for my trailer, movie poster and DVD case, to create synergy to my products, which was a 'GRUNGE' font 'Destroy'. I did a lot of research around fonts to find this certain one, which I feel is perfect for my products, as it really expresses the horror genre. By using this font, it made the products look appealing to my target audience, as the font is not only in a big, bold and intimidating font, but it is also in bright red, which connotes danger, blood death, etc. By making the products appealing to the audience, they are going to be much more interested in the main product itself.

Whilst creating both of my ancillary tasks, I tried to add as much gore as I possibly could, but purposely not adding any in my main product. By doing this it allows the audience to think that the trailer is only a basic outline of the movie and making them think how much better the movie will actually be.

The main source of synergy in all my products is through the use of the face of my main character. To do this, I included a large amount of close ups in my trailer, as well as my DVD case and my movie poster, which was a good effect, as it made the character recognisable and made the tasks more successful and professional.

To effectively evaluate my ancillary tasks they need to be compared to existing products. One of the important things to consider is where my audience will most likely find and consume these products. I did some further research to find out where exactly my audience would consume these products and found out that my products would most likely to be released in retail shops, such as HMV, WHSmith, blockbuster, etc. Films such as Harry Potter and Twilight movie posters and DVD cases  are sold in retail shops. The movie poster that inspired me most in the creation of mine, was 'The Horsemen'. I decided to stick with the theme of the poster, keeping the one main character in the middle, on the front, using quite a large and standout font, in red and stuck to a dark background, which I feel gives off a really good and frightening effect.

When considering my ancillary tasks and my main task as a single piece of synergy, I feel that they work effectively together. The mood and effect you get in the main product is reflected in both my tasks, as you really get a feel of the trailer, just by the ancillary tasks. It is quick and easy to make the connection between my main task and my poster, due to the fact that my poster matches the dark mood in the trailer and because I have put the main character in both tasks, it is instantly recognisable. This is similar to the movie 'Friday the 13th'. The poster to Friday the 13th is very typical, and has all the factors a horror movie poster should have, for example, the main character being the only one on the front, placed right in the middle, big bold titles, bright red font, etc. This movie matches the feels of the main task in a similar way to my poster and trailer does. Similar to Friday the 13th, my ancillary texts and main task have a lot of intertextuality. This allows for the creation of an overall image for my products which can easily be recognised.

Evaluation 2

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

During the process of my planning, research and evaluation stages, I have used many technologies to help me create my final products. In the making of my products, I have noticed that I have used a lot of technologies to create the trailer I wanted, not just for the making of the trailer, but also for the planning, researching and evaluation stages. Overall I am happy with how my final products came out and will now tell you a bit about each technologies that helped me create my products.

I used new media for my research and planning by watching trailers on YouTube , some of the trailers which I watched for research were Evil Dead, which I took inspiration from and many horror movie trailers based around a school, for example School of the dead. I also looked at Frankenstein trailer, to look at how you can a thriller trailer can be as chilling as a horror movie trailer. Not only did I use YouTube to look at existing horror movie trailers, but I also used it to look at some previous students' work, which I thought helped me quite a lot, as it allowed me to have a bit of an idea of my limitations and the sort of trailer I am able to produce. I also researched scary and haunting sounds and music on YouTube to get a feel of what to include in my trailer. I noted down a few conventions in sound that I noticed and got inspired my whilst watching existing trailers on YouTube. Finally, YouTube helped me at my evaluation stages, as when I had finished my trailer, I uploaded it to YouTube, which allows me to gain feedback from an people who aren't necessarily in my target audience, allowing me to get honest feedback. This allows me to receive positive and negative feedback and allows people to comment and tell me what I could have improved on and how I can make it better for next time.

Another media technology I used in the construction and research, planing and evaluation stages, was Blogger. I have had previous experiences with this site, as I made my first blog, last year in AS. Blogger has allowed me to organise and maintain all my planning and findings. I continently wrote up a post on my progress, as well as all my planning and production stages of my tasks. This site also allows me to easily make changes to any of my posts if needed to. I also used blogger to evaluate my media products, which I could upload any videos and pictures I needed to put on my blog, showing progress or my final task. This allows my evaluations to consist of clips and images of my final tasks, making them look more effective and successful. sing Blogger helped me also to look at other students in my class and see how they were interpreting videos and this meant ideas could be shared between one another, as we are able to leave a comment on the bottom of a post, leaving our thoughts and opinions. This site was really helpful to me by the fact that I can access it anywhere, from the mac to my phone. This allowed me to be able to post whenever and wherever I was.

A vital technology I used was a Mac and the program installed on it, which was Final Cut Pro. This project meant that I was on the Mac everyday, uploading, putting together and editing my trailer. I have briefly use the Mac before this project, however was still quite new to it but found it quite easy, when I got used to it, and it was something I really got the hang of quite quickly, which allowed quick and successful progress. I spent a lot of my free time working on the mac, perfecting my product as much as I possibly could. To create the trailer itself, I had to use Final Cut Pro, which I hadn't actually used before however, again found that when I got used to it, it was quite easy to use and did feel comfortable with it and was able to create a successful movie trailer, knowing how to put transitions in and how to add an audio to a clip, etc.

The internet was another technology that really helped my research and planning. This is because mostly all of my research was done using the internet. Google was a huge part of it, as a lot my research was done through google, for example, searching for existing DVD covers and Movie posters on google images, used it to search around my chosen genre and google was where I got a lot of useful information to help me create the trailer. Google allowed me to view some of the conventions I had to stick to with the making of my trailer and ancillary tasks. The only problem with using google is that the information isn't always true, which does affect the creation of my tasks. Wiki was another site on the internet that I found useful in the process of making my trailer, this is because I found out some very useful information on this site that helped me create my story line, such as the final girl theory. This gave me the information I needed to help me include it in my storyline. And finally, Pixlr was a technology that really helped me with my project. I used this site for the two of my ancillary tasks, to edit and complete them, giving them the effect it needed to look professional and successful. I was already familiar with the site as I used it last year in AS, which did help as I knew what I was doing and knew how everything worked, allowing my two products to be successful and done to the best of my ability.

The main technology I used was the actual camera itself. To take my photos I used my own camera, Nikon D50, which I do feel comfortable using and know how to use, which allowed me to take some good photos. As this camera had a zoom lens, I was able to capture a variate of different and effective shots, which really worked to my advantage whilst taking photos for my ancillary tasks. For videoing my scenes I used the schools Panasonic camera and a tripod for better quality shootings, which I have used before, so I did know how everything worked. The tripod really helped me during the making of my trailer, as I was able to record smooth and steady scenes. At times I did use the hand held shot to create a dramatic effect, to make the video more intense and more frightening (this was used when the final girl was leaving a message to loved ones). I used this devise to maintain the camera in a steady place, to get the best possible footage I could. The camera's were very easy to use and I did not have any problems with them. The one problem I did have was that because I was using a school camera, I didn't always have access to it, however knowing this I decided to base my setting at school, so I didn't need the camera outside school, and could use it and record scenes in my spare time at school. Uploading the footage off of the camera onto the mac was very simple. I had to get the right chord and plug it into the mac, however the problem that sometimes occurred, was that the Mac did not always read the camera and would not upload my footage. At this point I had to completely shut the mac down and set it up again. By doing this the mac was able to read the camera and allowed me to upload my footage.

Evaluation 1

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

For our coursework we were asked to produce 3 products: A film poster, a DVD cover and the horror trailer itself. My research about existing conventions of these inspired me to produce my own products and the development and production of my products would be based on my research. To be more familiar with the convention of a horror trailer, I did a lot of research on YouTube and looked at existing trailers of horror movies, some of which included: Evil Dead, Paranormal Activity, Insidious, The Ring, The Grudge, The Devil Inside, Friday 13th, One Missed Call, Creep, Silent Hill, You're Next, etc. I decided to use my finding from the trailers I watched into my own product.

I feel that my media products, both trailer and ancillary tasks develop and challenge conventions of many real media products. I had a look at pre-existing horror trailers to give me guideline and indication of what the typical conventions are.

Conventions:

• Isolated setting (woods/dark forests)
• Dark atmosphere
• Large weapon (axe/saw)
• Blood
• Gore
• Masks (something to hide their identity)

Sound

• Suspense music
• Slamming doors
• Screaming
• Heavy breathing
• Loud bangs
• Children laughing

Camerawork/editing

• Fast pace cuts
• Over shoulder shots
• Low angle shots (for intimidation)
• Point of view shots (someone being watched)
• Panning (someone being chased)
• Cross-cutting (suspense)
• Fade to black (frightening effect)
• Credits

Characters

• Innocent, final girl
• Someone running away
• Victims (who become hero saving the day)
• Villain
• Someone pretending to be good, who is really on the bad side
• Killing creature 

Before starting the initial task of my trailer, I carried out a lot of research and had a few lessons on existing horror trailers, to find out what is conventional and why it is effective. I found out, by my research that most horror trailers are mostly 1 and a half - 2 minutes long, however mine is almost 2 and a half minutes long. Although this is challenging the conventions of most movie trailers, I understand the importance of  all the scenes I have left in,I deliberately didn't cut my trailer down too short because I wanted the audience to feel the story line and enhance them wanting to watch it. In relation to real horror trailers, I tried to use most of these generic conventions and adapt them into my trailer. My trailer starts with a handheld camera shot of the last girl (which is another convention), looking terrified, leaving a message to loved ones. By putting this scene at the beginning of the trailer, I challenged conventions, as in existing horror trailers, at the beginning, there would normally be an establishing shot, to allow the audience to be familiar with the scenery. This is normally a shot of a abandoned house in the middle of nowhere and always has some sight of the woods. I didn't use this convention, but challenged it because I feel that most movie trailers show an establishing shot of the scene, makes the rest of the film predictable and that you know what to expect, which in some cases makes the trailer a lot less frightening. I feel that by challenging the convention and having a terrified girl at the beginning, talking in the camera worked towards my favour, this is because it created an intense atmosphere right from the start, and is a way to really get my audience into the trailer, and want to see more.

For my horror movie trailer I wanted to give a frightening vibe to my audience from the very start. Keeping this in mind, I challenged many conventions of existing horror movie trailers. Firstly, I did not create a typical horror trailer where tension is built up further in, as I feel that would bore my audience. An example of an existing trailer where it's not frightening from the start and the tension builds up, it Paranormal Activity. I feel that this Paranormal Activity isn't a very successful trailer, as when I asked a few of my target audience what they thought of the trailer they used words like 'boring' and 'disappointment'. I feel that by challenging this particular convention, it worked towards my favour, as when I showed a few of my target audience my trailer, they gave me some feedback and a few of them said that they really liked how it was scary right from the start and didn't go down hill, it just got even more frightening as it went on. In most of the trailers I watched they didn't show the 'creature' until about a minute into the trailer. Again, I challenged this because I feel that by showing really quick flashes of the 'creature' like I did, really gives off a scary vibe to my audience and relates to my previous point about making the trailer as scary as I can, right from the start. This is exactly what the audience want to see in a trailer and because I only have 2 and a half minuted to see the movie to them, I feel that by showing little glimpses of the 'creature' at the beginning and throughout, I am giving the audience what they want, making them want to see the whole movie.

A convention I stuck with was, fast pace cuts. This made my trailer very effective, as it gave good rhythm to the trailer and is an aspect that I feel has to be included in a horror trailer to make it successful and frightening. The one existing trailer I took inspiration from was 'Evil Dead'. I noticed that in that trailer there was a lot of fast pace cuts that really worked in their favour and made the trailer more dramatic which gave me inspiration to add that to mine. In the Evil Dead trailer a nursery rhyme is used, which, to me made the trailer much more exciting and really frightening. I noticed that in many horror films nursery rhymes were used so I decided to stick to conventions and use a nursery rhyme for mine too. This really worked for my trailer, as not only did it fit nicely and had a nice and slow beat to it, which was exactly what I was going for in sound, but it is about a school, so it really goes well with the trailer itself. In the Evil Dead trailer the scenes were filmed in both light and dark settings, which I feel worked really well and created a really tense atmosphere, even though some of the scenes are not necessarily shot in a dark setting, it still worked to their advantage. I did the same, taking even more inspiration from this movie and filmed my scenes in both light and dark settings, which again worked really well for me.

Another convention I stuck with was my camera work and angles I filmed the scenes in. I noticed that in a lot of existing trailers recorded at least one of the scenes in a low angle shot. This creates a really intimidating look, which is good, as it belittles the characters as well as the audience watching, making them feel intimidated. I used a low angle shot in one of my scenes, for the exact same effect, to get the audience to feel intimidated my the zombie. I feel this worked really well for me, as it got the exact effect I wanted and actually turned out much better than I expected. I noticed, while watching existing trailers, that Panning is often used, for a scary effect, normally used for when someone is running away. I stuck to conventions, and used this camera work when a character was on the floor, backing away from the 'creature'. This again worked really well for me because it created a realistic effect and allowed the audience to feel frightened for her and feel as though they were backing away from the 'creature' too.

In every existing horror trailer I watched, there were cuts and the effect, fade to black. I stuck to these conventions and decided to include both of these editing techniques in my trailer, which turned out to be really good effects and they created a very frightening vibe and I feel it gave my trailer more of a professional look to it and made it a lot more successful, as before hand, I didn't add the cuts and fades and it didn't really strike me as a trailer but more as a short film and wasn't very frightening at all. So I feel that by sticking to these conventions, it helped me produce a more successful and a much better horror movie trailer.

Sound is very important in a horror trailer and can make or break your product. When choosing the right sounds and music to add in, I firstly did a lot of research, listening to the sounds of other horror trailers. I noticed that in most of the ones I've watched there were a lot of loud effects, mostly bangs, that are really frightening and give the trailer a really good and scary effect. I decided to stick to  this convention and added the effect into my trailer, which turned out really well for me, as it did create the exact effect I wanted it to and really does create a frightening vibe. I also notice that most of the trailers I watched have a sound bridge with the main music they use in the trailer, which is exactly what I included in my trailer. The main song that I used, I made it roll on to most of my scenes, although  sticking to the conventions with this, I also challenged conventions, when I made the song quiet down on scenes that the audio sound was important in, and just left it quietly playing in the background, which I didn't see a lot of in existing trailers, however I feel it still did work out for me and gave my trailer a positive effect and did create a tense and scary atmosphere.

Another popular convention of a horror movie is a 'final girl'. The Final girl theory (see post 19) is in most typical horror movies. for example, The Shining and Friday 13th, and I feel that,by having a final girl in a movie it gets the audience thinking whether or not she is going to survive and defeat the killer, as she has come a long way and is the last one and the only hope left. In my trailer, I did use a final girl, who is holding and speaking to the camera, frightened, leaving a message, shaking and looking really stressed. Having a final girl in my trailer, I feel is really effective and works hugely in my favour, as the scene where the final girl is talking to the camera, really gives off a positive effect and shows that she has been through and seen so much, and it really makes the audience want to see what she has witnessed and watch the full movie.

Before starting my ancillary task, a movie poster, I did a lot of research to find out what the important conventions were. As you can see by the picture on the right hand side, I stuck to many conventions and tried to make my poster look as realistic and as close to a existing professional one.  I noticed, whilst doing my research that on horror movie posters, they usually have one picture in the middle, of the 'killer/creature' and really think this gives the poster an edge, as its simple enough not to give the movie away, however still look really effective and gives off a frightening vibe, especially as the 'creature' in my poster is looking directly into the camera, making it more personal and that even more scary. I feel that sticking to that convention made my poster successful as a whole and really gave it that professional look. Another convention I stuck to was having the title of the movie just above the bottom of the poster, not disturbing the main image in the middle, which was a great effect, as again it gave the poster a more professional look to it and by making it the biggest text on the poster and in a bright red, really gives off a sharp look and makes the title stand out so the audience can't miss it. To make my poster look as realistic as possible, I decided to stick to conventions, again and add the directors names, the people who star in the movie, etc. which certainly did make the poster look realistic and gave it a positive effect. Over all I feel that I have made a successful horror movie poster that I am proud of and by doing my research and sticking to the conventions of a existing movie poster, I was able to make mine look realistic and gave it that professional look to it.


I did the same with DVD cases. I did a lot of research around existing ones and tried to make one as realistic as I possibly could. As you can see by the images on the left, I have tried to stick to as many conventions as I could, however still challenged a few which really worked out to my advantage. The conventions I stuck with include: a synopsis of the movie, which is an important part of the case, as it tells the audience what the movie is about, trying to sell it to them, not giving too much away but enough to make them want to watch it. Another convention I stuck to was adding a tag line on the front of my case. I noticed that every case that I looked at and took inspiration from had it's own tag line, which has a huge impact on the audience as, if you have a good and catchy tag line, then you automatically grab their attention and hook them in. I created two tag lines, one being 'What was once trapped is now unleashed' and the other 'The lucky ones die first'. I feel that by sticking to the convention of having a tag line, really did work in my favour, as the two tag lines that I made up, really does make you want to watch the movie and find out who the 'unlucky' ones are, who effectively have to battle the 'creature'. More convention I stuck to was making the back of the case look busy, by adding a few images of what is consisted in the movie, the ranking of the movie and a bit of information about it, a barcode, copyright terms and conditions, a little description of the company releasing the movie, which I again made up, a bit about the directors and editors, etc. All of these factors that I added in have allowed me to create a successful case and really does make it look more realistic. I did, however challenge a few conventions, as I have noticed that on most cases there tend to be images of only the main characters, however I decided to merge a few images together, a couple of them were the zombie, however some of them were objects and things to do with the movie. I feel that by challenging this convention, it has worked well for me as I have created a unique case that still has that professional look to it gives the audience more of a feel to what the movie consists of. Another convention I challenged was that I adding the amount of stars the movie got rated. I noticed that the existing cases didn't include this feature, but I feel that by adding this it grabs the audiences attention on how good the movie is and makes them want to watch it.

Overall, I was pleased with the way our horror trailer, DVD case and movie poster compared to those made by professionals as I only had few resources and very little in terms of hi-tech equipment. All my media products, predominantly fit into the conventions of other existing trailers, posters and DVD covers. This is great because it means my media products look authentic and realistic.

Audience feedback after watching the trailer

What went well:

• Music suited it well.
• Good effects.
• Well paced.
• The handheld camera scenes.
• Good use of cuts.
• Liked the news report scene.
• Good use of body horror.
• Good use of shots.
• Doesn't give too much away.
• Good use of camera angles.
• Good use of close ups at the start.

What still needs to be improved:

• Reactions could be faster.
• More sound effects.
• Some dialogue to help narration and the storyline.
• Contrast too bright at times.
• Something jumpy could be added.

Audience feedback

1. What genre of film would you say this is? why?

"I would say it's a quite modern Horror/thriller film  This is because of the Mise en scene elements that have been used, i.e. the clothes that the zombie is wearing (scarf, black long coat and black wedged heels) which suggests to me an new fashioned era and you wouldn't see a old movie with a zombie wearing these clothes. Also, there is a tinge of  bright and stand out colours used on the poster which again gives a feeling of a modern photograph, this is an effect you often see with modern films. The thriller genre stepped out to me as I feel the expression on the actress holding the camera's face looks somewhat disturbed. She looks shocked and scared which automatically stands out to me as a some kind of thriller."

2. What would you say the storyline is about?
"From simply looking at the poster, it's difficult to tell exactly what the film is about. This builds up mystery and intrigue, urging me to want to see the film. I think that the tag line gives away the fact that this is a film about a zombie coming back to a school, killing those she had missed last time or something."

3. Do you think the image has a professional or an amateur look about it? 
"Professional, it looks sophisticated and it follows all the conventions of a film poster, with the image dominating the page, the title and tag line being present and so on."

"All elements of mise-en-scene are just perfect!" 

4. What do the uses of color tell you about the film?
"The red titles on the poster tells me that, there is going to be a lot of blood and violence involved."
"The overall uses of colour compliment one another, the bright and heavy."

5. Do you think I have chosen a suitable model to star in and promote my film? Why?
"Yes, she has the acquired look that anyone would need to have when creating a modern horror film. She looks frightened and vulnerable, which is what most victims should look like when appearing in a horror film."

6. Do you think I could have made any improvements with this image?
"No, I think that the image is perfect." 

7. Does the tagline spark a further interest in the film and persuade you to want to see it?
"Definitely, it’s enticing and exciting and doesn’t give away a great deal which makes me want to find out more."
8. Do you think the use of colours/ fonts for the text are effective in standing out? 
"Yes, less is more. by using one stand out colour, it really catches our eye due to the brightness of the colour as well as the positioning and size."

9. Would you say I have followed the codes and conventions of film posters?
"you have included a main image, a tagline and a film title, you have successfully followed the codes and conventions of a film poster."
10. Does this poster persuade you to want to see the film?
"Yes, it is a very effective poster in that it grabs my attention and draws me in and really makes me want to see what happens in the movie, well done."


The Film Trailer

‎1. By watching the trailer, what genre of film would you say this is?

"By looking at the trailer, I would definitely say it was of a horror genre. In the trailer, you see the zombie sinking its teeth into a victim, which was mostly what gave it away.

"I would say the genre of this film is a horror meets thriller film."

2. Do you think the use of camera/ editing/ lighting, elements of mise-en-scene were successful? Did the piece look authentic and professional or not? 

"I really enjoyed the uses of camera angles and shots and the elements of mise-en-scene were constructed beautifully. For example, the opening scene, showing a close up of the frightened girl holding and talking into the camera, I really liked as it really did show how frightened she was. I loved the use of lighting in the middle of the trailer, where the camera pans, following the zombie, in broad daylight. However, the editing might have let you down a bit, it's not as extravagant as the use of camera, lighting and mise-en-scene, although, you used good amounts of cuts, fades and cross desolves. Overall, I thought in parts the piece did look authentic and extremely representative of a modern horror film."

"My favourite aspect was definitely the mise-en-scene! The costumes, props, settings and locations were just perfect. Well done!"

3. Which parts of the trailer do you feel were most successful?

"The use of music was so successful, as it really highlighted the fact that it was a horror and made the traler even more scarier than it is. The soundtrack selected was brilliant, I loved the fact that the music at the end was different to the one playing throughout the trailerand was very thrilling, which I thought was brilliant! I also think the use of mise-en-scene was particularly good, you made everything look very authentic and styled it very well."

4. Name the areas that you believe I could have improved on:

"Perhaps a bit of dialogue and more sound other than music would have been nice!"

"The structure of the trailer is a little loose towards the end, in order to excite audiences more, you could have included a fast pace montage of clips."

"Maybe shorten your clips down a little, I think that the dark scene went on for too long."

5. Does this trailer persuade you to want to see the film?
"Yes, it is a very effective in that it grabs my attention. teases me and makes me want to watch."