2. Is there a distinct house style?
Similarities…
• Well firstly, the biggest similarity between the pieces is the image of the
antagonist, the clown. I think when promoting a horror film, you have to
promote the villain as this is a convention of horror genre, and it
automatically makes the audience realise the genre. The idea of a clown is
already recognised by many as scary, and with the black, white and red
conventional colour scheme used in all 3 pieces, it gives a dark feel to the
texts with the symbolism of blood. On the website and trailer itself the
same ‘pop goes the weasel’ music tune is used, as this relates to the
children in our trailer, and gives the pieces a creepy, circus feel, and also
links with the tune played by the jack in the box. In my poster and website,
the H and A in The Entertainer title are in red to symbolise laughter from
the clown, with the tag line of ‘he’ll have the last laugh’, however the
poster and website were individual pieces of work so for the trailer, we
had to change the font style in the titles, so they do not link very well.
However, I do think that all the pieces work together and the audience
would be able to associate them with the same film due to the image of
the clown and the film title.
3. Has your original poster/website
influenced/changed the development
of the final trailer?
• I don’t think so, I think rather than looking back to the
poster and website when filming, we used the
storyboard and animatic to remind us of
ideas/structure of how we wanted the trailer to look.
The poster and website don’t really give much of the
story away, just that the antagonist is a clown, and the
synopsis on the website gives an idea of the story of
the whole film. We used the synopsis to help plan the
storyboard, and then when it came to filming we used
the storyboard to help plan the trailer. I don’t think it
changed anything, but it influenced the ‘pop goes the
weasel’ music we included in the trailer because we
had already used it in our website.
4. How would they work together/or not
in promoting the film?
• I think they would work together really well, all 3 pieces connect to
different audiences, you have the poster which can be advertised
on billboards, buses, bus stops etc.. the website, which can be
linked on social networking sites such as twitter, facebook etc.. and
the trailer can be advertised on television, in the cinema etc… so
the whole package reaches lots of different people and different
types of audiences such as a younger technological audience as well
as adults who drive past/get the bus and see the film advertised. I
think they all connect, they all have similar style, images, etc.. so
the audience will see they work together to promote the film. As
well, if the same audience member sees all 3 pieces, the film will be
remembered as they notice it everywhere, making them more likely
to want to see it.
5. Which clearly targets the intended
audience and why?
• I think the website targets the intended audience the most
because it’s the most interactive and from my research, I
found that the most popular age range to see horror films is
18-24, so I think this age range uses the internet the most,
and social networking the most so they are most likely to
have facebook/twitter/youtube accounts etc.. so can
like/follow/link the pieces and website and share it with
their friends and followers. The website can also include
many different things, such as backstage gallery, synopsis,
up to date newsfeeds, as well as including the other pieces,
the poster and trailer, so I think the website would appeal
to the audience the most as you can see everything to do
with the film!
6. Which elements were you proud of?
• I was proud of a lot of things in my 3 pieces, firstly in the poster, I was
proud of the layout as it wasn’t conventional title at the top etc.. the
image and text were nicely laid out I thought, and also I was proud of
manipulating the image of the clown as before I started the poster I had
never used Adobe Photoshop before, so I was proud of what I achieved
with the poster to say I had never used that software before. With the
website, again I had never used Weebly before, so I was proud of learning
how to use that successfully, and I had never used Adobe Flash before
either, so I was proud of the rollover image I created on the homepage
where if you roll over the image with the mouse the clown pops up behind
the wardrobe. In the trailer, I again had never used Adobe Premier before,
so I was proud learning to use that, my favourite bit of the trailer is the
arcing shot in the woods around the protagonist Jennifer so I was very
proud of that shot. Also I think the trailer was edited very well, and I was
proud of the ideas I had for the trailer story when creating the storyboard,
such as the clown character, the party scene, running down the stairs, the
clown creeping up behind the boy etc..
7. Is one piece stronger than another?
• To be honest, I think the poster is the weakest of the 3
pieces, just because it does the least, I think the trailer
is the strongest as it includes many different things
such as different types of shots, special effects, editing,
includes all the different characters, music which builds
the tension throughout, establishes where the film is
set, explains the story, leaves the audience wanting to
see more and actually go out and watch the film, is the
most scary out the 3 as the clown comes to life, it
includes titles, star names etc, so yeah just because it
includes the most variety of things, I think the trailer is
the strongest as it will visually engage the audience the
most and entertain them the most.
8. If you had to make improvements to
one, which would it be and why?
• As I said, I think the poster is the weaker of the 3, so I
would make the image stand out more, maybe highlight the
background around it, include more of the colour red,
maybe include the knife to follow conventions of the
antagonist holding a weapon, maybe include an image of
the protagonist Jennifer screaming or something. However
I could make improvements to all 3, the trailer could be
edited better and fit the music better, the voice over could
be creepier, the news reporter made to look more realistic
by playing the video on a television and then recording
that. I think the website could also include a link to a
facebook page for the film, include more things on the
home page
9. How have your skills developed over
the course of the portfolio?
• I think over the course of the advanced portfolio
my skills have developed greatly. I’ve learnt how
to use all types of software such as Adobe
Premiere to edit the trailer and animatic, Adobe
Photoshop to create the poster, Adobe Flash to
include an animation in the website, Weebly to
create the website and so on.. I’ve also learnt
how to use equipment such as the camera,
microphone, tripod etc.. I’ve also learnt the
conventions of horror film trailers, posters and
websites so that I am able to create my own.
