Evaluation

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

My media product uses and has developed upon existing horror film trailers that cater to a mass market that use similar horror genre film conventions. The genre of my film is horror, and so I have tried to adhere to the traditional codes and conventions for this throughout all of my media products by using a variety of contrasting colours as a colour scheme to attract my audience. I have also attempted to use visual motifs of light and shadows to create enigma for both the still images and the film shots.

For the trailer, I discovered that a common convention of horror trailers is that they are dark, the shots are diverse, and the editing is very fast. I challenged the first convention by filming my trailer in the daytime, as I wanted my trailer to stand out from existing media products, and I also tried to use the shadows cast by trees in the forest and the darkness of the shed to contrast the lightness of the day. Unlike a conventional horror film trailer, my trailer is also largely filmed outside. I have, however, conformed to the conventions of using diverse shots and locations.

I used a variety of camera shots and angles such as canted angle, low angle, high angle, slow pan across, dolly shot, close up and extreme close ups to show the character's emotional states as they were hunted, all of which adhere to camera angles and techniques used traditionally in conventional pre-existing horror films. I also tried to create enigma by keeping with the traditional convention of not revealing who the killer was in the trailer. Instead, I used a male figure dressed in black to connote evil and stalk the characters. I have also conformed to the use of a stereotypical blonde girl in a low cut top and mini skirt with high heels as being amongst the first to die, however, I have several of them in my trailer to challenge this convention and add diversity and to appeal to as many demographics as possible, though the lack of coloured actors may limit my demographic to a white only audience.

I have also attempted to use stereotypes to emphasise and challenge certain cultural myth systems, as defined by Barthes, such as the stupid, half-naked, sexually active blonde girl getting herself killed and the idea that women are weaker than men, who must always rescue them.

For my ancillary tasks I used a similar colour scheme to real media products. I used red, black and white to connote the loss of innocence to passion and danger. These colours also connote blood and death, which is fundamental to the genre of my film trailer. I also conformed to the convention of using the same image for the website and the film poster to allow for easy association for the audience. The image that I have used is of one of the main characters running through a forest. I have darkened the image and edited it so that it is tinted in red and half of her face is in shadow. Due to the shadow, the actress is not easily distinguishable as an individual and represents the generic 'damsels in distress' which commonly feature in horror films. Another effect of the shadow across her face is that many of the women in the audience may feel that they can relate or associate themselves with her, and men can look at the image and see whoever they want to see in her place, and so it attracts them too.

All of the websites that I looked at for my research and planning were interactive, so I tried to integrate this into my website as well. I created more than one page, whilst still maintaining the colour scheme and the traditional codes and conventions of horror film websites, and tried to make them as interactive as possible. I included links to the social networking sites 'Bebo' and 'Facebook', and to cinemas where my prospective audience can purchase tickets to view the film.

My short film trailer and coinciding ancillary tasks represent a social group of 15-28 year olds who typically fall into the socio-economic group of DE, which categorizes students, people who have just left university and don't have a very large income and the unemployed. My media product represents these types of people through the age and gender of the actors, the mise-en-scene, the narrative of the film, the costumes and the diegetic and non-diegetic sound used as the soundtrack for the trailer. My target audience are young, enjoy horror films, and want to have fun and be scared at the movies with a group of friends without any personal risk to themselves.

Many different types of media institutions would distribute my media product, such as cinemas and, eventually shops which distribute DVDs. As my media product a teaser trailer for a low budget film created by an independent British production film company, the movie would premiere at the Sundance Festival, which is an American festival which showcases independent new films, the Raindance festival, which is British and serves the same purpose, or somewhere similar such as a student film festival in England of as a Channel 4 short on the television.

The target audience for my media product are older teenagers and young adults who are not necessarily avid horror fans, but who enjoy a scare a the cinema with a group of friends to escape from reality.

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

http://helen-chapman.supanet.com/hush/home.htm

To attract my audience I used contrasting colours and arranged my shots so that light and shadow to create a bold memorable image which connotes death, danger and creates enigma. However, as the image I created does not include a line of sight, it creates enigma, and allows the audience to make assumptions about the character based on the codes which are also present on the poster and website. As it is a teaser trailer for a horror film, I tried to adhere to certain stereotypical conventions, such as the generic blonde girl who is brutally murdered fairly quickly. I also used fast editing and a variety of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds, including screaming, to convey the genre to the audience. As the trailer progresses, more and more of the narrative is shown, and the soundtrack and editing together with the quick flashes of different shots and the variety of media language helps to build tension and creates an enigmatic climax when the trailer stops and a voice whispers 'hush'.

In order to create clearer links between my three products I have used the same colour scheme, font, images and house stlye in all three products.

To attract my audience I used a variety of young actors, costumes, mise-en-scene, props, and a range of shots and camera angles such as canted angles, low shots, high shots, long shots, slow zoom, pan across, handheld cameras, dolly shots, tilts, long shots, establishing shots and close ups and extreme close ups to convey the character's heightened emotional state and create an emotive link between them and the audience. The actors which I have used are of a similar age to my target audience, and so represent many of the ideals and lifestyles held by the audience.

To further hook my audience, I have followed the traditional convention of keeping the enigmatic procrastinator's identity a secret, and have simply used a male figure dressed in black to connote evil and death and as the person who, keeping within the connotations of the colour scheme, takes away the innocence and the lives of the main characters.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I used various different methods of audience feedback to gain constructive criticism from my prospective target audience members. I held a viewing with several different teenagers, who make up the larger part of my target audience, and asked them for constructive criticism, which I found very useful. I have also posted the teaser trailer on Youtube (httP://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJJfWwnynCE) so that it will be easily accessible to any member of the public who wishes to view it. I also showed my website and poster to the same prospective audience members so that they could be improved and changed to appeal more strongly to my target audience.

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

This project has allowed me to further develop the skills which I learnt last year while creating my print media product, whilst also simultaneously allowing me to pinpoint my weaknesses and work on improving them. Originally, I had had a lot of problems with using the Macs operating system, having been raised on Windows, but I overcame this by seeking help from my teachers and fellow media students if I found I had a problem.

I have also learnt how to edit properly, and how difficult it can be to create a teaser trailer package, as I have done. Though I would never say that the technology is easy to use, I feel that I am now more confident with certain aspects of the media packages, while other areas, admittedly, still need some work to boost my confidence. With the aid of the constructive criticism of my peers I was able to target specific areas of my product and ancillary tasks which needed work and alter them accordingly.

I have learnt how to edit clips together and cut sound. I have learnt how to crop images so that they adhere to the rule of thirds, and I am even more confident with Photoshop now than I was last year.

The preliminary task was to create a documentary, and my partner, Laura, and I created ours about the positives and negatives of our school canteen. When we had completed our documentary I felt very proud of it, though there were still some gaps which needed filling in. Looking back on it now, I can see those gaps even more prominently. After last year, I have become determined to do all that I can do to create the best media product that I possibly can, and constantly edited and re-edited my products, changing my initial ideas twice.

Though I enjoyed the preliminary task, there were several elements which we struggled with when creating it. We were unfamiliar with the imovie packages that we were required to use, and were unsure how to edit in music and visual effect such as transitions and even subtitles. I believe that completing the preliminary task helped to prepare me for the challenges of the main task,and enabled me to improve my main task as best I can.

The task gave me an introduction into how to use the software I needed, and I have tried to take into account all that I learnt then when creating my final products.

Poster

This is the final poster.

Creation of Poster

I have now created the poster for my short film 'Hush'. These are the stages of production that i went through before I arrived at the finished result.

Initially I froze a still of Crystal Dyer, one of my actresses, running through the forest for a shot. I chose this image because the movement of the camera in this shot caused her hair to look as though it's blurred into the trees behind her, which are also blurred, whilst her face is still in focus. Her eyes are wide with terror, and I knew from my previous research that this is a traditional and effective code for creating enigma. This is also the image which I used for the background of my website, following another convention of horror films. The original is here in colour. I then used dream weaver to tint the image red. I asked other students and teachers from my school what they thought of it. Their criticisms were constructive and they told me that they thought the image looked a bit like a perfume advert. I took on board their comments and started again with the original image.

I cropped it so that the image was a more conventional shape for a film poster and that the entirely of Crystal's face was included in the image, but it was placed slightly to the left, so that a large shadow fell across the right hand side of the image. This also incorporated the rule of thirds, which

I had decided to use to create my poster. I edited in the title of the film with the font 'cold night for alligators' because, when used in red, the text looks as though blood is dripping off of the letters, which connotes violence and enigma. Next I edited in a quotation from a film magazine and put in the details of the film's production companies logos, actors, the address for the website and 'coming soon' at the case of the page.

Deconstruction of posters

I have looked at several different film posters to gather ideas and inspiration and to see how they challenge and or conform to traditional codes and conventions for film posters of the same genre as the poster for my own film, 'Hush'.

'Paranormal Activity'

The first film poster that i have analysed is 'Paranormal Activity'. The poster itself is very simple, which in effect adds to the enigma by giving nothing away. The main image is a still from the film comprising of the main characters in bed together, and seen by the audience as though through a handheld home video camera. The couple are sitting up, close to each other, on the side of the bed farthest from the door, which the girl is pointing to. The door is open and not, in itself, unusual, except for the shadow which has been cast across it. This creates an instant enigma for the audience, as there is nothing to cast the shadow, and as ghosts are supposedly nonexistent, the audience want to know what is creating that shadow and why it's in the character's bedroom. The 'home video camera' effect is reinforced by a time in the bottom right hand corner of the image, which tells the audience that it is 3:08:25 am. This further heightens the enigma for the audience, as there is not enough light a 3am for a shadow to be cast at all, and this coupled with the title of the film, connotes to the audience that the film will revolve around a belief in ghosts. The fact that the image looks as though it is a from a home movie helps the audience to feel connected to the main characters and privileged, as they are not only looking at a home movie of the characters, but it is one filmed in their bedroom. The image is positioned just above the centre of the poster, which is in keeping with the washed out colour scheme of the image throughout the text. The colours used are black, white, blue and red. These connote violence, enigma, death, cold, passion and danger, all of which can be linked back to the main image. Above the image are quotations about the film, which are written in a typewriter white font, contrasting sharply to the black background. The use of the typewriter font carries connotations of such classic horror films as 'The Shining', as well as diaries, and further creates a sense of emotional sympathy for the characters, who are obviously frightened for themselves.

'Final Destination'

This poster uses the same image as the one from the film's website to maintain a level of continuity and easy identification for the audience. The main image is made up of two separate images stretched out from the middle of the page and edited on top of one another, one of a girl screaming and one of a skull screaming. The images are broken up with pieces of jagged broken glass scattered on the top half of the poster. The glass is shattered and broken, with the point of impact appearing to be from a bullet hole to the right of the centre of the image. This carries connotations of violence, death and danger, as well as the phallic connotations which are associated with guns. The shape of the glass shards exploding out of the image also connotes violence and death. The image which is seen by an audience as though through the glass is of the girl screaming. Her face is almost entirely in shadow, and she is unrecognisable as an individual and, as such, acts as a representation for all women, which helps to create an emotive link between her and the audience as all women could potentially relate to her. The image also appeals to men, as the girl's face is pointing towards the audience head on, but her eyes are in shadow so that it is not possible to see where she is looking, or whom at, and so the audience is under the illusion that she is looking directly at them. The bottom half of the image which is not covered in glass is of a skull with it's mouth open as though in a scream. The two images have been edited together so that the skull looks like it is simply an extension of the girl's face, and the audience will assume that it is her skull. This connotes to the audience that this character is going to die violently and painfully. The colour scheme is made up of red, black, blue and white, which together connote danger, passion, death, mystery, innocence, evil, cold and hell. The enigma initially created by the identity of the girl and the shadows which cover her eyes is enhanced by the pale blue and white coloured smoke which curls around the skull, and connotes to the audience that something supernatural is going to be central to the narrative of the film.

'The Forgotten'

This poster follows the conventions whereby the image used is the same as the one used for the website for the film. This image is one where the main character's face is faded out and obscured by ghostly figures. This image carries connotations of death, danger and enigma as the figures are out of focus and so indistinguishable from each other. The colour scheme has been kept simple with white connoting innocence and naivety, and varying shade of blue connoting cold and loyalty and creating shadows and enigma in the image. The woman's face is also washed out with a blue tint, which is commonly associated with corpses, and connotes death. The character in the image is unsmiling, which connotes to the audience that something bad has or will happen to her. As with the poster for 'Final Destination' the character's eyes have been subtly cut from the image, which connotes confusion and a loss of identity. This also makes it more difficult to create an emotive link between the character and the audience, as there is no line of sight. This has the effect of alienating the character, and the audience will feel intrigued, curious and wary of this character simultaneously, and will feel guilty for doubting the character's motives when the film's narrative has been completed. The tagline for the film is placed above the image and adresses the audience directly, which makes it seem more personal and creates an emotive link between the character and the audience and creates enigma, as the audience wonders if the film could have anything to do with them. The single word 'REMEMBER' is writen under the names of the actors, directors and production companies at the base of the page, and is direct contrast to the title of the film. This creates an earie sense of unease and enigma for the audience and hooks them in, as they don't know what it is they are supposed to remember, almost as if they have forgotten it themselves, and this makes the audience feel linked and loyal to the film.

Website problems

Unfortunately the host site that I was using for my website, hostrator, has now gone offline, and so I will now upload my website to another different host.

The new address for my website is;

http://helen-chapman.supanet.com/hush/home.htm

Website

I have now completed my website, though there are still a few problems with how to get the video to play. This is a screenshot of the main home page of my website.

http://chapmancarrie.hostrator.com/

Deconstruction of websites

I have visited several websites for films of the horror genre to take inspiration from them and to see how they challenge and conform to different preexisting media conventions for horror films. I have looked at 'Paranormal Activity', 'The Forgotten', and 'Final Destination'.


http://www.paranormalactivity-movie.com/

The film is about a young couple who move into a house and are haunted by a demonic presence, which proceeds to torture, posses, maim and kill the pair, who attempt, unsuccessfully, to seek specialist help. This film challenges the traditional convention of women being shown as helpless 'damsels in distress', as the lead female character may in fact be the biggest danger that the other characters are presented with.

The website background is block black, with text boxes interlaced over the top in the centre of the page. The colour scheme of red, black and blue carries connotations of blood and enigma and danger and death and passion. The background of the text box in the centre of the page has the background image of the bedroom from the film. The image is in blue and black, and is blurred, as if from a hand-held camera. This creates enigma and a link to the audience, as many of them are likely to have taken home movies, and they will recognise the image from their own productions. This association between the film and a household object will make the movie seem more real and scary for the audience, and will draw them in as it creates enigma and their morbid curiosity will be aroused. The use of the 'home video' effect looking onto the main character's bedroom also makes it seem as though the audience is watching the film much in the same way that you would go to a friend's house and watch their movies. This creates a link between the audience and the characters, as though the characters are trusting the audience with their private lives, and the audience feels more empathetic towards the characters and wants to protect them and find out what happens to them, and so they are more likely to watch the film. The rough lines created by the 'home movie' effect that has been used also connotes violence, an underlying subliminal message which is strengthened by the blurred shadows used on the font of the title at the top of the page.

Links to social networking sites have been placed at the bottom of the page, along with the film company logos. This creates a sense of finality, in that the audience member knows that they have reached the end of the page. Merchandising adverts for the movies are also displayed on the left of the home page, and are in full view all the while the trailer is playing. This is further use of subliminal messaging, as the audience will associate these products more easily with the film, and this helps to create a desire for the audience to purchase the products so that they will feel closer to the film and the action and story line.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/the_forgotten/

The film is about a woman who's son disappears, presumed dead, and her battle with against an alien who is stealing her memories of him for an experiment to get her family and her life back.

The homepage of the website is dominated by the image of the DVD cover and the poster, which helps to link the film to the other products associated with it and maintains a level of continuity for the audience. The site challenges some traditional codes and conventions of websites of the same genre. Unlike other horror film websites, the colour scheme is white and blue, with the dominating colour as white, which connotes innocence, heaven, ghosts and also can connote death as it is commonly associated with the 'light at the end of the tunnel' theory when you die. The colour white can also connote cold and fragility, which echos the main plot of the film, as the aliens are experimenting to see how fragile the bond is between human parents and their children. The other colour used is blue in varying shades, which fades to gray and black and connotes death and darkness and creates enigma. The main image is one of the main character's face merged with the silhouettes of figures where her hair should be, but parts of her face are missing, and those parts of her face which are in view is washed with blue, which carries connotations of corpses. Her eyes have been left out of the image, so the audience cannot have direct eye contact to draw them into the image. As the audience are so used to seeing people with eyes, this difference not only challenges traditional horror film conventions, but also makes the image seem scarier and connotes to the audience that this movie will be physiological, rather that physical and action packed. The edges of the image are jagged and torn like ripped paper, which also shadows the main plot, and connotes to the audience that the film will involve violence. The image has also been edited so that it is grainy, and looks as though the audience is looking at it through the rain, which again follows the main plot, as her memories are washed away, and creates a link to the audience, as rain is something they experience regularly, and so it will help them to empathise with the character.

The website does conform to some codes and conventions of horror films, as the trailer is shown on the home page of the website, but it only plays when the audience member selects the correct link. As with other websites for similar film genres, the film company's logos are listed at the bottom of the page, but, unlike other similar websites, there are no links to social networking sites displayed on the page.

http://www.thefinaldestinationmovie.com/

The film is about a group of teenagers, on of which has a premonition of a disaster that will result in their deaths. The teenagers survive due to this premonition and the narrative charts their battle with death to avoid their own fates, which is ultimately lost.

This site uses Adobe Flash Player 10. Unlike many modern websites, the background is made up of a single picture of a screaming girl's face in shadow, which is interlaced over a picture of a skull. It is also an interactive site. The background is in 3D, and the shards of glass move with the mouse as the audience member navigates the site. A colour scheme of black, blue and white has been used throughout the site to maintain a level of consistency and to connote evil and fate and death, and to create a sense of enigma so that the audience will want to watch the film, though they already know what the storyline will be from the prequels and the title. The colour scheme also connotes the sensation of cold, which is loosely associated colloquially to death. However, the stereotypical background pictures of the skull and the girl's screaming face, aside from the black shadows which create a sense of enigma and impending doom, are shown in white, which commonly connotes innocence. This coupled with the fact that you can't see her eyes as they are in shadow creates an empathetic bond between the audience and the character, as the audience imagines that the girl is looking at or just past them as she screams. This creates the idea that the girl is either trying to protect the audience, or else is asking for the audience's protection. This simple yet effective marketing technique rouses the audience's morbid curiosity and creates enigma, as the audience knows that she will eventually die, but wants to know how, why and if they could have been saved in any way.

The shards of glass which feature as a motif throughout the site and the film are jagged and sharp, which connotes violence and that the characters are walking 'on the edge'. The tag line of 'Rest in Pieces' is written across the top of the page, and also moves with the glass shards, which emphasises the violence involved in breaking a window or mirror. The shards of glass could also connote a broken mirror which, as popular superstitions lead us to believe, will result in 7 years bad luck.

In keeping with the stereotypical codes and conventions of horror film websites, the trailer is shown on the home page of the site. A line of actors and producers which worked on the film is also printed along the bottom of the page, the same as the poster, which creates an instant link for the audience and creates a sense of loyalty. Links are featured to popular social networking sites, such as 'Facebook', which appeals to the younger teenage audience.