Emily Crow
Candidate Number: 6102
Centre Number: 16607


Welcome to my advanced portfolio blog. Here I have blogged all of the work that I have completed whilst creating my trailer and ancillary products and have displayed them now that they are finished. I have also blogged all my research and planning that I have done throughout the project and an evaluation of my work at the end. 

The brief I chose was a promotion package for a new film. I have made a two minute trailer, a film poster and a film magazine front cover; featuring the film. 

Finished Products

Trailer

Poster

Magazine Cover

Textual Analysis - Friends Forever Trailer

Textual analysis friends forever from EmilyCrow

Textual Analysis - Friends Forever Poster

Textual Analysis - Friends Forever Magazine Cover

Textual Analysis - FF Magazine.docx

Evaluation - Question 1

Evaluation - Question 2

Question 2 - Evaluation

Evaluation - Question 3

Evaluation - Question 4

Film Promotion - Social Media

I have created a Twitter account to promote my film. I have chosen to do this because Twitter is one of the main social networking sites where so many people visit it everyday. It is real time where I am able to tweet any new details that I am wanting to promote. 

Finished Magazine Cover

I have added images of films that will be released in 2013 in the film reel at the bottom to promote the films and letting the audience some of the films that will be available to them this year. The main image has direct mode of address of the main protagonists of the film 'Friends Forever', which is shown in a large text to show that it is the anchorage text and links to the main image of the magazine.  

Planning - Magazine Development

The top image is is of the newly updated version of my magazine. A convention of the magazine 'Empire' that I have researched is to have the image over or under the title, so I have moved the image up. I have also change the font of the 'Friends Forever' because it fits with the fonts that I have use on my other products. I have added a camera roll at the bottom, which I will fill with images of new films that are coming into the cinemas in 2013. 

Planning - Making of Magazine

I have uploaded this to show the progress of the making of my magazine. I have put the title in the middle and quite bold as this is stereotypical of the film magazines I have looked at. For example 'Empire'. 

Finished Poster

Here is my final poster. I have added the tagline 'Do you believe in ghosts?' to give the audience an idea of the genre of the film. I have also added the credits at the bottom, informing the audience who produced the film, who directed it and who the main protagonists were played by. I have also included the Twitter username for the audience to look up on the social networking site. This will keep the audience updated with everything to do with the film. 

Research - Audience Feedback

This table shows the questions that I asked my target audience about my final products and their answers. This is an effective and easy way of obtaining results and presenting them clearly. 

Evaluation Questions

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

2. How effective is the combination of your man product and ancillary tasks?

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? 

Research - Questionnaire for Trailer and Poster so far

First Final Draft

Development of Poster

By changing my font and placing of my title on the poster, the title stands out more to the audience and is more conventional to the genre of the film. The main characters are shown in the poster using direct mode of address. 

Planning - More Title Fonts

I am going to use the top font for my title instead of the previous title because I did no think that it was going to stand out enough for the title of the poster. These fonts also look better with the genre of the film that I am creating. 

Planning - Poster Development

I chose an image of the girl that died from my selection of photos that I took. I cut round the image of the girl with the magnetic lasso tool, to get rid of the background in the image. Once completed I made the image smaller so that it could fit into the size of the eye. After that I made the opacity of the image from 100% to 30%, to make it look like the girl is looking for her friend who that has died. I thought that this would be an effective way to present the poster, as it shows that there are two main characters in the film, but doesn't reveal any of the plot to the audience. 

Planning - Process of Poster Making

This is what my poster looks like so far. I have added the title 'Friends Forever' to the poster, in a font which looks like it has scratched onto the poster. I have chosen to use this font because this is what a stereotypical horror poster font looks like. 

Planning / Research - Fonts for title

Here are the two fonts that I am going to choose for my title. I have chosen them because they are quite basic looking, but could be quite effective as the title, this is because they look like a stereotypical font which could be used on a poster of a horror film. 

Planning - Narration over the trailer

Here are a few of the potential sounds that I am going to be using over my narration. I have chosen to use the nursery rhyme 'Twinkle twinkle little star', as I thought that it could be easily related to my story line. I have decided to change 'what you are' to 'where you are', because in the story line one of the young girls is dying and the girl who is still alive is wondering where her friend has gone. I am still going to get some more recordings of the young girl singing the nursery rhyme. 

Planning - Beginning of Poster

I have chosen this picture to be the main image of the poster. I have done this because it shows little emotion of the girl which could be seen as the girl being upset. I got the inspiration from the poster of 'The Woman in Black' that I analysed. The image is using direct mode of address which will engage with the audience. I have also changed the image from being a colour into black and white so that it fits in the stereotypical genre of the horror films with the black and white colour scheme. The image does not give away any of the plot of the film, just that it is to do with a young girl who looks upset about something. Therefore this poster is going to be a 'character poster', as it just contains the main protagonist. 

Here is a screen shot of Photoshop, the programme which I have done this. I have used half of the face of the girl, which brings an element of surprise to the film, and gets the audience thinking why I have not included the whole face on the poster. 

Planning / Research - Further narration development

I will be using one of the young girls to do the narration over the top of my trailer, as I feel that it would create a scarier approach to the film. I have looked at a few nursery rhymes and have decided that I am going to use ideas from'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' and 'Ring a Ring o' Roses'  with it slightly edited to relate to my trailer. 

Twinkle, twinkle, little star

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are,

Up above the world so high

Like a diamond in the sky

Twinkle, twinkle little star

How I wonder what you are

How I wonder what you are" 

I could imagine the girl who is still alive saying this about her friend who has died, wondering where she has gone and as she is so young her parents have told her that she is in heaven in the sky. 

Ring a Ring o' Roses'

"Ring a ring o' roses

A pocket full of posies 

A-tishoo, a-tishoo

We all fall down"

Again this could be related to the death of the young girl with the majority of the poem related to them playing together and then last line 'we all fall down' could relate to her dying. 

Planning / Research - Lesson - 3rd December

I have decided that for my narration I am going to write a poem. I will using other friends poems off the internet and using nursery rhymes for inspiration and give me ideas of what to use in the poem. 

Planning - Potential Photos for Film Poster and Magazine Cover

Research - Hide and Seek - Poster Textual Analysis

TEASER POSTER - Contains basic information but does not reveal any of the plot to the audience and introduces one of the characters to the audience.

Research - The Lovely Bones - Poster Textual Analysis

TEASER POSTER - This is because it contains basic information, but does not reveal much about the film and introduces the main characters to the audience

Planning - Lesson - 27th Novemeber

Today I was planning what I was going to have as my narration. I wrote out the narration from 'The Woman in Black' and 'The Lovely Bones' to give me some ideas to what I could have over my trailer. I was having trouble with what I was going to have the young girl say as I have not completed my trailer, so I am going to get some more filming done this weekend and hopefully finish my trailer as soon as possible so I can put the narration over the top. I was also having trouble thinking whether I should have the young girl who has been killed doing the narration or the girl who is being haunted doing the narration. I am going to write two scripts for both circumstances and then decide which one would fit in better with the completed trailer.

Research - The Woman in Black - Poster Textual Analysis

CHARACTER POSTER - As it does not reveal any of the storyline to the audience but shows features of the main character

Planning - Textual Analyses of Posters - Ancillary Task

These are the film posters will be the posters that I will be analysing for my ancillary tasks. I have selected these three films because I previously analysed them for my trailer and all contain conventions of a horror film that I will be using in both my trailer and poster. 

Research - Target Audience Feedback Of Trailer So Far

Katy Bailey: 

"It's good, the wind blowing over the titles introduces the genre early and you have used good shots. The music is spooky and childish to fit the narrative and it's good to go black at the end. I think it need to have a build up of shots or music or something afterwards to add the suspense that occurs in a horror trailer."

Charlie Crow:

"It's a good start, with good acting and good switching of scenes. However, more of the actual story line should be involved for the viewer to develop a better understanding of the film."

Harrison Payne: 

"I enjoy the use of music and believe it fits to the genre of film perfectly. I think that the acting is good and the range of camera angles and shots really add to the mysterious atmosphere. However to improve i think you would need to explore further into the story of the film, so that the audience can interact more with what they are watching."

Research - Institutional Context

Finance, Distribution, Promotion and Consumption 

My film will be financed by 20th Century Fox, a News Corporation company. This is because they are a well known film production company and have produced a variety of different films including ones of the same genre and target audience, such as 'Hide and Seek'. 20th Century Fox is one of the six major American film companies as of 2011, so this would be a reliable company to produce and finance my film. One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film productions is 'Star Wars' and this is a very well know major film sequel known by millions of people all over the world. The well known company will be able to gain the audience that I will want for the production and achieve blanket distribution around the world. 

I hope for my film to be bought in shops or rented out many times as it has been well promoted and has been distributed well by the chosen company. 20th Century Fox make this happen as they have connections all over the world in places such as Japan, Mexico, Australia and the UK. This enhances the choice of having 20th Century Fox as my promotors and distributors of my film. 

I will use Facebook and Twitter to promote my film by creating Facebook pages and Twitter accounts that will include interesting facts and up to date news about the upcoming film. This will create a wider audience which would be made available to everyone who has access to the social networking sites. I will also make advertisements on websites to promote the film and posters in town centres making it aware to the public. 

As blanket distribution will be used the audience is going to be quite varied. As it is going to be a horror film, it can be aimed at anyone who enjoys watching horror films. The age certificate is going to be a 15, as it would contain some scary scenes which would not be appropriate for a child younger than the age of 15.   

Research - Hide and Seek - Textual Analysis

Hide and Seek - Textual Analysis on Prezi

Research - The Lovely Bones - Textual Analysis

Planning - Shots of Editing

These are shots of what I have edited in todays lesson. This is all quick paced so it looks like the young girl has been run over by the car. 

Planning - Trailer So Far

This is what my trailer looks like so far. I have not finished editing yet, and I will probably end up changing what I have done so far. 

Research - Textual Analysis: The Woman in Black

The first establishing shot sets the scene for the trailer, it shows that it is going to be scary due to the neglect in the room. It is old, dirty and dark and it looks as though it was a child's room as there are toys left on the floor.

An extreme close-up is used of the doll to reinforce the fact that it was a child's room. The doll looks like the room in the way that it has been neglected, is old and dirty.

This establishing shot shows the location of the film. The weather is very dull and there is no sun showing which again reinforces the fact that the film is going to be scary.

A lot of establishing shots are used to show the genre. This is the final one which sets the scene of where the film will be taking place.

The background music is like a music box, and during the trailer every time there is a chime the scene changes. This is used effectively as it starts off slow and then starts to become quicker as we see more of the trailer. By doing this it builds more tension for the audience. The increase in speed also fits with the genre of the film as there is a lot going on showing things which would make the audience want to know what has happened.

The audience will immediately know that this is the main character as this is the first close up of a character. He is looking around to see his surroundings, looking quite worried showing that he is scared making the audience scared. Everyone is watching him go past as well which makes the audience want to know why they are doing this.

At the beginning of the trailer these girls look normal and happy playing with their toys and once the trailer is near the end they look possessed and very scary looking. The narration makes the audience believe that this has something to do with 'The Woman in Black'.

This is the last scene of trailer. It shows 'The Woman in Black' behind the main character which is likely to scare the audience. This sort of scariness is something that I am going to try and build in the trailer that I am going to create. 

Brief

A promotion package for a new film

To include a 2 minute trailer, together with two of the following three options:

• a website homepage for the film
• a film magazine front cover, featuring the film
• a poster for the film

Research - Mood Board

This is a mood board for my film trailer. It shows that it has two young friends that are together and happy and then there is a fatal accident that separates them. It shows that it is a horror by the use of a few location shots which are scary looking and an image of the girl that has died hiding behind a tree. By using an image from 'The Woman in Black' it shows that there is also going to be haunting in this trailer, similar to the film. 

Things that need to be completed

RESEARCH

• Mood borard
• Detailed textual analysis - at least 3
• Institutional context
• Branding

PLANNING

• Storyboard / flatplans / Animatic
• Location shots / typography drafts / photo and film editing process  
• Script for narration of trailer

Planning - Locations of my footage

My first location for filming was at St. Augustines Church in Southend-on-sea. I decided to do the filming here because churches can be seen as quite scary locations and the genre of my film is going to be horror. 

This is view from Google Maps of where my filming took place. 

These are images of St. Augustines Church where the first setting of my filming took place. These images were taken off Google Maps. 

The second location for my filming was my road, Parkanaur Avenue in Southend-on-sea, as part of my trailer one of the young girls is waiting outside her house for her friend who was killed.  

My third location was at The Garrison, Shoeburyness. I chose this to be one of my locations because it is all open spaced and could be seen as quite spooky especially in the evening. 

Things that I need to do to improve my blog

After reading last years examiner's report I have come up with some point in which I can improve my blog and my research: 

• Complete a post for each lesson.
• Tag each post with either 'planning, research, production or evaluation'. 
• Include storyboards, location visits and research into potential target audience.
• Think about ancillary texts - poster for film and magazine cover.
• Ask focus group about what they expect in my film.
• Anamatic - film the storyboard that you have created.
• Thoroughly analyse research

FOR MY FILM TRAILER

• Make sure that I get the right pace for my genre
• Max 2 mins, tease audience and don't give away story line
• Use my own footage
• Think of my product as a brand
• Do some photo shoots with my characters for my ancillary texts

Research - Key Concepts

Audience 

• Hyperdermic needle theory - outdated, over simplified, passive audience consumption. New technology allows active audience to get involved,. 
• Short film -  Niche audience. 

Influence model - less direct and subtle, subtly brings in a message (Stuart Hall).

• Dominant
• Oppositional
• Negotiated 

Uses and Gratification model - Blumer and Katz - 5 main reasons why audience consume texts: 

• informed and educated 
• to relate to characters 
• to be entertained 
• for a talking point 
• to escape from problems

Genre

Categorising films due to the mood and setting 

• Drama
• Romance
• Action
• Sci-Fi
• Family 
• Comedy    

Studios wanted to standardise audience and genre

Sub - genres

Rick Altman - semantic: see conventions

                       syntactic: relationships

                       pragmatic: institutions produce certain numbers

Grant - sub-genres recognise characteristics and are difficult to define.

Neale - audience gain please

             niche audience

AUDIENCE HAVE SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONS

Language

Connotation
Denotation

TV uses verbal and written language

Meanings of form and language:

• Meanings 
• Conventions 
• Codes
• Genre
• Choices 
• Combinations
• Technologies

Planning - Template Practice Trailer

Research - Target Audience Answers

Name: Katy Bailey

Age: 17

Hobbies/Interests: Hockey, music, parties and films

Job: Unemployed

Favourite Film: Mulan

Free time per week: A lot

Amount of films watched per week: 1 film  

How do you access film: DVD, illegal download

Who would you see  films with: Alone and with friends

What's your favourite film genre: Chic flick 

How often do you use social networking sites: Everyday


Name: Harrison Payne

Age: 18 

Hobbies/Interests: Drawing, watching films, internet gaming

Job: Waitrose worker

Favourite Film: Fast and Furious

Free time per week: 30 + hours

Amount of film watched per week: 2 films

How do you access film: Internet

Who would you see  films with: Friends

What's your favourite film genre: Romantic comedy

How often do you use social networking sites: Everyday


Name: Charlie Crow
Age: 17
Hobbies/Interests: Football, sports, music
Job: Fish and chip shop
Favourite Film: The Strangers
Free time per week: 30 + hours
Amount of film watched per week: 3 films
How do you access film: Internet and DVDs
Who would you see films with: Friends
What's your favourite genre of film: Horror
How often do you use social networking sites: Everyday

Name: Anna Skelding
Age: 16
Hobbies/Interests: Going out with friends
Job: Unemployed-Student
Favourite Film: Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
Free time per week: 30+ hours
Amount of film watched per week: 1 or 2
How do you access film: Apple TV
Who would you see films with: Friends
What's your favourite genre of film: Comedy
How often do you use social networking sites: Everyday