Poster Progress

The following blog is of my poster progress, every time a made a step towards my final design I "print screened" the poster and I had 5 different posters intial to final design.
Below is my first step towards the final design of my poster. I started off by simply opening a Photosop page and opening one of my pictures I had taken wihin the blog. The picture automatically fitted according to the dimensions of the Photoshop page. The image is of my main actor George Davies standing with a ripped, blooded shirt looking in shock towards the message "Ready Or Not". This could be the final poster but it would be very plain as an overall poster so I felt from analysis of proffessional posters that I need some sort of punch line to lure the audience, an example of a clever punch line is from Final Destination, the punch line is "Rest In Pieces". This needs to be added to mine as well as perhaps some actors names and maybe some credits at the base of the poster.




Poster Progress 1

The Second phase of my poster development (below) consisted of two improvements. These included the credits at the base of the poster and the punch/selling line "Are you ready.. beacause she is". These were the only improvements for the time being whilst working also on my magazine, however I was going to return to the poster and make more improvements to it.




Poster Progess 2

Below is the third phase of my poster development where a this step the only developments made are the names of the actors/actresses involved in the film. I chose to use a white font for this and used a style to make it less plain. 



 

Below is the fourth phase of my poster development where I have made the credits red instead of black, how they previously were. I also added stars to the actors/actresses name, both of these changes I have made to give the poster that bit of character perhaps it was lacking before.

Below is the final design of my poster where after feedback was given to my I made the following alterations: 1. Changing the credits colour from red back to the black I initially had. Another alteration was that I listed the actors and gave 5 and 4 stars to each rather than just an average 3. I also added a second punch line at the base of the page reading "The Haunting Begins OCTOBER 2011, be ready, she is". This gives the audience another reason to be attracted as the selling line is challenging the audeince and really involving them within the poster.





Final Design - Post-feedback

The one thing that casued confusion amongst the feedback I recieved was the catch line being "Are you because SHE is" they didn't feel that this should be the selling line as the girl isn't used in the poster but after consolling with my teacher we both agreed that this added an elemnet of suprise and that the audience were left confused and therefore tempted to see the movie, so the selling line remained.



Software

Software was required in two reasons only for my teaser trailer and ancillary tasks and these are:

1. First reason is that I needed to some film editing software and for this I used the software programme callde "Corel Studios" which allowed me to edit and filimg I had done. With practice I found the software fairly easy to use even though some of the cutting and editing tools did prove to be quite fiddly but that was how I felt that it would be with any film editing software programme.

2. The reason I needed software was to edit my poster and my magazine covers, and I used the commonly known software programme "Photoshop" to edit in this area. Photoshop I found easier to use as I was more familiar with the editing tools like the Clone stamp tool and the background eraser tool, this simply because I used it in the AS course and therefore didn't need practice getting used to the tools on offer.

Hardware

When creating my teaser trailer, film poster and magazine cover the following hardware helped me to complete these tasks:

1. Firstly there is the video camera used to compile all my film material. For this I used the Panasonic S50 which proved to be both reliable and substantial in use. I was a little dissapointed initially when I saw my filming footage but I think that my expectations were exceedingly high considering I had never really watched an amateur movie whereas HD movies seem to be the norm in the present day. The real advantage of using the Panasonic S50 however was that not only was it easy to handle and very reliable but it wasn't a tricky gadget to use in that all was required was to hit the record button and then the stop button. It took me a couple of minutes and a brief panic to find the charging slot but this was not a major issue.

2. Then there was the Nikon D60 used for picture taking for the poster and magazine tasks. I found this a very successful task in that in one period I got all my pictures taken how I wanted them and they came out brilliantly. The camera was very practical in that it was of a high standard yet it wasn't too tricky to use.

3. Another piece of hardware used was the tripod which can be used fot noth the film making process and the picture taking yet I did not use the tripod for the camera just for the video camera. The main use of the tripod came from when I was trying to create an establishing shot of the location of the filming which would set the scene in my teaser trailer. I had several attempts shown below at trying this without the tripod and then the more succesful shots with the tripod, so it became a very useful piece of hardware.

4. Like the tripd the lighting equipment seemed to be as if it would contribute little yet it did because of the numerous amounts of scenes shot in the dark the lighting equipment was very handy in helping with such scenes.

5. Another piece of important hardware was the computer where I had access to appropraite software which helped me edit all 3 parts of my coursework. The computer was obviously instrumental and a compulsory piece of hardware to have.

6. The final 2 bits of hardware are the printer and a 2gb SD memory card. The printer allowed me to print of initial work to help make it easier to spot errors or weaknesses with the ancillary tasks. The SD card was used in both picture and filming cameras in that it saved any recorings or pictures to the card which transferred saved work onto the computer.

Soundtrack - Final decisions

An earlier blog stated that I was undecided on my soundtrack but I came to a conclusion when doing some research and I found the Saw moive soundtrack. This was an instrumental with some good ryhthm, I ued this and edited to flow and sync with the filming. Another sound was used at the end and this was a laugh that I found on YouTube, a very scary one. For this I asked permission from the uploader to use this, below is my post to him asking for special permission to use it. I also did this for the Saw soundtrack and copyright wasn't an issue as there were no lyrics in either soundtracks. To get the videos as mp3 files I used a webpage called video2mp3.net where I could transform the mp4 file to an mp3 file and use it as a sound in my trailer.




Character Porfiles

My two main charaters from the production of the film were George Davies and Eleanor Thurley, my friend from school and my younger sister. Below are the character profiles of the actor and actress of my tease trailer.

Eleanor - A 11 year old girl who is my younger sister, which proved to be convenient because she was always aroun when I needed her for picture taking or for filming, whereas George had to travel 15 minutes to get to mine so he was less easy to get hold of. I ideally wanted a young girl with darker hair, brown or black but I had to make do with what I had which was blonde but this was less of a problem than I first thought. Below is a picture of ellie when not filming.

George - George is 17 and is currently attending St.Edmund's College as I am and is studying Media Studies A2 like me. George made a 15 journey when coming to film so was not able to make it every time I wanted to shoot or take pictures but he was more often than not, able to make the journey down. George was the fitted the character I wanted him to play being very tall, coming of as very dominant but the audience is decieved and his dominance is little in comparison Ellie who seems to be the commanding character.
Below is a picture of George when not filming.

Analysis Of Primary Research.

Question 1 was -- 1. Which of the following would you associate the most with a horror film?

Blood         Violence             Darkness           Villains           Screaming          Other

Analysis - Out of the 20 people that answered the 5 questions this question showed that there was no dominant preference in association with horror films. The Most common answer was the "darkness" with 6/20 answering this, just over 25% of the answers which is not a lot seeing as it was the most frequent answer. The lowest was suprisingly violence which no-one answered, this could be because horror fans seek well timed, clever schemes and the taunting rather than physical violence.

Question 2 was --   2. Which of the following films do you like the most?

Friday the 13th         Haloween            The Ring            Saw         Freddie vs. Jason         The Grudge

The two most common answers which domianted the responses were Friday the 13th and Saw. These two films both reached 8/20 totalling 16/20 and just over 75% of the responses. The Ring and Freddie vs Jason were among the least popular films both scoring 0. The reason why Friday the 13th is popular I believe is becuase it is a classic and one that everyone seems to have watched, mainly due to its excellent storyline. Saw I feel is very popular for different reasons entirely, it maybe because its a more modern film and maybe one that horror fans have seen more recently than perhaps Haloween or The Ring.

Question 3 was --  3. On a scale of 1-10 (having read my storyline) how much does the theme and content of these ideas appeal to you? ( 1 = Don't appeal at all and 10 = Extremely Appealing).

1                 2                  3              4               5              6              7             8             9              10

The average response for this was 6/10. I have to say I was dissapointed with this as an average but all the negative responders said to me after it lacked bulk and a real reason to watch it. So I decided to give them my e-mail and ask them to send me some feeback after i'd devised the trailer.


4. What time of day do you like to watch horror films?

Morning                     Afternoon                          Evening                     Nightime

The majority as expected was the nightime which 19 out of the 20 voted as the time of day they like to watch horror films. 1 person answered evenings over nightime but the clear winner was the nightime. I expect this is due to the nightimes added effect to the darkness and horror effect attempted to create. The majority of  horror films are domiantly filmed in the dark or in the night and therefore my the audience watching the film at nighttime they can apply the film to reality more by associating both the nightime in the film and in reality.


5. What is is that you like about horror films?

The tensious build ups      Not knowing what is going to happen next       The violence          The gore

Like question 1 there was a wide variety of responses here, the "tensious build ups" however was marginally the most popular with 8/20, this was closely followed by "not knowing what is going to happen next"with 6/20 and the least popular reponses were the gore and violence involved within the trailer.
The questionairre gives me large sums of quantitative data which is easy to analyse and therefore plot my future moves. The questions give me good, reliable feedback that I can take and use to enhance my filming.

Target Audience

Being that my genre I am using is horror my target audience therefore consists of those who go to see a film and want to be scared. The aim therefore of the trailer is to make the audience feel as if this trailer offers them the chance to be horrified when watching the film as a whole.
Identfiying your target audience is essential in creating a film or teaser trailer because when promoting the trailer you need to know what group to target this at, so furthermore what are there likes/dislikes in a trailer. Then if you correctly identify the audience you want to target and find out there general likes and dislikes then you can chose your place of promotion i.e where to most horror lovers go out? what would they watch? for example they may watch shows such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer and so therefore it would be better to promote the teaser there. If this is established then you know where and how to promote the teaser and therefore are being the most effective about reaching the broadest target audience possible.
Not only will my target audience be those who want to be scared when they see a film but they are generally those in there teens, perhaps late teens depending on the certificate of the film.

So the target audience I have established for my horror teaser is that they are going to be horror lovers who's desire in a film is to be scared by it. This target group is generally in there late teens from 16 up to around 20. The reason I say 15-20 is the in segment of the target audience is because they have to be 1. old enough to enter the screeeing, so its a 15 this rules out the possibilty of the majority of 14 year olds and below seeing the film. Also I say up to 20 is the prominent ages of those interested by the trailer and film idea because generally when you get into the early 20's you start to feel as if going to the cinema is a bit childish and even if they were over 20 they are more likely to see an  action film or thriller than a horror because they may feel a little too mature for this genre. So the general age is late teens and the gender is domiantly males but is still popular in females.

An example of this would be in the Hills Have Eyes 2 where there is more of a male audience (60% of those from a webpage who have seen the film are male, and 40% female). Also this research showed that 48% of those from the sample who watched the film were in the age band 15-24 showing that it is those in there late teens and perhaps young 20's who are the target audience I need to reach. Resarch collected from -- http://www.slideshare.net/lizmedia/target-audience-research-example?src=related_normal&rel=6909026

Primary Research

Primary Research is data collected by yourslef, or in other words not second hand data from the internet or any other external source. I decided then that the best method to collect any data would be to give out a questionairre to a sample of 20 and get there initial thoughts on the storyline, on the genre, on what they would like to see within that genre, what they like about a horror movie, and so on.

The Questionairre will consist of 5 questions answered by a sample of 20 A-level students who answered prior to the questionairre that they are fans of horror films . The 20 questions I will ask are as follows:

1. Which of the following would you associate the most with a horror film?

Blood         Violence             Darkness           Villains           Screaming          Other

2. Which of the following films do you like the most?

Friday the 13th         Haloween            The Ring            Saw         Freddie vs. Jason         The Grudge

3. On a scale of 1-10 (having read my storyline) how much does the theme and content of these ideas appeal to you? ( 1 = Don't appeal at all and 10 = Extremely Appealing).

1                 2                  3              4               5              6              7             8             9              10

4. What time of day do you like to watch horror films?

Morning                     Afternoon                          Evening                     Nightime

5. What is is that you like about horror films?

The tensious build ups      Not knowing what is going to happen next       The violence          The gore

Storyline

To begin with I am planning to open with an establishing shot of the location of the filming. This will be in a victorian style house dated back to 1906 which gives the film a spooky essence which I am trying to create in my film. After the establishing shot there will be brief scenes where we see both the male character entering the household and the younger female character preparing to deal with him. To go into the background a little basically in a past event the male character in some way or another has been involved in an incident whereby he has murdered the girls parents and she is seeking avengence. Avengence was on the shortlist to be the title of my trailer but I felt that it lacked any sort of energy and seemed too basic to work as my title.
Throughout the trailer there will be clips of the girl haunting the male character and the build up to this will be filmed and used to lure and attract the audience towards watching the film. The trailer will be pre-dominantly filmed in the dark to exppress the nature of the horror and violence filmed yet lighting is key so that the trailer can actually be seen and that its not too straining on the eyes, if it was it would make the trailer then less appealing to the target audience.

Soundtrack + Music

In looking into music I struggled a little because I didn't really know what I was looking for yet I looked into YouTube at the time in a very general manner typing into search engines "Horror teaser trailer soundtracks". In deepening my search for an appropriate soundtrack I found my self being familiar with a few, e.g. The Haloween Soundtrack. But after recieving feedback from my teacher I was directed towards a more independent piece of music, this meaning either make some music yourself with an instrument or otherwise.
However I tried to master this and came back with my only soundtrack however it sounded very poor and unprofessional so I decided to look on the internet for a soundtrack that would suit my trailer. After researching into this in more depth I realsied that all the soundtracks were good but they needed to match the trailer in that the music would slow down or stop during a tense build-up scene and would race when action from the film is being shot. So on this note I decided to return to the matter post-filming and once I had collectivily finalised my teaser trailer, then take music and possibly edit that music in accordance to the teaser trailer.

Micro Analysis of The Day After Tomorrow

I watched a short but detailed clip from the film “The day after tomorrow” and after watching the short clip several times I made this media analysis.

Camera
In the clip of the film there are several different camera angles and shots used to portray certain aspects of the film. The first type of shot I will talk about is the reaction shot. A reaction shot is where we see someone or something, in this case an event (the giant wave) and we see the reaction of the character. We see a reaction shot used twice on the bus driver but both reaction shots are used very differently. The first reaction shot of the bus driver is used when he is listening to a radio and is hearing the radio host warning everyone of the wave but you can vaguely hear the host as the radio station is being interrupted and from this the camera switches from a shot of the radio to a shot of the bus drivers reaction (puzzled and confused) to the unusual behaviour of the radio and the news he is hearing. Another shot of the bus driver comes when the camera is using another kind of shot, point of view shot, where we see exactly what the bus driver is witnessing as he looks down at his mirror and we see the wave crashing down towards him. The camera then switches from a point of view shot to another reaction shot, this time the reaction towards seeing the wave and this time he is shocked. We also see a reaction shot, the same as the bus drivers (shocked) from the passengers as they come to the front of the bus to take a look at the wave in shock.
Another reaction shot used comes when the girl is helping out people in a taxi and goes back to retrieve some passports. This time the camera combines a reaction shot with a tilt shot. As the man shouts to the girl to “look!” she slowly turns around and the camera tilts up as the girl looks up at the wave but before she looks up we are shown her reaction of shock and horror.

Music
Most of the music used is dramatic music used to emphasise the power of the wave and is done by using a variety of instruments ranging from drums to violins. The music helps contribute towards the dramatic build up to the demolishing of the wave. These are all non-diegetic sounds, sounds which are added to the film and would not be heard if you were at the incident. Although there are lots of non- diegetic sounds used there are also plenty of diegetic sounds used. Some of these sounds include the smashing of the window, the roar of the wave and all the scream and shouting in horror of the wave.



Special effects
The obvious special effect is the wave as we see in first building up to become greater, shown as we see it rising almost but not quite above the statue of liberty. Another special effect is the birds-eye view of the city being flooded down every street and avenue possible.
Another special effect is when the wave is actually destroying everything, we see it crash into the bus and seconds later we see the bus fly through the air an incredible distance.

Miss-en-scene
I will discuss two issues covered by the use of miss-en-scene; firstly I will discuss how the colour yellow is commonly portrayed to pick out main aspects or characters in the clip. An example would be the man with the dog who is obviously an important character and we see this with the yellow coat that is used to make him stand out.
Secondly is when we immediately see the statue of Liberty in the opening seconds of the clip being flooded and this shows the audience the loss of freedom as the statue of Liberty represents freedom but what is the main idea is that the whole statue is not flooded as the head and arm holding the flame is just above the wave. This represents a glimmer of hope as the flame is still burning and fighting the devastating events.