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.