The document discusses the various media technologies used at different stages of creating a slasher horror trailer, film poster, and magazine cover. During research, the student used Google, YouTube, Netflix, and presentation software to gather and analyze information. Surveys were created using SurveyMonkey to gather audience opinions. Video footage was captured using a Canon camera and edited in Serif Movie Plus. Photoshop was used to design the poster and magazine cover. Social media was used to promote the projects and gather feedback.

1. 4.) How did you use media technologies in the construction and
research, planning and evaluation stages?

2. In working towards creating my final products; a finished slasher horror trailer, a film poster and a
magazine cover, I have used a numerous amount of media technologies branching from Google and
YouTube to Photoshop and Serif Movie Plus. During the research phase of this project, I used the
internet as my initial source of information. Using the search engine Google, I was able to access
images and articles regarding German Expressionism and Film Noir and the ways in which they have
influenced modern horror. Using YouTube and analogue T.V, I was able to further my research on
the topic by watching and analysing German Expression/ Film Noir films such as Metropolis and The
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Additionally, I have used Netflix to view films in which contemporary
directors have clearly used German Expressionism to influence there work. Examples of this include
Jennifer Kent’s ‘The Babadook’ and many Tim Burton films such as ‘Sweeny Todd’.
Once this information was gathered, I used presentation software such as Prezi to collate and display my understanding of the
background of horror as well as my theoretical understanding in circulation with slasher and film in general such as Barbara
Creed’s ‘The Monstrous Feminine’ theory, Todorov’s narrative theory and Propp’s narrative functions. In addition to my
secondary research, I use Google Images to find existing magazine and horror film posters, which I then analysed in detail on
Power Point presentation and presented on slide share. As for the existing trailers, I used YouTube to find appropriate horror
movie trailers which I then used ‘PowToon’ and ‘Emaze’ to analyse the codes and conventions of horror on.
As for my initial primary research, I used the free survey building website ‘SurveyMonkey’ to fashion 10 questions in which
would decipher and deconstruct my audience’s personalities and opinions regarding slasher, and film consumption in general. I
then used the availability of my social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, /Instagram, Snapchat and What’s app to
broadcast this survey in order to get the widest response rate possible. Additionally, I posted it in horror film forums and the
comment sections of YouTube videos of slasher trailers and people discussing them so that my demographic can be targeted.

3. During the filming process, I used the Canon 700d camera which provided us
with high quality footage and ‘throw-focus’ effects. This greatly aided me in
creating impactful camera effects which contributed to the visual narrative
telling of the trailer.#
The editing software which I imported my video files onto was Serif Movie Plus
x6. Once I had finished converting the files to AVI using ‘onlineconverter.com’, I
began my editing process. Using the ‘trim’ tool I cut down parts of takes which
were unnecessary for my trailer. Using my hand-drawn storyboard as a guide, I
arranged and trimmed my clips accordingly.
Additionally, I used the ‘play speed’ tool to increase or decrease the speed of
certain shots and takes in order to achieve the desired effect. For example,
during the fast-paced non-linear montage towards the end of the trailer, I sped
up many of the shots to 1,500 play speed in order to achieve a sense of urgency
and panic which would build up in atmosphere to the anticipated climax at the
end.
Trailer

4. Using Google images, I found the boarder of a review
template which would often be from awards that a film has
won in film festival. In Photoshop, I masked the layer and
then used the brush tool to hide the ‘’Sundance film
festival” it was originally showing and typed in the festivals
which acknowledged and praised horror films such as the
‘Shreikfest’ and ‘Sacramento’ film festivals. I then imported
these as JPEGs and inserted them into my timeline.
In order to gain the font type and design for the ‘Fangoria’
and ‘The Guardian’ reviews, we used different effects
under ‘Format’. Here we found a typography and lettering
design which conveys the slasher genre, as well as
reinforces the prominence of the fire in the backdrop.

5. In order to create the unique
typography which would become the
part the brand identity of my trailer, I
hand-drew this title, as well as the
tagline “Death is a laughing joke” for
the poster and the “Life is
precious….But so are secrets”
captions for the trailer. Then I took a
digital photo of it using my mobile
phone (Samsung Galaxy S7) and them
uploaded them onto Photoshop. I
then proceeded to intricately cut out
the lettering using the lasso tool and
with the path I had created, I masked
the image so that I could remove the
background in a non-destructive way.
I then removed the background using
the ‘magic wand’ tool and saved the
files as TIFFs so that the background
would remain transparent. I then
imported these files into the trailer
and placed them on the relevant
areas within the timeline of the edit.

6. In order to create the impression that our Newsreader actor was in an actual Newsroom, I placed him in front of a green
screen and filled it in with the backdrop of a BBC newsroom from Google images. To further legitimate this take, I re-
constructed a ‘BREAKING NEWS’ banner by inserting a red band and using the scrolling effect on some news stories to make
the text roll across the screen. Additionally, I inserted an image of the BBC news logo as well as a seemingly ’live’ clock.

7. In creating the fade which I used on the
review captions, I used YouTube to watch a
tutorial that showed me how to move, add
and manipulate key frames on Serif which
would cause the text to fade into the shot.
Another way in which fade can be
achieved is through overlapping two shots.
However, this is a crossfade and only
works if one wishes to fade a shot into
another. However, when cross-fading ever
do slightly, a much smoother continuity
edit is created and thus the scene moves
more seamlessly.

8. Some of the shots and takes that
were needed, ended up being too
dark or too exposed. The solution
to this problem was to experiment
with the lighting effects available
on Serif. For example, in video
effects there were options to add a
lighter hue/saturation which I
dragged onto the clip and
immediately applied.
Additionally, the filter effects of
using ’curves’ proved to be very
beneficial in bringing to light some
of the darker shots which were
taken. This filter allows me to
manipulate the lighting and
contrasts within the frame which,
in effect, can create a much clearer
and professional looking result.
To make the lighting in general
throughout all aspects of the
trailer more relevant to the
slasher genre, I used the effects
of ‘greyscale’. This allowed me
to manipulate elements of the
lighting and colour vibrancy to
create a drearier, duller and
overall creepier atmosphere
which then lingered
throughout the sequences.

9. As I wanted a fire-backdrop for the
review captions, I decided to find
relevant footage on YouTube of
fire-effects/ video wallpapers.
Once this was found, I converted
the video to an AVI file, as I did
with the opening Film4 clip, and
saved them. They were them
imported and increased in play
speed during editing.

10. The equipment which the sound was created with includes a microphone
in which audio, voice-overs and dubbed dialogue was recorded with. Also,
The keyboard contains various sound effects such as atmospheric ‘booms’
and sharp slicing sounds which convey the slasher horror genre aurally.

11. The soundtrack was achieved by working with a
sound engineer on the software ‘Cubase’.
In the trailer, we included non-diegetic sounds
such as the fast-paced music during the montage
towards the end, as well as the ‘booms’ when the
balloon appeared on screen. Diegetic sound such
as the ambience of birds in the background and
the music playing at the pub were also necessary
in conveying aspects of the genre as they
portrayed the normality which would later be
disrupted.
Subjective sounds, as well as atmospheric music
for caption scenes were created using the original
score and music that was made in the recording
studio.
Once this was complete, the finished trailer edit,
with the finished soundtrack was exported
together; thus leaving us with the finished
product.
The trailer was then posted on numerous social
media platforms as well as on YouTube. Our
audiences then stated to comment and subscribe.

12. P
o
s
t
e
r
My poster was created predominantly using Photoshop. I created a formulaic template first by inserting the title,
tagline, production companies, principal cast and crew, ‘coming soon’ feature and the age rating. I then selected the
image of the bathroom which I most preferred from a range of different photographs taken by the Canon 700d camera.

13. Once deciding on the main image of the final girl which matched the angle at which the mirror was
turned, I ‘opened’ and inserted the file into Photoshop. I chose an image which revealed a lot of the
blood on her body. This is to convey the gore and violence which will be evident in the film.

14. From the photoshoot which was done with the
Cano 700d and a tripod against a black
photography screen, I chose the image which was
most appropriate to the form of my poster. The
special effects used for this shoot was fake blood
which was smeared on the balloon as if to seem
like a bloody hand had brushed across it in a
struggle, and on the knife mainly.
Once I opened up the chosen balloon image and
dragged it into my ‘Horror Poster Master’
Photoshop edit, I used the selection tool to create
a selection of the bathroom wall. I then save this
selection and created a shape from this straight
edge which I then placed over the side of the
balloon to make it look as if it is inside the mirror. I
then used the spot healing tool and the smudge
tool to smooth and even out the shade of the wall
in this area so it looks untouched.

15. By creating a copy of the background layer and masking
it, I was able to create a balloon shaped cut out of the
background to reinforce the brand identity of the
iconographic yellow balloon. Then, by using the brush
tool and having the colour as Black, I went around the
edges of the cut-out to softer and feather down the ring
edge, thus, giving it quite a distant, supernatural feel. To
increase the softness and make the edge even more
hazy, I increased the softness bar on the brush tool size
settings. Also, I experimented with the hues/saturations
tool which adds certain colour tones to the image, once
again distancing it from reality.

16. Finally, I matched up the hue/saturation effect on the background layer (the supernatural purple hue) with the image of the
final girl to make the images look as if they are part of the same image. Once my poster was finished, I posted it on my Wix
Websites blog and published it

17. Magazine Front Cover

18. From using YouTube ad watching
Photoshop CS6 tutorials by Phlearn, I
learned how to experiment with
animating a photograph of someone.
As the magazine that features my film
is Little White Lies, I had to make the
final girl cartoon/animated so that it
follows the magazine’s conventions
I went to the filter gallery and selected
the ‘artist’ filters. Then, I used selected
‘poster edges’ and played around with
the edge intensity and the polarisation
until I got the result I wanted.

19. In order to experiment with contrast and exposure to see what would create a more artistic, ‘cartoon’ effect, I
went to image, adjustments and then selected ‘Threshold’. I typed different numbers to see which was the most
impactful. The number 128 on the Threshold level created a subtle but effective colour dynamic which mage
the image appear more animated and drawn so this is what I chose.

20. I lastly made the
masthead visible and
transformed it to the
appropriate size.
Then I placed it at
the top centre, as it
is conventionally for
this magazine. I also
added the price,
issue number and
issue name ‘The
Gagman Issue’ by
inserting a textbox,
and dragging the film
title to the bottom.
This magazine poster
was then published
on my Wix Website
blog.

21. In terms of completed planning, I used a scanner to get my storyboard onto my blog. This was
also done for the rough designs of my ancillary tasks. However my ancillary templated were done
using coloured shapes on Microsoft Publisher. They were used in the focus groups I conducted
which I filmed with my mobile phone, briefly edited on Serif Movie Plus x6, and uploaded onto
YouTube. In order to complete all the evaluation questions, I once again had to use social media
sites as well as YouTube to post my trailer and also gain feedback from my demographic. This is to
show how, as a low budget, independent film, marketing and promotion is still possible and my
audience can be reached through these methods.