The Evaluation!

This year i was set the task to produce a promotion package for a horror movie. This project involved extensive research and planning which allowed me to produce my three media products. Now I will evaluate my work by looking at the ups and downs I have experienced and also explaining why I made certain choices with regards to my final piece, however most exciting of all I will be discussing what members of my chosen target audience thought of my final products. 

 Below are my three media texts…

Film Magazine Front Cover

Film Poster

Film Trailer

Codes and Conventions!

To be able to produce media products to a professional standard, I had to do extensive research and planning and look deeply at the codes and conventions of each type of media product. By doing so it allowed me to understand the basic layout of a media product but also opened gateways for me to experiment with certain codes and conventions and so allowing my creativity to flow and adding originality to my own work. Jacques Derrida states that media texts are polysemic and audiences can draw many meanings from them and so in order to gain my preferred meaning, I followed the reception theory which was presented by Stuart Hall; Hall states that certain factors can help the audience to reach the preferred meaning and one of these factors are codes and conventions.
Below are a few examples of some existing horror movie posters…

By looking at both of these posters together we can see that there are certain conventions which are carried out. First of all the main thing we can see in both posters is that the main image is extremely dominant and takes up the whole frame. Furthermore the character in both posters appears to be the protagonist which indicates his importance in the narrative. The next convention we can see is that the movie title is the biggest text in the frame and is placed three quarters down the page. The placement of the title allows the image to be the first thing that the audience see however the size of the text means that the audience can differentiate it from the rest of the text in the frame. Its important that the audience see the image before any other feature as the image has the power to not only draw the audience's attention but also to maintain in and so intrigue them to read the poster to find out more. Another convention we can see is that the tagline or any additional information for the movie is placed at the top of the page. This is because when the audience read the tagline it is supposed to anchor the image, and so it is placed away from the other texts to allow the audience to make this connection. looking specifically at the 'Friday the 13th' poster the tagline reads 'Welcome to Crystal lake.' This anchors the image as we have the antagonist standing at the bank of lake which the audience will know now as 'Crystal lake' from reading the tagline, however there is also an element of irony in the tagline as the positioning of the character, lighting of the image and the prop of the weapon is far for welcoming!

The next convention is that the institutional information is placed at the very bottom of the page, this is done because this is the part of the poster that the audience are least interested in and so by being placed at the bottom, it is the last thing the audience’s eye catches, allowing them to fully take in the main image. Finally the last convention which is to be noted is that any additional information such as ‘based on a true story’ or ‘from the producers of…’ are placed either above of beneath the title of movie. This is because both phrases enhance the audience’s interest and so being placed by the main title ensures that the audience will see and read it. By being told that the movie is 'based on the true story', the audience feel a sense of realism and so the fear is intensified as they now think, this has previously happened so it can easily happen again. 

Above I outlined the main codes and conventions for horror film posters, now I am going to discuss how I have used and even inverted these conventions to create my own horror film poster. 

By looking at my poster it is clear to see that it follows some codes and conventions of horror movie posters, for example a dominating main image,

Additional information to entice the audience into watching the movie is placed at the top of the frame, 

Audiences who have seen 'Paranormal Activity' or 'Insidious' would be intrigued to see 'Within' after knowing that it is from the same producers. The placement is important as it is kept at the top of the frame to draw the audience's eye however the font size is kept small to ensure that the title is the biggest piece of text on the frame. 

However even though these features follow the codes and convention of a film poster, there are aspects which greatly differ from the traditional structure, for example the placement of the movie title, tagline and 'coming soon'. 

As we saw before usually the movie title is kept in the middle of the frame, towards the bottom of the page, however I chose to place the movie title on the left hand side of the frame this is shown below...

I chose to invert this convention as I think it made the title of my movie even more attention grabbing. Furthermore the placement of my tagline also inverts conventions as usually it is placed at the top of the frame however I decided to place it above my movie title as my movie title completes the sentence for my tagline and so these two features had to be placed together because they compliment each other. Another reason I chose to place my movie title and tagline on the left hand side of the frame is so that they can successfully be anchored my main image. The tagline and movie title reveal a lot about my narrative and so after the audience reads the information they will see the terrifying main image of the possessed child and understand that there is something inhumane 'within' her.

 Another convention which I have chosen to invert is the use of institutional information; many film posters include institutional information for commercial reasons and it is usually placed at the bottom of the frame because it is of least importance to the audience. However I chose not to include the institutional information because I was inspired by the teaser poster for 'Sinister'. I came across this film poster during my research and planning and personally, I found it extremely successful. The use of a horrific main image and minimal text intrigued me and so I decided to incorporate some of its features within my own work. 

Along with the structure, there are other aspects of the poster which also follow codes and conventions, such as the main image. It is a typical for film posters to include images which are dark and shadowy and so I made sure that the edges of the image from a colour gradient which leads to black in order to successfully carry out this convention. The actual camera shot of the image is another convention which I chose to follow. Below are a few examples of horror movie posters which use an extreme long shot for their main image...

The use of an extreme long shot is conventional for supernatural horrors because it allows the audience to see the protagonist in demonic form which will scare audiences to their cores!

Usually on horror film posters the title of the movie is normally distorted to mirror the disturbance which the protagonist is about to encounter. Below is the title for 'The Amityville Horror' movie poster....

The font for the title is serif which adds formality and authority to the text. Furthermore the letter 'Y' is extended, almost taking the shape of a weapon such as a knife. 
Another example can be seen in the movie title 'The Devil Inside'. 

I really liked the subtle use of distortion as it implied something terrifying yet is not overpowering and so I used this idea in my own font by replacing the 'I' from 'Within' with a religious cross. The cross has connotations with the devil and supernatural beings and so it emphasises my narrative. Similarly to 'The Amityville Horror' I used a serif font because it gives the text authority and finality. The irregularity of the film title, mirrors the irregular events which will take place in the protagonist life and the disruption she is about to face. 

 

Film magazines also follow certain codes and conventions so that the audience can identify them easily in newsstands.
Below are two magazine front covers....

By looking at these two front covers from 'Empire' and 'Total Film', it is evident there are certain features which are always kept the same such as the masthead is the largest text in the frame as it is the name of the magazine and so its large size allows the audience to see it easily whilst scanning newsstands  Also on both front covers the main image is extremely dominant and fills the entire frame; this is because usually film magazines have a male target audience and so the use of large images will attract the male readers as it is proven that men respond more to visuals. The next convention which can be noted is that the main sell line sits in the middle of the bottom third of the page. This allows the main sell line to be eye grabbing however the size of the text is not bigger than the masthead which allows the audience to understand the mastheads importance. The other sell lines on each of the front covers are very minimal so that they do not distract from the main image and so that the front cover does not become overwhelming. Both front covers also appear to have a strapline above the masthead which informs the readers of other articles which will feature in the magazine and on the 'Empire' front cover there is also a banner on the bottom of the page which is also used to promote articles which will feature in the issue. The banner does not have to appear on every front cover however it is common convention for film magazine as it allows them to inform their target audience in cool and quirky way. Another feature which both these front covers share is a puff; similarly to a banner, a puff does not have to appear on every front cover however it is a very common convention as it promotes deals, competitions or interesting articles and so could be the deciding factor for buying the magazine for the readers. Other features such as the date and price are kept around the masthead. On both front covers, the date and price are kept in the letter 'M'. These features are placed on the magazine for mainly commercial reasons and they are not something that the reader will be interested in however by placing them in the masthead it ensures that the reader can easily spot it if they wish to do so . The final feature left is the barcode; this is purely for commercial use and has no importance to the audience and so it is usually kept on bottom corners as this is were the human eye looks last.

When making my own film magazine front cover I tried to incorporate as many of these conventions as possible so that the genre of the magazine is recognisable to my target audience. I looked at many existing media texts to try and gain inspiration and I came across the 'Empire Iron Man' edition.

I found the layout of the magazine front cover really effective and decided to use this in my own work. When we wee presented with our ancillary tasks we we given the option to either make a film magazine which will promote movies of all genre or a film magazine specific to the horror genre; I chose to make a magazine which will promote all types of movies as horror movie magazines are extremely rare. However I made my magazine a Halloween edition so that it can promote my new horror movie. In order to pass this message on to my readers I decided to use a cobweb/lightening effect on my masthead which was inspired by the masthead on the 'Iron Man' front cover. I thought this technique recall helped me to communicate with my audience whilst it also allowed me to invert conventions and input my own creativity. Following conventions, I placed my masthead on the top of the frame and I placed it on top of the models head to show its importance.

Another inspiring feature of this magazine front cover was the coloured backgrounds that appear behind the main sell line and under the 'First Look'. I thought they looked brilliant but also are a good technique to make the text stand out and so I decided to use this idea on my main sell line and another sell line to make them just as attention grabbing.

 As we have seen in the previous examples, the main image is quite dominant and so I thought this is an important convention to carry out as my target audience are predominantly males.

 Below are some other magazine front covers which I found useful during my construction. I looked at these front covers and could see that they all used a medium to long camera shot for their image. This is because these shots capture all the action surrounding the protagonist and creating a large effect for the target audience; the reader can see more and so gets more of an insight into the narrative of the movie, for example the medium-long shot used to promote 'Pirates of the Carribean' captures the idealistic beach background and so the image anchors the name of the movie. Another reason for the use of a medium-long shot is that it allows the audience to see the characters body placement, for example in the 'Empire Inception' edition, the reader can see protagonist standing in a sturdy position and holding a gun so the reader can gather that the narrative is serious but there is also some actin packed scenes! So after researching I decided to use a medium shot for my main image for my magazine so that the audience can see my characters limp body, emphasising her eeriness.

As we saw earlier, on film magazines the main sell line is placed in the middle of the bottom of the frame as it draws the audience's eye more than being placed on the bottom left hand third. This is why I also chose to my place my main sell line in this position.

In keeping with the codes and conventions, I kept my sell lines minimal as my target audience are also males. I only featured two sell lines which are shown below...

My magazine is aimed at males who are huge movies! They watch all types of movies. especially huge franchise movies such as 'Saw'. This is a well known franchise so a big movie fan would be the first to watch and read about it. The sell line promotes the movie 'Saw 7' and states that it is 'the final piece of the jigsaw' which implies that it is the last movie in the franchise and so this will intrigue the readers to find out how the series will end. Also the word 'jigsaw' is a pun as it refers to the antagonist of the movie; this a joke which makes the mode of address light hearted and fun, something the readers will understand and appreciate as it reflects their own personality.

My next sell line refers to a true horror movie classic, 'The Shining', being hardcore movie fans, my readers would have seen this movie and so would recognise the famous phrase 'Here's Johnny!' I also included this sell line because my readers need are not just extended to the latest blockbuster movies, they appreciate the classics and so reading their 'favourite movie quotes' will satisfy them further. I also used the use of direct address in this sell line to include my reader and make them feel involved.

Due to my lack of sell lines, I decide to include a banner and a strapline on my front cover so the readers can find out more about what is featured in this issue. Below is an image of my banner.

The banner promotes three movies which are relatively recent; 'The woman in black', 'The devil inside' and 'Silent Hill revelation'. As mentioned earlier my target audience watch movies of all genes and so I chose the movie 'The woman in black' because they would recognise the actor from 'The harry potter' franchise and so being the huge movie fans that they are, they would be intrigued to find out what project the actor is about to embark on next. The next movie is 'The Devil Inside', I chose this movie as the director, William Brent would be a recognisable name to my target audience and so even though the movie itself does not have any mainstream actors, the readers will want to know more about the movie, having seen other William Brent movies. Finally 'Silent Hill Revelation' is a sequel to 'Silent Hill' and so the audience would be wondering what else the movie has to offer and so would like to read this article.

The other convention I used to promote articles is the strapline which is shown below...

The strapline simply just informs the readers about the other movies which will feature inside the magazine and lure them to buy the magazine by stating 'and more!' The movies listed are all new movies and so the target audience would be aware of them and in some cases even see them.

The remaining features such as the date, price, website and barcodes are also placed in a conventional place; the date and price is placed inside the letter 'W' in the masthead. This is following the style of 'Empire' and 'Total Film' who place their date and price in the letter 'M'. The date and price are not greatly important to the target audience however this placement means that they can easily spot it if they want to.

The website is also placed near the masthead because again it allows the audience too see it easily yet does not distract from the main image or sell line.

The barcode is the least improtant feature on the frame and is there due t ocommecial reasons and so I placed my barcode in the bottom right hand corner as this is where the human eye naturally looks last.

When I began constructing my film trailer, there were various conventions which I had to take into consideration for example the general conventions of horror and and the sub-genre supernatural horror. The first convention I was faced with is location; location is important in supernatural horrors as it creates an eerie ambiance. When researching other media texts it became evident which locations were popular. Below are a few examples of locations of various horror movies.

'The Amityville Horror'

'The Cabin in the Woods'

'Insidious'

All of narratives in these movies revolved around a house or where set in a house. This is a common convention for supernatural horrors, because what society feared of developed and so now people are afraid of a threat coming from within the home/family. Supernatural movies end to be set in a house because it adds a sense of irony that this is the one place where you are meant to be safe in and so the audience begin to ponder whether their own homes are safe, heightening their fears. Due to this research I decided to follow conventions and set my own narrative in a house too; it also adds a sense of realism to the narrative and the audience can imagine themselves in the place of the protagonist easier.

Another convention which I have chosen to follow is the personality of my protagonist. The protagonist in supernatural horrors are shown to be 'normal' people who live ordinary and unknown actors are used to emphasise this idea.This means that the torment which the protagonist experiences can happen to anyone and so it intensifies the fear that the audience feels. Supernatural horrors differ from other horror sub-genres such as slasher as the protagonists are not attacked for a reason/purpose. In most cases they have done nothing wrong or have never tempted fate which means that the antagonist is doing this just because he can or because the protagonist have had a trouble past which they then begin to believe is the cause for the unexplainable events; it is because of their troubled past that the people in the protagonists like begin to see her/him as mentally unstable when they begin to discuss the paranormal activity they are experiencing. Another reason for the torment could be for revenge and so this leads the protagonist on a mission to find out what has happened. I have used this character description for my own protagonist; Allison leads a 'normal' life but things begin to change and this is because in her past she played a Ouija board which allowed her to come into contact with demons. Another convention which I chose to follow is that my protagonist is a female; this is largely due to the fact that the audience are more willing to accept a female who is crying and experiencing large amounts of terror rather than a male. A hysterical male protagonist would not be as convincing!

 In keeping with the theme of realism I have also made sure  followed the codes and conventions in regards to costume of protagonists in supernatural horrors. Below are images of the protagonist from 'The Uninvited' and 'Paranormal Activity.' 

In both of the images, it is clear that the characters wear simple clothing which mainly consists of t-shirts and vest tops. This is because the characters lead busy lives in the narrative and so the this costumes provides them with comfort but also allows them to remain stylish and look feminine. In keeping with the simplistic theme, the make-up is also kept minimal and natural to reflect a 'normal' woman. In both images the protagonists have their hair tied up in a pony tail because it is practical yet stylish. This makes the character a lot more realistic for the target audience as their hair, make-up and costume reflect the hair, make-up and costume of the members of the target audience. The audience leads busy lives too and so can relate to the idea of comfort and practicality. This is why I kept the costume of my own protagonist simple, with her costume only consisting of a shirt, vest top and jeans. 

Another important convention for the horror genre is the lighting. Lighting is important as it helps set the ambiance in a scene and the audience can gather the genre of the movie by the dark shadowy lighting. 

Below is the trailer for 'The Last Exorcism'....

I came across this trailer during my research and planning and thought that the use of lighting was extremely creative. Towards the end of the trailer, the footage has a red tinge applied on top which will connote the idea of danger and blood in the audience's mind and so creates tension. Furthermore in the barn scenes, their is a single spotlight on the protagonist as he tries to save Nelly's life and the rest of the barn is kept in darkness. This is a great technique as the audience begin to wonder what is lurking in the darkness and their fear becomes escalated sue to the danger the protagonist is in. 

As lighting is a major signifier for the horror genre, it became important to me that I incorporated it into my work successfully and so I used the idea of a spotlight in one of my scenes...

At the beginning of the trailer, there seems to be a grey tinge on the footage which makes the scene dull, sullen and foreshadows the later distress the protagonist is about to encounter. This technique is also used successfully in 'The Woman In Black' trailer...

The greyish tones allow the audience to gather that something is not quite right in the world of the movie and so I used this in one of my own scenes in my trailer ...

Another major signifier for the horror genre is the use of dark, ominous sounds and stabs. I personally find sound extremely effective in a trailer and so I looked at many trailers to see how sound is use effectively. Below is the trailer for 'Sinister'....

This trailer has a dark, ominous tone which runs throughout the whole trailer and so the audience are kept tensed and on guard throughout and so I used this sound in my own trailer so the audience remain scared constantly. The trailer was also successful in using stabs to heighten the fear in a certain scene for example at 1.34. The burst of sound is unexpected and so causes the audience to jump whilst emphasising the terror of the antagonist. Another common sound convention the trailer used was amplifying the sounds of 'normal' objects. Towards the end of the trailer the sound of the antique video player becomes amplified and mimics the pace of heartbeat. This constant, loud sound builds up anticipation and so the audience begin to wait for something terrifying! 

Below is some raw footage of a scene which features in my trailer, and it shows how I have incorporated this sound convention in my own work...

I used metal glass to emphasise the sound when the glass drops and so hopefully this will cause the audience to jump. 

In order to achieve a professional and authentic piece, I had to use appropriate mise-en-scene elements. In the supernatural sub-genre, props which relate religion such as bibles and crucifixes are conventional as they relate to spirits, demons and the devil. Following conventions, I featured a bible in my narrative which the protagonist uses to try and find out what has possession of her daughter and also features in the final exorcism scene. 

 Another prop which featured in my trailer was a Ouija board. This board is said to be a way to contact spirits and its related to demons and religion, however it does not regularly appear in supernatural movies, so it is not conventional; I chose to include this prop to bring some originality into my narrative.

Another common convention for the supernatural genre is to turn innocent objects sinister. A great example of this is shown in 'The woman in black' trailer which is shown above as the antique china dolls begin to move on their own and orchestrate a sound. I thought this was a really effective technique and so I based a scene on this convention...

The barbie doll is a typical toy for a little girl and so I used this toy to show the audience that Katy is being haunted; it is as if the doll is being drawn into the demons clutches. 

As mentioned earlier it is also conventional for the protagonist to seek for help from a close friend or an authoritive person e.g the police, however they tend not to believe the supernatural experiences the protagonist states they are experiencing and so this enhances her distressed state. Below is the trailer for 'The uninvited' and it is a great example to display this convention  at 1.12 we see the sheriff of the town talking to the protagonist daughter stating she believes his 'fiance killed the family she worked for.' however when discussing this issue he sounds skeptical and later on in the trailer her own father questions her about 'whether or not she is ready to be in this family'. 

 In my own trailer I have used this convention because I think it becomes the pivotal moment in the trailer where the protagonist feels like she has no hope and it allows a great transition from ordinary scenes to the fast cut montage, because of the importance of this convention I have included a scene where my protagonist talks to her close friend stating she is worried about Katy's behaviour, however her friend is just dismissing the issue by stating it is down to stress. 

Most supernatural horror movies have narratives which are revolved around demons and so normally in the narrative it is conventional to have an exorcism or ritual of some sort.

'The devil Inside' is based on the idea of exorcisms and it shows how in some cases it can be the answer to solving the problem...

Exorcism's link back to the idea of religion and so this is why they feature heavily within supernatural horrors. After looking at many different trailers I decided to follow this convention as it was also an opportunity to shoot some creative scenes.

The film trailer itself follows the basic narrative structure which includes an introduction to the protagonists equilibrium, for instance here we see Allison playful spending time with her daughter. This is followed by the ‘disruption’ in which we see Katy experience ghostly haunting in her bedroom. The ‘reaction’ phase them follows, and we see a series of clips as part of the montage which displays Allison being trying to save her possessed daughter and even being tormented by the demon which holds her daughter captive. These stages are all a part of Todorov’s film structure which I have followed up until now. In order to complete Todorov’s film structure there needs to be the remaining stages which are the ‘repair’ and the ‘new equilibrium’, however these tend not to be included in film trailers, otherwise it would reveal the entire narrative and the purpose of the film trailer is to tease the audience into watching the movie. So when looking at the general structure, it can be said that I have followed codes and conventions of existing film trailers to ensure that my own trailer is recognisable to the target audience. 

The editing in a horror movie trailer also has certain conventions, for example the speed of the editing. At the beginning of the trailer, the editing should be at a regular pace to represent the normality. As the trailer narrative develops, the editing also begins to speed up and finally as the trailer reaches the fast-cut montage the editing becomes extremely rapid with some footage only being shown for a few seconds. Below is the trailer for 'Silent Hill' which demonstrates this conventional editing...

 This increase in editing is used to mimic how the audience heart should be beating whilst they watch the trailer; as they begin their heart rates are normal and steady, as the narrative is revealed their hearts beat slightly faster as they become aware of the threat and when they view the fast-cut montage their hearts should be beating rapidly as they view the terrifying footage! It is because of this editing that the audience are able to recognise that the trailer belongs to the horror genre and so I included this editing within my own trailer. 

Along with the speed of the editing. the transition between scenes also have their own conventions. The most popular type of edit is a cut and this is used in most types of moving media because it gives the scene realism, however in horror movie trailers, edits such as fades to white and black are also conventional as they can create many meanings, for example in my trailer I used a fade to black in between the scenes where the mother and daughter are laughing on the sofa to when they are sitting on the bed. This fade in black firstly represents the change in time but also the black screen which appears momentarily on the screen can foreshadow the danger and evil which is about to come. 

Symbiotic Link

My film poster, film magazine front cover and film trailer combined together create a promotional package. In order to create a successful promotional package the three pieces need to have a symbiotic link so that the audience can recognise that each of the media texts are promoting the same movie. I feel that my film trailer and my two ancillary tasks have successfully been able to promote my film. All three act as promotional pieces through implying genre. The magazine and poster use colour, font and image to promote the horror genre and in the trailer the use of music, sound, narrative characters and setting signify the horror genre; this will attract the horror lovers meaning that the promotion of the genre is successful. 
I have included many symbiotic links which are mirrored through all the three media texts; firstly is the use of font. The film title style is the same when it is mentioned on all three media texts..

The colour of the movie title is black for the strap in the trailer and on the movie poster however for the film magazine I changed the colour the red so that the movie title will blend in with the theme of the magazine. However because the style of the movie title is the same on all three media texts I am confident that my audience will recognise the movie name due to the brand identity which is created. 

I have also used the same model on the magazine and poster, and she is also the character who features most heavily in the trailer. This ensures that the target audience recognise her and as she is the most scariest looking character, she will constantly attract horror lovers. To enhance the familiarity, the make up was kept the same on the magazine front cover and poster and this make-up also appears on the character towards the end of the trailer. 

The use of various symbiotic links in my work means that my target audience will be able to put all three media texts together and recognise different elements that they have seen on one or the other. Using these symbiotic links allows my pieces to support each other and successfully compliment each other; building up recognisability with the target audience and also it makes the three pieces appear more professional. By repeating certain features such as the colour and font, it allows meaning to be delivered and understood powerfully because it is effectively 'drummed in' due to repeated exposure.

Audience Feedback!

Audience feedback is a systematic and accurate way of finding out whether you met the needs of your chosen target audience. As the audience consume my media, I thought it was very important to hand out questionnaires by hand and on ‘Facebook’ to see what their views were on my media texts. I chose to use a social networking site to carry out my research as it is a quick and easy way of gathering audience feedback. There are many different theories on how audiences respond to and interact with media and this alone highlights the many complexities of focusing on the audience and this is one of the reasons why post production research must be carried out. Below are the questionnaires which I created and the results which I obtained….

 

Each questionnaire was distributed to 20 members of their respective target audience and the results are shown below:

Film poster results

     What genre of film would you say this poster belongs to? Why?

All the questionnaires answered horror and some members of the audience specified in saying a ‘supernatural movie’ due to the ‘pale, evil face’ of the antagonist and because the title of the movie is ‘Within’ and so ‘implies a possession’. This is a great response as it shows I have successfully managed to display the genre and sub-genre of this movie through the use of my mise-en-scene elements.

‘I think this definitely belongs to the supernatural genre because the look that the model is giving is not humane. You can tell straight away that she is not normal.’

      Do you think the image looks professional or amateur?

17/20 members of the audience answered that the image looked professional, however 3 people stated it had an amateur appeal and expanded their answers further by stating ‘the quality of the picture could have been better’ or ‘the finishing’ of the image is lacking authenticity. This information is extremely useful as I now know how my image appears to my chosen target audience, and I have learnt that my final image could have been improved and I will take this into account when producing media texts in the future.

‘I think it looks really professional, the cuts and wounds are fantastic, looks really realistic and scary!’

      What can you gather about the storyline from looking at this poster?

The most popular answer to this question was some sort of ‘possession’ is going to take place and that the ‘character on the front is going to be possessed.’ This was another great result as this was the exact message which I intended to send; it allows the audience to gather knowledge about the narrative but it does not give away too much information.

‘It looks like that there is going to be a possession and the character on the front is going to be possessed.’

What improvements do you think can be made on this poster?

For this question the recurring answer which kept coming up was the tagline; the target audience stated that it may need to ‘stand out’ more.

‘The tagline could be made a bit more visible, I feel it can blend into the background and needs to stand out.’

      What is your favourite feature of the poster?

The results of these questions were split between two features; the main image and the movie title.’ With the main image, the target audience seemed to like the dominance of the main image and found the stare given by the model terrifying. With regards to the main title, the audience were attracted to the unique character change on the letter 'I' as it gave ‘a really cool effect’.

‘I think the title looks freaky! The cross makes me imagine exorcisms and demons n and the whole thing works really well.’

      Does this poster make you want to see the film? Why?

The answer to this question was unanimous as everyone answered yes. The main reasons why seemed to be because they wanted to find out what is actually ‘within’ the character and why the character is possessed.

‘I would definitely go to see this movie, the poster tells you so much but also leaves you with so many questions such as why she is possessed.

Film magazine result

 Is this magazine front cover appealing? Why?

All of the audience asked answered yes to this question and the popular reasons seemed to be because of the masthead, as it was ‘unusual and interesting’ and also the main image because the model looks ‘scary’.

‘Yes! It really catches my eye, especially the main image, she looks so scary I want to read more and find out why.’

What features of the magazine first caught your eye?

This question received mixed results, 9 members of the audience said the masthead, 8 members of the audience said the main image and 3 members of the audience said the main sell line. These results are extremely useful as when I was designing the masthead, I wanted something unusual and eye grabbing as it is the largest text in the frame.

‘Defiantly the masthead, the cobweb effect is so cool.’

What is your favourite feature on the front cover?

The audience gave a variety of different features, which included the masthead, the main image, the main sell line and the banner. These features could be the favourite because they are the most predominant features on the page.

‘I really like the banner. It looks like a lot of detail went into it and it really shows, it looks great.’

Are the articles named something that you would be interested in?

All of the members of the audience answered yes to this questioned because the articles offer such a variety of horror movies; this is great to know as I now feel I successfully appealed to my targets audience’s interest.

‘Definitely, I really like how the articles take into account the classic horror movies such as ‘the shining’ as well as the new movies. It gives you the best of both worlds.’

Do you think the use of colours/fonts for the texts are effective in promoting a Halloween edition?

Again, this is another question where all of the audience answered yes. The common answer seemed to be because red and black have connotations with evil and danger and so match the theme of Halloween.

‘Yeah, the red and black is a classic combination for horror and Halloween and the white gives a create contrast and makes things stand out.’

What improvements do you think can be made to this front cover?

Even though the results of this question were varied, there was one repeated answer and this was regarding the main image. It seemed that some members of the audience thought that the image could be a bit ‘brighter’ as it appears ‘washed out’.

‘I think everything works well together, but the actual picture could be a little brighter, it kind of looks washed out.’

Does this front cover encourage you to find out more about the film being promoted?

This was another unanimous result, with everyone answering yes and the main reason for this is because they thought the composition and mise-en-scene elements of the picture are really successful.

‘Yeah I really want to read about it more, the make up on the model looks really good and it intrigues me about the storyline for the movie.’

Film Trailer Results
After watching the trailer, what genre would you say this film belongs to?
20/20 of the audience responded that the movie belonged to to the horror genre and some members of the audience even specified by saying that the the movie belonged to the sub-genre supernatural. This was a great response as it meant that I successfully communicated the genre of my movie to my target audience through the use of mise-en-scene, camera, editing and sound. 
'Definitely a supernatural horror. The exorcism at the end and the make-up of the little girl made it look eerie.' 

Do you think the straps helped your understanding of the narrative?
(straps are the clips of text which appear between scenes)
This was another question which received a unanimous result. The members of my target audience stated that the straps 'emphasised' what they were watching and so they were able to 'make sense' of the narrative better. This again was a great response as this is the sole purpose of a strap; the fact that it helped the audience meant that my use of straps were successful. 
'Yeah, they emphasised the scenes and built up to the title really well.'

Do you think the use of camera and editing was successful? Why?
In this question, most people answered that the use of camera was successful because the scenes were 'she was upside down on the stairs looked really scary.' 8/20 people commented on the editing stating that they enjoyed the fast cut montage. The results to this question made me realise that my camera skills were good however I need to work more on my editing to achieve professionalism. 
'I think camera was used well. The scary scenes at the end looked really effective.'

Do you think the use of mise-en-scene elements were successful, such as hair, costume, make-up and props?
All members of the target audience answered yes to this question and most members stated that the use of make-up was 'extremely effective'. This was the answer which I was expecting as I tried to keep aspects such as costume and hair as 'normal' as possible and so the make-up used on Katy when she is possessed stands out greatly; it was rewarding to know that it was successful in frightening my audience.
'I really like the make-up that Katy has, its extremely effective!' 

Do you think the actors were suitable for their given roles?
20/20 members of my target audience answered yes to this question and said that there was a clear differentiation between the mother and daughter. This was good to know as having the correct actors makes the piece for effective and professional. 
'Yeah the actors were really good, especially Katy her scenes were amazing!'

What is your favourite part of the trailer?
After gathering all the results, most of the target audience seemed to enjoy the scenes which featured into the fast montage. This could be because this is where all the scary scenes are featured and so the trailer becomes a lot more exciting. 
'I loved the bit where it looked like Katy was running straight into the camera. A total surprise!' 

What areas do you think can be improved?
Most members of the target audience said that the final strap could have been improved as it looks 'unprofessional' and other members of the audience stated that it could have been made clearer why the child 'changes'. The results of this question taught me that I could have expanded on my narrative a bit more and made it clear why Katy gets possessed. I also learned that I need to ensure that all aspects of my trailer should have a professional finish.
'Maybe the reason why she changes could be explained a little bit more, as I couldnt tell why'

Does this trailer make you want to see the film?
20/20 members of the target audience said that they would like to watch the movie because they what to know 'why she changes' and if she will escape and return to 'normal.'
'I actually want to watch it to find out what happens! Some parts of the trailer made me jump so I think the movie would be even better.' 

Wonders of Technology!

Being a teenager in modern times, means that I have been lucky enough to be exposed to the wonders of technology. We are now in, what is known as the 'digital age' and as a media student I am grateful for these new technologies as they greatly benefit my learning and my production.  New technology has enabled media practitioners to open up and expand their creativity to create professional and authentic media texts. 
Without digital technology, my research and planning stage of the project would not have been successful and this would have then affected the rest of my work; it was due to digital technology such as the internet that I was enabled to progress in this section. Search engines such as ‘www.google.co.uk’ allowed me to access information that I needed in an instant. Without the internet researching various codes and conventions and getting hold of existing media texts would have been difficult and quite expensive. Not only was I able to access information, ‘Google images’ gave me quick and easy access to images which I used to accompany my writing and demonstrate certain points.

Without this, my research and planning would have been a lot harder. Furthermore this easy access to images allowed me to make my work a lot more visual, exciting and interactive.
Other websites such as ‘www.wikepedia.co.uk’ also allowed me to gain information, for instance on topics such as ‘the history of horror’ and film narratives.

 I also used websites such as ‘www.youtube.co.uk’ to explore and analyse various film trailers and as I became more familiar with the website I soon discovered it was a great tool in helping me to find and select a soundtrack for my own trailer, which was a great bonus!

'Youtube' was also a great place for tutorials; after researching various make-up ideas, I became stuck on how to actually create the scary look that I wanted and so I 'youtubed' various horror make-up tutorials and was pleasantly surprised at the vast amount of options that I was exposed to! Below are a few videos which I used to teach myself how to apply this theatrical make-up...

Along with teaching me how to apply cool and creepy make-up, 'Youtube' also taught me how to create a cool lightening effect which I used for the masthead on my magazine. Below is the tutorial which I used, it guided me step by and step and I was able to overcome my dilemma!

Finally the last website which I would say benefited me the most during this project was ‘Blogger’ itself. 
I have always been intrigued by the concept of blogging and always thought that one day I may be able to create my own; however a fear of the technology limited me in my progress. I feel that media studies has helped me develop my technological skills in this area. I find that working on a blog is a lot more beneficial and practical than the using a scrap book, as it is a lot less time consuming and also it is internet based which appeals to our age group as a generation we spend most of our time on the internet. So feeling optimistic and excited I began my journey with blogger; there once was a time when the thought of uploading a post onto blogger daunted me, however now I am able to create posts, upload images and videos and embed PowerPoint’s. I am now able to make my blog into the style I want and I feel that using blogger turned my daunting researching and planning task into a fun and creative experience. Using 'Blogger' also made this experience a lot more personal to me and it allowed me to update my blog with images of me having fun with project and express my feelings on how well it was going. One major advantage of a blog has to be the way it allows me to quickly update and alter my work; something that would have been quite a time consuming task had I done this through a scrapbook. 
The thought of having my work on the internet excited me as the idea of sharing my creativity was something I was very interested in. The interactivity which comes with a blog is extremely motivational, for instance a fellow blogger commented on my post ‘The narrative’ saying ‘nice blog’ and so this made me feel proud of my own work. At the beginning of the project I noticed my page-views rising and this felt extremely exciting!
Below is a current image of my view counts....

 As a media practioner I felt proud in that my blog was being viewed all over the world and this was also extremely motivational. I felt I came a long way from a fear of using technology to blog to know being viewed from around the world! 

Using blogger has now become really rewarding and this is down to the use of technology.
 This interactivity works in two ways and so also allows me to view other blogs, which was great inspiration. Looking at other people’s blogs allowed me to gain ideas with regards to my visual decorations such as the background and it was great fun working on those aspects.

My use of technology was not just limited to the internet; I also became familiar  with the editing programmes Adobe Photoshop and premier pro. After taking my images for the magazine front cover and the film poster, I turned to Photoshop. I have been familiar with this software since GCSE and it was something I felt comforting to use. I felt my experiences with Photoshop at GCSE and AS level, made my use of Photoshop this year extremely easier and so I used the software to perfect my images. 

Before:

Development

Further Development

Final Piece

As you can see in the images above, I firstly began to edit the background of the image using the 'magic wand' tool which I have used previously and so this stage in editing ran smoothly. To develop my piece I added text, using the 'text' tool which was another familiar process. During my development I realised that the colour tone of the image was too bright to depict the horror movie genre and so I had to use photoshop to change the tone. This was a process that I was not used to and so when it came to looking deeper into the  with the 'hue and saturation' and the 'colour vibrance' I felt a bit confused however after experimenting with the colours and familiarising myself with the dialogue box I soon was able to achieve the right tones for my image. As mentioned earlier I used a tutorial to help me gain a lightening effect on photoshop and this technique involved used the 'gradient' tool which was something that I have never used before, however after learning the use of the tool in the tutorial I used the 'gradient' tool to help my make a pattern overlay for the title of my movie. 

Along with Photoshop I also used the editing software of adobe premiere pro which I was introduced to this year. It is software that enables the editing of moving media and when first faced with the software it looked so complicated and I thought it was going to be quite difficult to master. However because of the help of my teachers and fellow students, combined with practice, I can now confidently say it is a new skill which I have grasped!

When I first began my construction I was unaware of how to add my video files into the software, however now I can add editing effects such as fade to blacks and I can cut pieces of moving media to get the exact clip which I am interested in. This allows me to piece together many different clips to create a perfect scene! 

During my research and planning, my mobile phone became a great tool, for instance when carrying out my reconnaissance, I used my mobile phone to captures images and take videos of my location because it was quick and extremely practical. I also used the camera on my phone for other aspects for the project, such as the character introductions from my actors and the videos and images of my prop development. 

The images below I captured whilst I was making this blood stained stop I randomly thought that I should take an image so I can use it as a part of my prop development, however at the time I did not have my camera on me and so I used my mobile phone. 

My mobile phone also allowed me to capture the fun moments which I experienced during this project!

Another form of digital technology which I used was my Digital recorder which I used during my construction process to film the scenes which would be included in my film trailer. I found that his part of the project was a great learning curve as I discovered a new passion for filming and directing. I have not had any previous experience with moving media however once I began filming, I found it extremely enjoyable and my creativity truly came into its own when I began filming certain shots such as a high angle and over the shoulder shots, an example of which is shown below ....

 I found i picked up the process of filming and directing quite quickly so I definitely intend to extend my skill further in the future!

Bloopers!

Here are a few out takes! Just a few videos which capture the amount of fun I experienced throughout this project...

The Last Note!

Overall I am proud and feel confident in my three final production pieces. I feel I have worked hard on them and they wouldn't be the same without all the effort that went into my research and planning. This project has taught me a lot about time keeping and has gained me new skills which I will cherish and hopefully expand in the future! i have also learnt the areas which I need to improve on and so I now have new targets which I have set myself. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and would definitely do it all again!