Evaluation 4 -How Did You Use New Media Technologies in the Construction, Research, Planning and Evaluation Stages?

HD video camera 
This was the most important piece of technology in the production of our trailer. Firstly, this camera being HD helped us to ensure all our shots were of a high quality standard and not blurry or unfocused. It also came with very useful features such as being able to look through clips on the camera and delete the ones that were not useful or needed re-filming. This also gave us the opportunity to watch clips back when filming to see if they were exactly how we wanted them. If they were not then we were able to film the shot from another angle when the costumes, props and lighting was all the same. This benefited our trailer majorly as the continuity throughout the whole thing is prominent. This camera also has a flash light on it, being a thriller film we shot many scenes in low-key lighting and at night time. The use of this flashlight helped illuminate the rooms when we were filming without having to turn extra lights on. This meant that all the footage we filmed was of the same quality.

This camera is light and easily transportable. We had a tidy case that this camera could be stored in so that we could transport it from different locations without it getting damaged or lost. This meant that we did not have to stress about where we were filming and when as a member of the group could easily bring the camera to any location, such as at school or at the house where we filmed. Although we shot many camera shots on a tripod, which was also easily transportable, to make the shots steady and still, our film was based from the antagonists point of view. To connote this to the audience we used many handheld camera shots, which was evident as the camera was slightly shaky during scenes where the antagonist was interacting with Katie, an example of this is the attacker walking up the stairs in search of Katie. The camera being light made this easily possible for us, without including extra risks such as cables being in the way, or having to carry a heavy camera that is easily dropped.

Digital camera 
A digital camera was used to take images of different parts of the production of our trailer. These include photos of the actors playing their parts, the crew filming parts and researching  ideas. These images were then transferred onto computers and were placed on our blogs to be used as evidence. Some members of the group also used images that included Alice, who played Katie, looking straight into the camera, with her make up done, on their ancillary tasks. However, I chose not to do this as I preferred an action shot to portray more narrative.

Adobe photoshop
This is the software that I used to create my ancillary tasks. This was also used during the construction of our trailer to create images we wanted to use in our trailer, such as institutional information, the green certificate, the title and the release date of our film. Having used photoshop at AS I knew the basics, which was very beneficial as it saved me time and the construction of many pieces was very easy. However, there were things that we did not know how to do, such as inverting backgrounds.

When creating our title logo we learnt how to do this, as when downloading the font from the free texts website it was a white background with black writing. By experimenting with the effects on photoshop we found a way to invert this image which therefore gave us the desired effect we wanted.

When creating my film poster I was given feedback to remove the knife and hand from the image as they looked out of place and unneeded. To remove these I used a magnetic lasso tool and managed to select points around the edge of the part of the image I wanted to remove before using a delete button to remove this section only. However, by doing this part of Katie's top was deleted, I then learnt how to use a paint brush tool and a blending tool to recreate this part of the top. Once I finished this I took another look at the picture I realized that the shadow of the knife was still visible on Katie's chest. Removing this was much harder as I could not find the exact colour of Alice's skin. Photoshop, however, has a tool that allows you to click on the colour you want and it will match it for you. This meant that as I was blending the different parts of Alice's chest to remove the shadow I could match the shades of her skin correctly which made the job much easier for me.

Voice recorder

We used voice recorders to record the two voiceovers in our trailer. Having used a voice recorder previously at AS I already knew how to use this device. However, the HD feature allowed us to get high quality sound that worked well with our trailer. Previously, we learnt that these devices pick up lots of unwanted sounds if they are used in certain rooms that may be echoey or near noisy places. Therefore to ensure this did not happen to our voice recordings we recorded them in a sound proof room away from the general public, therefore we knew we had high quality recordings. The large amount of space on this device meant that we could record numerous copies of the voiceovers to ensure that emotion was added and removed from the dialogue where appropriate and effective.

I used this device again when creating evaluation task 2 as I recorded a voice over and applied it to my trailer and images of my ancilliary tasks explaining decisions made.

Adobe premiere pro 
This is the editing software we used to create our trailer. This was a complete learning curve for all of us, as previously in AS we used final cut pro on apple macs. However, it was exciting to be given the chance to learn a whole new software as this now means I feel confident in two different ways of editing. When editing on this we faced many original problems, firstly was the issue that each project could only be accessed on one computer off one persons account. This was a struggle as it limited the time we had to edit as we could only use these computers in our lessons and not in our free time like we could with the apple mac laptops in AS. However, we overcame this issue by ensuring we got as much done in lesson time as possible and did other work in our free time. Whereas with final cut pro the project saves automatically it does not on this software, so that was also a learning curve with using this.

This software allowed us to import clips and to cut them in the places we wanted to, aswell as adding effects, altering the speed of clips and adding transitions in between them. We were also able to layer sounds and still images onto the timeline of the trailer, which allowed us to add non-diegetic and diegetic sounds, aswell as still images such as our institutional information and title logo.

I used this software again in my evaluation task which helped me to feel even more comfortable and used to using it, as I was working alone this time so had to make all decisions and changes myself.

The main benefit I found of using this software was the larger viewing screen and all the clips and files imported being available to view down the side of the page as this was very organised and easy to access.

Adobe after effects 
This is a software I have never used before, however after doing some research I found out that this software allowed a typing effect to be created, which we needed for our transcript of the emergency call at the beginning of our trailer. I learnt a lot using this software immediately, but would love to go back and use it again to learn even more, as we only used it for one thing and the things I learnt from it seem to lead to many more possibilities that could improve my media texts in the future.

Blogger 
Blogger is a website I have used before as it is the blog website I used when creating my AS blog. I used it throughout all stages of the construction of my piece, as well as the research and planning stages and the evaluation task stages. I used blogger to record everything I did which was really useful in organizing the planning of the construction of our trailer. Blogger allows photos to be inserted, links to be added and videos to be connected of off YouTube. There is also an option to save drafts as I am working on them and to schedule posts to be published at a different time.

Blogger is available on all platforms, such as phones, computers and tablets. This technological convergence was beneficial as it meant I could work on my blog no matter where I was as long as internet was available to me. However, I learnt that blogger also have an app which I downloaded onto my phone. This helped me to write quick drafts of posts as I thought of something and whenever I had free time. I was also able to upload photos immediately off of my phone which made my blog more accessible.

As blogger is online my teachers were able to view my blog and see my ideas and offer me valuable feedback with all stages of the construction of my project.

Social media 
Through technological convergence social media is available on all platforms. The proliferation of Web 2.0 has allowed software to develop to a level where we can communicate quickly and effectively with our friends online through social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as imessage, an instant messaging software installed on all apple products. At all stages of our project we needed to communicate as a group, which this allowed us to do, aswell as communicating with Alissa, who was originally our lead actress.

We were able to create group conversations on these social media sites that allowed us to all discuss ideas and when problems occurred we were able to quickly overcome them as living in a contemporary world we all have technology at easy access almost all the time.

YouTube 
YouTube was beneficial to me at all stages of my project. Initially I used this website to watch endless thriller trailers. This allowed me to research and plan my trailer and therefore use this information when giving ideas to the group. The main feature I enjoyed exploring was creating playlists of trailers I wanted to watch so they all ran one after another allowing me to watch many in one sitting. This helped me to learn the generic conventions of this type of trailer.

YouTube was also beneficial to me in the evaluation stages as I posted videos of my final trailer, as well as the video I created for Evaluation Task 2. These videos are easily linked to my blog and therefore help to form a part of my documentation.

Evaluation task 3 - what have you learnt from your audience feedback?



First draft of magazine front cover


Receiving feedback about my first draft was highly beneficial for me, as it allowed me to see parts of the magazine that really did not fit well. There was also empty space pointed out to me that I had not noticed but could be used more efficiently.

The first thing that was pointed out to me was that my stamp which reads 'Exclusive interview with Alice Willard' looked randomly placed and did not seem to fit in with the rest of the poster as it was such a bright red compared to the other colours I had used. To make this fit better I chose to find a darker red that complimented the colours used in the rest of my magazine cover better. Therefore the red was still connoting danger, but in a way that emphasised the darker more mysterious side of our film trailer.  I also made the shape of the stamp into a smaller circle, and made the font smaller. This then allowed me to move the stamp over further to ensure it was not covering the main image I had used in the picture. The suggestion of changing this stamp helped to improve my magazine cover and taught me that when producing a piece of media such as a magazine cover I need to be sure that all the colours used connote what I want them to, as well as compliment each other where needed. I also need to ensure that the main image is not covered up by extra pieces of information as this takes the attention off of the main focus of the media text.




Myriad Pro - Font used in first draft

Prestige Elite Std - Font used in final magazine cover

The second piece of feedback I was given was that I needed a range of fonts. When looking back at my magazine I could how I had not used enough fonts and where I needed to try and gain a larger variety here. When trying to figure out how to add a larger variety of fonts that still complied with the genre, I decided to change the font I had used to advertise the titles of other films. I found this to be effective as it highlighted these films in a different way to the film in my trailer, which is the main feature in the magazine. This makes it easier to differentiate between the two. 



Another piece of feedback given was that there were gaps with too much wasted space in them, especially on the left side of the magazine cover. This part of the cover has large gaps with little going on in them. To try to fill the gaps I knew I needed to move the competition sign and then I would be able to add something new in. When moving this lower I discovered I had to make it smaller in order to be able to fit something else in. When doing this I felt that it lost some of its original emphasis so I placed it on a canted angle. This also helped to fit the generic convention of thriller films being chaotic as the canted angle connotes this.

Grey banner on first draft

Grey banner on final draft

I was also told that there is too much empty space on the grey banner I used to advertise other films. When looking at this I could see that the pictures were too small compared to the background they were on so I chose to make the pictures larger to fit. However, due to this proportion change the title of the films was not able to fit on the banner. When choosing to place the titles over the images to use the space I had effectively I found the darker fonts blended in with the background of the picture. However, the white font alone did not work either. By placing a black outline around the font it allowed the writing to be read easily, however did not ruin the effect created by the images.

I was also told that 'the big thriller review' felt repeated as the top of the magazine cover already read 'thriller special' and therefore this meant there was no need for it to be said a second time. The use of this sentence also covered up arts of the main midshot image used to represent Katie. In result to this feedback I chose to remove this from my magazine cover as the main image is the key feature of the magazine cover and should be clearly visible and not hidden.

 Overall, from the feedback I received on my magazine cover I learnt that when producing advertising texts, all space is very important and should not be left empty or wasted as it is noticed by the audience of the text. I also learnt that the main image on a magazine cover should be a clear and focused image and should not be covered up or hidden as this takes the main focus off of this.

When receiving feedback on my film poster I was told that the background of images I had chosen to use cuts off abruptly and all four girls should be used not just two.  Looking at my poster again I agreed with this so chose to make expand the sizes of the pictures as well as adding more in. This taught me that when creating media texts all space should be filled and backgrounds need to blend in with each other and fill the whole page as if this does not happen then they do not create the desired effect.

I was also asked why there was no tagline in my poster as this is a generic convention of film posters. As I was missing a vital piece of film posters I added this immediately. I originally added this in white to conform to the simplistic black and white colour scheme throughout the poster that connotes claustrophobia and emptiness. However, I was advised to add more of the colour red to my film poster as this is a colour generally used in thriller films as it connotes fear and danger due to its extreme prominence. I was hesitant to do this at first as red is a colour I purposely chose not to include often throughout the any of my media texts. This is because red is also a colour associated with blood and gore and I do not think our film shows large amounts of this, instead the plot focus' on the hostage situation and how Katie is captured and tied up. Due to being given this advice numerous times I decided to experiment with different places that I could add the colour red into the film. When trying to change the tagline that I had now added to a red colour I found that it looked really effective. This is because the tagline I chose is 'I think he is going to kill me' which is a statement that should connote fear and incredible amounts of danger itself. Therefore, the red further emphasises this and shows the extreme level of danger Katie is in, and how much fear she is really experiencing, which makes it even more effective as Katie's emotions are being portrayed, this will help the audience feel they can connect with her and therefore the emotion of fear and sympathy I intended for them to feel towards her is more likely to occur.
Receiving this advice taught me that when making media texts it is essential to take time to research as many other real media texts as possible as this will ensure I do not leave any conventions that should be included out. I also learnt that time should be taken to experiment with different colours and effects as the original ideas I have may not be best when the final piece is actually created, and if I have taken the time to experiment and take creative risks then the final piece will benefit.

I was told that the image of Katie I chose to use was too bright. As many parts of my film trailer occur at night low key lighting is often used. The image used in my film poster seems to be shown in very high key lighting, therefore the desired effect of someone lurking in the shadows is slightly lost. Therefore it was recommended that I make this image darker. To do this I watched back over my trailer many times while working on it so that I could try to match the darkness of the image to that of the trailer. This part of the feedback was one I found incredibly beneficial as it reminded me that when making different products based around the same idea or concept I need to regularly view the other media texts as this will allow me to make synergy between the pieces.

I was told to remove the knife and hand shown in the film poster as they looked out of place and therefore were taking up space and drawing attention off of the key concepts of the film poster that a consumer of a text will look for. This took me the longest time to change as by removing parts of the image I had to edit other parts to still look realistic and high quality. However, this has taught me to always check that every detail of a media text, no matter how small, is placed where it is to benefit the way a consumer will interpret the information. Therefore if it is not then it is unneeded in the film poster and will draw away the consumers attention from information that advertises the film and encourages them to watch it. 

Final copy of film poster

After showing our film trailer to the class for the first time we received lots of positive feedback. This was very beneficial for us as it ensured us that the work we had created was fitting to the genre we had hoped for. We were told we had created a fast pace that created tension and suspense, and that the narrative was recognisable and not too chaotic. At this point we asked for suggestions as to whether we should include intertitles as personally we felt they were not needed. The audience giving feedback agreed with this and explained how they thought the pace we created would be ruined by this. They also felt that the narrative would not benefit in any way from this and therefore adding it in would not add to our trailer. However, at the beginning of our trailer when Katie is listening to the radio they felt that a voice over would help.

We took this advice and added a voice over of a news reporter explaining that three young girls had been killed in different areas. This therefore set the scene of the trailer and gives the audience an insight into what has happened to make Katie wary of an intruder. Receiving this feedback helped me to understand that although it is ideal to include generic conventions of specific genres of films and media texts, it is not compulsory. These conventions can be challenged in order to benefit the trailers final outcome.

The other key piece of feedback we were given was that the mid shots of Alice underneath the bed were effective in helping to tell the narrative, however they are shown too often and repeated therefore reflecting as the most important part of the narrative. We listened to this and removed one of these shots from the trailer.

Script - evaluation task 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product and anciliary texts?

I think all three of my texts work well and effectively together. They all share the same elements; firstly the key feature is our lead female protagonist, Katie, who is played by Alice. In our trailer she is featured throughout the whole product and in my magazine and film poster there is a large clear image of her.  The combination of this image across all three texts is our main synergy focus; however it also gives the audience a sense of recognition between the three pieces. Both mid shot images show Katie looking down towards the floor diagonally, and therefore away from the camera, she also has a piece of duct tape over her mouth. This shows her to be emotionless, connoting that during the attack and hostage situation Katie is kept in she loses all emotion and therefore parts of her personality too. This is shown in the film trailer too as during the hostage scenes the only emotion Katie shows is fear.

I have also used the colour white numerous times across the three texts.  In our film this is mainly shown through white flashes acting as camera shots, this connotes innocence. As these close ups shots happen when the young girls who have been killed are shown this shows how pure and innocent they were when attacked. This also helps to create emotion within the audience as they feel more sympathy towards these girls knowing they were young and innocent.  However, this also contrasts to the rest of the film as the thriller genre does not include much innocence; it shows danger and fear instead. There is a large percentage of white on my magazine cover. This is mainly used for the different fonts and pieces of writing. I chose to use white as the rest of my magazine is very dark and the writing would have blended in with this, whereas with it being white it makes it much bolder and helps to emphasise the innocence further. This is also what I chose to do with the film poster as the text stands out making it much clearer and readable.

The title logo, which is also white, is featured in all three of my texts. The logo is a distinctive font and easily recognisable, therefore synergy is created as all three texts feature this, making it easily recognisable for the audience, therefore if a consumer of the text saw the magazine or poster after seeing the trailer they would be able to clearly identify that they are from the same film. This is a great advertising technique for films as the audience can constantly recognise this logo wherever it is seen.

Both of my ancillary tasks show the main narrative of the film, which is the hostage situation. I used this as all other narratives in our trailer stem from this. I feel that the image I used in the ancillary tasks shows a large enough section of the narrative to allow the audience to get an insight of the film, however they do not give away too much narrative to ruin the plot line for the audience, this therefore attracts our target audience and makes them want to watch the film due to the sense of mystery.

Although the stereotypical generic conventions of a thriller film trailer include the colour red, as this connotes danger and blood. We did not want to include too much of this during our film trailer as we felt our film did not include lots of blood and gore. However, we wanted to include some colour to connote the danger in our trailer. This is why we choose to use a red pen when the attacker was crossing out the girls he had already killed and circling his latest victim, Katie. I also used the colour red in my magazine cover. I used a gradient background ranging from a dark red to a black, as well as brighter reds used for parts of the writing. The darker red background allowed the brighter reds to stand out. In my images of other films I also made sure one included the colour red in a large percentage to connote the danger and fear in that film, whereas the other two are darker and more mysterious to create tension. I choose not to use too much red in my film poster as I did not want it to become an overpowering colour as it is not a key colour in our trailer. However, I wanted the pieces of the poster that were red to further emphasise danger. I chose to make the crosses on the girls faces bolder and more prominent to ensure the red stood out. I also used a brighter red colour for the tagline. The red highlights the danger in the sentence "I think he's going to kill me". As this is the last statement heard in our trailer I think this is a really important line. As Katie is hiding under the bed on the phone to the police as this is said, I wanted it to stand out in the poster and show she is scared to say this. The use of the tagline in my poster and at the end of the trailer shows the synergy between the pieces and creates an easily recognised statement that the audience will remember.

The relationships shown in our film trailer are:  Katie's relationship with her friend, as this shows she is a popular, friendly girl and helps the audience to get to know her. We decided to use this technique as based on the uses and gratification theory; the demographic target audience will feel emotions, such as sympathy, for her if they feel that they can identify with her.  

Relationships between Katie and her mum, and the police officer on the phone to her also occur during our trailer. I chose to leave these relationships out of my ancillary tasks as I did not feel that they were key parts of our narrative. The largest relationship seen in our trailer is between Katie and her attacker. As the USP of our film was to have everything happening from the attacker’s point of view I did not want to show him during my ancillary products as I felt this may ruin the illusion we had created. Aside from this, I still wanted to find a way to portray some of the relationship in my ancillary tasks. I did this in the both products as in the  image I used Katie’s mouth is taped and her hands can be taped up too, which shows she is in an uncomfortable situation that she has no input in. The magazine cover also shows a knife being held near Katie’s throat, further showing the relationship with the attacker and his violent behaviour.

We made sure that Alice, who played Katie, was an attractive young girl as we found out this was a stereotypical generic convention of thriller films. We also made sure she was always dressed in simple clothing; this was mainly a dark black top and a pair of blue jeans. This was an outfit that ensured continuity throughout the trailer and my two ancillary tasks. This outfit also suggested Katie to be average and not overly girly or fitting with a specific stereotype. This make her a character easily to identify with which will ensure a larger proportion of our demographic target audience find the film interesting.

When making my magazine cover I tried to use common magazine features to entice a mass audience. Firstly this was a large masthead, which was placed behind Katie’s head. This is to represent her importance to the film trailer; the large image I have used of her also takes up most the space on the page, which further signifies her significance. I also used buzzwords in the magazine cover, such as ‘exclusive’, however these are not used in the film poster as a different audience is targeted by the different mode of address.

The certificate of our film is included in the film trailer, and the film poster. I felt it was important to include here as this was direct advertising for the film, so I personally think they should be included. However, in the magazine cover I did not feel this information was necessary as it takes up and wastes space. I also think that if any consumer is interested in the film then they would look into this information themselves. I also think that as the film is clearly identified as a thriller film in all three of my texts through the use of generic thriller conventions, any consumer is likely to expect there to be a higher age certificate in the film and therefore will choose to look into this.

I also chose not to include the production company logo in my ancillary texts as I felt this again wasted space and did not add to the illusion I had created or further emphasize the thriller genre.

Overall, I think the decisions I made across all three texts created an effective and successful campaign as the synergy created across the three helped to make the texts easily recognisable for the audience and the generic conventions of the thriller genre were prominent in all three texts ensuring an air of mystery and danger was created.

Evaluation 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challange forms of conventions from real media products?

Frame 1 - Locations and props

Frame 1 shows one of our most common locations; the garage. It also shows a knife, which is the most significant prop shown in our trailer.  I chose to show this location and prop as the garage is the most iconic setting in our trailer as it is the attackers 'base'.

This conforms with conventions of thriller films as the attacker often has a space of their own where they plan what is going to happen. An example of this is at the beginning of Last house on the left where the villains had their own apartment to plan things in. To develop this idea we made sure the location was recurring throughout the whole film. The mess in the location makes it easily identifiable and therefore as it is seen numerous times in the trailer the audience realise the significance of this setting.

The shot shown in the frame is shown earlier in the trailer than the knife is seen held to Katie's neck. This links with Barthes' enigma theory as the knife being shown is a clue as to what will happen to Katie.
The use of the darkness and low key lighting in this shot also uses conventions of real media products as low key lighting connotes mystery and creates suspense. The use of the colour blue, however, challenges the conventions of media products. This is because blue is a colour that connotes calmness and relaxation, therefore it is not often used in thriller films. We thought this colour added to the tension and suspense created as it contrasts the clutter of objects everywhere and makes the audience question the contents of the room.



Frame 2 - Costume

Frame 2 shows an image of Katie, walking across the living room running away from her attacker who she has just seen watching her. She is wearing a simple outfit here, that is very colourless. We decided to dress Katie simply at all times, as we wanted a larger proportion of the audience to be able to identify with her based on the uses and gratification theory. To ensure this happened we did not want to help her to fit a specific stereotype, therefore we were careful with the costumes to ensure they were not overly pink, or sporty etc. The main outfit she wore during the trailer is the black t-shirt and blue jeans featured above. The black being in solid blocks connotes claustrophobia and lack of space, where as the white connotes emptiness, these are emotions Katie feels while being tied up and therefore we wanted her to dress in a way that connoted this.  Other costumes are based around the colours black and white and therefore fit this stereotype.

Frame 3 - Use of logo

Frame 3 shows our production company logo. We chose the name 'Maximum productions' as we felt the word 'maximum' connotes the greatest amount of something. This therefore connotes that our production company is the best company creating the greatest work. We used iconic London landmarks to connote that the company is an independent British company, and five stars around the edge of the frame as this suggests we are a 5 star company which is the best it can be.

After making our production company logo the white background originally used was too bright and did not conform with the darker colours stereotypically used by thriller films. We chose to make this background darker and changed it to a grey colour, therefore as it comes onto the screen at the beginning of the trailer it is immediately identifiable that our film is a thriller film.

Frame 4 - How characters are introduced

The key character introduced in our trailer is Katie. There are few other characters introduced in our trailer, as the attacker himself is not seen. Katie's friend is shown at the beginning, and there are images of other girls targeted shown. The voice used in an emergency phone call is the first character heard in our trailer. The image I have chosen for this frame shows Katie at the end of the trailer on the phone to the emergency call centre hiding under the bed. This shows that throughout the whole trailer she is introduced to be vulnerable and helpless. This develops conventions from other thriller films as the main character is always portrayed as vulnerable and therefore easy to attack. However, we have challenged thriller film conventions by introducing so few characters as these films are usually chaotic and include more characters adding to the busyness.

Frame 5 - Camerawork and editing

Frame 5 shows a handheld camera shot walking up the stairs. I chose to include this shot as it is really effective in ensuring the audience felt like they were watching from the antagonists point of view. This type of point of view shot is often used in thriller films to make them seem more documentary like, such as paranormal activity. Therefore it does conform with generic conventions of thriller films.
As this point of view shot was taken the attacker is walking up the stairs in the dark searching for Katie. The music here builds up slowly adding the tension as the attacker climbs the stairs. After a series of fast paced cuts The attacker finds Katie hiding under the bed. The camera shot being handheld makes it slightly shaky and more realistic looking, making it easier to establish that the antagonist is the one climbing the stairs.

Frame 6 - Plot line and narrative

The main narrative shown throughout the trailer is the attacker searching for Katie and when finding her keeping her locked up and held hostage. Therefore this is the narrative I chose to portray on both my magazine cover and film poster. I did this by using an image of Katie with her hands tied up and her mouth taped over. In my magazine cover there is also a knife held near her throat. This connotes to two different audiences the narrative of my film.

Displaying the narrative of the film is often done in film posters as it is direct advertising for the film and therefore this is something that is likely to entice and engage a mass audience. This will especially be designed to target the demographic target audience by giving away enigma clues which will connote some of what is going to happen.

This happens less often in magazine covers as the lead actor/actress is more likely to take part in a photo shoot which will lead to a staged photograph being taken and used for the front cover. However, in my ancillary task I chose to challenge this as I wanted to use an action shot. This is because this helps to create synergy between all three texts so consumers of the text will recognise the different  mode of address as associated with the film and therefore it is mass advertising on a wider scale.

Frame 7 - Use of intertitles

Intertitles are used in film trailers to include more narrative in the trailer. It is further used in thriller trailers to create mystery and suspense as limited information is given. However, when making our trailer we did not originally include intertitles. After making the first draft of our trailer we asked for feedback from a selected group of our target audience, who agreed with us that we had created a fast paced trailer that created tension and suspense and by including intertitles we were likely to ruin this illusion and mystery we created.

We did however chose to include institutional information at the end of our trailer. This is something that all film trailers include as it lets the audience know who created and worked on the film. Not only does this give the correct people credit for the film, consumers of the trailer may spot names they recognise and have previously enjoyed work by, and will be more persuaded to watch the whole film.

Frame 8 - Use of titles

When creating a title for my ancillary task I tried to make one that is not specialised to a specific genre of film.This is stereotypical of film magazines as they are therefore able to advertise to a mass audience, an example of this is 'total film', this title is not specialised in any way and therefore is suitable to advertise a variety of films. I chose to use the title 'global film'. I felt this title is not specialised in any way and therefore can advertise a variety of films. The term 'global' also connotes being worldwide therefore this suggests that the film magazine gives information on worldwide films, this will entice a mass audience to read this magazine.

To make the edition of the magazine more specialised the words 'thriller special' were evident at the top of my magazine cover, this can be seen in this frame. By doing this all information on different films that I included on my magazine cover was related to thriller films in some way. Many film magazines will often do this, therefore I was using and developing generic conventions.

Frame 9 - Fonts

This frame shows an image of the title of our film when it appears at the end of our trailer. The font we chose to use . I used this title logo on all three of my media texts as I felt this created synergy between them and was easily recognisable for the demographic target audience.

We chose to use a font from a free font website from a category called 'scratchy'. This font is a white colour which connotes innocence and purity, against a black background. The innocence and purity created contrasts with the title of the film 'hostage'. I think this highlights how Katie has not done anything for this to happen to her and she is an innocent young girl who becomes helpless without any intention to do so. White fonts on darker backgrounds are often used in thriller film title logos. This can be seen in films I researched such as The last house on the left. However, we also challenged thriller film conventions as title logos often include the colour red. This is a colour that connotes danger, as red is an extreme colour it is prominent and draws attention. We chose to challenge this by not using the colour red in our logo, this draws attention as it is so simplistic, however the chaotic font draws enough attention itself. The colour back being the background is prominent in many thriller films. Black is a colour that connotes authority and power.  Being used in block around the title connotes the power the antagonist has over Katie, it also connotes submission and this therefore connotes the attempt the attacker has made for Katie to be submissive to him and not run away or disobey the situation he has set up. Stereotypically villains in films where the colour black, such as Dracula. Therefore, we are developing conventions of films further by having this colour in our title logo.

Furthermore, the font we chose challenges conventions of thriller films as titles from these films are often bold and a standardized san serif font. Whereas, our font connotes desperation and fear and the idea that Katie is desperately trying to escape this hostage by scratching her way out.

Hostage trailer - final product

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2eFYWI19fY

Film poster draft

Magazine draft

voiceovers

We wanted to use voiceovers in our trailer as we think they are really beneficial in helping the audience to understand the narrative more. However, we did not want to use too many as we didn't want to break up any tension and suspense we had already managed to build.

We planned all the voiceovers that we intended to use. The first voiceover was a radio news story that explains how a third young girl had been killed and that the killer was on the move once again. I would be the person that says this voiceover, as we all agreed I was the person in the group whos voice is best to use, as Alice's voice is already used in the trailer so that cannot be used. Also I speak in received pronunciation, therefore it works well. We also planned to use a voiceover that our teacher agreed to record for us. This is the voice of the emergency call centre operator who speaks to Katie during a '999' call.

We all felt that using these trailers really helped to bring the narrative together as it works well with the footage we have filmed.

We used a voice recorder to record this which was provided by the school's media department. This was really easy to use and produced a clear sounding piece. It was also so easy to add this into our trailer as all we had to do was to was connect it to a computer and then open up our project and import it.

Sound in trailer

We needed a variety of different sounds in our trailer this would create a sense of realism. This includes music and dialogue.

To find the music we wanted to include in our trailer we used the website www.freeplaymusic.com and searched through various tags such as 'horror', 'thriller' and 'eerie'. This allowed us to listen to a range of songs that are not copyrighted. This is important as due to the copyright laws we are unable to use songs by well known artists or other films, and as we did not really have a budget to make this trailer we could not afford the rights. Also, we ourselves, do not know any aspiring bands who produce music that would fit into our trailer to request permission to use.

It took many hours and was one of the longest tasks in the whole production of our trailer, however, eventually we found a few different tracks that we all liked and agreed fit in with the action on screen in our trailer. The support of the sound, made the trailer. This will help to create the desired reaction from our audience, which in this case is fear and suspense.

The sounds we needed all together were:

• A dark eerie slow music to support slower scenes but start to create a tense atmosphere, this then needed to progressively build and become more powerful for the big up beat scene. If we could not find a track like this we could use two different tracks that mix well together.
• Doorbell
• Phone ringing
• Diegetic sound in scene
• Voiceovers - 3 in total, a police call operator, a phone call to the police, and the news on the radio.

The track we decided to use fit really well with our trailer, one of the things we liked the most about this was that as the antagonist walked up the stairs there was a strong beat with every step which amplified the fear Katie would be feeling. The music was also only around 1 minute 30 seconds which meant that we did not need to cut it down which would ruin the pace we created as it abruptly stops.

Filming and Equipment

We used a range of equipment to shoot our film. Firstly we used a HD digital video recorder to film all scenes and footage. This was easy to transport as it was small and easy to carry. It also connected easily to the computer which allowed us to import it easily into the editing software.  We also used a tripod that this attached to, which allowed us to steady all shots so therefore the camera was not shaky. We also used a voice recorder to record all voiceovers.

Filming was a lot of fun for us all, however we found it a great challenge considering the amount of time we had to do it in. We made this easier for ourselves by creating schedules. However, it we had to constantly remind ourselves that we were filming a whole trailer and therefore needed to include the whole narrative. This meant we had to try to keep continuity throughout the filming which lasted a couple of weeks.

A way we overcame this was by checking our footage at the end of each filming session and re-watching it the next day. This allowed us time to be critical of our work and pick up on any mistakes we felt we needed to re-film.

One of the important lessons we learned during filming was that we needed to remember to charge the camera regularly, as we did not do this at first and it ended up running out of battery halfway through filming which meant we then had to leave it wait until it had charged to then film that scene again.

character changes

Alice is now playing Katie, our main character, in our film. This was an easy change for us to make, as Alice was only filmed in one scene as Katies friend so all we had to do was take a small part of our spare time to refilm this scene with Katie having just one friend, me.

This scene had to be reshot anyway as we had to film it again with Alice instead of Alissa.

Changes to trailer

As we began to film our trailer we came across some issues that we had to find a way around.

The first issue was that Zoe's parents, who were playing Katie's parents in our film, had busy work schedules and we struggled to find a time that they were free to film at the same time as Alissa, who was playing Katie and us, the crew who were needed to film. We had planned the whole film at Zoe's house, which is why we had chosen to use her parents as it made it much easier than trying to get one of our parents to Zoe's house.

Zoe then got considerably ill and was unable to come into school or to have us round to her house to film. We used this opportunity to film anything that could be filmed in any house, as not much background was seen, or shots that were outside and a house was not seen. We filmed these at Alice's house.

Over the Christmas break period we found out that Alissa was going away for nearly two weeks. This made everything very difficult as if we wanted to get our film finished before going back to school then we would have to rush all our filming, which we did not want to do. We also would not have time for re-filiming anything that we found to be wrong when we were editing.

We knew we had some serious decisions to make.

Alice, who was in our group and was meant to be playing one of Katie's friends volunteered to become our main character. This seemed like the best idea to us as we only had to rely on Alice, who was in our group and therefore would be likely to be free when we were. As we had already filmed some footage at Alice's house it seemed ideal to finish filming at her house so that more shots could be filmed in similar places.

We also knew we should try to change the narrative as much as possible to try to remove Zoe's parents from the story. This would mean that we were able to film more of our film as we were now only relying on people that are in our group to be free to film.

We were able to stick to the idea of a girl being held hostage in her own home while her parents were away. However, we were able to really simplify this. The story-line became less original but our ideas continued to flow which allowed us to put our own personal twist on the film to make it more personal.

This is our new narrative:

Katie, who would now definitely be played by Alice, is left home alone as her parents go away for their anniversary. - However, in the trailer the parents would not be shown they would only be waved at in a car as it drove off.
The trailer would open up with a '999' emergency phone call being heard.
This then changes to Katie listening to the radio which explains how another girl had been killed by a killer who had not been found.
Katie is then shown talking to her friend - we cut this down to just one person, me, so that Alice could play Katie - she is telling her friend how she was excited as her parents are going away.
The trailer would then develop and the pace would increase as the killer gets into her house and holds her hostage.


This storyline links back to our research as the 999 call links to the call, and the stranger breaking into her home links to when a stranger calls.

Planning - characters and Actors

This is Alissa, she plays Katie our main character in the film. We choose to use Alissa as she is a young attractive girl with long blonde hair. This fits the stereotype for girls in thriller films, as the long blonde hair connotes femininity and innocence. She also looks like 17 years old, which is the age we wanted our main character to be. She also comes across as a normal British everyday teenager, this is important as the female audience members will be able to relate to this.

Alissa is part of drama groups outside of school, studies A-level drama and is often in theatre shows. This allowed us to be sure that she would be professional and believable when in our production and also would be understanding to how long it may take to film the whole trailer, and do as many retakes as needed.

These are Katies two best friends who are also shown in the trailer. Having these two in the trailer shows that Katie is sociable and popular, this highlights how she has a social life inside and outside of school which helps the audience get to know her more. If the audience feel like they know her well then they are more likely to feel sympathy for her when she is attacker.



The antagonist in our film is not shown, however is played by Peter, who is in our group.  We tried to keep him hidden and completely out of shot as our USP is that  our film comes from the attackers point of view. In the shots that he is shown we tried to keep him hidden in the shadows or in the background so it can not be seen who he is. This creates mystery in our film which will scare the audience more.

Risk assessment

Planning - settings

Some of the settings in our trailer are inside a school. This is because our main character, Katie, attends sixth form. Having settings inside a school allows her friends to be introduced, as well as the audience getting to know her. This will therefore make them feel more sympathy towards her when she is held hostage. When filming in the school we tried to ensure the images truly reflected the setting, this is why the lunch tables are shown here and we also used iconic lockers, as they are one of the first things thought of when people think of schools.

 The garage used within the film is designed to look like the kidnappers safe house. This is because he is seen finding his murder weapons in here, and the way it is cluttered, yet he finds everything shows that he has been there before and uses this place often

  This is the house where Katie lives with her parents. This is a safe and secure place for everyone, including the audience. When Katie is met by an intruder in her own home it makes the scene more scary and sinister. Our trailer also contains a shot from the attackers point of view of him watching the house, and Katie, from this angle.

This is the dining room in Katie's house. She is seen here listening to the radio when she first hears
about the attacker. This is a sign of foreshadowing the events to come, making it more sinister when it happens. Katie is seen here doing her school work, this shows realism which helps the audience get to know her and feel more sympathy when she is attacked.

 This is the living room in Katie's house. This is again a familiar setting for the audience making them feel safe and unlikely for anything to go wrong here. However, this is where the hostage scenes take place in a chair in the middle of the living room. Before these scenes happen various scenes are shown in this room such as her sitting watching television. This makes the audience feel more sympathy for her as realism has been shown.






This is the conservatory in Katie's house. The large, open spaced window is where Katie looks outside to see someone watching her. This is where the action starts as this is when Katie realises what has been going on and the kidnapper attacks.We thought this setting was one of the most important because of this reason.

The hallway and stairs in Katie's house. These appear many times during the film and trailer. We filmed footage of Katie being pulled down the stairs and also the attacker running up the stairs to try and find her.

Planning - communication within the group

Having the ability to have a group conversation running on social media, was so helpful for our group. This allowed us to communication outside of school, especially during the Christmas half term break when we needed to get as much filming as possible done, so we were able to keep in regular contact with each other to determine when to film.

Planning - communication with main actress

As our main actress does not study media with us, we do not see her often. Because of this, we had to ensure that we keep her up to date with everything we are doing and also so she knew when we wanted to film certain parts.

These are some screenshots of communication between Alissa, our actress, and Alice, a member of the group. Social media was very beneficial to us as it was an easy way to all keep in contact with each other.

Planning - prop list

I made this first prop list very similarly to the way I made the costume list.

This was by writing down the list of all the props that would be needed and then nect to them write down the day on the schedule they would be used for, usong the same colour coordination.

The color coordination matching on all sheets was important as it made everything easier to see and group when reading quickly.

Planning - costume list

 

After planning the shot list and a schedule we needed to find out what costumes we  would need and when. It is important that this is planned ready for filming as it ensures that continuity is shown througout the whole trailer. 

When making this list, I firstly wrote the name of the actor/actress and then wrote down a list of  the differnt costumes they would be wearing in the trailer. Next to each costume I then used the same colour coordination used in the shot list and schedule to write down the setting this would be used in and therefore which day.

Planning - schedule

After creating the shotlist, it was time to decide what to film on each day. I used the same colour coordination I had used in the shot list to create this schedule to make it easier read.

I used the initials i had put at the end and wrote down all the different combinations of actors needed. Then i used these as headings and wrote all the shots that could be filmed while all the actors were together. I then split this into settings and I was then able to divide it up into days. Therefore as soon as we found a time different actors were free we could easily see everything that could be filmed with them people there, which allowed us to tick one more day off of our completion list.

Planning - shot list

This is the shot list I created and copied for the whole group.

I produced this by using a different colour for each different location that we would be shooting footage in, plus an extra section for things that would be added in editing. I then went through the storyboard and added each shot, or group of shots to the setting they fit into. I then created a key at the side and used each initial of the name of the actor and wrote the actors initials next to the shots they would be needed to film. The '+2' in next to one of them is me and alice, who would be playing Alissa's friends, however at the time we were still deciding if we wanted to use ourselves or other actors.

By producing this shot list it helped our group to be much more organised as we knew what needed filming where, which meant we could work out how long filming would take.

Planning - script

Once we had our idea sorted out and our storyboard planned we tried to plan a basic script.

This is our first copy of the script. It was handwritten as it is still in the drafting process so therefore we were still working out which parts should be added.

We used the storyboard to create this script so we could see which shots needed dialogue adding. However, the script is very shot as we thought adding too much diegetic dialogue would break up our trailer and ruin any tension and suspense built.

Planning - storyboard

Planning the storyboard was very difficult for us. This is because knowing it was a trailer, we knew there was no set order it should go in. This meant there would be a lot of picking, choosing and swapping between which shots we wanted in the trailer. This is where the idea to use post-it notes in our storyboard was formed. We thought this idea was perfect as the post-it notes are square, which is the right shape for our shots, and all the same size which makes it easier. But we could also move them around as much as necessary until we found an order we liked.

This was our original storyboard. We showed this storyboard during our pitch. We researched other trailers more and found out that trailers usually show about 90 shots in 1 minute 30 seconds roughly. We had nowhere near that many shots so we choose to add more, which made our storyboard much bigger.

Planning - Roles within the group

Within the group we assigned roles for each activity we had to face. These roles were not definite and we all helped each other out, but each person was 'in charge' of different things to ensure they were completely finished and to a high quality standard.

All four of us wanted to take turns filming different bits and using the camera so we all shared that job equally. We thought this would be really beneficial for us as it would allow everyone to film things from the angle they thought would work best, therefore we would have a range of footage, with a variety of shots.

Zoe was the main person editing.
Alice was the main person sorting mise-en-scene when filming, this included her doing the make up.
I was in charge of props, and I also made all the scheduling lists and sheets we needed. I was also an extra actress.
Peter was the main antagonist actor, as well as producing the storyboard.

Planning - production company logo

This is our production company logo. The name 'maximum productions' written inside a film strip suggests how our production company is the best, the word 'maximum' does this. The five stars round the top reiterate this as they suggest we produce high quality, five star, films.

The iconic images of Big Ben and the London eye seen highlight how we are an independent British company.

Planning - Pitch and feedback

This is our groups original pitch we showed to our class. This is where we explained all of our ideas and got as much feedback as we could. We gave information on narrative, music, characters, settings, generic conventions of thrillers and generic conventions of trailers.

This was really helpful to us as firstly it helped that we were able to speak through our ideas to people that did not know them. This meant we were able to really understand if it all made sense together.

We also gained feedback that was important to us as it greatly helped us to plan our trailer even further. One of the main ideas we got was to mix our storyboard up to make it seem more chaotic, which is stereotypical of thrillers.

We were also able to eliminate some of our title ideas down to

• Hostage
• Vendetta
• Housebound

However, we were also given some new title ideas, such as 'The intruder' aand 'raw deal'.

Watching pitches from other groups in our class was incredibly beneficial as it gave our group more inspiration concerning music and the thriller theme.


The slides from our presentation are:

We divided the slides up between us all and all worked on our own slides individually to produce them with the groups ideas and then present them.