Monday, 30 April 2018
Sunday, 29 April 2018
Evaluation 1: Challenging forms and Conventions
The purpose of a film trailer
The trailer is a large part of the distribution of a film.The importance is the fact that it gives the audience a peak at what happens in the film, prior to its release. This allows the audience to decide whether they want to watch the film or not. The audience gets to see an insight into the plot of the film, and the further events that take place. The distribution company needs to make sure that the film fits the target audiences age. This ensures that the people the trailers gets to, will be the most likely to want to watch the film. As opposed to somebody who isn't the target audience and isn't interested in the film at all. It is important to ensure however, that the trailer doesn't give too much of the film away. Otherwise the audience will know what happens and not bother going to watch the film.
In the following booklet, I will be discussing the ways in which my products relates and challenges the conventions of other real media products.
The trailer is a large part of the distribution of a film.The importance is the fact that it gives the audience a peak at what happens in the film, prior to its release. This allows the audience to decide whether they want to watch the film or not. The audience gets to see an insight into the plot of the film, and the further events that take place. The distribution company needs to make sure that the film fits the target audiences age. This ensures that the people the trailers gets to, will be the most likely to want to watch the film. As opposed to somebody who isn't the target audience and isn't interested in the film at all. It is important to ensure however, that the trailer doesn't give too much of the film away. Otherwise the audience will know what happens and not bother going to watch the film.
In the following booklet, I will be discussing the ways in which my products relates and challenges the conventions of other real media products.
Evaluation Question 2: Combination of Main and Ancillary
The Role of the film distributor
A film distributor is responsible for the entire marketing aspect of a movie. The distribution company is normally different from the production company for the majority of the time. Many techniques that are classically used to advertise a movie are posters, trailers, adverts on social media, TV adverts, website ads, features in magazines etc. The marketing of the film can differentiate, depending on the target audience that the film is trying to meet. For instance, advertisement for a disney film for children is less likely to be advertised on social medias like facebook or twitter, down to the fact because the target age group wouldn't be using these. Just like this, a film aimed towards elderly people is unlikely to be advertised in this way either. A better suited form of advertisement for this age group would be advertisements on TV. A number of aspects of the advertisement will represent the target age group, for instance by the use of its colour schemes, font or imagery.
By comparing the two film posters above, you can clearly see what are groups each film is aimed at. Moana uses a larger palette of brighter colours to catch the younger audiences eye, whilst sherlocks colour palette is quite bland. Clearly distinguishing it by being aimed at a more of an older target audience.
The research of an audience plays a large part in the marketing aspect of a film. If the company conducts the research, the company of distribution is more likely to promote their product successfully. By conducting audience research, the company can see the target audiences needs and choose the correct media platforms that they are most likely to be accessed by.
All of my products are aimed at the same particular age group. That being that young adults age group of around 18 which is the teenagers and young adults. The target audience will be able to share a connection between media platforms which because of the similarities that they share, promote products.
*Premiere Pro uploaded the video as blurry, so here are some of the texts to read from the clip*
A film distributor is responsible for the entire marketing aspect of a movie. The distribution company is normally different from the production company for the majority of the time. Many techniques that are classically used to advertise a movie are posters, trailers, adverts on social media, TV adverts, website ads, features in magazines etc. The marketing of the film can differentiate, depending on the target audience that the film is trying to meet. For instance, advertisement for a disney film for children is less likely to be advertised on social medias like facebook or twitter, down to the fact because the target age group wouldn't be using these. Just like this, a film aimed towards elderly people is unlikely to be advertised in this way either. A better suited form of advertisement for this age group would be advertisements on TV. A number of aspects of the advertisement will represent the target age group, for instance by the use of its colour schemes, font or imagery.
By comparing the two film posters above, you can clearly see what are groups each film is aimed at. Moana uses a larger palette of brighter colours to catch the younger audiences eye, whilst sherlocks colour palette is quite bland. Clearly distinguishing it by being aimed at a more of an older target audience.
The research of an audience plays a large part in the marketing aspect of a film. If the company conducts the research, the company of distribution is more likely to promote their product successfully. By conducting audience research, the company can see the target audiences needs and choose the correct media platforms that they are most likely to be accessed by.
All of my products are aimed at the same particular age group. That being that young adults age group of around 18 which is the teenagers and young adults. The target audience will be able to share a connection between media platforms which because of the similarities that they share, promote products.
*Premiere Pro uploaded the video as blurry, so here are some of the texts to read from the clip*
Saturday, 28 April 2018
How researching horror texts and theories affected our idea
Before coming up with the idea for Sinners, we analysed a number of previous horror entries for ideas, and looked at other film theories that we could tie in with our narrative.
John Carpenter's film Halloween, 1978, was a big inspiration when coming up with the villain and narrative for Sinners. For starters, the human 'monster' adds the ability to stalk the victims without detection. The stalking aspect of Halloween really brought suspense to the audience in terms of not knowing what was about to happen to possibly the victim.
Therefore, we converted this into Sinners, but added a twist. The similar aspect of the cult leader in the role of Michael Myers, and the homosexual couple in the role of Laurie. But expressed a real hate for the couple from the view of the cult leader added a story behind the stalking.
One theory that we thought tied in with Sinners really well was Levi Strauss's theory of Binary oppositions. The first obviously being 'Good' v 'Evil, 'Hunter v 'Hunted'' or 'Psyhotic' v 'Normal'. There were many opposites available within this plot that this theory fit in really well.
Bordwell and Thompsons' theory could also be used, in terms of using flashbacks as a backstory to possibly develop why the cult have this hatred for homosexuality. This would open up many possibilities for both character and story development.
John Carpenter's film Halloween, 1978, was a big inspiration when coming up with the villain and narrative for Sinners. For starters, the human 'monster' adds the ability to stalk the victims without detection. The stalking aspect of Halloween really brought suspense to the audience in terms of not knowing what was about to happen to possibly the victim.
Therefore, we converted this into Sinners, but added a twist. The similar aspect of the cult leader in the role of Michael Myers, and the homosexual couple in the role of Laurie. But expressed a real hate for the couple from the view of the cult leader added a story behind the stalking.
One theory that we thought tied in with Sinners really well was Levi Strauss's theory of Binary oppositions. The first obviously being 'Good' v 'Evil, 'Hunter v 'Hunted'' or 'Psyhotic' v 'Normal'. There were many opposites available within this plot that this theory fit in really well.
Bordwell and Thompsons' theory could also be used, in terms of using flashbacks as a backstory to possibly develop why the cult have this hatred for homosexuality. This would open up many possibilities for both character and story development.
Justifications of Audience research on our film
In terms of researching for the movie Sinners, we looked to our questionnaire and survey's for support in terms of the best aspects to include in the film.
Firstly, in our questionnaire, the 'monster' of a serial killer was highly voted as the favourite. Looking at our previous ideas for our horror film, we looked into the idea of having an actual monster chase the subject of the film. However, to reach our audiences expectations and improve our overall reach of the film, we decided that using the Serial Killer monster would be the best choice. For one, this made it easier to film, as they just wore a robe which was an easy prop to acquire, but secondly, the idea of a 'human' killer brings the threat closer to home and makes it more scary for the audience, knowing they cannot trust anyone.
Also in our survey, the ages of 16-18 and 19-21 were the most popular ages among horror films. Therefore giving our film an age certification of 18 made the film suitable for the right audience.
Further research indicated that one of the favourite aspects of a horror film for the majority of the audience was the jump-scares. Therefore, we strategically placed a jump-scare at the end of our trailer right when the audience wasn't expecting it to really draw them in and entice them to want to watch the full film.
Firstly, in our questionnaire, the 'monster' of a serial killer was highly voted as the favourite. Looking at our previous ideas for our horror film, we looked into the idea of having an actual monster chase the subject of the film. However, to reach our audiences expectations and improve our overall reach of the film, we decided that using the Serial Killer monster would be the best choice. For one, this made it easier to film, as they just wore a robe which was an easy prop to acquire, but secondly, the idea of a 'human' killer brings the threat closer to home and makes it more scary for the audience, knowing they cannot trust anyone.
Also in our survey, the ages of 16-18 and 19-21 were the most popular ages among horror films. Therefore giving our film an age certification of 18 made the film suitable for the right audience.
Further research indicated that one of the favourite aspects of a horror film for the majority of the audience was the jump-scares. Therefore, we strategically placed a jump-scare at the end of our trailer right when the audience wasn't expecting it to really draw them in and entice them to want to watch the full film.
Synopsis of Sinners + Key Characters
Sinners
Sinners follows the story of a homosexual couple enjoying a walk through the woods, when they are stalked by a cult that doesn't believe in the homosexual views of the couple. Therefore, trying to rid them from the earth. The plot twist however, is that one of the members of the couple is the cult leader in disguise, and uses an act to lure other homosexual people to kill.
Characters
The characters consist of:
Ben and Lewis - Ben and Lewis are the homosexual couple of the film that are hunted by the cult. These are the 'Damsels' of the narrative. They are in need of help of being killed by the cult.
Cult leader - The leader of the cult that stalks the couple. He is the 'Villain' of the film, in terms of wanting to enforce his views upon others and turning other people (his cult) against homosexuals.
Sinners follows the story of a homosexual couple enjoying a walk through the woods, when they are stalked by a cult that doesn't believe in the homosexual views of the couple. Therefore, trying to rid them from the earth. The plot twist however, is that one of the members of the couple is the cult leader in disguise, and uses an act to lure other homosexual people to kill.
Characters
The characters consist of:
Ben and Lewis - Ben and Lewis are the homosexual couple of the film that are hunted by the cult. These are the 'Damsels' of the narrative. They are in need of help of being killed by the cult.
Cult leader - The leader of the cult that stalks the couple. He is the 'Villain' of the film, in terms of wanting to enforce his views upon others and turning other people (his cult) against homosexuals.
Questionnaire and Results analysis
In my survey, I gathered results from 20 people at random. I chose 20 people at random because it would give a mix or both males and females and would recieve a large range of answers that I would be able to compare.
(Any percentages/other answers not recorded and removed were down to the basis of not being relevant to the question)
This question shows that 11 of the participants were male and 8 were female. Meaning that the answers should be mixed as there are a large amount of both male and female participants.
(Any percentages/other answers not recorded and removed were down to the basis of not being relevant to the question)
This question shows that 11 of the participants were male and 8 were female. Meaning that the answers should be mixed as there are a large amount of both male and female participants.
This question showed that half of all the participants were aged between 16-18. With 40% being 19-21 and only 5% between 12-15 and 5% between 22-25. Out of the participants this shows that the Horror genre is most popular around the young adult age group.
In question 3, I asked what the participants favourite genre was. Zombies ultimately ended up being the favourite, leading at 40% of participants choosing this. Followed by supernatural at 25%, then psychological horror closely followed at 20%. Comedy ended up being last at 5% and one participant chose other and chose Romance to be their favourite. With zombies leading, this shows that the participants possibly enjoyed the gore aspects of a horror film, and the attributes that a zombie film specialises in.
For question 4, I asked the participants what their favourite monster was in a horror film. This was an even tie with Zombies, Ghosts and Serial killer all having a 30% result each, with aliens only having 5%. Although aliens used to be popular in the 60s, it shows that this isn't the case anymore. Many horror films revolve around ghosts now, which is possibly the reason as to why this choice was so high. Serial killer might be a popular choice because this monster brings the idea of horror closer to home, with a serial killer being a possible monster in real life. Zombies also may be popular because of the large amount of gore and popular TV shows like 'The Walking Dead' bringing zombies back into the spotlight.
I asked this question to see what the trend was in the way that people watch films currently. The majority of participants (70%) put streaming as their answer, potentially because it is a quick method to watch a film without having to pay as much expense. Cinema and TV were the only other choices that were picked, each of them having only 15%. TV may be a low choice because of the fact that you can't normally choose the movies which are available. Cinema was a surprising result at only being 15%,due to the fact that this is how the audience would watch films that have recently been released. However, due to the price of watching films at cinema, streaming may be the popular alternative as the audience may only have to wait a few months to stream the films at little or no cost.
Question 6 was just to see whether people preferred to watch horror films with someone else. With company was the higher choice, that being 80%. This is probably down to the fact that people would rather watch horror films with company due to the high intensity of scaring. Alone was only a choice with 20%, this is probably because some people prefer to watch a horror film alone to get more of a scare experience from it.
I asked this question, to see how much people watch horror films, as opposed to other genres. 60% of the participants answered rarely. Which was a surprising result as it shows that not many people choose to watch horror films much. Often was an answer with 25%, which shows that a quarter of the people involved in the survey enjoy watching horror films casually. Regularly was 10%, followed by All the time being 5%. In a descending order, it shows that more people don't watch horror films as opposed to people that do.
Question 8 was possibly one of the most important questions, I wanted to see what feature in a horror film people liked the most. Possibly the most popular aspect was the 'jump-scares'. This was potentially because this aspects purpose is to scare people. Because of this, we decided to put a jump scare into the end of our trailer, when people weren't expecting it. Another really important answer was 'the suspense'. This is possibly due to the fact that suspense adds to the scare in a horror film as it normally builds up to an appearance of the monster and with the suspense, the audience won't expect something to happen.
Question 9 was to see what methods of advertisement are most likely to reach the audience. With the most common choice being 'trailers' at 55%. This is because the trailer typically shows the plot of the film and gives a more insight into the film then any other method of advertising. Internet was the second most popular answer at 30%, possibly due to the audience spending a large amount of time on the web, and with the vast possibilities of advertising the internet offers, theres no doubt that it will reach a large target audience. Other answers that were all 5% were 'Advert online', 'Word of mouth' and 'TV Adverts'.
Question 10 was a support to Q4. Q10 was to see their favourite movies to see if it had similarities to Q4. Which it did, Insidious was a recurring answer, which follows the plot of a demonic spirit haunting a family. Ghosts was a high answer for Q4 so insidious supports this. Zombieland was also another recurring film, which supports Q4 with zombies being a top answer. Other repetitive responses followed the monster being a human killer/serial killer, therefore supporting the serial killer choice for Q4.
This questionnaire helped provide me with an insight into what a group of randomly selected people thought and enjoyed about horror movies. It provided me many helpful tools to tailor our trailer to a wider audience with demographics to support the typical age group that is interested in horror to aim our trailer at, and the type of monster that the audience enjoyed which would feature in our trailer.
Friday, 27 April 2018
Horror Trailer Ideas
Horror Trailer Ideas:
First Idea:
A couple are sitting at home, when the husband mysteriously walks into the basement. The wife follows him to find out what is wrong. She discovers he is involved with a cult and runs upstairs to bed. The following morning, the wife confronts her husband, which becomes a heated argument in which the husband pushes her into the basement, and locks her in. The husband gathers the rest of his cult to sacrifice the wife. The wife tries to attack the assailants in an attempt to escape but the door is locked. Finishes on a close up shot of her face in shock.
Second Idea:
A gay couple walk through the fields looking happy. Many snippets are shown of someone dressed in a robe, this person being involved in a cult. One of the men in the couple turns out to be the cult leader, and is in-fact trying to kill the other. The other man doesn't realise until he is chased by his partner. Another cult member in a robe chases are him also, therefore the man realises his partner is part of the cult.
Third Idea:
Opens with a man running through a field away from something and is shot. Then shows a man walking through a field, he begins to hear strange noises which he believes may be a monster in the treeline. The man starts to run away but the noises get louder. The monster catches up and hits him and he runs to the field close by.
Props and Costume List
Props and Costumes list:
Costumes- Ben - wears his own clothing for the trailer Lewis - wears his own clothes for trailer- also wears a black robe and mask during the production
Props: Gun Cross - goes with the robe
Costumes- Ben - wears his own clothing for the trailer Lewis - wears his own clothes for trailer- also wears a black robe and mask during the production
Props: Gun Cross - goes with the robe
Thursday, 26 April 2018
Moodboard
For my moodboard, I chose to implement the majority of my images as monsters from horror films. From the likes of the nun from the conjuring, or penny wise the clown from IT. The use of these monsters that the majority of them are making a direct mode of address with the audience of my moodboard through eyesight creates an eary and creepy atmosphere. Overall, my moodboard gives off many conventions associated with horror and successfully sets the tone for the audience.
Thursday, 19 April 2018
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