All 4 Written Evaluations

G324 – Evaluation of Advanced Portfolio

Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

For my A2 media coursework, I created a short film, poster and radio trailer that fits into the horror genre. Through the codes and conventions, I was able to use, develop and in some cases, challenge the conventions found in horror.

Genre is defined as a ‘category of artistic, musical or literary composition, characterised by a particular products to be placed amongst them. David Chandler supports this as he believes genre tends to be based on the notion that they constitute particular conventions, which is evident as audiences have a tendency to categorise genre based on the codes and conventions it is associated with. Therefore, when it comes to a film, most producers and writers create a film, based on what they think the audience will feel most attracted to. Therefore, we incorporated this stage of research to decide on our horror film’s genre. We created an online questionnaire, because of the fact that we know this is the easiest form of communication with our young audience, allowing us to find out information without the hassle of postal questionnaires – in which we may not get a high response rate amongst young people. From this, we found that our target audience had a very keen liking to psychological horror films, which may be perhaps to the modernisation of film, and use of special effects horror films (editing) are now able to use. We found that many liked the idea of the supernatural and possessing souls, therefore we based our film accordingly. Our whole story is connected around a jack-in-the-box, symbolising possession, death and mystery. Likewise, films such as Sinister 2 and Drag Me To Hell, both feature an object associating the child or adult character with death and destruction. E.g. In Sinister 2, the camera is symbolic of the child representing innocence to evil by murdering the family and recording how they do it. In contrast, in Drag Me To Hell, having the possession of the ring leads to the psychiatric and mental destruction of the female protagonist. Likewise in my film, because the little boy has the jack-in-the-box in his possession, it leads to him being possessed by the spirit in the jack-in-the-box, and therefore we adhere to a convention of the psychological sub-genre. However, in our research, we also discovered that our audience preferred the thriller sub-genre secondary to psychological, hence why we decided to create a hybrid film, to incorporate both of our audience’s likings. By using a hybrid of genres, iconic of the codes and conventions, we developed our understanding of genre conventions by including both within our film. Thriller conventions are closely related to action horror, in which there are fast paced cuts, however thriller creates a more distorted concept of action through different ways. For example, if you look at the classic film Psycho (1960), many of the shots used are canted camera angles as well as fast paced shots, creating a sense of disorientation, which we have adhered to in our film. In addition, long tracking shots are used to create tension, for example in Insidious (2010), when the male protagonist is walking around. We too have used a long tracking shot at the beginning of the short film to help sustain a tense atmosphere as well as creating an enigma.

Another way in which we have adhered and developed genre conventions is through the use of props. There are many conventions that are iconic of the horror genre, such as sharp weapons and masks, which all builds an atmosphere to instil fear within an audience. An example of this can be seen in The Purge, where towards the end of the film, an axe is a weapon used to murder the male protagonist, and throughout, a mask is used to represent the villains. Again, Psycho is commonly known for its use of a knife though it doesn’t use a mask. Contrasting to both, we do not use any sharp weapons in our film nor do we use any masks. In fact, it is not entirely visible or clear to the audience what happens to the little boy or older sister. The only fundamental prop that is clear to the audience that represents evil is the jack-in-the-box. Though it does not physically kill the boy, the supernatural from within possesses him, leading him to kill the older sister therefore we have developed as well as challenged the conventions of the horror genre.

This then leads onto a film as well as genre convention that we have adhered/developed. There are various narrative conventions that are used in horror films i.e. The Woman in Black follows the equilibrium theory which consists of an equilibrium, a disruption and then a new equilibrium (Todorov’s). We however challenge this as instead of following that, we start off with a disruption which never seems to get resolved therefore we challenge this narrative convention. On the other hand, a narrative theory that we do adhere to is Barthe’s enigma code. This is when the narrative presents mysteries for the audience to work out, or hiding information from the audience creates intrigue. However we developed this further by using it throughout the whole film as opposed to the beginning like most horror films do e.g. 10 Clover Lane (2016). At the start of Jack, you see a hooded person late at night, which already raises suspicion to the audience as you wonder: who is this person? And why is the camera using a tracking shot to follow him – is this something we’re not supposed to see? And then even towards the end, you ask why has this box possessed the child? What happens to the older sister etc. Therefore it emphasises on the enigmas throughout and showing how we challenged the product conventions.

Back to the jack-in-the-box, it is through this that we create fear as well as challenge the genre/product convention. As it is a children’s toy, it would typically connote innocence, which brings happiness for young children, yet here, it is used to bring misery and the supernatural for possession, completely diminishing the purity of the box. For example in The Boy (2016), a puppet is used to connote evil, going against typical conventions, as a puppet is also a child’s toy. However when films like The Boy or The Conjuring (2013) use a child’s toy, there are always effects added to make it more sinister. The doll used in The Conjuring physically looks scary, as well as the clothes being tattered and dirty. Therefore, this influenced us as we then developed the product conventions in all three of our products – the film, poster and trailer. We added our own effects to the box by through smashing the sides to create dents, rubbing coffee over it to give it a dirty look, and scratching out the faces of the clown on the box to give a devilish feel to it. It’s ultimate purpose in the film is recognised as something to bring bad to children, therefore although we conform to conventions through the use of children (also seen in The Shining (1990)/Paranormal Activity (2009), we challenge conventions by not using any of the generic conventions, and using an item that is less associated to the horror genre.

This was then therefore incorporated into our film poster where the main focus was on the jack-in-the-box. To create a sinister feel to the poster and highlight that it belongs to the horror genre, we used some generic conventions that are often seen in horror posters. For example, in The Ring’s film poster, they use a black and white theme where majority of the poster is in black. Likewise in Housebound, the use of lighting is effective as they use a mask as the main focus which is centred in the middle, however the light falls on the mask making it seem scarier than it actually is. We have taken influence from this idea and have used it similarly. E.g. the jack-in-the-box is the main focus, however the light falls on the main clown from the box, illuminating the evil and mirroring the sinister atmosphere of the film.  The lighting also eradicates the innocence of the toy as it enhances all the flaws of the box, such as the uneven sides, the scratchings and the dirt, connoting that the box is old and has been rusting for decades. This also allows the audience to enquire about the film’s plot, and the jack-in-the-box’s purpose within the film, therefore we have adhered and developed to the conventions of horror, however we have challenged it by using our own method through the use of the box - which is not seen in any other film.

Another poster convention that we have conformed to is the use of layout, images and font.. The Uses and Gratification theory suggests that every film viewer knows his own individual taste, and therefore can choose the genre that will give them the most pleasure. With this, audiences have a certain expectation of a film genre, thus knowing what they are most likely to expect. This can be seen in film posters, as the layout, images, font all provide indications as to what genre the film belongs to. For example, the film poster for Marley & Me (2008) mostly implies that the film belongs to a comedy, as opposed to Shutter (2008), which is undoubtedly a horror film. The textured background, red bold font, and disorientated centred image all points towards the horror genre as it is unsettling to even see. However we develop this, as on our poster, though there is nothing visually unnerving to see, there are little clues that suggest that our film is a horror. For example, the dirtiness of the jack-in-the-box suggests that it is eroding away or has been for years now, as well as the scratching on the tin. The slashes across the jack-in-the-box’s face give a sinister feel as well as the font of the title. We developed the conventions as many films use the generic fonts found on Microsoft Word as they are easily available for editing. In this instance, I wanted a font that would be best fit for our film, so I downloaded a font from dafont.com that I thought would look the most appealing on our poster. After a whole load of deliberation, I decided to go with ‘Crucifixion’, as it is very distinguished, so much so that no other film poster has used it. Therefore audiences can automatically register the font with Jack and know that it is about our film. The colour of the font was a convention that was challenged as many film posters typically use one colour. I decided to use half and half, red and off white to resemble the evil possessing over the innocence and red represents danger, whilst white represents purity. In doing so, it makes the poster more visually effective to look at and shows how we adhered, developed and challenged the poster conventions.

Still sticking to the box, we created a trailer that fits the theme of children. Like most films e.g. The Boy, the trailers/radio trailer tend to have things associated to children in them, which is twisted into an evil thing. The Boy – a child’s toy (puppet) which cannot be left alone, has a lullaby that the main protagonist needs to sing for it to go to sleep, however when she doesn’t, he comes alive. We then adhered to this as we included a small snippet of ‘Pop Goes the Weasel’, as that is the tune that is heard from the jack-in-the-box. By including this, it gives the audience an insight into what the film is about, as well as us conforming to the conventions used in a horror trailer using props.

Another convention we adhered to in or trailer is the use of fast paced sound effects and music to build suspense and get the audience excited to watch the film. In nearly all trailers including Paranormal Activity 3: The Ghost Dimension, Insidious 2 as well as The Woman in Black, towards the climax of the trailer, a generic convention is that the pace of the trailer becomes very quick and sharp, heightening the tenseness of the atmosphere. We adhere to this as we also use very quick and sharp sound effects towards the end of our trailer before reaching a standstill. This allows our audience to be swept up within the static atmosphere, hearing different aspects of our film within the trailer to entice them to watch the film. Therefore by adhering to this convention, we can provide the audience with a trailer that lives up to their expectations.

In contrast, we have challenged a convention of horror trailers as we do not use any exerts from our film. Instead, we have a narrative voice, which makes it very different to other films, as well as our own as we do not have a narrative voice in our film. Although this is different from the film, it still allows out audiences to hear from a different perspective, being given history about a jack-in-the-box. The narrative voice tells it like story, adapting the theme of children in a more eerie and creepy way. The deep voice replaces the parts where in normal horror films would have film clips, however there are a few odd trailers that do include a deep raspy voice. For example the Saw trailers include a narrative voice as opposed to simply having dialogue from the film placed into a single trailer. This allows us to differ with our competitors and provide the audience something different to listen to and hopefully grab their attention. Therefore we have adhered, developed and challenged different aspects of radio trailersAnother way in which we conformed to film conventions is through the use of costume and stereotypical representations. For example, blue is mainly seen as a masculine colour, whereas pink is a feminine colour. This can also be seen in my film as the young boy is in blue pyjamas, whereas the older sister is seen to be wearing a pink cardigan at the beginning. This gives the connotation that the female character is more weak than the boy. However, it could be implied that both characters are weak and vulnerable as both characters scream within the film. Therefore it could also give the connotation that both are equal to each other, thus showing that we adhere, as well as develop the convention as we show a difference in character traits as others present them as. 
Furthermore, another way in which we have developed and conform to real media conventions is through the use   of lighting. When we filmed the part of the film where he is walking around the house in the dark, we used lighting to be able to show where he is going. In order to do this, I used a portable light as I did not have lighting equipment at the time of filming it. Therefore by holding the light at a high angle and walking around the house, it gave the presentation of the audience seeing from the character's eyes, directly putting them into the film. If we had not done this, then it would be less effective for the audience and therefore reducing th quality of our film. However, we knew that this would be effective as multiple different films and producers have used lighting in their film. For example, in The Woman in Black (2012) there are various different times that there is low key lighting in the film. For things to appear visible, lighting equipment must be used to make the setting visible for the audience. Therefore we adhered to this. However due to our low budget, i did not have lighting equipment to use when filming. Instead, I simply used a portable light that I had already and used it to brighten up the image on screen. Once I had imported it onto the computer, I then further editited it so that more could be seen on screen. Without doing this, it would be unclear to the audience as to what they're seeing, therefore we have developed as well as adhered on how to use lighting as I did not use the conventional method.  

Another way in which in which we challenged the film convention was by breaking the 180 degree rule. A generic rule that is used popularly in films is that using the 180 degree rule helps establish who is talking to who. This is seen in nearly all films that include a conversation including Sinister (2012), Cabin in The Woods (2012), House at the End of the Street (2012). However, there is a few directors that do break this 180 degree rule within their films. For example, Alfred HItchcock uses this in his classic film Psycho (1960) as well as Stanley Kubrick in The Shining (1990). This is an example of where he has used it, which is also showed in my research. 

We then took influence from this and challenged the general convention. For example when the boy is in bed, we see the right side of his reflection from the mirror, however it then goes onto showing him on the left side. We did this for effect as we were showing the different reflections from the angles used with the mirror. If we had used this when presenting dialogue, then I understand it may be confusing for the audience, however when reviewing our feedback, none of our target audience had commented on the angle, or found it confusing them. Therefore, by using this, we challenged the normal camera composition and added our own effect to the film. 

Furthermore, the last way we challenged the conventions of real media texts is through the title. When I was analysing different short horror films in my research, I generally found that most short films had their title appear at the beginning, following on from other information such as "starring..." or "directed by...". However, there were a rare few films that did not, and instead placed them at the end. When watching these, it did not occur to me that I had missed the titles. However by the time I reached the middle of House of Prey (short film), I wondered what the film was called as I thought it was really good, which then appeared at the end. I then left watching the film satisfied knowing that the short film was good and knowing that I knew the film title. I then took influence from this and used this in my film, though it is unconventional. I placed small information text such as "skasa productions" etc but did not add the titles. Therefore as well as an enigma in the film, the audience also do not know the name of the short horror film and therefore entices them to keep watching to find out. This has seemed effective as in my audience feedback, none of my target audience questioned what the film was called, they were simply content with watching the film and then finding out. Therefore ultimately, I have challenged the media conventions of placing titles at the beginning of the film and instead placing them after the film abruptly stops to add the the effect of the film.

Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? (MUST REFER TO FILM, POSTER AND RADIO TRAILER)

The combination of my main product and ancillary texts are effective as all three are intertexualised with each other in some way. The main way it does so is through the jack-in-the-box, which is significant in all three of my products. In the film, the jack-in-the-box has many close up shots, allowing the audience to visually see the dirtiness and sinister side of the jack-in-the-box as opposed to the ‘happy’ and joyful side of it. This is then followed on through to the poster, where the jack-in-the-box is the main focus as it is centred in the middle of the poster. If it were to feature on the side, it would reduce the effect it has on the audience as well as decreasing its importance in our film. The jack-in-the-box in the poster also signifies the shift from good to evil. Where in the film, the dirt and disorientation of the box is less visible, in the poster is significantly more clearer as there was more work done on the box. There was a dirtied textured background image that was placed on top of the box to suggest that it has been eroding for years, or the lighting used to create shadows and make box seem more devilish. Although in the radio trailer you cannot visually see the jack-in-the-box, you can hear it through the audio as part of the tinkle from the box is used in the trailer. This is the same one you hear in the film, intertextualising all three together. If we decided not to include this, it would be very hard to associate our main product with our ancillary text, and therefore making a less effective impact on the audience. But because we have, our audience can distinguish all three products from other films and posters, therefore making our combination very effective.

Another way our combination is effective is through the use of sound.  In this instance, we cannot include the poster, as it is a visual element, however both the film and trailer include similar sounds. For example in our trailer we use a climatic build up, which is the same one that is used various times within the film. We also included a door knock in the trailer because it is seen in the film. In the film, the door knock is what initially sets the film in motion as without it, the older sister would not come to the door, and the little boy would not ultimately become possessed. Therefore we felt a requirement to include this into the trailer. By doing both of these things it allows us to create a distinct sound between both products and essentially make it more effective for the audience.

Another combination we have that is effective is the typography used in the film and poster. For the title, we use the same font and colours to represent ‘Jack’ as well as using it for our marketing campaign. The font and colours are very different to other horror film typography, therefore it is significant and specialised just for the ‘jack’ logo. By doing this, we can differentiate ourselves from others as audiences would know who we are automatically.  Also, the typography used is not one that is easily available, ensuring that there are no other film posters that use the same one, and therefore highlights the effectiveness of our combination.

This also enables us to create a marketing campaign, as the same logo would be used in a variety of different places. i.e. on a website, social media display pictures etc. We could also use a marketing campaign on social media platforms such as twitter by creating a ‘#’ with our tag line or title, which is #jacksouttoplay or #jack, which are both short and effective. This commemorates with our target audience as they are quite young, and therefore most of our target audience will be on Web 2.0 already, easily allowing them to access our different branches and providing them with information about the film.

In addition, the camera shot and angles when showing the box always stay the same. In the film, when a close up of the box is used, it is always seen in an eye level shot or a slightly high angle, to show that there is nothing vulnerable about the box, and highlights its dominance over the characters in the film. However on the other hand, although our trailer is audio, the fast paced camera shots in the film mirror and represent the same tension and suspense that the trailer has towards the climax of the film. For example when the girl is running to find her brother.  By connecting our products in this way, it provides the audience with our marketing campaign, as there are a variety of ways that our three products interlink with each other if you look very closely, as well as the obvious ways.

As a whole, the audience feedback we received complimented and was in favour of the compilation of our film, poster and trailer. By incorporating the same thing from the ancillaries and the main product, it allows the audience to know that the three go together, whereas if for example we had a film like The Purge, which focused on the dystopian society, a poster that has a sign (white cross, red background) and a trailer that didn’t focus on the plot, then for an audience, and especially from my own viewing experience, is hard to combine the three and see the link. Whereas with Jack, the audience are able to know without having to think because all three products include a jack-in-the-box, emphasising on the name of the product, Jack. For this reason, our audience think our campaign does work very well together because we have found a way to ensure that the concept of our products stay the same, even if we want to present it to the audience differently.

When considering distribution and marketing methods, I think overall, our film may be successful due to the fact that we have a poster, a radio trailer and a teaser trailer all backing the film. If we were creating a high-budgeted film like Zombieland, then the teaser trailer would come in handy as it provides the audience a snippet of what the film will be about, rather than having to listen to the full 2 minute trailer like most Hollywood films have. If I were to release my horror film trailer, I would do it towards the October half term (England, London), so my target audience will be able to watch the film at a time when Halloween is celebrated. More of the audience will want to watch the film at this time because of the atmosphere around the time, and therefore more viewing for the films. I would also distribute my film to cinemas instead of independent cinemas, because of the fact that it enables more of the audience to feel as if they are escaping the real world, including that majority of audience do actually visit cinemas as opposed to independent. However when considering the order of releasing my products, I would release the teaser trailer up to a year – 10 months before hand, prior to the actual trailer and easing the audience into the film, giving them more to look forward to each time.  

Question 3: What have you learned from your audience feedback? (MUST REFER TO FILM, POSTER AND RADIO TRAILER)

 Our audience feedback has been essential in the production of our film, poster and radio trailer. Without it, we would not have ultimately been able to create products fit for our audience. The Uses and Gratification theory assumes that we actively seek out media to satisfy individual needs, such as social interaction and entertainment, and therefore because the audience is such a vital part of a production, their input is essential because that is who you are making it for.

We created a questionnaire to ultimately find out what it is that our audience actually want to see. We sent the questionnaire out to different people, both male and female to get a fair and equal response, but mainly targeted those aged between 12-18, as that is who we want our target audience to be. The first question we asked was “What genre of horror do you prefer?” and gave them a list of the different genres. It was evident that our audience preferred the psychological sub genre, as 25% had chosen that as their favourite. Although comedy was secondary, at 20%, we did not want to create a psychological comedy hybrid, as we thought it would reduce the impact it has on the film, therefore we chose the third most favourite sub genre of our audience that was thriller. Already we knew how we could incorporate both into our film I.e through long tracking shots, slow editing etc. therefore to please our target audience, we included both psychological elements as well as thriller conventions into our main horror film.

This was further reinforced by Q4, as we asked our audience “if they could create a horror film with two sub genres, which would they choose?” This was the deciding factor as to what sub genres we would actually use, as this way, we are genuinely giving the audience what they want to see. Again, psychological peaked at 45%, however this time, thriller was second at 41%, and therefore we felt it would directly target our audience.

Another question we asked was “What elements of horror films scare you the most?”. It became obvious that the most important factor was ‘sound and music’ as 71% of our audience had chosen this. Because of this specific feedback, when creating our film, I paid extra attention to the detail of the sound and music in our horror film, which was then approved by our audience. In the feedback, a member of our target audience said, “another thing that made me want to keep watching was the use of sound effects. Each sound effect fitted the scene perfectly. For example at the start of the film, the rustling of the leaves…” highlighting that the attention to sound did pay off for our audience’s - viewing experience.

The next question we asked our audience was “what character they liked the most”, to which many had a range of answers. Some said, the villain, whilst others said the victim. However a couple of the responses we received were the ‘possessed’ person, therefore we wanted to include that into our film. The Hegemonic Cultural Stereotyping suggests that the media reinforces and circulates traditional ‘old fashioned’ representations. So, when looking at the stereotypes of a “possessed” person, one could often give the connotation of pale skin, creepily being happy, satanic associates etc. By learning this, we tried to incorporate these features into our young child actor. We had added make up to make him very pale, however when we used the lighting to film, it diminished the make up on him and made him look normal skinned, whereas in normal light he looked much more scarier.

For our short film, we adhered to Barthes’ enigma code theory, as well as Todorov’s equilibrium theory. Where one focuses on presenting mysteries for the audience, the other has a structure of an equilibrium, disequilibrium and a new equilibrium. In my film, both is used to an extent capture the audience’s attention from the very beginning. This was highlighted when I received feedback from my audience whilst watching the first plot’s animatic storyboard (before the changes made to the film). They said that “because [they] don’t know what is going on or why they’re being followed, it makes it more interesting”, and therefore the convention of the enigma code has proven useful. However now that we have changed our storyline, our audience still enjoy the enigma at the beginning of the film as they said they enjoyed “having unanswered questions e.g. who left the box at the door? Or why was the box left there in the first place”. Thus this shows that even through the changes, we have found a way to still attract our audience, as much as we did in the first film’s plot.

Likewise, the structure of Todorov’s theory can also be found in my short horror film as we follow along the narrative conventions. In the first plotline, we started off with a normal day, but when the man gives the box, there was a disruption. But, contrasting to the theory, we did not end off with a happy note as it is unclear as to what happens to the two sisters – there is no happy ending. Now, although we do not use another man, the box is simply left on the doorstep by a person unknown to the audience, making them enquiry into who this person is. However we do keep the ending the same, as the little boy becomes possessed by the soul within the box, and something happens to the older sister. Unlike our film, Sinister 2 ends with a collection of events that happen in the film, whereas in mine, there is none, both entering and exiting with a sense of an enigma for our audience.

On the other hand, we do not adhere to Levi-Strauss’s Binary Opposition theory, where opposite forces work against each other to create conflict or balance in the narrative. Although we have good and evil, which is seen through the young boy, he becomes evil therefore it is debatable as to whether he can be described as two different forces. Similarly, we do not apply to Propps’ theory of different character types. He suggests that every story has a hero, villain, princess/prize, and the helper. However we do not have any of these, as the hero becomes the villain, the older sister cannot be regarded as the princess as she becomes a victim, and there is no helper as instead he helps the villain by placing the box on the sibling’s doorstep. Therefore we do not apply to Propps’s and Levi Strauss’s narrative theories.

When receiving feedback, our audience read our film differently to what we thought they would. Although not all of our targeted audience interpreted the film in this way, some did and therefore we can include Hall’s Theory of Encoding and Decoding. Majority of our audience were hegemonic (dominant), as they accepted the presentation of information in a traditional and commonly accepted way. On the other hand, the rare few were oppositional, where the information presented is not accepted because they reject the ideologies being presented. Some audiences thought that the female character was the young boy’s mother, despite her being on the phone to her mum in the second scene. But perhaps this could have been because of the way that she was dressed, as she was very well presented, and stereotypical views on teenagers present them to be messy and unorganised. But this is a positive representation of teenagers, as it goes against this stereotype and instead shows that teenagers do not need to be categorised like this. In fact, the character we have in our film takes on the responsibility of looking after her brother for the night, thus showing that not all teenagers are irresponsible. Therefore from our feedback, although some may say that the confusion of her being a mother is a negative, I believe is a positive because it presents young people – our target audience, in a way that they are not normally represented.

The feedback I got for my poster was generally good because therefore it showed that our target audience did in fact appeal to it. Nicholas Abercrombie suggests that audiences like knowing what they are about to see, therefore from our poster, it gives hints as to what is included in the film, so they can build up certain expectations. Because of this, they can gather up the clues from the poster and work it out themselves, creating a sort of interactivity between the audience and the poster. For example, our audience liked the fact that our poster had a child-like handwriting for the tagline “jack’s out to play” as it represents children, and therefore it gives them an insight into what the film is about I.e. the film will include a child. However there were a few, small amendments that our target audience highlighted, which would improve the poster as a whole. The first was that the title seemed to disappear into the background, and the audience were drawn into the tag line as opposed to the poster. To fix this problem, we made the colours of the title ‘Jack’ bolder by brightening the colour of it, and reducing the amount of redness on the title. We also made the tagline at the top of the poster smaller so it still stands out but less than the title.

Another problem was that both “the tagline and the jack-in-the-box look realistic, but the title doesn’t. It fades into the background and the texture of the-- title isn’t as clear so it doesn’t match up to the rest of the poster”. We knew that the title did not look as professional as the jack in the box and the tagline but that was due to issues with Photoshop. For the tagline, we were able to download the font to the school’s Mac, however it was not letting us download the ‘Crucifixion’ font, therefore we used a third party’s laptop. But this caused problems as when we shifted the .psd file to our original laptop, the font had subverted to a different font that we did not have. Therefore to provide a poster to use for feedback, we screenshot the title from the third party’s laptop and placed it onto the poster we were working on. This therefore affected the quality, which is what our audience commented on in the feedback. Now, I was able to download the font onto the laptop I am currently using and add the text directly onto the poster, giving it more of a professional and clearer presentation.

Another simple poster improvement our audience suggested was to make the “credits readable” as “there are some people who actually like to know who’s in charge of what or who the actors are”. This was an easy improvement to make as we just shifted ‘layer 10’ which was the certification lower, to make the font of the credits bigger. This then therefore improved the issue our audience had.

When getting feedback on our radio trailer, we knew that there would be various different improvements hat we would have to make, as we gave them the teaser trailer instead. This gave us an indication as to what direction we should head in for our trailer. For our teaser trailer, we kept it very simple and had a deep raspy voice narrate a brief history of the jack in the box. We also had a few sounds and suspenseful music. This teaser did appeal to some aspects of the audience, but not all as some though it did not attract them. For example one said that “there wasn’t much to it” as the sounds in the trailer were not exciting. Therefore to improve, we added multiple more sounds to the trailer to entice the audience. For example we added an eerie ‘ahhhhh’ sound, as little effects make a big difference. We also added dramatic build ups which I downloaded from soundbible.com which is also used in the film. Contrastingly, I added my own sound effects into the trailer, making it more person, for example the door knock, as that is what sets the film in motion. By developing the sound, we then did another response and feedback, in which the audience did not fault the trailer. Therefore, we learnt what our audience did not like, and adapted the official trailer to fit the audience’s requirements.

Another improvement our audience said to make was to increase the sound so that the voice used is clearer and so the audience can hear what he is saying. There is one particular part in the trailer where the voice cannot be heard as well as the other parts and that is when the sound dramatically increased for effect. This was an easily fixable issue as we simply increased the volume, and reduced the other sounds. This benefitted the audience as now they can easily hear every aspect of the radio trailer and therefore by listening to this, we have been able to improve the viewing experience for our audience.

Question 4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Research

·       For my research stage, one of the media technologies used was the use Web 2.0, to compile all my ideas into one specific format. On Web 2.0, I was able to use various different softwares to present my research. The first one I used was Emaze, which allowed me to create a PowerPoint, and then upload it to Emaze, creating a much more fun and visually appealing product to present my research for my short film. Or I could create a presentation from scratch on Emaze, which would give me just the same. For example, I used this in my research stages to show what I learnt. E.g. my social media responses, presenting it in the form of a gallery making it visually attractive. Therefore when someone watches it, they’re not simply just watching a PowerPoint, the vivid colours and effects added make it more intriguing to watch (Used in social media responses, looks like a gallery)

·       Another website I used on Web 2.0 was Prezi, in which was a similar presentation website like Emaze. However, Prezi differs, as it is more interactive than Emaze. It allows the user to zoom to the next slide, as well as edit the sizing of text/slide. Yet, like Emaze, it allows the user to add different shapes, forms, and slides that all connect to each other. For example I used Prezi to present the Development of the Horror Genre, in which I could add music to engage the viewer and provide an essence of the theme of the production. This method was effective as it visually attracts the audience and visually appeals, providing different forms of presentation.

·       Another web 2.0 website I used was slideshare.net. This website simply allowed me to upload a presentation onto the website to embed it onto my blog. I used this various times during my research stage for simple basic information to upload to my blog. For example, I used this to present my horror movie survey, instead of placing the screenshots directly onto the blog. Although there were no effects I could use, just a simple left and right, it was still a different form of technology I could use to present my survey.

·       I also used flipsnack, also on Web 2.0, which is most preferred out of all the different formats I have used. With flipsnack, it allows you to upload a PDF file and it converts it into a book format. You can then flip the page like a book does. I however did not use it like a book as I used it horizontally. I used this to present the conventions of sub genres, as it was visually appealing and interactive for the audience to use, therefore I used this format to appeal to the audience as it is different from Emaze and Prezi.

·       I also used Web 2.0 to go on YouTube and Virginmediashorts to watch and analyse horror film trailers. By using YouTube, I was able to find a range of short films in the horror genre, similar to virginmediashorts, however virginmediashorts specifically had different genres of short horror films. This allowed me to choose a range of different films to watch and analyse my favourite ones.

·       I also used netflix.com to watch films to analyse, such as: The Purge and Sinister 2. This made access to horror films a whole lot easier, as well as gave me influence as to what I could incorporate in my film. I was also able to gain knowledge about these films to include in my coursework. Therefore to avoid using illegal websites, or websites that plant viruses, I used Netflix instead as it was a safer option.

·       In addition, I also used surveymonkey.com to get primary research. I used surveymonkey because it is a website that allows you to create online questionnaires that you can send to people of your choice. I then therefore used this for my audience survey to find out what it is exactly that my target audience want. This was a very efficient way and more non-biased as we do not know who said what, therefore it respect’s the participant’s privacy and confidentiality too.

·       I also used iMovie, to create my audience profile. As I used a Fujifilm HS25 EXR camera, I imported this onto the MacBook Pro and used the software iMovie to create a short movie on my ideal target audience. I did this for both male and female. This allowed me to add text on screen, record a voiceover as well as include music to create a final product for my research presentation.

·       I also used Blogger, to upload all my different research products onto my blog for a final presentation. For example, for my BBFC Regulations, I directly typed everything up onto the blog, as there are some information that I did not format onto another presentation website. I also typed up the film analysis/trailer analysis and reviews etc. as it was much more laid out and clear on blogger. Blogger allows me to insert pictures, embed links onto the post, highlight, position and many other basic Microsoft Word actions, and therefore I used it to present those pieces of information that would be difficult to process on a website.

·       I also used an App from the Apple Store called Vidra to conduct and present my research for my film, which later affects the poster and trailer. This was particularly useful for various different things, as it allowed me to create videos using music, record speech, adding text, effects, symbols etc. This meant that I could teach an audience without having to make them read paragraphs upon paragraphs. When I introduced a theorist, e.g. Levi-Strauss, I could enlist the quote about his theory in text, and further develop my text about how it is applied to films through my voice inserts, therefore the audience have something to look at visually, as well as something to listen to, keeping them engaged at all times. I could also make the presentation visually attractive by adding images of books, horror figures and fantastical images, changing the colours to best fit the theme of my presentation. This method, I believe is one of the most interesting ways to efficiently and creatively present something that you have learnt because of the variety in the features you can use, allowing you to engage with the audience visually and through audio.

Planning

·       During the planning stage for my film, I used a website called storyboardthat.com, to create different cartoon pictures for a storyboard. This allowed me to create my storyboard as opposed to drawing it which would be much more effective as my drawing isn’t up to scratch. The animatic storyboard gave a much truer representation of the initial plot for the film. Therefore by using storyboard that, I could then create my animatic storyboard with would be used to receive audience feedback on the plot of our film. I started off the animatic with the opening credits, where I used effects and transitions to fade the production company on screen. The text I chose was slightly bold, because I wanted the audience to focus more on the setting of the film and what was happening rather than the text. The effect I used however gave a disorientated effect, implying that there is something broken or wrong about what is going to happen next. I could also add sounds and effects, but could not layer them. I was able to record audio and place it over the sounds and layer it that way. Likewise, if I wanted a voice over, I could extract the sound from the clip and then delete what I didn’t want to continue the flow of the sounds. This therefore allowed me to create a more useful production to show my audience what my film was going to be about and how it would be presented. Thus, they would be able to give me a more accurate feedback on how to improve, which they did, and therefore because of this, I could improve my film for when the time came to produce it. Furthermore, it allowed me to add transitions, effects, sounds and text onto the movie project. For example, as I did not add in dialogue and speech because I did not have the actor’s lines on a Dictaphone, I used text to appear on screen so the audience would know what they’re saying to provide an image of what the film would be like. Therefore when it came to receiving feedback, my target audience were able to give a more accurate response as opposed to something they wouldn’t understand. This was also particularly useful for my radio trailer also, as many of the sounds I used for the film, were also used for the trailer, creating a sense of familiarity for the audience when watching/listening to both.

·       I also used websites such as dafont.com to plan for the typography and sounds I want to use for my poster and trailer. By using dafont.com, I could go through endless different fonts, which I think would be useful for my film. For example, I found the font that I wanted to use for my title ‘Jack’ as it is called crucifixion. I then added put all the fonts onto a page and decided with my partner which one I should use for my film.

·       Another thing I used multiple times was Google, to plan and research various different things. For example when planning on the regulation for my film, I needed to know what certification to give it and what rating would be suitable. To find out, I used Google and went onto the BBFC’s website to see what they enlisted as the criteria for each rating. I then decided that the film was a 12A, as it did not focus too much on this. Without Google, I would not have been able to find the website and would not be able to provide a rating for my film.

·       I also used Google documents as another form of uploading information onto Blogger. For example the Location RECCEs, I used Google documents to upload my word document as it is, whereas on other forms, I would have to edit and change it. It also allowed me to slide the pages up and down, whereas on others, it would be condensed onto one page. This was particularly useful it did not require much time and efficiently allowed me to embed the file onto blogger.

·       On the other hand, I also used my mobile phone to get into contact with my other team member. It was through iMessage or WhatsApp that we would have meetings about our film. From this, I screenshot the conversations and uploaded it onto flipsnack to present it on our blog. Without the phone, it would be much more harder to get into contact with my team member, therefore it was one of the most essential parts of planning, as most of the decisions we made, were made over text.

·       For planning, I also used Photoshop to create a logo for our production company. Photoshop was significant when using it as if we did not have Photoshop, we would have had to use paint or Microsoft word, which would not firstly be saved as the file type we needed (jpeg) and it would not render many editing tools that we could use. Therefore Photoshop allowed us to place text over an image with much better quality than if we used any other software.

·       Like the research stages, we also used Microsoft word again for various different texts. These included the treatment, proposal and the script, which are all fundamental when planning a film. Because we used Microsoft, we were able to edit and add to our planning, allowing us to be versatile in what we wrote. It also cleared up and made the text presentable as we could change fonts, add bullet points, add italics/bold and even have a spell check. Therefore Microsoft helped as it gave me all these options.

·       I also used social media on my phone to plan the kind of horror make-up I wanted to do. Before we changed the storyline, in the first storyline, we wanted to do a close up of a hand being carved into. I specifically remember this akhanartistery’s picture coming up on my news feed, and thought her profile was very interesting. She specialises in special FX make up and there was one particular special effect she did on her hand where it looked like she carved out a chunk of her skin. Instead of a pumpkin, I wanted to use a J in our film instead for Jack, therefore without Instagram, I would not have found this profile and be influenced by Aisha Khan’s work.

·       Like the research stage, I also used slideshare again to upload basic information. An example is the costume list where I used Microsoft’s PowerPoint presentation to make the list, and then uploaded it onto Slideshare to present on Blogger.

·       Likewise, this is the same use as Emaze, however in this stage of planning, I used it to present the typography and font of my film. Where I used dafont.com to find the fonts, I pasted the images of the font onto Emaze so reviewers could slide through the pages of different font styles and tell me which one they preferred. It also allowed easy access and allowed us to slide to the page we wanted.

·       However, to do this, I used the Mac/MacBook to screen shot what type of fonts we wanted to use. I pressed the command button, and the number 4, for a little pointer to appear. I then highlighted the section I wanted to make into a picture and the Mac almost immediately screenshot it and made it into another jpeg. I could then upload these pictures of screenshots onto Emaze or for my own personal use. Without this, I would not have been able to show the variety of fonts I wanted to use in the film.

·       Despite all these media technologies, I used soundcloud to present the changes to our film. This was simply just to explain what I did, why it wasn’t working and what we had changed it to. For this, we didn’t need to visually show anything, therefore I used soundcloud to record what I was saying and make it into a file that I could embed into my blog. As this records in one go, I was able to efficiently record and stop when I needed, therefore it was a very useful technological website to use.

Production

·       When creating my film and radio trailer, I used a Dictaphone in order to create the sounds I wanted to use to create effects. For example, at the beginning of the short film (second storyline), the man walks behind them as his footsteps gradually increases. We then used a person walking with semi-heeled boots on so we could hear the footsteps amongst the ambient noise and recorded it on the Dictaphone. This allowed us to create a crisper sound file, as opposed to downloading one off the Internet and having it muffled. This also allowed us to create it at the pace we required it to be, and how it sounds. Likewise, for the sound effects on the trailer, we needed a door shutting, so at home, I slammed the door shut whilst recording it, to create the sound. We also used this in the film, and the audio was much clearer. This was effective as it provides the audience a better viewing experience because of the much more clear and crisp sounds, adding to the overall atmosphere the film creates.

·       To import this though, I needed to use a cable with a USB port to upload all the sounds onto the MacBook for editing. To do this, I simply plugged the dictophone into the cable and Mac, and clicked where I wanted to import it to. This was then added to my desktop, which I could then click and drag wherever I wanted. Therefore without the wire and MacBook, I would not be able to transfer all the files I need.

·       To record my film, I used a DSLR camera to film the scenes. I specifically used a Canon 1200D as it films at a better quality and has a high resolution. It also allowed us to change the different settings such as from autofocus to manual focus. As we were filming in low lighting, it was hard for the camera to autofocus onto the things we needed it to; therefore we used manual focus to do it ourselves. We also increased the brightness on the camera, as the surroundings of the location were almost impossible to see. This brightened the image that was being reflected into the camera and allowed us to film at the setting we wanted.

·       However just to help that little extra further, I used a portable light to help us film. Although it wasn’t the official lighting equipment, it was still part of media technology as it required charging docks. To help brighten the scene of walking around the house in the dark, I help the portable light above the camera, ultimately helping improve what was appearing on screen.

·       When producing my horror film poster, I initially needed to take a picture of the main focus, which was the jack in the box. This was very difficult, as we wanted to shoot in dark lighting but make it seem as if there was a spotlight on top of the box. However when we used the big lighting equipment, the light increased the brightness in the room. Similarly, when we used our phones, it did not also give the effect I wanted the box to have. So instead, we simply took the picture of the box placed on a black curtain with no folds to resemble a black background. I then changed the setting of the camera to manual focus on the box as I wanted and then uploaded all the images onto the Mac using a connecting cable.

·       I used the software Photoshop, which is what many producers/artists in the industry use to edit/create images. The first thing I did was make the background darker than it was. When I took the picture of the jack-in-the-box, I took it against a black curtain so majority of it was how I wanted it to be. This therefore saved me the hassle of tracing the outline of the box with the ‘lasso’ tool, and strip the image to turn it black. However towards the bottom of the poster (A4) page, the lighting had brightened compared to the top of the poster, so I added a clear gradient from black to help fade in the dark to black. I also used the layering of images and effects to make the box appear to be dirtier. I got a textured image from google, and layered it upon the original image of the box, and cropped it so it fits just the part that I want and then selected ‘multiple’ to combine both layers together. This was effective because it created a more grim and dirtied feel to the box, which is what we wanted to portray. It also added to the overall effect of the poster, by portraying the evil side of an innocent toy.     

·       For my radio trailer, I used Logic Pro to produce my radio trailer. I also used studio equipment to do so. For example, when we needed a deep voice for our radio trailer, we used a microphone and told our speaker to talk into the microphone, which was directly being recorded to Logic Pro. This then allowed us to edit the voice into the one we now have on our radio trailer. Without this software, we would not have been able to edit the voice and make it more effective. As well as this, without the microphone, we would not have been able to get a crisp sound and improve the quality of sound in our trailer.

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Post-Production (Editing)

·       To edit my film, I used Final Cut to put together and finalise my short horror film. Due to the limitations of not being able to layer sounds on iMovie, as seen in my Animatic Storyboard, Final Cut allowed me to do so, as well as have more effects/transitions/animations to choose from to put my film together. I used specific effects to the clips such as a ‘prism’ and ‘bloom’ to create a sense of distortion. As well as this, when finalising my film and exporting it, Final Cut had a selection of HQ, allowing me to decide on how much quality I want the film to have. On iMovie however, there was a limit and even when exporting at 1080p, the quality was still blurry and the noise was unclear. Final Cut however was the most effective because it didn’t do this and maintained the same quality even after exporting.

·       However without using the MacBook, we would not have been able to do this. We needed to import all the footage from the camera, which we did using the SD card, and saved it onto the laptop. Once it was on, I went through and sorted the film clips into ones we could use and the other for bloopers or just ones we simply couldn’t use at all. As well as this, as the laptop was portable, I could take it wherever whenever I needed to film, therefore having the film on a laptop made editing so much more easier than having it on computer.

·       I also used dafont.com again to download font, however this time, it was simply for the purposes of the film. In the credits, I used a different font that is not available on the final cut text options. I downloaded and installed the ‘kidsfirstprint’ font and used it in the film at the beginning and for the credits.  By using this, I was able to create a greater effect and surround the theme of children, which was the whole idea of the film. By using dafont.com, I was able to select the ideal font and use for a greater effect.

·       For post-production of my film, I continued to use Photoshop to further edit my film. For example, to create a more drastic and dirt effect on the box, I used Google on web 2.0. to find images of textured backgrounds. Once I had found the one I wanted, I saved the file and placed it over the jack in the box. I then selected the image options and clicked on multiply, processing the image of the box and the dirtiness of the textured background together. I also did this with the title of the film, however instead I used two images and multiplied them to the white title, adding a dirtied and bloodied effect to the white title. This overall improved the quality of the poster and made it more effective.

·       Another editing effect I added onto the poster was the use of a spotlight. As we could not get this effect through the camera, I added the lighting effects in Photoshop to make the jack in the box seem more devilish and overall improving the professionalism of the poster. Therefore but adding this lighting, it makes the box seem more centred and dominantly presents it as the main focus of the poster which is essentially what we wanted.

·       Like we continued to use Photoshop for the poster, I continued to use soundbible.com to download different sounds for the trailer. However, I also used YouTube to find additional sounds I wanted. To then convert these sounds into an MP3, I used a software I downloaded called FreeYoutubeToMp3Converter, and pasted in the link, compressing it into an MP3 file. Both of these places are where I got the different sounds in my trailer from, as well as the ones in my film. Ultimately without it, the trailer and film would not have the same impact is does have right now on my target audience as both products would be more boring and less effective.

·       I then added all these sounds onto Logic pro, where I layered and added all the sounds I wanted to. I could then distort the sound by changing the pitch and sound levels. For example the ‘haaa’ sound was increased as it would stand out against the other incidental sounds and sound effects. I also added fade ins and fade outs, for example right at the end when all the sounds come to a gradual silence – this is because I used a fade out. If I didn’t, the trailer would stop abruptly, seeming as if the trailer s incomplete, however logic pro allowed me to add this effect, and adding to the effectiveness it had on the audience.

Evaluation

·       For my questions, I used a variety of media technologies that I had already previously used. However, I heavily relied on using Google. For example in question, I needed to find various examples of real media texts, so I would use blogger to find things I had already studied, and then get the poster image of the film from Google. I would then drag the film’s poster image onto my desktop. Without Google, I would not have been able to attain the various images I needed.

·       Again, by using the mac, I was able to use FinalCut to make question 1. I imported all the media files (images) that I needed onto final cut and order them however I wanted. I then added in text and effects to make the question seem more visually effective as it is a very long production to be watching. I was able to use the blade tool to specifically cut the dialogue I didn’t want included and then delete it, without it having an overall impact on the whole video.

·       To make question 2, I used iMovie as opposed to final cut. Because it was fairly shorter and I was more used to using iMovie, it was more efficient in editing question 2. It allowed me to add transitions like ‘move’ and ‘turn’ on the short video, as well as adding images and videos. By doing this, I was able to prove the points I was making, and therefore proved effective as it let me do what I needed to.

·       However, to record my speech I used audacity. Firstly, I pressed record to start talking, however if I need to pause for a moment, I could press the pause or stop button, depending on which one I needed. When reviewing it, I could easily highlight a selected area and press backspace, which would easily delete it. I could then export the recording as a wav to use in FinalCut or Prezi and therefore, I liked using Audacity because of its ease.

·       I also used YouTube, to find examples of the things I was explaining. For example, the shining example in question one. I typed in examples of breaking the 180 degree rule and the shining was one of the examples I found that was showing the example in a horror film. Therefore without YouTube, I would not have evidence to back up my point that I was commenting on. I also used YouTube to upload my questions and use the embed file to put onto blogger. Without uploading it, I would not have been able to present my questions, and therefore would lose marks for my evaluation.

·        To create question 3, I used Prezi, as both question 1, 2 and now four are all similar. By using Prezi, I can present the information in a different way rather than recording my speech and uploading it to an editing software etc. I can add different transitions that iMovie and final cut don’t have and make it look more appealing. As well as this, I can still upload my speech but instead have it as a main voice over, still providing the information I need to answer for the question. 

Another form of digital technology I used in my evaluation stage was QuickTime Player, which helped me in not only Question 1 and 2, but mostly in Question 4.  I used QuickTime Player by going to 'file' and pressing 'screen recording'. Then, a recording button would appear on screen and then it would capture whatever is on the MacBook's screen and then save it as a video onto my desktop. I then uploaded this onto FinalCut and used it whenever I needed. This was effective as I could show the viewer exactly what it was that I did during my research, planning, production, post-production and evaluation stages. By demonstrating this, my audience can see just how I put everything together and therefore proves that I used digital technology in all stages of my film, poster and trailer.