Evaluation...

The objective of our coursework was to produce a film trailer, film poster and a film magazine front cover. These are all parts of a campaign to help sell a film. Before producing our media products we researched into existing film trailers, posters and magazine covers, we did this to see what conventions they used and how we can use them.

In what ways does you media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our film trailer illustrates many of the conventions used in existing film trailers. Our first shot is of the legal age restriction but states that the following footage is suitable for all ages, this allows our film trailer to be seen by anyone, widening the audience of our film.
We have then created our own production logo, this adds a touch of professionalism and makes the film trailer look more realistic. We have then faded that shot to black to start our film trailer along with the start of the music.
When researching the film trailers, a key convention that is used alot is the pace. The beginning of all film trailers start off slow this builds up tension to the film trailer, then there is a change in the music and shots are edited fast together. The fast pace in the middle of the film trailer adds action, thrill and tension. Then at the end of the trailer the pace of the music is either slowed down or the trailer ends on a high note keeping the momentum of the trailer.
When analysing other film trailer we realised that they did not follow in a chronological sequence within the film. This is so they are not giving away too much of the film, just snippets that will catch the audiences attention and want them to go and see the film.
In our media lessons we learnt about different theorists and we decided to use Todorov's theory of disrupted Equilibrium...
The 5 Stage pattern structure of the plot:
1. State of Equilibrium - happy families, mum and daughter in the park.
2. Disruption of Equilibrium - Daughter is taken, we have decided not to show this in our trailer as we feel that this would give too much away. It also teases the audience and helps convince them to go and see the film.
3. Recognition of disruption - Mum finds her daughter missing.
4. Attempt to repair Equilibrium - The hunt for the daughter begins
5. Equilibrium is restored - The daughter is found? The truth is revealed.

Whilst looking at film trailers we noticed that when the shots are mixed together it gives off a good effect and when one person is looking for the other person and you can see the shot match shot it looks good. We have used this convention when the hunt for the daughter begins... We have edited together the shots  of the daughter being taken by the mystery man, the daughter looking for her Mum with the shot sequence of the mum searching for her daughter. There are many clever shot matches that link with each, for example the close up of the daughters face followed by the close up of the mums face, this two shots have been edited together so the transition crosses over, so you get an image of both faces at one time. Then when the mum runs up to another mum and daughter thinking it's her daughter matches with her daughter with the mystery man walking. And then another shot match shot is the spinning of the girl and then the spinning of the mum, this shot match shot has worked extremely well.

After researching many film magazine front covers, we realised that the main image had to be powerful. The main image is normally of one or more of the main characters and is a mid-shot, showing the key expression on their face relating to the film. For our magazine front cover, we used a shot of the mum looking upset and worried, this relates well the film as her daughter is missing and this would be anyones genuine expression.

The film poster needs one strong image that sums the film up but at the same time doesn't give too much away. Our film poster is a shot of the girl walking away holding hands with someone not known. The darkness and the shadows of the photo creates a spooky atmosphere.

Lastly another convention that is used in the campaign is that the same font is used on all products, this groups the different forms of advertising together and when you see one form of media advertising the film you can relate it to the film by the text. For example everyone knows the font for James Bond and the iconic "007" logo with the gun as the 7. So in our campaign we have followed this convention and used the same font in the film trailer and on the film poster.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
To help reassure the Film company that the film is going to be a success, they need to create a hype about the film. To do this they need to advertise the film by posters, appearing in magazines, TV trailers, interviews on TV, billboards and many more.
The main part of our campaign was the film trailer and then with 2 forms of ancillary texts; a film poster and our film on the front of a film magazine.
A good way to link the film together was to use the same characters throughout, this was so if people saw the trailer and then saw the poster they would know who the girl was and then the same with the magazine cover. Even though we have used different people on the magazine and the poster, you know its linked by watching the film trailer.
Another way in which we have created a good effect for our products is by using the same font in all products. This collates the products together and helps the audience recognise the different forms of texts linking together. This gives the products a professional look and makes it clear that the three texts link together.
To promote our film trailer and campaign I have learnt that it is key that the actors can portray they right emotion and pull off the effect we are after. Locations is important but in our film we wanted to use an area that would be common to people but then to have the twist through the story line. So people would look at the location and feel that it would be all safe but its what hides underneath and the lies that are revealed that gives the story an edge. The camera work and editing relates to the genre, by looking at other horror film trailers, we noticed that it starts off slow with slow, eerie edited shots to then fast edited shots and with the shots flashing one after another to create an atmosphere and make the audience feel on edge.
If the film trailer was going to go into distribution we would have the trailer shown in cinemas about 3-4 weeks before the film is released. This allows time for the film to create a hype so that when the film is released the film will be a success. There would be a trailer on TV shown between 8-11pm as this is the time that our expect our target audience would be watching TV.


What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
During preproduction each member of our group posted a poll on their blogs so we could find out what our audience wanted from our product. By having a poll on our blog this allowed us to get our results immediately instead of waiting for people to hand our questionnaires back to us. On deciding what our polls would be about we all took a different area to do a question about; so either costume, locations, plots, etc. 
We then showed our target audience our film trailer, the majority of the group liked our film trailer but they did say a few points that we would look into to improve it if we could.
The main points that they said we could improve was the music, the music was a difficult process. To be able to find the right music that matched perfectly was a struggle. In the end we just went with one that sounded the best out of the hundreds we had listened too. In industry this would not be the case, we would have someone on our team who would compose the music, so the music matched the film trailer exactly.
Another point that they said we could improve was the fact that you don't see how the girl gets kidnapped, we decided not to show this as it keeps the audience guessing. We used our copy's to reveal what was happening in the story, but maybe a shot of the girl actually being taken could have worked well.
We used our negative feedback as constructive feedback and if we could improve our film trailers we would use their feedback.
But our positive feedback was encouraging as well, they stated that they liked how the music changes from the slow paced to the fast paced at the beginning, they said that it works well with the shots. Another point that they liked was the shot transition of the young girl spinning with the mum spinning at the end, they thought that it was a good way to end the film trailer.


How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
To help us with our research, planning and production we used a wide range of different technologies. We used old knowledge and skills along with learning new skills in order to use these different technologies.

Firstly we used Blogger as the hub of our coursework, we used the blog to show our research, planning and production. The blog was easy to use as it is easily accessible and simple to do. The blog allowed us to do online polls, link videos from youtube, upload photos and also if we wanted to change anything we could do it easily.

We then used Youtube to research our ideas, we used youtube to look up existing film trailers. We then analysed them and looked at the conventions they used. By having our work all on the internet it made it easier to use the embed codes and to be able to copy and paste onto our blog. 


Google was used to research films and our ideas, we googled theorists and existing film trailers and campaigns. we used google images to look at the film posters and magazine front covers.

We used Photoshop to produce our film poster and magazine front cover. We had already used photoshop in our preliminary tasks and our AS Media course, this made it easier for us to use as we already knew how to work Photoshop. We already had the skills for using photoshop so when compiling our products together it was done easily. Also in our AS Media we did a magazine front cover so the conventions that are used we already knew how to do it. We were able to adapt the images and give the images and font certain effects. This process could have been done by anyone of us, as we all understood the programme.

Lastly we used Premier Pro to construct our film trailer, prior to using premier pro we had used iMovie to construct our chase sequence. Even though it was using a different programme, we understood the rules of cutting and editing shots together, continuity was a main issue we had to deal with when editing our trailer together. By using premier pro it allowed us to create many effects on the shots and on the transitions of the shots.  It was a difficult software to use but after practising using it and trying out different ideas, we became to grips with it. I think that we used premier pro on a medium to basic level, as we didn't understand how to use the software fully. If we were to learn how to use premier pro properly, i think this could add so many effects in to make our film trailer look more professional.

We used a website called Free Play Music, which we could download and use. We used this website to search through the hundreds of different categories in order for us to find a matching soundtrack for our trailer. This was a very time consuming process but it was effective as the music had descriptions about them so it was easier for us when deciding what music to choose. Also when downloading the music, you could download a sampler of the music which made it quicker and easier to listen to the music.


Conclusion
When we were told we were working in groups we thought this would make it easier to complete the set task given, but even after the first meeting of deciding what to do, we realised it would be a struggle as people had different ideas and points of views. The way we solved this was to all come up with individual ideas and then to voice our ideas across and come up with something that included everyones idea. Another negative of working in a group was that when we were filming people were busy at different times, this limited when we could film. To overcome this we planned in advance and said keep this day free as we will be filming, this really worked and we stuck to it. On the other hand the good thing about working in groups was that we got a range of ideas and it allowed your ideas to be thought of outside the box. You could come up with something and then mix it with someone else's idea which would make the idea better, and as they say two heads are better than one, we had four heads so it allowed us to get the most out of our ideas.
Next time if we could improve our products, I think our main aim would be the music. We would spend longer in finding the right music that matched our genre exactly. The music we have at the moment is okay but it's not shouting out horror it's more action themed. We found the music a hard task to do as we had to use free unlegalised music, rather than using a song.
Also to improve some of our shots, the shot quality is quite bad due to the lighting, so if we could improve this, we would use a better camera and lighting would need to be considered.
Overall I think we worked well as a team in some areas but others could really be improved. I am pleased with the work we have produced but obviously if i could go back there would so much i would change. But on the whole i feel that the shots we have got and the way they have been edited together are our strong points.

Film Trailer...

1. This screen shot shows an image which is normally at the start of trailers, we used this in to make the trailer seem professional and realistic.

2. "JLMV Productions", normally have a shot at the beginning with the name of the company who produced the film etc.

3. Long shot - Opening shot of child with mother playing on swings, happy. We added an effect to make this shot grainy- show it is a different time and to give the effect that it is a home video.

4. Medium long shot, tracking shot. Child running, looks at camera and smiles- very similar to home video style footage. We added an effect to make the image grainy again.

5. Medium shot - Child sliding down slide towards mother, again we used the grainy effect. Shot to show happiness.

6. "Just when everything seemed perfect", title shot to reflect what you have seen in the previous three shots.

7. Over the shoulder shot - Through a living room window, see mother and child playing happily in 'safe', family environment. However in contrast to this image the person whos shoulder we are looking over is mysterious, dark and creates tension.

8. Cross fade effect.

9. Close up - A pair of feet, creates tension as the audience want to know who the feet belong to. Short crisp image to tease the audience.

10. Fade to black.

11. "There was always someone standing in the way", title shot to reflect what you have just seen in the previous two scenes.

12. Cross fade effect.

13. Close up, low angle shot - Child sitting in corner, looking scared. Change of tone - previous to this we have only seen the child happy.

14. Cross fade.

15. Close up -Hand opening door, hand had glove on, audience want to know who this is. Torch as the only source of light to the shot adds sense of mystery and helps to build tension.

16. Cross fade.

17. Close up - Child in corner again, puts head down- clearly scared by something.

18. "Prepared to reveal the truth", title screen which explains some narrative. Doesn't tell the reader much so this draws them in through their curiousity.

19. Extreme low angle shot - Camera really looks down on the child now, as though we could be looking at the child through the eyes of whoever is there.

20. Medium shot - Child clearly scared/ upset by something- we want to know what it is.

21. Fade out.

22. Fade out complete - Child has 'disappeared', reflecting the idea that the child has been taken by somebody.

23. "To take what is rightfully theirs", explains the last scene and confirms really that the child has been taken.

24. Cross fade.

25. Long shot - Mother sitting in the street, clearly distraught, doesn't know what to do.

26. Medium shot, tracking shot. Man walking with child. Taking the shot through some bushes makes it more interesting to keep audiences attention and also gives the impression that they are entering a location with a lot of foliage.

27. Long shot - Mother running, false hope as the mother thinks she has found her daughter only to find that it isn't actually her daughter.

28. Cross fade.

29. Long shot, tracking shot - Man and child walking again.

30. Extreme long shot - Lighting changed, reflecting the passing of time- they have been walking for a while now.

31. Cross fade.

32. Medium shot - Again the previous shot and the cross fade reflect passing of time.

33. Close up - Child still unhappy- unsure of what is happening. Creates tension as we sympathise with the child.

34. Close up - Mother in car, idea that she will travel any distance to find her child and will do it as quickly as possible. Dialling number on mobile- who is she ringing? what will she find out?

35. Close up - Mother on phone, can't hear other end of the conversation- tension, audience want to know what is happening.

36. Close up -Mother on phone, we can't hear responses, only her questions. Tension continues to build.

37. Long shot - We now get a shot of who we assume she is on the phone to. But we never hear what he is saying. Drops phone on floor.

38. Close up (of phone whilst feet walking away) - Phone lights up, is it the mother trying to ring again?

39. Extreme close up -We see the screen of the phone on the floor, see that it is an "unknown number" calling, mystery as to who it is.

40. Extreme close up - Mother- make up smudged, clearly distraught, worrying.

41. Close up - Filmed with camera circling around her as she spun round too. Disorientating. Makes the audience feel uneasy which, in turn, helps to build tension.

42. Cross fade - Mothers face fading into childs.

43. Close up - Child, still unsure/ worried.

44. Extreme long shot - Mother in middle of road, frantically searching for child.

45. Close up - Child, looking even more worried.

46. Cross fade - Childs face fading back into mothers.

47. Close up - Mother increasingly distressed.

48. Close up - Mother spinning around again, searching. Facial expression gradually becoming more desperate- tension builds.

49. Close up - Child, delicately looking around her.

50. Close up - Mother looking around her- fast, a contrast to previous shot of the child. Tension.

51. Long shot - Child spinning around- parallel to what the mother is doing.

52. Cross fade - Child spinning merges into mother spinning.

53. Close up - Mother spinning, Disorientating- tension.

54. "Missing", "Visit www.missingfilm.com". Most trailers had the information which we have included over these next three screen shots, we therefore used this convention to make our trailer more realistic/ authentic.

55. "Coming to cinemas near you" - Makes film trailer appear more realistic.

56. " January 2010" (+ actors names, director and producer. Also logos and age certificate information). Makes the film trailer appear more authentic.

Film Poster...

Magazine Front Cover...

When researching magazine front covers, we realised that you need a powerful image on the front. This image is normally of one or more of the main characters. For our magazine cover we decided to have the Mum as the main image, because we are aiming our magazine at an older audience, it would not be appropriate to have the young girl as the main image and for ease of taking the photo, as i was playing the role of the mum it was easier for us as a group to take the photo. 

Using the skills we learnt previously in Media AS we were able to use this knowledge to help us complete this task. We used Photoshop CS4 to complete the magazine front cover, this enabled us to create effects and made it easier to collate the Magazine together.

This is our end result...

Audience Feedback...

We got a group of students together to watch the film trailer, the students all had different backgrounds and different interests but were the ages of our target market. By doing this it enabled us to see what they thought of our production. This is done in industry to make sure that what they are doing people will actually be interested in their film.
Here are some of the comments that the students said about the film trailer...
"I really like how the music goes from a slower track to the fast upbeat one"
"I like the transitions of the different shots being edited together using different effects"
"I also like the bit where the mum is standing in the road and its flashing images, showing the confusion and upset on her face relating to the plot."
"The music could have been better, doesn't really suit the genre its supposed to be"
"More footage of how the girl got kidnapped would help attract the audience"
"I like how the shots are edited together and how they fade in and out of each other"
"I really like the bit where the little girl is spinning and then you get the shot of the mum spinning, a really good transition that comes across very effective"

Editting...

We used a programme called Premier Pro, which is where we uploaded all our filming and edited them to create our film trailer...

First we uploaded our filming footage, we then watched it through deciding what bits where good and what we could use. There were some bits that were good, but right at the end of the shot something was wrong; we took notes and wrote down what we needed to redo. We looked at our storyboard and realised that we need the shot of them walking out of the house, so we found the best one out of the several shots. We then used the 'razor' tool, we could cut the clip into the correct shot that we needed. We then found our next few clips, we did a sequence at a time and then decided on the transitions of the shots. We carried on looking at our storyboard and the shots that we had and continued to create our film trailer. Once we had put our shots in the place we thought they should go, we got audience feedback on what they thought, the main issues that they said, was we needed music and we needed taglines. These two issues were obvious to us and wasn't as if we were going to leave them out! But we then asked the audience what they thought of the shots and their transitions; the main reply we got back was that it looked good.
We then carried on and added the music and the storylines. These are both key in a film trailer, the music makes it and sets the scene, whereas the taglines; give an insight to the story.

The Campaign...

In the Media Industry they use many methods in creating the advertisement for a film. First they would start off with Teaser Trailers, Film Posters, Magazine Articles, Billboards, Bus Stop Shelters, etc. Then there would be the Theatrical Trailer and the TV Trailer, and then the film would get a selected audience viewing for feedback, then the main way to spread the word would be from Word of Mouth. And then after all the advertisement and trying to get the audience to want to watch the film before the film comes out, so hopefully they have an audience.
The campaign holds many rules that you have to use to keep all the advertisement the same, and one of those rules would be to use the same font throughout, even though its just a little thing, it matters. Fonts from films can really be recognisable, for example.. James Bond, We all know the font for it.

In our Campaign we are going to do a trailer, film poster and a magazine front cover. The Film trailer will take most of our time, in order for filming, re -filming, editing and getting feedback, whereas the film poster and the magazine front cover we can just have a photoshoot and then edit the pieces together. From AS Media, we know how to use photoshop and construct a magazine front cover, so this will be okay for us to use. But for the film poster, after looking around and researching, the key thing we need is a strong image that will sell the film.

Music..

Due to the copyright laws we had to look elsewhere for music that we was allowed to use.
We used the website called 'Free Play Music', this was the source for our music. After searching through the different genres of music we found music for the trailer. We've found slow paced eerie music, near enough just sound effects and have then found a faster paced piece of music. We have then used Garage Band to mix the music on there.
Pace is very important in a film trailer, the shots need to coincide with the music.
The music sets the mood for the trailer and helps with the thrill of the shots.

Music for Film Trailer..

For our film trailer we decided that we would like it to start off quietly and soft and then to increase to rocky and fast pace.
In an ideal world if we could use any music without copyright laws this is what we would have:
For the beginning we considered...


For the second half we considered...

Evaluation of Photo Ideas...

From looking at our photos, we feel that they are good but they can be improved much more. The image we feel is powerful is the photo of Nicola looking back at the camera, holding her teddy bear in her hand. It was too dark when taking the photos, but when trying to use torches and car headlights, it gave shadows of unwanted objects. As there was a gate infront of where the car was parked you can see the shadow of the gate when taking the photo without the flash, but when taking the photo with the flash, the photo quality was reduced and it revealed too much light.

So when we take the photos again later this week we will take the photos when it is starting to get dark, we like the feeling of it starting to get dark, as at this moment in the film, it is starting to get dark. 

Ideas for Poster...

For our DVD cover, we feel that a powerful image would be of Vicky and Nicola holding hands walking away, Vicky would have her hood up so the audience cannot tell who the person is. This relates to our film trailer where it is not revealed who takes the little girl. 
Another image that would be powerful would be the outline of the teddy bear and then shots of the characters inside the bear, this would show the audience what the characters look like. 

TIME FOR THE PHOTO SHOOT!..


During the photo shoot,  our ideas really came through. We put our ideas into action and the results came out really well...

I really like this shot, it is very effective, I like the fact the she is turning around; it relates well to the film. But the lighting is poor and the flash reduces the quality. After shooting this photo and went back to warm up, we felt that the image would look stronger with her coat on and a teddy bear dangling from her hands.

This is the shot is the one we wanted in the first place, the only thing wrong with it apart from the lighting is that Nicola isn't looking back and their legs are together. They are meant to be walking and yet their feet are together, a factor we need to consider. 

Whilst taking the photos, we felt that this would be a strong image but now looking at it, personally I don't think that it is as powerful as we would have hoped! Back to the drawing board for this shot!

This was another shot that we took, once again the lighting is poor, you can see the shadows of the gate and their legs are together. The location is perfect for the feel we are after; an empty, dark, lonely lane with Vicky and Nicola walking down. The lane fits in really well with the film, just when taking the photos we will need to do it earlier so we can actually see the lane and the girls.

Started filming...

We started filming today, it was an exciting experience!
We had all our ideas buzzing and we just wanted to get going.
We did the shots in the house first, we did each shot at least 3 times and then changed the camera angle and did this again several times. This allowed us to choose the best shot when editing. As we worked with a younger child, we had to be patient, to allow her to overcome her nerves and get her to act things out how we wanted. We had a load of out-takes, but we got the perfect shot in the end!
When i was acting, it was a strange feeling, as I knew what I wanted to potray I just had to really show my emotion. In my case though, I took drama GCSE and I have always been a fan of acting, so hopefully it has all payed off!

Filming Timetable..

Because there is four of us in our group, it is easier to find actors for the film trailer, so when coming to arrange a time and place for filming, we are all willing to go.
We met on various occasions, such as monday and tuesday after school and some sundays. But due to the fact we had my next door neighbour in the film trailer and she is at primary school, we had to wait for her to finish school when filming her parts.
Luckily most of our shots we wanted in the mid-dark lighting and as it is the correct time of year for this to take place at about 4-5 o'clock.

Chiaroscuro..

is a word borrowed from the Italian language meaning light and dark, referring to the modeling of volume by depicting light and dark by contrasting them boldly.  This is one means of strengthening an illusion of depth on a two dimensional surface.

Diegesis

The theory of diegesis applies to narrative events, diegesis is the choices that we actually see.
Diegetic narrative events take place before the audience within the field of vision - what we see.
Non - Diegetic narrative events take place off-screen before the movie started, between scenes, smultaneously but in another room.

Gill Branston and Roy Stafford

Gill Branston and Roy Stafford are media writers from the 90's.
Branston and Stafford applied the relevance of Fabula and Syuzhet theory to the crime genre.
When you have watched a Crime film, you should feel that you have been pleasurably puzzled and that you haven't been cheated by the storyline.

'Film Art' by David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson..

In their book 'Film Art' Bordwell and Thompson give three different time zones for film narratives.
Story - the set of all the events in the narrative, both the ones explicity presented and those the viewer infers, compose the story.
Plot - the term plot is used to describe everything visibly and audibly present in the film before us.
Screen time - the time taken to broadcast the film.

Theory - Victor Shklovsky

Shklovsky attempted to distinguish between the plot, which he defined as the events we actually 'see' in the narratives and the story, which contains all the information or events affection the characters on end off screen. 

He gave them typically difficult names...

Fabula - the story, for example the whole world of the story before; during and after what we see or hear

Syuzhet - only the events that we see or hear within the field of vision

Theory - Roland Barthes

Roland Barthes is a french theorist, he believed that there are 5 codes that enable an audience to make sense of a narrative.
Hermeneutic - narrative turning points - we know where the storyline will go next
Proairectic - basic narrative options - for example detective interviews suspect or femme fetal seduces hero
Cultural - prior social knowledge - for example our attitudes to gender or racial stereotypes
Semic - medium related codes - intertextuality
Symbolic - themes - iconography or a theme such as 'image versus reality'

Theory - Tzvetan Todorov

Tzvetan Todorov is a Bulgarian Structuralist from the 1960's. he developed the theory of disrupted equilibrium.
He identified that stories follow a typical pattern of...
Equilibrium - the 'status quo' where things are as they should be
Disequilibrium - the 'status quo' is disrupted by an event
Equilibrium - the 'status quo' is restored at the end of the story by an actions of the hero

There are several moments in the plot where resolution of equilibrium takes place, for example when pieces of the detectives puzzle falls into place.
Todorov later developed this into a 5 stage pattern...
1. a state of equilibrium at the outset
2. a disruption of equilibrium by some action
3. a recognition that there has been a disruption
4. an attempt to repair the disruption
5. a reinstatement of the equilibrium

Theory - Vladimir Propp

Propp developed the Fairy Tale Theory, he examined hundreds of 1928 fairy tales in the generic form to discover the technique they use.
He identified 8 character roles and 31 functions which move the story along.
The 8 character roles are...
1. The Villain - the bad guy
2. The Hero - a seeker character motivated by an initial lack
3. The Donor - who provides an object with some magic property
4. The Helper - Who aids the hero
5. The Princess - A reward for the hero and object of the villains' scheme
6. Her Father - who validates the hero
7. The Dispatcher - who sends the hero on his way
8. The False Hero - the one who gets the credit at first but then gets found out

Propp's theory is a form of structuralism, which is a view that all media is inevitably in the form of certain fixed structures. Theses structures are often culturally derived and form expectations in the mind of an audience from within the same culture. Propp's theory can be applied to generic structures in Western Culture, such as popular genres. The genre structures form expectations in the mind of an audience that certain rules apply to the narrative. However, cultural change can force structures to change, for example a hero can now be a woman.

Theory - Levi Strauss

Levi Strauss developed the concept of bricolage.
Levis Strauss saw any text as constructed out of socially recognisable 'debris' from other texts. He saw any text as constricted texts from other texts by the processes of Addition, Deletion, Substitution and Transposition.

Theory - Jacques Derrida

Jacques Derrida proposed that "a text cannot belong to no genre, it cannot be without a genre. Every text participates in one or several genres, this is no genreless text", 1981.
Intertexuality is a key component in understanding how genre texts succeed by being at once both simular and different.

Target Audience...

Our group have decided that our Target Audience will be 15 to 25 year olds. Our audience will be the kind who like Horror films and those who like questioning what happens next.

Once we have produced some footage for the film trailer, we will get the audience's reaction from the trailer and see what they think of it. This technique is used in industry, so that the company know what they are producing people will actually like it.

Feedback is key in the Media Industry.

Developed StoryBoard...

Initial StoryBoard...

1. Shot of four teenagers playing a boardgame
2. There's a knock at the door
3. One of the teenagers goes to answer the door
4. Man at the door, "Hello Stranger"
5. Fast action shots; Screaming, Running, Hiding etc
6. "SCREAMMM!" shot of house
7. Flashback of when the man saw the teenagers
8. Man's voice; "I've got you now..." shot of teenager scared

Mood Board...

I created a mood board to show related images to the genre which my group and I are interested in. We are interested in doing a Film Trailer of the Horror genre.

Silent Hill...

 FILM TRAILER...



The film trailer starts off with an establishing shot, then a medium shot followed by a long distance shot, the setting is nice and everything seems to be normal but then when the voice over starts you understand that the young girl is having disturbing dreams but she doesn't remember them, the music and the atmosphere makes it feel eerie and makes the audience on edge. The little girl replies to her mum, "I don't remember" it is a good follow onto the Tristar company logo, the music and the voice over keeps playing, this is done to keep the mood continuing, this is very effective and keeps the audience hooked on what is happening. You then get the bright lights of the headlights of the car, this draws your attention to the car, it is the followed by the a long shot of the car driving off into the distance, this shows us that they are going away somewhere, the soft music is continuing but now you can hear the car as well, this gives a hint to the audience that something is wrong, with close ups of the cars headlights, the little girl, the mum and the radio. After the shots of the car driving away the tagline comes up of 'Toluca Country, West Virginia', this would show an american audience that is a safe place, but due to the music it creates an eerie atmosphere. In this little section it has an element of chiaroscuro, this is where there is elements of light and dark, it is really effective in Horror film trailers.  Soft music continues to play to keep the eerie mood but now you can hear the car as well, after the shots of the lights and the girl, the radio starts to loose signal and by the camera movement with the mums reaction, you feel scared and you get the sense that something is wrong, following this when the mum looks up you see the a ghost walk out in front of the car, the music stops and you hear screaming and the car breaks screeching. From the slow pace mood music to the high pace screams and the swerving of the car, it creates tension and makes the scene much more powerful and effective, then silence. Silence is used in horror films as a technique to build up suspense, create an atmosphere and to leave the audience on edge, asking for questions. 
After this sequence, you get another sequence of slow moving shots mixed together this builds up the tension, as the dust starts to fall, music starts to play and the pitch and sound of music increases as the camera moves over to the welcome sign. This sequence is done to show where the mum has gone too, with the music and the dust, it makes it feel dream like and as if the mum is in a new place. When the camera moves over to the welcome sign, you now know from the beginning that 'Silent Hill' is the place that the little girl had disturbing dreams about. 
After there is a series of shots of the mum ringing her husband, this is the iconic thing an audience would expect, the woman ringing her man to come and save her, following this shot there is a view of a family photo, the camera stays over the photo for a few a seconds to convey that they are a tight, close family. 
Then there is information about the place they have gone to via the technique of taglines, the mood music sets the mood and the sound effects play with the shots of scenes and then silence, the words explain to the audience what the place is like..
"what was once an ordinary town"
- the following shot, the husband is researching about Silent Hill, and find outs that it is a tainted town that got burnt down and that it is still burning today.
"has been transformed by evil"
-followed by a slow motion of the mum looking around and then running, you then see shots of the wife trying to find her daughter.
"mysteries without answers"
-followed by the husband talking to the police trying to find his loved ones and then you see the mum behind a door.
"secrets without explanation"
-followed by shots of young girl, scarey version of young girl and then you hear a siren which links the next title and continues to play throughout the next bit of clip.
"fear without end"
-followed by shots of running and then someone says, "Its coming!" then you see the mum walking down some steps and then darkness and silence. At this point you get the feeling of this place being cut off from the rest of the world. This is a very effective way to explain to the audience a bit about the film without giving too much away.
After that sequence you see light from the torch the mum picks up and then you hear and see this lady who tells her what she must do to find her daughter, this then turns into a voice over and you see clips from the film with taglines in between the scenes. At the end there is the sound effect of a heartbeat and a sequence of shorts shots and then a scream to build up the tension and to scare the audience, followed by the credits and then the name of the film.
In the film trailer there are a range of camera movements and camera shots, they link, matching the genre and the music and sound effects to enhance the feel of the shots and how we feel after watching it.

BUT..!
That is the Theatrical Version of the Film, there is also a Teaser Trailer which is normally about 30-40 seconds long...


In Silent Hill's Teaser Trailer, they have kept the beginning of the mum and daughter talking like in the Theatrical Trailer, as this must be key narrative to setting the story. But they have used a different shot, they have a shot of the stairs and the ash/dust falling, this shows the audience that these stairs must have a strong storyline in the film. Quietly in the background you hear a simular eerie music like in the Theatrical Trailer, the camera then holds on a view on the stairs for 3 seconds and then the title of the film appears on the right. We are already half way through the teaser trailer and we have only seen one shot of the stairs. We then get an increase of pace, built up with music and shots of the film, this last for about 10 seconds, so we don't get to see much of what the film is about, but that is what a Teaser Trailer does, it just gives you a tiny little snippet of what is to come of the film. At the end we hear heavy breathing and a medium close up shot of a scarey looking girl which lasts for about 2 seconds, and then the breathing dies down and it blacks out, followed by the welcome sign to Silent Hill.
This Teaser Trailer is very effective and gives the right amount of information about the film out, it is a great comparison against the Theatrical Trailer. 

POSTER...

I really like this film poster, it has an element of irony in it, as at the top it says " Welcome to Paradise". When clearly this film genre is not relating to paradise.

The poster has used a technique called Chirascuro, this term means light and dark, so the colour scheme used is black and white.

The image of the silhouette of a person, is a very strong image and sets off an eerie image of the film.

They have put 'Silent Hill' in block capitals, it has slits in the words and looks like it has been moved. The title of the film is key for the poster, it needs to stand out, to attract the audience and in this case it really does stand out.

In both the image and the text, they have been faded in. This makes the white bits on the image and text really stand out.

It is a really eye catching film poster especially as they have only used black and white colours. 

Buddy Holly by Weezer...

We watched the Music Video "Buddy Holly by Weezer"

This music video had no storyline, but had a very strong influence by 'Happy Days', a 1970s hit TV Show that was set in the 50's. By the directer, Spike Jones doing this its gives a nostalgic feel. The music video is set in an American Diner and this is the only setting through out the video.
The main characters in this music video were the band and the audience. The viewer can relate to the audience, if the audience are having a good time therefore the viewer will feel good. The band is there to help sell the music. Also another main character was the man who worked in the Diner, the clever thing about this music video is that the shots of the cast from Happy Days, were never in this music video, they have been edited into it. If you look closely there are parts where you can tell that they aren't really there, but the majority of this video you can't really tell.
Also there is a gap which beaks the conventional music video.
We expect an Indie Rock band to wear skinny jeans and have messy hair, but they are wearing 50's Fasion. By wearing this it shows they have a comical side and it is a real controversial music video. Also by doing this it makes the video more memorable.
The Lyrics don't follow the storyline.
There are plenty of different shots, from medium length shots to close ups, with different camera movements, from pan to shot reverse shot. This makes the video interesting to watch and stops the viewer getting bored of watching the same shot.

My Briefff..

For our Media A Level Coursework, we have to work in groups and produce either a Film Trailer with a magazine front cover and a poster, or a Music Video with a CD Cover and a poster. Also we have to create a blog of our own to show our preliminary work, analysis', research and development of ideas. Also it will show the progression of our work.

Before my group decides whether to do a Music Video or a Film Trailer, I am going to analyse both, by doing this I can see what are the highs and lows of the production and also what interests me and my group.