Evaluation Task 4- How Did You Use New Media Technologies in the Construction, Research, Planning and Evaluation Stages

Voice recorder-

I used a voice recorder in the construction of my film to record some voiceovers throughout our trailer such as our tagline “keep telling yourself it’s just a date” at the end of our trailer and the narrative voice over that says “this summer, 4 strangers, get a surprise they didn’t expect”. The use of the voice recorder allowed us to capture the voices of different people, for example we started off using one male voice for our narrative voice over, how it didn’t fit our genre of film due to his accent. Therefore we were able to use the voice recorder again and record the same voiceover with someone different and this ended up suiting the trailer much better. The voice recorder was a very good quality which was vital as we needed it to be clear as it conveyed the narrative more than the non-diegetic voiceover and created sound bridges which is stereotypical of a trailer. The voice recorders were available for us to borrow from school and we were allowed to borrow for as long as needed.This was very useful for me when doing my evaluation 2 as I used it to record my script to overlay onto my trailer. The fact it was so accessible meant I could take it home to record it instead of having to do it in school, as there was no quiet area for me to record in. This piece of technology has therefore improved both my evaluation process as well as the construction of my trailer as well.

Microphone-

To support our camerawork in the trailer, we used a microphone attachment for the camera which allowed us to improve the sound quality, compared to the video camera’s standard microphone. This was very important for the construction of our film because throughout my research I noticed how important it was to have clear and concise dialogue as it is such a short amount of time in a teaser trailer. Therefore this microphone attachment enabled us to have a very high quality level of diegetic sound in our trailer and conform to conventions of the horror trailer genre, making our product professional.

Powerpoint and SmartBoard-

For our initial ideas we had to carry out a pitch for our class mates and teacher. To do this we used Powerpoint to put all our ideas together onto a document. This allowed us to put together our thoughts about our plots, characters, music etc. in a visual way for our class.This allowed us to get some constructive criticism that we may have otherwise not seen ourselves, therefore benefiting the construction of our film. We also used an interactive whiteboard to display what we made on our powerpoint. This allowed us to clearly show our class and teacher our ideas that would otherwise have been difficult on a small computer screen. Due to this we got lots of feedback on how to improve our initial ideas, once again greatly befitting our film. 

IPhone-

-Firstly we used our iPhones and made a joint ios groupchat with our 4 group members and our actors. This allowed us to easily communicate information about the schedule for filming and costume choices when we couldn’t see them in person. This allowed us to keep every informed and up to date to avoid any issues with actors being busy on filming days. Without this new technology we would have come across issues as it was difficult to arrange a time within school that we could all discuss the film with our actors in person, therefore this feature was a great tool in the production of the film. I also used the camera feature on the iPhone for my ancillary tasks. I needed to take 2 photos using a portable high quality camera to conform to the photo shoot style of photography used on magazine front covers and film posters. Therefore with the use of my iPhone’s 12 megapixel camera I was able to create this high quality image that made my product look realistic. As it was lightweight and very portable I was also able to climb on top of a bollard with the technology to take the high angle shot that I wanted. This wouldn't have been possible without the use of this technology which is why it has greatly improved my campaign.

Social Media-

Social Media played a huge role in our research and planning process. I firstly used a site called Instagram to find out about what types of conventions that our target audience. I used the # to search for horror in the hashtag. This showed me pictures of what people had posted with the hashtag of 'horror' such as of the main character from Oujia. From this we learnt about what conventions from horror our demographic likes and we decided from this what conventions of the genre to conform to. This taught me how to use hashtags to search for different posts relating to a topic. We also used social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to post our draft of our film onto. We choose these sites because they have the highest traffic of 12-18 year old females compared to other sites. This allowed us to get feedback on our film opening from a suitable demographic and this gave us ideas on what to improve. Therefore this helped with not only the research but also the production as we made some changes to our film as a result of target audience feedback.

Video Camera-

This was an essential piece of technology that helped us to produce our film. These cameras were available to access from school and we could book them out and use them in offsite locations such as at home. This was very important because it meant we could conform to stereotypical horror/thriller locations such as an abandoned barn which we filmed at. This was a very easy process due to the very convenient small size of the camera which meant we could easily transport them to various locations. This was also important because it reduced the chance of damage equipment which we had to consider in our risk assessment. Throughout the filming process we were able to the camera in different ways to help achieve different effects. Firstly we learnt about the lighting settings on the camera which allowed us to create the best possible lighting for each shot, we used low key lighting in parts to fit the genre conventions of the horror/thriller. We were also able to take a range of different shots on the camera. For example we wanted to take a low angle shot of our main character Hayley and this was not an issue to do using the camera. This shot was important because it allowed us to portray her as a character of greater importance as a low key shot conveys dominance. Lastly we learnt the importance of a steady shot which we successfully achieved and made our film as professionally shot as possible, which is important when competing with other professional horror/thriller films. To assist us with this process we used a tripod, which although not entirely a piece of technology itself, it was an essential part of ensuring we took steady shots.

Adobe Premiere Pro CS5-

Using Adobe Premiere Pro was a new skill that I had to learn this year after using Final Cut Pro last year, skills from as simple as cutting videos was difficult because we had to work out a new method of doing so. However the software was great once we learnt how to use it, the software allowed us to add post production effects, such as our fade to blacks and cross dissolves which is stereotypical of the horror genre to have lots of simple fade to black; therefore the software allowed us to conform to this aspect of the genre. We were also able to import the music we had found FreePlayMusic.com with no issues, we simply had to use the important function and then we were able to drag this onto our film, therefore combining our footage with music that fitted the horror genre. Further to this the software had sound transitions called “expendational fades”, this was vital for us as we used two different soundtracks and this allowed us to seamlessly blend them together. I also made some inter title backgrounds on Photoshop, but I wanted to make the titles on the editing software so I could fade them in and out to add excitement for the audience. I was able to find a font and colour that suited the horror genre and also edit the title so that it moved slightly forwarded and faded in and out, this made our trailer look much more professionl than a standard inter title, so Adobe Premiere Pro was a great tool here.

Further to this the software also benefitted the construction of the trailer as it let us add in images onto the trailer. This was very useful for us because we have a section of our trailer where we have 5 different shots starting with an extreme long shot of the barn and ending with a close up of it. This software let us add this images and zoom into the length of the clips, allowing us to cut them to very short lengths as thriller trailers are stereotypically fast and jumpy, therefore this technology allowed us to recreate this. Another useful feature of the software was the image positioning tool, which allowed us to slightly rotate one of our shots because we looking at it we had filmed it with the tripod on a slight angle. This looked unprofessional but this tool allowed us the readjust the shot so it looked more professional. We were also able to change the lighting of a certain shot in our trailer, because we had filmed it outside in bright daylight it looked out of place as the majority of the rest of the footage was low key lighting to conform to the typical conventions of the horror genre. However the lighting change was simple to do on the software, benefitting the film as the clip fitted in, increasing the fluidity of the trailer. Not only Adobe Premiere Pro help our construction of the film itself, but there was a feature which allowed me to create a copy of the project. This was important as it allowed me to edit the trailer for my evaluation task 2 without effecting the original copy. Overall the Adobe Premiere Pro software was brilliant for both the construction of the trailer and also my evaluation task.

Dropbox-

Dropbox was another important website that we used throughout the process of the construction of my products. Dropbox is an online server that allows you to save documents and pictures on your account and access them wherever you are. This was very important throughout the planning and research process because it allowed me to save work and research that I had done in school and work on it during my free time at home. This helped benefit our film because having the access to the work at home allowed me to meet certain deadlines that I may not have otherwise met and this would have delayed the production of our film. Further to this when creating my two ancillary tasks this software was vital as I was able to edit them on photoshop at home, where I had much more time to improve the work I had already done in lessons. Dropbox allowed me to save these changes and then open up them up again in school to work on again in lesson. Without this technology my taks would have been a much lower quality of work because I simply wouldn’t have had the time in class to get it to the standard that I was able to at home. Therefore Dropbox not only helped with my research and planning, but also the production of my ancillary tasks.

Photoshop-

Photoshop was an essential piece of technology that I have used throughout the process of the construction of my campaign. Firstly I used the software to create a mood board of different horror movie posters in my research of stereotypical conventions found on them. Being able to put a series of different film posters together like this helped my to a great degree as I could easily identify key codes and conventions of posters as they were all together. In my research I also made an annotated version of the ‘Sinister’ poster on Photoshop, improving my research section on my blog as it allowed me to show research in a visual way to support my written research. When doing this I had to remember to save the images I created in a Jpeg as well as in PSD because the Jpeg format allowed me to upload them onto my blog.

Photoshop was also very useful as it allows you to use different layering on a single image. This come was very useful in the construction, firstly in the trailer as I was able to combine the image of our barn location with an old looking worn paper using the opacity setting to blend them together. This allowed us to create an aesthetically pleasing background for the inter titles to keep the audience engaged, whilst maintaining synergy of the isolated barn location by having it incorporated. Shortcuts were also another important aspect of Photoshop as the quickened the construction process of the tasks. For example ctrl+T allowed me to change the sizes of different images, this photo manipulation was very useful for my magazine front cover as I could make images smaller, such as the photo of Sean for the “special interview”. I also used the Lasso tool when creating my magazine front cover which was very useful as it allowed me to delete the background of the close up of Hayley, allowing me to just have her on the front cover, a typical convention seen of many front covers. Lastly the blending options tool came in very good use when I was making my film poster, I found a font I really liked as it fitted the horror genre. However having it in black or white made it stand out too much and it didn’t suit the genre. Due to this I used the blending options of bevel and emboss on “D.O.B”, creating a new depth to the text, making it suit the poster and it also made the appearance of the font much more professional.

Prezzi-

Prezzi was a website that I hadn’t heard of before starting the campaign; however it came into great use in the research and planning section. I saw it firstly when researching about the codes and conventions of film posters. I found that someone had created a Prezzi presentation about that and I felt that I learnt far more from this presentation than I would’ve if I had just read the information normally as it is so interactive. Therefore I decided to test the software for myself in my research of Bourne Ultimatum, after watching the film I created my own presentation about what stereotypical thriller genres I had found. Therefore this technology improved my research as I could present my ideas in a much more visual way compared to simply writing out what I had found. Further to this, I also used this new technology very useful in the evaluation process as well. I was able to use Prezzi as seen in task 1 to evaluate different aspects of my film. Prezzi was so vital to this because it allowed me to combine a visual representation with my evaluation of the different topics together, making my evaluation easy to read and understand. Which is why this technology is brilliant as it has allowed me improve my evaluation of my products as well as my research, therefore greatly benefitting my overall progress in the process. 

Freeplay music-

Freeplaymusic a useful tool to use during the process of constructing our projects. We used this website to browse different soundtracks that we could use for our trailer as it is free. The website has a wide range of music that is copyright free and also appropriate for the style of horror film. It is also easy to download onto the computer, as well as being able to cut and extend the songs in Adobe Premiere Pro. Therefore the website allowed us to find music and directly use it in our trailer without worrying about any copyright issues that may occur if we found the music anywhere else. We also found a soundtrack called “battleship descends” on the website which we decided to use in our trailer, so the website greatly improved our construction of the trailer.

Blogger-

Blogger was the first site that was an essential part of the process throughout this project. This is because it acted as an online diary that helped us track and keep all of our research and planning safe and recorded. The importance of this is that if we made these notes and records on paper it could be easily lost, however Blogger ensured the safety of our work. This benefitted the making of our film greatly because blogger is very easily accessible on a wide range of devices from desktops to iPads so it meant our research and planning was safe and ready to be used whenever we needed it for our film. Further to this blogger allowed our teachers to view our work whenever convenient to them and allowed them to leave comments on our research and planning and these improvements benefitted our film.

Youtube-

Youtube was an important asset because it enabled us to upload our videos such as our film trailer concept pitch and our final film, as well as being free to use. This made it easy to post onto places like our blogs which saved us a lot of time, allowing us time to work on other areas of our film. Youtube also helped me to great extent in my research as there is such a wide array of trailers from the horror genre, as well as horror styled music which made researching much easier. Therefore YouTube greatly benefitted our project as it allowed us to improve our blogs for research and planning and we directly used this research and planning for the making of our film.

Evaluation Task 3- What Have You Learnt From Your Audience Feedback?

I have created a pie chart which shows how much positive feedback there was in comparison to negative feedback, which visually shows how much the audience feedback helped as they could identify this percentage of improvements compared to positives. Whilst the positive feedback was helpful as it told us what points had gone well, the negative feedback was more helpful as it was constructive and they identified weaknesses that we couldn’t see ourselves, improving the overall finished product.

After we held 2 viewings of our trailer this was the positive feedback we received on what they felt worked well:

-They felt the soundtracks we used worked well together and were good as they allowed the pace of our trailer to progress and build up to an adrenaline filled climax.

-They liked the intertitles as we incorporate an aspect of our film into them (the barn).

-They liked the way we built up from a conversation at the beginning of our trailer and ended with a fast paced action filled section.

-They said how our section of quick cuts with a series of fade to blacks onto the barn worked very well.

However we also had some criticisms which were:

-They felt the one of our fade to blacks between a shot reverse shot at the beginning of our trailers made it confusing and didn't add to the film.

-They couldn't hear the conversation between our actors at the end of the trailer as the music was too loud.

-Our audience were split on opinion on whether or not our voice over worked due to the American accent.

-They couldn't see the relevance of our title in our trailer.

-The text on the inter title needs some improvement.

Here are the main changes we made to our trailer to improve our work after receiving feedback:

Change 1:

“The fade to black on the shot reverse shot and the start makes it confusing”. 

We used lots of fade to blacks throughout our film because they help to build suspense and create mystery around the scenes as it hinders the shot for a slight second. We decided to use this in our conversation between the characters because they are having the conversation about why they are all in an abandoned barn. However after our criticism we looked at this fade to black between India and Joe and decided that it didn’t work, it broke the fluidity in the conversation and didn’t fit. This now fitted the scene much better because we changed it for a simple cut which is a typical transition to use between a shot reverse shot. This audience feedback was very helpful as we were able to remove the confusion, whilst keeping the other fade to blacks in the scene, allowing us to still conform to the stereotypical conventions of the thriller trailer. 

Change 2:

“We can’t hear the conversation between the actors in the final scene of the trailer”.

We had our “battleship descends” soundtrack in the second half of our trailer because the beat of the song compliments the visual montage. It was a similar soundtrack to the “Revenant” trailer, so we knew this method was effective as it had been used in a real successful media text, which was also a thriller. So we wanted to keep this soundtrack throughout the second half of the trailer, but had to take this criticism on board so the audience can here the diegetic dialogue too. To overcome this we went on the audio transitions and found an “expedential fade”, this was an audio effect which would slowly fade out the music with the option of where to start the fade. This allowed me to start the fade out just before the conversation so that you can hear exactly what they are saying. This was very effective because it meant we didn't have to decrease the volume of the rest of the soundtrack, conforming the the genre conventions of loud fast paced music in thriller trailers, as seen in “Revenant”. Therefore this criticism was vital to the construction of the trailer because this was an element that we hadn’t spotted ourselves, yet was obviously a major feature of our trailer so correcting this was essential for success.

Change 3:

“Not too sure whether the voiceover works or not”

We decided to use a voiceover at the half way point of our trailer to compliment the first scene and to clarify the narrative. It says “This summer, 4 strangers, get a surprise they wasn't expecting”. Our feedback was that they liked the voiceover itself because it works well in our trailer and is a stereotypical thriller convention. However the voice over was recorded in an American accent as this is what we had seen in our research of movie trailers, having the trailer appear professional. However due to the stereotypical English characters and settings they felt it simply didn’t work, where it works in trailers like Oujia which are American. We started off by using the style of the dramatic voice, just without the accent. However this also didn’t work as it made our audience want to laugh which is the opposite of what a physiological thriller trailer should do. We also took this audience feedback onboard and thought about methods of avoiding this. We wanted to keep the voiceover as it was so important to the narrative aspects of the trailer as mentioned, and after several other recordings we figured it out. We used a mundane male voiceover, which didn’t take away from the tension and suspense that the trailer builds, whilst also conveying the narrative. This allowed us to conform to the thriller voiceover convention whilst also not hindering the effectiveness of the trailer by making it comic. Having this critical feedback from our audience was vital as initially we liked the first voiceover and didn’t see any issues, yet upon reflection it is now much better with the advice, consequently improving the trailer.

Change 4:

“What is the relevance of the title to the trailer?”

We initially took our inspired from the numbered title in 1408, and decided on the title “18.02” as it was the birthday that tied all of the characters together. We made it very clear in the audience that trailer that the 4 strangers were connected by their birthdays, but didn’t this didn’t reflect the specific date in particular. Therefore our feedback reflected this as they couldn't spot the relation. Once taking this advice on board, we decided we wanted to keep the title related to this main narrative aspect as it is central to the plot, and many thriller like Oujia, use their main narrative in their title. After drafting ideas we decided on “D.O.B” (date of birth), it still relates directly to their connection of birthdays, whilst making it a lot more obvious. After changing the title the audience agreed this was a much better choice, immediately conveying the narrative and making it memorable.

Change 5:

“Try and make the text more interesting on the intertitles”

Although we received some very positive feedback for our inter titles, which was the barn effect background, they felt the text could be improved. To do this we looked at whether the font was effective. In our research we found a very similar style of serif font in annabelle’s inter titles, which is why we decided to use this, and as it was effective in a real media text we decided to keep it the same. However we agreed that there was room for improvement, which is why we decided to use effects on the text. Orginally in our draft the text just cut onto the screen with the inter titles. However we used a blur special effect on them, so that they would transition from a nothing into the text and then fade back out before the inter title ends. This made the inter titles appear much more professional as movement in inter titles is what catches the attention and engages the audience as we found in our research. So this feedback to make improvements on this area greatly benefitted the trailer, by further engaging the audience.

In my ancillary tasks I also displayed my draft film magazine and poster to the class and received some more feedback, which was:

Positive:

-The magazine layout looks very modern and effective.

-They liked the use of photo manipulation for the sticker and the special interview.

-I was told the main image in the film poster was very engaging

-They liked the tagline and the font I used.

Negative:

-They felt the large red title clashed with the rest of the orange colour scheme.

-They felt said the shoulder of Hayley looked odd because of the angle I took the shot at.

-They say how the ghost I used on the poster wasn’t obvious that it was a ghost.

-I was told how I should try to make the “Hayley Brown is Charlotte”, fit the poster better.

Change 6: 

“The red on the title clashes with the orange colour scheme”

 I had created the title to offer a different colour to the magazine to avoid over-loading the front cover with orange, and I chose blood to connote blood and danger as it linked into our psychological thriller trailer. However after receiving this feedback I knew I had to adapt the colour as the colours orange and red clash too much when there is so much of it, ruining the appearance of the front cover. I tried changing it firstly to white and then black, (after I put a background onto the front cover) although they both clashed even more than the originally red colour as they stood out too much. After trial and error I decided to try the orange colour that I had used to the rest of the colour scheme. It is important to keep a front cover fluid as seen in my research of Empire magazines, and keeping the orange throughout allowed me to do this and avoid clashing. This audience feedback was vital for this aspect of my magazine front cover as it avoided the overpowering and clashing look that I otherwise would have had.

Draft

After Audience Feedback

Change 7:

“Hayley’s shoulder looks odd, maybe because of the angle its taken at”

I agreed immediately with this feedback and it was something I had spotted myself but I was unsure of how to rectify it. I firstly tried cutting it out using the lasso tool on photoshop, but after doing so it made her shoulder look stranger because it was obvious something was missing. I then decided that I would simply cover the shoulder so that nobody would see it, rather than taking it out. I used photoshop to create a competition sticker in the top right corner of where her shoulder it, covering up the shoulder but not taking away from the effectiveness of the close up shot. This feedback was very useful as it made me re-think my approach to how I could improve this aspect of the magazine cover.

Draft

After Audience Feedback

Change 8:

“The ghost looks like a mad-hatter rather than a ghost”

This feedback was important because the mad-hatter was not an effect I was trying to achieve of the front cover of my magazine. Personally I couldn’t see this and one half of the class liked the ghost effect. However I am looking to target my film at a mass market rather than a niche, so I decided I need it to be clear and appeal to everyone. Firstly I contemplated taking the ghost out completely, but this left the poster looking plain and didn’t reflect the film’s narrative as well. So I decided to change the ghost, making him slightly darker and also smaller. He still remained at an opacity of about 50% which meant he wasn’t completely bold, maintaining my element of mystery (a common element of psychological thriller poster). The ghost effect looked much more realistic and the audience said they could now see exactly what it was, allowing me to get the preferred reading of my product rather than the initial oppositional reading that I got from some people. So this audience feedback was great for me as it allowed me to know exactly where I was going wrong and rectify the issue before completing my final draft.

Draft

After Audience Feedback

Change 9:

“The ‘Hayley Brown As Charlotte’ doesn't fit the wall”

This was also a piece of criticism of my poster that I had considered myself. The text is positioned centrally to the poster as it is an important piece of information as Hayley Brown is an actor that is presented largely throughout all products to remain synergy. Therefore this brought attention to this and was effective. However because of the main image being taken on a wall with a corner on it there is a change in angle of the wall, making the text appear misplaced and unsuited to the poster. Therefore I decided it was vital to take on this advice and make some change to the text. I split the text into two different text boxes so I could rotate different parts of the texts at different angles on Photoshop. I used the rotate tool on photoshop to then align the text with the brickwork on the wall, making the text therefore fit the background and look much more effective.

Draft

After Audience Feedback

Evaluation Task 2- How Effective is the Combination of Your Main Product and Ancillary Texts?

Here is my voiceover of Evaluation 2, layered over the top of my final products:

Alternatively you could read my script for the voiceover below:

After completing my main task and both ancillary texts, I feel the combination was very effective as they include the same main elements. The main synergistic feature of my campaign is our main character- Hayley Brown. In the film she is the protagonist who is vital to the plot and the battle between good and evil. Therefore I felt this was important to heavily incorporate in my campaign as it immediately provides a connection for my target demographic to identify all products as the same film, consequently increasing the fan base prior to the release which is the purpose for the promotional campaign. I demonstrate her significance in the trailer through the use of editing, like a slow zoom we had on her saying ‘I really don’t like this’ and a shot reverse shot between her and another character ending on her as the last shot of the trailer. This highlighted her importance as the main character because the emphasis was on her, in my poster  I further supported this with a single shot of her covering her mouth. I used this shot not only to create synergy between my product but also to engage the audience in my poster, it conveyed fear and would shock a first time viewer, which is what a horror movie poster should to in order to increase their fan base. Further to this the shot was taken of Hayley in jeans and a jumper which allowed me to create a sense of realism for the audience as this is the stereotypical clothing off a teenager, who represent a large majority of our target audience between 15-25. This was a common element seen in both my trailer as well as my image of Hayley that I used on my magazine front cover as she is wearing exactly the same clothing to ensure it was as synergistic as possible. This allowed the audience to identify Hayley same character as being from D.O.B. I also choose to use Hayley as she has such an innocent and unique appearance, not only does this make her easily identifiable but also emphasises the danger for the audience due to her innocence. 

Further to this the mise-en-scene in the poster heavily connoted the horror conventions as I used an old-looking wall that gave away very little hint as to where the location was. In our research we found a common fear for audiences was a fear of the unknown therefore I decided to incorporate this here as it is such a typical physiological thriller convention. This was a synergistic element as there is a shot of India walking past this same location in our trailer, as well as further isolated locations such as an abandoned barn as seen in our inter-titles.  The narrative involves the characters in our film are being haunted and are in danger, a common theme that is presented throughout all three products. Firstly it is seen on my film magazine cover as I have used the main character Hayley Brown looking into the camera screaming and reaching out with her hand. The reaching out of her hand connotes the narrative that she is trying to get away from something and reaching out for help, further supported by her screaming expression on her face. I took this photo in the daytime in a well lit area to ensure the shot was in high key lighting and clear as it truly emphasised the fear in her face, further engaging the audience with this product as it is a common feature of film posters to have clear, high key lighting shots of characters. Having Hayley hand reaching our in the way also creates an illusion that she is further back and brings emphasis to her, something I found here in my research of Empire Magazines. This narrative of danger is exemplified in the trailer by a quick low angle shot of India being hung and a close up of Hayley’s expression of shock being told ‘you must break the connection’. Further to this there is also the longshot of Hayley with her hand over her mouth on the corner of the wall as previously discussed. The hand over her mouth reflects the fact she is trying to hide from something, engaging the audience as it creates the element of fear. Therefore the narrative of a physiological haunting is an element I managed to maintain throughout all products to ensure I kept the audience interested. 

In my research of combinations of promotional media products I found how often they maintained synergy in the font and colour of their title. Firstly I found a very effective font and colour to use for my title at the end of my trailer which was simple, yet very effective as it left an impression on the audience. However when looking to incorporate this same style onto my magazine and poster it simply wasn't as effective. Therefore I decided to subvert this common convention and use different styles of font and colour that matched each of my products. However a feature I also hadn’t seen in my research was a bold synonym for as title as we had chosen “D.O.B”, short for date of birth. Therefore as this title was so unique and the title itself was so easily recognisable, subverting the theme of synergistic font and colour of the title was not an issue as an audience can still easily relate the products together.

As explained Hayley is the main character, however there are still 3 other important characters to the films plot. This is seen in our trailer as we have high angle shots of them all together and also a non-digetic voiceover saying “four strangers”. Therefore my poster is only an example of one of a series of 4 posters which I would make when promoting the film. This is a promotional method I have seen in my past research of The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1. Which google brand labs used as an example of “world building”, therefore this method will allow me to do the same for my audience. Also as our USP is the  inclusion of four different strangers, bringing them together in an unknown situation. This is a feature seen throughout my products they are detached and alone in my series of 4 film posters, they all don’t know one another in the trailer, and in my magazine front cover I used the photo manipulation to put Sean another main character on the in a picture frame for a special interview, however he remains detached from Hayley’s photo, conveying our USP effectively throughout my products. Also in my poster I Incorporated the ghost from our trailer to portray her as the vulnerable victim, keeping a common element throughout my products as she is portrayed the same way in my trailer and magazine. Therefore the characters are effectively represented through my products.

My institutional information is another element I had to maintain throughout. You can see how Pinnacle productions is our production company as I put it clearly in large on the ending titles of the trailer and in small print at the bottom of my poster. which I felt important to emphasise in both the trailer and film poster as it is a common film convention we saw in our research of similar films. Further to this the release date was a feature we needed to ensure was synergistic the effectiveness of the task falls on the fan base built for the release date. On the film poster I used “In cinemas this summer” as it builds an element of suspense as the audience is not exactly sure when it will be released, making them further engage with other promotion such as our trailer where they can find that the film will be released on the “22 of june” (effectively tying the two products together). It was  also the final frame on our trailer which makes it more memorable for the audience and increases our viewing numbers.

Using my tagline on all of my products is also an element of synergy as it gives them an insight into the film, “keep telling yourself it’s just a date” as seen through the voiceover at the end of the film and at the top of my poster, the tagline will also be feature inside the “special interview” with Sean as seen on the front.


Overall I feel the combination of my main text and ancillary tasks were very effective as they all clearly have synergistic elements that tie them together and make the campaign memorable for my target demographic. Consequently increasing the amount of viewers my film will get, essentially the reason for promotion which would suggest it was a success. As discussed I made the title, tagline and characters all large and clear on each product as these are want the consumer immediately identifies and in doing so promoting the film successfully. 

Evaluation Task 1- In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms of Conventions from Real Media Products

Making Ending Credits

Throughout my research of other similar thriller trailers I found a common convention that they all seemed to conform to, and this is having ending titles with production details and a release date. After looking through several different styles for these end credits I found that the"Annabelle" had very effective style of font and size for the quick time they were on the screen. These can be seen below:

As I found these so effective when watching the trailer myself I decided to conform to this style of ending titles. However the only difference being that I choose to use a plain black background rather than this style seen in the Annabelle one. This is because they will be put directly after our D.O.B title screen which is also black therefore I want it to show continuity. I made the titles on Photoshop which was a great tool for incorporating elements such as our production company and social media Facebook page on there too. I was also able to find the font "PT Serif Caption Regular" on there which was a very similar style to the one seen on Annabelle. The titles I made can be seen below: