Drafts of ancillary texts.

Drafts for film poster. 

Draft for film magazine cover. 

Original photos for both products.

Shot List.

This an example of our planning with out shot list. Although we did not strictly follow this precisely, it still gave us an idea of how to plan the trailer out. 

Storyboards

Here are the storyboards that we used to plan what shots we were going to film. We included a drawing, what camera angle etc, the duration of each shot and also any added music/sound effects we wanted.

However, when we went out to film we found that it was hard in keeping with all the same shots and found it easier to just go out and film as we went along. This worked well for our group. 

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

These images and logos show the range of different software and equipment that helped us gain our research, make our group trailer and also design my ancillary texts.  




What is Web 2.0?

• Web 2.0 is a term which describes new technology within the internet.  

• Years and years ago we had to try find out information by physically walking to get a book from the library, however our modern technology allows us to find this information out from the comfort of our own home. 

• The internet and websites such as Google, Wikipedia, YouTube allow us to find out the information we need and this is all because of the users that add to and tend to it. There is a diverse range of things across the internet. Essentially, we all come together and share our information and knowledge which is exampled within the Wikipedia website. 

• Web 2.0 allows low budget film makers (like us) to collect information by using different programs within the technology world and research, distribute and promote our own media texts. This essentially gives us access to information about our target audience and previous media texts and as the information is quicker and easier to hold of, this makes the job less time consuming. 

Final Cut Pro was the programme that we used to make our horror teaser trailer. The programme allowed us to capture our film, put it on the timeline and edit it. When capturing our video footage onto the computer, we could then drag however much of each shot we needed and drop it into the timeline. If something was not right, like not wanting the shot that long in terms of time, we could then simply cut the parts that were not necessary. This made it easy to experiment with and to try out different effects etc. as we went along. As the programme was new to use for all four of us, the simplicity of allowing to change the timeline when needed was really good. Although it was hard at first, within time it got easier to use. The programme also allowed us to add still images or text if needed, which of course came in very handy with our horror trailer. 

DaFont.com was the website in which I downloaded my font for my magazine cover. I have used this website in the past and is most certainly the best font site I have used. With the page set out clearly and the font categorised into different sections and styles, this meant I could easily find the font I was looking for. What is also good about this website, is that there is no cost to get the font you want- which is great! 

Blogger is the blog website in which we record all of our coursework unit on. It is a fun and easy way to present work as we can change the font and size, add pictures and embed videos, such as our very own finished and complete teaser trailer!  I feel by using the blog to exhibit our work, makes it very easy and less time consuming rather than physically having to write out an essay-style piece of work with pen and paper. I feel in this respect, having a blog is much better where you can make it more visual and creative. However, personally, when I start writing I begin to write too much as I want to pay attention to everything that I am talking about and add detail. In a blog though, you cannot write big chunks of text. 
I also felt throughout the coursework unit, that it was good because we can add new 'posts' and not have to actually save the work to a memory stick or onto computer as the work is already there saved onto the blog. This shows how new technology has changed and helped dramatically. I definitely will take these skills further and will hopefully have a blog at university. As I am going into fashion, I feel that a blog would be great and most appropriate to communicate. 

Safari is the web browser in which I used for the majority of my work. This has allowed me to access many different websites.

Flickr is a photo-sharing website that I have used within my coursework where it has allowed me to upload my own and other professional media texts. With these images uploaded, I added notes onto the photos where I analysed and evaluated the different elements within the media text I was looking at. For example, I used this to analyse existing media products like horror posters and film magazines. The website also then connects to Blogger and my particular blog, and uploads the work I have worked with on Flickr. Having already my own personal Flickr account, I was used to the photo-sharing website and felt it was great to use for my media work. 

Mac Computer was the computer we used to make our trailer on as it contained the programme Final Cut Pro. Throughout the coursework, we also used these computers to use the internet on and as I have a Mac at home, I found it easy to use. 

Video Camera was used to capture all of our footage for our trailer. We found it easy to use and used mostly handheld shots throughout out whole trailer. Our group found it gave us more freedom to play around with the shots. 

Google is the search engine which was used throughout our coursework and we used this to research and collect information about previous media products. We also used this to search the definitions for particular terms in media and search for images etc. This worldwide search engine allowed easy access to much-needed information. 

Garageband was used in the process of making our trailer where we recorded voices for the voiceover. We could also change the effects with the sound recorded such as making them sound like a man/woman or changing the pitch of the voice. This programme was simple to use and easy to export to Final Cut Pro. 

YouTube was used when finding existing horror trailers which helped me gain knowledge of what is included in trailers and also within horror as a genre. I could then embed a particular video to my blog and analyse it. Our final trailer was uploaded to YouTube which meant people worldwide could view it at any time, and could be key in the feedback stage of our work. Also, in the evaluating stages of my work, I took screen shots from YouTube of both our finished trailer and existing horror trailers. This meant I could then compare the two in ways that use, develop and/or challenge forms and conventions within real media products. 

Photoshop was used to make both my ancillary texts - my poster and magazine cover. I am very familiar with this programme and so found it simple to use. Photoshop allowed me to add images and text to both pieces of work. I also edited the photos used and also changed the colours of the texts. 

Digital Camera was used to take the photo of Dale which was used on the front cover of my film magazine. After taking as many pictures as I wanted, getting different angles and poses, I could then upload them onto the computer, pick out the image that was best and then edit it on Photoshop. This was very simple to complete and took no time at all which made the whole process very quick. 

thefreesoundproject is a website containing all types of free sound. We used this website to find the soundtrack, the heartbeats and also the scream in our trailer. This made the whole process within the making of our trailer a lot quicker as we did not have to make the music or sound effects ourselves.  

Live Type is the programme we used to create the font for our trailer title. We created the style we wanted, the colour and also the crackly effect within the text. The programme was quick and easy to work and allowed us to then export it to our trailer. I then used this font on my film poster and I feel this gave our film trailer an iconic image with the same font being used. 

Without this modern technology, the work I have achieved to date would not have been possible. I feel I have learnt how to use different programmes, such as Final Cut Pro and I am now at a good standard which will help me in the future to stay confident in the new technology that is now so easy accessible. 

Final Product, Teaser Trailer: 'The Mentor'.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

The feedback for our teaser trailer was mixed. Our class responded to our trailer by giving us feedback to help us improve and give us confidence in what they found were good in terms of both horror AND trailer conventions.

Feedback is important when producing an ad campaign for a film. This helps the distributors to decide what to keep and get rid of in the trailer.

We gathered the feedback for our groups trailer by having a set-up screening in class. This enabled us to see their reactions and also hear them talk about our trailer.


Soundtrack

• Many said they did not like the heartbeats at the end and that it went on for too long. Some did say that they liked the effect that the heartbeats made and added suspence at the end of the trailer.
• Our audience said that we used a good soundtrack and added to the horror conventions.
• They liked the breathing at the start of the trailer when the girl is running and of which was a good convention within horror. They said that this was effective and told them that she is running away from something scary.
• Our audience thought that the voice of the protagonist saying 'please, please' repetitively was good and effective.
• They liked the voiceover of when the antagonist is speaking which denoted the power he has.

Mise En Scene/Filming

• Our audience stated that they did not like the office scene at the beginning and said it was a bit cheesy. 
• Our audience said they liked the shot of Dale where he looks fierce and scary where we made the shot darker to make him look more evil and they said that this tells the audience who is the antagonist within the trailer.
• They said they liked the shots with the torch and said that this was really powerful.
• They liked the shot of the legs running and the puddle- the angle worked really well.
• Our audience liked the shot of Emily in the woods where she looks scared and is saying 'please, please'.
•  Our audience said that they liked how you jump into the action straight away and get involved in the action.
• They stated that they liked the canted angles as this makes them feel that there is a sense of instability. They agreed that the canted angle was good as it is often used in horror. 
• They said that the location was good and we made good use of the haunted house. However, they did say we should of had more of the house. 
• Our audience said that they liked the handheld shots. 
• Our audience also said the low angle, tilted upwards shot up the stairs was really good and made them feel like they were in the trailer. 
• Also, they said that the teenager within the trailer showed a good horror convention as this is used within real horror film trailers as it demonstrates their vulnerability. 

Editing

• A few people said they didn't like the intertitles where we had an effect around the text which was a slight blur and was white. 
• Our audience said they did not think the gore was appropriate and that it revealed too much.
• They stated that at the end, the woods should be faster, creating a bigger build up.
• They thought that the 'light' shot is too long and could be shortened but is good for disorientation and suspence.
• Our audience said that they felt the length of the trailer was a good length following the typical length of a trailer.
• They said that they liked the darkness in the house, adding the horror genre, recognising horror forms and conventions.

After receiving our feedback of our teaser trailer, we looked carefully at the things most people didn't like. 

• We changed the colour of the inter titles where we originally used white, however we changed the blurred colour to red, helping to add to the horror theme. We feel this was a very good choice to make within our trailer.
• We would of liked to do the office scene again however due to time issues, we decided that it would be okay the way it originally was.
• We felt as a group that we wanted to keep the gore within the trailer however we then needed to change the age certificate to 18. This does cause some challenges such as not getting as much of a wide range audience but we feel the scene was more than appropriate for the story-line and so decided to keep it. We did however, make the shot a little shorter in length so that it didn't reveal too much.
• The end of the trailer with the running scene was then changed and we speed-ed it up making the pace of it faster and more intense. 

Our group felt that the use of the feedback was really good and allowed us to hear what the trailer was like from other people's eyes. This made us want to change certain parts within the trailer of which were appropriate. We did not change everything that our feedback audience didn't like however, because as a group we discussed how certain parts were effective in our opinion. We were then pleased with the outcome as we got to change the specific parts that the audience especially didn't like but got to keep the shots that we wanted and felt were necessary.