The evaluation

THE
EVALUATIONG324 COURSEWORK
By Luke Reeves

The
questions:
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop
or challenge forms and conventions of real media
products?
2. How effective is the combination of your main
product and ancillary texts?
3. What have you learned from your audience
feedback?
4. How did you use media technologies in the
construction and research, planning and evaluation
stages?

Finished products: Ancillary's:

1: In what ways does your
media product use, develop or
challenge forms and
conventions of real media
products?

Initial
development
• When I first started the project I knew I wanted to do a trailer. My initial ideas were fairly simple, I either
wanted to do a horror or a thriller trailer as these two particular genres are two of my favourite genres to
watch so I thought that it would make the process more enjoyable to create something I already enjoy.
• After looking into both the thriller and the horror genre I thought that it would be a pretty unique idea to have
my film be a hybrid of the horror and thriller genre as by doing so I would be able to thrill and also scare the
audience. When I pitched my films narrative to a group of my target audience the plot was well received
which led me to carry on with the film I had developed which was titled : “Beneath the shadows”
The plot is centred around a young boy who finds his fathers lost work about a secret organisation that works in
the shadows to kill and kidnap people.After his father is taken the young boy takes it upon himself to finish his
fathers work and find the group who is working in the shadows.
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/drafting-and-planning-first-basic-
plot.html
Initial ideas:

Genre conventions:• To ensure that my knowledge of not only the genre but also trailers as a whole was good enough for me to execute and
create a effective trailer I did many blog posts about the conventions of film trailers which is important for me to know so
that I could make my trailer as realistic as possible.
• After enough research into the actual conventions of the trailer I decided to look into the core conventions of my genre which
of course was horror and thriller. By doing this I would be able to appeal my final products to the target audience much more
effectively. For example I learnt that hand held camera angles would be used to create a sense of reality and also close up
shots to make scenes more raw and emotive.
• I looked into how Horror is illustrated through posters so that I could make a realistic poster of my own that sticks to the
conventions of posters
Research into genre:
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/research-into-horror-genre.html
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/reasearch-into-thriller-genre.html
Poster conventions:
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/research-into-similar-products.html
I looked a lot into the work of Jason Blum who was the producer of this century's
most recognisable horror movies: Further research:
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/research-into-similar-products-sinister.html
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/research-into-similar-products-insideous.html
Trailer research:
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/research-into-similar-products-insidious.html
Features of a trailer:
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/drafting-and-planning-features-of.html

Trailer
influences:
“A walk among
the
tombstones”
• When looking back “A walk among the tombstones” would be the trailer that was the main
influence to my own product. The narrative of this film follows a retired police officer who is pulled
into a mysterious case where two people who work in the shadows kidnap people.The film is in the
thriller genre. What pulled me towards this trailer was its mysterious plot.
• I wanted to try and replicate the trailers use of mystery and being based in the shadows in the fact
that in the trailer you never see the antagonists face clearly something I also replicated with the use
of masks which covered the antagonists face.
• This very much influenced my own narrative for my film as I wanted to utilise a mysterious group
that works in the shadows to kill and kidnap. The trailer influenced me in terms of shots and scenes
such as the ending scene where the main protagonist is dragged into the shadows and also a scene
where three characters walk through a graveyard to create mystery.
Analysis of “a walk among the tombstones”
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/reasearch-
into-similar-products-walk.html

Trailer
influences:
“Insidious”
Analysis of insidious:
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/
2017/12/research-into-similar-
products-insidious.html
• The more I started looking into the horror/thriller genre I came across a famous horror film
called “insidious”. This film became an influence to my own work because of its theme,
editing and sound which all worked together perfectly to enhance the plot and also enhance
the intensity of the film.
• One of the main influences from this trailer was its music.The music I believe Is why it is a
successful trailer. I liked how it used the metronome constantly throughout to create tension
as it gets louder making the trailer more intense as it leaves the audience on the edge of their
seat. I wanted to use this effect in my own trailer. So as the trailer reaches its most important
areas there is a constant high pitched sound that plays at important cuts or important scene. I
believe that by adding this type of sound it made the scenes and the trailer as a whole more
harrowing and added suspense to it. I also made the music pick up speed and made it get
louder so that it linked with the fast paced editing that was going on in the trailer and to also
match with the climax of the trailer making the trailer much more dramatic.
• Another way In which I got influence from insidious was an editing technique used in the
trailer. In the insidious trailer there is a scene which is edited to have a black and white filter
effect. I felt that by having this the scene looked not only more unique but also added to the
mystery of the trailer and makes the audience feel that something is going to happen. I
decided to use this effect on one of my scenes including the main antagonist group and the
cleanser to highlight the mystery around them and also to make the scene stand out more
and make it more unique.

Film trailer development
I started my trailer quite unconventionally. The trailer opens with a black screen. Narration then
sounds over the darkness. I thought that this would be quite effective as the audience don’t know
who is speaking and their concentration is focused entirely on the speech. I also thought that by
opening the trailer with just darkness it would fit with the horror genre of creepy and mysterious as
the audience would believe anything could happen next but also the black has many connotations
of death.
After the narration has been cut off with the static sound which I thought linked perfectly with
the storyline as it further highlights the mystery of the antagonist. After this the trailer then
cuts to a point of view shot of a character running across a snowy field. I always liked the idea
of having a POV shot as it immerses the audience into the film making them feel apart of the
scene. I had the character in the scene panting to further the sense of suspense as the
audience are left wondering what the character is hiding from. To add to the sense of realism
in the shot I added in quick fade outs and in to make it look like the character is blinking.
At the end of the scene when the audience is least expecting it and the camera turns
back round to show a masked figure reaching out to the camera.This is first jump scare.
I really liked this shot as it was very conventional horror shot in terms that the audience
would not expect it as when the camera was facing that way there is nothing there but
then suddenly it appears. As you can see from this shot I used masks for my antagonists
so that audiences can’t create a connection with them and also so that they look more
creepy and less human.

I then introduced the main character into the trailer showing him to the audience in a over the
shoulder shot. I believe the horror genre developed here through the characters dialogue “they
took my father away from me”.This immediate gives the audience the motive for the movie but
also gives them an insight into antagonists telling the audience what they do.
The next scene In the trailer is also something that I really liked as it is something that
is very conventional in the horror genre. I used a setting of a graveyard as this has
many connotations of death and mystery especially seeing as it was shot at night
which links it to the title about being in the shadows. A graveyard is probably the most
commonly seen and most common convention of the horror genre. I always wanted to
include a graveyard scene because of the meaning it holds in horror as it continues the
narrative of the shadows being a primary setting
Another scene that I featured was a wide shot that introduced the main
antagonist to the audience. After a quick cut in the trailer it then reveals four
masked men behind the main villain creating suspense as the shot adds
mystery to the shot and leaves the audience guessing how they got there and
shows them just how creepy the villains are in the trailer.

In my trailer I also featured intertitles. I tried to keep them as simple as possible as
most times these can be the most effective. I made the intertitles with the
intention of furthering on the narrative so that the audience can get a insight into
the story.The intertitles keeps the audience guessing as they want to know what
the truth is which keeps them captivated. I believe the horror is developed through
these in the simplest of ways of having a black and white colour scheme
connecting to the shadows theme.
As the trailer comes to a close the last scene that is shown features the main protagonist standing in
front of a dark doorway. After a couple of seconds a figure emerges from the darkness and drags the
protagonist into the darkness. I believed this scene perfectly summed up the horror genre and also my
own storyline as it shows a mysterious figure coming out of the shadows.This linked with the genre as it
plays with audiences emotions as they don’t think something is going to happen then suddenly it does
creating an intense moment. It sums up the horror genre in the terms of the low key lighting suggesting
danger.
Throughout the entirety of the trailer I relied on typical horror and thriller camera work and editing techniques. For example at the
start of the trailer the editing is quite slow to create suspense and also make the audience feel uncomfortable but towards the end
the editing picks up making it more intense making the audience feel that something is going to happen.

Film poster
influences:http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2018/
01/drafting-and-planning-how-is-
horror.html
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2018/
03/drafting-and-planning-influences-for-
my.html
• When I first started to look into posters I first started looking into horror posters so that I could see what
typically features on a horror poster so that I could make my poster more realistic. What I noticed about
horror posters was that it mainly features the antagonist of the film as this makes it more creepy and
disturbing as this will most often than not be the more harrowing and scary aspect of the film.
• However when I did more research into posters the posters that influenced me the most was not horror nor
thriller but was a action/adventure film called ‘hostiles’. I found this to be the most influential because of
how I could use that design on mine as it would fit perfectly with the storyline of my trailer.
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/research
-into-similar-products-grudge.html
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/research-
into-similar-products.html
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/research
-into-similar-products-walk.html
Hostiles: When I first started doing research into posters I knew I wanted to
feature both my protagonist and my antagonist on the poster to show their
importance to the story on a equal standing.The poster highlights two
different characters who are given the same space on the poster.What drew
me towards this poster was the design in terms of the split down the middle
and it then having two different colour schemes as this could represent two
different stories such as good and bad. So I definitely took inspiration from
this poster in terms of colour and overall design because of how well it would
link with my own story. I could use this design to have both my protagonist
and antagonist on the poster and also have the split down the middle where I
could then use the different colour schemes to represent the good and evil
and the light and the shadows.
A walk among the tombstones: I also got influence from this poster
mainly because It is very simplistic and I liked its use of colour and text
and setting. I liked how the title linked to the setting with the title
including ‘tombstones’ and the setting then being in a graveyard full
of tombstones. I thought that it would be great to utilise. I liked how
the character on there isn’t looking directly at the camera creating
mystery and awe around him. I also liked how the whole poster was
filtered in black and white to make it more harrowing as it suggests
death.
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/rese
arch-into-similar-products-hostiles.html

Film poster developmentAt the first stage of developing the poster I thought that it would be a good idea to sketch out a preliminary design so I could get an idea at what
my poster may look like to see if I would like it and also to see if it was effective before I started to properly design it. I included the most
important conventions of a film poster such as the main image, tagline, cast etc.
I wanted my poster to be portrait as this is the most recognisable type of poster and also by having a portrait poster I could much more easily
utilise the design idea of the characters.
I decided that the
font that I was going
to use was
“Copperplate Gothic
Bold”. I felt that this
font was simple and
effective and not to
over done while still
having the horror
vibe.
So as I stated above this was my first
design basis for my poster. It had the
basic conventions and also the basic
design for its layout. This was able to
show what I was aiming for and what I
needed.
Here the vision was bought into reality more. However as
you can see the first draft did not look like a poster much
as it was missing a lot of key aspects. So because I was
happy with this I decided to only develop this idea instead
of starting again.
To do this I photographed the two actors separately and
cropped them appropriately and on ‘paint.net’ I used an
overlay tool to sync them in better with the background.
On the background I placed the same photo on twice cut
straight down the middle and added the two different
filters to convey the good vs evil feel.
The final stage of the development saw me add in the
final conventions that I was already missing such as the
production block, the logo of the distributer and the URL
as well as some reviews giving the poster a more realistic
and professional feel to it. I feel that the use of colours
and props all work well to match the genre as the colours
perfectly represent the good v evil sense with the darker
side conveying the shadow and mysterious feel to the
poster.
Overall I’m really happy with the outcome of the poster
as I believe it perfectly sums up the narrative and the
genre really well.

Film poster development
At the top features the cast for the film.This
is simply so that the audience can see who is
in the film to see if its anyone they like but
also to see new comers.
I also featured in some reviews for the
movie to act as a way to generate more
interest into the movie and pull
audiences in. I used three companies that
have all reviewed films that are very
similar to my own.
The tagline is another typical convention of
posters which gives audiences a very brief
summary of what happens in the movie. So I
wanted the tagline to be short and
memorable but also something that Is
recognisable but also be sinister something
that I believe this tagline does perfectly.
The main image is what really sells the movie
on the poster so it has to be unique and stand
out and I think I achieve this.The poster is
split into two different sides one to represent
the protagonist (Lighter c0lour) and the other
side to represent the antagonist (black and
white). What makes it unique is the fact that
the text changes colour at the split to further
represent the good vs evil visual
representation. The main image features the
main two characters in the film which tells
the audience who the story is really about.
The colour of the poster is very much
intentional dark, even the lighter side
isn’t that bright.This is done to further
tell the audience that this is a
horror/thriller film and its going to be a
dark movie so the colour represent the
films genre.
When creating my poster I had the idea of
tying it to the media theory binary opposites
by Claude Strauss.This theory is about
showing the difference between good and
evil as binary opposites which I believe I have
done through the colour as white normally
represents hope, purity and goodness which
is placed on the protagonists side while
black commonly represents evil, death,
decay and mystery which is placed on the
antagonists side.
I wanted the setting of the poster to be
somewhere mysterious so I picked this
small castle as it creates intrigue and
mystery as to its importance to the plot as
it does feature in the trailer as well.

Film
magazine
influence
s
Conventions of Empire
magazine:
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.
uk/2018/03/research-into-similar-
products-empire.html
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.
uk/2017/12/research-into-similar-
products_18.html
• After doing research into various types of magazines I decided that
the perfect magazine to promote my movie would be ‘Empire’
magazine. Because of this I took the time to look into a large
variety of Empire magazines. I took my main inspiration from the
May 2017 issue covering ‘the mummy’.
• I felt that the way the two characters were positioned would really
connect well with my own story and design. You get the core idea
of the plot just from their facial expressions. On my cover I tried to
replicate this type of design so that I could link my poster and
magazine by having the antagonist feature on both the poster and
magazine. Like this design I wanted to convey the idea that the
protagonist was being haunted, hunted by the antagonist which I
displayed by featuring it behind the protagonist on the poster.
Another magazine that I really liked was this issue from March 2001 promoting the
Hannibal movie. I grew inspiration from this mainly due to its use of colour. I liked
how the character was faded out to fade into the shadows. I thought that this type
of design was something I could get inspiration as my movie was all about the
shadows.
So in my final magazine cover I added in some fade effects on my antagonist in the
background to give the slight effect that the antagonist was fading away into the
shadows which was where he did his work creating a link between the magazine and
the plot.
I noticed how even in this magazine issue there is a clear and consistent house style.
The skyline, cover lines and puffs etc are all linked based on colour from either the
masthead or the main image. I had decided that to create a link I would do this
based on the colours of white, black and red.
More magazine influences:
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co
.uk/2018/02/research-into-similar-
product-film.html

Film magazine development
When I first started the design process for my magazine I wanted
to do something similar to the ‘Hannibal’ issue which featured the
main antagonist and then I would fade the antagonist out into the
shadows. While I had some of the conventions featured on this
early design I felt that this did not display the conventions of the
magazines effectively nor my own narrative. So that’s where I
found ‘the mummy’ magazine which very much influenced my
final design.
I tried to create synergy with my products in the simplest of ways. Firstly on
both my poster and magazine I featured both my protagonist and my
antagonist to further that idea of their importance to the story. Secondly I
used a similar colours in terms of using darker colour to be able to tell the
audience that this is in fact a horror film. I used a dark background so that I
could fade the mask better to show the link between the narrative of the
shadows. I also added in a layer of smoke at the bottom to create the
mysterious feel. After these vital aspects were added I started to add the rest
of the typical conventions for the magazine such as the cover lines, skyline
etc.

Film magazine developmentI added a skyline to my magazine as this is something that catches the audiences eye and catches
their interest. It lets them know what else is in the magazine. I coloured the magazines
appropriately with red and white so that it links with the rest of the magazine front cover.
I also added in cover lines to show the reader that
there is a large amount of content in the
magazine for them to read.This simply
encourages the reader to purchase the magazine.
The main cover line was of course the title of
my film as this is the main feature of the
magazine and so must be clear and
emphasised.
I used white for the text to help it stand it
and also to continue the synergy of using
white on the title.
I used a puff on the bottom of the page.This is to
show the audience that there is exclusive content in
the magazine.
As Empire is a movie magazine and is bought by film
lovers the attraction of having the 2018 movie
preview at their hands will pull them in to purchasing
the magazine.
I also featured the barcode, price and date
for the magazine.These are the small
features of the magazines but without
them the magazine would not be a
magazine as these are the essentials

Challenging
representation
• For the most part my trailer seemed to very much stick
with the norm when it came to the typical
representation as it featured a male protagonist
prepared to take on the task and is prepared to engage
in conflict to solve the problem and save the day.
• However after I did more research into my project I
found a more subtle and unique way in how I
challenged representation.
• My antagonist is clearly a character of ethnicity.What
allows this to challenge the representation is that he is
the leader of the antagonist group so this challenges
the stereotypical norm as people of ethnicity normally
feature as a sidekick or second in command and not as
the leader.

• BBFC rating- http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/drafting-and-
planning-age-rating.html
• After doing research into each of the BBFC’s certificates I decided that the most suitable age certificate for my film would be 15. This would allow
the content of the film to be aimed at slightly more mature audiences but also not make the movie to extreme. After doing more research into
what typically is given a 15 rating I found that most films of my genre are given this rating so that they can have a maximum appeal to the audience.
Under the age rating of 15 the film could potentially include:
Moderate strong language
Various uses of mild language
Violence can be shown and can be strong but should not overall dwell on the pain or the infliction of injury.
15 would give me the perfect age setting to explore with some themes that a 12 rating would not. For example there could be some swearing that
would be unsuitable for those under 15 and also the violence and the horror may be to much for an audience under 15.Those under 12 may not be able
to understand the themes of the movie and so the scares that take place in the movie would be to much for them. On the flip side my movie would not
be to explicit or to extreme that it would warrant a 18 rating. Because of this the 15 rating became the most suitable due to the target audience and the
overall freedom of my trailer.
Production company- http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/drafting-and-
planning-film-distributers.html
I decided that studio canal would be the production company for my film.This is because my film isn’t a big Hollywood blockbuster but is a more a
smaller budget movie which is the type that attracts studio canal as it has a lot of work in the UK and produces a lot of UK based movies. Studio canal
has produced horror and thriller movies such as ‘the last exorcism’ and ‘our kind of traitor’.

2:How effective is the
combination of your main
product and the ancillary
texts?

Branding-Character representation
• There is clear consistency between my trailer and also my poster and my magazine. Both the protagonist and
the antagonist are the central focus of the story and are branded as important characters to the plot as the
plot does in fact centre around their fight to expose and beat each other and so they are connected and
haunted by each other. Because of their equal importance to the story I wanted them to be placed as equals in
the trailer, poster and magazine.
• I found it hardest to achieve this in my trailer. As the trailer is just to show the best bits of the movie I didn’t
include many scenes of them together but through the narrative of the trailer it self and the scenes that are
shown the audience can get a clear indication that the story is revolving around them.They both have the
most screen team to display their importance. Roman is clearly shown to be the protagonist through his
determination to never give in and to save the world while the cleanser is shown to be the antagonist through
the low key lighting that comes into effect when he appears on screen but also through his mask in that the
audience cannot create a connection with him making him appear less human.
• In the poster I found it a lot easier to represent and brand the characters. As you can see the poster is split into
two separate parts to signify the good vs evil. Roman and the cleanser are given the same amount of space
and are positioned as if they are mirroring each other to show their significance and importance. Here I could
more easily present the characters as equals. Again the mask features to keep the link going on. I think the
costumes and the colour effect shows the genre and also the narrative I wanted to convey.
• Again in my magazine I found it easier to represent the two characters. I placed Roman in front of the page as
he is the protagonist so he is the character who the audience will be able to have more of a connection with.
Additionally to this I still wanted to feature the cleanser as he is still the second most important character
so I wanted him to be featured to create synergy. I used direct mode of address on both characters to create
the connection between reader and the characters.

Branding mise-en-scene• The use of mise en scene is one of the most important features to create synergy between the trailer, poster and magazine cover.
Costume: The costume for the characters are really fairly simple in the trailer both the main characters are dressed in dark
clothing's. I did this for many reasons. By both characters featuring in dark clothing I felt that it better represented the horror genre as
they are in dark mysterious clothing.To carry this on I decided not to have my main protagonist dressed in lighter colours as I wanted
to show that not even he is safe from the darkness. The cleanser was dressed in dark clothing too to further be able to identify him
with the evil as darkness typically represents death and evil. I thought by having both characters in dark clothing it would further that
link that both the characters clearly have throughout the branding. In the poster for the trailer there no costume as the only visible
parts of the characters are the heads and the necks. In the magazine the costume is also very similar in the terms that it has dark
clothing to further connote the horror/thriller genre. For the cleanser I decided to just include the mask as I felt this would be the more
harrowing as it connected with the plot that anyone could be behind the mask.
Colour scheme: The colour scheme that I used was consistent throughout and perfectly represented the genre and narrative.
Constantly throughout the project I used darker colours to represent the darker themes that is taking place within the movie. The
darker colours were used to represent the shadows were the movie takes place but to also represent the antagonists on the side.The
only real use of lighter colour that I used was on the poster and that was just to represent the protagonist side to show the audience
the instinctive good vs evil. On the magazine the colour scheme changed a little but I still thought it was consistent. I used the typical
black and white to carry on the shadows and darkness feel but also the white to represent the goodness. I included the red not only to
help it stand out but also give that sense of danger as red typically connotes death, violence so it would add more danger to the feel of
the poster.
Props: As I was making a horror/thriller trailer one of the most important parts of that is its iconography so it was important that I
had some props that firstly could make the plot more effective and further it but also in some cases make it more scary. For example
all throughout the trailer and the poster and magazine it is quite clear that all the antagonists involved wear masks.This is done so that
the antagonist come across as more menacing and creepy as the audience do not know who is behind the mask and so can’t really
create a connection with them. I decided on two different mask designs one for the group and then a more distinctive mask for the
leader in a plague doctor mask as I thought that not only would this look more creepy but also because of the masks history. The mask
would link with the cleansers aim to ‘cleanse’ the world and make their perfect world which connects with the mask as its known that
those were the masks used when the plague was in effect and they tried to cleanse the world of the plague.
Props:
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/drafting-and-planning-costumes.html

Applying
theory:
Strauss binary opposites: One theory that I believe can apply to the work that I have created
is the binary opposites theory. This simply means that everything has an opposite and in film and most
commonly horror/thriller is the battle between good and evil.The most notable way I did this was
through my poster. As you can see on my poster I have a clear split down the middle which then the
poster has two different colours, a light side and a dark side.The darker side is clearly representing the
evil which is therefore then the opposite of the light side which is representing the good in the movie. As
white often represents good, hope and purity which I portrayed on the protagonists side while on the
darker side the darkness can represent death, evil and mystery therefore complying with the theory of
binary opposites.
Active audience: I believe that many audiences are active and so are not a passive audience and
so they don’t just receive information passively but instead make sense of the messages that they see.
The whole plot of the trailer revolves around a secret group that works in the shadows and secretly runs
the world from the shadows. I believe that the audiences would actively be able to see the subtle link and
message that I tried to create with reality with all the conspiracies about secret organisations running the
world such as the ‘illuminati’ and the ‘three masons’. This is why the film is rated for 15 and over as its
basic concept deals with very dark and perhaps very real topics. I feel that this makes the overall product
more appealing.
Uses and gratifications: Carrying on with the idea that the audiences are very much active
and so consume the media actively is the uses and gratifications theory which focuses on how and why
audiences use media products. People that watch thrillers watch them because they want to be
entertained and thriller movies if done right keep the audience on the edge of their seat and build
suspense and tension and be thrilled. People who go to see horror movies want to be affected be them
they want the experience and want the rush of the adrenaline of not knowing what is going to happen.
My trailer clearly conveys the horror/thriller genre and so I made sure that the ancillary products did so to
so that the audience could be thrilled and also feel the rush of going to see a movie of this genre while
also conforming the most important and necessary conventions.

Overall branding
• Overall looking at my three products I believe that ‘Beneath the shadows’ was branded very successful
as all three products I believe share consistency through the use of colour, text and images. I would say
that the audiences would be able to identify the film from any of the products this is down mainly to the
representation of the characters and how they are placed. I also believe that the genre is portrayed
effectively through the colour and tone through all three products as each display the dark mysterious
colour to it.
• To further this I am happy with the three products as I feel that they generally meet the key and
important conventions needed for this genre.

3: What have you learned from
your audience feedback?

Audience responses throughout
Throughout the course of making the trailer, poster and magazine, I would constantly sending out progress and questions so that I could receive valuable target audience feedback
so that I could see the progress of my trailer from those who would watch it and then be able to make the appropriate improvements to make it better. Every piece of feedback that I
received came from the target audience which meant that I could produce the product around them making it much more effective and better overall.
In the early stages of development it was important that I came up with a clear narrative and also the genre for my trailer so that it would easier to complete
other tasks down the line such as research and actually shooting scenes. When I finally came up with my idea that I was happy with I then pitched this idea
which included title, narrative, cast etc to a focus group of my peers that also came under my target audience making the whole experience very rewarding
and effective.The overall feedback was quite positive and told me that my "Idea is unique and original and shows you know your narrative inside out".
"Good connection between the use of the props and the plot"- (masks) "A really compelling idea” and "Very relevant and relates to the genre of horror and
thriller“.As well as telling me where I was on the right tracks the focus group also showed me where I could improve such as me having ‘a lot of content’ and
it could be simpler.Another piece of feedback I got was that how could I show that it was set in the future (an idea that I changed after realising the truth in
their comment. Trailer pitch feedback: http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/drafting-and-planning-feedback-from.html
Another time that I received target audience feedback was when I wanted to choose a title for my film. As the title of the film is the most important part of recognising a
movie I wanted to see what the target audience thought was the most effective title and what attracted them the most. As I couldn’t decided out of the titles I had come
up with I asked my target audience. I did this through three different forms to get a vast and strong feedback. I used Facebook messenger, snapchat and survey monkey
which the link below shows.The response I got showed me that the target audience found the title ‘beneath the shadows’ more effective as on Facebook one person
said “it doesn’t tell the audience much and gives the film mystery” and on survey monkey 50% of the audience voted for Beneath the shadows showing me its strength
and appeal to the target audience.The research was asked to both male and female and it seemed that in both genders ‘Beneath the shadows’ was overall more
effective. Film title feedback:
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/drafting-and-planning-title-of-film.html
Additionally I also wanted to receive feedback on some editing that I did on a particular scene. As I had filtered a scene black and white and so of course looked
different from everything else in the trailer I wanted some feedback from my target audience to see what they thought and it also to see if it worked in the
trailer. By using social media I could almost instantly get the feedback which meant if necessary I could make changes. Overall the target audience thought the
black and white filter effect was very effective as it put ‘emphasis on the story line and genre’
Filter effect feedback:
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/research-into-target-audience-
feedback.html

Trailer feedback and changes:
• When it was time to hand in the first draft of my trailer I was happy with what I had produced despite still knowing I had things to do to get it completely
ready. My target audience supported this view and not only showed me various ways that I could improve my trailer that I already knew of but also
areas which I was not aware of and so offered me various suggestions for how I could make my trailer better for the final draft.
First draft: http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/f.html
First draft feedback:
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/research-into-target-
audience-feedback_17.html
After I received this feedback the improvements I made were as
followed:
• Actually complete the trailer so that when it was handed in
it the finished product.
• I fixed the start of the trailer so it all synced in much better. I
got rid of the original establishing shot and replaced it with
just the narration to make the start of the trailer much more
professional and slicker.
• I made sure that all the sound was better edited so that it
worked better with the trailer and did not look amateur.
• Cut the graveyard scene where at the end of the scene you
can see the camera shaking and being turned off.
• I also made sure the overall editing between scenes was
much more seamless and professional.
As a result of the very helpful, useful and constructive comments I feel that I was
able to finish my trailer as not only could I see what people thought of the trailer
and then get their feedback I could see what they thought could be improved and
as I constantly asked my target audience who the film would be targeted at I could
make the trailer much more appealing to them so that they could be more
attracted to the trailer based on their comments.
After the improvements I felt that my narrative is much more clearer and
established and so effectively I am much more happy with the outcome of the
trailer as I feel it better represents the genre and also the target audience.

Feedback on the final trailer
• Using social media I again asked my target audience what they thought and to give me feedback on my final trailer. I did this so
that I would be able to see just how effective I was at appealing my trailer to its target audience.
Everyone who gave me this feedback was in the target audience that my film was based upon which was young so when I got the feedback from my target
audience It was a relief and I was happy to see that not only they enjoyed it but also overall the trailer was successful in its job of appealing to the target
audience.After this I decided that it would be a good idea to ask a demographic that was older.To do this I showed my trailer to my family as I was curious to
see if the plot would interest the older demographic.
From the feedback from my family that included those from their
twenties to those a little older like my uncle and mom. I was pleased to
find that they all enjoyed the movie and all stated that they would be
interested in watching it.
The feedback from both male and female was generally positive as they
all seemed to find the story interesting and engaging.Although my cast
was mainly all male this did not seem to put anyone off as people looked
past this element and concentrated on the trailer as a whole and the
story I was trying to convey with it.

Poster feedback and changes:
• After doing research into posters of my genre and finding various influences for my own poster design I started to sketch some ideas and when I came up with a design idea that I
really liked I showed my target audience via Instagram what they thought of the sketch to see if firstly the design went with the narrative and was effective and whether they liked it
as a target audience.The responses to the first design was very positive with the target audience telling me that the design links well with the characters and the story as well as it
being unique. Because of this feedback I knew that in terms of design I was on the right tracks so I then started to properly design my poster.
• When I completed the first draft for my poster I again wanted to see what my target audience thought so that I could improve it based on their opinion. So on social media using
snapchat and Instagram I showed my audience my first draft and asked what they thought could be improved.Overall the audience very much liked the design that I had created
with them being able to tell there was contrast between the two sides (good and bad). I was relieved also to find out that the audience could see the link between the poster and the
genre. However the audience also showed me where I could improve my first draft to make it much more effective and appealing. One person told me that the poster looked like it
was missing something and that it looked a bit bare. I found this piece of feedback very helpful as until then I thought my poster was finished and it looked effective enough but with
the target audience also saying that there was a little to much on the light side I knew I would have to work on my poster to make it much more appealing and more professional as a
movie poster.
• So as I finished my final design for my poster I was very happy with the positive feedback and also the feedback for improvement as I think it led to a much more appealing and much
more effective poster that not only had more conventions of a poster but also looked more like a poster so I believe without the feedback I received on my poster I do not think that
my product would look as realistic or completed as it did as it was thanks to the target audience that I realised how much more conventions I needed to add in to make it better.
More on poster feedback:
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/research-into-target-audience-
film.html
More on poster feedback:
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/research-into-target-audience-ancillary.html

Feedback on final ancillaries: The poster
• I also thought that It would effective in terms of seeing how my final products looked as a brand I decided I would ask my target audience what they
thought of my final ancillary products to see if I successfully appealed my products to my target audience.
The feedback that I received for my final poster was very good and I was very pleased with the response.The audience said that the poster
was very effective and gave them an insight into the movies narrative. One of the feedback even stated that the poster clearly links to the
messages that were in the trailer.This was a very pleasing comment for me as it meant that the design that I was going for had paid off.
Another piece of feedback that I received told me that design overall was very effective in terms of the split down the middle of the page
that separated the good and the bad.
Using social media to collect these responses was very simple and also very effective. To get the feedback I used snapchat and Instagram
which meant the replies came in almost instantly. Using social media was a much more efficient and effective way of getting responses and
so allowed me to get quicker responses for my research into my target audience.

Feedback on final ancillaries: The magazine
The feedback I received for my final magazine was also quite positive.The target audience mainly responded stating that the
magazine conveyed the genre which I was really happy with as I looked into various empire magazines that were similar to my genre
to see how they are typically designed. The target audience also mentioned that the magazine looked realistic. I was happy with this
comment as I made sure to include all the important and necessary conventions of the magazine to ensure that it looked real and
professional. The audience did also mention the characters on the page, mentioning that the magazines design intrigued them into
the storyline and also the placement of the characters reflected the storyline well. I also had positives comments about the
magazines colour scheme which stated that it “conveyed the genre nicely” and that the colour scheme works well with the
photography to make the front page look more creepy and mysterious. I was happy with this comment as I made a bit of a risk to
add an extra colour to the overall colour scheme of the branding as usually in my branding I used dark colours like black etc. but I
decided to go along with the typical house colour of empire and to also convey the horror a lot better I added in red and I am glad
that judging by the target audience this decision paid off and the design actually worked.
So overall, I believe the feedback on my ancillary were very positive and showed me that overall my final products were in fact very
successful in appealing to the target audience. To get a good, wide view of the audience as a whole I asked my peers and friends who
fit nicely into the target audience and also some of my family members who would be over my target audience range and all
demographics seemed to enjoy my products and so it seemed that my final products appealed to wider demographic as well as the
demographic I had planned for it. I also had a wide range of male and female feedback letting me see a true reflection of my target
audiences views of my story and not basing it on one section. So overall I am very happy and positive about the feedback I received.

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

Research and planning: Blogger
Blogger was a very useful tool to have at my disposal during the course
of the development of my trailer and my ancillaries as it allowed me to
document and so effectively evidence all my research and planning by
using the multi media tools like embedding trailers for example or
using GIF’s and hyperlinks. Using blogger also meant that all of my
research and planning in one location allowed me to come back to it
and refer back to it at later stages so that I could ensure that my trailer
was well informed from the research I had done beforehand. Prime
examples of this included looking back on my blog to look at genre
conventions to ensure that my trailer was sticking to them and also
looking at the typical conventions of posters and magazines so that I
could ensure my products looked realistic.
Another handy tool that featured in blogger was the archive tool on
the right hand side of the page.What made this so useful for me was
that it chronologically listed all my previous blog posts.This allowed
me to easily navigate around my work and the site itself whilst also
displaying my progress and development over the time of the projects
development.

Research and planning: Editing software
Before I started the actual filming process of my trailer I looked into a editing software which I could use in the
post production stage after I had completed all of my filming.
Movieplus:
I decided that I would use movie plus for my editing software as not only was this an easy software to get to
grips with but also earlier in the year as part of my preliminary task I was tasked with editing a short film so
that I could get to grips with editing as a whole but so that my knowledge of movie plus became much better
so that I could edit my own trailer with better knowledge of the system. By using movie plus I could use very
handy editing tools which would come in handy for my own trailers editing.The tools included adding
transition effects between scenes, being able to trim scenes to make them more effective and also overlay
effects. Because of the tools available on movieplus and how easy it was to get to grips with it I was able to re-
edit the short film to give it a whole new meaning, pace and story.This really showed me the importance of
editing for a trailer.
Because of simplicity of movieplus in terms of being able to easily learn the tools and still offering very
advanced tools to help make my trailer look as realistic as possible I knew that movieplus would be the
software that I’d use for the editing process.
Editing a short movie:
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/blog-post.html

Development
of trailer
• During the filming of my trailer I decided to use a Nikon 3200.
This camera gave me a high quality camera that would allow me
to shoot scenes in a professional quality but also the size of the
camera also ensured that I could move from scene to scene with
ease when it was shot at different locations. Because in
horror/thriller films it is common to use shaky-cam shots and
Point of view shots having a camera of this size allowed me to
execute the scenes perfectly adding realism to the scenes and
also realism to the genre I was trying to portray. A tri-pod was
also used effectively so that when I needed it to I could have a
more steady take and be able to stabilise the scenes otherwise
the trailer would of looked unprofessional.
• The camera also featured many built in features such as focusing
on different aspects in the frame and also balancing which
overall made the editing process much more easier.

Development of ancillariesWhen I had finished shooting the ancillary products I decided to use two different software's so that my
ancillaries could be the best that I could get them.
I used Paint.net on my poster so that I could easily edit the photos in terms of cropping, getting rid of
unneeded bits and also rendering the photos so that the faces better synced in with the background behind
them so that the poster didn’t look like they had two floating heads. Paint.net allowed me to put different
photos into different layers so that I could edit them much easier and as the photo to the right shows
paint.net gave me a tool that I could put on my photos to sync them better with the background by choosing
reflect and the increasing or decreasing the opacity to give the photos the much more professional look.
Without Paint.net I would not of been able to achieve this effect on my poster and so without it my posters
would of looked much different.
Editing done on the poster: http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/drafting-and-planning_16.html
I also used page plus for both my ancillaries. Page plus was a great tool to use because not only did
it allow me to add the simple things such as text to my ancillaries but it also allowed me to clean
up some cropping and editing to make sure that all of the images I used looked professional and
suitable for the magazine and the poster. One prime example of this was on the magazine.When
I had just simply cut out the mask on the magazine some bits still looked unprofessional and
uncut so by using the tools on page plus such as ‘cut out’ studios I could get a close up look of the
image and then carefully cut round the appropriate areas to make the mask look more
professional.
Like my trailer I also used my Nikon 3200 to shoot the photos for my ancillaries.The camera offered a high quality display
especially with the flash feature that would of given the highest quality of images adding to the realism of the products.
Photoshoot:
http://lukereevesa2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/drafting-and-planning.html

Target audience research
Social media:
When I wanted to collect feedback and research into my target audience it quickly became clear
that using social media was the quickest and the easiest way of getting feedback. Instagram is a
social media site that allowed me to post my work to my followers and also send my work to focus
group chats where I could get instant feedback on my work so that I could improve it. Another
social media website was snapchat, snapchat became the source of many of my research into my
target audience mainly down to how easy it is to send work and also how quick and easy it is to
receive the feedback.This mainly came down to the current popularity of the app and meant that
when I sent work such improvement ideas I would almost instantly get the feedback back straight
away.
Instant messaging:
Another quick and easy way I was able to get feedback from my target audience was instant messaging platforms. As I own an IPhone I was
able to useWhatsApp and also Facebook messenger where I could instantly send videos and images for people to see immediately and give
feedback which would then enable me to make the appropriate improvements based on what the target audience had told me.
Other methods:
At the start when I wanted to get a good variety of answers I decided that I would set up a survey
monkey via Facebook to ask my target audience what they thought of some titles so that I could
pick the appropriate film title. Although I got a large amount of feedback it took a lot longer to get
the feedback
Although the questionnaire site survey monkey was useful at the start It became apparent
that this did not reflect all of my target audience so social media was obviously the more
effective tool as well as being the quickest and easiest way of collecting feedback from my
target audience.

Evaluation
• For my evaluation I decided to use Microsoft PowerPoint. I decided to use this as it is a really simple
but effective presentation software. I have used PowerPoint many times in the past for other times
when I have had to create presentations so I am very familiar with all the tools and know how to work
the software easily. PowerPoint offers a wide variety of different templates that can be manipulated
for example the colour can be changed on the different templates. I tried to keep to darker colours
on this presentation (black and grey) to keep with the conventions of horror/thriller but also to create
synergy with all of my products which all feature these colours.
• PowerPoint also allowed me to add in many multimedia elements such as photos and hyperlinks that
can easily be added and also enhance the look and the feel of the evaluation while also making it
look more complete and visually engaging and interactive for the audience.
• Because of the flexibility and the interactive elements of PowerPoint it was the perfect software to
use for my evaluation.

Progression from AS to A-levelIn my opinion there has most definitely been a progression in my work from AS toA2. Not only have become more confident in using
different software's and more able to create products but I have now combined still image products with a moving image product to
create an overall brand.
In my AS course I created a music magazine called “Dusk” which incorporated the themes and conventions of indie/pop. Completing
the AS course really showed me the importance of including the right conventions to create a realistic media product, the conventions
gave me structure and also guidelines for my product to follow ensuring that I was always on the right track.Throughout the course of
AS I was mainly influenced by the magazine billboard so I tried to replicate the conventions that they would typically use on their
magazines. AS also gave me the opportunity to build upon my photography and my editing skills using software's such as paint.net
and page plus and of course Photoshop.
In my A2 course I continued to develop my skills that were founded atAS such as my photography as well as my editing skills. In A2 I
found It much easier to edit and manipulate not only images but also videos based on the knowledge I had from AS. Probably the main
difference betweenAS and A2 was the fact in A2 I created a moving image. I therefore experimented with a different range of shot
types so that I could add meaning to the trailer and see how the shots create meaning. I once again researched into the conventions in
A2 after realising the importance of them in AS but instead went further by looking at specific genre conventions such as the
horror/thriller to ensure that my overall product was well branded and well executed.
Overall I am very happy with my progression from AS toA2 as I have built on my important skills such as editing still and moving
images and photography as well as my research and planning and my organisational skills. I am happy with both of my products
however I can clearly see that my A2 work seemed much more developed and also more clearly linked to one another.

The evaluation

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