Evaluation

How did you research into genre contribute to your production work?

After changing our idea from the basketball trailer we research and analysed different horror trailers we decided that was the genre we were going to go for. We chose this genre because unlike the basketball er trailer it was more practical for use with easy access to different locations and better resources. We had reliable actors that were willing to star in the trailer and a selection of houses that we had permission to film in. A lot of horror films are set in houses like the Paranormal Activity films which is what we based our film on. As well as researching into different horror trailers we then researched some of the conventions and characteristics of different horror trailers. We looked in Piranha 3D, and by doing this it helped with a number of things in our final piece. For example the music in our trailer was based on what we had noticed in other horror trailers and the common themes within the music. This helped us a lot and as a result we were very pleased with the way our soundtrack turned out. As well as researching different trailers we looked at different poster to help us with making our own film poster and we did the same when researching into magazine covers. This helped use with different kinds on text we could use and different colour combinations. And what kind of information a poster contains e.g release date, certificate, tag line, actors names.

How did research into audience contribute to your production work?
Firstly we decided that our trailer would be aimed forwards 18-25 years old's as we feel our trailer is something late teenagers to young adults would find appealing. The main thing that our audience research helped us with was the age classification. After reading and analysing the different age classifications and guidelines and the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) we decided that we would rate our trailer an 18. We felt this was the correct certificate due to violence and bad language. Being in this age bracket we could do we found was appealing to use and our classmates could give use there feedback as well and we had a good understanding and perspective to what the audience like. Having the main characters in this age bracket was also very usful because we could come up with ideas that we all found scary and jumpy knowing it would have the same impact on the rest of our audience. audience researched helped use with the promotional side as well. knowing what time to advertise your trailer on television and where to advertise your posters is something we needed to consider. We thought that playing our trailer in the evening at around 9 as younger kids go to bed and its at this point that swearing is allowed on television. For our audience 9-11 is when programmes aimed at there age group are shown and also when films of a 15 + certificates are televised. We though that putting poster up at bus stops would be a good spot because a lot of people in our target audience get the bus if they cant drive to e.g get to and from work, go out etc. Another good place would be in high streets where a lot of younger people go shopping.

How did you research into institutions and regulation of media influence your production work.

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/guidelines/18-2
How did your research into institutions and regulation of the media influence your production work?

Miss Elliot

My film poster isn't showing when i try to copy and paste in in the blog post. Don't really know what I can do about it!

Final Piece

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taSosdGD_5A

Questionnaire

Me and my project partner created a questionnaire for some people and friends to fill in after watching our trailer. We made sure they were all 18 and over so we could get a genuine reaction from our target audience. We managed to get a group of around 10 friends and then a few class mates for this, in the end we got about 20 questionnaires completed. By getting them to fill out the questionnaire we hoped to get some positive feedback but also some ways in which they think we can improve the trailer. This way we can make some improvements and then show it to them a second time so we can get the best possible.

Some of the feedback that we received was really good. They liked the music and said it really suited the tone of the trailer and that some of the sounds and effects made it quite a lot scarier than without music. They said it was easy to work out the plot and though it had a good storyline. However they did point out a few areas for improvement. They said that there were to many title screens and to try and reduce the amount, also change what some of them said. They thought there should be a change at the end after the telephone tone  and we should add a short snappy clip that will make the audience jump.

So to conclude we though this was a worth while piece of research. We were able to make some good improvements to our final edit and got a good response from our target audience. Pretty much everyone said they would go and see the film after seeing the trailer except for a few exceptions, but that was only because they aren't horror fans. The picture to the left is some of the answered questionnaires.

Storyboard

Representation

Characters 
The characters in our trailer are like any other stereotypical middle class teenagers. This is shown by what kind of cloths they are wearing and for the most part its jeans, hoodies and trainers which is what you would associate with teenagers. By dressing characters in everyday casual clothing it makes the audience feel as if this could happen to anyone maybe even themselves and putting themselves in that situation which adds realism to the trailer. Throughout the trailer bad language is used by the characters and they use language that may represent the younger generation which is why our trailer would be much more appealing to the 18-25 age bracket rather than older people. In the trailer there (excluding Ashes Spirt) 2 guys and 1 girl (Guy, Sam and Erin.) You will notice in the trailer that its Guy who goes to see what the problem is, he takes on the role of the brave macho man which is character that most teenage films contain. The other boy Sam (Myself) stays with the girls to make sure she remains safe. This then leaves the girl who is stereotypically the scared and vulnerable female character that constantly screams and panics.

Mise en scene
We filmed the trailer a middle class house as thats how we represented the characters, a big posh house wasn't the look we wanted. And we also used a middle class first car in the car crash scene which was suitable for new driver. Once again a posh car wouldn't have represented the characters in the right way. We used the night vision affect for all of the the video camera sections which we felt gave the film a creepy and spooky feel to it.  this builds up the suspense and anything could happen at any given moment.

Sound
We used a mixture of diegetic and non-diegetic sound throughout the trailer. The diegetic sound came from things like doors slamming shut, load thuds and bangs and the sound of the television static. These are all sounds you represent with horror films. We used some non diegetic sounds like the sound of a telephone beeping was added in and we used different sounds effects when cutting into a title screen. We made our own music on garage band and the music runs all the way through the trailer. We added a lot of sound effects and lots of different sounds so that it gave the trailer a good pace and also builds up the tension as suspense because we used a variety of different sounds with different contrasts. most sounds you would hear in a house hold

Props 
The main prop obviously being the hand held video camera which is used throughout the whole trailer. In the living room scene with the the flashing lights we put a lot of alcohol out on the table which represents a typical group of teenagers. We used a pet cat for one of the clips which will make the audience think that something may happen to it at some point.

Film classification four our trailer

After looking at some of the content of our media trailer we accessed what certificate our trailer could be given. Due to frequent  bad language throughout and some quite violent scenes we decided to rate our trailer an 18. Some of these scene's can be a little frightening for anyone under the age of 18. We went for the 18 over the 15 because there is a lot of bad language but it also allows us to push the boundaries to the limit.

Poster Analysis

In this post I am going to analyse some exciting poster for horror films so that it will give us some inspiration for our own film poster. The poster helps advertise your film to your target audience so need to make eye catching in order to get the audiences attention. The poster I am analysing are the Paranormal Activity 1 & 2 film posters.


This poster uses a still image of one of the scenes from the film to put on its poster. It uses black and white as its main colour scheme do fit in with the central image and the colours suit the horror genre. It put and interesting image in the centre of the 2 main characters looking scare and reacting to something but I doesn't show what. This leaves the audience wanting to know more. The title is made to stand out using a dark red which contrasts with the black and white background and making it more eye catching. Other whiting is in white on the black background making that stand out as well. Like a lot of film posters at the top it has a tag line "Steady you nerves, your sleepless nights are about to return" and "What happens when you sleep" helps indicate the gene of the film. The "Most anticipated" shows that its something to look out for and something for the audience to look forward to.





This poster is another that caught my eye. the darkness of the background is from a lanterund gives a scene of unknown and it could be leave the audience questioning what it could be. the light shining on her face is from a lantern which tells the the time period in which the film was set. Nicole Kidman has a very fearful look in her eyes leaving the audience unsure as to why and it gives the poster more of a horror genre look to it. "A Wicked Twist Of A n Ending" is one of the comments made at the side, this also will draw the audience in and make then wont to see the film so they can find out what the twist is. Most of the the writing like Paranormal Activity in on the dark background so that it stands out. The title of the film has a unique font that makes very noticeable to the eye. The yellow effect makes the poster seem slightly more creepy and highlights the darkness of the rest of the poster. "sooner or later they will find you" is the catchphrase the film poster. This lets the audience aware of the genre of the film and is a convention to every horror poster.

Trailer Research

New Final Idea

After having complications with factors such as availability of location and getting reliable people to star in our original idea we decided to change our idea from a basketball trailer to a horror trailer. We also weren’t happy with the footage we were able to get and after a few attempts at trying make a trailer out of what we had we just didn’t think it was working. As we both thought it would be an easier option and more practical for use to film a horror we generated some ideas and then came up with a story board containing different shots that we can use and the basic story line with different clips that we wanted the trailer to contain. Before we made it official that we were changing our idea we made sure we had some actors for the film and arranged some dates that we could film.

We had an idea that we could have a group of friends on a road trip after their friend (Erin) had just passed her driving test. Her friends mess around and distract her from her driving accept for one (Ash) who is quiet and tries to charm the situation. After a crash which was cause by two boys in the back seat (Guy and Sam) after distracting Erin they crashed and Ash was the only one who ended dead. The rest were unhurt.  A year later weird happenings started to occur in the house they were all living in. Flashing lights, load noises, voices and other paranormal things. The group freak out and one by one they all get killed by the spirit of their dead friend Ash. Revenge Is sweet.  

Throughout the trailer we intend on having short snappy clips to build up suspense and tension from start to finish similar to the Paranormal Activity films. We will have a few clips at the start of the trailer that set the storyline a little. We will make our own music on garage band which will help build the pace of the trailer as well as the clips. We plan to have a really dramatic ending leaving the audience on the edge of their seats.     

We came up with the name Haunted for the trailer after a decision on film names. 

We then researched on the internet to make sure that this wasn’t already the name of the film. 

Final Idea

After looking at all our ideas me and my partner have decided that we are going for the basketball idea. We were tempted by the horror idea but after finding out that everyone in the class was doing a horror we wanted to do something different. we felt the basketball was the next best option because were are both keen basketball players and  felt that we had some good ideas. This type of film would come under the Sport/fantasy genre.

Characters 

Ash - Ashley is the popular kid in this film. He is the team captain that everyone on the team looks up to (except Sam). Being the best player on the team his very cocky and very sure of himself. He bullies Sam on the basketball court, in the changing rooms and at school. He gets annoyed when Sam's role in the team becomes bigger.

Sam - Sam is the unfortunate victim of Ashley and get constantly bullied by him. he never gets the play much and usually just sits on the bench. but slowly through the trailer other players on the team start to see some talent in him, in particular the coach. once is talent is recognised he plays more and more taking some of Ashley's spot light.

I will now break down our idea into quarters and explain what we have planed for each section:

First Quarter

The opening off our basketball trailer will start off with Ash playing a game and practising. Using a selection of different camera angles we will make it clear to the audience that he is the talented one. Meanwhile cut to some clips of  Sam's character not getting any recognition. Then have Ashes team mates and friends congratulating him on his performance.

Second Quarter

Once the 2 characters have been introduction and we have established who is who we will then show the abuse that Sam gets from his team mates in a variety of clips. At this point Sam's character is new to the team and hasn't really established himself as a basketballer, the team just see him as the coaches helper/assistant. The coach then tells the team to make him feel welcome and leaves them to it.

Third Quarter

In the next series of clips we will show the coach giving Sam and opportunity to play in practise. He impresses the coach after watching him practise on his own. The coach is shocked by his unknown talent, but Ash still insists on giving him a hard time as well as the rest of the team. At this point we will show the audience the revelry that starts to build between the 2 characters and the tension that is built. In practise Ash never passes to him and doing his best to make he gets the ball s little as possible. But Sam still manages to shine.

Fourth Quarter

For the ending  we decided to have it so that Ash challenges Sam to a one on one game to see who really is the better player. Crowds of people start to watch them play as the rivalry is at its peak at this point. Things start to get physical between them as the game starts to heat up. The game is tied and comes down to one last shot that Sam is about to take. The question is does he make it?

The End

Audience Theories

The Hypodermic Syringe

• Audiences are  passive recipients of messages which are simply injected into them. ( This theory is largely rejected today.) People are manipulated into believing what they are seeing. This theory started back in the 1920s
• They tend to target younger and also older generation as they are more vulnerable and gullible than others.     

Two Step Flow 

• This theory uses personal influence to affect the audiences behaviour. Information from the media moves in two distinct stages. The first stage is individuals (opinion leaders) who pay close attention to the mass media. The second stage is the opinion leaders pass their own interpretations in addition to the actual media content. 
• It is like a filtered version of the Hypodermic Syringe theory. The media has been changed by other people before it get to the audience. An example of this is TV critics as they can change peoples opinion of something before they have even seen it. 

Uses and Gratifications Theory

• Contrasts with the theories above, as it sees the public not as a sitting target for the world of media, but claims we use it to suit ourselves, interpreting it in ways that we like and that work for use.
• Researchers Blulmer and Katz say tat individuals choose what they wont to see and believe what they want in order to create there own opinion. they use for Diversion, Personal Relationships, personal Identity and Surveillance.

The Reception Theory

• Links the kind of person you are, your background and your own existing system of beliefs (gender, class, age, ethnicity) to the way you respond to media.
• Reception theory argues that contextual factors influence the way a spectator views the film/television programme. Contextual factors include elements of a viewers personality as well as circumstances of lifstyle and broad social, historical and political issues.

Film Classifications

Film classification is very  important because it controls what certain age groups can see at the cinema and on film. The BBFC watch every single film before it is released so the can rate it a certificate. It protects under aged and vulnerable people from seeing any images or material that might disturb them.

Universal - Suitable for all                                                                                                                                                                              You cant possibly know what will and won't scare children but the U certificate is suitable for anyone aged four years and over. U films should have a positive moral frame work and provide reassuring view on violence, threat or horror.

Good examples of this are Monster House and Monster Inc.


Parental Guidance - General viewing but some scene's may not be suitable for young children.

PG's are suitable for any child without supervision from an adult. any child aged around  or older should be disturbed by any of the content. Parents should consider weather the content might upset the child it they are sensitive.

A example of a PG is Alice In Wonderland
  

Accompanied by an adult (12A) -Suitable for 12 years and over

The same criteria is used for 12 and 12A's. The material in general is suitable for children over 12 and the content may upset children under the age of 12. Also contains material that parents may find unsuitable for them.





The category 12A only exists in the cinema, once a film is released on DVD it will just be listed as a 12. You must be 12 and accompanied by an adult and aren't recommended to children under the age of 12. the adult has to use there own judgement to make sure its okay for there                 child to see. and this is why they must be accompanied by an adult.

 A Good example for 12 or 12A is Harry Potter films or The Dark Night.



Suitable for 15 years and older 


Nobody under the aged 15 is allowed to watch a 15 in the cinema. this includes buying and purchasing the DVD  or rent one from a shop. 15 rated films tend to have much more bad language compared to the lower certificates.

A example of a 15 is I Am Legend

Suitable for anyone aged 18 and over 


Like the 15 nobody under the age of 18 must watch an 18 in the cinema, purchase or rent an 18 from a store. The Human Rights Act means that adults are free to choose there own entertainment. Contains strong language and scenes of a sexual nature.

Example of this is Wanted

Can only be shown is specially licensed cinemas and shops.

Only people over the age of 18 are allowed to watch these film. The R stands for restricted. R18 contain sex or strong fetish material involving adults.