Evaluation Plans

The next step is the evaluation which muct answer the following questions;

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
• How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
• What have you learned from your audience feedback?
• How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

There are many ways to conduct the evaluation such as a podcast or DVD commentary but I have decided to present the evaluation in the form of an interview with the director which will be interspersed with shots from the film/trailer. This is inspired by existing interviews with directors about their upcoming films, however the questions will be those above.

Completed Teaser Trailer

Here is the link to my finished teaser trailer for 'Sour'... Thank you to everyone involved and everyone who helped me with feedback so I could improve it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T4MgBCJIa8

Completed Magazine Front Cover

Here is the completed front cover of a film magazine with my new film as the main feature. I have adapted a similar layout which I dicovered from my previous analysis which I think makes it look more professional. From my audience feedback, I decided on a new font for the masthead as it was the most effective. I also made the tagline, date and price more visible so that the target audience can see these elements clearer and easier.

Completed Poster!

This is the final poster for my horror film, 'Sour'. I blended 2 shots from the teaser trailer together (see planning) and added all the conventional horror film poster conventions such as the dark colour pallete as well as a tagline and a credit block whose importance I had found out about through my previous analysis. There is no age certificate because my research into other film posters show that they are not often included. I'm happy with the final outcome as I think it captures the target audience's attention and looks professional. If you have any feedback on how to improve it even further please leave comments.

Teaser Trailer Audience Feedback

Today I felt that the trailer was so close to being finished that I conducted audience feedback from my teachers and peers so I could add finishing touches to make the trailer as good as it could possibly be. The overall thoughts on the trailer were very good with everyone understanding all the shots and only a few suggestions were made. Due to the audience feedback, a shot has been cut out of the trailer as it didn't really have a purpose and now it flows much better. Also, most of the shots already fitted in with the sound effect of a heartbeat but a few had to be trimmed and tidied up so now the sound effect fits in with the edited shots where appropriate. A final suggestion was to emphasise the biggest tension points in the trailer so in able to do this I have added a pulsing sound effect at 3 of the highest points of suspense which heightens the tension throughout the teaser trailer. The trailer is now complete and I am happy with the final product. Expect a link to see it soon.

Teaser Trailer Music

While I was editing all the clips together, I noticed that the music of a horror film can make or break the mood that the director is trying to create and that is why there are so many iconic horror themes such as 'Pshyco'. I have personally never seen 'Physco' but I can recognise the theme instantly and this is the ideal that I had in mind whilst searching for the perfect piece of music which I eventually found after a long search. The element of music was the hardest part of trying to complete the trailer. The music had to be copyright free which is quite hard to find even though there are many websites that offer it. I found it hard to find a piece of copyright music that was long enough and had the right atmosphere so it would fit in with my trailer. I finally found a piece called 'Movie Homicide' at audiomicro.com that fitted perfectly so I downloaded it and it's now on the near finished trailer.

Editing

When I uploaded all the footage onto the iMac it turned out I had recorded over 80 videos. This was a bit daunting because I had to search through all the footage to find the good clips but I was happy because it meant I wouldn't have to re-shoot anything as I had lots of footage to choose from. I have started editing now on the iMac and it is a lot trickier than Windows Movie Maker but in order to show progression I am using new technologies. The iMac is pretty good and I have now put all the clips in order and cut them down to appropriate lengths which means lots of film has ended up on the cutting room floor. I still have to add sound effects and uncopyrighted music as well as add in all the transitions but it's definitely coming together. Lets hope it turns out as well as I hope it will!  

Lights... Camera... Action = Complete!

I completed filming yesterday and the planning that I had done for the day was extremely beneficial as I knew where I had to be at what time and the storyboards helped to keep me on track. My actors were great and easy to direct so they also made my job a lot easier. I shot lots of extra footage so hopefully I do not have to re-film as this would cause major problems with continuity. This also means that when it comes to the final product, there may be elements that are in the teaser trailer which are not storyboarded but whatever looks best is going to make the final cut! I'm looking forward to editing soon so look out for the final product on YouTube in a couple of weeks.

Filming Soon...

It is now less than a week until I film my horror teaser trailer but I feel that I am very prepared. I have made ammendments to the storyboards according to the audience feedback so therefore I know what footage I am expected to shoot for the final product. As well as this, I have organised the actors, arranged props and mise-en scene plus chosen settings that fit in with the atmosphere of tension that I am aiming to create in the teaser trailer. Watch this space...

Results of Audience Feedback

I have accumulated quite a lot of very useful audience feedback which I can use to help me perfect my storyboards and therefore the overall product of a teaser trailer for a horror film. The overall response to the idea has been very successful with people looking forward to the final product. Nearly all of the feedback has been posted through the Facebook group page which shows the wide spread demographic and reach of social networking sites.

From my audience feedback I have learned that I need to incorporate more lighting effects and that less is more when it comes to lighting in a horror film. To use this feedback to improve my overall product, I have incorporated some colour choices of red, a stereotypical element in a conventional horror film colour pallette, in the teaser trailer as well as using minimal lighting such as a single candle to light a shot.  

I have also recieved feedback on the editing and due to this I have minimalised the amount of fade transitions as it can appear 'amateur'. Taking this feedback into consideration, I have reduced the amount of fades and replaced them with hard, fast and jump cuts to add more suspense and tension among the audience. This in turn, will make the film more appealing and the trailer will be more effective in conjuring up interest in the film.

Anymore feedback will still be appreciated.

Feedback on Facebook

Finally getting some useful audience feedback on Facebook. Please comment on here if you can't on the blog. Anything is useful to help improve the storyboards and make the teaser trailer the best it can be with your help!
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622#!/group.php?gid=154802151209593

Storyboard Feedback

Please leave any feedback from the storyboards on this post. What you like, what you didn't like, what you would like to see and constructive critism are all welcome.
Thanks

Media 01/10/10

I'm getting on pretty well with the research element of the course. I have now analysed 3 horror film posters which you can view on 'Slideshare' by following the links on the 'Existing Film Poster Analysis' page on the right-hand side.
I have completed the shotlist for 'Sour' and I have tried to incorporate a lot of different shot types such as MS, CU and LS and when I film I will make sure there are some high and low angles as well.

To make my teaser trailer as good as it can be I need some feedback on the planning process. Any comments you have on my work would be greatly appreciated and can be written here or the Facebook group if you follow the link below. Thanks for visiting the blog and keeping up to date with my work :)

Please Vote!

Please vote in the polls on the right-hand side (How clear are the storyboards for 'Sour? & Are all the horror conventions you would like to see in 'Sour'?) and leave any feedback as a comment on this post. The storyboards can be found on the 'Storyboard' page and a list of Horror Conventions are available if you click here. Your comments will be taken into consideration and help to improve the storyboards as much as possible. Any other suggestions about the storyboards or the plot are also welcome. Thanks...

We're live on Facebook

Paige's Media Blog can now be accessed through Facebook. Messages and feedback can be left here as well so follow the link: http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622#!/group.php?gid=154802151209593

Media 24/09/10

Today I uploaded my planning and final idea storyboards to my blog. Please have a look and comment on them. What improvements can you suggest? What aspects do you like? Would be interested in watching something like this?

Media 23/09/10

Today in media, I started my storyboard for a trailer of a new horror film. I find it quite hard to be creative because no matter what you do nowadays, there are always elements in there of somebody else's work. I'm trying to think of a media convention that I can turn upside down in an effective way in my trailer and the trailer for 'Devil' has given me a few ideas. Look at the analysis of the trailer to see my observations on the horror conventions.

Media 14/09/2010

Today in media I watched the film trailer for '28 Days Later'. After studying the trailer and watching it through a couple times, I discovered that even though it was just over a 2 minute trailer, it included more than 50 frames including graphics. The type of camera shots included an establishing shot and a mid shot and camera angles included a high angle. There are so many different camera shots because when combined with the music, they build tension and show lots of aspects of the film. This acheives it's purpose of hooking the audience. After this, I created 3 film ideas of my own and wrote a summary of them in less than 50 words. Now, I have to create a story board of one of these proposed ideas. An effective trailer should include lots of camera shots, a variety of camera angles, diegetic/ non diegetic sound and graphics including the production company's logo.