A2 MEDIA- EVALUATIONAbbie Garland2012

EARLY RESEARCHI found the best way to start my research for producing my own horror teaser trailer, was to watch as many as I could. I used YouTube ( a well established video sharing website)

as my preferred media platform to research such information I also analysed a few, and picked up on certain crucial conventions each one followed. These conventions include the green band, which indicated a film has been approved by the MPPA for its specific audience. It is also common for a trailer to include film companies such as

Film Four, Warner Brothers, and 21st Century Fox, although these are usually faded through quickly due top the fast

moving pace of a teaser trailer.

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT

USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL

MEDIA PRODUCTS?

After analysing many film teaser trailers, I decided upon the genre of horror due to how effective their trailers appear. I noticed how this was down to use of camera work, lighting, and tension building music, something that I will be able to create myself. I also noticed the importance of editing, which is crucial in creating suspense and tension for the fast paced and exciting teaser trailer. I added my own edge on a few of the conventions to make my trailer unique, and developed on the normal conventions as a challenge to the norm.

MUSIC I wanted to use but develop the conventions of horror teaser trailer music, so I juxtaposed happy music

( Tiptoe Through the Tulips- Tiny Tim) with heavy tension, horror music. This created irony which in hand made the trailer have an overall creepy vibe. However, I did slightly edit the music, slowing it down, which made the lyrics slur slightly, creating suspense. At the start of the trailer, I used editing to create a slide

show of picture, and with this I incorporated a ‘clicker’ sound to make the slide show more authentic. The sound comes in after the green band, around 3 seconds in, as ‘BBC Film’ and reoccurs with ever snapshot photo’. On top of this, I added some tension building ambiance sound which built up to the last slide and

cuts out with a ‘booming effect’, adding to the anticipation. After the cut out, I decided to not go straight in and use any music, so to keep on adding to the apprehension, so instead used more ambient music, which has a hollow sounding effect. This sound carries on throughout a fade out of clips and is stopped with the

loud banging on the door. The ambiance sound slightly changes to sound like the whistling of the wind which then is abruptly stopped with the final ‘booming’ of noise when the door is flung in the girls face. After this the excitement truly kicks on with the edgy and grungy music. This music is fast paced and

trilling, stimulating my audience. I wanted to end the trailer by tying everything together and relating it to the start, with the slide show. The exciting music stop with a sound effect of someone take a needle of a record and in fades the happy music again, ironically juxtaposed with the video and lighting. I then use slide again, but much quicker, along with the clicker sound. The happy music fades out at the end along

with the closing sequence.

CAMERA WORK My team and I found that the most convenient yet effective

way to film out footage was to not do anything too high tech with our camera work. Instead we reminded ourselves of this importance of camera angle and movement and left the most technical parts to do in our editing. Our teaser trailer opens to an establishing shot of the outside of the home where the action takes place. The camera is reflective of a handy cam and pans the outside, so to give the effect of someone spying on the home. Our establishing scene, using a simple medium shot, is of two characters, babysitter and mother, just to set the agenda and basic plot. A shot of a knock on the door signifies entry into the home and is used as a symbol of security. This is used again further on in the trailer.

CAMERA WORK I continue to use more establishing shots to show the plot and

build up towards the finale. For example, a medium close up, over the shoulder shot of the babysitter checking on the child sleep, a roaring fire which creates comfort and contrasts the genre, and then another behind shot of her watching the television, again adding the sense of comfort which will soon be destroyed.

Again, I use a close up on over the should shot of the babysitter opening the front door. This continuous use of over the shoulder shots keeps a sense of mystery, and appears slightly detached as if she is being watched.

CAMERA WORK When the pace picks up and the quick moving sequence

kicks in I use more medium shots instead of close up, to show all the action and movement, for example, when the door hits in her face( 1.01), when she is being dragged across the floor (1.02) and when running up the stairs (1.05). I used a low angle of feet running across the floor to add more to the ambiguity of the killer (1.13). In the end clip, the camera is tracking up to reveal her tied to a chair, with the killer standing over her (1.20). The tracking creates suspense, leaving the audience wanting to know what is about to be revealed.

LIGHTING Lighting is just as important as any other aspect in creating

atmosphere and fear in a horror teaser trailer. The establishing shot of outside the house (0.24) was filmed at dusk, so to set the time of day. The first few shots are filmed in a soft light, to fit in with the theme of the babysitter being comfortable in the home. However once the pace kicks in the lighting gets darker and this progresses to the end, where she is knocking at the door which is filmed from the inside, creating a ghostly, almost glowing light coming through the glass (1.17), as well as the gloomy lighting when she is tied to the chair (1.20).

MISE EN SCENE It was important to take everything into consideration with mise

en scene, this includes costume and scenery. Our main character wears basic clothing- jeans and a zip up hoody, so to not draw too much attention away from the genre, but also so she appears as just any other teen. The filming takes place in a family home, and before the horror sets in, with the babysitter getting comfortable on the sofa, watching the television. This makes it more relatable to the audience, indicating she is just like anybody else, ad it could happen to them too. One issue we has was with the costume, due to film in on two different days we made sure she was wearing the exact same outfit, but failed to notice the in one set of footage her hair is down, in in the rest it is up.

The killer/ stalker is dressed all in black with his hood up. This leaves him as a dark and mysterious character, as we can’t see what he looks like or who he is.

Hair up

Hair down

CONVENTIONS MY TRAILER FOLLOWED

1:30 – 2:00 long – the word ‘teaser’ being important. Short, does not give too much away and leaves audience

wanting more Dip to black – builds suspension and makes it continuously

flow. The opening sequence consists of clips that flow through each other with black fades. This ‘pulsing’ motion is a build of the to snappy action ahead.

Jump cuts/moments Close-up Different angles Sound effects Music early/slow/contrast with fast. – fits with the teaser

trailer to fit with the pace of the trailer. The text acts as a ‘teaser’ of its own to draw in the

audience, leaving them questioning the plot.

DEVELOPING THE CONVENTIONS In most teaser trailers, text is used to indicate what

the plot is about, without giving away the whole story line. It usually fades in and out between clips, either continuously throughout the trailer, or just before the pace picks up. I decided to do something a little different, emulating ‘The Strangers’ teaser trailer. My text appears continuously at the start under the slide show. A new line comes in with every picture and I use four clips in total. The wording is surrounded around the idea of home being a safe place-the last line is ‘ But sometimes fear follows you home…’ the ellipsis is appropriate in leading on the events ahead with anticipation.

MORE CONVENTIONS

Companies involved in the production, acknowledged before the trailer

‘Inspired by true events’, a common conventions, used to shock the audience and adds extra fear

‘Coming Soon’- , full trailers give away more information, whereas my trailers target is to ‘tease’ my audience, so no release dates keep the audience waiting and wanting to know more. Including a webpage for reference is a modern day feature, and another reminding of the production company.The film title ‘The

Senseless’ kept to the end to round off the finale, as well as being the last thing the audience sees so more likely to remember.

WAS YOUR PRODUCTION AN EFFECTIVE PIECE? Some comments from my audience feedback, made on

‘blogger’:- ‘Theirdaraddress’ wrote- “Excellent work. I love the titles

at the start which are well coordinated with the sound and create suspense really effectively. There's a good variety of shots in the build-up including establishing and over-the-shoulder shots, all linked through the conventional fade-through-black transitions.”

-My opening title sequence proved to be successful and effective with its mixture of the slide show style and ironic music.

‘Connor’s Media Blog’ wrote- “ I think the soundtrack links well with what's happening throughout the footage and also the use of camera shots are clever in the way they make you believe something is behind you”

-My audience seems to have picked up on my choices of camera shots and they have had my desired effect on my audience.

‘Ollieclements’ wrote- “The editing, soundtrack and lighting all adds too the effect of the genre of horror. I like how you have also made yours much different too the others in the group”

I appreciate how my audiences has acknowledged the individuality in my trailer, and how I have worked and edited to create something original. As well as this, they have noticed how I have followed the necessary conventions to qualify and reflect the genre of horror.

HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR

MAIN PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY TEXTS?

ANCILLARY TASKS

The target for my ancillary tasks was to create a successful and alluring teaser poster for my teaser trailer, as well as a magazine front cover.

TEASER POSTERI feel that the teaser poster I created is successful in reflecting the horror genre, with its dark tones, use of shadowing and contrasting colours, the over all vibe is grungy and ghostly. I analysed other teaser posters and followed the appropriate conventions of incorporating the title of the film, a tag line ( Evil is home), small print, age certificate (15) and a well established newspaper ‘s( The Guardian) recommendation of four stars. I noticed that, similar to my teaser trailer, that again no release date is given away and instead ‘coming soon’ is used as a point of attraction to lure in my audience wanting more.

‘Afroman’ wrote- “A good example of classic clichéd horror similar in style to films like the grudge, very good use of photo shop to turn a normal image into a harrowing horror scene. Juxtaposition is simple seamless and effective.”

MAGAZINE FRONT COVER

The magazine platform I chose for my magazine front cover is ‘Empire’, the famous specialist movie magazine. Due to ‘Empire’ being so well established, I chose to not play up the cover too much, and to stick to classic tabloid schemes, using basic colour white, black and red, which are also colours that relate to fear and danger. My central image follows the conventions of front cover images- stands out against its background, is the main focal point, and the eyes engage with the camera to draw the audience in with a connecting gaze. The master head is placed on top of the image, as the film is not so not established enough to dominate the magazine. Other expected conventions are my sub heading ‘The Senseless’, price and release date, and barcode.

‘Jo Penney’ wrote- “This looks really professional. You have kept a simple layout but it works well and is effective as it makes the main image stand out. The spot light shining on the girl makes her centre of attention and also vulnerable. The font is simple but bold and stands out on the black background, working effectively with the other colours you have used”.

HOW THE THREE TEXTS WOULD WORK TOGETHER AS A MARKETING STRATEGY

Advertising is essential in getting a product across to its audience. The teaser poster is successful in being eye grabbing and mysterious. Its dark shadows and scary image appeals to a more visual audience who likes the genre of horror, whilst the ‘Empire’ magazine front cover lures in a tougher, more critical audience who will appreciate the opinion of an established film magazine. All three parts are conventionally stylized and constructed with the genre of horror in mind.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK?

My audience feedback was immensely helpful and constructed. I have included some previously in the slide show, and feedback has proven that it has been successful in creating the desired effect on the audience and editing.

Audience feedback was mainly gathered through the medium of ‘Blogger’, by comments from fellow class mates on the final product.

My group and I also did early research and gathered feedback from our peers on what would be the most effective film title. This helped us come to the decision of ‘The Senseless’.

HOW DID YOU USE NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND

RESEARCH, PLANNING AND EVALUATION STAGES?

CONSTRUCTION I had never used many of the

equipment involved in filming so I was learning for the first time. My group and I had some early trouble with getting a hang on using the equipment but it was worth it once we had our final product. For the filming, we used a basic video camera that we borrowed from the school, although quality wasn't great. We did, however, improve the sound by using a sound kit which included a microphone, headphones and a pole for easy use. This really helped in improving sound and making it more intense. We took it in turns to use each part of the equipment to experience using it.

CONSTRUCTION The part that i found to be the biggest challenge in this

whole process was the editing of the footage. I had never used Adobe Premiere pro and had never been taught how to so it was a matter of learning as I went along. It was a huge struggle to find every desired effect I wanted, and I came across plenty of hurdles along the way, mainly to do with converting the trailer when it was finished.

When editing my ancillary task, things went more smoothly due to already knowing how to use Photoshop. I did however further develop my skills and discovered different ways to use certain tool, due to having a different genre in mind. My teaser poster was highly editing on Photoshop thanks the its great range of tools which allowed me to morph in dimensions and blend shadows to create the desired effect. I also used Photoshop for my magazine front cover. When it came to creating music, I had no idea how to do so instead I opted for using music from other teaser trailers, such as ‘The Strangers’. To do this, I used a Youtube video converter, that stripped the music from the clip and converted it into an Mp3, www.clipconverter.com

When editing Tiny Tim- Tiptoe Through the Tulips, I used Adobe soundbooth. I had never used the programme before so it was all new to me, however I just used simple devices and slowed the track down, which lowered the tone and in hand made the track sound more dark.

RESEARCH During research, the video platform ‘Youtube’ was highly

helpful. It allowed my team and I to watch countless horror teaser trailers so to get an understand of what our own should include. We also used ‘Google’ to search our horror teaser posters and magazine front covers so to make our own suitable. We also looked through previous students ‘Blogger’ accounts to get an insight and inspiration.

PLANNING

All my planning and research was stored on Blogger, which made things very simple and easy to store. Although I have previously used Blogger in the past, I was reminded of how much I appreciated a media platform that allowed me to store important work, with peace of mind that I wont lose such work. Making my blog public also allowed my classmates and I to share ideas and inspire one another towards making posts.

EVALUATION I decided that the best and most convenient way to create my

evaluation was by the method of Microsoft PowerPoint. This way, I can incorporate all the information I feel necessary, as well and fitting in pictures to demonstrate my points as evidence. Once my PowerPoint is finished, I will upload it to ‘slideshare’ a website that converts a PowerPoint presentation in to a format that is combatable online. I will then embed the HTML on to my blog for easy sharing.

IN CONCLUSION... Creating this coursework has been a huge

challenge, but I have enjoyed discovering and using new tools and information. I am

please with my final product and it was worth the time I put in. If I had a chance to do it

over again, I would make sure to pay attention to the smaller detail, and to not

waste the time I was given. With something like this, it is very obvious if you have worked hard on it- your product will reflect the effort

you put into it and I now appreciate how much labour goes into creating just a few

minutes of footage, let alone a whole production.