2. In what ways does your media product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
My products take on conventions of the real life media Within my film, the close-up of the villain is more
in many ways. In real horror films, many close-up shots obvious than the other films seen as I have used a Cu
are used to emphasise the feelings and expressions on rather than a MCU. I have used this to try and show
someone’s face, and I use these in my trailer also. I more horror in her face as she is the killer in my film
focus in on my character and killers face to show the and needs to scare my audience.
emotion felt.
Paranormal Activity
My film: Down to the Woods
Sinister
3. Question 1 Continued
The narrative from my film is similar to real films in the way that it develops throughout and uses typical plot
lines. Similar to any horror film or trailer there is a murder to draw in the audiences attention. Murder is a
typical convention in horror films and this is why I have included this main convention in my trailer. The
murder aspect of my trailers develops as there is the potential for more when we see the killers face as the last
shot of the trailer. This creates tension and further draws in the audience. The plot line is also similar to that of
regular horrors such as scream as it includes teenagers . Teenagers are typically used as this age range are the
typical audience watching the film. Teenagers are used so the audience can relate to what is happening.
Within my poster, I feel it takes on real forms from the media, for example in the layout and lighting. Similar to the
‘scream 4’poster, my killers face takes up the entire poster to entice the audience. When my poster would be blown
up to advertise the film it will draw the eye and achieve its purpose of successfully advertising the film. Also similar
to the scream poster, the whole background is black to show the genre of a horror. The dark background is a
convention of horror poster to give an eerie feel. I've also taken on the scream poster with the tagline being located
at the top of the poster as it gives more of an idea as to what the film will be about.
4. Question 1 Continued
For my magazine cover I have taken on the conventions of the horror magazine
‘HorrorHound’. The format of the magazine has been chosen as to accommodate with how
the eye flows down the page. The masthead is obviously and conventionally placed at the
top of the page. The font is ‘bloodlust’ to show that it is a horror magazine and as this is the
first thing the eye see’s, the genre is established right away. It is one of the first things seen
because if this was sold, it would be sold in waterfall shelving and would be the only thing
on the magazine seen. The background colour is also black to link with the poster and
create a successful campaign of products. Like the HorrorHound magazine, I have the name
of the film the magazine is promoting at the bottom of the page in blood red to make it
stand out below the picture. The text is on top of the image which helps it stands out and
this creates a convenient layout as this is where the eye is drawn when reading down the
page. I also have a sidebar with pictures and writing to advertisement other sections in the
magazine to make my audience interested in the magazine, to make them want to read it. I
have taken on the layout of HorrorHound as this is a successful horror magazine and this is
what I aim for my magazine to be.
5. How effective is your combination of
main products and ancillary texts?
I feel my products are effective as a whole combination because they link up well and connect with the
horror genre. They link well as the killers face is featured in all three projects to show a clear link. The
killers face is the main focus of the poster and magazine cover and is shown at the very end of the trailer
as the main shock. It shows that this is the main feature and shows the audience what to look out for.
Similar to the Sinister campaign. The poster includes a bloody picture of Beghoul’s face and includes his
face as a shock at the end of the trailer coming down in a quick snapshot. I think this convention of
having a recognisable face of a main character or killer works well in a campaign because it keeps a
consistent focus for the audience. They have a recognisable face on each product making the campaign
stick in their mind.
Sinister Campaign
Down to the woods Campaign
6. What have you learned
from your audience feedback?
From my audience feedback I have learnt how successful my products are separately and together as a campaign. Having
audience feedback helps to improve and see your own products from a different perspective as an audience can surprise you
in what they say.
The feedback in my research and planning helped me make my creative decisions within my products. I conducted
questionnaires which was important as it helped me to see what my target audience would want from my products. I
collected feedback straight my source making my products successful now. For research in the planning stage, I also asked my
audiences opinion on design, asking them which fonts they preferred out of a selection of 4. This aided me in using this font
and therefore knowing it will be successful.
My audience feedback has shown me whether my products work as a campaign as I have asked specific questions as to why
my audience think they work or not as a campaign. These were again helpful as they were open ended questions as I asked
‘why?’ they think they work as a campaign. This helped me to see what I had achieved well and what I should do next time to
create an even more successful campaign.
My audience showed a liking in my three products and thought they worked together in a campaign. They thought this as the
colours and fonts matched on all three and the killers face is featured in each product. They were also drawn into the trailer
which showed I had achieved my aims of drawing in my audience to watch the entire film. They liked the suspense element
and thought this added to effect of being drawn in.
My feedback for my production stage has been in the form of video and question. I showed my audience my campaign and
proceeded to ask them questions about it. This was successful as they were open ended questions and allowed my audience
to add extra information to the questions asked to further my feedback. This was important as it allowed me to gather extra
information on my products and assess whether or not my campaign has been successful.
Audience feedback is particularly important to find out whether you are appealing to the right people. there will always be a
target audience in mind and achieving audience feedback allows you to find out whether you are on the right tracks and are
appealing to them.
In the film industry audience feedback is used for this theory in many ways. Films on a high budget will have test screenings
with their target audience to see whether or not they like it and ask how it should be changed. This helps the film industry
gather information on their film and what needs to be changed to make it more successful to gain money. This shows the
importance of audience feedback.
7. How did you use media technologies in the
construction and research, planning and
evaluate stages?
I have used many new technologies in each stage of this project and most have been helpful and made my work to a higher
standard.
In the research and planning stage some new technologies used were the use of slide share. This is an online programme that
helps make a power point presentation into a slideshow creating a more aesthetically pleasing presentation. This helped make
my simple presentations into slideshows more interesting for a reader.
In the production stage, a new technology I have used has been the filming equipment to film my trailer. This included learning
how to use this equipment and included a zoom H4, tripod, monopod, boom mic, and the camera to a higher level. These
products were used in the production stage of my trailer and proved obviously useful; it was a huge advantage using specialised
equipment as it made filming easier. The equipment was learnt quite quickly so once everything was set up, filming moved
swiftly and become a simple job.
Within post production of my trailer another new technology used was ‘Final Cut Pro’. This allowed me to edit my clips and make
transitions between them. Alongside this I used another new technology called ‘Sound clip Pro’ which allowed me to add music
to my trailer creating the suspense needed for my horror. These programmes are specifically used for making trailers even in the
real world, so they proves extremely useful to use for my campaign. Once I had learnt the basics for these programmes they
became easy to use and made editing swift and simple. It allowed me to turn simple video into a trailer with interesting
transitions and sound to make a more successful trailer. Also within the post production a new or advanced technology used has
been Photoshop. This was used in AS, however in my post production of A2 I learnt how to use it to a higher level. For example,
I learnt how to manipulate images and make them look professional. I changed the brightness and contrast on my magazine and
poster to make it look more eerie and striking. They are more contrasting making them striking and my audience commented on
this saying this effect worked well. Finally I learnt how to download more fonts rather than just having the standard ones to
work with as this made my work look more professional and similar to real life products.
