Evaluation question 1

1. By Kurtis Knott

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Title – one convention of a trailer is the title of the film. I think this is a major
convention that has to be included in every trailer to ensure the audience know what film
they are watching. Also by including a title in your trailer the audience will be left with a
image of the font and name which will encourage them to go watch the film if the trailer
is intriguing. The title helps to explain the storyline to the audience as it will give a
perception of the film straight away. The title will be like the hidden message behind a
film so ensuring that it is in a trailer is important. The title will also help to show the
genre of the film due to the fonts and the name. I decided to include the title of the film
in our trailer so that the audience could clearly understand the genre of the film and also
I wanted it to stick into their mind.
Stars names – The stars names are used in a trailer to show the audience the main actors
who are in the film. This is a great technique to ensure that people come to watch the film
as they might like the actors from previous films therefore come to watch the film. I
decided it would be effective if we added the actor’s names in our trailer to make it more
realistic to a real trailer. Even though the actor’s names are not famous if this was a real
trailer it will show the audience who they can expect to see in the trailer.
Voice over – Voice overs in trailers are used to usually tell the story or create some
tension. Some trailers also include voice overs from scenes in the film on other scenes. I
decided not to include a voice over in our trailer as I didn’t think it would be effective
considering the genre and with the music we have selected. This is because I think there
would be too much for the audience to concentrate on and there isn’t a lot of dialog in our
trailer. By including a voice over there would be a lot of talking and I thought it would be
better to tell the story with less words.

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Key moments – I think it is important that key moments are included in a
trailer as they will help encourage the audience to come watch the film. Key
moments from the film in a trailer will show parts of the main scenes in the
trailer without giving away the whole story. This is a good technique used to
draw in the audience to come and watch the movie as they will think the whole
movie could be that good. Key moments also help to give a little character
profile and help to set the pace of a trailer. I decided it would be essential to
include some key moments in our trailer to ensure we could create some
tension and encourage people to watch the trailer. I think without key
moments in our trailer it would have been boring and the audience wouldn’t get
the story as clearly.
Music – Music is another convention which is often used in trailers to create a
mood. This is a great technique as the dependant on the different genre of
the film the music can be changed to have a different effect on the audience.
I thought it would be beneficial if we included music in our trailer as it helped
to create tension and intrigue the audience to stay focused on the trailer. I
decided it would be good for my trailer to have music to ensure when could
create tension as the video with the creepy music helped to make a scary
setting. By using the music I thought it would be a great way for us to have
the audience on the edge of their seats.

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Images- Images are a big convention in a poster as it is the first representation of the film with
an image that your audience will see. A good image will stick in the audiences mind and give them
a insight on the film. I decided it was very important that we include a image in our poster to
help create some tension. As the picture of the church we used is very creepy it works well to
help create some fear for the audience. Also the idea of using a church may bring up questions
about the gothic or religious aspect we might have used in our film.
Text – Text is useful on a poster to help to explain the story of the film. The text also has to be
the right fonts to ensure you can create the right affect. We used text on our trailer to include
our tag line, title and then information about the film such as directors and actors. I thought it
would be good to use some text on our poster help tell the story and give an insight on our film.
The tag line plays a great role in creating some fear for the audience and leaves them asking
questions as to what were the signs. This would then encourage the audience to look for the
signs in the trailer. It is also important the font used for the text as it will give an image on your
film. we decided to use a scarier font to help create fear.
Layout- The layout of a poster is very important to ensure that you can clearly read the poster
and gain the right information. By ensuring that the images and text are in the right place it will
be easier to understand what you are looking for. I thought it was very important as to how we
laid out our poster as we had a big image and not so much information. I decided it would be a
good idea to have the image takes up the whole background as it would be beneficial because
straight away with the effect it would catch the audience’s eye. Also I thought when the
audience read to information they will still be looking at the image which will lead to it being on
their mind. I also recommended that we include the actor’s names on the poster but near the
bottom as the text was still big and clear to see so we wanted to concentrate on the tagline and
the image. We included the small print at the bottom of the poster as it would take away the
dramatic effect from the image if it was included any higher.

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Images- The images in a poster are a great way to give an insight on your trailer. This will
tell the audience what sort of film to expect to watch. We decided to stick to the same
image which is on our poster on our website as it was beneficial to show that they are all
linked. Also the image is a very dark, gothic and religious picture which all links in with the
horror genre that we were going for. As our image was a big church on the poster we
cropped it so the picture on the website was still a church however it is zoomed in. this
left the clock on display and really showed of the tall figure.
Text- Text is used on a website to show the audience different links to other pages for
example buttons. The text is important on the website in ensuring it is clear to read. We
decided to use minimal amount of text on our website other than the tag line and button
links. This was because we wanted to leave a lot of the talking to the title and the image. I
think too much text can be boring to read and less is more effective in ensuring you can
create tension.
Layout- The layout of the website is so important in ensuring that the audience can
clearly navigate around the website. It is important it is clear ad to how to get around the
website and why things are left on there. I recommended that we put the buttons on the
side so it is clear for the audience to see where they are. We also included the sign next
to the buttons when the mouse is hovered over them so they would need their own space.
I also recommended that we place the trailer clearly away from the buttons so that the
audience can just watch the trailer while navigating the website if they wanted to. The
tag line which is place above the trailer is in an effective position for the audience to see
read before they watch the trailer. This will then encourage them to look for the signs
whilst they watch the trailer.

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Tension – tension is a convention of a horror movie as the audience are prepared to
be scared. This is used to lead the audience towards a key moment or a jump scare
which will surprise the audience. I recommended that we include a lot of tension in
our trailer as due to the style of horror we want to keep the audience tense and
confused for as long as possible. By creating tension it will play with the audiences
mind therefore they will be asking questions and be left unsure.
Death- Death is another convention that is often used in horror films to scare the
audience. This technique works well as the audience will relate to who has been
killed and will be worried on their behalf. I decided it would not be good for us to
include death in our trailer as with the other techniques we have used it would be
giving too much information away about the film and I don’t think people would want
to come and watch it as much. This is as we tried to give a lot of clues about what
the film will be about however we didn’t give away any key information as to what
will actually happened. By including death it could take away the tension in the
trailer and leave the audiences questions answered.
Blood- Blood is used in horror movies to scare the audience as the realism of people
actually bleeding and being hurt will scare the audience. Blood is also red which can
be related to death and murder. I decided it would not be beneficial for us to
include any blood in our trailer as we are making a psychological style horror movie
which includes more supernatural features. The blood would mislead the audience
into thinking we have made a slashed style movie and they will see a lot of blood
however that isn’t the case. By not including blood it gave us the opportunity to
concentrate on creating tension

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Loud sounds- Short loud sounds such as a bangs or a scream is often used in
horror films to make the audience jump. This is often used as the tension is
high then a loud sound will just make the audience jump as they didn’t know
when to expect it. I recommended that we use some screaming in our trailer to
ensure we could try and scare the audience. We used it right at the end of the
trailer as it worked well to finish of the tension and show the audience what
they was looking for. This also however would come at a unexpected time to
ensure the audience was scared and jump.
Dark colours- Dark colours are often used in horror movies to help create
tension and leave the audience scared. By using dark colours it makes things
harder to see which again can help to have the audience asking questions. I
decided it would be a good idea to have a lot of dark scenes in our trailer as it
would leave the audience on the edge of their seat and scared. By looking using
the dark colours it makes things seem as if they are not the same and
something isn't right. This is effective to help me leave the audience intrigued
about what they are looking at however worried as to if something is going to
happen.