Evaluation Question 2

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

As well as our final product, the horror trailer. My group independently made other ancillary texts, such as a film poster and a film magazine front cover for our final product trailer, Subliminal. More research was required for these developments, I analysed three professional horror posters and three film magazine covers.

My ancillary texts all feature images from a photo shoot we done as a group using props that are also used in the trailer, such as the mask. Together, the poster, film magazine cover and horror trailer are all obviously linked, they all feature one of the main props we used in the trailer. Even without promotion the audience would be able to tell that all three products were connected.

Whilst making our trailer and ancillary, we had previously researched three aspects of promotion. They were audience, advertising and publicity. For the audience research we sent out questionnaires to students in the age range we were aiming for ,15 to 25 year olds.
Statistically this is the most likely age group to go and view a horror film at the cinema. Doing so we took our feedback and discussed if our film idea was ideal and what advertising techniques we should use to promote our trailer. With our feedback taken into account we proceeded with the next step, advertising.

Next we started advertising our horror trailer, the first ancillary text I made was the film poster. For the poster I used an image I thought wouldn't give much away and looked simple. Whilst on the photo shoot we placed the mask on a hook in a changing room. I chose this image for my poster, it's simple because it's resting on a hook and it already had a plain background because the hook was on a wall. The hooks in the image and the hook that mask is on, didn't really have a meaning. But from first sight it could be seen as quite sinister. A scary looking mask hanging on a hook in the middle of the wall, the audience might have started overlooking the poster and trying to imagine why it was in that setting, which is exactly what we want to happen, the film is all about messing with peoples heads and making them think. One thing I didn't like about the original image is that it had benches below the hooks in the left corner, which took away the sinister feel to the poster. So, using Adobe Photoshop I rubbed out the benches and replaced the empty patch with more of the same wall. I then made the image black and white and added a red film title at the top so it stood out. I also added mine and my teams names because we all starred in the trailer.

The next ancillary text I made to promote our trailer was the film magazine cover. For this development I used a already existing film magazine cover beneath mine as a guide for the title and positioning. I decided to keep with the black and white theme, like the poster because it brings out more details on the mask and makes it look more professional and sinister. Also with the background and image being black and white, the red text really stands out. I add a slogan to my magazine cover because I thought it looked a bit too empty and boring. This slogan fills negative space and also makes the audience think, almost like a clue for what is going to happen in the film. Another thing I added to stop it from looking too plain and boring, is a textured background, I also had to turn this texture black and white, but I think it works well, it stops the cover from looking to plain and it's not taking any attention away from the mask. I filled the rest of the edges with information of what is featured in the magazine, I think I have evenly spaced them out with the right amount of text and size of text so it looks even and professional. I placed the film title over the mask, but kept it off of the mouth and eye holes so it didn't disrupt the image, this way the image still gains the attention but is obvious that the title is connected with the image.

Together, our main products and my ancillary texts work very well together, they all include the iconic mask and reveal nothing, which makes it mysterious. I think the poster and magazine cover would keep the audience wondering and curious which is very effective in terms of the plot of the film. The mysterious effect of the poster and magazine cover support the film and keeps the audience thinking.

Evaluation Question 1

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Whilst I was analysing horror trailers earlier on in my blog, I began to notice a connection between the trailers. They all share similar forms and conventions, just like I think our group trailer  has with professionally made trailers.

I believe our group horror trailer has the similar qualities to a professionally made trailer, we have pointed out the features and typical lay out of horror trailers and used them in our own trailer. One of the first things we noticed was that there is always a slow start at the beginning of a horror trailer. I think producers do this to set a calm atmosphere which will then make the build up much more powerful. The slow starts will usually consist of sunny scenes with lots of clear lighting, maybe a laughter shot of one of the characters and if not pop, happy music then no music. Around about thirty seconds into the trailer the mood of the music and setting will change. There will usually be a title come up, this is a clear sign that the build up is about to begin. Produces use the build up to show what the audience should be expecting in the film, the calm start was merely to explain the storyline. Once the trailer has started speeding up, scene shot will start becoming shorter and faster. Producers do this to raise the audiences reactions and have them feel the atmosphere becoming more tense and scary.

Our group trailer has done this, the calm atmosphere is set, we have a slow start with sunny well lit scenes. The scene begins with a couple of friends driving around the countryside having a chat listening to the radio. Once it starts getting darker we have cued for the music and action to start then. Just like a professionally made trailer we gradually start speeding up and shortening our clips.

The atmosphere at this point in our trailer has started taking a turn. From a calm mood to now quick shots of the two boys wondering round the church and witnessing the killer. For this build up the music played a huge part, the audio we found started off slow and slowly sped up and got loud. This audio track ended up fitting in perfectly with out trailer, we were able to cut it down so the audio would build up with the clips. The audio in professional trailer is always in perfect timing with the clips and almost reflect what is happening in the clips at the time.



There will often be a finishing scene that the producer will add to make the audience jump, or leave them wanting to see more. This end clip is key because it's the last shot the audience will see and remember, if it makes the viewer jump or wanting more then the viewer is more likely to remember the trailer and want to go see the film.

The setting for our trailer worked really well with our storyline, finding some old ruins of a church would make an interesting place to investigate. Old abandoned ruins are always a typical place for a horror film, for example Chernobyl Diaries took place in the ruins of Chernobyl. The reason is because the cast think the place is empty, this is usually the calm part of the trailer and then once they see someone it's a shock to the audience and then the producer can build up the tension using chase scenes and clips of people being captured or killed.

The date and title of the film is always shown at the end of the film so there is more chance of the audience remembering the name and release date of the film. This is another thing we took inspiration from, we put our title and dates at the end of the trailer just before the finisher clip. Another reason we put the title and dates just before the finisher clip is so the audience think that trailer is over and then hear and see a loud quick clip of the horror character, scaring them more because it was unexpected.

Drafts for Poster, Magazine cover and Moodboard

The image above is my rough drawing of what I would like my film poster too look like. The image I will be using is of the mask we used as a prop, hanging on coat hooks in some changing rooms. My idea is simple and doesn't give any information away of what the trailer or film is about.

The image above is my rough designs for my film magazine cover. It uses the mask from the trailer and just like the poster doesn't reveal any information of the film, making it seem mysterious and the audience more curious about it. I feel that this will draw the audience in more, making them think and desperate to know more.

This is my mood board for our trailer. It's filled with images with a subliminal meaning. Subliminal messages that have been used in films and adverts before. This mood board explains the meaning of Subliminal messages, and gives examples.

General Audience Research

Horror films are not for me, but for many other people they are. People enjoy the tense build up scenes and the sight of a man being slaughtered alive. The intense adrenaline rush the audience gain from watching a horror film is what keeps people going to see them, which then keeps the genre of horror popular and in business.
Horror films are mostly viewed by males, from in the cinema or sitting at home. This is mostly because the bloody scenes do not appeal to females, it put's them off rather than draws them in. Females are typically more into romantic, love based films, often a shared experience with their boyfriend.
Statistically, Horror films are one of the most unpopular genres around to this day. This may be because of other genres growing to impress people, action or thriller films are very popular, because of the age availability and non scary/ bloody scenes that repulse the audience.

Independant Audience Research

For this independent research I made a questionnaire and handed it out around college, the results I gained were the results I was aiming for. The idea of this questionnaire was to gain knowledge of what the audience are interested in and wanted to see, also it helped to back up my idea and give me the confidence to continue with my trailer.
In total, I think this questionnaire was very helpful, it helped me understand what the audience from my teams age range wanted to see, in the trailers, posters and magazine covers.

Recce Report

In the trailer we decided as a group that we should see Victim #2 - Louis in his natural environment, we shot clips in the hall, as shown below and the computer room which is through the left white door. This is the house of Isaac, the killer, it's a typical family house in Great Yarmouth surrounded by the same house. This house is ideal because it's a common house on a common street that blends in with it's surroundings, making the audience think nothing of the unordinary.

The next and final place we filmed, was at the old ruins of the church. This is where most of the action and trailer take place, this is where the first victim, Kieran is taken and thought of to be killed. We also see the killer here and hiding in the trees just to the right of the church in one clip. This setting is great because of it's old beaten down walls making it spooky looking. Surrounded with graves giving it the ultimate horror look and feel. Also because it's so innocent looking, you wouldn't suspect a thing, when really, there's a lot more going on there than you would think.

Props and costume list

The iconic mask in the film, is possibly the most important prop. I has featured in the trailer and also my film poster and film magazine cover, as well as Kieran and Isaac's.
The mask it literally just a sand bag, but with the roughly cut eye holes and mouth holes, it becomes a scary frightening mask.  

Here is the t-shirt I wore during the filming of this trailer, it's a band merchandise t-shirt which is a typical teenage thing to wear on a casual day. We didn't notice until after filming, but my t-shirt actually has an antichrist symbol on the back print. This upside down cross represents Satan and his evil commandments.  

Me, Louis - Victim #2

This is Kieran my friend who gets captured in the trailer, and this is the t-shirt that he was wearing. This is another typical teenage piece of clothing, Adidas is a sport clothing line, showing that Kieran a typical teenager into his sports, such as football.

Kieran - Victim #1

This is Isaac, on the day of the church filming, Isaac borrowed my plain black coat to cover the logo on his hoody. Also on that day he was wearing black jeans and shoes, meaning he was all in black. The reason we thought Isaac should wear all black is because he would be harder to see in the dark, which is what we wanted for the finishing clip at the end of the trailer when Isaac pops up out of nowhere.

Me and Kieran wanted to dress like typical teenagers, doing that shows that we young and weaker than a grown man, helpless and unable to escape. Teenagers are often the victims in horror films because they are easy victims to kill.