Evaluation 2&4

Question Two

I feel that my three pieces make an effective promotional package. This is mainly due to the professionalism each piece brings. This was my main aim from the start of this project as I knew if my three pieces didn’t look professional enough to be promoting a real film then, in my opinion, I would’ve failed. From the outset of the project I had a clear idea in my mind of what the narrative would be and how I wanted to reflect this in the three promotional pieces I was going to create. Each of my three pieces follows a conventional composition of existing film trailers, posters and front covers. For example, my film poster is simple yet effective and features everything a film poster should; a bold eye-catching image, the title of the film, the date of release, a tagline and the institutional information. The placement of these specific features follows that of a real film poster. This ensures that the audience can be drawn in by the image before knowing the important information such as the film name and when the film will be released. My trailer will be effective as it follows the typical structure of a trailer; the audience are given a slight insight into Jackson’s background then are presented with the main characters in what would be the equilibrium. They are acting how they would in their day to day life, being reckless and rebellious. This equilibrium is then disrupted when Alex notices Jackson and it all spirals from there ending in a montage of their torment. This is the classic structure for any trailer which ensures that my trailer will be effective. My magazine front cover, meanwhile also follows a typical layout structure. It has all the features a magazine front cover should contain such as an image, sell-lines and a masthead. This enabled my front cover to look professional. The focus of my front cover is solely the Slasher sub-genre which enables my film to be promoted effectively. Each of the three pieces are effective and professional in their own right, but recurrent use of specific features and conventions in each piece means that it is clear that each individual product can be clearly linked to the others, ensuring that they work together seamlessly to successfully promote the film. This is was makes my promotional package effective.

It is clear that both my film poster and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre poster follows the same general and layout conventions with everything near enough placed in the same area of the poster. However, originality is maintained in order to draw attention to this text, thus making it effective.

Main image dominates frame

Title positioned in the centre at the bottom half of the poster –largest text in frame

Institutional info features at bottom of poster

Focus is solely Antagonist and his weapon

Release date is last thing audience will read

I wanted to ensure that from seeing my trailer, front cover and film poster that it was clearly evident they were from the same promotional package. In order to create a successful and effective promotional package, my pieces had to compliment each other. I ensured this through a strong use of symbiosis. There were a number of ways that I created a symbiotic link between each of the three pieces. For example, the most evident symbiotic link is the antagonist, Jackson. I felt that Jackson would be the most effective symbiotic link in promoting Cirque du Slay as in every Slasher horror film, the antagonist is the focus. The antagonist is the one who draws the audience to watch the film and the one who they need to see when they come across the promotion for the film. Because of this, it was a necessity that Jackson was the focus of each of the promotional pieces. Unlike the trailer, which has the platform to introduce all of the characters to the audience, the ancillary pieces, in my opinion, would be most effective if they focused solely on one character and obviously this character was Jackson. In both the film poster and the front cover Jackson dominates the frame. Even though the shots are different, Jackson’s bright and distinct costume makes him obviously recognisable. This allows the audience to instantly associate one with the other. In reference to the trailer, as the main character, Jackson features heavily. We get to see the whole of his costume through long shots and a clear view of his mask through close ups. There are even shots of Jackson which are very similar to the shots used in the ancillary pieces. The audience may even recognise these shots and link them to the other pieces. The clear symbiotic link created by Jackson in these three pieces makes the promotional package very effective. In addition to this, the audience’s repeated exposure to the psychotic persona of Jackson is another symbiotic link. From each of the three pieces, even the still images of the ancillary’s, the audience get an instant portrayal of Jackson as psychotic. This adds to the repeated creation of terror and heightens the fear that the audience experiences. This helps to make the promo package more effective - horror audiences want a scare.

•Jackson is the focus of all the three pieces

•He is shown in the exact same costume with the same weapon. This strengthens audience awareness of his role as killer and his background in the circus

•Maintains symbiotic link

A symbiotic link is also created through the textual information featured across each piece. In each of the three pieces the title of the film features. This is an obvious necessity as once the audience have been drawn and locked in by the other information in the frame, they need to know vital information such as the title of the film. To maintain the symbiotic link and professionalism of the promotional package, the title of the film is presented in the same font in the exact same style; Cirque Du being presented in a black, uppercase serif font with Slay presented in a red, blood style font at an angle underneath. This will allow the audience to confirm their belief that the three pieces are promoting the same horror film. The title itself is very recognisable as it’s simple yet effective. This, again, further reinforces the symbiotic link. As the front cover requires other conventional features such as sell-lines and puffs, these are the only features that maintain the link between the front cover, the poster and the trailer. Whereas, the trailer and the poster require additional information about the film. For example, both the trailer and the film poster create another symbiotic link through the tagline and release date. Each is presented in the same font, same colour and same way in both pieces. This further cements the symbiotic link. The title itself reveals important information related to the narrative of the film. The audience is made subtly aware of Jackson's background and the fact that he is deranged killer. The repeated use of the title reinforces this and heightens the audience’s awareness, but also their anticipation. Through symbiotic links and symbiosis across the three pieces, I am able to further emphasise the audience’s awareness of and interest in the film’s narrative. This is because through firstly seeing the ancillary pieces, the audience develop a very shallow knowledge about the narrative; the main character must be a deranged clown. However, through the repetition of Jackson and other features in all three pieces, they develop a much better understanding of the narrative and Jackson as a character. This will further enhance their interest in watching my film.

I feel that all three of my pieces appeal to my target audience. They each give the audience an insight into the narrative and draw them in through different ways. In my trailer, it gives the audience the largest insight as they get a much clearer idea of what the film will be about as moving-media will always provide this more effectively and extensively than still media. The audience are made very aware how my film follows the signature Slasher conventions they are all familiar with and love, allowing them to instantly engage with my trailer. They also get a much clearer understanding of the different characters that feature and how each of these characters fit into the specific stereotypes of a Slasher character. This in itself appeals to the audience as it is something they are familiar with, they recognise and will appeal to their desires for a new Slasher that still follows classic Slasher conventions. The trailer also injects the audience with excitement and tension as it progresses, and they get to know Jackson’s character a lot more. As previously mentioned, Jackson is the one who makes the film. Like all Slashers, he is the focus and the character that will have the most impact on whether the audience want to watch the film or not. My trailer gives the audience a clearer understanding of Jackson and will draw them in further. One way in which my trailer has created enigma is through the characters. There is clear tension between the teenagers despite them breaking into the school to have a good time. This may lead the audience wondering what the situation is and what the relationships are between them, why is there so much tension and is that the reason they were drinking and were completely unaware that Jackson was following them? In addition to this their is enigma surrounding Jackson’s past. From the first scene the audience are shown that he argued with his parents but is that really what turned him into a deranged serial killer? It is clear from the trailer that at some point in the film the audience will find out more about Jackson’s past so they will have to watch the film in order to find out. But in addition to this, the audience would know that it is promoting a Slasher horror film and that Jackson is the antagonist, therefore will something be revealed that will make them sympathise with him as this is not conventional. These are just some of the questions that will linger in the audience’s mind after watching the trailer, creating intrigue and further enhancing their desire to watch the film and get answers. This suspense will increase the appeal to the audience and urge them to watch the film. The ancillary pieces also support the trailer by heightening this intrigue by not giving anything away about the narrative that they already know. They are solely introduced to Jackson and are not given any other information about his character, his killing style and why he is how he is.

Although the ancillary pieces are more ambiguous than the trailer, it still appeals to the audience. The bright presentation of the two pieces will instantly catch the audience’s attention and inform them that this Slasher is new, conventional but original in its own way. The use of iconography will also appeal to the audience as it instantly informs them that it is from the Slasher sub-genre. For example, the knife. Jackson’s signature weapon of a large silver knife features across the three pieces. Following conventions, it is one of the focuses of my film poster and the audience’s attention will instantly be drawn to it. The use of this iconography screams Slasher and instantly create fear as the audience know that in the Slasher sub-genre, a knife means blood, gore and death. This makes the audience want to watch the film and experience this terror. This use of iconography is evident in other Slasher film posters such as Texas Chainsaw 3D.

Media technology is a massive part of the research and planning of this project. It features throughout the whole of the research and planning and is required in order to effectively complete this element of the project. Firstly, the internet was an extremely important tool. It gave me the platform to investigate existing Slasher horror films and their promotional packages which aided my research and understanding of Slasher codes and conventions and to present my work. For example, it allowed me to discover that is conventional for Slasher film posters to focus solely on the antagonist and his signature weapon. It also aided me in research for my case studies. I used Google throughout this stage to give me a variety of information to aid my work within seconds. This allowed me to get as much information as possible to widen my understanding.

I presented all of my research and planning on Blogger.com. This was the same website used for my AS Level project so I had developed a clear understanding of how to use the website and make use of its multi-media elements. The blog didn’t only allow me to present my work all in one place, it allowed me to vary the presentation of my work and make the whole piece more diverse and interesting. I embedded videos and embedded word documents and PowerPoints through the website Slideshare. It also enabled me to create and embed Prezi documents onto my blog to make it even more interesting. Prezi is a very useful presentational method as not only did it enable me to vary the presentation of my work, it enables me to embed a variety of media technology within one presentation to make my points visual. Blogger allowed me to vary the presentation of my work and make use of different media platforms but still keep it professional; something that wouldn’t have been possible by using a scrapbook. This is also extremely useful for pieces of work such as my film trailer analysis, which required clips and stills combined with analysis. This was much easier to present in a powerpoint than in a single blogger document. Smartphone technology also meant that I could download the Blogger app and create posts on the go as well as carrying out more research for my posts. Another advantage of blogger is that you can keep your work organised and easily edit it. This allows the whole blog to have a very professional feel.

YouTube was a site which I used frequently to watch film trailers. It gave me the platform to watch and analyse as many Slasher film trailers as I needed and also watch the horror trailers made by other students. It allowed me to watch trailers such as Friday the 13th which inspired my trailer. This gave me a clear aim of what I was working towards and an idea of the quality of the piece I could create at the end. It also enabled me to get a clear understanding of the conventional structure of any film trailer and also gain inspiration from existing Slasher trailers. I also used YouTube to upload my own videos such as my Focus Group and my pitch. This allowed to me embed the videos as evidence onto my blog. YouTube was also useful in the post-production stage as whenever I got stuck with Photoshop or Premier Pro, there were YouTube tutorials to assist me. For example, when creating my film poster, I used a YouTube tutorial to teach me how to change eye colour. This enabled me to increase the effectiveness of my film poster.

Google images was also an important tool in this part of my project. It enabled me to research existing film posters and magazine front covers for the ancillary pieces I would create. In seconds I would have hundreds of posters and front covers to choose from making my research into conventions much easier. I could simply copy and paste the images into a word document for further comparison and analysis. This was very useful in deciding what kind of magazine front cover to create. Empire and Total Film and the horror specific magazine Fangoria were the three film magazines I decided to study. I chose these three as it helped me make the decision of whether to create a professional looking film magazine such as Empire or Total Film or go down the horror specific root, creating a gore filled horror magazine such as Fangoria. From researching these three magazines I knew I wanted to create a film magazine like Empire that focused on horror in the issue I would create, as it would help me put across that element of professionalism but also inject the horror genre into the magazine. Without access to hundreds of front covers for the different magazine, it would have made this decision more difficult. I also used Google images to make my blog more visually engaging.

The internet was also a useful tool in engaging with my audience. I used the online survey website surveymonkey.com to create my initial questionnaire. I then posted the questionnaire on Facebook to attract more participants. This enabled me to generate my results much easier and ensure all participants of the survey were true representatives of my target audience.

I felt quite confident at the start of the project about using the camera to take the still images for the ancillary pieces as I took GCSE Media Studies which gave me a basic understanding of camera angles and shots, this knowledge was further developed at AS Level. Also, I have a camera of my own which I use for both Media Studies and in my day to day life.

However, with using the Canon camera for my trailer, I didn’t feel as confident. Although I knew how to use a camera, I was concerned that the shots would come across as unprofessional due to my lack of experience with using that type of camera. When it came to filming, after getting familiar with the different features of the camera the filming went smoothly. I wanted to ensure that my shots looked professional and with using a high quality camera like the Canon, this enabled me to create professional shots for my trailer.

For my ancillary pieces, I used my camera phone to take the images. The camera is a good quality camera and combined with bright lighting allowed me to produce high quality images. I then used effects available to emphasise specific parts of the image. I used a filter that was available on my iPhone called Low-Fi, which emphasises colour and areas of darker lighting. This effect clearly made my image more effective and attention-grabbing. As it was available on my iPhone, I was able to start manipulating my images instantly to make them even more effective. The effects allowed me to use images that drew the audience’s attention to the features I wanted them to focus on, such as Jackson’s mask. The technology available enabled me to make my shots much more effective quickly and conveniently.

Original Image After filter added

Media technology was a massive part of the editing process as it is what enabled me to take all my raw footage and bring my vision to life. To edit my trailer and my ancillary piece I used different Adobe Software.

Adobe Photoshop was a software I felt very comfortable with as I had been using it since studying Media Studies at GCSE level. I still had my problems with it and knew they was room for my skills to improve but I felt confident in my ability to create two professional looking ancillary pieces. It is clear from comparing my Year 12 and Year 13 pieces created on Photoshop that my skills have developed drastically, despite me originally being confident in the skills I already had. My Year 13 pieces are of a much higher quality and much more effective pieces that what I had created in Year 12. I think this was down to my widening knowledge of the tools available for me to use to make my pieces stand out and overall be more effective media products. For example, through YouTube tutorials I was able to change the colour of my actor’s eyes to Black. This made Jackson look even more terrifying and less human. It instantly made the poster more effective. On my film poster, I was able to superimpose a blood splatter onto the Puff. This made the front cover unique and also emphasises the Horror theme of the front cover. These are techniques I wouldn’t have been able to create in Year 12.

Year 13 Ancillary Pieces

Year 12 Pieces

The editing of the film trailer was definitely the most daunting part of this project. I think this was due to the fact that I have previous experience from the Year 12 project of carrying out research and planning, using a camera and using Adobe Photoshop. Adobe Premier Pro was a software I had never used before and one that I felt looked extremely complicated. However, when I actually started editing my trailer, I felt that Premier Pro was actually quite a simple software to use. It enabled to create shots that I never thought my skills would enable me to do.

For example, throughout this project I had been watching horror film trailers. I took inspiration from the trailer for the 2007 remake of classic Slasher horror Halloween. Like the narrative of my film, an important part of the narrative is Michael Myers’ childhood. In this trailer, the audience are given an insight of what Michael did as a child and are presented with him in a police car. As he looks at the camera, his mask flashes on for a split second. I felt that this would be extremely effective in my own trailer as I always wanted to feature a flashback at the beginning of the trailer. I felt that Premier Pro would be so complicated to use that I wouldn’t be able to replicate this effect. However, I produced this easily and was impressed with the result. I really enjoyed the editing process and developing my skills in Premier Pro. When it came to editing this shot, it was actually relatively simple. I had taken 3 shots of Sam, who was playing young Jackson. In each of the shots he was looking at the camera with the same expression and his head at the exact same angle. Then in the last shot I took of him, I carefully put Jackson’s mask on him trying not to move his head to much. I put alll the three shots together on premier pro, with the shot of Sam wearing the mask a very short shot in the middle. I then used a Cross fade edit in between the two shots,

creating a flashing effect. The final product was a quick flash of Jackson’s mask on Sam’s face.

I also knew that, from watching the Friday the 13th Trailer, that I wanted to introduce the teenage characters as reckless, rebellious and having fun. It therefore made sense that in this point in the trailer, an upbeat track should be used as it would enable there to be a dramatic change in non-diegetic sound when Alex sees Jackson for the first time. Because of the edit effects available on premier pro, I was able to create a slow motion shot of the teenagers dancing before blending the upbeat track out into the tense music track I wanted to be used in the majority of my trailer. I thought at the beginning of this project that my initial ideas would be to difficult to replicate on Premier Pro, but the variety of tools and the simplicity of the software enabled me to quickly get to

grip with how to make my ideas a reality.

Michael - Halloween Jackson - Cirque Du Slay