2. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages ? There are 5 different types of new media technologies which I used in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages. These are : Internet, Photoshop, sound, mobile, Microsoft word and a digital camera. These media technologies were vital in the creation of my film. I will know show you how I used these different technologies.
3. INTERNET I decided to chose Halloween H20 from Google images to analyze, while considering my own poster. I felt that the Halloween poster would have the most in my creation of my Horror poster.
4. INTERNET I went on YouTube to look for a teaser trailer that included similar traits to the trailer I wanted to construct. In the process of researching teaser trailers, I decided to analyze Scream 4 as I felt it had the most relation to my trailer, giving me ideas on the way to creating my own trailer
5. Internet - sound I copied the URL of the soundtrack onto the website videotomp3.net and then clicked convert, the image on the left showed that the conversion was successful. I then imported the music onto iMovie, where I added it onto my teaser trailer.
6. Photoshop I faced different problems while using Photoshop for the fist time. The main problem is faced was arranging the layers. This was particularly difficult because each layer had a different feature which needed tailoring. Other problems I faced was adding images onto Photoshop. This was due to complex features which has to be clicked on before images could be inserted. I have learnt many skills while using Photoshop. I now understand how to manipulate images and background. For example in the creation of my poster I faded out the image of the mask and also darkened the forest to create a more chilling effect.
7. phone I used this Samsung phone to call up the cast for my teaser trailer. The problems I faced when trying to arrange a filming session was when some of friends were busy or the weather was terrible to film. The phone also featured in my teaser trailer for a split second to help build up tension.
8. Digital camera I used a Hitachi digital camera to take good quality pictures of the villain. These pictures where used in both my poster and my magazine front cover. I uploaded some images of my filming onto my blog.
9. Sound I chose to use an ‘Intense music’ from YouTube in my trailer to create tension and suspense building up to a climax.
10. Microsoft Word Microsoft Word was frequently used in the planning , research and development process. I used this software to type all my research and development, which I then copied onto my blog. I found Microsoft Word very useful because while someone is typing it includes an auto-correct feature, meaning any spelling mistakes will be signalled to the person then will be corrected. Moreover Microsoft Word also allowed me to change the font size and font type will ease.
12. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products ? There are several ways my media product uses develops and challenges forms and conventions of real media product. These include: blood, knife, police, fear of the unknown and the darkness – all of these well known symbols within the horror genre. I will closely analyze each of these aspects in my evaluation:
13. Blood A way that my media product adhered and develops to forms and conventions of real media products was through the use of blood. I used blood in both my teaser trailer and magazine front cover. Real media products tend to include blood especially if the genre is horror. This is because the use of blood create a more horrifying environment amongst audiences. As blood is real and is phobia amongst some viewers, it increases terror. Blood links to the idea of death – a primary focus in horror. I think therefore the blood I included in both my media products was effective and worked well as it created caused my media products to become more realistic., and definitely set it into the horror genre.
14. Knife Another way my media developed forms and conventions was through the use of a knife. The use of knives has been a common theme throughout real horror films. Films such as Halloween and Scream have epitomised the use of weapons such as knives to great effect. I believe the use of knife worked well in my trailer and magazine cover as it created a sense of intimidation as the image of the villain raising the knife towards the audience creates a sense of disorientation. Also as weapons have been so familiar and successful in many horror films, I felt that I was right in implementing it into my promotional package. ‘Slasher’ horrors are very popular (Scream/Texas Chainsaw Massacre/Saw) and the use of the knife showed my audience that my film is a slasher horror.
15. Darkness The darkness used in my media products also developed form and conventions of real media products. I decided to use darkness in the most part of my trailer and in both my magazine cover and poster. Darkness creates awkwardness and anxiety amongst viewers, it creates that fear of the unknown. Darkness is often used in horror films because there’s the stereotype of villains coming out only at night, and also we can’t see well in the dark and fear comes mainly from not knowing what will happen! Also, the constant use of darkness is effective, I think, because it means my viewers are literally in the dark in terms of knowledge of my media product – they feel kept in the dark and they want to know more!
16. Police My media product also challenged forms and conventions of real media products, by the inclusion of the police in my trailer. The police features in two scenes in my trailer. Police are normally revealed in thrillers and crime type genre films, rather than the horror trailer I used them in. I therefore went against the typical conventions of horror films as I feel that in the current climate, there is a growing audience for films that challenge what we already know. Audiences are so good at predicting what will happen in films/genres that they want to be surprised again.
17. Teaser Trailers I also developed forms and conventions of real media products through the constructions of my trailer. I followed the most important rules needed to obey to create a successful teaser trailer. The rules include making sure you teaser trailer does not continue over a minute, a range of shots must be included, the music integrated into the teaser trailer should mount to a climax making sure the shots will follow are parallel to the speed of the music. I also hinted at the plot but did not give too much away, leaving enough mystery and suspense in the air amongst the viewers
18. Film Magazine Conventional film magazine covers tend to be very cluttered – or have a range of colours and text on them. The ‘bigger’ film magazines especially are full of images and text to advertise the magazine’s content. I challenged this convention because my magazine cover is really just focused on the one image, and the one colour – black, to create a sense of mystery which leaves readers in the dark while observing the front cover.
20. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts ? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVDBxfh-YR0 - This is the URL link, which shows a video of the media evaluation for this particular question. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJfpcvGxVyo – This is the URL link, which shows my final teaser trailer.
22. What have you learned from your audience feedback ? I received feedback from 20 people ranged 14- 40 yrs. Most feedback I received from my questionnaire was positive but there were also some negative aspects of my trailer, which could be improved. I will study each of the 12 questions individually and from there I will gain a greater understanding whether my trailer was effective.
23. HOW OLD ARE YOU ? This chart illustrates that most of the respondents were over 18
24. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE GENRE ? These results show that the majority of the respondents are horror fans, which means that the results collected would be more valid, making my results more genuine.
25. From watching the trailer did you know it was a horror film ? The result indicates that the main giveaway in terms of the genre was the blood (typical convention of horror)
26. Did you find the repeated shots of the 'bloody hands' and the 'blood dripping effective ? This bar chart demonstrates to me that I should maybe of included more of this particular shot.
27. Did you feel that the music fitted in well with the teaser trailer ? why ? This result demonstrates that the music incorporated into my teaser trailer was the right type.
28. Did you feel that the music increased as the editing on screen got faster ? This bar chart shows that the way I edited the music was very effective, as most of the audience was felt that the speed of both the shots and music increased together.
29. Did the understand why the shots of the coin at the beginning and at the end were used ? This particular result suggests to me that I maybe shouldn’t of included the shots of the coin as nearly of respondents did not understand why it was used.
30. While the villain was walking under the tunnel, did you think the sound of the news report in the background was used cleverly ? This particular result suggest that I was right to incorporate a the sound of a news report as the majority of respondents felt it was clever.
31. What was your favourite shot and why ? This data shows to me that shots of the knife and bloody hands was popular amongst respondents and indicated to me that I should of made more use of that shot.
32. Did you understand the titles and the messages they were conveying ? This result illustrated that the tiles I included was the right choice of text, as the majority of respondents understand the meaning behind the messages.
33. Did you feel that the trailer left you wanting to see more ? why ? This result showed that my trailer was successful in teasing the audiences as 75% said that it left them wanting to see more.
34. What things could I have improved to make my trailer better ? This result in particular reflected on the negative part of my trailer, where the audiences gave a range of reasons of what I could include in my trailer to make it better, the majority went for more action is needed in the trailer.
35. Do you think the shots used throughout the trailer engaged the audience ? why ? This result proves that I the shots I included in the trailer was effective, in the way I wanted engage my audience.
36. conclusion The results that I collected from 20 different people were interesting. The feedback showed that all respondents knew my trailer was a horror on the basis of watching it. There was some very positive feedback I received from audiences. The aspects of my trailer that audiences to a liken to was the repeated shots of the knife dripping and the bloody hands. Half of my audience said that it was their favourite shot. Aspects that my audience thought was effective was the music I used throughout the trailer. Respondents thought that it was effective with more the three quarters declaring that the music went very well with the images on screen. In a small part of my trailer I added a news report, to add a touch of uniqueness to my teaser. This was clearly effective judging by the results as 75% of my audience argued that the news report was cleverly used. I also received feedback on some parts of my trailer that could have been improved. 45% of my audience wrote that the teaser trailer should have included more action, which would have created more apprehension amongst the audience. Other feedbacks argued that the villain’s masked face should have been shown less to increase anxiety. From the audience feedback I have concluded that my teaser trailer was effective and successful as on average three quarters of the population gave exceptional comments on all the questions I asked.
