Evaluation - Question 4

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

Evaluation - Question 3

What have you learned form your audience feedback?

We gathered feedback before, during and after the making of our trailer in order to try to create the best product possible for our target audience. Before filming began, we created a survey asking people questions such as what they thought the best name for our film would be and what kind of things they think make a good trailer. This allowed us to gather an idea of what we needed to do in order to create an effective product, for example, it is because of this audience feedback that we decided on simply calling our film ‘Slenderman’, as the majority of the audience said they liked the simplicity and obvious link between the name and the Slenderman legend.

During the making of our trailer, we showed a small audience a rough cut of our trailer and asked for feedback and tips in order to improve it before handing in the final version. This proved to be extremely helpful, as it gave us an idea of what was working and what wasn’t. At the time, the trailer had a very long opening scene that included lots of shots of the forest. Audience feedback told us that although these shots were effective, they went on for too long and meant the trailer moved too slowly. After hearing this, we were able to change the opening by shortening it and reducing the number of similar shots, which vastly improved the trailer.

Once we had finished our trailer completely, we showed it to a large audience and asked them to fill out questionnaires afterwards, which asked them for their opinions on it. By gathering the information acquired, we were able to find out the aspects of our trailer that our target audience believe are strong or weak points and understand what we could have done to make it a better product. From the information gathered, we found that the majority of people enjoyed the product overall and thought it looked professional and well made. However, there were a few criticisms, for example, some people did not think the overall narrative was very clear from what was shown in the trailer and others did not like small aspects such as the fonts used for titles. By taking these criticisms on board, we can now fully understand where we went wrong and how we could change these points to improve our trailer.

Here is an example of an interview carried out with a member of the audience who is answering the questions on the questionnaire.   

Evaluation - Question 2

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

    

Evaluation - Question 1

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

Final Magazine and Poster.

Further Magazine Progress.

After looking into existing front covers of movie magazines, we have noticed that the majority of the time, the image will be taken as if the actor who plays the character is themselves rather than the character. For example, they will be airbrushed and have a neutral expression/smile on their face, rather than portray any emotions commonly associated with the character they play or have any bruises/cuts that may suggest the genre of the movie. We have therefore decided to remove the bruises and cuts that we had put on our image previously and instead airbrush the photo as if we are focusing on the actress more than the character she is playing (although she is still dressed as the final girl).

 We have also resolved the previous issue of being unable to centre the image effectively by taking a new photo which is perfectly symmetrical and fits easily in the middle of that page, allowing writing and pictures to be placed evenly on either side. 

Magazine Progress.

Now that we have established all the conventions that our magazine cover will need to include and follow, we have been able to develop it further and begin to make it look visually appealing and professional. We have taken a better quality photo of our final girl for the cover, however there are still some issues with it, such as the fact that it is not quite symmetrical, with her hair taking up much more of one side of the page than the other. This makes the image very hard to centre effectively, which is essential for making an effective and visually appealing front cover. We may need to resolve this by taking a new photo in the near future. 

We have decided to add effects on photoshop, such as bruising and cuts, as this reflects our narrative by  giving the impression that the character has been running away/been through some kind of dangerous situation.  

Magazine Cover

This is the first draft of our magazine front cover. We have featured our main character (the final girl), as it is a common convention of movies of any genre to do this. We have decided to use 'Total Film' magazine, as they have previously featured horror films such as 'Jennifer's body'. For the time being, we have focused more on gathering all the conventions that we believe are needed to make our magazine to look professional, such as taglines, bleeds, special offers/giveaways, masthead etc.  rather than trying to make the magazine look visually appealing. 

          

Poster progress

We decided to use an eye as the main focus for our poster as it gives the impression of being watched, which relates to our movie narrative as Slenderman is 'always watching'. After looking at existing products such as the poster for the film 'Skeleton Key', we concluded that eyes were effective at creating discomfort and fear in audiences. 

Using photoshop, we have given the poster the same effect as is seen in our trailer which makes it look as though it has been captured by a video camera/CCTV. This is related to our film narrative, as Slenderman often interferes with modern technology such as TVs, video cameras and phones. 

We have also decided to use the Slenderman logo within the eye in our poster, as this firstly gives the poster a strong link between our other products and secondly is greatly discomforting to the audience as it looks very unnatural. It also gives the audience an idea of what the film may be about. The fact the eye is wide connotes fear and suggests that this film will be scary. The Slenderman logo within the eye then suggests that this logo and whatever is associated with it is the source of the fear. As our trailer is based upon an existing legend, anyone who has heard of it before will instantly recognise the symbol and link our film to it. 

Horror Poster Analysis

Existing.

Finished Trailer.

This is our final trailer. We chose to keep it short, as we felt it would be more effective this way because we were able to make the pace a lot faster. It also makes it easier to hold the attention of the audience, as their interest may have declined if it went on for too long.

Slenderman Logo.

The use of the Slenderman logo was vital in our trailer as it will link it with the poster and the magazine cover. We decided to place it at the very end of our trailer and made it so it transforms the 'A' in Slenderman into a figure.

End Credits.

After watching several horror trailers, I noticed that almost all of them had logos such as Dolby Digital on the end credits. I decided to do the same on our trailer. I also noticed they included promotional material such as Facebook and Twitter pages, so I tried to recreate this.

Sci-Fi Filter.

Throughout our trailer we have used a filter called 'Sci-Fi'. The filter gives the video a green tint, which can then be edited to look like CCTV or video footage. This is effective as it reflects the technology aspect in the Slenderman legend and our film narrative. We plan to use a similar effect in our poster and film magazine in order to create a strong link between all three. 

Restricted Rating.

We put a restricted rating at the beginning of our trailer as this is the rating that most horror films and trailers receive to prevent underage audiences from watching them. At first we were worried that we would not be able to use the american film industry rating screen, however, after finding examples of British horror films and then watching the trailers on YouTube, I noticed that they all used the American rating screen. For example, '28 Days Later'.

Lionsgate Opening.

We chose to use Lionsgate as the production company for our trailer, as we have noticed that a lot of horror films with a similar target audience as ours use Lionsgate. We used the Lionsgate logo at the beginning of our trailer but edited it to make it better suit the horror genre by darkening the video and giving it a red tint.

Trailer Sound Effects.

As well as music, sound effects are extremely important in making a trailer effective. After watching several trailers, I noticed that the majority of them used screams and deep bass rumbles, so I found free samples of these sounds online to use in our trailer. I also used a radio effect and TV static effect as they fit with our film narrative and reflect the Slenderman legend. I used a raising high pitched noise at points in the trailer as it is extremely uncomfortable to listen to and creates huge tension.

Although for most of the trailer the sound from the raw video files was muted, there were some shots that needed their original sound, such as heavy breathing. In order to do this and still be able to edit these clips (eg cutting between different angles/viewpoints), I had to first detach the audio from the clip.

This allowed me to cut between different shots of the same scene without disrupting the audio.

I recorded people talking to go at the opening of our trailer and used a telephone effect to make it sound like they are speaking on a radio or telephone, as if they are being interviewed about their experiences with Slenderman. I did this using a program called Logic Pro, before exporting the sound files and importing them into iMovie. 

Trailer Music.

Using the right music in a trailer is vital as it sets the mood and can effectively put people on edge. I looked at some websites that offered royalty free music, the best one being incompetech.com. This site offered free music from a wide variety of genres, including horror.

Although I did not find any music that could be used for the entirety of the trailer, I did find one track called 'Gathering Darkness' that we ended up using for the opening, which created a build up of tension. 

For the second section of the trailer in which the speed increases, I decided it would be best to use a soundtrack from an existing horror film, as the music has been purposefully made for the horror genre therefore is likely to be effective. After listening to music from several soundtracks, such as The Shining and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I decided to use a track called 'Gotcha' from the film 'When A Stranger Calls', as it sounds like a chase scene and also has different sections to it that change the mood of the trailer. I especially liked the use of Psycho strings in the piece, as they are very effective in creating tension. 

                                     

Rough Cut Trailer 2

Audience Feedback.

Updated Version of Mini Trailer

Pan's Labyrinth - The Pale Man

I have found a clip from the film 'Pan's Labyrinth' on YouTube which includes a creature similar to Slenderman that uses one of his many alternative names - 'The Pale Man'. Like Slenderman, this creature has no eyes or distinctive facial features. This is an example of how legends, including that of Slenderman can be used in modern film and can be changed and played upon to create effective horror movies. 

Trailer Editing.

A short video in which I explain how I have edited the trailer so far.

Trailer Ideas.

After taking a few shots for our final trailer, I have decided to test them out by editing them into a quick mini trailer that could possibly be used as an opening to the real thing.

Location Shots.

While I was out filming for our trailer, I also took some shots of the location which we could possibly use for our poster and magazine cover. I have also edited them using photoshop to make them look more professional and suitable for a horror movie.


Edited photos:

Unedited photos: