Monday, 17 December 2012
Friday, 14 December 2012
Sunday, 9 December 2012
Analysis of Forest Massacre
I will now analyse my own trailer in terms of the conventions applied in trailers more specifically y the horror genre, these conventions are lighting, costume, setting, props, shots, cuts and the positioning. I have also applied some theories that we had in mind when making the trailer.
Lighting: In the beginning of the trailer we have natural lighting that sets the scene for the movie, this lighting is taken at around about 4 o'clock when the light is fading however still visible. The lighting then goes to low key lighting when they are in the forest - this applies to the codes and conventions of the horror genre we know this through the research we have done for example the trailer for the production of "Friday the 13th" was shot in low lighting conditions although they had the technology to apply special effects/lighting for example mist. When the trailer gets into its concluding scenes and the low key lighting is in effect, the key lighting becomes a use of a torch. This was one of the props therefore making it diegetic lighting as it comes from within the filming frame. All these methods comply to the conventions of horror in the first instance we did not use them however it made the trailer not "scary" therefore we re-shot and found this was much scarier. It was important to use the dark as it plays with the audiences fears that nothing good comes from the dark.
Costume:In order to connect to are target audience (teenagers) we needed to dress accordingly therefore the characters where wearing jeans, t-shirts, shirts and hooded jackets this added an extra bit of realism to the trailer. This was seen through research we done as we studied this area closely. Our "bad guy" the "Unknown Figure" was wearing all black with there identity hidden to keep some mystery to the plot, so that the audience we have this incentive to go watch the trailer. This also applied to one convention we looked at in horror trailers, you never got a full look at the bad guy so that therefore it was the unknown and the teenagers don't no what it hunting them - which the audience would relate to and this would therefore un-veal there deepest fears.
Setting: The setting we have used is a forest, this is a major convention as many peoples fears lie within the forest, as when it gets dark anything can happen there as its in the unknown. It also represents the vulnerability that these teens put themselves in as the are secluded from the rest of the world. Its the idea that it could happen to you so that the audience relate to it, going of a stereotype of teens hanging around in un populated areas such as the woods we targeted at them as it would play on their fears.
Props: Some of the props that where included where torches, knife and fake blood. The torches where used to showcase the key lighting and make it seem scarier for the audience as they where the connotation of night time. The knife was used by the "Unknown Figure" it was the murder weapon it made him appear scarier as he had a weapon where as the teenagers where helpless. The fake blood was used in the first shooting whereby it was found on a tree in the second shooting it was not practical as it would not be visible on the ground as it was much darker. All these conventions are applied in many different trailers that we have seen in past whilst studying before going into the creation or shooting of this coursework. These all had powerful connotations on the audience we felt and found through the feedback we got on the trailer.
Positioning: The positioning of the the actors was important for example for the choice of the "Unknown character" accompanied by camera angles he came across as powerful due to his height advantage on the other characters. We also placed one of the teens in the "limelight" if you will and made him the most identifiable out of all the teens therefore the audience could connect with hi and therefore want to watch the movie to see what happens to him. We did this by placing him leading the others and doing the majority of the talking.
Shots: The shots I have used are very much the standard horror genre shots you would see in a horror trailer. For example I have used high and low angle shots which have the connotation of power on the audience for example in the scenes where the "Unknown Figure" watches over the teenager. Other shots I have used is bird eye view shots this allows for the audience to see everyone in a full frame. Another shot angle I have sued is a establishing shot which shows the area in which we are filming it also is accompanied by a show panning shot which we have seen used in trailer such as twilight. We have sued a extreme close up on one of the teens faces which allows us to showcase the emotions involved and therefore makes the audience more connected in the story.
Cuts: The cuts we have used are taken from our research this is because we seen that some audiences like fast.short cuts this is the younger audience The younger audience was our target audience therefore this is what we have done towards the end of the trailer. We have also used fad ins and outs which we got from our research as they add tension etc.
Theories:
The first theory that I could apply to this trailer is Todorov's narrative, this is the theory that suggests that there is five sections to any film, however in the trailer you would not show the last two sections the attempt to repair and the return to normality as these are why the audience would want to see the full film. The next theory that could be applied is blumler and katz this is the theory that says why people watch movies/TV. This can be applied due to it being able to entertain, escapism ans social avail abilities. My trailer can also apply to the props narrative theory the idea that there are character persona's in every film I have included the villain "The Unknown Figure", the false hero and the hero and then the victims.
Semiotics: The use of signs is important in the horror genre as everything used will give some connotation to the genre for example the knife is the sign of violence, the use of blood in horror is another form of semiotics however in our second shoot we did want to use it.
In terms of real media products I feel that our trailer resembles one on the current market for movies, I feel this is because of dedication and time we put into the researching stages as without it we would not have used near enough of the standard conventions of a horror trailer therefore it would not come across as realistic.
Lighting: In the beginning of the trailer we have natural lighting that sets the scene for the movie, this lighting is taken at around about 4 o'clock when the light is fading however still visible. The lighting then goes to low key lighting when they are in the forest - this applies to the codes and conventions of the horror genre we know this through the research we have done for example the trailer for the production of "Friday the 13th" was shot in low lighting conditions although they had the technology to apply special effects/lighting for example mist. When the trailer gets into its concluding scenes and the low key lighting is in effect, the key lighting becomes a use of a torch. This was one of the props therefore making it diegetic lighting as it comes from within the filming frame. All these methods comply to the conventions of horror in the first instance we did not use them however it made the trailer not "scary" therefore we re-shot and found this was much scarier. It was important to use the dark as it plays with the audiences fears that nothing good comes from the dark.
Costume:In order to connect to are target audience (teenagers) we needed to dress accordingly therefore the characters where wearing jeans, t-shirts, shirts and hooded jackets this added an extra bit of realism to the trailer. This was seen through research we done as we studied this area closely. Our "bad guy" the "Unknown Figure" was wearing all black with there identity hidden to keep some mystery to the plot, so that the audience we have this incentive to go watch the trailer. This also applied to one convention we looked at in horror trailers, you never got a full look at the bad guy so that therefore it was the unknown and the teenagers don't no what it hunting them - which the audience would relate to and this would therefore un-veal there deepest fears.
Setting: The setting we have used is a forest, this is a major convention as many peoples fears lie within the forest, as when it gets dark anything can happen there as its in the unknown. It also represents the vulnerability that these teens put themselves in as the are secluded from the rest of the world. Its the idea that it could happen to you so that the audience relate to it, going of a stereotype of teens hanging around in un populated areas such as the woods we targeted at them as it would play on their fears.
Props: Some of the props that where included where torches, knife and fake blood. The torches where used to showcase the key lighting and make it seem scarier for the audience as they where the connotation of night time. The knife was used by the "Unknown Figure" it was the murder weapon it made him appear scarier as he had a weapon where as the teenagers where helpless. The fake blood was used in the first shooting whereby it was found on a tree in the second shooting it was not practical as it would not be visible on the ground as it was much darker. All these conventions are applied in many different trailers that we have seen in past whilst studying before going into the creation or shooting of this coursework. These all had powerful connotations on the audience we felt and found through the feedback we got on the trailer.
Positioning: The positioning of the the actors was important for example for the choice of the "Unknown character" accompanied by camera angles he came across as powerful due to his height advantage on the other characters. We also placed one of the teens in the "limelight" if you will and made him the most identifiable out of all the teens therefore the audience could connect with hi and therefore want to watch the movie to see what happens to him. We did this by placing him leading the others and doing the majority of the talking.
Shots: The shots I have used are very much the standard horror genre shots you would see in a horror trailer. For example I have used high and low angle shots which have the connotation of power on the audience for example in the scenes where the "Unknown Figure" watches over the teenager. Other shots I have used is bird eye view shots this allows for the audience to see everyone in a full frame. Another shot angle I have sued is a establishing shot which shows the area in which we are filming it also is accompanied by a show panning shot which we have seen used in trailer such as twilight. We have sued a extreme close up on one of the teens faces which allows us to showcase the emotions involved and therefore makes the audience more connected in the story.
Cuts: The cuts we have used are taken from our research this is because we seen that some audiences like fast.short cuts this is the younger audience The younger audience was our target audience therefore this is what we have done towards the end of the trailer. We have also used fad ins and outs which we got from our research as they add tension etc.
Theories:
The first theory that I could apply to this trailer is Todorov's narrative, this is the theory that suggests that there is five sections to any film, however in the trailer you would not show the last two sections the attempt to repair and the return to normality as these are why the audience would want to see the full film. The next theory that could be applied is blumler and katz this is the theory that says why people watch movies/TV. This can be applied due to it being able to entertain, escapism ans social avail abilities. My trailer can also apply to the props narrative theory the idea that there are character persona's in every film I have included the villain "The Unknown Figure", the false hero and the hero and then the victims.
Semiotics: The use of signs is important in the horror genre as everything used will give some connotation to the genre for example the knife is the sign of violence, the use of blood in horror is another form of semiotics however in our second shoot we did want to use it.
In terms of real media products I feel that our trailer resembles one on the current market for movies, I feel this is because of dedication and time we put into the researching stages as without it we would not have used near enough of the standard conventions of a horror trailer therefore it would not come across as realistic.
Saturday, 8 December 2012
Feedback - Part of Evaluation
The questions where:
In what ways does my trailer remind you of other trailers?
What do you think my strengths of this trailer are?
What do you think the weaknesses are?
We where happy to accept both positive and negative criticism as in fact there was no such thing as negative feedback as it was constructive to us therefore we could act upon it if we had more time to do so and make the trailer better or know for further productions what to do differently.
Some feedback we got was that we gave too much of the story away - we accept this feedback however this would seem to be a matter of personal opinion as no one else put this comment down - this could be due to age as from research we have seen that the younger generation prefer less story line more action although the older generation would prefer the opposite to this. Other feedback we got back was on our strengths via soundtrack - "It was scary and made us jump" - we choose this for the purpose of adding tension this was another comment made. It stuck with the conventions of the horror genre this is why we used it as well.
Below are the feedback sheets we have got small groups to fill out after watching our trailer.
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Another method of gaining feedback for future products is using the social media other known as Facebook and twitter, we also posted he trailer on YouTube where we granted the ability too like dislike and also comment. This is a print screen of this information and it shows comment s on the forest massacre trailer.
Magazine Front Cover
This is the magazine cover I have created for the marketing process of Forrest Massacre. I have used many features in the creation of this magazine, these features are; the masthead (ELITE FILMS), Incentives, Splash headline, strap-line, pugs and a bar code. Firstly I will talk about the use of the masthead. The masthead of my magazine is like many other magazines however I added my own concepts to it, this is because as like many magazine they have there masthead at the top of the page standing out from the rest of the magazine (i.e. through larger text and specific font) I have followed these rules however I have also made the style my own so that therefore it would be recognized by my audience as Elite Films text. The next feature I will talk about is the use of Incentives.
I have used an incentive at the top of my magazine cover it says "FREE POSTER INSIDE WITH YOUR COPY OF THIS MONTHS EDITION" this poster would be the poster that I have made for the marketing process of Forrest Massacre. Many magazines use incentives as they do what the say really they incent people to purchase the magazine as its like buy one get one free.
The next feature I will talk about is the splash headline other known as the films movie title "Forrest Massacre", this relates to the poster and the trailer as this will carry on throughout to create a house-style. As you will know I created this title whilst creating the poster using Photoshop. Its important to use a splash headline as it tells the reader exactly what the main feature of that edition of magazine is. The positioning is also important the splash headline should not interfere with the masthead as the masthead should be most significant item on the page. However the splash headline comes close as it would generally be the second biggest item of text - matching to the image as it would generally be related to it.
I have also used a strap-line this is the same strap-line that is seen in the poster and the trailer "WELCOME TO THE WOODS" I have used this as it is now becoming the house style of this movie and therefore the audience will be able to remember this phrase. I know that this is important to have in my magazine front cover as it is used in the ones I have seen in the previous weeks and months that I have studied.
I have also made it possible to use pugs in my magazine front cover as these stand out from the magazine and draw the attention of the reader.
I have also used a bar-code which is essential every magazine uses one whether it be on the front cover or the back of the magazine.
Finally the image; The image I have selected is a medium shot this is because all the magazines or the majority of the magazines used medium shots/close ups of lead roles as this created a more personal image. I have used Photoshop to create this image I have adjusted the contrast etc to make the image appear darker. I have made the image darker to make it more realistic to the idea of the movie "Horror" therefore I feel this is an important change.
Thursday, 6 December 2012
Poster for Forrest Massacre
I realized from looking at other movie posters that there are generic features used - these features are the masthead, tagline, age rating certificate, billing block for actors and production company and finally the production logo's. So firstly I will talk about the use of the masthead, this masthead will be used throughout the marketing process creating if you will a "house style" this will make it easier for the audience to relate the poster, magazine front cover and the trailer to the same film "Forrest Massacre". I have created this font using a website known as "DaFont" it has thousands of fonts on it and all you do is write what you want load it and then save it, however you can only save the font in black - therefore some editing is needed I personally used Photoshop as I have become familiar with this software over the time of this project. So once loaded into Photoshop I have changed the colour of the text and wiped the background, the purpose of getting rid of the background is that it looks like it is apart of the actual image I feel from the image above that this has worked well. I picked this font after looking at other posters for movies and seen they all had there on iconic recognizable fonts that fitted there movie as this is a massive fault by many people.
Next I will talk about the tagline, the tagline I have used is going to be incorporated throughout the marketing process. The tagline I have used is "WELCOME TO THE WOODS" this tagline was brought to my attention from the movie poster for Friday the 13th as its tagline was "WELCOME TO CRYSTAL LAKE" so after this was my inspiration I took it and made it my own. A tagline is key to the marketing process as it is generally how many people will remember the trailer, poster or the magazine before and after the movies release. The font I have used is just a generic Photoshop font this could be an improvement to come as I feel that it would be best for this to be the same font as the movie title. However this font will be carried through to the magazine front cover for "Elite Films".
The next item to talk about is the age certificate, every film has an age restriction as mine is a horror film the age range will be rated 15 I feel this will target my audience well as although the film may be scary or I hope so with it being a horror it does not contain gore or string language. I have got this image of the internet and then put it into my poster using Photoshop. I have placed it at the bottom near to the billing block as this is where I have found them on poster covers I have looked at in the past.
An important feature of every movie poster is its billing block every poster has one its just a standard thing, there is no flare to them etc however they do advertise in there own way for example in the billing block the production company is found along with the list of cast or at least regular cast. These both bring in another fan base for example people may see that Warner Bros. is the production company and feel its a must see due to its vast credibility for making movies/tv shows. Also people may see an actor that they like the billing block and watch the movie for that purpose. The billing block is often found at the bottom of the poster however I feel that I have ventured away from the Friday the 13th poster I was using as its billing block was located above the films title and mine is located below the films title however I don't believe this to matter its just personal preference as other poster covers I have seen use the billing block below its films title.
The final feature for movie posters is the production logo(s), these are also used people to know who this film was produced by. I have put the production companies at the top left and right of the poster as I feel this is the best place for them as it fits well with my magazine without compromising the image but are also noticeable for passers by.
However on some posters an extra feature is applied - this feature is a strap-line I have used this feature in my poster at the bottom, I have used it t showcase other places to learn more about the film (exclusive footage, this will run through to the magazine front cover) This is through Facebook and twitter page addresses.
Every feature of a poster is different however the common goal between them is to advertise as you have read previously from the Films title (masthead) to the billing block. This is why it is so crucial for every film to have a poster which can be shown through a variety of media outlets for example billboards, magazine (free poster) etc.
I will now talk about what I found the most difficult part to get right the image. I have created this image using Photoshop on this software I have used an effect known as cenima, this involves getting the image creating an almost completely black back ground over the top this layer can then be adjusted so that the previous image is shown and you will get what I have done above. The original photo was important for example the positioning it took me a good while to get this image set up finding the right location and then also finding the correct stance for the character to be in as I feel that I have created a low angle shot making the character look very dominating and threatening in the image. I have the character dressed up in costume which adds which most if not all movie posters do. The audience would not no if this was from a scene in the trailer/movie or not.
This is the image i have used to create a poster from as you can see from the before and after images a lot has changed. In order to take this picture and transfer in into a poster i have used an effect called cenima making the edges appear darker with the character jumping out of the image. I have then applied the theory side which consists of the masthead, strapline, blocks etc.
Tuesday, 4 December 2012
Forest Massacre - Marketing Campaign
The production of Forest Massacre needed a marketing campaign, through research I had completed on real media products and its marketing campaign I came to the conclusion that the most effective mediums - media platforms would be a poster, magazine front cover and finally a trailer. In the next couple of paragraphs you will see my choices for each media platform using synergy I have kept to a standardized marketing campaign that mimics that of a real media product. Firstly I will talk about the use of synergy.
The synergy I have used is through the same fonts, colours, images, characters and also phrases. Examples of this in use is the poster in comparison to the magazine front cover, I have used the same fonts and colours I have even gone too the extent of using the same character as the "Unknown Figure" has become the face of the marketing campaign. The ideas got this from where the Paranormal Activity marketing campaign which I have spoken about in prior research.
Examples:
Welcome to the woods - this is tagline I have used in the poster and also the magazine front cover.
Red font colour - this is the colour of the fonts used throughout the whole marketing campaign, selected for its strong connotations of blood and horror in general.
Low key lighting - throughout the marketing campaign we have used low key lighting this is lighting that is very dim, and is a major convention of the horror genre - therefore to make a product that resembles that of a real media product I applied it in every media platform the poster, magazine front cover and the trailer.
The synergy I have used is through the same fonts, colours, images, characters and also phrases. Examples of this in use is the poster in comparison to the magazine front cover, I have used the same fonts and colours I have even gone too the extent of using the same character as the "Unknown Figure" has become the face of the marketing campaign. The ideas got this from where the Paranormal Activity marketing campaign which I have spoken about in prior research.
Examples:
Welcome to the woods - this is tagline I have used in the poster and also the magazine front cover.
Red font colour - this is the colour of the fonts used throughout the whole marketing campaign, selected for its strong connotations of blood and horror in general.
Low key lighting - throughout the marketing campaign we have used low key lighting this is lighting that is very dim, and is a major convention of the horror genre - therefore to make a product that resembles that of a real media product I applied it in every media platform the poster, magazine front cover and the trailer.
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