1. Media Evaluation ‘ Pravus’ Oliver Duffy

2. Introduction There were four of us in total who worked together on the ‘Pravus’ project, Karl Buckel, Sean Golding, John Burton and myself. Together we decided that we would create a teaser trailer for a sci-fi, horror film. The initial idea was to do a teaser trailer for a modern gangster film, with influences from the series of the very popular Grand Theft Auto video games, however after sitting down and talking about it, the group as a whole decided to change this and do ‘Pravus’ instead. http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v =ksCQYu2S7Jk Click the link below to view the Grand Theft Auto IV teaser trailer…

3. Storyline We are creating a teaser trailer. The basic plot is that a Russian ship has entered British waters without the authority of the British Government. The British open fire and destroy the ship. This ship was actually a cargo ship full of Russian civilians. This prompts Russia to attack Britain. Russian scientists have developed a new virus from a strain of several other viruses to create the new virus, Pravus. There is no vaccine for this. Russian intelligence infiltrate the British water supply. Many people are killed, but everybody with the rare blood type 'o' survive. The poster which we used in the opening scene when the patient wakes up

4. In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? The film ‘Pravus’ has many genres in it. These include sci-fi, horror, thriller and action. It is of course a hybrid. Using lots of different genres gains a wider audience as there is a ‘bit of something’ for everyone. This is what we tried to achieve. The conventions we have used in the teaser trailer all establish the genres. At the start of the film when the patient wakes up, we have used a green filter. This adds a ‘sci-fi’ feel to it and also makes it appear futuristic. The two doctors are dressed with masks, gloves, and white coats – typically how doctors should be dressed, this helps to show that something is wrong because doctors are needed, and also links to the main storyline of the film, about a virus spreading. Another part of the film shows one character collapsing on the floor and dying. This establishes the thriller and horror genres which are present in the film. Before the character dies we can see him running through back alleys, the editing is fast-paced. This helps to establish the action genre which is present in the film. It was vital to use typical elements in the teaser trailer so that the audience can clearly see what genres are involved in the film, giving a taster of what is available to the audience if they were to go and actually watch the film. The main idea of a teaser trailer is to give the audience a taste of the film, but not give too much away. Using typical elements throughout the teaser trailer quickly establishes genres. The audience like genres because they like the expected. “ Repetition and recognition leads to expectation and anticipation” – G Burton

5. The back alley where one of the characters (John Burton) runs down and eventually collapses and dies. In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

6. Although generally we stuck to the rules of creating a teaser trailer, there were certain things which we did differently. A lot of the footage was shot with a handheld camera using a point-of-view angle. This is different to most teaser trailers around today. By breaking certain rules, as a group, we believe that it helps make our film standout and be different from the rest. We also used flashbacks of dead people covered up, this, alongside the beeping noise, was a chilling reminder that death was just around the corner! The flashbacks were edited and made into black and white, mainly to show the audience that it was a different time, so that it didn’t confuse the audience. The black and white effect also helped to make the shots look darker and more gloomy. The narrative of the teaser trailer was non-linear, the teaser trailer didn’t flow in chronological order. We didn’t use any voice-overs, music or noise from the characters, just the beeping noise heard commonly in a hospital. We also didn’t use any captions, this was so that we didn’t give too much away and believe that the video footage was enough to tell the story and let the audience work out what was going on for themselves. With breaking certain rules when creating this teaser trailer it has made this teaser trailer different to the rest. This would hopefully attract the audience and stop them getting bored of seeing the same types of stereotypical horror/sci-fi films over and over again. As a group we believe that the film is likely to be successful because it contains hybridity with the genres used. This gives the film a wider market for its audience. As well as this the teaser trailer is different and so offers something new to the audience. In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

7. We had lots of inspiration when creating this teaser trailer. Two films which inspired us a great deal were 28 Days Later, directed by Danny Boyle and the sequel 28 Weeks Later, directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Both these films are about a virus which is spreading from person to person, turning them into monstrous people. The 28 Weeks Later logo In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

8. The 28 Weeks Later logo contains more of the horror genre in it than the sci-fi genre, our film Pravus contains more of the sci-fi genre than the horror genre. This can be seen with the colour schemes used. We have stuck to the classic green sci-fi look A blood red colour is used here, linking to horror and torture In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

9. We also got inspiration from the teaser trailer REC. "REC" turns on a young TV reporter and her cameraman who cover the night shift at the local fire station. Receiving a call from an old lady trapped in her house, they reach her building to hear horrifying screams -- which begin a long nightmare and a uniquely dramatic TV report. (From www.imdb.com) The REC teaser trailer uses handheld footage and also uses a repetitive phone ring noise when it cuts from footage to a caption . Click below to view the REC teaser trailer… http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v =tqsOaV7NUVM In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

10. In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? One of the posters which we created was inspired by the ‘Saw’ posters. The ‘Saw’ posters are quite simple, but the impact it has on the audience is huge. Many of the Saw posters use lots of white space, with a simple caption and the title of the film. This worked well with our poster too and kept it a little different from the other two posters which we had created.

11. In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Title of the film in big, capital letters Caption – grabs audience attention and creates enigmas Caption – grabs audience attention and creates enigmas Powerful, chilling image, to frightening and grab the audience’s attention Powerful, chilling image, to frightening and grab the audience’s attention Title of the film in big, capital letters

12. In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? To design the magazine cover, I looked at several Empire magazines, looking closely at the conventions and how the magazine was laid out. The heading is in bold capital letters, helping to make the magazine stand out. The magazine then focuses on a new film and normally uses a character from that film (on the next page you can see Megan Fox and Daniel Craig are used.) Captions in bold letters are also used to stand out and grab the audience’s attention

13. In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Big, bold letter to make the title stand out Big font, attracts audience attention Important character from a film stars on front cover Caption, grabbing the audience’s attention Magazine’s website Date

14. In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Sometimes Empire changes the font, colour, size or adds effect to the ‘Empire’ logo to suit the theme of the main film which features in its magazine

15. In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? I kept to the standard layout which Empire use on all their magazines, after all, if it was to look like it was made by Empire, I would have to stick to the conventions. Just like Empire do, I included a date, the website, and kept a similar looking layout. I also included the website and a barcode to make the magazine appear genuine. I changed the normally red coloured ‘Empire’ logo to a sci-fi green colour to keep with the theme of the film Pravus .

16. In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Big, bold letter to make the title stand out Big font, attracts audience’s attention Important character from a film stars on front cover Caption, grabbing the audience’s attention Magazine’s website Date The magazine’s slogan Barcode A mention of what else is included in the magazine

17. How effective is the combination of your main products and ancillary texts? “ A brand is not a product, but a make of a product. Branding is about creating an image that people link to a certain type of product and turns a product into something unique. Repeating an advert over and over again, makes the brand image or message of a product, fix into our minds.”

18. The film ‘Up’ has used branding to raise awareness of the film. The same theme and colour schemes have been used on the website, the trailers and the posters, this is branding. The light blue colour used and the colourful animations suggests that this film is going to be a light-hearted, family comedy. The teaser trailer is released before the full theatrical trailer. The job of the teaser trailer is to gain awareness that the film will be released at sometimes. It is used to get people to start talking about the film, and creates enigmas, ‘what is the film about?’, ‘what’s going to happen next?’ Most of the time the teaser trailer doesn’t include an exact date of when the film is coming out, this is because the producer doesn’t actually have a fixed date and the film is probably still being made. The full theatrical trailer will contain a date of when the film is being released. It will also contain footage from the film, as when the full theatrical trailer is released, the film will have been finished, this gets the audience ready and advertises the film. Posters are also produced to raise awareness and establish a brand image. Most films will also have a website which contains information about the film. The branding will be similar on the website as well. How effective is the combination of your main products and ancillary texts?

19. To view the teaser trailer click below… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE_V0g9q4g0 To view the full theatrical trailer click below… http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v =ORFWdXl_zJ4 The same colour schemes are used in each poster How effective is the combination of your main products and ancillary texts?

20. Here on the ‘Up’ website, the theme is the same as on the posters and trailers How effective is the combination of your main products and ancillary texts?

21. As a group we created two posters as part of our branding. One of the posters was a full theatrical poster and the other was a teaser poster (see blog.) We decided to come up with the tagline ‘Death is Infectious’ and so this tagline was used on the teaser trailer, the full theatrical poster and the teaser poster. Using the tagline ‘Death is Infectious’ helps create a brand and create enigmas about the film. ‘Why is death infectious?’ ‘Can we stop this infectious virus?’ The teaser trailer and the full theatrical trailer both include a green filter on them, to add a sci-fi look. The teaser trailer is a bit different however because it is mainly black and white, with red blood dripping from the tap. This made the blood stand out better and made the poster appear more frightening. This is another example of how we have broken the rules, as although the full theatrical trailer and the full theatrical poster are consistent with the colour schemes and the branding, the teaser trailer is slightly different. The magazine cover also contained a green look to it, again giving a sci-fi feel. Evidently I feel that the brand image was created exactly how we wanted it to be. How effective is the combination of your main products and ancillary texts?

22. How effective is the combination of your main products and ancillary texts? The two characters on the magazine cover can be seen looking directly at the audience, a medium shot used. This is clever cinematography, widely used in magazines. Looking directly at the audience involves the audience, this helps sell the film and the magazine. The audience want to buy the magazine, as they feel the characters are selling the magazine to them, and they want to read more. Looking directly at the camera also involves the audience in the film. As the two characters appear frightening and have an evil-look to them, these characters are different from everyday people. This creates enigmas, what is the film about, what has happened to the characters? The audience will buy the magazine to find out more about the characters which star on the front and more about the film in general.

23. Other examples of branding… How effective is the combination of your main products and ancillary texts?

24. What have you learned from your audience feedback? We a questionnaire at the start of the project to find out about what the audience are interested in and how they use the media etc. 1) What is your gender a) Male (7) b) Female (3) 2) How old are you? a) <12 (1) b) 12-15 (3) c) 16-18 (5) d) 19-25 (1) e) 25> (0) 3) How do you like to watch films? a) DVD (2) b) Movie channels (1) c) Cinema (3) d) Internet(4 4) How many times a month do you go cinema? a) Never(2) b) 1(4) c) 2(3) d) 3(1) e) 4>(0) 5) What is your favorite film genre? a) Comedy (2) b) Horror (3) c) Science Fiction (4) d) Action Adventure (1) 6) What forms of advertising do you like? a) Billboards (1) b) Bus advertisements (0) c) Freebies (1) d) Posters (3) e) Magazine adverts (1) f) Interviews with cast (0) g) Trailers (4) 7) What is your favorite film industry? a) British (3) b) Hollywood (7) c) other (0)

26. These were somebody’s answers… What have you learned from your audience feedback?

27. These were another person’s answers… What have you learned from your audience feedback?

28. The results in bar chart form… What have you learned from your audience feedback?

29. The results in bar chart form… What have you learned from your audience feedback?

30. What have you learned from your audience feedback? I have learned that getting audience feedback is very important, as it assists in making a successful product. Without an audience, no product would be successful and so it is vital to have an audience. The teaser trailer its self has many strengths. It involves the audience and creates enigmas about what has happened and what is going to happen next. The brand image and theme is created well and the look of the whole project as a whole I believe looks professional. However the project does have a few weaknesses. As the target audience was male, many females wouldn’t be interested in the film. Many females enjoy romance in their films, in the film Pravus there is no love interest. If we were to do this again, we could include a love interest, and advertise it in the teaser trailer, this could possibly widen our audience appeal. The film would also be unsuitable for younger audiences as it is violent and gory, although being a sci-fi/horror, this is what the audience would expect.

32. How did you use media technology? To create the teaser trailer and the rest of the project I used several pieces of equipment… Apple Mac – edit the project using certain software Digital Camera – take location shots Pen Drive – save files externally and transfer files to other PCs Camcorder – record the footage of the teaser trailer

33. How did you use media technology? The Apple Mac we used had a few disadvantages. As a whole the computers are fantastic, but we experienced a few difficulties. The Mac which we used didn’t save our work correctly, and so we had to begin the editing process again several times. As many people were using the internet for research and other purposes, the network became very slow. This was annoying when trying to stream videos online from websites such as YouTube, it caused the videos to keep stopping and websites took a long time to load.

34. How did you use media technology? The quality of the camcorders was quite reasonable. When played on a big screen the footage didn’t appear to look pixalated. The size of the camcorder was also very reasonable, it was easy to carry around and wasn’t heavy at all. However, the battery life didn’t seem sufficient or reasonable at all. We had to keep changing the battery to shoot all our footage which was quite an annoyance.

35. To create the teaser trailer and the rest of the project I used several pieces of software… Final Cut Express – edit the footage Adobe InDesign – create posters and magazine cover Adobe Photoshop – edit images How did you use media technology?

36. How did you use media technology? Adobe Photoshop is a very good piece of software for editing images. The only problem is that it is very complex to use. The wasn’t too much of a problem to me however, as I am quite familiar with the software, having used it several times before. When cutting out images to use on the magazines and the posters, it took quite a lot of time and skill to get the image looking professional. To do this I had to zoom into the image, and carefully cut round the people to make it appear smooth, jagged edges do not look appealing!

37. How did you use media technology? Adobe InDesign is another very good piece of software. I didn’t have any problems using this, as again I have used it several times before. This piece of software was used for laying out images that had already been edited on Photoshop. For example, for the magazine, I cut out the images of myself and John, and then created the layout and the rest of the design of the magazine on InDesign. I found InDesign to be slightly less complex.

38. To create the teaser trailer and the rest of the project I used several websites for ideas, inspirations and information… www.youtube.com – looking at other trailers for inspirations, uploading Pravus for extra feedback www.imdb.com – looking at information about other films How did you use media technology?

39. Final Cut Express allowed us to edit the footage which we had taken. For the flash backs we added a black and white effect. When the patient wakes up at the start we used a green filter, for the sci-fi look. Final Cut Express also allowed us to crop bits of footage that we didn’t need and allowed us to create a fast-paced teaser trailer. Throughout the teaser trailer there is a constant beeping noise. This had to be downloaded off the internet due to us not being able to create the noise ourselves. Also the EKG flat line which occurs in the teaser trailer also had to be downloaded off the internet because we weren’t able to create this ourselves in the time that we had and the facilities that we were given. The EKG flat line was downloaded off YouTube, the link is, http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v =t8i79SWkBIo . How did you use media technology?

40. The timeline on Final Cut Express, this showed how long the footage was, and was useful when cropping footage Various buttons to edit the footage, crop material etc. How did you use media technology?

41. How did you use media technology? As a group, we all participated in editing the film. Karl did the majority of the editing. After shooting the footage the first thing to do was to upload the footage onto one of the Apple Macs. Then Final Cut Express was opened and the editing process could begin. Black and white and green filters were the main filters used, along with other editing techniques, such as giving the dead people on the floor of the gym, a grainy old-style look. This helped to show, without any captions that this was in the past. As ‘actions speak louder than words’, we believe that it was more appropriate to add certain effects on certain shots to show the time, rather than simply adding a caption.

42. The software which I enjoyed using the most was Adobe InDesign. In the teaser trailer there is a newspaper with the title, ‘Pravus Virus Spreads’. This was edited using Adobe InDesign. First of all I found a normal newspaper. I then edited it on Adobe InDesign to change the title to make it relevant to the film Pravus. The original image The edited image The title is now relevant to the film The bullet points are relevant to the UK How did you use media technology?

43. We created two teaser posters and a full theatrical poster, this went along with the brand image of Pravus. The two teaser trailer posters How did you use media technology?

44. The full theatrical poster, this contained the names of people involved in the film How did you use media technology?

45. We also created a magazine cover in the style of the major film magazine ‘Empire’. How did you use media technology?

46. Conclusion I feel that the Pravus project has been a great success. I believe that the brand image can clearly be seen – it is evidently a sci-fi film with elements of horror. This can be seen in everything, the magazine cover, the posters and the film its self. The green colour which is used on almost everything creates the sci-fi feel well, and when the green filter was added to the characters on the magazines and the posters, it made them appear more frightening and gave them an element of evil about them. The green filter was also used on the teaser trailer, keeping a consistent theme and keeping to the brand image. I personally believe all the products turned out quite successful and look quite professional.

47. Teaser Trailer I was involved in all aspects of the making of this project, as was the rest of the group. I contributed to making and designing the magazine, designing the teaser poster, edit parts of the footage and getting background information and research. To view the Pravus teaser trailer click the link below… http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v = VlXwZkhJCqc