Media Blog A2 Research

1. http://www.unfriendedmovie.co.uk/

3. Like the Orphan website, the trailer plays through straight the way. However, this time
it takes over the whole screen - which doesn't give any features to close down.
Therefore, forcing the audience to watch the trailer and understand the conventions
behind them. This is useful because the website homepage, except the 'gallery'
tab only include one image from the actual film. Yet the photo they do give is needed
to be supported by the trailer in order to show connotations from the films narrative.
So by including the trailer to be played straight the way when the audience open the
website, they will be exposed to the information the creators wanted if they haven't
already watched the trailer. As well as this, the trailer has the same look as the videos
in the film, creating a sense of surprised for the audience, as they cannot click off the
video like the characters in the film.

4. This is the same image given in the poster, yet they got rid of the last search about
possession. A Google search of Laura's role in the film, her videos from the party and her
suicide. This search is seen at the start of the film, in the perception of her best friend,
Blaire. Which establishes the meaning in the opening, however, showing this in the
poster and website develops curiosity into the searches. So, the audience want to find
out what happened in the film for them searches to be popular. The target
audience should understand the convention of the search looking like an actual Google
search, and that the suggestions that come up are popularly searched. Specifically again
as the image is placed in the top of the page, where the Google bar would be positioned.
The image is all in white, standing out against the black and grey background, otherwise
it wouldn't stand out.

5. The background also stand outs, although background allows the
white text to stand out. The colour is black, with grey stripes that
have an effect to stark white contrasts. The convention of this is to
appear from the computer, connotation the narrative of Laura's
dead soul hacking into the groups computer and harassing them.
It creates a eerie tone, especially as the audience may feel its from
them as they are on their computers/laptops too. Again, the
background is a typical conventional colour for a horror/thriller,
mainly due to the tone and atmosphere it creates. The same
colours are seen in the trailer and poster background.

6. The film title arguably demands more attention from the audience.
The text is centred on the page, connoting a dominance and the
colour of white allows it to stand out against the black/grey
background. The title is also the largest text on the page, in sans
serif, demanding to be read by the audience. So, the title could be
wanting the attention a like the supposed antagonist in the film.
The overall look is as if from the social network they use in the film,
Facebook. Through the capitalised sans serif.

7. The same tagline is given in the trailer and poster as well as the website. The
month, May in this case, depends upon the country. For example, for the
Canadian website it says “This April”. By including this again, the tagline will
stick and be remembered by the audience. The tagline, about revenge being
taken online, also connotes the rest of the narrative. Making the audience
question why the revenge is going to happen, how and the roles of the characters
in the previous trailer. As revenge is a very common theme in thriller/horror.
The colour red also connotes fear and danger, again building on the audiences
curiosity of what will happen to the characters and why the should feel fear.
The second title, positioned underneath the main
title gives the audience further information about the
film being in cinemas. Yet this tagline is bigger than
the one above. Standing out for marketing reasons.

8. Again, this is mainly used for legal reasons yet the audience may
be seeking this information. These are placed at the bottom of
the page, in a line altogether. These aren’t meant to catch the
audiences attention, as they don’t include a lot into the film
except the producer. Yet they do allow the users of the website to
feel informed about things, such as the cookie policy that they
may not agree on.

9. Unlike the Orphan website, the Unfriended film as
their own website. Even different ones for different
countries, which give different information. This
shows that the film was predicted to do well, as
mainstream audiences may only want to find
information about the film. As unlike niche audiences,
they don’t want to find out what the other companies
make as they seek films from major advertisements
and social groups. However, this is becoming popular
even for the major studies in Hollywood.

10. The website includes the social media symbols used by the target audience,
in order for them to find other ways to seek information and spread the
film. In effect, generating a larger audience for the film. On Facebook for
example, they’ll be able to like, follow, like posts, comment on posts, share
posts, leave comments and request people to join the page. The audience
will also feel more involved in the development on the film as well.
For the layout, they are similar to the title of the website. Standing out in
the upper right corner of the page. Although they do not add importance or
connote anything for the film, they do include things for the audience.