questionnaire for our product

For our production we did a questionnaire to get information from other people our age to see what their preferences are on the following questions as it helped us to know where we could improve if we were to do it again and what went well.


1. Do you feel that our film trailer is conventional to the genre of horror?
    Yes:                                                       No:

 2. Do you feel that the protagonists of our production are represented as conventional horror film       protagonists?
     Yes:                                                       No:

 3. What element of our trailer do you feel was successful?


 4. What element of our trailer do you feel could have been improved?


 5. Did the soundtrack create/add to a mood of fear and tension?
     Yes:                                                        No:

 6. Do our ancillary texts (film poster and magazine cover) look professionally designed?
     Yes:                                                        No:

 7. Does our film trailer, film poster and magazine cover encourage you to want to watch the full production?
     Yes:                                                        No:


Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire.

Revision for exam

G321-
There was a lack of communication and team work which caused our final opening 2 minutes to be not up to a high standard and the final one to be lost. For G321 our fade to blacks lasted too long which lost the tension that could have been built upon. We also tried to show the audience too much of the footage which meant the camera angles were awful.


When cutting to the man outside the window the cut to closer of his face was too sharp and did not flow.

Another part of G321 which I felt was not to a high enough standard was it all lo0oked too staged, it did not look like a film because the actors did not feel as if they were trying to play the characters but as if they were just rushing it.


The shot of the man following charlotte in the opening 2 minutes would have been effective but the characters both looked at the camera which ruined the look of charlotte not knowing. Charlotte also looks round to her side at the end but does not react to the man which is unrealistic as she is meant to not know who he is.


For G321 we wanted to make it realistic by adding in titles at the end, however it went too fast so the effect was lost.






G324- Our G324 was of a much higher standard than my G321 which I did with a different group.
Due to the fact that we took a lot longer with each scene to guarantee that we captured the feelings and connected the characters and audience as one it already was of a better standard than G321.


For G324 we went to Ashtead common which is where we filmed the part of them throwing the stones.
This was an amazing scene due to the high quality from the camera. But also the fact that we took multiple shots until we were pleased with the shot. We took it from different angles because we wanted to capture the characters innocence through the shot.


Our production titles at the end are effective because they are all in one but stand out when a name is shown which means they are not over loaded with information.

narrative

How is our narrative established in our trailer and ancillary texts?




In our trailer we do not have a lot of narrative, this is because the sound creates tension that narrative potentially couldn't have. Narrative was used to connect the characters and audience but we also did not want to give too much away because otherwise they would not want to watch the actual film.


At the beginning Shannon and Sean spoke about how their parents are going away to set the whole trailer. Due to their parents being away it all goes terribly wrong which is what normally happens in a horror film so we wanted to keep some stereotypes and by adding this to the beginning we can show the audience that it is not nice and innocent which is how the characters seem.

Insitution Companies

Paramount is a well known production company that has produced many different types of films. Through doing research but also watching many films I know that their films have been successful and that is why I feel that they would be suitable and a success for our film.




We chose to do Asylum productions and Woodlands films because it is original but also gives the feel of a horror film.  The images we chose are simple but effective because if they were more complex the audience would not take as much notice as they will not appear on the screen for long. Also we did research on other ones and they were also simple. 

titles in our trailer

Use of titles throughout our trailer.

We kept our trailers dark because it represents the darkness of the horror film. The use of the bold writing in the second picture is effective because it stands out and also makes the audience aware of when it shall be released and who brought the production together.

We felt it was good to use an old fashion camera because it enables to attract an older audience. "Asylum productions" is effective because it is bold so it stands out but also because it says Asylum which the definition is shelter or protection from danger so this indicates to the audience someone will have to escape  danger.

for the woodland films we felt it was effective to use a woods because the beginning of our trailer it set in the woods but at the begging it gives an innocent feel so by using this title it keeps the audience thinking what could be later on in the film.

THE CRAZE is effective because its big and bold but on a dark background so stands out. Because our trailer is based on a psychotic clown the use of the scratchy writing works well as it gives us a feeling that the clown did it. For the title of the trailer we used https://cooltext.com/. because it enabled us to get a feel of the clown and was simple to use.  

Representation Evaluation

these are both from horror films and are similar because they are both abandoned. The first picture is where we filmed scenes for our trailer and the second picture is a picture I found online.

When we visited the air raid shelter we knew straight away it was perfect for our trailer. It was creepy and because it has been vandalised it enabled the audience to see it was abandoned. It gave the feel of wondering what else may be in there the whole time we were filming so we wanted to get this feel across through our trailer.

The second picture is from the film Saw which I found online it was effective because in the picture it Is light but is damaged and empty.

It took us a while to decide on how to create the clown look, we focused on looking at a recent and older clown films. It was great that IT has been re- released as a film because it has given two different looks of the older version and the new one.  We tried out make up before as we felt the clown from it was effective but after deciding we couldn't get it to a high enough standard and also wanting to steer away from the recent film we decided a mask would be better as it made the character look crazy but also showed there was more than just a clown.

I feel the major differences between our clown and the clowns from IT are obviously that we chose a mask but also that we made ours more humanised by the clothing and the hair tied up. The hair being tied up made it look more modern and humanised as more men and woman have hair up styles now.

The dirty teeth with some missing is effective because it resembles someone who has had a dirty life style and does not take care of themselves or  maybe cannot look after themselves but want to with is a similarity to someone who could potentially be homeless. We chose this look because we wanted to show that the clown is human as well.

Although we kept to the red hair to keep the stereotypical look of a clown so that it attracted the typical audiences of horror films. Another similarity that I felt was effective is the blue triangular shapes by the eyes because although it is different to the straight line on the newest IT clown it is still similar so shows us that our clown still has many similarities to a typical clown.

final craze poster

We felt it was effective to focus on the clown and one character with black around it because it gives the audience questions such as, where are they? and what shall happen next?


Because the character is young it will attract a younger audience which is what we wanted to achieve. The use of production credits is effective because its white on a dark back ground makes it stand out. Another positive point is that we have capitalised the names so that they stand out. The most important information is bold so that the audience can know the name and when so it will keep them interested in watching it.
By showing the clown it gives the audience a sneak peak to keep them wondering what the clown shall be like but also lots of people are into horror films that include clowns so therefore it is most likely to make them want to watch more.

Putting that it is in cinemas on 31st October is effective because it is released on Halloween which is when many people will want to go and see a horror that will make them feel frightened and get their adrenaline going. This will instantly gain a audience.

use of sound in our trailer

Throughout our trailer there is use of diegetic sound, this is effective because it enables the audience to learn about the characters and learn the story line. At 0:19 Shannon says "Sean, Sean this looks really serious" this enables the audience to see a change from the beginning in which it seems like more of a family friendly film and it also shows us the relationship between Shannon and Sean.


We also use non- diegetic sound throughout our trailer which helps to exaggerate the problems that occur and make it feel even more like a horror film. For example, at the start it is soft and pleasant music whereas from the beginning of the trailer onwards it becomes tense and creates questions for the audience.


We felt it was important to watch other horror films to see how they cause tension through music and how we could use these examples to make ours successful. We watched trailers such as IT which has recently come out because we shared similarities because we used a clown and we had young characters.

Feeedback from audience

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?







We were given feedback of our trailer from students who also did the same course as us. It was effective because we learnt what they enjoyed about our film but also how we could improve it. It also helped us because when we watched it back on a big screen we were able to see how the transactions flow and where we needed to improve. The feedback was effective because we learnt that it does give the feeling of a real  trailer which is what we had hoped for.

evaluation

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


For our trailer we have conformed to the stereotypes of a horror film. We have shown these by including a clown and the teenagers. We chose teenagers because typically the target audience for our trailer would be teenagers so therefore they can sympathise with the teenagers and feel a connect with characters.


We used a clown which was effective because after doing research we were able to see that many horror films that include clowns have been successful. A good example of this is IT that has recently been released.


Our media product conforms to many conventions of  real media products because we used dark but fast music to increase the fear of the audience.

how we made our trailer realistic

 This is an establishing shot of the house. This is effective because in a trailer it is important to set the scene. We chose to put this a bit further in than other trailers because at the beginning we wanted the audience to begin to connect with the characters so that when we showed the house the audience would understand who's house it is.
 At the beginning we introduced the characters throwing stones because we set the scene and wanted to give off the feeling of innocence. It was important to capture this because the audience are more likely to continue to watch if they feel they have the connection between the characters and themselves.

                                                                                                We used the news report because it enabled us to get information across to the audience but in a way that will keep the audience interested. Using the news report gave us the chance to change the mood of the trailer but keep the audience intrigued into what shall happen next.

The titles are effective because they help to create tension. For example "BENEATH THE MASK" this speaks to the audience without the need for dialogue which meant we could then create tension through music instead which is effective because normally horror films are made more tense by the use of music rather than dialogue.

This shot is effective because it cuts between them running to scenes of the clown. This works well because it makes the audience realise the innocent children from the beginning will have their lives changed by running into the abandoned shelter where they believe they will be safe. This is also made more tense through music as the build up needed to be dramatic.

The two shot of the clown and the character Shannon is effective because it captures the fear of her but also shows that the clown is psychotic which we wanted to capture throughout the trailer but this specific scene captures it well. The use of little light works well because the fear of the unknown is normally worse than knowing what is around you. Therefore although she knows the clown is around she doesn't always know where he is.

 

This finishes off the trailer which works well because it gives the audience the chance to see who put the production together but because it isn't a long scroll of people keeping it short makes the audience see the most important parts such as the date and that it will be released in  cinemas as some films are put straight onto online servers such as Netflix.

animated story board

This is our animated story board. This helped us to see how the trailer would go and made filming easier because we had a set plan.