CONSTRUCTION

Film Poster

Magazine cover

Main Trailer:

EVALUATION

Evaluation on Prezi

1. In what way does your media product use/develop/challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
During our research for making a trailer, we looked at various horror/thriller as well as other genre trailers such as; The Haunting in Connecticut, X-Men, The Last Exorcism and Paranormal Activity 2. From looking at these trailers, we began to understand/learn the typical conventions used in a trailer of this genre. From looking at different genres of trailers, we both decided that the trailer we wanted to create would be thriller, but including some elements of horror. A typical convention of a thriller trailer is having a twist in the plot, which is what we intended to do for our trailer. We believe that having a twist in a trailer is a good way to hook an audience and leave them wanting to know more, as we found out in our research.
Our research also showed us that thriller trailers generally build up on suspense and tension, to create an eeire atmosphere to make the audience feel uncomfortable. Our trailer demonstrates this convention when strange supernatural events occur in the house the family live in. Such as; the silhouette (the antagonist) appearing vastly in shots, shots of the protagonist looking scared, and lights in the house switching on and off. We included these shots in our trailer because they are commonly shown in the thriller trailers that we have analysed, for example in the trailer for Paranormal Activity 2, the first shot shown is of an object coming towards the audience, this automatically makes the audience hooked, and it is also a jump scare.

2. How effective is the combination of your main products and ancillary texts?

I think having the combination of a trailer, the film poster and the magazine front cover, work well together to market the film. The title of the film 'Fatal Secret', is demonstrated in the film poster well, because we created a keyhole image effect, which is linked to the narrative having a secret, and when people see a keyhole, they would automatically think of a secret, which is why our film poster is effective. Another way in which our film poster is effective is the photograph we used, which shows the protagonist sitting behind a door with lots of hands coming out, this relates to the narrative, as you can recognise the main character from the trailer, and the hands emerging from the door, make it look more scary, and support the fact that the genre of the film is horror/thriller.

Our Empire magazine front cover is also a very effective ancillary text, as the protagonist is featured again on the front cover, covering up most of the page, we chose to do this because as a main character she is very important, and a close up of her face shows that. The background of the front cover is black, to draw all main focus on the protagonist. The photograph itself is linked to the main product because there are various close ups used of her face, mainly to show the fear and emotion, which is exactly what we have done for the magazine.

The typography used is also the same in main product and ancillary texts, the reason they are the same, is so that the audience can become familiar with the film, and notice it when they see it.

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Having audience feedback is a very important part of selling/producing a film, because the audience need to enjoy the trailer in order to watch the film. Before the making of our trailer, we gave out questionnaires asking the audience what they would expect to see in a horror/thriller film. This was an important part of our research because it helped us understand what we should include in our trailer, for example, we asked the audience how much information/plot they would want to see in a horror trailer, and the majority said that they prefer seeing as little detail as possible, which we took into account, so in our trailer we left the audience wanting to know more by giving little information about the plot, but instead we had the audience questioning what would happen in the film. We created this effect by adding titles with questions, such as, 'will they ever find out the truth?', and by keeping a small amount of dialogue, making the audience wonder more.

We also asked the audience many more questions that we would need to consider for our trailer, such as what rating it should be, locations, props, colours and the length of the trailer. After making several pie charts of the audience feedback, we could then take into account what we needed to include in our trailer.

4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

We used many new media technologies in the construction, and research and planning, such as Final Cut Pro, the Internet, Garage Band, Logic Pro, Live Type, Photoshop and Motion. For example, in our research, we looked at a specific trailer to analyse, which was the Haunting in Connecticut, so to demonstrate our understanding of the trailer, and general knowledge on the conventions of trailers, we made a presentation video using a camera to film us talking about the conventions of trailers in the film genre of our choice and the chosen trailer we analysed in depth. We also used Final Cut Pro to create the video, and adding in title headings, to make the the video clearer about what we are talking about, for example, general conventions, introduction to The Haunting In Connecticut, analysing the themes, music, on screen graphics, editing, speed, and order. 

During the planning of our trailer, we used a camera and Final Cut Pro also to film what we were going to include in our trailer, by discussing the audience feedback and what we needed to include in our trailer, in this presentation we discussed, the genre, setting, plot, casting, distribution and production companies, release date, order of the trailer, speed, theme, voice over, on screen graphics, and editing and post production. We also included images and titles in this presentation, making it clearer to the audience who the cast is and what location we are using. 

During our construction, we used many different programmes to create our final production. using Final Cut Pro was the most useful in the construction, as it was our editing tool. We also used Live Type and Motion to create the titles in our trailer, and imported them onto Final Cut Pro, for example, making out title of the film, 'Fatal Secret' move, we used the software programme 'Live Type' to create a thrilling effect which fit our trailer. To get sound effects, we used some sound effects from Garage band, and created the rest of our music on the software programme 'Logic'. By making this music, we could fit it perfectly to our trailer, creating jump scares in the correct places. We also added in other sound effects which were not copyrighted from YouTube. 

To create the film poster and magazine front cover, we used Photoshop, which we had knowledge on already, so we could create effects to make our poster and magazine front cover stand out. Using this programme helped us to create realistic ancillary texts.  

RESEARCH AND PLANNING

Institutional Research

Theatrical trailers

The Haunting In Connecticut trailer analysis

1. At what point in the trailer are we told the name of the film? Why is this?

The title of the film is conventionally shown at the end of he trailer, and in this film. The reason why the trailer is shown at the end is because the audience want to know the name of the film, as they wouldn’t have seen it yet, so it builds up to the end. 

2. Why are we told who is starring in the film?

In this film, we are not told who is starring in this film, this is because they are not well-known actors to is does not affect the marketing of the film, instead, different techniques are used to gain an audience, for example, selecting the most interesting parts of the film, and having an enigma/cliffhanger, making the audience want to see more.

1. What type of action from the film do we see?

The action shown in this trailer are the key scenes from the film, including the most thrilling parts of the film, that would attract a target audience. These parts of the film are usually are the scariest that will make the audience interested in watching the film. 

5. What clues does the music give us as to what type of film the trailer is advertising?

In this trailer, the music is quite scary eerie music, so it makes the audience feel uncomfortable, this type of music is usually associated with horror film trailers. The music wouldn’t have a melody, it would be mostly high pitched sounds. And at the end of the trailer the music would be slow and tension building, for example piano music. 

1. How does the speed of what we see compare to watching a clip from a film? Why is this?

The speed of a trailer is much faster than it would be watching a film, mainly because they have to show as much information into 2-3 minutes, as they are only showing parts of the film that would attract the audience. 

8. Does the speed alter through the trailer or does it stay the same?

The speed of this trailer starts off slow in the beginning, this is to build up tension, and set the scene and to show the audience a little bit about the plot, and then towards the middle of the trailer the speed becomes faster, and shows quick shot clips from the film. The trailer changes speed again at the end when the title shows, it is at a slow speed again.

9. What information are we given about the film?

The first information we are given in this trailer is the distributer of the film, which is Lionsgate. 

Other information that we are told is other distributers and all of the companies involved in the making of the film and who is starring in the film, for example, that would be the last thing shown in a trailer, which would also include a website. 

1. At what point in the trailer is this information given?

The companies are usually shown at the beginning of the trailer, for example the main production and distributer of the film. Then all of the additional information that is not featured in the trailer, is shown at the very end.

1. What type of audience is the trailer aimed at? How can you tell?

The trailer is aimed at mainly 15-24, this screenshot shows that this film is mainly targeted in the 15-24 year old audience with 24%. The trailer makes this trailer aimed at an older population because it is a horror film which would not be suitable for under 15 year olds. 

X-MEN FIRST CLASS trailer.

1. At what point in the trailer are we told the name of the film? Why is this?

the title of the film is shown at the end of the trailer, this it to make the audience want to watch the whole of the trailer to find out what the film is called. 

2. Why are we told who is starring in the film?

We are told who is starring in the film for audience purposes because certain actors will appeal to  an audience, for example well-known actors are more likely to draw in a bigger audience. 

1. How is this information given to us? Why?

This information is shown through titles through the trailer, to give the audience information about who is starring in the film, it is an important part of drawing in an audience. 

1. What type of action from the film do we see?

The trailer includes the most important clips from the film, and this is because the trailer needs to show what the film is about as well as attracting an audience by making it look interesting.

1. What clues does the music give us as to what type of film the trailer is advertising?

The music for the X-men First Class trailer is fast and dramatic to show that this film is an action. The music for a trailer should match the genre of the film, for example, a horror film would have scary and tense music, whereas a comedy film would have upbeat mainstream music. 

1. Does the trailer come with a voice over and if so, what can you tell about the voice being used? 

The voice over is used to tell the audience what the film is about, and to make the trailer have a more dramatic effect. 

1. Why do you think this voice was chosen? What effect does it have?

The voice over for trailers are usually an american man with a deep voice, this gives a dramatic effect to the movie.

1. How does the speed of what we see compare to watching a clip from a film? Why is this?

The speed in the trailer is usually faster than a normal clip from the film, this is because a trailer has different short clips from the whole film, and these clips are usually the most important in the film, to show the audience the narrative, and they are usually the clips that draw in the audience. Also because a trailer only has 2-3 minutes to get the story across, so it needs to be fast paced and exciting to watch. Whereas a normal clip from the film would be slower, because its not showing the whole narrative at once.

1. Does the speed alter through the trailer or does it stay the same?

Normally, the speed at the beginning of the film is slower, this is to create suspense, then in the middle of the trailer there would be a point where the mood changes, and the speed of the trailer becomes fast paced until the end of the trailer, which normally includes quick shots, and flashing images if it is a horror trailer for example.

1. What information are we given about the film?

At the beginning of the trailer, we are given some information about the film, for example, in the x-men first class trailer, we are told who produced the film- 20th Century Fox. Then it comes up with ‘Before he was Professor X’ which gives the audience that this film is in the past. The next title was ‘Before he was Magneto’, then ‘Before they were enemies’, then straight after, ‘They were allies’

1. At what point in the trailer is this information given?

The information is conventionally shown at the beginning of the trailer, for example, X-Men trailer, the information is all at the beginning, then the rest of the trailer is clips from the film. 

1. What type of audience is the trailer aimed at? How can you tell?

This trailer looks like it could be aimed at an audience of 12 and above, because it is in the action genre, which is normally aimed at male audiences more than a female audience.

This screenshot shows the film statistics for this film, it shows that this film is aimed at mainly 15-24 year olds, even though the rating is a 12. 

Paranormal Activity 2

1. At what point in the trailer are we told the name of the film? Why is this?

In the trailer for Paranormal Activity 2, we are shown the title at the end of the trailer. This is a convention of trailers, the reason for this is because the purpose of a trailer is to have the audience hooked, so that the audience watches the whole trailer, because they want to know the title of the film.


2. Why are we told who is starring in the film?

In this trailer, we are not told who is starring in the film, this is generally because they actors in this film are not well-known, therefore it would have no affect on promotion for target audiences. 


3. How is this information given to us? Why?

Conventionally, this information is given to us as a title, then the character would be shown after the title. however, this trailer does not demonstrate this trailer. 


4. What type of action from the film do we see?

This trailer shows different clips from the film that are the most important, and would be more likely to appeal to an audience, for example in this film, the clips shown are the scariest moments of the film, and the clips that show the most suspense. 


5. What clues does the music give us as to what type of film the trailer is advertising?

The music is a very important element of a film trailer, because the music defines the genre of the film. This is a horror trailer, so conventionally, it should have scary music that builds up on tension. However, the trailer has no music, instead it has sound effects such as the fuzzy tv and crashing and screaming. 


6. Does the trailer come with a voice over and if so, what can you tell about the voice being used? 

This trailer uses no voice over apart from screaming, instead of a voice over, there are just sound effects. To give a suspicious effect, rather than give away to much information about the film. 

7. How does the speed of what we see compare to watching a clip from a film? Why is this?

The speed of this trailer is at quite a slow pace, this is mainly to create tension, and there are some points in the trailer which are sudden and shock the audience. Even though the trailer is quite slow, it only shows the points in the film where there is the most tension, for example, when is night and all the lights are off. 

8. Does the speed alter through the trailer or does it stay the same?

The speed mainly stays the same throughout the trailer, however, there are some points in the film when its fast, to make the audience jump, because they were not expecting it.


9. What information are we given about the film?

The first title shown in the trailer is ‘IN 2009 YOU DEMANDED IT’, this information straight away includes the audience, by using ‘you’. It also draws in an audience at the start because it says they demanded it, so the film was made because the audience wanted a second film. The next title is, ‘NOTHING CAN PREPARE YOU’, again it is addressing the audience, and attracting the audience. The next piece of information shown is the title of the film, which is shown at he end.

10. At what point in the trailer is this information given?

The information about the film, is given at different points in the trailer, in the beginning and the middle. Then the title is shown at the end of the trailer. 


11. what type of audience is the trailer aimed at? How can you tell?

The audience that this film is aimed at is 15 and over, because it is in the genre of horror. 

This screenshot shows the target audience for this film, which is mostly 15-24 year olds. 

Teaser Trailers

1. At what point in the trailer are we told the name of the film? Why is this?

The name of the film is shown at the end of the teaser trailer, this is because in a teaser trailer the purpose is so that the audience have little knowledge on the film, and in a short amount of time they can’t reveal too much information, so instead short clips from the film are shown. 

2. Why are we told who is starring in the film?

In a teaser trailer, we are not given much information about the film, because the purpose of a teaser is to make the audience want to know more about the film. So we are not told who is starring in the film.

3. How is this information given to us? Why?

There is no information shown in a teaser trailer, because it is released months before the film is distributed, and before the theatrical trailer is released. Therefore, the marketing campaign makes the teaser contain a very small amount of information.

4. What type of action from the film do we see?

 The most important parts of the film that are likely to gain an audience. Usually the clips that are the most exciting/ thrilling that would make an audience want to watch the film. 

5. What clues does the music give us as to what type of film the trailer is advertising?

The music is more sounds, which suggest that the film is horror, for example, screaming. 

6. Does the trailer come with a voice over and if so, what can you tell about the voice being used? 

Yes it does, but right at the end when we are told the name of the film, and the rating. The reason why the voice over is only used at the end is because in a teaser trailer, only a small amount of information is given. 

7. Why do you think this voice was chosen? What effect does it have?

the voice over is used at the end of the trailer, the voice used is a dramatic man’s voice, this builds up tension, and adds a serious tone to the teaser trailer. 

8. How does the speed of what we see compare to watching a clip from a film? Why is this?

it is faster, because it has to attract an audience in a short amount of time, especially in a teaser trailer which is normally less than a minute.

9. Does the speed alter through the trailer or does it stay the same?

It stays the same in this trailer because its a teaser. However, the speed is slightly faster at the end.

10. What information are we given about the film?

The title, director, producer and rating.

11. At what point in the trailer is this information given?

The information we are told is shown at the end of the teaser trailer. 

12. What type of audience is the trailer aimed at? How can you tell?

it would be aimed at an audience that are 15-24 because the genre is horror. The screenshot shows that the majority of people who saw the film were aged 15-24.

House of Wax 

1. At what point in the trailer are we told the name of the film? Why is this?

The name of the film is shown at the end of the teaser trailer, to build up suspense. 

2. why are we told who is starring in the film?

We are told who is starring in the film when there are well known actors in the film, because these actors have fans that would be interested in watching the films where they know the actors. For example, in this film there are well known actors such as Paris Hilton and Chad Michael Murray. However, we are not told in this teaser trailer because not much information is meant to be shown. But they would be shown in the theatrical trailer. 

3. How is this information given to us? why? 

This information would be shown in titles, and the actor would appear either before or after the title. 

4. What type of action from the film do we see?

In this teaser trailer, we are shown the setting, and the general plot of the film, in the space of 30 seconds. The trailer does this by selecting the most important parts of the film, that will makes the audience want to watch more, the general idea is to leave a cliffhanger at the end, to create even more suspense. Quick shots from the scariest scenes are used to create tension and to establish that the genre of the film is horror. These shots normally last less than a second, for dramatic effect.

5. What clues does the music give us to what type of film the trailer is advertising?

The music used in this trailer starts off quite slow, this is when we are shown the setting. Towards the middle of the trailer, the music dramatically changes and becomes faster when the scary quick shots are shown. The music is stereotypically horror as the music is eeire and mysterious. 

6. Does the trailer come with a voice over and if so, what can you tell about the voice being used? 

The voice over is used at the very end of the trailer, when we are told the name of the film, the rating, and when it will be realised. The voice used is a deep man's voice, the voice is used to create tension and the effect is to keep the tension throughout the trailer.

7. How does the speed of what we see compare to watching a clip from a film? why is this?

The speed in this teaser trailer would generally be much faster than watching a clip from the film, because in a film clip, there would be information that is not interesting, whereas in a trailer, only the most important information is selected. 

8. Does the speed alter through the trailer or does it stay the same?

The speed in the first half is conventionally slower than the second half of the trailer, because the first half is to create tension, and the second half is to create shock. 

9. What information are we given about the film? 

The information we are given is, the name of the film, the rating (R) and the date it is released.

10. At what point in the trailer is this information given?

At the end. 

11. What type of audience is the trailer aimed at? How can you tell?

The trailer is aimed at 15-24 year olds, using Pearl and Dean statistics, I can see that the majority of people that would see this film is 15-24 year olds. 

Saw 3D teaser trailer

1. At what point in the trailer are we told the name of the film? Why is this?

We are told the name of the film at the end of the trailer. As this film is a sequel, people who are fans of the film, would already know the name of the film, as the clues from the teaser would show this. For example, the theme music gives away that the film is Saw. 


2. . why are we told who is starring in the film?
We are not told who is starring in this trailer, as it is not supposed to reveal much information. 


3. what type of action from the film do we see?
the action we see in the film is the parts of the film that would be more appealing to an audience, for example, in this trailer, some of the traps that Jigsaw uses to kill his victims, however, the clip would cut at the point before the victim is/ or is not killed. This makes the audience want to see how the scene turns out.


4. What clues does the music give us to what type of film the trailer is advertising?
The music used in this film, is the Saw theme tune, which fans of the film would already be familiar with, this makes the film appeal to a select audience, of mainly people who have already seen the other films, and horror movie goers. 


5. Does the trailer come with a voice over and if so, what can you tell about the voice being used?
This trailer does not have a voice over. 


6. How does the speed of what we see compare to watching a clip from a film? why is this?
The speed is a lot faster and in a theatrical trailer. 


7. Does the speed alter through the trailer or does it stay the same

The speed stays the same throughout the trailer.

8. What information are we given about the film?
In order of appearance; rated R (18), distribution/ production companies, the name of the film, the date ('This October'), the website. 


9. At what point in the trailer is this information given?
The rating is given at the beginning, the rest is a the end. 


10. What type of audience is the trailer aimed at? How can you tell?
Over 18's because the rating is stated at the beginning however, people from the age 15-24 are more likely to watch it according to Pearl and Dean, the creepy music and the dark colours and titles suggest that the film is horror. 

Magazine Cover Analysis

Film Poster analysis

Theatrical and Teaser trailer comparison:

Audience Research

QUESTIONNAIRE

Pie chart results

We asked 20 people about what they would prefer to see in a horror trailer, the age group we asked were 16-18 year old students. 

This pie chart shows that 67% of the people we asked think that a horror film should be classed as an 18, the other 33% believed that the rating should be 15. 

This pie chart shows that the majority of people 50% think that a trailer should have both a voice over and music. Then 33% think that there should be just music whereas, 11% think just a voiceover, and only 6% think that there should be neither. 

This pie chart shows that most people (72%) think that a trailer should include little detail, and the other 28% think that there should be as much detail as possible. 

In this pie chart, we can see that more than half of the people we asked (61%) hear about new released films on TV advertisements, which is because we asked a younger generation of people. 22% hear about new releases by word of mouth, 13% by posters, 4% by magazines and newspapers, then 0% of the people we asked hear about films on the radio.

In this question, we asked the people whether they think a horror trailer should scare the audience, as expected, 78% said yes, and 22% said that it would depend on the type of horror film, for example whether it is psychological, gorey, or supernatural.  

This pie chart shows how long people think a horror trailer should be, over half, 53% said that a horror trailer should be 0.30- 1:00, and no-one thought that it should be less than 30 seconds.

We then asked the people what colours they think are associated with horror films, the most popular colour was red with 44%. 41% said black, 9% said white, 3% yellow, and the other 3% said other. 

The most popular type of horror film with the audience we asked was both psychological and supernatural with 29%, then 24% said they prefer true stories and the other 19% prefer gorey films. 

The most popular prop that is shown in this pie chart is, blood, with 48%, then 26% said weapons, 17% said costumes masks and 9% said other. No-one said no props. 

The last question we asked the audience was what locations do they prefer in a horror film, the most popular location was a house with 37%, and the next most popular location was an abandoned building with 26%. 21% was to a graveyard, 11% for other locations, and 5% for a school. 

Planning our trailer;

Genre; Thriller/ Horror  (hybrid film)

viewing this trailer it is easy to tell this film is a thriller as the conventions are clearly stated. A thriller film usually consists of suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements. The Haunting in Connecticut show a variety of conventions such as paranoia, ransons, anxiety and the ‘whodunit’ technique. For example, throughout this whole film, strange events happen, but is not known either to the characters or the audience who is doing them. 

we have chosen to make our film a hybrid genre because it appeals to a wider audience and also gives it a unique selling point. as many film makers are finding it hard to think of new ideas, hybrid genres are a good example of how you can make a unique film. For example, Kick-ass is a hybrid as it is a mixture of action and comedy. 

Setting; 
Mansion- Used for the main house

            Park- Used for the supernatural events.

            Halloween night (trick or treat)- Used for the example of the main characters previous life.

We have chosen to use a house as the main setting of our horror film trailer, this is because in our research we found out that audiences are more familiar with horror films that are set in a house. As our film is about a haunting, we decided that a house would be the most suitable place to film her experiences.

Story-line;
 Mother gets haunted by her past after experiencing paranormal activities with her present family.

The flashbacks will indicate the memory of the mother of the present family, as she becomes familiar with her childhood. This trailer will explain how she has no proof of her experiences, and her realisation of the fact she shouldn’t have kept it a secret as it has come back to haunt her.  

Casting;

The past family (which is the present mother’s family when she was a child) will only be seen in flashbacks in the trailer, to show the significance it has on her now. 

Past life:

• Mother 
• Father
• Only child. (main character)

Present Life:

• Adult version of only child. (Main character)
• Father
• Child 1
• Child 2
• Police officer 
• Priest 
• Scared granny that thinks new neighbours  are crazy (mentally unstable). 

Distribution Company;  Lions gate

Production Company; New Line Cinema

Release date; October 31st.

Music;
 Spooky ghost music

Creepy 'ghost- like' voice at the end of the trailer before the title of the film is shown.

The sound effects that we will include in our trailer are screams and sounds of ghosts, we are using these sound effects because they are conventional of a horror film, and it will be familiar with the horror film movie go-oers. 

Order of the trailer;

• Distribution Company name
• Production Company name
• Shot of the family moving into their new house
• Whilst unpacking one the the new boxes something scary happens ( A human and reaches out to help unpack the box, character jumps and looks up but to her surprise the room is empty). 
• This character has a flashback of what happened when they were a child growing up and how these strange events use to happen to her and her family and the consequences it took. 
• Back to reality more strange events happen leading up to a dramatic finish. 
• Title of the film. 
• Extra information; Director, Co- stars, Producers ETC. 

Speed of the trailer; 
Starting slow explaining the story-line the speeds up s major events occur.

we want our pacing to be this way because it is conventional of a horror film to build up tension till the end of the trailer where the fast paced events happen.

Theme;

During our research we found out that a supernatural theme is very popular with audiences, so therefore we are going to include ghost/spirits as our supernatural element, which leads to paranormal activites. 

voice over; 

We decided not to use a voice over in our trailer because in our research questionnaire we found out that the majority of people prefer to have just music and no voiceovers. We also thought that having this will create a better effect on our trailer. 

on-screen graphics;

the first on screen graphics that will be shown is the production and distribution companies, the next title will be at the beginning of the trailer which will say ‘based on a true story’ we have decided to add this because it grabs the audiences attention instantly if they know these events have occurred in real life. we also got this idea from the film trailer we analysed “ the haunting in connecticut’ .Then at the end we will show the title then the rating, website, and general production information and release date. We are doing it in this order because it is conventional for trailers in general to have their titles this way. 

editing & post production;

we want these flashbacks to be in black and white because it makes it more obvious to the audience that this is archive footage of the past. Also the fast clips at the end are to anchor the fast pace that we want to create to add a sense of fear to the audience. 

Story board: first draft

Working script: 'fatal secret'