Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation Question 4

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


Link to my Podcast:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5th0syxte83icmn/Question%20Four.m4a?oref=e

When researching up on my three tasks, I analysed existing media products, for example trailers on YouTube, magazines in the shops, and posters in the cinema and on google. From doing this, I found posters and magazine covers on google where I could go into deep analysis with. I chose 4 of each ancillary text, where I used PowerPoint to break down the important conventions I needed for my own products, this is shown on my blog. After taking time to examine enough horror products, I knew I wanted to do a psychological horror. This is because it was the most favoured sub-genre, and was very popular in films. It plays with the audience’s fears and beliefs, and are known as the tensest films. For example The Ring, The Shining, and Silent Hill are all well-known films that have had good reviews. When starting to plan, I used a diary to keep on track of work and to look back at how we did things to date. Originally I used Microsoft Word as an online diary, but I found this hard to keep up with as it was hard to access when out and about. This was between September and December.

I used blogger.com to upload all of my idea, inspiration, and allowed me keep on track of my work and process. This was easy for me to use considering I have been blogging for years. It was very useful when embedding images and videos that either I or somebody else had created. Blogger was the most used piece of media, almost using it on a daily basis. I could use blogger from any device, but I mostly used it on the Apple mac during school times, and then on my Toshiba laptop at home. I love the fact that blogger is so easily accessible.

I also created a survey on surveymonkey.co.uk to gain some feedback on what audiences prefer in a horror trailer, poster and magazine. I created an account and emailed it to as many people as I could in the age range I was trying to attract; between 14-17 years of age. By using survey monkey, it was a much fast and easier way to reach my target audience and gain quicker responses. It allowed me to review and evaluate my responses in many formats, for example I chose bar charts. When asked ‘What is the scariest setting in a horror film’ 50% said house. This is when I decided on having the plot set in a modern house to make it more up to date and more realistic. I wanted the audience to gain a feeling of reality from this setting. When asked ‘What is the most eye catching thing about a horror poster?’ 65% said scary image. This also gave me ideas on how I could create a scary image to attract the audience and make my poster successful. This is when I decided that I needed to take frightful images when it came to photoshoots. When asked ‘What do you enjoy most about horror films?’ 65% said the plot. From here I knew that having a good plot was important, so I created a pitch on PowerPoint where I brainstormed my ideas of a plot for our trailer. I considered the genre, target audience, characters, setting and Mise-en-scene in my presentation.  In able to put my pitch onto my blog, I had to transfer my presentation in to Slide Share. This displayed how my media skills had developed in the planning stages and was a good way to present my pitch.

Once I and the group decided on a plot, we began to make story boards. These included detailed pictures of camera shots and angles, voice overs and dialogue, and music and sound. To gain a file of sound effects and voice overs, we went to google, as this was the easiest place for us to download from on an Apple mac. Most of our sound effects used in our trailer, were downloaded from various sound effect websites such as ‘soundbible.com’ and ‘freesound.org’. The happy music that is found at the beginning of our trailer was found and imported from YouTube. And the other sounds such as the piano I created myself using a piano from school. We also created a script so we knew exactly what we had to record in terms of voiceovers and dialogue. We had two devices that we used for recording sound on. We tried a Zoom H1 Microphone which worked well for dialogue and picking up far away voices. However we discovered that the IPhone 6 voice recorder made our recorded sounds seem of better quality. For example playing the piano, screaming, and clicking glasses together.  

As a group we had to continuously meet up outside of sixth form to film our trailer. We all had phones that we could connect with each other on. We used an app called ‘WhatsApp’ that allowed us to stay connected in one group chat, and also notified us when one of us said something. This was useful as we didn’t miss anything important like filming days, questions we had etc.

With the construction of my ancillary tasks, I had to perform a photoshoot to get the best possible photos. I used a Sony AX 58 Digital Camera along with a tripod, which gave me great results for both of my ancillary photos. The camera was relatively expensive which is why I relied on it. I then went onto using Photoshop for both my magazine and poster. Creating the basic layout of my poster and magazine came easy to me as I had experience of creating these in AS. However it was different using Photoshop through this coursework due to the technique and finish I was trying to achieve. For example trying to attain blood splatters and creating dirty, cracked skin was found to be a challenge at first. I had to use google and YouTube for tutorials on how to do certain things like the ‘cracking ghost skin’ shown on my magazine. Without these technologies, my ancillary tasks wouldn’t have turned out as good as they did. Photoshop allowed me to edit using many tools, while creating layers for in case the product didn’t turn out right while experimenting. This helped in designing both of my ancillary tasks because it gave me choices. I could compare which style or design works best for the horror genre, and it saved time as I worked. For me Photoshop was the easiest software to work with, especially for producing high quality work.

When it came to the construction of our trailer, it was one of the longest processes, making it have the most media technologies used at this stage. Our group switched between cameras such as; Sony AX 58 Digital Camera, and a Sony HDR- CX240E Handy Cam. We used both cameras to film parts of our trailer, but also we used an Iphone6 video camera for certain scenes. The quality of the film was decent due to the cameras being relatively expensive and professional. The IPhone 6 didn’t provide us with as good a quality as the other two, however it was crucial for the scenes that required sound, as it could pick it up fairly easily. I had a good knowledge of how to use the digital camera from completing my AS project, however the handy cam took a few days of getting used to. After a long practice with the equipment, all three cameras were worth using as we got such a good outcome with them.

I used Microsoft Publisher to create the online article seen in our trailer. Using Publisher was easy as this was a software I used throughout school. I chose to use this software as it provided me with a ‘news article template’. This made it a fast process for me as I didn’t have to spend time designing a layout. I could go straight in for the hidden subliminal messages.

Once we had all of the scenes we needed, I imported them on to an Apple mac with a micro card SD, and then uploaded them on to IMovie. IMovie was completely new to me, so we had to have a few lessons on how to work around the program. I soon got the hang of it and the process sped up and was back on track. IMovie was a software that provided us with a ‘trailer plan’, and also allowed us to edit clips of film to a professional standard. This included cutting, adding sound effects, titles and editing each shot in terms of lighting and speed. This helped us in return to produce a horror trailer to a good standard. IMovie was the only technology software that we used when editing our trailer. This was because it provided us with everything we needed, and it was good to keep it all in one file anyway.

Once our trailer was ready to go viral, I exported it onto YouTube in order to gain some feedback and get some viewings. This was also tricky because I have never had a YouTube account up until now. However with the use of google, I managed to suss out how to get it up online. I used my blog on blogger.com to display both of my ancillary tasks. This would allow other BlogSpot users to comment on my products if they wished.

For my evaluation, I used 4 different ways to execute my questions. My first choice was to write one up into Microsoft Word and transferring it into Blogger. My second choice was to podcast my answer, where I used my IPhone6 to record this. My third choice was done using Prezi. I gathered my answer using Microsoft Word, where I then put it into Prezi sparingly in the correct form including evidence from my surveys. And last but not least, I decided to film one of my answers. To do this I used a Sony AX 58 Digital Camera to record myself reading from a script. I then used my IPhone6 to record my voice only, reading from the same script, however this was going to be imported onto IMovie later on. After both of these had been recorded, I went onto using IMovie to combine these together, hoping to show my media skills. This is where I imported my voice over and my recordings of me to finish my questions video.


Drop Box was a last minute website that I used in order to transfer my podcast onto Blogger.com. I tried many ways in exporting my podcast onto the Mac, but the best way that I found was connecting my IPhone to ITunes, where I then imported my podcast to Drop Box, and onto my blog. This was a lengthy task, but it worked in the end.

If I was to improve the use of media technologies, I would perhaps use social media to its advantage, and put my finished products online such as Facebook and Twitter.

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question Three

3) What have you learned from your audience feedback?

During the process of planning our horror trailer and ancillary tasks, the audience feedback I received has been insightful, and was the foundation in developing my ideas, and reflecting on them to use in all three tasks. Without audience feedback, it would have be very difficult to create a trailer that was effective and appealing to my chosen target audience. It would have also been difficult to create a poster and a magazine that looked professional and eye catching to my target audience; 15 year olds. But more importantly I developed feedback before and after my products were created, in which all feedback was useful. I have learnt what products attract public chatter and what product are going out of business.  

 

My pre-production survey, I felt was predominant in the planning stages, and has taught me a lot about what my target audience’s preferences are. For example, I have learnt that not everybody enjoys watching horror films, yet they know what makes a good one effective. I also learnt that the most favoured horror of the younger generation is a psychological horror. Along with this, I found that not many people of my target audience buys horror magazines. I have learnt that this type of feedback is valuable in obtaining a good project, and to attract the right audience, you have to gain opinions right from the beginning of the process. By not leaving this to the last minute, it has helped me thoroughly plan in the right direction to get things correct first time.

Throughout the process of creating my main task and my two ancillary tasks, I consistently gained feedback from friends, teachers and family members along the way. Although my target audience was aimed at 15 year olds, this allowed me to gain a range of views and ideas that could potentially benefit my projects. Most of which were of a young age, and allowed me to see what young people wanted to see in a horror trailer, magazine and poster. I think that without this feedback I would never have been able to create a poster, or a magazine cover that looked professional and shop quality like mine, along with a trailer that works effectively and portrays the psychological horror genre well. This has taught me that collecting critical feedback along the way is very beneficial for a successful outcome. Gaining feedback along the way has also helped me to improve my main project and two ancillary tasks to a high standard. I have learnt it is useful to take in critical feedback and turn it into a positive.

After completion of my project, I gained feedback in two ways from my trailer. This consisted of YouTube feedback and classroom feedback produced into pie charts on PowerPoint. The feedback received on YouTube taught me what went well and what we could improve on. For example we were said to be successful in the build-up of tension, however our quality differs throughout the trailer. From this feedback, I have learnt that if I was to ever do it again, we should stick to the same media technology to keep the quality of shots the same, along with creating a good tense plot.

The classroom feedback has been useful in reviewing our success of creating a horror trailer. The pie charts below were created using PowerPoint and show what a class of 15 year olds thought about our trailer.

Most people have said they could feel the build up of tension, whereas some said it could have been better. I am impressed with these responses because overall it gave the impression of a horror film. Some gave a little extra and said "yes, especially with the music' and 'yes, the ghost parts were the most tense parts'

From this feedback, I can clearly see how the ghost scenes along with the knife scenes were favoured, and really did the trailer justice in comparing it to the horror genre. However, I have learnt that if I was to do it again, I would take more time and careful consideration into finding a more suitable music track. Lighting mostly consisted of low key lighting, so I would perhaps break the conventions slightly and experiment with a range of lighting effects.

From the results above, we can see that just over 3/4 of people could grasp the sub genre. This indicates we successfully achieved the psychological elements to a horror. The minority of responses received that thought it was a Slasher film said 'the knives give it a Slasher theme'. This is understandable as knives were a popular theme in our trailer and slightly gave the impression of a gruesome film. If I was to do the whole trailer again, I think I have learnt to stick completely to the conventions of a supernatural film. This saves the confusion of the younger audiences.  

Fortunately, most of the class understood our plot well and liked it. There were a few that said they got hints but weren't too sure what to think about it or where it was leading to. From this I have learnt that people view media differently to others and portray things differently. This cannot be helped so overall I am happy with these results.

To begin with my aim was to aim for 15 year olds plus, and even from receiving this feedback, I have continued to stick to the plan. I have learnt that this age group prefer the ideas I have displayed. A quarter said it should be for 12+ from viewing the trailer, however we didn't want to give too much away in the trailer, which left it less scary than what the film could potentially offer.

Overall, I wanted to know if they would watch this film in cinemas, because that is the whole idea of a good trailer. I am pleased that most said they would watch it, which indicates we successfully created a horror trailer that intrigues the audiences.

Overall, I am really pleased with the feedback I received independently and as a group. Most were really positive, however the negative feedback I received was down to little things like lighting and quality, which were sometimes out of our control. Or other negative opinions were because they weren’t really interested in horror or knew little about the correct conventions in the genre. I feel that I have learnt how to construct a film trailer from the feedback received, as they have helped me see different views and create different ideas that I would never have come across without the feedback.  The main thing I have learnt from receiving lots of feedback has to be that everybody reads media texts differently, therefore deep research is needed when constructing a plot. For example, some people thought the ghost was just an old women, and some thought they were hallucinating. While others believed it was a slasher horror due to the amount of knives shown rather than a psychological horror.

Trailer Construction

Kit List for Filming

Sony AX 58 Digital Camera

Sony HDR- CX240E Handy Cam

Portable Light

Flip Cam

Gorilla Pod

Zoom H1 Microphone

2 Memory Cards

Roles

Chloe- Editor (makeup, costume, setting, sight, time- repeating scenes in different ways)

Niamh- Director (scene/storyboard cards, positions)

Molly- Producer (timing and all round things)

Jacob- Lighting (repeating under different lightings)


My Role
As I was Editor, I was responsible for creating different affects with film, lighting, music and sound. It was significant that I had the skills to edit on IMovie because the outcome of the trailer was depending on my contribution. I was in control of continuity and recognising if something was out of place in scenes that linked. This took a careful approach in able to make the editing smooth and self consistent. and lastly, I was in charge of delivering a trailer that made sense and had a consistent plot throughout. This included knowing where certain scenes, sound and lighting were acceptable, and gave a powerful effect.

Diary Entry

Best Storyboards

Not used Storyboards



In the group I was dealt with the end credits of our trailer. I put our group production name first and associated it with our school. I then went on to mentioning a made up studio and a film company. in the centre I used our film name 'Cursed'. I thought it was best to put everybody's names in our group at the end. This also displays the roles we were given in the pre production stage.

Producer: Niamh

Director: Molly

Editor: Chloe

Cinematographer: Jacob

Voiceover: Jessica

I got inspiration from this trailer. They have included the names of production companies involved, director and anybody else who deserves to be credited in the film.

Editing In Action

Shown above, is a section of scenes that I have edited. I have explored a range of editing techniques such as sound, lighting, transitions and speed. Overlapping the sound was very effective in creating a suspense ending, due to the build up sound. Having scenes that differed in speed was also functional. This made ordinary scenes have more definition and was sometimes crucial in order for it to build the desired tension. The transition I preferred to use was 'fade to black' as this suited the horror theme. Having transitions were essential in some sections because the film played jumpy, and the transitions helped make this film flow. The lighting displayed in this specific screenshot mostly consists of low lighting, which contributes to the common conventions of horror. Each of these scenes are no longer than 2 seconds long. The fast effect of switching scenes built up the suspense that the audience want in a horror. 

These are the beginning scenes that have been edited to fit the plot. Compared to the first screenshot, these scenes are longer, lasting around 3 seconds each, which creates a calmer, happier beginning. The lighting found in these scenes consist of high key lighting, to indicate the 'Equilibrium' in our story. The sound effects in the first screen shot seem to be very unrelaxed with the 'up and down' motion of the lines. Whereas this use of sound is seen to have a smoother sound line, representing our calm beginning. 

Horror Trailer Feedback // 2nd May

After putting our final trailer on to YouTube, I waited for some feedback from my peers, which I received a week after uploading. With this feedback, I can clearly see what we did well and what works, but also what would be better if we were to do it all again.

What worked well?

• The build up on tension worked well, and the audience could tell it was a horror film.
• The sound effects help build up the tension, and matched the shots well. It ran smoothly and looked very professional.
• Low lighting worked very well for the horror genre. Gave it a mysterious feeling while watching.
• The plot was said to of made sense and was planned consistent.

What could we improve?

• The quality of some scenes, for example sticking to the same technology. Some of our trailer was filmed on an iPhone, which would be completely different in quality to a handy cam.

We also managed to get a class of 15-17 year olds together to watch our trailer and gain their thoughts on it. I provided them with a piece of paper with 6 questions. Because they wrote their responses on paper, I had to tally their responses and upload them into a pie chart on PowerPoint. These were the responses

 

 

 

 

 

Final Film Trailer // 21st April

Cursed // Rated Age 15