The Evaluation

Following and Challenging Codes and Conventions

 In order to create an original and authentic piece of media, the practitioner must follow the ‘repetition and difference technique’. During the production of creating the ancillary tasks and film trailer, I would definitely say that I followed this technique. I used existing codes and conventions of the media texts, but also played around with and changed certain aspects, to achieve an element of freshness and individuality. Theorist Stephen Neale says that media practioners should not be restricted by ‘rigid rules of inclusion and exclusion’ when it comes to choosing the conventions you will be using. I became familiar with the appropriate codes and conventions by analysing posters (including teaser posters), film trailers and magazine front covers (including subscription editions). I analysed films that belonged to the horror genre, but specifically ones that where supernatural/psychological and ones that inspired my own work. By doing this, it helped me have a greater understanding of what my media pieces should look like and feature. According to the theorist Alastair Fowler, Audiences learn what conventions are associated with genres through “unconsciousfamiliarisation”. This is the idea that when audience watch numerous film that belong to one genre, they subconsciously spot the conventions used then begin to associate them with that type of film/genre. In my own work, I used existing codes and conventions but also decided to challenge certain aspects to achieve a sense of uniqueness and freshness. I have used codes and conventions across the 3 pieces of media products that I have created.

Film Magazine 

For instance in the creation of my film magazine I decided to opt for a quirkier approach to the masthead. Traditionally mastheads on film magazines tend to follow the same characteristics such a bold, serif fonts which are traditionally aimed at a male target audience. Even though I decided to go for a horror based film magazine, I wanted to encorporate many of the codes and conventions that mainstream film magazines follow, for instance the large bold masthead as seen on empire....

and the unconventional masthead of Total Film...

I like how the 'Total' part of the masthead is hidden within the 'Film' text. I wanted to incorporate something like that on my own masthead as it looks stylish and professional.

Seeing as how my mgazine specialises in Horror Films I wanted to add a unique touch to signify its genre whilst still refering to the mainstream mastheads above.

My film magazine front cover also follows codes and conventions of magazine front covers. Again, as my front cover was a subscription limited edition front cover, it also had separate codes and conventions. You very rarely see sub-genre special edition horror magazines so this was one way in which I challenged conventions. It was difficult finding a horror magazine that released limited edition issues however whilst researching I came across a Horror film magazine called Paracinema which was a magazine which specialised in Supernatural Horror. I was so excited!

This then became one of my inspiration for my magazine as I wanted to create a horror magazine which offered its readers a chanced to own a limited edition Supernatural horror guide on the latest releases and interviews. I like how Paracinema have pushed the boundaries in terms of mode of address and its main image which is of the infamous main girl from the genre classic, The exorcist. I also want to use a main image which is unconventional and will ultimately really scare my readers. Another element which inspired me is the decision to place such an iconic image on the front; when drafting ideas for my main model image I was deterred from the idea of placing the characters of Katies face on the cover as I wanted her first apperance as a demon to be on screen. I then realised that Paracinema were able to get away with using that image because it is so iconic, and ultimately that is what I would want the face of the film to become.

However, in terms of mainstream publications my main inspiration was the the Empire Star Trek issue and the Total FilmDark Knight issues which featured the two main actors from both films. I decided to choose these two as in contast to the Paracinema cover, this magazine features two male actors whose roles are so well know, they only have to advertise a head shot of their character and the audience would know what film they are advertising. The masthead was placed at the top of the page, in bold writing to standout. This relates to my magazine as although my film is not as well known as The Dark Knight or Star Trek, it features the main protagonists face to show evoke fear. Also, the date and price is placed in small writing below the masthead. Finally, the barcode is placed in the bottom right hand side of the page, which is where the target audience’s eye will go last.

The similarities between the front cover I have created and the Empire and Total Film covers is that the model’s head is behind the masthead, this is uncommon for Empire and Total Film as it has become a global brand the masthead is dominated by the main image, largely to the fact that it is so well known. Many people will be able to recognise an “Empire” magazine without having to read the masthead. Also, the character of the film is iconic, and plays a huge part in showcasing the film as many people will be aware that this film is a remake or a sequel, so the character is extremely important as the target audience would straight away be able to recognise this character. The target audience may not have come across the film poster or trailer, which is fine as the magazine front cover is a form of advertising the film. I have also included a piece of text informing the target audience that the front cover is a subscription limited edition cover as my inspirational front cover did. By looking at the covers side by side below, you would be able to notice the similarities and differences, where I have followed codes and conventions as well as where I have challenged them to suit my work.

 

Film Poster

The strengths of teaser posters are its ability to put the film in public interest months before it comes out and leave audiences wanting more. It also complies very specifically to its set genre which makes it more likely to pull in it's target audience. Its weaknesses are that they usually are best suited to a successful chain of films including Final Destination, Saw and the Twilight saga. My film poster follows common movie poster codes and conventions such as the fil ms name, the production company’s name, a tagline, credit block, general date of release and a key image. They are missing a actors names and final set date of release. This is because most of these teaser trailers are released months before the film is due to be released so they reveal little information to leave audiences to want to no more. Plus since the posters are released so far in advance, final changes on the film still need to be made such as age certificate, final release date etc.

The Tagline

 

Inspiration for main image 

'The Uninvited'

 Masthead

Release date 

Film Trailer

Throughout the trailer, I have attempted to use conventional mise en scene elements allowing my audience to understand my chosen sub genre. For example; I have used nightvision throughout the trailer to capture the modern 'found footage' style of filming, eerie and creepy music has been used to create fear and suspension. This can also be found in the trailer for 'Grave Encounters' where nightvision is used throughout to doucment the inexplicable horrors. Costume and hair and makeup is also conventional for a supernatural horror as whilst watching a behind the scenes video on youtube on 'Grave Encounters', the special effects team and make-up artists only relied slightly on the make up in order to create the demon like faces, then elaborated on them in editing. I have also followed conventional editing styles that you are more than likely to see in any film trailer, of any genre. For example, dead black outs are a familiar edit used that can be seen occurring regularly in my film trailer. A good example of this that I have found whilst looking into existing media texts is suring the 'The Roommate' film trailer where a lot of dead black outs have been used for effect and to show the audience the deaths of each of the creepy roommates victums. This can also be seen in the trailer for 'Scream', whereby each shots shows one more death leading up to the inevitable confrontation with Sidney. I used this particular editing style a lot as I feel that it is effective in building tension and creating suspense, therefore creating fear and the shock of whats going to appear next which is one of the main feelings that a horror loving audience want to get out of viewing a film trailer.

All together now...

Having used several symbiotic links, I feel that my target audience will be able to put all three together and recognise different elements that they have seen on one or the other media piece. It also acts as a puzzle, putting two and two together to see if they belong to the same film which will interest and entice my audience as they are those who enjoy mystery and have the minds of those who enjoy having to work things out. Also by using links such as the blank demon like expression for instance in my poster and magazine front cover, it then allows my three pieces to support and complement each other creating a successful and effective promotional package.

Re-visiting those all important codes and conventions

 In order to gain an understanding of basic codes and conventions of media texts, I revisited some of the theorists discussed in class and how I would interpret and adapt these theories within my project. When looking at genre, theorist Alastair Fowler (1989) notes that audiences learn what conventions are associated with genres through “unconscious familiarisation”. This is the idea that when an audience watch numerous films that belong to one genre, they tend to spot the conventions used and then begin to associate them with that type of film. When I was told that the genre I would be working on was Horror I was quite fearful of the task ahead as, not being a huge fan of the genre myself, I had to familiarise myself with a few horror films in order to understand what makes the genre so successful and what it is required in order to fufill my target audiences expectations. Horror films have been attracting viewers since the beginning of cinema. According to some psychiatrists, the modern horror film serves many of the same functions for the adolescent that the fairy tale serves for the child, for instance to warn of evil in familiar places.I delved into the different sub genres of horror, such as Gothic, Supernatural, Psychological and Slasher; I found myself gaining an incredible knowledge and great understanding of the uses of codes and conventions and the norms of the genre.  This gave me the confidence and knowledge I needed to help begin this creative process. 

This of course gave me the knowledge needed to create an entertaining and professional looking horror trailer and so I stopped imagining what I would like to see in the Trailer and started focusing on my market research. I didnt want it to be the case that I produce a Trailer based on my own wants and not what my target audience wishes to see. I realised throughout this project that I've gone from being a media consumer into a media practitioner (from decoder to encoder).

This has been particularly true with the decision to cast a female as the main protagonist. Typically in supernatural horror films, women or young children are often the protagonists/villains because women were traditionally represented as the damsels in distress such as in “Psycho” who were being punished for their sins by men; this reflected our culture at the time. However with the influence of feminism and our new ideology of powerful women our modern culture no longer sees women as victims but as strong women in both hero and killer characters such as in “Jennifer’s Body”. The horror genre itself is influenced by what our culture perceives as horrific; war, terrorism, global issues, political issues all affect what society fears. This has what has changed the horror genre and why women are represented now no longer as the victims but strong, powerful heroes and even killers because women have more power in society; which is the fear of traditional anti-feminists.

Using Inspiration and Chanelling Creativity

I feel that I have challenged codes and conventions in that I have created a horror film aimed at teenagers and based on teenagers without the cliches often achieve in the slasher genre. My inspiration for this idea arose from the films ‘Grave Encounters’ and 'The Roomate'. While they both come from seperate sub-genres, I liked the idea of combining the supernatural element of trying to capture or identify ghosts/demons in amateaurish style of filming whilst also inclusing the slasher and thriller element of an obsessive or disturbed student who one by one kills their fellow roomates.I loved the idea of a 'film' crew (in Grave Encounters case, a TV crew) actively going into a particular setting and essentially putting themselves in danger in order to prove the existense of ghosts/demons. While on the other hand I also enjoyed the way The Roommate takes an important stage in a young persons life and completely twists the experience for dramatic effect. I found these two films both incredibly influential in the development of my narrative for my trailer.

In this context, creativity lies within examining existing media texts and taking inspiration from them in order to create something of your own. Studying the existing media texts such as “Grave Encounters” and “The Roommate” helped me to understand what kind of narrative I wanted to create which was a combination of Teen Slasher meets Supernatural Horror, as well as the type of aesthetic I was going to use. I knew that I wanted to film in an actual University in order to make the trailer look more authentic, this also helped improve the mise-en-scene element as the narrative appeared more real when put into practise.  

Evidence of my inspiration shown through film stills of the trailers "The Unwanted", "Grave Encounters", "The Roommate", "Sorority Row", "Scream 4" and "Paranormal Activity". In each still I have tried to demonstrate how a particular scene or element of each trailer has influenced me in terms of camera angle used, clothing, speech, straplines, and digital effects.

The Directors introduction

Grave Encounters

The Unwanted

Establishing the High School/University

 

 Sorority Row

 

 Scream 4

The Roommate

The Unwanted

 'Media Reports on muders'

 

Scream 4

 
Jennifer's Body

Katie entering halls

The Roommate

The Unwanted

Killer Roommate

The Roommate

The Unwanted

Death in the shower

 The Roommate

The Unwanted

'Caught on camera' Footage

Grave Encounters

Paranormal Activity

The Unwanted

Unusual Sighting

Grave Encounters

The Unwanted

Crew Member identifies a ghost/demon

Grave Encounters

The Unwanted

Director's Frustration

Grave Encounters

The Unwanted

Ghost/Demon appears

Grave Encounters

The Unwanted

Footage Strapline

Grave Encounters

The Unwanted

'Stab Ending'

 

Scream 4

The Unwanted

When deciding which sub-genre I was going to focus on one argument that cites slasher films as part of a revolution for female lead characters and largely feminist in undertone seems to become increasinly noticeable. Such films as Meir Zarchi’s I Spit On Your Grave (1978) took this notion one step further (arguably one step too far), in that our sympathy lies with the killer raising moral questions. Here we see a woman seeking revenge on those that raped her and left her for dead, killing each in more and more elaborate ways. Another element that I found interesting of the slasher genre was that the “Teen victims" are usually seen as the prey. The killer nearly always picks on people around the late teens, the same as the target audience, to brutally murder. This is most likely to strike fear into the hearts of the audience, as they are of the ‘ideal’ age to be slaughtered according to the film. Also in many slasher films, the teens to die are always the unfaithful, the smokers and drinkers, the ‘generally bad people.’ The survivors are always ‘pure,’ virginal and untainted by alcohol or drugs. This stems back to the slasher film’s origins, rooted in fairy tales and ghost stories made to ward children away from sin and displeasing their parents. This allowed me to create a bridge between my two chosen genres as it satisfied a convention of the slasher genre which would intergrate with my narrative.

Audience Feedback 

 

My three media pieces, the ancillary tasks and the trailer combined create a promotional package. I believe that the poster contains basic conventions of the genre that an audience can identify with. It is a successful promotional piece because it targets and attracts the correct target audience consisting of females in their mid twenties to mid forties. A symbiotic link between the three texts has been established through the elements of mise-en-scene such as uses of colour, costume/hair/make-up and lighting and through similar uses of camera and editing. This allows the texts to contain continuity and the symbiotic link enables the audiences to associate the texts with one another.

I believe I have successfully appealed to my target audiences with each of my promotional pieces. I conducted post-production research by creating questionnaires which I distributed over the social networking website ‘Facebook’. I chose to use this network because it was a quick and easy way of gathering feedback from my target audience, who were easy to access and contact. 

Looking at audience feedback from the post-production questionnaires will provide us with a truthful and honest account of the audiences’ satisfaction. 

Using the technology...

 Seeing as how media has become an necesity for our day to lives, I wanted to take full advantage of every piece of technology that I could aquire. Not only does having the latest in technology at my disposal benefit my studies and also the production and creation of my film trailer, ancillary tasks and production research. It has enabled us practitioners to become interactive and immerse ourselves within a technological world where there really are no limits, where our ideas and fascinations can go live to anywhere in the world in just one click. I happen to find it incredibly resourceful and it has allowed me to develop my skills in many different technologies and educate me on my areas of improvement.

Without media technology, the research and planning stages of my project truly could not have been as progressive or as successful. For instance, the internet made a huge contribution to the progress of my research, thanks to search engines such as ‘Google’ I was able to access information I needed in the click of a button and ‘Google Images’ too played a terrific part in accompanying my writing and decorating my blog with visual demonstrations and imagery.

 I used websites such as ‘Wikipedia’ to gather information about everything from the history of horror, to numerous film publications, posters and narratives. I used the video-sharing network ‘YouTube’ to explore and examine film trailers, as well as to help me select music/ sound for my own trailer. As an avid digital media user, I also relied on social networking websites to help me carry out my post production research which helped me recieve feedback from my target audience and allowed me to communicate them on a personal basis.

The introduction of the Internet, social media and technological advances has provided another outlet for people to use and seek gratification through those sources. Based on the models developed by Katz, Blumler, Gurevitch and Lasswell, individuals can choose to seek out media in one outlet, all falling within the proscribed categories of need. The only difference now, is that the audience does not have to go to multiple media outlets to fulfill each of their needs. The Internet has created a digital library, allowing individuals to have access to all content from various mass medium outlets.

Returming to Blogger...

Using a blog to exhibit my work as part of AS and A2 has helped me to develop my technological skills. I had always wanted to start a blog based on my own interests and I feel that this Media Studies course has equipped me with the appropriate knowledge needed. For instance, I have learnt how to create posts, upload images and embed videos from ‘YouTube’ as well as create links to additional websites. It has also made me aware of other blogging websites such as Tumblr which provided me with the majority of my pictures used.

Using the internet for this process is extremely beneficial and far more practical than the previous process of using scrap-books and folders to display work. Not only is it easier and less time consuming but it also appeals to our age group, in that we as teenagers are increasingly becoming more and more involved with the technological age. We spend most of our time on the internet, and so creating blogs allows us to work within our comfort zone, which I find particularly inspiring and motivating. Also, I think that having my very own piece of the internet is very exciting in that it allows me to express my identity through my creativity and artistic abilities, it lets me exhibit my hard work  and interactivity allows me to share it with others. As I am part of the revolution of digital media within the modern age, I find that I fully understand what it is to be a web 2.0 user.

A few inspirational blogs...
 http://oliviasoot.tumblr.com/
http://pastelgrunge.tumblr.com/page/12
http://lulel.tumblr.com/

Editing Programmes 

(imovie and Pic Monkey)

After capturing the images needed for the front cover and the film poster, I then began work on my acillary tasks using and old favourite of mine;Picnic. Having become familiar with the editing software during GCSE and the project in year 12, I would definitely say that it proved much easier to navigate a third time round. I felt comfortable and confident in using this programme and I felt that I touched-up my images to perfection. However when it came to adding a few extra touches to my poster and magazine front cover, I was horrified to discover that the website had actually closed down! Stressed and worried, I soon began looking into other photo editing websites which is when im came across Pic Monkey. Also a free of charge website, Pic Monkley offered exactly the same as Picnic and more! It proved aswell incredibly easy to use ad with so many effects and texts to add, I was spoilt for choice!

Continuing to discuss editing programmes, this year we were introduced to Adobe Premier Pro, which is editing software of moving media. Due to several technical setbacks I decided to look at other options for editing. A classmate of mine suggested imovie as they had used it in another project and found it incredibly helpful and simple to use. Having never used a mac before, it was a learning curve trying to navigate my way around the design and the different softwares at my disposal, I then asked a friend of mine who had just recently graduated with a degree in media and film to teach me how to use the imovie. After a couple of hours I had felt much more confident and was fully prepared for editing.

The next Spielberg?

During the creation process, I used a video camera and my own Casio Exilim camera to film and take pictures of the scenes that would be used in the film trailer. Before filming I had my reservations about the project as I really didnt know anything about filming and the organisation and eye for creativity it required. However, I am happy to say that I found it incredibly enjoyable, fun and a new interest into the world of film. Being a film enthusiast I had always been an appreciated member of the audience, but after this project I will now be able to fully emmerse myself in the different genres and be able to undersatnd what is required and the dedication that is needed. I have always been a creative person with a passion and love of the media, so having the chance to display my creation is quite an achievement for me. In my spare time I like to watch film trailers, to view all the latest releases and to relish in the creativity of the people who produce them. Having never really produced a movie or video for that matter, I found the project incredibly rewarding and definitely hope to produce something like this again. Except maybe not in horror!

To Conclude...

In conclusion, I have used, developed and challenged forms of media products in order to construct my own and I feel that I have created a symbiotic link between the three texts, resulting in an effective promotional package. My audience feedback gave me the satisfaction I had hoped for, as well as the constructive criticism I needed in order to learn from my mistakes. The access to the World Wide Web has taught me so much and has aided me through this entire project; thanks to advanced media technologies of the modern day I was able to bring my creative ideas to life.

Over all I have found the coursework provided in year 13 an extremely exciting and rewarding. It required alot of energy, passion and creativity in order to produce a visually stimulating and informative blog as well as a successful, professional and effective promotional package for the target audience. Although at times the pressure of deadlines and stresses of workloads were tough, I am proud to say that I managed to complete it with a great sense of satifaction and pride.

Film Trailer

Here is my film trailer for 'The Unwanted'. Get some popcorn and enjoy!

Post Production Feedback: The Trailer

1. By watching the trailer, what genre of film would you say this is?

"I would say that it is a supernatural horror set in the present day due to the technology used by the film crew and the involvement of freshers week and the university party lifestyle”

“At first I thought it was going to be a slasher horror based on the murder at the start of the trailer, but the cleverness about it is that there is no gruesome deaths and that all of the pain inflicted on the film crew is hinted leaving the audience it to imagine what might have happened”

2. What would you say that the straplines (pieces of text inbetween film clips) were informative as to what the film is about?

"The straps were very informative and successfully guided and directed my understanding of the narrative."

“They provided a visual aid to the commentary on screen”

"The strap-lines aided my understanding of the storyline indeed. They were informative, without giving too much away."

3. Do you think the use of camera/ editing/ lighting, elements of mise-en-scene were successful? Did the piece look professional or not? 

"I really enjoyed the uses of camera angles and shots and the elements of mise-en-scene were constructed very accurately for the narrative of the film. For example, the opening scene, showing a medium shot of Roehampton University looked amazing and I really appreciated the shift from the flashback scenes to present day scenes”

"My favourite aspect was definitely the camera! Having the majority of it filmed in night vision really made the footage seem authentic and real”

4. Do you think I have chosen suitable actors to star in my film trailer?

“I liked the fact that they looked like your average University students which added an authenticity to the narrative”

5. Which parts of the trailer do you feel were most successful?

"The use of sound was spot on in terms of shifting from scene to scene. You maintained the quickness in pace of all your shots."

“I thoroughly enjoyed the radio/television commentary at the start of the trailer, it really added to the suspense of Katie’s murder and her reasons for vengence

6. Name the areas that you believe I could have improved on:

"Perhaps more detail into what actually killed Katie and possibly the aftermath of her murder"

"The shots seemed to jump from one to another too quickly leaving the audience constantly at the edge of their seats. Maybe try to include a centre section were the audience is introduced to each of the film crew"

7. Does this trailer persuade you to want to see the film?
"Yes, it is a very effective in that it grabs my attention it definitely teases me and makes me want to watch!"

Diary Entry for the Editing process

Day #1

Today I am with my cousin Bernadette who is also plays the role of ‘Claire’ in my trailer as she has kindly allowed me to use her Mac computer in order to trial imovie. After several technical difficulties at school with regards to Adobe Premier Pro, I have decided to seek further options in order to edit the trailer. A classmate of mine suggested imovie as he found it incredibly helpful, simple to use and contained many more software features. After almost losing most of my footage, I was up and running and testing imovie and all of its applications. Having never used a Mac before it took me a while to learn how to navigate my way around but by the end of the day I felt comfortable enough to start editing. 

 Day #2

Another early morning start and prepared with my footage I begin work on the trailer, however due to the type of file that my camera clips are filmed in, work on the trailer had to be delayed for another few hours as I spent time trying to work out how to convert all my footage clips into a file that imovie would recognise. I soon dicovered that in order to convert the files I had to download an application known as Handbrake which would allow me to change the files from MPEG  to MP4. After downloading the application, I realised that I had to convert each clip one by one as the files were too large. This set me back a couple of more hours however during this time, I looked at my storyboards and remined myself of each individual shot I wanted to create, this allowed me to refresh my mind of my original narrative while also researching into the types of effects I could create using imovie.

Day #3

Editing is now up and running, and I am now starting to upload all the converted files onto 'My New Project' library, I'm so excited and I can't believe Im actually going to edit my very own horror trailer! With my storyboard in hand, I begin placing each clip in order which will help me organise the footage as a whole. Certain aspects of imovie are incredibly easy whilst others needed a couple of hours practising before I could get the hang of it, for instance cutting and extracting clips could not be any simpler whilst merging music and sounds were very laborious.

Day #4

Today I discovered how important it is to do pre-production research into elements such as Soundtrack choice, special effects and lighting as what you produce in your footage may not always appear the same during editing. For example, my initial idea of using a Dubstep track throughout seemed like the right idea when drawing the storyboad but when it came to placing it amongst the footage, it just didn't seem to flow as I thought it would. I am currently overwhelmed by how much I have achieved during this project and by how much I have overcome my fear of the horror genre. 

Day #5

I absoltely love playing around with all the different effects on imovie as there are so many different options to chose from. I decided that the opening sequence should feature an almost dream like/flashback look and that the audience is introduced to the main protagonist with her side of the story, this will also show the audience that while Katie as a demon is horrifying and vengeful, there is also a side of vunerabilty and pain. There were also some areas of imovie which I didn't quite understand, for instance there isnt a save option so each day I was constantly worrying that all my work would have been lost, thankfully this wasnt the case as it does it automatically.

Day #6

Things are finally starting to come together, with my clips in order and special effects added it's time to add the music for my montage. I have decided to go with another Dubstep song as I feel that the erratic beats and base will compliment the quickness of the shots. Imovie has become an addiction for me now and has prompted me to use it in other areas of study for the future, I also feel much more confident in terms of gathering various sounds and effects from websites for instance without the help of youtube and several royalty free sound effects websites I feel my trailers desiered purpose would be alot weaker.

Day #7

Six and a half hours each day and now my trailer is finally complete! I am so proud of how far Ive come in terms of digital media and my technical abilities, each day that I would add to the trailer, I would think of something new to add so I am glad that I spaced the editing out over a peried of 7 days as it allowed me to reflect upon the positives and flaws of the project.