Analysing the three different horror trailers at the start of my research enabled me to use some 'traditional' methods of producing a horror trailer. I was able to receive a mixture of techniques due to the trailers' different genres and time periods, and incorporated these with my own original ideas. I challenged the trailers' effect of using different short scenes and quick shots for the opening, by opening my trailer with a slow and steady introduction. I understood that the other trailers had used jump-shots and cut parts from the films to create a build-up for the audience, but I wanted to create my build-up through a radio interview (as a voice-over) where a man is trying to find out about the girl; just as the audience is trying to find out about her. I wanted to keep the audience hooked, maybe even confuse them slightly, with the man asking questions about the "blue room", whether the girl "feels safe in the blue room", and also mentioning her parents.
I decided to begin my trailer from either a long-shot or mid-shot, as this would give me enough time to slowly zoom into the girl and create the tension that I wanted. I didn’t want to reveal her face straight away, but to evoke the audience’s curiosity as she sat there with her head bent and her hair over her face. I applied the “Bad T.V” effect at the beginning and at random points during the zooming in, as this created the disorientated effect I wanted and reflected how the supernatural can interfere with technology and create a bad signal.
Out of the trailers that I had analysed, all of them had begun with long scenes and a slow and paced melody, slowly revealing what the main film would be about. They then used a ‘jump-scare’ as the turning point in their trailer, and after this jump-scare, they would create a build-up of quick shots and speed up the pace of the non-diegetic sound before coming to the climax of the trailer. I used a similar technique in how I used the slowly zooming in at the beginning as the ‘introduction’ to the girl: the audience is slowly finding out about the girl through the man asking questions, and wondering what shehas done or why she is put in the 'blue room'.
I applied several quick-shots during the zooming in to create the build-up, and used these to cut in between the scene at random times, as if they were flashbacks in the girl's life. It also created the distorted and surreal tone I wanted, and because they could be seen as flashbacks, I edited the quick-shots in black and white so that they could also be represented as photographs. This would create a voyeristic effect and relate with how the girl's life is constantly being questioned and invaded.
I used the girl slowly turning her head and staring menacingly into the camera as the 'turning point' of my trailer. The camera slowly draws back and fades into the interrogation scene. In this part of the trailer, I transcended different parts of the scene, as if they were overlapping eachother, and built the tension through the camera slowly panning the women in a circle as they argue. How the different parts of the scene overlap eachother signifies the going back and forth in time, and cuts to significant points of the interrogation when the woman asks the most pressing questions on the girl's mother. After the turning point, I had changed my sample of non-diegetic sound from paced and slow to bolder and faster, as this built the tension and prepared my audience for the climax of the trailer.
I also went against the typical format and order of a horror trailer; instead of featuring a series of quick shots, cut scenes and voice-overs, I divided my trailer into two seperate scenes to give out different parts of information on the girl and what the overall film would be about. I used these as a base for my different flashbacks and quick-shots. Originally, I wanted the girl to be the devil reincarnation. But during the process of my research and planning, I realised that this lacked in originality and I didn't think I would really scare the audience with this idea. Afterall, so many horror films have already featured this, such as "Ghost Ship" and "The Omen", and I wanted to create an original character on my own. Nevertheless, no matter what character I decided to base mine on, I did want my jump-scare at the end of the trailer to involve the girl crawling up the stairs, and to speed this up during editing.
'Spider-walk' scene from "The Exoricist":
I had decided to name the girl 'Eve', linking to the story of Adam and Eve and different views on evil and disobediance. I also decided to use this name as the title of my film, as it is simple, and therefore perhaps more effective, and it would also be easy to remember. It was at this stage where I thought about changing the girl to being the reincarnation of Eve, instead of the Devil, and having been banished from the Garden of Eden she became more evil and maybe is now back for revenge? Through this idea, I followed the ideas of many horror films where they use religious imagery to create an eeire and frightening theme. There is something very chilling about the supernatural, as we are unaware of their power and what they can do, and I hadn't heard of a horror film with this similar storyline of Eve becoming evil so I was
pleased that I had developed this.
For my poster and magazine front cover, I applied a number of different effects and techniques that have been used when advertising a horror film. I went against the 'typical' format of a poster by designing mine on a horizontal layout, rather than a vertical one. I wanted the girl's face to take up half of the poster for a maximum impact, and could only do this effecitvely if my poster was horizontal. For both products, I stuck by the 'typical' colours of a horror poster and magazine colour by using dark, symbolic colours such as black, dark grey, and blood red. I also used yellow in my magazine front cover to make the product stand out and contrast with the black and red. I go into furthur detail of evaluating why I chose certain colours and effects i the next question and how these were effective for my target audience.
The Poster:
The Magazine Front Cover:
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary task?
I felt the combination of my trailer with my poster and magazine front cover worked well together. I prefer my poster to my magazine front cover, but both symbolise the themes of my trailer and 'tease' the audience in what the overall film could be about. How the girl stares menacingly into the camera in the poster really attracts the audience as they feel they are being personally victimised by the girl and directly aimed at to watch the film.
Altogether, the main product and the poster and magazine front cover; there are different parts shown of the film. The magazine front cover shows the girl's mixture of identities and how she is fighting to be noticed- hence the slogan, "Eve is back". The poster shows the part where the girl changes her identity and plots revenge against those who judge her, like a "Jekyll and Hyde" schizophrenic theme, whilst the trailer 'teases' the audience into who the girl is and what she has done. I felt it was effective how I showed different parts of the overall film as I wanted to evoke the audience's curiosity and not simply show them one certain 'tone' or theme of the film. I felt using variety was very important.
Above all, I knew the main way to find out whether my poster and magazine front cover were effective was to find out from my target audience. I used Facebook as a way of sending three students from my college the poster and magazine front cover, and using the Facebook Chat to find out what they thought of it and any feedback/criticism they might have had.
Rob Stebbings (aged 18):
I asked Rob who commented on my use of colour in the poster and magazine front colour. He liked the realism of my poster, and how I achieved this through my choice of font. When I asked if he had any criticism, he replied that "maybe if you zoomed into the character's eyes a bit more it would have created a scarier effect. But other than that it's cool!"
Mike Bailey (aged 18):
Mike was more detailed in his feedback than Rob. He commented
on my editing skills in my poster, mentioning that "the technique of image layering is also incorporated, which would normally be seen at a professional level of media advertising, rather than at educational level. The use of text at the bottom of the poster also adds to the authenticity of the overall product."
I had also shown another student at my college, Paige Lawn (aged 17) my poster and magazine front cover during my lesson of Media at college. I spoke to her later that night and asked if she had any feedback. She replied:
"The poster looked so real when you showed me at college! I think it was the only one that was done horizontally, whilst all the others were vertical? So it stood out, and I liked that. The dark colours of the poster told me that the film was a horror or a thriller, and I really liked how you used red for the title only so that it stood out. I thought your magazine front cover wasn't as good as your poster. The poster looked professional, but I didn't think that the magazine did. I did like it though, I just think it needed toning down abit with the colours. I liked how you advertised the other horror trailers from your class on the front page, and didn't talk about actual horror films."
I analysed the poster by writing in note-form of why I chose to edit my poster in this way (click to enlarge). It was only after analysing my film poster where I noticed I had made the mistake of placing the film's classification next to the name of my production company. I quickly changed this and placed it bottom right of my poster, as this is the 'traditional' placement for a British film poster.
My analysis of the Magazine Front Cover in note-form:
- I used the same idea as the 'Empire' magazine I analysed during my planning, with placing the title of my magazine behind the image of the girl. This gave my main character a sense of power, in how she stands in front of it and you can't fully see the magazine's name. The title of my magazine is actually called 'Satire', and looking at my finished product I think I would have made the 't' more obvious so it is easier to tell what the magazine is called. I decided to have my title in red to match my film's genre, and the colour of the title will change with every issue, depending on what type of film they are advertising. 'Satire' magazine does not just promote horror films.
- The main picture was simple to take and simple to edit. How I overlapped the seperate images creates a 'Jekyll and Hyde' theme and how the girl is battling with two identities. It also implies how what you see is never what you get, what goes on behind closed doors, and not everything is how it seems. How she raises her hand up is ambiguous as it suggests that she is either raising her hand up to protect herself or lashing out at a victim.
- She is wearing the same nightie as she wore in the trailer. The white symbolises a ghostly theme and maybe purity, when in reality the girl's personality is anything but pure. I blurred the image slightly to create a distorted tone and brought focus onto the girl's necklace. I wanted to use the same approach as I had to my poster- with the audience paying attention to detail and applying a few things to the girl that the audience may realise if they looked closer.
- I used the slogan "Eve is back" with emphasising the word "back" in a glowy tone to represent an eeire and supernatural theme. I felt the slogan was simple and to the point, and would attract the audience in how they would be drawn to the word "back" and they wouldn't have to spend a long time reading several sentences.
- I also put the word 'Exclusive' in capital letters to attract the audience's attention and by also adding an exclamation mark. This would persuade the audience into purchasing the magazine as they would wonder what is "exclusive" in the magazine. Instead of promoting actual horror films, I decided to advertise the horror films in my media class, including "The Opiate" and "Friction".
- I used the same three colours throughout so that the magazine didn't appear 'clumsy' or too over-done. These three colours were red, black, and yellow. I wanted to use the same colours of red and black, as I had used in the poster, with the yellow contrasting with these and again attracting the eye of the audience.
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
From my audience feedback, I learnt that it is the quality of the camera shots and editing that can make a horror trailer effective; rather than the actual storyline. I also learnt that certain images and what they can symbolise are equally as effective, as shown in the beginning of my trailer when the camera is slowly zooming into the girl. The majority of my viewers said that this was the most frightening part of the trailer, as it built suspense and they didn't know what to expect. Like most horror trailers, I created suspense and then made my audience jump by inserting several 'jump-scares' during this, and this was the easiest and most simple part of the trailer to film.
Some viewers criticised my trailer by pointing out that it didn't really "flow". Some advised that I needed to show more characters and to reveal perhaps more of the girl and what she does to her victims in order for it to be more effective. I agreed with them to a certain extent, and the point made about including more content on the girl and her victims was something I had struggled with during the whole of the filming and editing. However, I reminded myself that this was only a teaser trailer and therefore it should be no more than around a minute. I felt I had included all the vital content needed in a horror trailer, and I didn't want to give too much away. I felt I had created the right amount of mystery for my audience by showing them some content (through the 'photographs') and I wanted to leave them guessing on what the film is about. Afterall, this is the aim of a teaser trailer; it is meant to tease the audience and evoke their curiousity. Thankfully, most of my viewers favoured my technique, so I didn't change it by including more footage.
By uploading my trailer onto YouTube, I was able to receive a mixture of comments and feedback from other YouTube users by what they had posted. This was effective as I had made my trailer public and for anyone to see, so I was inviting different members of age groups, genders, and nationalities to view it and give their feedback:
YouTube also enabled me to upload videos of audience feedback. There was one video which wouldn't upload via blogger, so I had to upload it through YouTube and here is what Isabel Higuero (aged 17) had to say after viewing my trailer:
How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning, and evaluation stages?
For the filming of my trailer, I used a 20 X Optical Zoom Sony Digital camera which I found easy to hold as it was light and provided me with a hand-strap. For the majority of my filming, I wanted to create an edgy 'hand-held' effect as this would reflect the character's disorientated lives. Nevertheless, I still carried Tripod with me during the filming in case there were any shots that needed still and steady filming. Interestingly enough, the times I did need a Tripod were for when I wanted to film the 'photographs' of the trailer- pointing the camera downwards to zoom into Mikki when she was crouched in the shower, and also for some parts of the corridor scene. I was thankful that my trailer didn't require a Tripod for most of the trailer as this enabled my actors and I to move on quickly to the next scenes without having to spend time setting up the equipment.
20 x Optical Zoom Sony Digital Video Camera:
Tripod:
For the editing of my trailer, I used Final Cut Pro which helped create most of the effects I wanted for my trailer. Once I had uploaded my scenes and started putting them together, I experimented with different effects and video transitions, ones that I had not come across before. The one effect I used the most in my trailer was the "Bad T.V" effect which I applied to the beginning of the scene where the camera is slowly zooming in as well as the captions. This effect added to my trailer's tone of 'bad connection' (as implied in the beginning with the radio tuning), and the unnerving presence of ghosts. I felt the effects I used on Final Cut Pro were professional, and the video transitions I used (such as 'fade in fade out dissolve', 'dip to colour dissolve') helped put my scenes together and made my trailer much more effective and when I had first uploaded the content.
I used my own camera, a 10 megapixel Canon digital, to take the pictures of the locations and to also film my audience's feedback and answers. I know my camera captures and shoots in a high quality, and I wanted to have my pictures and videos in the best definition I could use. I did have access to the college's camera, but the quality wasn't as good as mine and I would have had limited time on it as there were other pupils who needed to use the camera as well. Using my own camera enabled me to upload my pictures and videos from home, and spend time over altering the sizes and editing the quality. I also decided to show my storyboards and drafts of my poster and magazine front cover by taking pictures on them with the camera and posting them on blogger. I felt this would test my camera's quality and was a faster way of putting the pictures on blogger, rather than having to rely on the college's scanner as I do not have one at home.
10 Megapixel Canon Digital Camera:
To access blogger, and to upload my trailer and research into my target audience, I used an Apple Mac computer which I was able to go on only at college. At home, I used my own laptop to type up my research and planning, and both the Mac and my laptop provided me with sufficient internet so I was able to work fluently without many internet connection problems. I did come across a few problems with the blogger website itself, as it wouldn't allow me to upload two videos of a draft scene and an audience feedback. With the other videos, I was able to convert them into a Quicktime movie and upload them straight onto the site, but for some reason I do not know, this wouldn't work with these two particular videos. I was able to solve this problem by uploading them via YouTube and posting the video link onto the page.
Apple Mac:
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