evaluation

Finished film trailer

Finished film poster

After compiling my resulting from the survey monkey I created and designing my flat plans I finally produced my poster using photoshop. I used an image I took while filming my film trailer because I had the film trailers setting, which I found from my research was something that the target audience want, to know the setting of the film trailer. 

This is the first font I tried to use for my movie name font choice, but after trying it out on the poster I decided to look for another font as I didn't think it gave off the right impression of my film trailer

so I opted for this font instead

I then decided to change the text to an off white colour as it works well on top of the background of my film poster which is black, therefore drawing your attention to the title as well as my research from my survey monkey indicating that white text was the colour of choice for text on a film poster. 

My finished product : 

Script

~ while walking down a path to the woods, Grace and Coral are chatting while Lizzie is out of shot in front ~
Grace : I'm glad we chose these woods
~ group is sat on wooden logs on the trail, with camping equipment around them. All look bored ~
Grace: I'm really bored
Lizzie: Let's play hide and seek!
Coral : Yeah!
~ Coral, Lizzie & Grace are in a heavily wooded area standing up all facing each other about to play hide and seek ~
Coral: I'm gonna count to a hundred and you gotta go hide
Coral : 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 ~ Lizzie and Grace run off in opposite directions away from Coral ~
~ Grace is running away to find a place to hide when she notices a trail of blood on a tree, she is confused and frightened, she then proceeds to run back to the group to tell them of what she's seen ~
~ looking frightened, Lizzie and Coral converse over what has just happened ~
Lizzie: That was really creepy..... can we leave?
Coral: We can't leave it's too dark, we'll go tomorrow
~ The group has just woken up and are meant to be leaving, but are alerted to the disappearance of Lizzie ~
Grace: Where the hells charlotte?
Coral: Wheres charlotte?!
~ Coral and Grace are panicked and frightened~
Coral: I think we should split up & look for Charlotte
Grace: Okay, you go that way, i'll go this way
~ they then run off in opposite directions to search for their missing friend ~

magazine cover flat plans

Before I produced the film magazine cover for my horror film trailer I created these flat plans based on the results I got back from the survey monkey I created, it was important to base the design on what the target audience want because they are who will buy the magazine and go see the film, therefore I need to appeal to them. I also based the design on what I have noticed from film magazine covers that I previously analyzed this effected my decision on magazine name placement, main image placement and size, colour scheme relevance to genre of featured movie etc.

FIlm poster flat plans

Before creating my film poster I drew three flat plans of different layouts and picture shots to possibly have. I used the information I collected from my survey monkey results to design the poster ideas as they need to be appealing to the target audience to help the sucess of the film trailer.

Special effects

I decided to create gore/wounds on one of my characters for filming, rather than just using fake blood

I started out with corals plain face, with her hair back to make it easier to see what I was doing and to not get any of the products in her hair etc.

I then first applied the liquid latex into the correct shape and areas on her face, which where above her eye to look like a head wound and coming out from below her nose down the side of her mouth. I then layered on tissue paper to give it texture and depth which I then moved around and cut to get it looking like a proper wound. I then applied fake blood on top using makeup applying cotton buds

This was the product after i just put on the fake blood.
From this I saw that the wounds did not look dark enough to be real therefore I decided to apply black face paint carefully to the wounds. I then also decided to apply black makeup around the eye to give a black eye effect

Here is the finished product that I created. I would say it was a pretty good attempt although I think if i'd had more practice at using the equipment I could have created an even better wound.

( ^Workstation with fake blood, liquid latex, cotton buds, face paints )

Equipment list, cast list, crew list, locations list for magazine cover

Equipment list :
DSLR CANON D60
Memory card
Lighting
Backdrop
Apple Mac

I used this specific camera because of the  high quality images it produces, compared to lower quality digital cameras and other digital SLR cameras; which therefore will help me achieve a professional looking magazine cover.
I used an Apple Mac rather than a PC because of the advanced software available to me on my school's Apple Macs including Photoshop, which will help me achieve a more professional look in the editing process.

I used lighting in my schools photography studio because I wanted to achieve a professional clear looking image, I used a light box as well as a gold reflector to achieve my desired lighting.

I chose to use a plain backdrop while on my photoshoot because i knew it would be easier to edit on photoshop with the lasso tool, than if i had no backdrop as I can get a clear outline this way.

CAST LIST:
Grace
Coral

I used the same people for my magazine cover as in my teaser trailer because, obviously they are a key selling point and are identified with the teaser trailer.

Crew list :
Myself

I only had to use myself for the crew as I already have photography experience from my current A level course in it

Locations list :
woods browning Photography studio

For my images for my magazine cover I chose to to take the images in the photography studio unlike my movie poster where I chose to have an image from filming, I chose to use studio photos instead because typically for movie magazine covers they use a separate promotional shoot rather than the same ones used by the distribution company because the magazine would want something exclusive to make the audience want to buy it instead of any other magazines or at all.

Movie poster analysing

Crew, Cast, location & Equipment for film poster

As I took my film poster photo while filming my cast and crew were the same :

Cast : Grace Jackson

I chose to have grace on the film poster rather than the villain because this follows a stereotype for horror genre film posters, for example on the 'Blair witch project' film poster, the image is that of a close up shot of a female victims face, therefore i decided to 

Crew : Alice Forte

I only needed myself for the crew, as I have photography knowledge from my current training in A level photography.

Equipment list :

DSLR NIKON D3100

Apple  Mac

SD Memory card

I used this specific camera as it has a very high pixel resolution therefore can incorporate the detail i wanted.

The location for my film poster shooting is the same as of the filming because I wanted my image to look realistic for the poster to clearly give off the setting of the film, which is an isolated area as this is a key convention of horror therefore will attract the target audience.

Film poster audience research

After analysing two film posters and learning the important conventions that run through them I decided to create a survey using survey monkey to ask my target audience what their needs are.

 I asked this question because it is important to know what the audience deem the most attention grabbing part of the poster as this will tell me what aspect I should put my emphasis on.

I asked what colours the audience think are the most eye-catching as having an eye-catching film poster is a vital part of promotion therefore want to make sure mine does this. 

I asked this question as if I find out what the target audience feel they need to see on a film poster, I can fulfil these needs therefore ensuring my product will be successful. 

I asked this question in my survey as it is important to fulfil my target audience needs as this will help ensure success for my product, which is achieves by appealing to the audience.

I asked my target audience if they would prefer the film title at the top of the poster or at the bottom of the poster and they surprisingly said the top of the poster which goes against the conventions of film posters who typically have the title located at the bottom of the page.

I asked my audience what colours for text they find most appealing on a film posters as it is important to have your audience remember the title of your film to ensure it's success. 

FIlm magazine cover

using my flat plans and information I gathrered from my survey monkeys, 

This was the font I decided to use, that I found on a free font website

Above is my final product of my magazine front cover for my film poster.

Throughout the creation of the product I used all the common conventions i have learnt through previous magazine creation in AS media studies as well as throught my anaylising earlier on & survey monkey research.

magazine cover photoshoot

For the images I needed to use for the cover I did a photo shoot in the schools photography studio. I decided to use a white background, a key light and a gold reflector to get the desired light I wanted to help me achieve the tone of the image.

Props list / Budget

For my props list in my film trailer I will need the following things :

• Fake blood - to use for the theatrical makeup on coral
• Baseball Bat for the weapon featured in my teaser trailer
• 2 Sleeping Bags - as props in the scene to make the feel of camping more realistic
• 1 blow up pillow - another prop to help make the scene more realistic to the audience
• 1 tent - 
• liquid latex - for theatrical makeup use to help make the wound
• tissue - ^ 
• makeup wipes - to help remove theatrical makeup from coral after finished filming
• cotton swabs - to help apply the liquid latex and fake blood to the correct areas
• black face paint - to darken the wounds and give appearance of a black eye 
• scissors - to cut and shape the tissue on the wound, to give texture. 

For my budget I only had to spend money on buying the fake blood as I already owned the baseball bat and sleeping bag, the fake blood was £9 + £2 delivery.  I factored in the money that was spent to get to my first batch of filming, which was about £7 worth. I also had to factor is the cost of food and drink for my cast on both filming shoots which I budgeted at about £15. My budget was only this little as I already owned a DSLR camera and had free facilities to Apple mac's as college. 

Equipment list

For my equipment needed for the production of my film trailer and editing I will need these items :

> Nikon D1300 DSLR Camera - I chose this camera because of the HD  recording capability as well as the possibility of high quality images.
 > Apple Mac - For editing my film trailer as well the creation of my other tasks ( movie poster, magazine cover)
> Memory card for DSLR camera
> Memory stick for transferring files and storing them.
> Photoshop - Photo editing software on the Apple Mac that i will edit my movie poster/ magazine cover with.
> final cut/imovie to edit my film trailer

Cast list

For my cast I will need 3 girls to be my actresses,  They will be Coral Parsons, Grace Jackson & Elizabeth Forte . I chose these people to be in my film trailer as they are of the right age (15-18) to fit in with the target audience needs , as having characters that the audience can identify with increases the tone of fear for the audience because it becomes more realistic for them. I have chosen females to act in my horror teaser trailer as this follows the conventions of female victims throughout the horror genre, although I am also breaking away from this by making my villain a female as well, which I did to make my trailer and idea unique and different, to attract the audience.

Lighting

For my film trailer I am going to have natural lighting, not artificial. I am doing this because since my trailer is a horror it needs to be as realistic as possible in setting to add to the tone where as if I had artifical light it would appear more artificial and take away from the dark tone of the trailer.
I will depend on the natural sunlight from the shooting to help set the time, so it will be crucial that the day be sunny and good weather to improve film quality.
From looking at other horror film trailers, specifically The Blair Witch Project I saw that they use the natural light to help make the trailer 'real' for the audience, which is what I want for my film trailer.
I did have a variation of other lighting styles I could have used in my teaser trailer
For example, the use of side lighting, this method highlights the shades and definitions of what is being recorded, which can help the recorded film seem more real to the audience. I did consider this option, which would have been possible with portable studio lighting but decided on the all natural lighting as this worked very well in 'The Blair Witch Project' which was very successful.

The outcome of the day light on my filming cannot be predicted very well as the light will change from every angle as well as being effected by the time of day e.g softer light at sunset/late afternoon where as at noon will be harsh and direct; as well as being effected by the season as in the summer the sun is higher in the sky than in the winter, therefore making it a harsher light in the summer. others things that can effect the sunlight in filming are haze, mist, fog etc. which diffuse the light which can produce dull shadows and soft highlights as well as producing good detail.

^^ examples of outdoor filming with natural light

movie poster creation

There are many different aspects i had to think about while designing my movie poster such as

• Font choice
• text colour
• connotations of colours featured in background images 
• Background image composition 

For the font for the title of the film trailer I looked on free font websites as the pre-installed fonts on photoshop wouldn't look as professional. I looked at the fonts used on film posters for movies such as 

saw 3 which has a font that is common for the horror genre, it is distorted and following the colour scheme of the movie.

For the movie poster of 'The Blair Witch Project' the font choice also follows the convention although the font is not distorted or a dark colour, the choice is quite a hard almost gothic choice and the striking white colour contrasts with the black of the background image causing the title to stand out. 

For the main background image of my poster I knew from looking at the above examples that it should be either be a character/s from the film or an image that gives you an idea of what happens within the movie, e.g the saw 3 poster has nooses through teeth which connotes that there is forms of torture/gore  

For my main background image I used an image I took during my filming of one of my characters featured in my film trailer, which already shows the audience the setting on the film, as well as the colour used connoting danger from the red coat as well as the dark black and white background surrounding the character, which connotes evil etc. 

Magazine cover research

I analysed 3 movie magazine covers before producing my own cover so I could find out what makes a magazine cover for a film more attractive to the audience. From this I found out things about conventions of magazines that I will need to use throughout my own cover design.

costume ideas/special effects

From researching the costume in horror film trailers I found that the characters are generally in 'normal' clothes e.g jeans, tshirts, trainers to make the characters more realistic so that it increases the horror feeling to the audience were as for example the science fiction genre can have very scary aspects but because of the clear fiction that separates it from real life it is less scary to the audience e.g . Therefore I will have my characters in 'normal' clothes to fit in with the genre.

For the makeup/special effects  will mainly use small amounts of fake blood to use for wounds and trails, this is a very common conventions of horror as it indicates injury/mutilation e.g that generally happen from a horrific attack from a murderer/the 'monster' of the film.
I will attempt to create my own 'wounds' by using fake blood, liquid latex and tissue. By doing so this I will be keeping my trailer in the horror genre by having clear signs of gore/violence and pleasing my target audience. 

Below are examples of the clothes  will have my characters wearing in my film trailer

These are my flat plan drawing of what I want my costumes to look like, as you can see they are 'normal' clothes, e.g coats, jeans, shoes. I chose these rather than others as I think they appeal to a mass audience and don't alienate any certain group of people, therefore catering for my target audience needs.