Evaluation before ancillary tasks

How does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
•In our trailer we followed many conventions seen in horror movie trailers in order to convey the genre and themes to our
audience. For example the trailer starts with slow establishing long shots showing the location of a street, which the
audience can identify with because it is a common and usual setting. We used slow pan movements to create the idea that
something will happen due to the low angle and pan up of the house, conveying importance and power. This sets the
equilibrium and is often used in slasher trailers to show the setting in which the disequilibrium will take place. Our setting is
a street with Victorian houses, where the victims are being watched from next door. This follows the conventions of some
slasher films where the victim is stalked and isolated in their own home, and provokes fear in the audience because the
home is considered a safe place. Another setting which conforms with the convention of horror films is the woods/forest,
often a common setting in psychological horrors as well as slasher films. The setting allows us to use the surroundings to
create a feeling of being watched and followed, for we have used a low canted angle through the leaves and branches
which creates a sense of a villain POV, creating tension for the audience because they expect something to happen, which
is important to the horror genre because that is what creates the edge of seat tension in the audience. It is key for our
horror trailer to rely on the conventions of horror films because we can convey the same effects as them, meaning our
audience will have previous knowledge of horror films and when they see a convention, they make the assumption that
something scary will happen, creating suspense.
We have also used conventions through the characters we chose to feature in our trailer, for example the villain; we used
dark clothing, like a black coat with a high collar, and a character motif of the bowler hat covering his face to create enigma,
and using low key lighting to create shadows and mystery surrounding the villain, so the audience does not know exactly
who he is. It is important to withhold the full identity of the villain because this makes it mysterious, whereas if the full
identity of a character is revealed, the audience usually learn to empathise and trust this character. This can happen with
the victim. The villain is reminiscent of Freddy Krueger of Nightmare on Elm Street, as he has a hidden face and is
instantly recognized by his hat. The younger girl also follows the convention of many psychological horror films, where a
child is often affected by their mind and can be the source of the disequilibrium. In our case, she is the alter ego of the
villain, as he is affected by multiple personality disorder which fuels his murders. This is similar to the psychological horror
film “Identity”, which I analysed, where the ten strangers meet by chance at a motel and die one by one, where in fact it is
the main character’s fractured personalities created by multiple personality disorder. The personalities die one by one
leaving the actual murderer, which is the child who has gone unnoticed through most of the film. Unlike our film, there is a
big twist in which we are made to trust the main character but half way though our perception changes when we find out he
is the murderer due to his personalities, and the motel scene is inside his head.

Another convention we used is through the victim, as she is a young female teenager. This is often the main
victim in slasher horrors, for example in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This fits the stereotype of teenage girls
being killed early on, usually because they are rebellious and sexual objects. We used hand-held tracking shots
as she runs, creating a sense of urgency, fear and instability which in turn makes the audience feel the same
way, allowing them to empathise with the fear of the girl. we also used a POV shot of her view as she looks
behind her when she hears a noise. This scene can link the The Blair Witch Project, as it is filmed through
shaky hand held and POV, as well as the setting of the forest. They are isolated in a dark location and it makes
it difficult for the audience to see whats going on, which the characters are also experiencing. The dark cinema
setting also helps with this, as it disconnects the individual in the cinema from the people around them and the
outside world, as well as the link between the darkness and isolation on screen and the similar darkness and
isolation of being in the cinema setting . This helps the audience identify with her and creates suspense. we also
used many editing techniques which comply with the conventions of horror films.
Mainly we used fade in fade out dissolve between shots, using a slower fade in the establishing equilibrium and
a faster, more urgent edit towards the end to create fear in the audience and to reflect the teaser shots used in
many horror films. This can be seen in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre trailer, in which fade in fade out
transitions are used to tease the audience showing only some of the extent of the main events. The shots which
are being shown along with the sound create a sense of blinking or flashing, making the audience feel nervous
and suspenseful. Another editing technique we used was continuity editing and jump cuts. For example, when
the villain is pulling up in the car we used a jump cut, which helps show the full extent of the action being filmed,
but in a condensed time which helps move the trailer along in plot without creating an excessively slow pace. in
order to show the importance of the character, and continuity editing is used when the victim is jogging in the
forest, as we see her running from different angles, enforcing the feeling of being watched. Also the range of
editing techniques in the trailer make it more interesting and diverse, creating different paces for the action in
the trailer. This is where the pace begins to fasten, which induces a more aware and nervous atmosphere for
the audience compared to the earlier slower paced editing. We used low key lighting in a few of the shots to
create enigma and fear, as many horror films take place in the night or in the dark. Another reason for this is to
create shadows, which create an important sense of enigma in the trailer, by using a small light from a high
angle looking down on the villain, or another angle being back lighting of the villain, we could create strange
shadows on the face making it difficult to see and contorting the features, as well as creating a silhouette of the
character motif – the hat and profile shadow – which allows the audience to recognise him without seeing him
on screen. This enduces fear in the audience as we know he is there although we cannot see exactly what he is
doing.

We also used flashing, as a representation of insanity, like the villain's schizophrenic type mind. For
example, during the cutaway flickering shot of the two personalities of the villain, we used a flashing light
which rapidly flashed brightly and left dark gaps between the flashes, creating a moment of suspense for the
audience when they cannot see clearly because of the lighting. Furthermore, in post production we added a
“blinking effect”, adding more flashing, which emphasized the suspenseful and disorientating lighting
technique. We used quick cutaway editing with alternating shots of the two minds of the villain, leaving each
shot for only a second between the cuts, creating disorientation for the audience which the villain himself is
feeling. This, however, does not let the audience empathise with the villain but creates further fear because
of the mental disorder and we question what this will cause him to do. This technique conveyed the mind of
the killer as insane and fits with the psychological horror conventions, because often quick flickers of shots
are used to show mental distortion. For non-diegetic sound, we used a continuous low distorted type music
that sounds suspenseful and eerie. This was used for the first part of the trailer, created a tension before the
main events happen. We also used a dramatic high pitched sound which provokes fear in the audience,
especially when something is about to happen. Typically, this is a convention used in psychological horror
films to create a sense of unease and suspense in the audience. It is also used in the influencial horror film
Psycho, in the famous shower scene. The high pitched, urgent music depicts the horror and fear the victim
feels as well as mimics the action of the knife. There is also silence during some parts of our trailer, for
example when the girl is listening at the wall and the villain appears behind her. This contrasts with the loud
screams and music used, to create different atmospheres within the trailer. The effect of the silence is to
create suspense in the audience as they hold their breath to wait for what is going to happen. As the girl is
listening, the audience too hold their breath to attempt to listen for what she is hearing – overall we
empathise with the victim through the use of silence in this small section of the trailer in which with music
would not be as successful. We decided not to use a drumming fast paced music for the action, which a lot
most horror films do, especially slasher films, because we wanted it to be more eerie like the music of a
psychological horror, although our trailer contains slasher conventions and elements. Through this, we have
successfully achieved our aimed genre, which was a slasher psychological hybrid genre. An example of a
psychological slasher horror is the Saw films, in which the psychological element is the killer tortures his
victims through a game format which they have to solve or work their way out of. The slasher/horror element
is through the gruesome killing of the victims, and many conventions of blood and weapons. Additionally, we
used the diegetic sound of the screaming, which was also used for a sound bridge over the teasing shots
and the title screen. The scream combined with the quick editing and fade to blacks creates fear in the
audience because they can’t see the full extent of what is happening which makes them want to see the film.

What have you learnt from audience feedback?
• In the pre-production stages of making our trailer, we used audience feedback through means of a
questionnaire to allow us to create our trailer with an idea of what the audience actually wants to see. In my
questionnaire I asked which horror sub-genre interests the audience most, with the two top answers being
psychological horror/thriller and slasher both with similar popularity. I also asked the target audience which type
of villain would be the most scary, with the most people considering a mysterious and dark villain type to be the
best option for a horror film. Lastly, I asked the best location for a horror film to take place, with most answers
being in the house or in a large house. Overall these answers allowed me to make decisions in my group about
the type of settings and characters and overall themes we would use in order to appeal to our audience and
make the trailer successful.
• In the production and post production stages of our trailer, we used audience feedback sessions in order to
make changes and receive alterations and criticism on our trailer throughout the process of filming and editing.
In the first audience feedback session, our audience thought the characters were successful and identifiable,
with a clear villain and victim. They also thought there was good use of conventions, with clear genre indicators.
For changes and criticisms, they thought the narrative thread was slightly unclear, and they could not fully
gather the storyline from the trailer at that stage. From this session, we could gain understanding of what the
audience considered positive and negative about our trailer, in order to re-film or film more parts, which we did
to make the narrative thread more clear and the storyline easier to understand, as well as keep our positive
feedback where it was. After filming extra pieces and having developed the bulk of the trailer in our editing
sessions, we had another feedback session. In this session, the audience said they could understand both the
narrative thread and characters, which was a development from the last feedback, showing the feedback had
helped us improve it in relation to our audience's thoughts. After more of the trailer had been completed, the
audience said they would like to see more of a “teaser shot” effects and a faster pace in some areas. In
response to this, we added more fade in fade out transitions throughout the trailer, as well as editing the shots of
the victim being dragged while screaming into shorter, snappier shots with the same fade transitions, giving the
teaser shot effect and creating a fast pace. Our audience feedback allowed us to create a more successful
outcome and cater our trailer towards our target audience. Overall, the feedback conveyed the main positives
and negatives of our trailer from another point of view as well as giving us the chance to re-film, edit and be
selective and critical about our own trailer through the production process.

How did you use media technologies in the construction,
research, planning and evaluation stages?
• For the research stages of our trailer, I used varied sources on the internet. Firstly, I used YouTube
which allowed me to watch horror film trailers from various sub-genres which I could use for inspiration,
analysis and reference. I also used IMDB and Wikipedia for information about the films I looked at and
researched. These websites gave me access to the plot, characters, statistics and much more further
information about the films I wanted to look at in detail. Additionally, when presenting my work I used
Microsoft PowerPoint to produce the research and analysis work and then used Slide Share to upload
and embed my work to Blogger, the website we used to present all our work on. This made it easy to
access all my notes and work all in one place for reference when in the later stages of producing the
products. For the evaluation stages, I used quick time player for re-watching the final trailer at home, as
well as using the same methods for presenting and uploading my work. I also used Print Screens of the
trailer in the evaluation stage, in order to evaluate the shots and sounds used on our sequence.
• In the construction stages, we used a range of technologies to produce our product. Firstly we used a
video camera to film all the shots we used in the trailer, which would later be used to cut and edit to
create the shots and scenes we wanted. The video camera was also used in the preliminary task, in
which we filmed and edited a short news story with various scenes and angles, to give us an idea of the
basics of both the camera to film and the editing software, making it easier when it came to making the
actual trailer. The editing software used was Final Cut Express, which allowed us to explore editing
techniques and develop our skills on making a product look professional and effective. Along with Final
Cut we used Photoshop for our text elements, the title screen and text screens, and then imported them
into the trailer on Final Cut. For the ancillary task, I used a Canon 350D DSLR to take the still images
which allowed me more control over exposure, shutter speed and depth of field than the video camera
did or a point and shoot camera would have, also giving more quality for the overall image in the ancillary
task. We also used a Royalty Free Music website to search and download copyright free music to use
on our trailer, as well as using a USB and MP3 player to transfer and store both the music and other files
like the final trailer.

Evaluation before ancillary tasks

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Evaluation before ancillary tasks