Prezzi Evaluation

Audience Feedback Questionnaire Results

From creating a survey on SurveyMonkey, which meant i could gain a large participation

Audience Feedback Questionnaire

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Written Evaluation

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

My media products include a horror trailer, horror trailer poster and magazine cover. They develop forms and conventions of real media products due to the fact that I have researched a substantial amount for both the movie trailer and ancillary texts. For example when we were first creating ideas for our genre horror, we started making equilibrium timelines in class individually, looking at existing movie trailers and calculating seconds between shots, tone cards and I-dents. This was all useful in creating a trailer as we now had a clear sense of how to put one together. We looked at a variety of horror trailers in class together, independently and in groups to figure out how we wanted our trailer to be and what makes a horror trailer scary. All this research can challenge and develop forms and conventions as we are looking at all aspects, which is what a real film crew and company would do.

Horror Trailer

My horror trailer was our main group project on the course; this is where the preparation came in to it, doing equilibrium timelines and looking at a large variety of trailers. Analysing specific ones to get a feel of how much detail comes in to a trailer. My group’s horror trailer (The forgiven) challenges forms and conventions as we have shot appropriate material for it, meaning that the main footage is to provoke fright to the audience watching, at least that was our aim. We thought of how we could make all shots in the trailer appear eerie however this isn’t always achievable.

All shots in the trailer have been controlled to the best of our ability as some clips

had to be hand held due to creating a realistic movement. However majority of the shots were done on a tripod so that the camera was straight and in focus. We used a variety of shots in our trailer, extreme close up for tension, long shots for action and close up for dialect scenes. We made sure that all our shots were landscape and not portrait; they need to all be the same so when it comes to editing they all run together well. I believe that you can tell we have created a horror trailer; the music we have added is of that genre, almost frightening. There is a complication of sound, due to different scenes with in the trailer. When it comes to mise-en-scene, we have incorporated the key elements well (Props, makeup, costume and lighting.).  Props were very important within our trailer as the story plot is based around a prop (necklace) we also include a hammer and balaclava that are seen as the weapon within the story plot.  Makeup was quite simplistic due to the fact we wanted the four girls to look innocent as they are teenagers and innocence was a way to deceive the audience. Costume had to be the same through out the entire filming, this is because all the events happened on one night which meant we had to make sure our actors were wearing the same clothes when we filmed on different days. When it came to lighting we had some issues, we had to film in mid December, which meant it got darker quickly. We had to use a light box in the garden to create light so that the action could show up on camera. The positives of this was that it created a spooky atmosphere on camera, not having the right light worked in our favor and fitted in well with the rest of the footage.  I think the narrative is clear in the trailer, the footage makes sense as the events are recorder is order. As the story line consists of a group of friends going to another friend’s house it was simple to recreate something that would normally happen with friends but with actors. We have included a variety of transitions, such as fade to black, jump cuts and fades which is very useful when having a lot of action and fast footage, it’s a way to keep the trailer interesting and the audience on edge.  We included four tone cards, a title card, an age rating card, credits card and ‘coming soon’ card, this means captions are included within are trailer. They divide the footage up so that it’s not one continuous line of shots. The sounds in the trailer matches the footage appropriately, meaning scenes that had more suspense had music that was quieter and slow whereas seen that were fast and full of action, the music was upbeat and fast. All these aspects make the trailer challenge the forms and conventions of a real horror trailer.

Horror Poster

One of the three products was my movie poster. The posters main feature would link to my horror trailer. In preparation for creating a poster, I analysed existing posters. This was a good way to depict movie posters and see how I would like my poster to look. After looking at three posters in depth; The Silence of The Lambs, The Purge and Squirm. I was able to start creating my own. I’m very happy with my Horror poster and believe I have challenged existing Movie posters. I think I have done this by particular aspects that I have focused on from doing my own research. For instance including credits at the bottom half of my poster.  Existing posters that I looked at included a credits, in a way it represents the expertise with in the film making as you are including all cast and crew, plus the productions that helped make the film. I have tried to duplicate my own credits however personlised it according to my groups horror. The title ‘The Forgiven’ on my poster is bold and a staple piece within my poster. I have carried the themed font throughout out all three of my media products to show an association between them all. This also leaves a more lasting impression for the audience. A majority of existing posters that I have looked at stick with a simplistic font, this is how my poster challenges forms and conventions of existing products as my group decided on a more quirky font that would leave an impact and signature look. Another significant part of my poster would be my image; it’s of a girl’s hand holding the main prop within the film (the necklace). I would say this image is very symbolic to the film, as the girls hand happens to be the villain within the storyline and the necklace she is holding is highlighted throughout the film. Having these combined together some up the film relatively, I believe this could develop forms and conventions of existing Movie Posters as I have a more detailed meaning behind the image however at the same time used them to produce a high quality image which is important for an industry such as film or promotion means. I have included Logos of the productions which were involved in the making of the film including one of my groups own creation (Ominous Productions), along with having quote ratings from media such as The Times and Empire, this is a great way to publicise the movie, it will pull an audience in from the big names such as Warner Brothers as they know a successful production companies are involved and knowing that feedback on the film is positive from leading magazines such as Empire, being a highly successful film magazine. This uses forms and conventions as all existing movie posters want to get positive distribution for their film to be a success so having large productions create the film and be involved along with popular media mediums talking about the film works in their favor. The date is highlighted when looking at my movie poster due to it being one of the two things in colour on my poster, this is a good way for people to know the release date and is memorable due to the contrast against the whole product. Along with having the names of the lead actors within the film, this is out of respect but also a way to draw people in by having actors they are familiar with at the top of the poser in bold. These techniques use forms and conventions as I had seen it be done in existing movie posters when researching. The colour scheme on a whole is condensed and simple, I wanted my poster to include little colour so that the colour in my poster stands out to the rest, this being the image and date. I think the simplicity is what creates the eeriness as it symbolizes the unknown behind the film and emphasizes on keys sectors. This could develop forms and conventions of existing movie posters as a majority of what I have seen is very bright and bold regardless of the genre being ‘horror’, I have decided to tame down the colour and let the image speak on behalf of the film.

In summary, I believe that my Horror poster has used, challenged and developed forms and conventions of existing products down to doing research before creating my own, this abled me to create a visual image in my head of what I wanted my own movie poster to look like and how it would best represent the trailer ‘The Forgiven’ by getting inspiration and creating a virtual version in the end.  

Horror Magazine Front Cover

My last media product which I made was my Magazine front cover, unlike the poster and trailer I have had previous experience when making a magazine front cover as that was what we had to make in AS. Knowing that we would be making front covers again this year I decided to go with the same approach as last year, just like the poster, I conducted research on three existing magazine front covers. These front covers were from magazines that are revolved around film or another media types.  The ones I focused on were Total Film and Entertainment as those are the two that appealed to me the most. After depicting both covers, I was clear on what I wanted my magazine layout to be like and what I wanted to include. I started off my picking a master head for my magazine, I noticed a lot of students in my class were doing Empire so decided to go with something different, when researching there wasn’t many movie magazines in general so picking one was hard. I was stuck between to master heads in the end one being Entertainment and the other Total Film, I liked them both because of their composition. I decided on Entertainment in the end as it was more well known than Total film and covered a wider variety of media meaning I could include more in the cover lines. I decided to change the colour of my master head to fit in with my colour scheme, I would say this uses forms and conventions of existing front covers as I have seen a majority of  them do the same thing, linking the colour of the image and text with the master head so that it ties in altogether. My images that I have used were taken when shooting the trailer; I decided to do this on the night as they were all wearing their costumes and props meaning it would link nicely to the trailer. I played around with effects on Photoshop, pulling down the brightness and making certain areas dark and others stand out more. I believe this part of my front cover develops forms and conventions of existing front covers as when I did my research there were hardly any that used a medium/ long shot. I wanted to use this image as I believe it doesn’t give much a way about the storyline or who is in it and readers could make up their own assumptions from the front cover. For my subheading I have used the same font from the actual trailer and the poster, this show’s a link between all three and leaves a signature mark for the films promotion. This challenges existing front covers as I have seen a mixture that have used the films font and some that have not, I think this is down to the opinion of the magazine editors however in the long run I think it would best promote the film and the magazine.

My barcode is on the bottom right of my magazine and my date and issue number is above the master head, I have positioned them there so that they are not to noticeable to the reader as it’s not what you want highlighted on the front cover as they are on every issue. This challenges existing front covers as they have all done a similar style but according to the layout.  An existing entertainment cover inspired the heading at the top of the page; the magazine normally includes headers so I decided to incorporate it in to mine. The cover lines I have included are on both sides of the front cover, I have highlighted the films in the same red as my master head, this is so they stand out against the red of the text and readers are navigated to them.  Changing the size and font of the text for cover lines makes the front cover look more exciting. I think this technique challenges forms and conventions as I have seen it be done in existing front covers numerous times.  The subheadings above and below the header are juxtaposed so they do not clash, ‘Exclusive look’ is in bold writing so that readers are aware and below the header an insight in to behind the making with the director. You want every little aspect that would appeal to readers, to appeal to them using techniques such as bold fonts. In the bottom left hand corner I have included a promotion aspect for the magazine, ‘special double issue’ this is something that readers are keen to see as in theory its better value for money and will increase sells due to curiosity about content. I have seen existing magazines use this method of distribution and thought it would be ideal to incorporate in to my own. The colour scheme is linked well; the four colours which are prominent throughout are red, blue, white and black. This makes my front cover on a whole look more professional and challenges forms and conventions of existing front covers as I have anaylsed front covers that have a strong colour scheme and it looks more appealing as a reader’s point of view.

In summary, I believe my magazine front cover uses and challenges forms and conventions to an extent as I have decided to do my own thing on certain aspects of my front cover such as the images I chose to use and my master head. In my opinion I believe I have created a profitable magazine front cover that represents my horror trailer efficiently.

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

I would say the combination of my trailer, poster and front cover is effective, in that they link well together overall. For my ancillary texts the aim was to convey the trailer and the contents through the two ancillary texts. When it came to the page layout and design I was aware that they had to look remotely realistic to existing posters and front covers, I started by analysing existing poster and front covers to get a few ideas on how I everything laid out, what images would be suitable for the promotion of our trailer and what design/layout would appeal to a wider audience. I used a variety of fonts and sizes for my text; one crucial link was having the title in the same font as my trailer in my poster and front cover. This would indicate a clear link between each media product and create a signature stamp for the trailers distribution. I have played about with fonts and sizes a lot more in my front cover than my poster, this was down to the fact that I was not only including my trailer as a feature but incorporating other elements to stand out for the audience that read the magazine, this being other types of media and other movies. The poster was more in line; I followed a pattern using similar fonts and sizes just so it looked more professional and was suitable with the layout.

 Out of all three media products I would say I used adaptive language mostly in my front cover due to the fact I wasn’t only trying to promote my horror film but also trying to promote similar material in the industry, highlighting the cover lines in my front page which involved bold and vibrant text. I have effectively used ICT in all three media products as I have showed use of editing on Photoshop in my poster and front cover. I have managed to play around with effects on this programme and incorporate more skill.  As for my horror trailer I have learnt a little on how to edit on Final Cut Pro, After Effects and using equipment to stage our scenes for the trailer. I believe that as a combination, all three had effective frames. We had a variety of shots within the trailer which were all in focus and recorded on high quality cameras. When filming for our trailer, I took the opportunity to capture some photos for my poster and front cover. This shows association between all three media products as they were all captured at the same time making the images more genuine and relatable with the theme. This leads on to manipulation of photos, there was a lot of this involved in the editing for the trailer however not so much cropping or resizing, we had to make sure that was accurate when actually filming the scenes. This process was mainly to do with my poster and front cover, once I had my images I was able to manipulate them in any way I wanted, in this case I wanted to express the theme ‘Horror’ so played around with effects to get the desired look.

This all ties in with having shot appropriate material, by getting all my images on the same day a shooting meant that the images related with the trailer. You can then look at aspects of this coming together such a costume. Having shot my photos on the night meant that they replicated the trailer, which is what I was aiming for; this would have been a tricky process to reshoot due to costume. Another aspect that would have been hard to replicate was lighting and setting, our shooting location was a house and we had started shooting in the evening using box lights for a certain look, this meant that if we wanted to reshoot photographs for our poster or front covers we would have to do so in the exact same setting and time of day which would’ve been hard to arrange.

Therefore the decisions that I had made about certain areas of the trailer, poster and front cover were appropriate as all three show a clear link to one another through the points I have made before hand. It is key that the combination of my main product and ancillary text are effective together as that is how you will get a good response in advertisement, promotion and distribution.

 What have you learned from your audience feed back?

After creating my main product and ancillary texts, the next vital step was hearing a second opinion and this would be the audience viewing or purchasing the media products. It was essential to have feedback on my work, as it would then allow me to make accurate changes to creating a more sufficient product. In this case I created second and third drafts of my original products due to hearing feedback. I decided to create a questionnaire on Survey Monkey to gain feedback; I believed this was a suitable plan as I could then get a larger response by asking people on social media to participate. This is a faster approach for feedback as the questionnaire is done online and takes less than 5 minutes. From my feedback I knew that I instantly had an equal view due to the fact that it was an even spread of female to male ratio that participated in my questionnaire, I knew this as it was one of my questions that I had asked as I wanted to know who was providing feedback. I also know that my audience feedback was mainly above the age of eighteen, which means I am being given a more mature opinion on the following questions about my three products. It also gives me an insight in to what older audiences are interested in. I was also more confident in finding out that there was good feedback on how well my three products linked together as there was no negative response; this reassured me that all three products associated with one another. Another positive response was knowing that my movie poster and magazine front cover could challenge existing products however it was more aimed towards my poster than front cover. This showed that more work needed to be done on my front cover and maybe looking at more professional covers was what I needed to create a second and third draft. There was a mixed reaction on whether ‘Horror’ was clearly shown throughout all three media products, this obviously meant that it wasn’t to a high standard as it wouldn’t attract an audience who are in to horror films due to that fact it doesn’t clearly convey it. One of the important questions that were asked was whether the trailer frightened an audience and from this half the responses were negative. Considering the main aim was to frighten an audience this wasn’t the feedback we wanted to her, as a team we had to come up with other ideas that we could incorporate in the trailer to create that feeling. On a positive note, hearing that the music that we selected for the trailer was appropriate and did create apprehension meant that we were heading in the right direction as half the results were positive. This concluded that the sound wasn’t the issue in lacking fright to viewers. I had added a question about the quantity of tone cards used in the trailer as I wanted to hear feedback on the editing side, overall it was positive responses. This again meant that the editing for our trailer did not have a huge impact on the trailer not creating our desired reaction to an audience.

Overall, from sourcing audience feedback my main priority is the horror trailer and trying to create the frightful reaction which was the main aim. However, I now know it’s not down to the sound we chose or the editing. Getting audience feedback is extremely helpful as you are able to improve your work to a higher standard from the biggest critiques which is the public.

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? (DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY)

Media Technologies were used through the whole process, leading up and creating my main product and ancillary tasks. During research and planning I used a website called SurveyMonkey to find out what our audience like in a horror, we created editing analysis’s and magazine/ poster analysis all on word but using YouTube and Google to source existing media products. Word and PowerPoint are commonly used and then uploaded to our bloggers, a webpage where our teachers and fellow students can view the work. For my groups storyboard we had to do scanning as it was done by hand originally, this wasn’t new to us as we had the same issue in AS. During the process of research and planning we had already followed the same procedures as AS so were very familiar with basic media technologies. The Construction was the difficult part as we were now using editing programmers that we hadn’t used in AS. The construction of my horror poster and magazine front cover was a more enjoyable experience as we had gained all the experience from last year on how to construct a front cover, I was very familiar with Photoshop as that was our main editing software we had used in the previous year, I was able to adapt my skill and create a media product at a higher level. For the trailer it’s self we had used editing Software such as Final Cut Pro and After effects, lucky at the end of AS we began creating a Preliminary Task being a documentary and using these programmes was a way of gaining experience on how they work and preparing use for A2. When it had come around to editing our trailer we were all familiar with how the programmes worked so were able to create a product to a high standard. In creating our trailer, we had used high quality Cannons to get a clear focused shot that would challenge existing trailers. We had also used tripods and box lights to create a certain atmosphere and making sure that all our scenes were in shot and in focus. Having the media technologies available to us meant that we could produce suitable work for the brief. Overall we used media technologies in all areas of the course as it was needed in order to create work fit for the exam board. To create sufficient media products, these media technologies are fundamental.

Final Draft - Horror Trailer Magazine

Final Draft - Horror Trailer Poster

2nd Draft - Horror Trailer Magazine