EVALUATION QUESTION 4

QUESTIONNAIRE ANALYSIS

EMPIRE MAGAZINE COVER ANALYSIS

FINAL POSTER

SHOT LIST

FINAL MAGAZINE COVER

EVALUATION QUESTION 3

EVALUATION QUESTION 3

Audience feedback is a crucial part of the evaluation process, as it gives my group an opportunity to receive constructive criticism, of which we can register and use in order to make the appropriate changes to our trailer.

An example of a real movie that has done this is the 2012 hit horror, “The Women in Black “where Hammer films gained a whopping $14 million in the first 3 weeks which is the best in their history. The audience research for this film was extremely successful, mainly because of the fact that it was the first role other than Harry Potter for Danial Radcliffe, so there was an instant hype around the film. Harry Potter is one of the biggest film franchises ever made and has one of the most devoted fan bases in the world which means that this film already had a targeted audience in advance. It was made a 12A in the cinemas which was actually quite surprising for a horror movie of this style; this was done as it allowed the younger of audiences go and watch the film as a lot of Harry Potters fans are between 12 and 15. Overall this was a great strategy for Hammer film as they really listened to what the fans wanted and delivered.

The ways in which we were able to gain an extra perspective upon the quality of our work began with a class screening, where each group had the platform to share their trailers with the rest of the class. We were given a sheet of paper containing a positive and negative section where we all had the responsibility of noting down what we thought was good about the trailer and what we thought could be improved upon. This was an excellent opportunity to see what other people thought, as sometimes my own judgement was impaired because I was watching it so much. Over viewing the product caused me to reach a point where I didn’t know what else I needed to do to improve it. Our trailer had mixed reviews and some really helpful criticism which instantly began the development process. The main observations of improvement that my group was given were that:

-      The audio was too loud

-      The dialogue was muffled

-      It lacked in pace towards the end

-      Lacked in sound effects

-      Needed more effective music

This feedback was really helpful and useful, as we then got to grips with the imperfections in the trailer, and we knew what we needed to do to fix them. As a group, we got together and started to make the appropriate changes to the trailer in order to improve the overall quality. We started by swapping the sound around; we found that the start of the trailer to much in terms of the music as it built to much tension when not a lot was going on, and at the end of the trailer it was the opposite because there was more going on and the music was calm and flat. The audio levels were the instant change that we needed to make as they were the first comment that everyone made, and it was also the easiest thing to change.

The next stage was speeding up the pace, especially at the end, to create a more frantic feel, which is conventional in horror movie trailers. To do this I added more clips but made them a lot shorter so it was as if they were flashing like a heartbeat that gradually builds up. I found that this was a very effective technique and completely changed our trailer for the good, which makes me really grateful for everyone’s feedback.

We then proceeded to adding sound effects at certain parts of the trailer where they could fit in sync to the video, for example, nearer the end of the trailer there is the part where Mr. Creek is emerging from behind the main character and it is split into two clips, on the second clip there is a swiping sort of sound which makes it look like Creek speeds up and jolts towards the other character. There is also a crackling sound effect as if the audio is giving up when Creek raises his arm to touch the character’s shoulder, this was actually created manually from a piece of Velcro on my bag. Other sound effects occur at other times, such as a change in scene, the candle shot, the window shot and when the chair moves.

We did use another form of audience feedback being that we got a paper copy of all of the comments that people made so we could refer to then whenever we pleased. Below you can watch the draft and final trailer to see the improvements that we made because of the critical audience feedback that we received. You can also view the YouTube video of our class feedback and the notes that each group made. 

There is also the final form of feedback that we gained in this process, being the feedback for our ancillary texts (Movie Poster and Magazine cover). This was an opportunity for us to ask other friends and family to comment on our work about what they liked and what they thought could be changed or improved. I got this information by giving them a piece of paper and telling them to write it down; one box said positives, the other said improvements. I gathered this information and then created an overall graph of all the improvements and positives for my magazine and poster which you can view below. I have shown a before and after image of my magazine and poster because of this feedback to show you my developments. The images on the Left are my old pieces before the audience feedback and the pieces towards the right are my final pieces after the audience feed back. The video directly below is the draft of our trailer as you can see in the top left corner of the video and the one below is our final production.

EVALUATION QUESTION 2

EVALUATION QUESTION 2

Film distributors take pretty much all of the responsibility for the marketing process and identifying a specific audience and connecting to them, also, deciding the ideal release dates to generate more money income and finally, promoting the film continuously all the way through the release and screening. The success of a media product is very reliant on how efficiently and effectively it is distributed to a target audience.

There are various different media platforms where a product can be promoted and advertised upon, this includes Magazines, Radio, T.V, posters, billboards, signage, social media, such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. These are all extremely vital and important areas of generating sales as it can give people a chance to discuss and gossip about a certain movie etc. Social media means that the audience will be using different technologies such as phones, iPad’s, laptops and computers so for example the movie “Super Bad” is one of the most famous teen movies of all time, directing the marketing strategy to mid to late teens; this team would of used social medias much more heavily than they would for a movie like “The Kings Speech” as not as many people for this audience will use phones and tablets as much as the viewers of a movie like Super bad would.

When, where and how much, are 3 key stages in the distribution cycle and is all decided by the film distribution team and is a crucial part of the process. The product needs to accumulate interest from people of the general public to create a large audience to increase sales and create more cash flow and income, and more importantly making certain that it is being sold to the correct and appropriate audience; here are a few examples to name a few, if you were marketing a horror movie with a 15 rating, you would air it on t.v channels that you know mid-teens watch, as they are more likely to see it and want to go see it and if you were marketing a kids film it would be distributed up until the school holidays where they are more likely to go and watch it. Trailers are often aired at different times of the day, depending on the theme and age rating of the movie, my trailer for example is way more likely to be on the t.v at night time at 9 o’clock onward as that is when my audience would be more likely to see it as if it was on in the day time children are more likely to see it. Another thing to consider would be the cinema, as when you go to watch a horror movie most of the trailers that you see before hand are also horror movies of the same age rating which is when my product can be compared between others and the movie they are watching.

The images at the bottom of the last page show a clear division in techniques that distributors use to help sell movies, as packaging is a huge part of the process. Starting with children’s movies, the covers of the DVD or poster will be bright, vibrant and bold, featuring the main characters so it one, captures the child’s attention, and two, helps them establish the main characters before going to watch the movie. The two images above feature the movies, Monsters inc and The Incredible’s which are both hugely popular children’s movies; both covers use the exact technique I have just described. The other two images are for two famous horror films, “Freddy Kruger” and “The Conjuring” and have a much different way of appealing the audience. Horror movie covers traditionally feature a very dark setting, sometimes with an object, like the murder weapon, or the villain itself, but he/ she will never be fully revealed. The covers at the bottom of the previous page enforce my point, as the conjuring features the main setting of the whole movie, and also a noose, which increases the scary vibes of the cover and reveals an object representing death. The other cover features the villain of the film but only shows certain features within the killers face, leaving most of him dark, as if he’s emerging from the shadows, which is a really effective technique.

“The Women In Black” is a 2012 horror movie directed by James Watkins, produced by Richard Jackson, distributed by Hammer Films and starring Daniel Radcliff with a budget of $15 million and a box office of $128.5 million. It earned $20 million in the opening weekend, which is the biggest US opening for a hammer film in its history. This film had one of the most dramatic and biggest build ups that I have ever seen, simply because of the outrageous hype for all Harry Potter fans, who waited eagerly to see Radcliff in a role other than Potter. This instantly gave the production; marketing and distribution team a golden opportunity to target the fans of the Harry Potter series, as they know how dedicated they are as a fan group, meaning they will be able to make a lot of profits. The movie was made a 12, because of the fact that a lot of Harry Potter fans are below the age of 15 so it would be a catastrophic amount of money lost.

EVALUATION QUESTION 1

PRODUCTION SCEDULE

PRODUCTION SCHEDULE 

SATURDAY 10AM-3PM

Me and my group will shoot the trailer over a two day weekend of Saturday and Sunday. On the Saturday we will shoot the easier and more simple shots to give our selves and idea of how to use equipment effectively and familiarize our selves with the destination. We will shoot all of the shots that do not have Mr. Creek in, as the actor is unable to make this day; I feel as though this will be a productive use of our time. below are two examples of the shots that we have captured in advance, just of the location.

SUNDAY 10AM-4PM
On the Sunday we will continue to shoot, but this time, we will have our Mr.Creek actor with all the props and costume, so we can really delve into the more technical and scary parts of the trailer, which i am really excited about! This will now be much easier to find our way around the house, garden etc. as we have been there all day Saturday to establish appropriate settings. As you can see i, my group isn't going for any half measures, we are going to be shooting for around 5-6 hours each day to give us time to record all the video and sound to get the best possible outcome.

    WEATHER AND EQUIPMENT
In regards to the equipment, we will be using 2 high quality 1080p video cameras, which we will shoot most of the footage on, two tripods to get alternate angles, a microphone which attaches to the camera to get good audio and all the props and costumes including a top hat, tie, blazer, mask and a bag full of books. 
In regards to weather i will check the forecast before we shoot to distinguish the best possible weekend, as we want the sky to look dark, cloudy and gloomy to create an eerie atmosphere to fit the conventions of a horror movie.

FINAL TRAILER

DRAFT TRAILER

CONTACT SHEET

This is a small contact sheet for the shoot i done for my magazine cover and poster images, which my group carried out on set/ at location. The images at the top were shot in an empty field at the back of the house which we shot in; we used a digital SLR camera to get high resolution images and used ambient lighting. The images below which have an orange looking tint were shot in one of the rooms of the house we shot in and have a man made light source from the burning candle. We also used a digital SLR in this shot too to continue the high quality.

RISK ASSESSMENT

BUDGETING SHEET

STORYBOARDS

These are my story boards which me and my group sketched out (by me) to get an idea of the different shots and angles that we are going to use. it gives us a chronological order of shots which make up the trailer so when we go to shoot we have a structure of what we are going to do, to save time and make an effective trailer.

INITIAL SYNOPSIS

AGREEMENT RELEASE

RECCE FORM 2

RECCE FORM 1

MY INDIVIDUAL IDEA FOR THE TRAILER

MY IDEA

My initial individual idea was actually the plot of Mr.Creek, however it did develop when discussed with my group. I had the idea after watching the movie 'The Babadook' which is a movie involving notes, children books and a mysterious character who looks very similar to my creek. My idea was simply someone moving in a house who is stalked/ haunted by this mysterious creature who leaves notes around the house that rhyme like a children s book.

GROUP IDEA 

I pitched this idea to my group after they pitched theirs, and mine was the overall favorite, as everyone really liked the idea and thought it was practical. it has substantially developed since then and is now stronger than before. we are now at a point where we have an idea of what Mr. Creek will look like, how he will move and what and who he is. He is now a revengeful failed author who is seeking out the main character because of jealousy whom is also an author. 

POTENTIAL TITLES MOOD BOARD

MOOD BOARD OF COLOURS

HORROR HISTORY 2

MOVIE POSTER DRAWING

MAGAZINE COVER DRAWING

MAGAZINE INITIAL DRAFT

This is my initial layout idea that i created before taking the actual image and acts as a template and canvas which i worked upon and eventually created a finished piece.

ORIGINAL IMAGE FOR THE MAGAZINE COVER

POSTER IMAGE DEVELOPMENT

THE THREE TRAILERS THAT INSPIRED MR.CREEK

These are the tree trailers that I have decided to use as a comparison and an idea of
what my group wants are trailer to look like, or follow the themes of. These three are
most appropriate trailers that we could find that made links to are ideas and concepts,
i will start by discussing the links between ours and John Carpenters very famous,
"Halloween". Halloween involves the "Final Girl" theory very heavily, which ours
will include. Our main character "Sam" is a young girl who is quite boyish and virginal,
much like Halloweens "Laurie".

The strangers is a more visual connection, simply in the fact that our killer, "Mr.Creek"
wears a plain white mask, much like the killers in the strangers. The strangers also are
stalkers, who bother the house owners by tormenting them with fear, which is basically
what Mr.Creek is going to do.

Finally, "The Babadook". This Movie provides ideas for the physical look of Mr. Creek
as he will be wearing a top hat and suit much like The Babadook. This movie is also based
around a children's book, much like our movie is.

Mr. Creek is a stalker/ supernatural horror movie that follows the themes of these all
three of these movies, so the links are very evident in that sense, and have all played a part
in influencing my horror movie trailer.

PROPS AND COSTUMES

These props and costumes will be used as a guide to how both characters will dress in the movie,

I have explained the dress code within the flip-book and have told you why they will dress like this.

In regards to props, we will also require an old and new looking book as our main character is actually a writer, who is in process of creating a book (new one) and Mr. Creek is a failed writer who has the old one.

SINISTER POSTER ANALYSIS

INSIDIOUS POSTER ANALYSIS

FANGORIA MAGAZINE COVER ANALYSIS

WOMAN IN BLACK

CABIN IN THE WOODS

THE CRAZIES

TEASER TRAILER

SAW IV TRAILER

DISTRIBUTOR- LIONS GATE ENTERTAINMENT

DISTRUBUTION

REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN.

NARRATIVE THEORY IN REFERENCE TO "HALLOWEEN"

DISTINCT

HORROR HISTORY