Final Production

The Return Fin win from Emily Jesson on Vimeo.

Evaulation question four- Who are your audience and what did your learn from your audience feedback?

 

When I first started my media course in year 12, I had little experience with producing a trailer or a film opening. I did not really know how to use technology such as the camera and tripod or the editing software Pinnacle. I learnt the basics of using pinnacle when doing my preliminary production: how to arrange and change the length of shots. However moving on to my film opening in year 12, I learnt how to change the lighting and colour of shots using the colour correction tool, as well as using different editing techniques such as jump cuts and match on action edits. This helped my film opening be more interesting and improved continuity. When it came to filming my A2 trailer, I was comfortable using the effects in Pinnacle, like colour correction and the pan and zoom tool. This created more variation in shots such as a zoom to an extreme clos up of the victim’s eyes, as well as adhering to the conventions of the horror/thriller genre, such as changing the lighting to more chiaroscuro lighting in colour correction. In our trailer the use of the camera was more effective as we knew how to use it better, resulting in less camera related problems such as accidentally deleting footage.

I found from the research and planning that I did for my preliminary production and AS film opening, that I needed to do a lot more in order for my trailer to be as effective as possible. For my preliminary production I did very little research and planning in comparison to our trailer, we did not make a storyboard, which was something I learnt was necessary when producing my AS film opening. Also more research was completed, like looking at other film openings of the same genre to identify conventional elements, such as editing techniques, music and titles that could be incorporated into our opening. However, when completing research for our A2 trailer we looked at other trailers within the same genre but also with a similar storyline such as the trailers for: “The Final” and “Tamara”. This helped us look more specifically at the different conventions used as well as establishing our target audience as teenagers, as they were the typical target audience for these films. This further helped us include elements in our trailer that would specifically appeal the target audience such as violence, action and the reference to school bullying. When planning our trailer we made sure our storyboard and shot list was far more detailed than the one we created for our AS film opening as from that experience we decided that it was important to rely on a storyboard for making a structure, keeping organised as well as planning a large range of shot sizes and angles. This was helpful especially with organisation as we managed to make sure that we had all the shots we needed filmed and ready for editing. But of course some shots were spontaneous ideas that we came up with on the day of filming, when we were inspired by either the setting or props. Research and planning was also important when it came to creating the ancillary tasks, such as looking at real film posters within the same genre as well as websites; helping us to shape ours using common essentials, like institutional information, used in all of them.

When editing our trailer we made the decision to add music to create atmosphere. We did this as well in our film opening in year 12, however this was less varied, more repetitive and we could have done with some other music or sound effects added in. When looking for our music and sound effects we mostly used sound cloud and we spent a large amount of time looking for the right ones and making note of them. We also spent some time looking at other trailers of the same genre to help us decide on what type of music and sound effects we could incorporate in our own trailer. We looked at trailers like “se7en”, “sinister” and “Tamara”. We managed to find music similar to that of the opening of “Se7en” to put over some shots in our trailer which are similar to the close ups of hands and pictures in the opening of “Se7en”. We decided to do this as we liked the effect these shots had the break up action sequences. We looked at the trailer for “sinister” and found that there was a frequent use of sound -stings, adding tension and emphasising shots which is a common convention of horror films. We thought that it would be a good idea to include sound stings in our trailer especially in action sequences such as the unsuccessful car escape scene. This fast series of shots, emphasised with sound stings are conventional of trailers as they show enough flashes of action to appeal to the audience without giving too much of the story away. We altered some of our sound by reversing it and changing the speed in Pinnacle, for example, slowing down an echoing laugh to create an eerie effect as well as creating the implication that the specific shot is a memory.

From doing our AS film opening I have found that it is important to be creative when forming the narrative of your trailer, in order to appeal to the target audience. This was helped in our trailer through creating a storyboard and a script. We found that it is important to keep some conventions of the genre the same as other films, whilst introducing some difference; like twists or red herrings. I found that I could also be more creative in sizes and angles of shots; making it more interesting and in some cases emotive such as high angle close ups of victims to present them as vulnerable. This is a repeated convention throughout a lot of horror/thriller trailers because of its connotations and how it presents the character. When editing our trailer I found that trailers used different editing techniques to film openings such as fast flashing action sequences and jump cuts, which we used frequently throughout our trailer to make it seem more dramatic and action filled. I used the software Pinnacle to create the interim titles that establish the narrative, deciding font sizes, colour (white and red) and effects (city lights). We experimented with these until we found that the titles gave the desirable effect. This was helped by looking at titles for other trailers for films of the same genre- linking to research and planning.



Evaluation question three- How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

What was the intended outcome of the production?

The intended outcome of our production is to engage with our target audience and make them want to come and view our film at the cinema. The purpose of a trailer is to advertise the film and to establish part of the narrative and genre. It is supposed to create enigmas and by doing this makes the audience want to come watch the film to answer the questions created in the trailer. Conventionally for horror/thriller films these enigmas usually are something like: ‘who will survive?’ or ‘who is the killer?’ We wanted our trailer to have an impact and engage the audience’s attention, by using action sequences like the attempt escape in the car scene and the death of certain characters; showing disruptions to the equilibrium through violence.

How effectively were storyboards and ancillary task plans followed?

Storyboard

Our storyboard was a rough guideline to follow whilst filming our trailer, but when it came to filming we decided to change shots and the order we felt was most effective. The story board was as good foundation to start with and helped put our shots in order as well as staying organised, making sure we had filmed every shot we needed. Our storyboard helped us determine where to have different size shots too such as the close up of Rizwana’s eyes and to have a match on action edit in the action sequence.

Poster

The purpose of the poster is to attract the audience and make them want to see the film, if they see the poster they will see it's well advertised and worth going to watch at the cinema, therefore marketing the film. Also to go with our trailer we have made a website which, like the poster, creates a visual identity. We have used the same fonts and style so the audience will recognize the film.
As a group we looked at previous posters for films of our genre and took ideas from them. Rizwana then used these ideas in creating our poster on the program Fireworks; she used stills from the trailer and dark gothic colours to establish the thriller/horror genre of our production. She stuck to key conventions of other posters as she put production company logos at the bottom of the poster. Rizwana also put all institutional information under the title which is also a common feature of posters. The purpose of the poster is to attract the audience and make them aware of the film and the release date.

Website

The website is vital for films today and creates a wider audience, people who may not have seen the poster are more likely to see an advert for our film/website and then they can read about it. As the internet and social networking sites are increasingly popular creating a website enables us to promote our film to an even wider audience, possibly around the world, which is knows as viral marketing as a person may send a link the to the website to their friends who then pass this on further creating exponential growth in successful sites.
Before attempting to make the website, as a group we looked at websites for other thrillers and horrors, such as “Sinister” we looked at conventions they had used on their websites and decided to take key bits and adapt them to ours.  They used colours, animations and pictures all to establish the genre, for example Sinister used a montage of quick, flashing, graphic stills from the film. They had also used, sharp and blurry fonts which all connote horror and fear as well as the blurry font connoting mystery. While making the website we decided to use colours of black, white and red. These colours are commonly used in the horror/thriller genre. The red connotes blood and danger where the black and white connote the binary oppositions good versus evil.

Sinister website

Our Website

Like the poster the website creates a visual identity through the use of the same fonts and style so the audience will recognise the film. The website is vital for films today and creates a wider audience, people who may not have seen the poster are more likely to see an advert for our film/website and then they can read about it. As the internet and social networking sites are ever so popular creating a website enables us to promote our film to an even wider audience which is known as viral marketing as a person may send the website to their friends and so on.

How were these outcomes achieved in terms of matching mise-en-scene, including page layout and camera shot choices? What stylistic techniques were used to support your trailer?

As our genre is thriller/horror mise-en-scene is important in making it look effective and to create a successful trailer (appeal to the audience). The audience will be expecting common conventions due to previous films they have seen before these things include weapons, violence, blood, frightened facial expressions, isolated locations, dark costume for the antagonist, tension and suspense. We tried to include all of the above in our trailer to establish the horror/ thriller genre.

We used a variety of shots to create different tensions and atmospheres. We used close ups of facial expressions to show fear and worry of our faces which create tension with the audience and is a common convention of previous films of the same genre.

Creating suspense and tension is a key element in a successful horror/thriller; we have done this in various ways.  Near the beginning of our production we see a baseball bat swinging towards the camera it is filmed as a point of view shot, this immediately establishes the genre and that it will include violence. There is also close ups of the killer cutting out pictures which establishes his persona to audience as being psychotic and help the audience understand he has specific victims in mind. Also in our trailer there is a close up of the victims face being grabbed showing violence and creating fear with the audience, which is common of the genre.

Example: In the film ‘Tamara’ which has a similar revenge story to ours, she uses a knife to cut off one of her victim’s nose, ears and eyes. We incorporated this into our trailer and used a knife as a weapon for revenge. On the other hand in ‘Tamara’ there is the use of supernatural which is more common of horror films, in our trailer we tried to make it look realistic so used real weapons and made the killer completely human, which we also did for practicality as we are students making a trailer.

To suit our genre of horror/thriller we used a typical stylistic technique seen in many other films of this genre. We used fast paced music which helps build tension and suspense and creates a tense of fear with the audience. Music is key in establishing genre and creating the right mood/atmosphere of the film. Our music helps establish what is happening in the trailer, for example there is a chase scene which is common in thrillers, and music is needed to create tension and concern for the character and immediately signifies to the audience what is happening; creating the enigma ‘will she escape?’

Example: We used music similar to the music used over the close up of hands and photographs in the opening of "se7en", over our own close ups of hands and photographs creating a similar eerie effect. However with ours we also partially used it to break up the shots used in action sequences and partially to establish the characters and narrative.

In our trailer we also used another common stylistic feature of horror/thrillers, is the use of chiaroscuro lighting, which low key high contrast and produces dark shadows creating a negative atmosphere, representing evil overtaking good.  The lighting and colours are dark matching the dark, ominous content of the trailer.

Stylistically, we used chiaroscuro lighting (low key high contrast). This lighting creates dark shadows connoting a negative content of the film as well as being pathetic fallacy. Also these shadows are especially effective when they are darker on the villain, having connotations of evil, death and mystery. This lighting is commonly used in thriller and horror films, to create a tense atmosphere. We used this in our trailer as it adds drama and suspense, as connotations of darkness are negative. By using this lighting it suggests to the audience that the content is not to going to be cheery and happy and prepares them for the dark, sinister content.

In our production we have also used jump cuts, these create an uneasy effect and are typically used in trailers to create a fast pace. Jumps cuts create a feeling of dislocation and a sense of shock. We used this when the killer is following one of the victims on a car park, we used the jump cuts to show him getting closer which creates suspense and fear with the audience. As well as this we also used jump cuts when the killer is dragging the knife across the wall, creating an ominous effect and raises the audience’s anticipation.

Also in our production we have used fast paced music, we have inserted it in places where the tension levels need to rise. The music coincides with the scenes of action and helps highlight the danger and violence. By using effective music it also helps establish the genre as people associate dramatic fast paced music with horror/thriller films as it signifies to the audience that something bad is going to happen. The pace and volume of the music increases towards the end in order to leave the audience with the most dramatic part of the trailer- increasing the appeal. At the beginning of our trailer we decided to use a voice over, which states 'a mental patient has escaped a high secure facility' which immediately signifies danger to the audience. It is a news report which is made clear as it is placed over a newspaper. The fact that it is a newspaper creates a sense of urgency. By using this voice over it helps unravel the narrative straight away and the audience can easy follow the idea of what the films about. The voice over is also a common convention of thriller/horror trailers as they create drama and add narrative exposition, whilst creating enigmas.