My Teaser Trailer

My Final Poster

Evaluation part 4

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

Throughout my media project I have used a range of media technologies in order to create a professional looking film campaign. If I did not use media technologies I would be unable to complete the planning, production and evaluation stages. The media technologies that I used in order to complete the planning, production and evaluation stages are;

·        Blogger

·        Moonfruit

·        IMovie

·        PixLR

·        PowerPoint

·        Word

·        Camera

·        Tripod

When I started my project the first media technologies I used was Word and PowerPoint however I had to print screen the work I completed on these onto my blog so I then developed and started posting straight onto my blog because I felt that that looked more professional. However when I was print screening I came into difficulty in being able to see clearly and read the documents, but I feel that I did the best I could to get the posts to be clear enough to read. Also at the beginning of my project I already knew how to use Word and PowerPoint where as I was still unsure of how to use blogger, therefore it was a benefit to me to be able to use media technologies I was already able to use and then develop my skills on blogger my project developed. However the disadvantage of this was that it did not look as professional on my blog but for me first learning how to use blogger I feel it was sufficient enough to start off my project in the planning and research stages.

In completing my main project the teaser trailer I used the media technologies of IMovie however before doing my trailer I had never used IMovie before. It took me a week to understand how to use most of IMovie. This was a disadvantage because it took me longer than I realised to edit my trailer because it took me a while to get the hang of using IMovie and we could not get hold of the college MACs a week after we were supposed to have started editing. However I did not have any editing software at home so being able to use MAC’s at college was a huge benefit to me because otherwise I would have had no media technologies to edit my trailer. I did run into some difficulties on IMovie after I had learnt to use it with my sound because I could upload my sound onto my trailer fine but when I went back onto it in the next lesson it had disappeared or just wouldn’t play. However I did overcome this problem because once I had finished editing the image contrast, length and order of my clips I re- added my music and published it so that next time I went on it was still there ready to upload onto YouTube.  I used IMovie in the production stage of my project.

When filming my trailer I used a camera and tripod, I already had this equipment so I didn’t have to use any of the college equipment for this. However I feel I got carried away filming because I got way too much footage and barley used half of what I filmed, however this did allow me to pick out the best footage and make my trailer the best it could be. I did not run into any difficulties when filming because I already understood how to use my own camera and tripod, this was a huge benefit to me because I had no stresses when filming.

In creating my website I used a free online site called Moonfruit, this was quite difficult to understand at first however I feel I got the hang of it after I completed my first website and went onto my second. The website I completed first was about the sorority of the A Association, I did this in order to draw my audience into the plot of the film so they want to find out more about what happens at the sorority and lure them into wanting to watch the trailer and film. However I did have difficulties with images on this website because I inserted my images and put them where I wanted but when I went back onto my website the images were gone, so I re- added them but when I went back on they had gone again. I could not overcome this problem so now on my home page of this website I have no pictures. On my second website the one that advertises my film I knew how to use Moonfruit by then so it was a lot easier when designing this website. However I did come into difficulties when I was completing the blog part of my website because when I added new posts the old ones would disappear and could not find them again so not all my blog posts are on my website. The benefit of using Moonfruit was that it was a free online site and easy to get the hang of using. I used Moonfruit in the production stages of my website.

In completing my poster I used PixLR an internet photo editor site. This photo editor was a lot better than the photo editor Gimp that are on the school computers. This is benefit to me because it allowed me to produce a more professional looking poster and typography for my trailer and website. I did not run into any problems using PixLR and so there were no disadvantages for me using this media technology, this opinion was backed up by my audience feedback because all the people in my focus group liked my typography and thought it looked very professional. I used PixLR in the production stages of my product for my main product and both ancillary texts.

I used all the media technologies in the evaluation stage of my project because I had to use the media technologies in order to evaluate how efficient or not they were.

Evaluation Part 3

 What have you learned from your audience feedback?

In order for me to have completed my main project and ancillary texts I had to complete a number of primary research to allow me to gain feedback and establish my target audience. This has enabled me to identify my target audience as predominantly female and between the ages of 15-26.

The first way I gained audience feedback for pre- production was in completing a questionnaire I asked 50 people to fill out my questionnaires, people from a number of age ranges and both genders. However before I could complete the survey I did secondary research into different types of film genres, this lead to me being able to establish which film genre I feel I could produce well and to a professional standard. Therefore in my questionnaire I could gain from the age and gender which people most preferred horror films. I also asked what type of narrative my audience would prefer in order to identify which narrative for my horror film trailer would best appeal to my target audience.  

After I completed my questionnaire and analysed it and concluded that my project will be horror and my target audience is 15-26, I then carried out a focus group in order to see what codes and conventions of existing real media products best appeal to my audience. I asked 5 people in my target audience and had 4 discussion points around the two film campaigns I showed them. From doing this I learned to use dark saturation on my print and website campaigns and for my trailer flash in and out from different points of the film to lure my audience in.  Therefore from this type of audience feedback I have learned that the best codes and conventions of existing horror campaigns, and that the best way to lure an audience in to a horror film is not to give too much of what happens away because in horror films the fear of unknown is important for it to be successful. This is because it creates enigma codes and allows the audience to try and work out the plot keeping them engaged.  

Audience feedback during production has also helped me to develop my campaign because I was able to ask members of my audience as I was creating the poster, website and trailer what they think about certain aspects of this. However this was only quick questions as I was designing. I asked my family and people in my class what they thought of my choice of typography and so their feedback helped this to develop.

I also asked about the sound effects used in my trailer, which ones worked best or not, therefore I now feel I have chosen the most suiting sound effects for my trailer. On my poster I also asked what captions would work best to lure my audience in therefore I came up with the ‘COME JOIN US’ as almost my tagline for my campaign. In choosing the title for the trailer I asked my target audience if they liked the name ‘THE A ASSOCIATION’ and if they could come up with other names. However most said that the name A Association did appeal to them as a film name and sadly no one could come up with a better name so ‘THE A ASSOCIATION’ it is.

Now that I have completed my project I still needed to gain post production audience feedback in order to see how successful my film campaign was or not. I conducted a focus group were I showed 4 audience members my trailer, poster and websites (this is outlined in evaluation part 2). My focus group all agreed that my typography looked very professional and they liked the sound effects used on my trailer, they said this really set up the atmosphere of the trailer. They also said that the whole campaign linked well together and showed the codes and conventions of horror, with dark saturation and plenty of enigma codes to lure them in. They all said that the scream at the end of the trailer lured them in to wanting to know what happens to the girls. Also they liked that they did not know who the villains were and so this was a reason as to why they would want to see the film because they want to find out who they are and why they were the white masks.

Therefore overall from looking at all my audience feedback I can summarise that my project does comply and connote the horror genre to my target audience and is successful at luring them into wanting to watch the rest of the film. However if the sound on my trailer had not always stopped working I could have spent more time developing my poster in order for it to stand out more for my target audience. However despite this set back I feel i managed my production time well and was only behind schedule at the beginning because we had a problem with the college MACs and had to go into part of my contingency to allow me to complete the editing on my trailer.

Evaluation Part 2

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

My main project is a horror film trailer and my ancillary texts take aspects out of my trailer to make them together very effective at symbolising the horror genre. The other texts I have produced are a website and poster. I have produced my trailer on IMovie using the colleges MAC’s this was not without difficulty because my sound effects and music would not play when I went back onto IMovie in another lesson. For my poster I have print screened images off of my trailer in order to combine the two projects to create an effective campaign that connotes the horror genre to my target audience in order to lure them to wanting to watch my film.

For my website I have completed two websites this was because my storyline for my film is about a sorority and so I have one website that is all about the sorority and one separate website that advertises the film. Therefore I feel that this combination of websites is very effective in connoting the iconography of the film across to the audience. However I did come into some difficulties in creating my websites because the images I used would not appear once I logged out of my site, therefore I have re- put them in several times and I hope now that they have stayed so my target audience can gain the visual effects that I want.

However before I could even start creating my main project and ancillary texts I had to research into existing products in order to study how real media products target their audience with their campaign. From this I have been able to produce my own ideas and deliver a pitch to introduce my ideas to audience members in order to ensure that my media project will appeal to them. From doing my pitch I have been able to summarise from my primary audience research and the feedback of what codes and conventions of horror will appeal to my target audience most. I then feel that I have been able to apply these techniques to my main project and ancillary texts making the combination of them quite effective.

This is a print screen from my pitch, showing two of the questions from my primary research survey when I started my project in order to identify which audience member watch which type of films. From this research I was enabled to identify my target audience and what genre will be most successful to target them.



One of the effects I have identified that is very important in order to create enigmas for my target audience is the typography and copy used on my main products and ancillary texts.  This convention of horror of the copy I have used throughout my campaign so I can have a constant effect and image that my target audience will recognise from my trailer to print advertising to my website. To create my typography I used the font ‘cracked’ from powerpoint and then edited it on Pixlr an internet photo editor programme.

 

Here is an example of how I have edited my typography for my trailer and websites. I have used the brush as a stamp the styles 'cracked and 'splattered' these were the most horror genre stamps. In order to connote the codes and conventions of horror I used red and black to symbolise death and blood.

 












Therefore in order to find out if my combination of my main product and ancillary texts are effective I have conducted a focus group, to gain feedback from my target audience. My film is targeted at 15-26 year olds and targeted mainly at women because the film has an all-girl cast.

Here is a summary of the main feedback points I received once I showed them my main project and ancillary texts.

Name, age	Feedback on main project	Feedback on poster	Feedback on Website
Philippa Andrews- 24	The best part of the teaser trailer for me is the build-up of the sound effects and the loud scream at the end of the trailer I feel this makes the trailer a horror trailer. One part that could be improved is the typography bit where it says ‘if you get caught I love the style of it but the ‘if you ‘ bit could be more in the middle of the screen	I like the image used on the poster I think it creates questions for us the audience as to who the girl is and what has happened to her, however I feel the writing of the tittle on the poster could have been boulder.	I really liked that Kate had done two websites, I like the back ground of the second website with the same typography she used in the trailer.
Chloe Guest- 17	The best part of the trailer is the close up of the villains with the weapons this builds tension. One part that could be improved is the close up on the letter be more steady so can see address more clearly.	I like the caption at the top of the poster I feel it draws the audience in.	I like the second website the one with the information about the film best because I feel that the first website could have had more colours on it especially on the home page however Kate did explain that she did have images on it but she couldn’t get them to stay on the web page.
John Copper- 19	The best part of the trailer is the part where the villain strikes a knife through the fence and the scream sound effect to end the trailer. I agree with Chloe about the address being more clear for the audience.	I liked the poster however I felt that the typography for the title could have stood out more so that it draws the audience in more however I did like the effect used on the image I feel that shows it’s a horror genre film being advertised.	The black and red used on both the websites showed that this is a horror genre product and the websites linked nicely to her poster and trailer.
Leanne Adams- 21	The best part is the typography it tells the story as the trailer goes along and the colour and effects used go really well with the horror genre. However I do agree with philippa about the ‘if you get’ bit being more in the middle of the screen.	I liked the composition of the image, looking down on the victim with the black smudge showing to me that she is trapped however I feel the wiring could stand out more.	The websites have good designs and I like the fact that they are not too similar but still both tie in to the poster and trailer however I do feel that she could have put up some more videos of the film.

From this audience feedback I can conclude that if I could of spent more time on my poster in order for it to have more codes and conventions of the horror genre and focus on it having a u.s.p to attract my target audience. However the time I had allocated to completely my poster was taken up by me having to re add the sound to my trailer server times because it kept stop working and re adding the images to my websites because they kept disappearing.  My websites are good at attaching my target audience and all the people in my focus group liked the back ground of my second website and the fact that I made the sorority website to almost trick my audience into thinking that the A Association is a real organisation. However they did say I should have used more images on my first website but this was not possible because I could not get the images to still be on my website next time I went onto my website. My focus group all liked my trailer and all agreed that they like the effects I have used on my images, negative and x-ray. They said it works really well connoting the horror genre to my audience. Also they liked the design of my typography and said it looked professionally done. The sound effects build up tension very well and go well the with the trailer and they said that the scream at the end lured them in to wanting to see what happens to the girls. However I did go into my contingency week because we could not access the college macs straight away and if I had more time I would have played around with the brightness/ imagery colour more in order to get the best possible effects for my trailer.

Evaluation Part 1

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

My main product is a horror film trailer I feel that its content does follow the rules and styles expected of an advertiser, Production Company or Production House in order for it to be a successful product. Therefore when creating my product I used conventions of real media products.

From conducting my primary and secondary research of existing products I have been able to develop forms and conventions of real media products. I have also gained feedback from my target audience in relation to the existing products which has allowed me to identify which aspects of real media products appeal to my audience and which do not. When I was evaluating the real media products I used the technique to analyse them of MIGRAINE, this then allowed me to evaluate every aspect of the real media products so I could develop and even challenge the forms and conventions in order to produce a successful product.

In constructing my trailer, poster and website, it was essential to construct the codes and conventions that define the horror genre in order for my products to be successful. From doing research I have summarised that the best horror conventions to portray the iconography of my products are as follows; dark saturation to show lifelessness, characters trapped in a location to show they are isolated from the rest of the world, scary typography, fear of unknown, close ups of victims face and weaponry, innocent victims and wording to provoke enigmas in my audiences mind.

Editing

I completed my editing on the 13th of march this was slightly later than on my production schedule however last minute sound adjustments needed to be made because the sound I had originally chosen did not work on IMovie so I had to select and edit in new music and sound effects.

Poster Design

Poster Designs

Trailer

I have been editing my trailer and sticking to my post production schedule. The effects I have used on Imovie are;

• Negative
• X Ray
• Romantic
• Day to Night
• Vignette
• Dream

The Transition I have used are;

• Cross Blur
• Fade to Black
• Fade to White
• Cross Dissolve 

Target for Today

In todays lesson I will have been finishing adding sound effects to my trailer.

Post Production Schedule

Filming Evaluation

Now that I have completed my filming on time to my production schedule I need to start my editing. My filming went well and I am very pleased with how it has turned out. All my actresses were puntual and very positive towards filming which made it a very fun experience. I am now looking forward to editing my film however I have little to no experience in editing anything.

My Website

I have started to do two websites one all to do with my film which will have my print advertising and trailer on and there will be a link to get to my other website which is all about The A Association the invitation only sorority.

http://kamccall19.moonfruit.com/#
http://kamccall18.moonfruit.com/#

Typography to end my Trailer

Typography

From completing my pitch the feedback I received shows that i needed to re-think my typography choice because it was hard to read and so I have created three new designs.

Location Recce

Final Story Boards

Location Permission