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

How did you use new media technologies in

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Question 3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I used a lot of feed back to adjust the trailer, magazine and poster to make it more professional and to make it adhere to what my audiences considered a good horror trailer, magazine cover and poster to have. We took in a number of questionnaires from all our friends and family who watched our trailer and we tried to make adjustments were we thought we agreed with the feedback. I also took in my own feedback from friends and family who I showed my poster and magazine cover but in the form of aural feedback.

Overall my feedback was very positive and my audiences really liked the trailer, magazine cover and poster a lot. They felt that they would definitely go and see the film for a number of reasons:

The Trailer:

The fast tempo; My feedback told me that the audience really enjoyed the thrilling speedy tempo of the trailer through the fast editing- things happened fast and it really added to the scariness.

The suspense; We used music to great affect of building up the tension and then would cut to a quiet scene and then bang! A quick shock to the audience. An example of this would be when Alex is breathing heavily and then suddenly screams or when the flash of the attacker suddenly appears.

The Magazine:

The cover line quote; The use of a quote was a favourite because it gave my audience an idea of how they’d react to it- the person is saying how scary it is and it looks like a genuine quote so it helped my audience feel like the film would definitely be good to watch and get scared by.

The tag line; The use of a rhetorical question for a tag line was seen as a masterstroke by much of the feedback. They liked being included into it and they wondered what it was they’d have to survive and if they could and it really made them want to see it.

The image; The audience liked the use of the attacker against the quiet suburban home and it made them feel like it could happen to them and it could be their home. This is exactly what I was looking for.

The Poster:

The layout; The feedback was very positive about the layout I chose to use; they liked having the main image of the killer in the centre, being bigger than the others and really grabbing their attention. They also thought it was good having the victims either side as it showed the key characters involved and who the film would be about.

The images; The exact images I picked got very good feedback too with the audience saying that the killers image was very captivating and scary as he has his face blacked out and is in a very menacing position. Furthermore, the audience liked the victims images as well, the screaming image of Alex made them want to know what was so scary and if they’d be scared too and the image of Dean tied up and attacked made them want to see it even more as it seemed so brutal and savage.

However, there were changes to make.

The Trailer: From the questionnaires and from what people told me I edited our trailer accordingly;

To put in music; we knew we had to put some background music and our audiences totally agreed. The music we added really helped make the trailer a great piece of work and made it look like a professional horror film teaser trailer.

To take out the knife scene; although we had some feedback commenting that they liked a particular scene where a knife was dragged along a brick wall, creating an eerie sound, the overall majority of my feedback suggested that it wasn’t necessary and it slowed down the rest of the high tempo trailer.

To add a shot of the attacker; audiences felt that to justify having the attacker on my poster and magazine, they needed to see him during the trailer and they were right. I added a scene where the attacker flashed from darkness to darkness before the credits.

To change the attacker’s flash; So I added the attacker flashing just before the title- it goes pitch black and then the attacker flashes up on screen and back to black. However, it flashed a blood red and audiences said they would prefer if it wasn’t like that. I changed it to a normal shot and the feedback was more positive- it didn’t need the colour to make the figure more demonic.

To cut the dragging scene: Another scene that, like the knife scene, slowed the high tempo of our trailer was a scene of the killer dragging Dean into a dark room; audiences didn’t like how much it slowed everything down so we cut it.

The Magazine: From what people told me I edited my magazine accordingly to make it look professional and to be something that would sell them the film.

The main image: The main image of the killer on the front wasn’t a great image; it was too blurry and at first people asked why he was in a dressing gown because it looked so fluffy. The picture wasn’t a good enough quality so I found one which was good quality and would fit to my idea and blacked out his face. I much preferred the new image.

The banner: I’m using a clacker board for my magazine title; the name of the magazine is Take 1 is on a clacker board as they’re used on film sets to show the take i.e. Take 1 and its also telling a potential buyer to take one. But I also had a banner over the clacker and audiences thought there was too much crammed into the top. So I then thought that I could use the clacker board’s stripped top as the banner to put text on and it worked brilliantly.

The board: Another issue was the size of the board and title because at first it covered a third of the page and audience feedback showed that they felt it left the rest of the magazine far to squashed together and it took a lot away from the main image.

These are images to scale of each other, and the chosen piece on the final piece of work. Clearly the original would be far to big for anything else to survive on the page.

The Poster: From what my audience told me in their feedback, I edited my magazine accordingly to make it look professional and to be something that would really sell the film to them and other movie goers.

Add in credits: I was reminded by my feedback that posters generally have credits on them detailing actors, production teams and direction teams etc. So I hastily read up on the names for the professional positions people had filled and then credited them.

Add the knife: Feedback of the poster also showed be that I’d forgotten to edit in the attackers knife. The feedback with the knife was much more positive and the attacker looked even more

menacing and scary than before.



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

How effective is the combination of your main

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

Poster Finished!

My poster is now done, hurray! 

I carried out my original idea almost exactly how I first planned it.
The use of the black background amplifies the bright blood red text and allows the three main images to dominate.

I chose that particular font (Face Your Fears) because it reminded me of the note left by the killer in our trailer which also has some blood smeared on it which is also why it's in blood red.

I went for tag lines which would go with the titles theme; deadlines are about having to do something before your time runs out, in the films case this is to survive/escape. I used the inclusive, rhetorical tag question "could you make it?" to bring in the reader; it should make them want to watch the film to see if they could survive whatever happens and it also implies that what happens is so horrific that no one could survive.

The main image is of the killer, I put it center screen to show that the film centers around him and his attack. His knife is brighter then the other images and I did this by cutting it, turning up it's brightness and pasting it back perfectly in place. I did this so it's clear that he is an attacker and the knife implies the idea of butchering and of the slasher sub-genre of horror. I changed the gradient of light for the killer, darkening out his body below the waist to blend into the black background as in the film, the killer hides in darkness a lot.

The other images are of the victims and both are images of peril and danger. Alex on the left is screaming and I used a gradient change for her image to highlight her scream and her fear.

For Dean on the right, it was a lot harder to get the gradient how I wanted, it would either be pitch black or pure white. I then got it almost how I wanted it, with a dark grey that I feathered into the background which represents the scene in the film when he's on camera, tied up and beaten.

I added the credits at the bottom to conform with other film posters, I just listed some of the jobs which people did under more professional titles and put it at the bottom.

Magazine Done!

This is my complete film magazine and I really like the advancements that i've made.

I've really developed it from before and I think my changes have made it look much more like a professional movie magazine cover.

As you can see, I've made my main image a close up of the killer (chest and up) upon the background of the home of the victims. I've developed the background because I feel that the house fits a lot better and gets across the safe, quite feel I was looking for to contrast with the stark, scary, unknown of the close up of the killer with a blacked out face.

I have also put in more cover lines and ones which go with the horror special and that I feel would be on a movie magazine; the movie director James Cameron doing a horror, a selection of "big scream" horror films, a quote of someone talking about Deadline and a piece exploring the Slasher sub-genre of horror films.

Furthermore, I have used the top of the clacker board to make a banner; this banner is also going with the  horror special and is advertising it by advertising a tour of the London Dungeons because it's a Special Horror Edition.

I used a dark blood red for the text which goes with the horror genre and adds to the overall fell of the magazine.

Developing Poster

This is what my poster looks like at the moment; I've got my black background with the dark image of the killer blending into it on top. I've been able to find a good font "Face Your Fears" and have used a blood red which goes with the conventions of horror posters. 

I have placed my cover lines in the center of the page so their eye catching and clearly show that he responsible for the attacks.

I also put the date of release at the bottom which is keeping with poster conventions.

Magazine advancement

My magazine has totally advanced now! I now have a full background with expresses the film in a way which I liked; it shows the quite, homely house of the victims with a large image of the killer, which is like the one used for the poster. I like this because it brings in the normal and the abnormal/ unknown which humans fear so much and which makes horror films scary.

So now I've got some cover lines (more will come), i've got a eye catching special feature cover line as a bar across the bottom.

 (This cover also used the bar at the top to advertise).

I will make the magazine a horror special to go with the theme of the main article (our horror film). To do so I will make the special prize a trip to the London Dungeons, and this will go with my bar at the bottom advertising a 20 page special on the master of film horrors Alfred Hitchcock.

 (This cover also used the bar at the bottom to catch the eye).

Furthermore, I have now got some tag lines along the left hand side which will pull in readers and are aimed specifically at the target audience of the mags which this particular issue is horror movie fans and also the general audience of the mag which is general film fans.

 ( This cover uses all of the devices that I wish to use; the bar at the top to advertise something special, the bar at the bottom advertising something special and the tag lines on the left also showing exlusives of the issue to advertise). I think I would also like to use this for my magazine cover.

Alex's image

 

I really liked this image of Alex, It really illustrates her fear and how terrified she is. First I blacked out the background and then I changed the gradient so to allow her to blend into the darkness as if she was hiding in the dark and then the killer had shon maybe a torch at her and seen her and so she's screamed out as he's advancing to attack.

Title Font

These are my choices for the title of my poster.

I like the look of this font because I think it creates a feel of chaos which is brought by the attacker.
 
This font could be good for my poster as it makes Deadline look savage and kind of decayed.
 
This font reminds me of barbed wire and adds a torture kind of feel to the films identity.
 
This is my favourite font as it reminds me of the blood smeared message left by the killer. It seems to add a chilling effect to the whole film and adds a chillingly human feel to it which adds to the realisim.
I'm unsure of this font, on one hand it's handwritten style is like a message written by the killer but on the other it seems a bit smudged and too messy.

Images for killer

 
 
 These are the images I'm considering to use for both my magazine and my poster. I think I would crop out the white background so they can blend into the dark/black backgrounds I'm planning to use. I will also black out the face of any images I use to add to the aura of the unknown about the killer and help him become more terrifying. I'm unsure of whether to keep the knife in the image, I'll see where I place the killer.

Ideas for poster

What I will need for my poster (keeping to horror conventions):
Black or dark background- signifies the unknown (man;s greatest fear), shadows and hidden dangers.

Masthead- Must be bold, large and a red which stands out and signifies danger, blood, rage and romance (murder can be seen as an act of romance as it can be furiously passionate and emotionally charged). Will be name of film; Deadline

Coverlines- Similar style to the masthead, smaller, captures the audience's attention and tells the story's essense in one or two sentences; possible ideas include "Their time ran out", "Could you make it", "When's yours?", "You better hurry" and "Times running out".

Main image- The kille, standing it the middle, face blacked out. Possibly holding his knife. Seemingly blending into the black/dark background.

Other images- The faces of the victims; Alex screaming, Dean also screaming or tied up. Also blending into the background.

Research for conventions

 
These horror film posters have helped give me a lot to think about with my poster and also some ideas for my magazine cover.

They all seem to have one main image and in all but one of them the image is of the killer and the other is of  of the victim.

In the Cherry Tree Lane poster, they use a quiet suburban home (like the one is our film) with the outline of the attacker bareable visible. I like this and would like to use this kind of image for my magazine more than my poster as I feel it would give the readers of the magazine a feel of the brutality of the attacker against the serentity of the victims home.

I also really would like to use the blacked out face used in F; it makes the attacker more unknown and much more easy to fear. It makes the attacker seem demonic even though he is clearly just a youth and that makes him even scarier. It makes the reader think that any youth could do it and it could happen to you. This links to Cohen's folk devils and moral panics theory; this is where he argues that the media find a person or group of people and show them in a way to the public which concentrates a very negative view from them. This view is built on more and more by the media until authority have to act and one way or another it will be solved.

I like the attackers image in I spit on your grave, she looks so menacing and savage but the use of white on her clothes claims a purity and innocence that her age and gender brings but which is totally contrasting with her carrying a bloody knife.

In the Eden Lake poster, I like how the attackers are so emerced in the darkness; it makes it seems like they are creatures of the darkness, like with F, making them more demonic and evil.

Starting to make my magazine

I've chosen to call my magazine "Take 1" which is a play on words and also a well known phrase from the film industry because it's telling its audience to take one and also it's on a film clacker which are used to show the number of takes of a scene and it is Take 1.

I will be using a main image from "Deadline" to illustrate what the films about and to also grab peoples attention to buy the magazine. Furthermore, I will be using the convention of tag lines running down the left hand side to also sell the magazine (which by the image I am obviously still to do). The tag lines will be about articles in the magazine which are most likely to interest potential buyers and make them buy it.

Poster!

My poster will aim to be simple and will have as little clutter as possible as I think that this will get across the simplicity of the evil of the film itself.

It will have the "Deadline" as large and eye catching as possible with it's tag line "Could you make it?" just underneath, both in blood red and a style which imitates the same blood smeared by hand affect as the message left by the killer in the film.

The main background will be black and have the killers image in the middle, from about waist high. It will have images of the victims on either side of him to illustrate the pain he will undoubtably inflict.

It will also have the date of realise at the bottom.

Starting work on the Magazine

On this blog I will post my research and progress of how I make my Magazine Cover and the Poster for our trailer; 'Deadline'. To start out I will look at existing magazine covers and specifically the horror genre to suit our trailer. I have not yet decided whether or not my magazine will be genre specific and only feature horror films, or target a wider audience and focus on a range of genres. The best selling film magazines in the UK are Empire and Total Film, so I will start my research here. I have taken a few posters from varying times to show how the magazine has changed and what conventions I could use in my own. At the moment I am visualising all three main characters featuring on my cover, with the antagonist being the main body of the composition. I like the dark background like on the 'Iron Man' cover because it adds more mystery and horror conventions but also brings more attention to the light section and therefore the characters. I also like the 'Star Wars' cover because it is minimal and focuses purely on the film. I think this is the effect I would like to create.