The document discusses the evaluation of a film trailer project. It provides feedback on the strengths of the trailer, including the effective location and use of first and third person perspectives. It also discusses lessons learned about improving the script and planning of shoots. The feedback received from audiences is presented, noting praise for the editing and how it made them want to watch more, while also identifying areas for improvement like the font and lighting. The effectiveness of ancillary texts like a film magazine and poster are examined, highlighting how they follow conventions and relate back to the trailer.
2. Was your
Production an
effective piece?
• The main strength of our trailer is the location we chose (see image above). It is really powerful and it contributed to the
effective production that we made.
• I was really pleased with the way the idea of using first person and third person worked. One of the main characters was holding
a camera so at selected parts of the film we used footage from the handheld camera. This adds to the realism and fits with
narrative. It worked really well in editing because we were able to give the characters perspective and create some good close
ups. It allowed us to create a range of camera shots.
• From start to finish we learnt a lot about filming and how to create an effective piece. To start with our script lacked detail and
we had to re-think, what was actually possible in the location and possible with the filming equipment that we had. After
adding more detail to the script we knew exactly what everyone had to say and what shots we wanted to shoot. The second
shoot was a lot more successful it was just a case of going back to the location again to film some small clips that we needed. In
the end we were able to create an effective piece but it was a good learning curve.
• We worked well as a group, especially when it came to ideas and the narrative or initial idea for the film was effective.
• There are some strict conventions that apply to horror trailers and we managed to conform to nearly all of them. The
conventions are strict because they are proven to work and the objective of all horror films is to make the audience scared. For
example the way horror trailers start off slow and then get scarier and quicker as they went on and we achieved this. This
happened in all five of the horror trailers that I researched.
• How effective our trailer is can be applied to David Morley’s Audience Reception Theory the preferred reading of the text is the
audience will want to go and see the full length film and be intrigued but the oppositional reading would be that it is disturbing
and not a very good film so they wont want to watch the full length film.
• Overall our trailer evolved in to an effective trailer it has moments of tension, moments when the audience can see things the
characters cant, some jumpy parts and good music which added to the tension.
3. How did you use new media technologies in the construction
stage?
• We used Adobe premiere pro to edit our footage. Before this project I didn't have any experience of using
premiere pro so I learnt a lot about how to use the program and all it’s functions. It was an effective tool, It
allowed us to cut and take bits out of footage that we didn't want and piece them together. We were able to
edit the sound separately and include horror music. It also included a range of video transitions that we used,
dip dissolve, cross dissolve etc. It was easy to import the footage we wanted and include it in our production.
We could slow down or speed up and parts of the footage this was useful as we realised that we needed to cut
some of our footage down in time without loosing parts of it.
• We used YouTube to find a piece of horror music. We then file converted the clip using an online file converter
to mp3 so that we could include it in our production.
• To shoot our footage we used new Sony HD camcorders along with a tripod. This allowed us to transfer our
footage straight to the computer, we didn't have to use tapes like older camcorders and it was a lot more
efficient and the footage was better in quality. The camera also allowed us to take images as well as video so
we used it to take some of the images for our ancillary tasks. It was simple and really easy to use.
• I used Dafont for the construction of my ancillary tasks. This allowed me to access a huge range of fonts. The
fonts on Dafont aren't conventional they are more elaborate in their design compared to default fonts in
Photoshop. This was good for my film magazine and poster as it allows you to stylise the product more rather
than just using normal fonts.
• I used Photoshop in the construction of my ancillary task . As I used Photoshop before as AS level it was easy to
remind myself of how to use it and explore the variety of options as to how to edit the texts.
4. How did you use new media technologies in the research stage?
• I used YouTube to research film trailers and analyse them.
YouTube was really useful as is allowed me to access a
huge number of trailers. I was able to use these trailers to
establish conventions which we used in our trailer. They
gave us inspiration as to what we were going to do and
helped us come up with an idea. It also allowed me to
upload my trailer to YouTube and then embed it on to.
• I used Google images to search for film posters and
magazines that I could analyse to give me inspiration.
• I was then able to share my research through blogger.
Blogger was a particularly useful tool as it allowed me to
collate all my research and have it all in one area.
5. How did you use new media technologies in the planning stage?
• I needed a way of uploading our story board to blogger and the most effective way
of doing this was by using Scribd. We had to scan in our hand drawn story board
and then upload the pages to Scribd. It was easy to upload the pages and then
embed it into blogger.
• To Upload our script all we had to do was copy and paste text on to a blog post
using blogger.
• We used Facebook as a way to organise the filming and getting everyone together.
We did this by creating events on Facebook. It was the easiest way of co-ordinating
everyone organise.
6. How did you use new media technologies in the Evaluation
stage?
• I used Prezi to present my answer to the
question ‘In what ways does your media
product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?’. It was
really good visual and alternative way of
presenting my evaluation.
• I created a directors commentary by filming.
7. What have you learned from your
audience feedback?
• Charlie a year 11 media student said: ‘The fading between the words coming up on
the screen give the whole production look a lot more professional. They have used
the usual colours of a traditional horror film (black, white) these give the
connotations of death and darkness which make the trailer a lot more eerie. They
have utilised the camera shots well using low angled shots close ups and other
types to make it more professional. The base sound track they have used works
well with the trailer as it builds up the tension that the viewer might feel and will
give them the need to go and watch the whole thing. The only thing I would say
they need to improve is the use of more sounds to make it more dramatic for the
viewer so they really would want to go and see it.’
I have leant that our editing of the trailer was successful as two of the positive
comments were about edited effects. He refers to the fade through blacks and the
title sequences added in. The use of black and white is something which I hadn’t
thought of but it shows that the use of colour was important and added to the
horror style. I think the use of sounds is a valid point we could of included some
more sounds related to the action, some loud sharp sounds would of been more
appropriate, a long with some sound effects such as feet scrapping a long the floor
or heavy breathing. Perhaps using a sound kit would of allowed us to explore the
use of sound more.
8. What have you learned from your
audience feedback?
Clare- The background music sets the scene and
you anticipate the film will be scary straight away.
I enjoyed the way the clips flowed and really kept
your attention and made me want to watch more
to see what happened next. Overall it felt eerie I
would love to find out what happened in the end.
This is some really positive feedback. Again there is
a positive referral to the way it is edited as they
talk about the flow of the trailer. It is especially
good that she felt like she wanted to watch the
rest of the film as that is the objective of a trailer.
9. What have you learned from your
audience feedback?
• Emma A* in GCSE media- I feel that this trailer was well
shot and edited, giving a clear storyline in chronological
order which was easy to understand. However areas to
improve I think are the font; which I found hard to read.
I also think that the opening scene could have been
stronger with the characters facing the camera so I could
see the characters clearly. I also think that as the
location was perfect for the trailer, this could have been
used more effectively by making it darker and therefore
more sinister and more like a horror trailer.
• I think we could have chosen a simpler font the fact that
it is a bit faded does make it harder to read. I agree with
her comment on the opening seen we could of shot it
better giving a clear view of the character, some close
ups or shot reverse shots as they were speaking. The
lighting on the location would have been difficult to
control as there was a lot of random light beams and
pillars but I agree with the comment to about lighting to
a certain extent we could have shot some of the scenes
in darker areas and used it more effectively.
Here we could have used
a stronger font. This font
reappears throughout
the trailer.
Here Phil the hooded
character has his back turned
so you cant see him it would
have been better if we had
shot this differently so all the
characters were in view.
10. What have you learned from your
audience feedback?
• Poppy A level media student- I thought it was
really good i actually got rather scared. I loved
the bit when the ghoul thingy walked across
the corridor erm negative thingssss i actually
cant think of anything.
• I agree with this
comment, when the ghoul
walks across the corridor I
think is our best scene.
This again is some really
positive feedback.
The ghoul walking across the
corridor scene
11. How effective is the combination of
your main product and ancillary texts?
This is my film magazine. For the magazine I wanted to
focus on the ghoul. The convention of film magazines is
to have one particular character on the cover and this is
usually the main character so I wanted to do the same.
Using ‘Porce-Lyn’ (ghoul) on the front cover helps create
a horror effect. I decided to follow the conventions of
Empire magazine as I really like the style and it is the
most established film magazine. The idea of the trailer is
that Porce-Lyn is hiding in the shadows of the abandoned
mental hospital and surrounding her with the greenery
and the text it has the same affect like she is about to
jump out. I put her head above the Empire heading as it
made her seem more powerful. This is a convention of
film magazines they quite often have the character in
front of the text it help make them dominant. Having the
main character as the centre piece of the cover relates to
Richard Dyers star theory, a well known star will attract
an audience. The jagged Porce-Lyn text relates to the
location of our trailer as it is all broken down and jagged.
12. How effective is the combination of
your main product and ancillary texts?
This is my film poster. This combines with our
trailer well, again similar to my film poster
Porce-Lyn is waiting in the shadows. The
background image of the location for our shoot
it relates to our trailer in that way. There is also
a vulnerability of the characters created in this
photo with Porce-Lyn waiting looking at them
which we also created in our trailer. The fact
that they are stood outside looking at the
building gives the feel of anticipation what will
happen when they enter. The credits at the
bottom of the page are typical of a film poster, I
followed this convention and I think the text is
effective in helping to create a horror feel. This
is down to the font that I chose. The best thing
about this poster I think is the misty white
effect that I achieved by using a filter it makes
it look eerie and adds to the horror look.
13. How the Three Texts Would
Work Together as a Marketing
Strategy
The film trailer and the posters would be the first things I would use as
advertisement. Put the trailer on in cinemas preferably before horror films as
this is the target audience. Putting the trailer on during the adverts of prime
time T.V would be good especially during the adverts of films themselves and
on the movie channels. The trailer is the main thing in attracting the audience
most people will see the trailer before they watch the film I think our trailer
makes the audience want to watch the film and there is evidence of this in
my feedback, Clare- ‘I would love to find out what happened in the end’. The
film poster would need to go up on bill boards, on buses and bus shelters
anywhere possible really. I think the big heading on the poster would be eye
catching. It would make the audience intrigued to find out what is going to
happen to the characters. Once word of mouth has been spread about the
film and people have seen the trailer and poster I would then put the empire
cover out to promote the film further. A positive review in Empire would
attract a lot of people as it is so well respect and renowned. It would also
appeal to big film fans as they are the ones most likely to read the magazine.
Being on the front cover of empire would mean that it reinforces that it is a
good film as Empire focus on the most prestigious and biggest films. The front
cover itself it eye catching and bold it would stand out amongst other film
magazines.
