opinions of final draft "prank" trailer

we had a showing of every ones media products that we have produced in our groups where we was able to give and receive feedback on either the trailers or music videos that our class have produced.

These are the comments that we received:

STRENGTHS:

• The shot of the wellies was really good, the ending really works well
• the handheld camera work is really good, exciting and adds suspense.
• the voice over for the heavy breathing adds tension and suspense
• all the quick, snappy cuts add drama
• the story line is really good. the false scare in-particular as you think its all over, when its not.
• full of conventions for a teen horror movie
• the bit behind the bushes where the killer edges out is really professional
• all the colour fades in the dramatic bits shows the tone change of the film
• love the end- its like the killer is coming out at you, the lighting, edit, and sound effects all work really well here to leave the trailer on suspense
• like the variety of the jolty camera shots, and the low angles-really shows the variety.

WEAKNESSES:

• Might go into the running scenes of the film a bit quickly, wasn't sure what was happening
• different fonts could of improved it
• an epic voice over would of been good.

after considering the weaknesses of the film we decided the following:

- we liked the first shot of the girl running, and how it makes you wonder what is happening, adds to the scariness

- the audience are already informed by the text shot of the tag line and reviews etc, so it is not necessary for an epic voice over.

we was really happy to achieve so many positive comments in comparason to the negative comments, which we took on board, yet decided the changes wasn't necessary for the trailer to be effective.

"prank" trailer number 3

after editing some of the lighting in the scene, we produced this:

We edited some of the "whats to come" shots to make them look more terrifying. we edited them by changing the contrast, balance and brightness of the shots to make them appear more interesting.

The people that we showed this to in our class agreed that it helps to make the trailer that bit more scary and it also adds suspense to make them question what is going on, and what is going to happen.

As a group we are very happy with the changes that we have made and also the progress from the first draft to this one. we now believe it is now more like a interesting horror trailer.

second draft of the "prank" trailer

After taking the comments into account, we edited for a further two hours to produce this:

We showed it to the class again who were much more impressed. the feedback that we received was mainly positive, one suggestion that we received was to add a epic voice over so we will take that into consideration.

the class said that splitting all the scenes up and not having it in the order the film would be in, makes the trailer a whole lot more exciting, and more likely to influence the audience to go and watch the film. they said that not seeing the murderer adds a lot more suspense that the first draft was lacking, now the audience is wondering "what is happening" making it more terrifying which is what we are aiming for. our media teachers agreed with the class that it was much improved and a whole lot more exciting.

As a group we felt something was still lacking in our trailer, we decided to edit some of the lighting in the scenes.

First draft of the trailer:

after producing this trailer, we showed it to the rest of our class, they informed up that although it was really good, some of the shots were perhaps a bit long winded and not as exciting as they can be. we then showed it to our media teacher Ms Taylor who told us that it was more like a mini-film instead of a trailer, and again not as exciting as it could be. our other media teacher Mrs Braidy said she loved all the hand-held shots that we have used and would like to see more of them.

The class commented on how sound has been used really effectively in the trailer, the shot lengths just need to be shorter, snappier and more exciting as it is supposed to be a horror trailer not a mini film.

one other thing that they mentioned, was we was not leaving much to the imagination, like we showed who the killer was, and some of the ways that the people died. this does not leave enough suspense for the audience to want to go and view the film as they already know what happens. they suggested not showing the killings, or the killer for most of the trailer, just have the dramatic scene with him coming towards the camera at the end of the trailer- this will leave it more mysterious to what happens to the teenagers in the woods.

Taking all of the comments into account we spend a further two hours making changes to our trailer.

editing Log

once we had finished filming we began almost immediately creating our trailer in order to get it all done in time fore our deadline. this is our editing log:

Monday 8Th- put the first sequence of the film together. we done the woods, the car pulling up, the lions gate presents all the way up to the shots of them walking through the woods. we was very happy with the progress that we had made that lesson. we also managed to edit the lighting on the beginning scenes as well as in the sound effects for that period of the trailer.

Wednesday 10Th- we finished all the chase sequences and the rest of the trailer in this 2 hour period. we played around with different shot lengthto see what was most effective for our horror trailer.

Friday 12Th- we met up outside of lesson time to complete the sound effects for our trailer. we worked on all the background music as well as the "booms" that we wanted as some of the text shots come up.

Monday 15Th- added in a voice over for the heavy breathing when its a shot behind the killer. we also took in some advice from our teacher to edit this scene so that it jumps between the group and seeing it from behind the killer, to make the trailer a bit more interesting. we then added in a bang just before the "what was that". we then completed our trailer and got opinions off our first draft.

Developments of poster designs, opinions and final design

i based my poster on design idea 2. from this i have edited it making it more scary and to fit the genre more as well as keeping the image conveying the genre of the film. this was my first draft:

to improve this i took peoples opinions:

• add in a age rating so we know how old you have to be to see it


• change the font of the "prank" to something more scarier


• make the "prank" more bold and bigger so it really jumps out and grabs attention.


• have the credits italic so they look more like a real film posters as well as making them smaller


• add in a review from a daily source that everyone knows

taking all of that into account i produced my final draft which is :

Poster Designs

i have produced 3 poster designs which ideas have been based around the reaserch i carried out into existing posters for horror films. i will take the photos needed for these when it comes to shooting the film. below are the designs:

i believe that poster idea 2 is the best one, i can make the image scary by having the killer coming out of the trees for the image, and a dark woody background showing the creepy setting. poster design two is what i am going to base my poster on.

Web Page: Draft, opinions and finished version

above is the draft of my web page, i got peoples opinions for improvements then carried out to produce my finished version, below are the improvements:

• insert a age rating so the audience knows how old you have to be to go and see it


• add in a release date so we know when we can go and watch it


• change the font of the prank to something more scary


• move the title over to the left hand side to allow you to add in more on the other side maximising the space you have.

taking the opinions into account i have re-done my web page :

once i have finished the trailer i will upload it so that it will be entirely finished

Web Page Designs.

i produced 3 web page designs, i used the ones i have already annotated to influence me in my designs and this is what i have come up with:

i believe that design 2 is most effective so i will develop this one further in order to hopefully produce a convincing web page.

Questionnaire and Results

i have created a questionnaire that i asked 10 people to fill in. the questions will hopefully provide me with use full answers that i will be able to use as guidelines for my trailer and for my poster and website that i will also create for my media project. below is a copy of my questionnaire.

Results:

1. 50% MALE
50% FEMALE.

i done this to get a fair and even result. this way i will be able to see what will interest both of the genders so i can make the trailer, website and poster attract both of them which will make it successful.

2. 30%-14
20 %-15
40%- 18
10%- 17

i asked teenagers in the age range of 14-18 as this is the age that are more likely to watch the newest scary film out as they like to keep up to date with whats new. by having a range of ages i will get varied results which means i can use them to target a wider audience.

3. 0%-the streets
0%- foreign country
30%-an isolated setting
40%- the woods
20%- a creepy house
10% other- a train station

this proves that the woods is the most creepiest setting for a horror film, my plot already involves the setting as the woods which is going to be a benefit for the film trailer as it will appeal to a lot of people

4. 10%- gory
40%- suspense
0%- thriller
0%- murder mystery
10%- documentary
40-UN resolved

from this it shows me that the main way to attract is to show a suspense or a unresolved horror story in my trailer, this will then make people want to go and see it.

5. 60%-15
40%- 18
0%- 12

this just shows me that that a 15 horror film is the most popular, so this is what age rating i will advertise mine at.

- 12's are not scary enough
- 15's normally have a better story line as they are not full of gore like 18's
- 18's are normally a bit to scary
- 12's are just not interesting
- 15's tend to have just the right amount of suspense as well as keeping an interesting story line
- 12's tend to be jumpy in places, not scary
- 18's seem to be unrealistic and non believable, even when based on true events.
- 18's because the scarier the better
- 18's because i like to be scared, not just to jump every now and then
- 15's give me just the right amount of thrill
- because 18's really are just a bit too scary for me.

they have provided me with some good reasons what will be able to influence how scary i portray my film in the trailer, website and poster.

6. -a nightmare on elm street- scares me every time
- the grudge- its just weird and scary which makes it good.
- Blair witch project- all the handheld and real life bits freak me out.
- anything based on real life- i cant watch them
-the zodiac- because the way its set out like a documentary is really scary
- them- not knowing whats going on or who's there adds to the tension of the film.
- the Blair witch project- the noises and the handheld freaks me out every time.
-the eye- every aspect of it really scares ,e
- all of the saw films because they have a interesting story line, and although they are gory there not too over the top, and everything just works.
- the strangers- not seeing their faces is scary because you don't know who they are or whats really happening.

these insights have given me opinions that i can use to try and make my film look more appealing.

7. 70%- based on true events
30%- based on books/ made up.

based on true events is what i will make mine based on, we will use a handheld camera to try and portray this, also by using a believable story line will help. it is scarier to have it on real life events as it just scares people to know this could happen to them.

8. 20%- the creepy setting
10%- non diagetic sounds
40%- the creepy music
10%- lighting
20%- the creepy character
0%- shadows

i can see that the main aspect that scares people is the creepy music, this is because it builds the tension and informs the audience something bad is going to happen. apart from that i can see that all of the other aspects come into is as almost equally important which means i will have to make sure everything is done to high standards


By analysing this questionnaire and results, i have been able to gather information that is going to help influence me in the future when it comes to filming and then making my trailer, website and poster for my project.

filming log

Before filming, we split up everything that we need to film and when to ensure that we got it all done and stayed on target to complete our project.
We used to cameras to ensure that we was getting every time done and maximising the time that we have when actors was not being used, we would take them off and film other shots with them to get it all done efficiently and quickly.
the filming was over a period of 3 days, so we maximised our time well, we had left more time to film that it actually took which means we had more time for editing.

this is how we broke our filming up:

filming Log:

• 18Th Feb- we planned to start our filming on this date, however due to heavy rain we had to postpone the filming to a later date.
• 24Th Feb- we started our filming on this date, we filmed the opening sequences for example the girls walking into the woods, then them getting chased. we wanted to pursue with more chase sequences however due to heavy rain we had to postpone the filming to a later date. we started filming at 4pm after school until ten past five. we also carried out a lot of still shots, to ensure that we had some media to use for our posters and for our websites. so the first day of filming was a success as we left with a lot of good material to work with.
• 1st March- During a lesson we decided to take a trip up to the woods to film sequences that we do not need the actors for, to therefore maximise our time with them. we took the first two opening shots, the panning of the woods and the pulling up of the car. we done these shots from a range of different angles to try and get the most effective shot.
• 3rd March-on this date we finished all of our filming, we brought two cameras with us to maximise time and we managed to shoot all of the chase sequences to our satisfaction, then we moved on to the death scenes, then the final shots. we were very happy with what we had achieved in the hour and a half that we allocated our self as we believed that we would still need a extra day to finish all the filming off, this was however not the case.

We was really happy as a group about how quickly we managed to get all of our trailer material together in order to go on to editing and producing it. we believe it was down to our detailed description of what we need to film and how we are going to do it as it ensured that we left nothing out.

Research into Horror Music and sound effects.

By understanding what is commonly used for background music in horror films, it will give me a better chance of being able to create a convincing horror trailer for my project.

Music is used in Horror films to create and build suspense, at crucial points of films it is used to increase the audience's reaction to what is happening on screen, when there hear the music building, the audience then become on edge to what is about to occur. Music and sound effects is more important in Horror than any other genre of film.

• orchestral music is the most common form of music used in horror films, it have been used in the beginning of horror films, and it still popular in today's horror films, the most popular form is the piano.
• Heavy rock has also been used in films like the Blair witch 2 as it fits in with the outdoor woods theme, and does help to build the suspense
• creaking stairs, snapping twigs, bangs and booms are apparent in most horror films, just to build the "what was that" or "who's there" audience response to suspense in films.

most of the time the music is non-diegetic, background music played over the top which is not in evident in the action of the film.

History of Horror Films

When making a Horror trailer, it is important to know the history of the Horror film, this way it will allow me to understand the conventions of horror in more death allowing me to therefore produce a more convincing trailer for the film.

Early Horror films seemed to focus more on classic literature of the Gothic horror, such as Dracula, Frankenstein and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Back in the beginning of horror films, silent films was the most scariest, little or no dialect was known to fright the audience more, in contrast to today's horror films where dialect is a big part of the horror films, however silence does still help to create the tension and build the suspense in certain scenes.

Horror films aim to unsettle, panic and invoke our hidden worst fears while at all times captivating us and entertaining the audience.

horror films are vastly different in modern times, as film directors today aim to challenge the original conventions of Horror Films. There have been two-sub genres of horror films that have risen in popularity over the years which are: the horror of personality-psycho films, and horror of the demonic- for example the exorcist.

Planning

As a group we planned out the story line for 'prank'.

we used story boards to do this which allowed us to look at every aspect of the shot like camera angle, music, props, location, lighting etc.

the location for "prank"

we decided on the location as a group. the woods that we have chosen is full of pathways, trees, and dips to make our filming location interesting, and we can incorporate some of the interesting location into out trailer.

Analysising film trailers-The Blair Witch Project

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D51QgOHrCj0

Genre: Horror

Length: 1.51 minutes

Narrative: three students are filming a documentary in the woods when they all disappear mysteriously to everyone, then three years afterward their footage is found.

Unique selling point: filmed using a hand held camera,

Lighting: use of black and white and colour

Target Audience: 18+ adults

Music: non diagetic "booms" and added creepy noises, wind picked up from the handheld

Shot types: mid-shots, single close ups, long shots, extreme close ups, blurred, unknown scenery on extreme close ups,

Pace: slow at the beginning to set the scene, slowly gets faster when their in the woods,

Dialogue: the people involved in filming-starts with the girl, people discussing the Blair witch myth, Gasps, screeches,

Credits and intertiles: "one of the creepiest films since the exorcist" "an entire movie filmed with a handheld"

Tag Line: In October of 1994 three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland, while shooting a documentary...A year later their footage was found

Institution: Haxen films production company

Analysising film trailers-The Grudge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMpg6BdHrkI

Genre: Horror

Length: 1.31

Narrative: An American nurse living and working in Tokyo is exposed to a mysterious supernatural curse, one that locks a person in a powerful rage before claiming their life and spreading to another victim.

Unique selling point: very creepy/scary looking film, gives you chills, will scare the audience.

Target Audience: 15+

Music: non diagetic added music, creepy,

Lighting: outside: bright lights of the setting

shot types: scenery shots, low angle shots, close up, blurred shots, two shows, over the sholder shots, point of view,

Pace: slow at the beginning, setting the scene, then all of a sudden gets really fast and pacey. then goes back to slow creating the tention

Dialogue: from characters, screaming

Credits and intertitles: "from Columbia pictures" " a curse is left behind" "it never forgives" "doyouhaveagrudge.com" the title "the grudge"

Tag Line: it never forgives, it never forgets

Institution: columbia pictures

Analysising film trailers-The Eye

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF8J1WqV8aQ

Genre: Horror
Length of trailer: 2.08 minutes
Narrative: The remake of the Hong Kong film "Jian Gui", a woman who receives an eye transplant that allows her to see into the supernatural world, a woman's past.
Target Audience: age 15+
Music: Non-diegetic: fast music, giving the trailer pace, added beat, pacey rock music towards the end-making it exciting, piano sounds-classic horror noises
Shots used: loads of close ups, blurred shots-point of view, two-shots, group shots, extreme close ups
Lighting: use of light and dark in the point of view of the woman with bad eyes
Dialogue: between people in the shots, as well dialogue from the film when the shot is black.
Voice over: talking of people, "the eye" voice over towards the end
Pace of trailer: fast, exciting, rapid

Institution: lions gate
Credits/intertitles: "the eye" "coming soon"
Tag line: "how can you believe your eyes, when there not yours" appears on screen as a blank shot.