Final Product-movie trailer

I finally finished my movie trailer that I based around 'The Blair Witch Project', I am happy with certain aspects of my video such as how the short clips showing just a brief amount of information capture the audiences attention better than what longer clips would. Also because the clips are just brief it shows less information meaning that people will be kept more interested and on edge when watching my trailer rather than if it were longer clips showing more information as that would then tell them too much and could possibly bore them. Another thing I like is the beginning clips showing brief sentences the font of this is typewriter which adds to the sense that my trailer/movie will be more documented horror than just your average horror trailer which will appeal to an audience who are in to more indie films that use different techniques that wouldnt be shown in your average horror. One thing I do not like about this trailer is how I lost my second lot of footage and did not have the time to film it again, this meant I had to use my original footage that was not up to as high standard as I could have made my trailer and let it down slightly. If I had more time I would have filmed my footage again to create a higher quality trailer that I was capable of making. Although I do like the soundtrack to my trailer as it goes well with the trailer and builds up the tension when people are watching my trailer and puts them on edge.

Evaluation question 3

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

To gather audience feedback for my main task and for my ancillary texts I basically gathered people from my lesson aged 17/18 and got them to have a discussion to give their views on each piece. The type of feedback I was given about my trailer was along the lines of it was a trailer that left you questioning what was going to happen as it was such a simple trailer. I asked my group questions such as what they thought the genre of my trailer was? Which they all responded with horror, I was happy with this as this is what I was hoping they would recognise. I also asked how the trailer made them feel when watching it? Their were various answers to this such as it made some feel on edge, slightly confused as to what is going to happen, shocked, quite scared for the people in the trailer; I was happy with this feedback as I wanted to create a trailer that confused people and made them question my trailer and according to my group discussion I managed to achieve this. I also asked if there was anything my group would recommend me to change if I were to create my trailer again? The most common response was that I could change some of the clips to add more variety as it was quite repetitive and that it could also be made slightly longer to show more of the trailer which is something I would consider if I were to remake my trailer. Finally I asked if my group would go to watch my film? The majority said yes as they wanted to know what happened in the film as the trailer left them questioning and feeling curious, a few said they wouldn't as they were more in to the stalker/bloody horrors that are out and not the documentary style that mine is based around. The overall view for my ancillary texts was positive as they found them to be simple but effective as it left them guessing and wanting to read more in the magazine, but in the poster they found it interesting as it gave you enough information about the film and the right quotes were used to tease the audience so that they would feel like they had to go and see the film. Also they all said that they liked how both texts related to each other due to the text, colours and model being used all the same so if they saw them they would automatically relate the two and it would probably give them more a of a reason to go and see the film if they knew more about it.

Evaluation question 4

4.How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
To answer question 4 I have created a prezi
http://prezi.com/m71rednmrbcd/present/?auth_key=j3kggqq&follow=_ze1ixaqgiet&kw=present-m71rednmrbcd&rc=ref-40674895

Evaluation question 2

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

In my opinion I think that in certain aspects my main product is effective towards the audience. One reason that I think this is effective is due to the way that the opening to my trailer consists of a piece of text explaining how teenagers have disappeared, I think this is effective as when the audience sees this it puts them on edge and makes them curious as to why the teenagers disappeared and how it happened. I also think that when people see this piece of text they will expect to get a lot of information in the short trailer about how they have gone missing, but by the end of the trailer they still do not know what has happened and this will make them even more curious and in suspense to go and see the film to see how they went missing and what sort of event happened to start all of this off. Another reason I think my trailer is effective is due to the way my clips are short and in between there are short black clips meaning that when people watch  the trailer all the way throughout they will not know what to expect as the shots are quite fast and when it dips to black they will get a shock at the next shot that comes up on the screen. One more reason my trailer is effective is due to the font used for the text at the beginning and end of the trailer it is quite a formal text that you would see in a documentary which is what I wanted to portray in my own work as when people look at it they may associate it to the type of film like 'The Blair Witch Project' and this may make them want to go see the film more if it is like this.

I would say that my ancilliary texts are more effective to my audience than my main product, as creating print work is my stronger point rather than creating videos and I was able to create a more succesful piece. In my opinion I would say that my movie poster is really effective when my audience look at it. One reason I  would say that my poster is effective is due to the way the model is central in the page and she is looking right up at you seeing as though her head is slightly tilted, this is effective as she is meeting the onlooker in the eye and is entising them to look at her, this will catch the viewers attention and make them want to read the poster and hopefully will give them a boost to go and see my film. Also I find it to be effective due to the red tint used across my poster this relates to the horror theme my work is based on as red is the colour of danger, blood and is usually associated with this genre so when people see it they will know what type of movie it is and be able to tell straight away if it is something they would want to see. Another way this poster is effective is due to the type writer font used it makes it seem like a sort of documented film and people will associate this to 'The Blair Witch Project' that my trailer is inspired by and will make them want to go see this film to compare it with others of this style and genre.

I also find that my magazine cover is effective due to the fact it is a simple design that just gives you the inital information and a quote related to the film that I want to promote so that is the main focus of my magazine when people focus on it, also again it uses the type writer font so that again is like a documentary style. It is also effective due to the title used and the overall colour scheme style of that title is similar to the one used by an indie magazine already so when people look at my magazine it will attract the indie type of audience that I want to read it and will also create a bigger audience for my trailer. Also the section across the bottom gives some information about the other content in my magazine but seeing as though it is brief it will just tease the reader and make them want to read on to find out about this in more detail.

I think that all three of my products contrast well together and together make for a effective piece. One reason I think this is due to the font used in all three is the same type writer style so that when people see it they will relate it to each of the pieces they have seen, or if they have seen one piece they will notice this font on another piece and it will make them want to look at it more as they will want to find out more than what they already know. I also think that the use of the same model on my two ancillary texts is effective as people will realte the two but question why on one she is so keen to look at the camera but on the other she is determined to not face it meaning that it adds a sense of mystery to my work and will constantly have people quetioning it. Due to all three of my products being quite simple it leaves a lot to the imagination of the person either reading my pieces of text or watching my trailer so therefore they can create their own stories for my film and it will make them question all of my work and be curious to see what is actually going to happen in the film and they will eventually want to go and see it which will create a bigger audience for my film.

Evaluation question 1

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

For part of my question 1 I have created a prezi. http://prezi.com/m71rednmrbcd/present/?auth_key=j3kggqq&follow=_ze1ixaqgiet&kw=present-m71rednmrbcd&rc=ref-40674895

Above are some screenshots from my media trailer. In the first screen shot it shows the genre of my trailer due to the way the person is looking around scared in the dark with only a torch but also in the trailer you can hear her panting and saying how scared she is which is showing that something horrible is going to happen. This relates to real life media situations as when you watch horror trailers you normally always will see someone panicking and looking worried about some sort of noise/figure even if it is just for a brief amount of time, as it gives the audience an idea that something bad/strange is going to happen and builds the suspense/horror. In my second screenshot below the first is shows the title of my trailer 'Lost in the Forest' I placed this towards the end of my trailer for one the obvious reason that people needed to know what film to see but also because the font and the colour relates back to my magazine cover and also my movie poster so people would recognise the two, this tends to be what people in actual real life movie scenes do so that people can associate the two and it makes it so there is more for them to actually talk about. In the third screenshot it shows a quote from my film this relates to real life media products due to the fact a similar technique was used in the 'Blair witch project', they used a technique like this to give the audience a brief idea of what the film is about. Also making them come up in their own mind their own opinion of what is going to happen, but also after watching the trailer and seeing this quote they will question what is going to happen in the film and want to go and see it even more to find out if they were right about the film.  In my screenshot across the bottom of my page it shows the soundtrack that I have used throughout my trailer. I selected this soundtrack from youtube and created it in to an mp3 to put in to my trailer, this type of music relates to real life media products as it is a mix from various 'blair witch project' soundtracks, and also this goes well with my trailer as it starts off quiet and slow but as the trailer progresses the music gets slightly more louder and dramatic to build up tension and keep people in suspense like what an actual movie trailer would do. My fifth screenshot shows a print screen of my location from google maps, this relates back to a real life media situation as when selecting my location I had to go and see where would be the best for lighting, space, where actually looked like it could be from a real movie such as 'the blair witch project' it was all about the selection process for getting a good setting for the base of my work. The next screenshot shows a section of my footage clip with the edit 'dip to black' I selected this edit as it is something you see in actual movie footage where the screen will go to black even for less than a second and then something will come straight afterwards this adds dramatic effect to the trailer and makes people question what is going to come next in the trailer and puts them in suspense. My last screen shot is of the first shot of footage in my trailer where the actors are all just walking in to the woods calmly like nothing has happened, I like this as it firstly calms the audience making them feel safe but also gives a build up of what is about to come in the trailer that would shock them and put them on edge which is what you tend to see in real life horror trailers they try to comfort the audience before they show them any shocking footage.

Location (add images)

The location for my video and for my poster/magazine cover is set in a woods in Seaham. I selected this woods as it was open enough to get easy access to but was still quite closed in so that when my actors were walking around for filming they could move around freely without having to worry about the scene looking different. I also chose this location as the tree were quite close together so that it looked more like the woods you would see in an actual horror trailer. Another good reason for using this location was so that it was close to all of my actors to get to.

Booking equipment/ forms/ props

For my trailer I did not have to book any cameras for filming from college as my friend had a camera that I used which I could take images and film my footage as well in a high quality. I also did not have to get any consent forms from the actors in my trailer as they were all over the age of 16 meaning they were legal to make their owns decisions whether to take part in filming or not. The only props I needed for my trailer were torches as I did not want to over complicate my trailer with props that would have no meaning and would just add confusion.

Time management

After creating my magazine cover and poster I moved on to creating my movie trailer, I then had finished filming and editing my video. Although after trying to find my trailer again I had realised that some of my footage had gone missing so by Thursday 25th April I am hoping to have re-filmed my footage and edit it in to the missing spaces in my existing trailer.

character profiles

For my trailer I am using 4 females around the age of 17/18

Name: Nicola Lowes
Age: 17
Interests: dancing, music, socialising
Relationship: best friends with other girls in trailer
Description: brown hair, green eyes, slightly pale
Height: 5ft 5inch

 Name: Cherry McCall
Age: 17

Interests: dancing, music, socialising
Relationship: best friends with other girls in trailer
Description: brown eyes, brown hair, slightly tanned
Height: 5ft 10inch

 Name: Devon Perry
Age: 17

Interests: socialising, photography, music
Relationship: best friends with other girls in trailer
Description: blonde hair, blue eyes, pale
Height: 5ft 2inch










Name: Anya Muncaster
Age: 18

Interests: socialising, music, drinking
Relationship: best friends with other girls in trailer and is the main character with the most to say
Description: blonde hair, blue eyes, slightly pale
Height: 5ft 8inch

Target audience

My target audience for my media trailer, poster and magazine is teenagers starting from around 16 up to people in their early 20's. It is for both males and females but of an indie group. With my audience being of the indie group they will want a film that is quite slow key, that not many people will go and see and that would be of a low budget typical independent film. Seeing as though they will want it to be quite low key I will only have 4 main actors in my trailer so that it looks as though they are saving on budget, I will also use just quick shots of footage so that it will only attract my target audience by the way the shots are used and also the clothing and speech used by the actors. Also for my magazine and poster I will use simple images that are not over complicated and will use minimum text, also there will be a laid back theme to my work as people who are in to an indie genre are laid back and do not care.

Potential Problems

Potential problems that may occur when taking images for my print work and filming for my trailer could be the people I am filming may not be able to make it so therefore I will over come this by having extra people as backups so therefore I know I will have someone there to film always.
Another problem could be the weather if it rains or snows I will not be able to film so therefore to manage this problem I will check weather forecasts in advance and plan my filming around the days where the weather is suitable.
One more problem could be that I may not be able to get a camera when I want to film so therefore I will book a camera out of college so I know I have one to use.

Final magazine cover

Here is my final magazine poster, I decided to keep the colour scheme from my second cover attempt as it stands out against the background image but also contrasts well and does not stand out or overpower the background image. One thing I like about my cover is the overall composition I like how all of the information/stories are set to the bottom half of the cover so that when you look at the cover you focus on the image first and relate it to the poster and then you read the writing underneath it to explain. I also like how the stories that aren't as important as the main headline are at the very bottom of the page but are still highlighted so you focus on them still but its not the first thing that catches your attention. I like the image on my cover one reason being because it relates to my film poster, but I also like how it is not like a typical image that you would normally see on a magazine cover as the model is not facing you directly which this may intrigue people in to picking up my magazine. Another thing I like is the overall look of the magazine I think it does not look like your typical magazine and is more indie and less mainstream which is the type of audience I wanted to relate my magazine cover towards as it is the type I want for my film trailer.

Practice magazines

Here is my first attempt at creating a magazine cover, I created this piece with the inspiration from sight and sound magazine. I like how I have used my own image that relates to my film poster so that when people see my magazine they will know it involves my film due to the style and the image used. I also like the placement of the title of my magazine as I wanted to keep it separate to the image and not crowd my magazine cover, although I do not like the title of my magazine so will change that in my next attempt at a cover. The placement in the barcode is in a good place so I will keep that the same on my next attempt as it is in the corner out of the way so you do not focus on it but you still know it is there. I like the idea of keeping all of my writing separate to the rest of my cover as it is all in one place and easy to focus on. Although I like certain things about my cover overall I did not like it and did not think it was of a good enough quality to use as my final.



Here is my second attempt at creating a magazine cover, since I liked the sight and sound covers a lot I decided to use the title that the have and the style with a slight change as I think it would go well with the style of my image as they are both quite indie magazines. I kept the same image throughout making my magazine cover as it was my favourite image as it is not one you would normally see in magazines and it related to my poster. I like the idea of having a quote from someone relating to my film next to the person on the image so I decided to move it slightly to overlap with the image but I did not like it as I thought it distracted too much from the actual image. Also I like having a 'plus' section on my poster but I do not like the placement of it on here as it looks out of place and too staggered with the other piece of text.

This is my third attempt at creating my magazine cover, I decided to slightly change the colour  scheme so that it was different to the sight and sound logo but I do not like how it does not stand out well against the background and the red text blends in with the background. Although I do like the positioning of the quote better as since it is underneath the model it helps relate the two to each other better and just looks like it is in a better positioning all together. I also like how the 'plus' section has been moved to  a box at the bottom of the page which separates it from the rest of cover, although I do not like the white and black writing together as it looks too bright and out of place for this type of magazine.

Time management

During the making of my print work, magazine and poster, I have not had anytime to scan in storyboards or post practice images on to my blog. Now that I have finished my print work I will focus on getting my blog up to a high standard and also I will focus on story boarding my trailer so that I can get that exactly how I want it to look but in a simple, uncomplicated way. I will also focusing on getting  my trailer edited to a high standard as well.

Final movie poster

Above is my Final Poster for my horror film after attempting with various techniques. My inspiration for this poster came from the sight and sound magazine covers, I liked the maturity of their covers and how they take something simple but make it effective and have an impact on the reader. I also like how when you look at sight and sound covers after the first few seconds of looking at the cover you will know what you are going to see throughout its content and that is what i wanted to try and show in my poster; I wanted to create something where you know basically what is going to happen by the tag lines and quotes yet you still question the movie. I wanted my poster to look like it came from an independent film company so that it would attract the more mature, cerebral audience instead of the type of audience horrors normally attract which is teenagers who are immature. By creating my poster with an indie look it makes people realise it wont have the same cliches that a horror made by a well known company would have and to make it stand out against other films of its genre. One thing I like about my poster is how everything is kept from the middle downwards and the top half of the poster is left bare, this is so that everything you need to know it all focused around the picture, which catches your attention first, once you have noticed the picture the writing around it is then your next source of attention and you start relating things together and questioning things about the poster. I also like how the red used is not what you would normally see on a horror poster, the typical black and white, it catches your attention because it is bright but also relates to danger and blood the type of things you'd relate to that colour associate as well with horror. Due to having these type of colours the white writing stands out and is easy to read unlike some posters you might read, also the font of the writing makes it look like it is a documentary which is the type of thing i wanted to show in my poster like 'the blair witch project'. I created this poster by using my own images that I had taken and editing them using the programme Photoshop and the various editing tools that it has installed on it. Overall I am pleased with the out come of my poster and I think it has an effective final look to it.

Inspiration 3

This magazine cover by sight and sound has influenced my decisions for my poster and magazine cover. It has made me want to create both pieces of my work using a simple effect and not over crowding the page so therefore it is easy to focus on everything on the cover without ignoring any bit of information given. I think the image used is effective as it as if she is looking at the audience and it draws your attention to want to read it; although the writing over the face 'funny games' gives the cover a witty tone to it. With this magazine being quite indie and not your typical mainstream magazine it makes it more interesting a for a specific type of audience which is what I want my magazine and poster to be like. One thing I do not like about this cover is the yellow in the right corner with the barcode in it I think it takes up too much space and draws attention away from other things on the poster.

Above is another magazine that has inspired me for my own movie magazine, one reason this has inspired me is for the simplicity of the colours, I want to use basic colours in my own magazine that you would only recognise for my magazine and not associate it with any others like what is used for this magazine. I also will use similar quotes to this magazine in my own work to make it seem more realistic and like something you would actually see in a store. One thing I do not like is I find the cover to be too crowded with text and I would make it more simpler in my own work.