FINAL TRAILER

We have had to compress our trailer using Movie Maker on Windows as the Quick Time version has a large file size. Please watch on DVD for full quality.

FINAL POSTER

FINAL MAGAZINE COVER

Evaluation of How Products Worked Together

We are presenting our evaluation of how our products worked together as a video tutorial on how to run a successful promotional campaign. Clearly, the main way to run a successful campaign is to have your products working together well. In this video, we are assuming that the film our trailer is based on has been released and been very successful, so we are using our campaign as an example of what works.

As with other longer video content, in a good quality version, this video exceeds the Blogger upload maximum so please view on DVD for full quality. This version is just an indication:

 

Evaluation of New Media Technology

Please see our presentation on how we see the way new media technology has affected our work using the link below:

New Media Technolgy

Evaluation of Audience Feedback (2)

Creating our presentation on audience feedback made us realise how much we valued the feedback we had been given and how much it had helped us to progress. We realised that for us, its main value had been in confirming how an outside viewer saw our products, as we were unable to take up this stance for ourselves effectively or maintain it for long. We did not get much feedback that surprised us or pointed out things that we didn't know about - but it did help us see how much little things we had noticed mattered relatively to the outside audience.

Because we realised the value of the feedback, we arranged for the Year 12 classes who had given us our earliest feedback to look at our products again shortly before the final deadline. We thought they would be a good audience because they would be able to see the difference between the products as they first saw them and now, and we thought that might be quite motivating. We also thought having seen them so early, they might have some investment in them and want to give good quality feedback. We also knew they were under a similar deadline and were likely to be quite realistic in their ideas. Finally, we have recently given them some feedback in return.

Thinking this through made us realise how much we have learned about the contexts of audience feedback and how much this affects its value to you.

Reassuringly, the group proposed very few changes. The minor adjustments we have made reflect small things that they noticed and pointed out quite tentatively. However, it is useful to know that even an outside audience spot these small mistakes:

 Trailer

The addition of the ident (as well as other formal features such as the credits at the end) received a lot of positive attention. We worked hard to make these as authentic as possible, and in the case of the ident, as a good and memorable product in its own right, so this was encouraging.

We re-voiced two sections where the sound wasn't good enough quality. The scene with the caretaker was difficult as we needed to add in ambient sound of sweeping as well, so this was tricky, but we feel both scenes have worked out well and you can't tell we re-recorded the sound afterwards, and the dialogue is certainly clearer with less distracting background sounds:

Poster

Three very small changes are made on the basis of the audience comments. They felt that the 'from the makers of...' might be hard to read so we added a drop shadow that helps it stand out (it is much clearer in the full size version anyway).

We also added small logos for e.g. sound editing to the billing block as we had on the trailer to maintain consistency and fulfil institutional requirements - this was picked out in feedback and we were surprised how much was noticed, so this was a good lesson.

Finally, we continued the blurring of the image of the hand / watch slightly further up the main character's back as we agreed with the feedback that this was necessary to make the direction of the reflection ambiguous.

Magazine Cover

Changes here were again very small. We slightly decreased the reflection on Gaby's face - in fact, we played around with this a lot as one person commented that they weren't sure if it was a reflection or of she had bad skin! We could see what they meant but felt that the presence of the water made it clear. We slightly reduced the opacity of the reflective layer and smudged some of the ripples further into her hair to try to iron out this problem.

We also changed the positioning of the bar code as we agreed the original positioning took away some of the impact of our image. We rely heavily in Gaby's facial expression to give this product power as there is not a lot of space to add other detail, so we agreed it was best to leave her as exposed as possible.

We also worked a little more on making the text stand out - we have a deliberately muted colour palette here but even so, the reader needs to be able to see the text clearly, so we added a similar drop shadow to the poster text and added a bolder font where needed.

Evaluation of Audience Feedback

This is intended to be viewed on DVD - please see the DVD sent. We discuss the feedback we received in our role as producers, as if in a DVD extra. However, you can see a version here on the blog in reduced quality. It has been split into 3 parts to meet Blogger uploading criteria.

 

 

 

 

 

Evaluating Forms and Conventions

 

Trailer

 

This is not a ground-breaking or highly original trailer. For the most part, we have followed conventions of both form and genre quite closely. This is because we are trying to make a commercial product in an established genre, and is what the majority of successful films do. Trailers do not tens to be too innovative, or they run the risk of failing to do their job - hooking the audience into paying to see the full film.

Using the contact sheet above as a reference, I will analyse how we have established trailer and genre conventions.

Characters

Lucy- majority of shots of Lucy indicates that she is the main character and the film is about her. We had to use shots of her that establish the plot and setting. Shots of her unable to sleep and looking tired etc helped us to do it. (13)

Established her as the story’s ‘princess’(Propp) by using shots of her in trouble, looking vulnerable etc. Eg Lucy sitting against the wall crying and in distress- suggests someone will save her in the end whether it is caretaker or teacher. This is a common technique in our genre of psychological thriller.

Close up distressed heroine "What Lies Beneath"

Teacher and Caretaker- (6) (12) we made sure to give both our suspects an equal amount of screen time so our plot was not revealed.

We therefore kept it ambiguous with the shots we used of the suspects also. There is a shot of the teacher asking Lucy if she is ok, then another shot of him running after her.

We also had a shot of Lucy confiding in the caretaker and then a shot of him shouting “Don’t try and stop me!” We have no idea if he does not want to be stopped helping or hurting her and this shot is deliberately ambiguous to create an unsettled atmosphere.

We cast a rough looking man for the caretaker (casual clothes, unshaven) as he more tstereotypically looks like a ‘villian’ than the actual villain - the teacher. This makes the film more unpredictable to the audience who, as people who like the psychological thriller genre, will probably like a problem to solve.

One of villains in "Taken"

The teacher is very clean-cut, dress in suits and hair styles. This again would trick the audience into believing that he cannot be the villain as he does not look like one. The plausible villain (so that nobody believes the victim initially) is a common character type in our genre.

Also gave the audience red herrings such as the counsellor and head teacher- adds that extra layer of depth to the plot.

These are all common conventions to use with establishing of character in our genre - psychological drama depends on character and emotion so this was important to get right.

Genre Techniques

Dream Sequence- (4) (8) (3)
created using gaussian blur effect, sepia and slight slow motion.

We layered shots, one being slightly transparent so that effects weren’t so abrupt but enough to tell audience it is a dream.

It creates a layer of confusion for the audience, forming puzzles for the audience to solve (aka enigma code)- something often found in psychological thrillers.

Sepia colour palette in "Inception"

Dream sequences are a common feature of the thriller genre because of the uncertainty they provide and the way they force audiences to question what is real, which adds to the unsettling effect.

Dream sequence in "Shutter Island"

Camera work-
We used close ups in our trailer. They are often found in psychological thrillers to intensify emotion/importance of things.

We used close ups of Lucy crying and being strangled to do this. Close ups of Lucy show significance of her character. Close ups of her crying/looking tired highlight the fact something is wrong and that she cannot sleep.

Close up of victim in "Taken"

Close ups of pills and watch (5) (11)- highlights their significance. Indicates to audience that they are important.

Two shots (9) were used to establish relationships for example, Lucy and her mother, Lucy and her bestfriend.

Two shot to show relationship "What Lies Beneath"

In our genre, it is vital that we identify with the main character and also that we connect with their feelings for other people, particularly so that if their trust is betrayed, it is more striking. That is why these are very common shots in our genre and we have been careful to use them too.

Strangling shot / Murder- (1)
used to create a cliff-hanger at the end of the trailer.

It creates suspense- leaves on a note of danger/jeopardy.

It entices audience to watching the trailer- wanting to know what happens to her/who it is that is strangling her.

Used to create the last part of Lacey’s 3 act trailer structure- the brief slower ending where cliff hanger is created.

End cliffhanger Man of Steel

This is the classic trailer form, as shown by my research posts into trailers, and we have replicated it quite closely because it is effective and widely used.

Mise-en-scene-
 Lucy’s make up. (13) Helped us to accentuate the fact she couldn’t sleep.

Created higher verisimilitude- if someone can’t sleep you expect them to look tired and worn out.

Al Pacino - "Insomnia"

Also made the audience feel sorry for her and sympathise with her as the main character.

Props - Teacher’s watch- (5)
 helped to create a puzzle. Audience will try and figure out who it is that’s wearing the watch and therefore who it is that is after Lucy.

Props - Pill bottles- (11)
we made sure the pill bottles used were the same bottles as if they were different ‘Lucy’ would notice.

Locations -Used real settings- (10)
school and bedroom to create high visual verisimilitude- make the story more believable to the audience.

If it was not believable, the audience would not feel emotion towards our character and emotion and drama are key aspects of our genre. The more believable the location, the more shocking it is when this 'normal' life is disrupted.

 



'Ordinary' bedroom, "The Butterfly Effect"



Editing

We used graphic matches in our trailer and also matches on dialogue.

We did this to help the audience make sense of our trailer. Due to the fact trailers are not in chronological order, it may be hard to the audience to make sense of it. Using matches like when the mum says “I think you need to see someone” and then Lucy chatting to a counsellor, means the audience is able to link them together.

We also used matches like young Lucy running then older Lucy running so the audience know that the little girl is in fact Lucy when she is little. (7)

They also helped us organise the second part of Lacey’s 3 act trailer- where danger starts to build. It meant we were able to create flow and build pace in the trailer.

We used quick cuts to create this build of tension as well - this is probably the  most recognisable feature of the trailer form as discussed in research posts.

Overall, we tried to replicate the non-chronological, montage editing style of the trailer form as far as possible without losing our audience and used parallels and structuring devices to make the whole trailer feel more coherent.

Sound

Dialogue- We used dialogue to set up key elements of plot and character (the first part of the 3 act structure).

E.g. when Lucy says “I’m having those dreams again” and “They feel like a memory”. There is a similar use of dialogue in "The Butterfly Effect" - "Do you remember when we were kids and i used to have those black outs? Well those memories are coming back to me."

http://youtu.be/B8_dgqfPXFg

It suggests to the audience that the plot is based on this character and finding out whether these dreams she is having are a memory and why she is having them.

We also used dialogue to create drama and tension- class psychological thriller techniques. For example when Lucy shouts “It’s real” (2)and the caretaker shouts “Don’t try and stop me”. (6) The audience will not know exactly what they are referring to but will be able to make good predictions and guesses.

Music- non-diegetic music added to the tense feel of the trailer, tension being a key emotion found in psychological thrillers. Tracks mixed to divide trailer into 3-act structure identified by Lacey.

We used a slow but creepy track to start off the trailer to suggest that something wasn’t right and added a drum beat and edited the sound to make it higher pitched and therefore more creepy.

We then used a second track to build pace for the second half of our trailer- creating a sense of danger and trouble, with a faster drum loop and we added extra reverb for intensity.

Final 'act' is the coda - eyes opening to drumbeat.

This structuring of the music is a sound convention of many trailers and therefore we have stayed close to formal conventions here.

End Credits slide
This is expected to be seen. They can give websites so audience can look into it further. Typically black with light writing so they can be seen clearly. They are needed as an institutional formality but also help to signal the end of the trailer, which can have several false endings.

Title- (15) red with white outline. Wanted it to be recognisable and stand out. I think the deep red goes with our genre- symbolises danger.

It is a formal convention of trailers that the title of the film appears towards the end, probably so that people are more likely to remember it. We have tried to replicate all the normal formal conventions of trailers (credits, coming soon etc) so that we are clearly working in the correct form.

 

Poster

Conventions of Form

(1) Title- audience will associate it with the trailer.

Made it big and visible so first thing audience see.  Red is a bold colour so it stands out against the background. Just like the title on the poster for “Drive”, a film we researched when looking at film posters, which is in a bold pink and so stands out against the dark background.

Also links in with our genre as symbolises danger and anger.

(2) Billing Block- makes our poster look professional and look like a poster as they are always found on posters.

They are in white to stand out across the dark background and placed at the bottom of the poster as this is typically found on a film poster. They also contain logos for sound enhancement and balancing etc. We have followed the conventional layout closely as seen by comparing with the billing block from Nightmare on Elm Street:

(3) Review- hints that the film is full of thrills and moments that will keep you thinking. Many people like to have their taste confirmed by others, especially perceived 'experts'. The poster below relies on this as its main draw:

 Makes it look a desirable watch and so people are persuaded to see the film by showing it is popular amongst critics and so much be a success.

In a dark navy writing as it ties in which Lucy’s jumper and so brings all the colours together.

Conventions of Genre

(4)Background- we used a rippling water background as it links to the drowning in the film and creates a sense of movement and depth to the poster that the main image might lack.

The ripples can symbolise that this girl’s life has been shaken up- something’s gone wrong. Also because, like when water isn’t clear when it’s rippled, Lucy isn’t too clear or sure about the dreams she has in the film- whether they are in fact just dreams or real memories.

It links to the psychological thriller as it again creates a layer of confusion to the story- suggesting that there is a problem to solve.

From the makers of- also makes the film look as if it has credibility. It suggests that, for them to refer to it, it must be quite a successful film and so they expect the same good quality from this film also.

(5)Main image- wanted to create a sense of there being a few layers to our film as its quite complex and in-depth concept, something that belongs in our genre. Our main image of Lucy looking behind and a partly transparent close of her younger self behind her helps us to do this. We saw this idea of different transparencies in many posters and feel it helps to create a sense of differing realities without the audience being able to be sure what is the 'real' reality:

 

From this the audience may not know that the girl is Lucy as a child, but it gets them guessing and wanting to know more.

We made Ellie transparent as we wanted Gabby to be the main focus of the poster, but also to hint at the fact that she is a character from the past and not present in reality, rather as the mosaic technique here adds a layer of unreality.

We got Gabby to look behind to suggest that something is chasing or following her and to show that she is on edge. We identified close ups of the female characters as being a conventional choice for film posters in our genre.

(6)Tagline- hints at the film’s storyline.

Also ties in with the image on the poster. ‘The past isn’t always behind you’ hints to the audience that the young girl that Lucy is looking behind at is herself from the past.

We placed it under the image as after the viewer has seen the image the next thing they will be drawn to is the tagline and then they can make the association between the two.

The tagline creates an enigma for the audience- making them ask themselves what about her past is coming back and why?

Draws in the audience to wanting to see the film.

The teaser trailer will also have been released for a while so people who have seen it will be able to relate the tagline to the trailer and possibly answer these questions or think of new ones that haven’t been revealed in the trailer.

It’s in a faint yellow colour as it matches the colour of Lucy’s hair and so ties in all the colours together - we were keen to have a harmonious colour palette to allow the red of the title to really stand out.

Magazine

Conventions of Form

(1)Masthead- we chose the magazine title to be ‘Screen’ as it can be associated with film and is short and snappy so will be easily remembered. The letters also work well stretched across the page which is not always the case - for example the words 'film' and 'reel' don't work as well aesthetically as too many of the letters are rather thin and angular.

We used a bold colour and font for our masthead to stand out on the cover. Red and white seem the most popular colours (Empire - red; Total Film and SFX - white) 

Generally, the image overlaps the masthead but this is a convention for the magazine form that we could not follow as our picture was too large and so would cover too much of the title. We noticed in close up magazine shots, the convention is to allow the masthead to overlap the actor.

We placed our masthead across the top in large font as this is typical for the masthead of a magazine cover.

(3, 7)Barcode and Price- they indicate that it is a magazine as magazines are there to be bought and so a barcode and price is needed.

We gave the magazine a price of £2.99 as this was a reasonable but lowish price for film magazines when doing our research and we are targeting our magazine at a younger audience - we decided that would be its USP and also help to explain the presence of a film like ours on the front cover, as you only need cursory research to see that our film does not fall into the kind of genre that is often the main feature. A more alternative magazine would be our best bet in terms of promotion opportunities. 

(4) Strapline- ‘The UK’s Number 1 Movie Magazine’tells the audience it’s the best film magazine out there and so will entice them to buy it over the others as it must therefore have the best content.

It’s placed underneath the magazine’s title as after they have read the masthead this is the next thing they will see.

In our research into film magazine covers we found that it was common to place the strapline here and to use this kind of hyperbolic language.

(5)Teaser text- we realised we had to keep it short and snappy to interest readers.

They tend to be in different fonts and colours to make them stand out and make the magazine look aesthetically pleasing. We noticed that there are roughly three colours and two or three different fonts used, with bold and italics being used to highlight key words.

We placed them along the side of magazine were the background is dark so that they stood out and could be read clearly.

Used words that were informal and friendly such as ‘psst’ as we found this was often the case on magazine covers.

We also used other teaser texts such as Free Megan Fox Poster inside to appeal to the typical target audience of the young male as and give them more reasons to buy the magazine. - we identified a more youthful market for our magazine.

Hyperbolic words like ‘exclusive’ and ‘first look’ were also found in research into magazine covers to entice readers to buying it as they want to be the first to know.

Conventions of Genre

Genre is difficult to establish on the magazine cover as many of the formal conventions are there to help sell the magazine rather than the specific film. We noticed that the genre is made quite clear with e.g. fantasy films,  but is less obvious with other films. We therefore decided to take quite a subtle and low key approach and hope that our main image is strong enough to do the work of enticing the audience for us.

(2, 8)Main Image- originally when thinking of ideas for our main image we thought we would have a long shot of Lucy turning back as if something was chasing her. However, we felt this was too distant to really connect the audience with her and that we needed something stronger.

We decided that  it would be a good idea to have a close up of Lucy’s face as we had seen the success of this with e.g. the Empire Joker cover. While a very different genre, this kind of extreme close up is unsettling. The reader is likely to realise that this person's emotions are key, and the uneasy expression on her face hints at the genre.

It also allows the audience to immediately recognise Lucy’s face from the poster and trailer and therefore know that the cover is for our film Sleepless.

Overall this was difficult for us, because as discussed above, this is not the kind of film genre that tends to be a main feature, so we had to draw on different elements from other genre films and also some of the poster conventions to come up with a cover we were satisfied with.

(6) Film Title- Using the same font and colour for our film title ‘Sleepless’ will make it recognisable to the audience and therefore help promote it.

It also stands out against the background as it’s a bold colour.

Our red film title is outlined in white to make it stand out even further.

Colour palette- we used a red and pale yellow colour palette to tie in with our poster and trailer. The blue of the water is also a key unifying colour.

Finalising Coursework

After a break of some weeks when we have had the chance to stand back from our coursework, we are now coming back to finish it. We are carrying out the formal evaluation tasks (although we have been evaluating throughout) and making final changes to the coursework products. We are hoping that having had the chance to step away from the coursework will allow us to see it more as an outsider would.

Changes to Magazine Cover

Changes to Trailer

.png files created on Photoshop - transparent so can be imported into Final Cut and added to blank slide to make the formal features of a trailer.

Focus on sound, especially music - here we are trying to edit together three tracks, splicing them and then re-ordering the sections to correspond with the movement of our trailer

Here we are fine tuning all out cuts, making each shot as short as possible

Changes to Poster

Main change is addition of extracted shot from trailer - image extracted from still, opacity reduced and then overlaid on main image. Then smudged and blurred to follow line of jumper.

Addition of Ident

We are changing our production company ident/ logo and it is now based on these two photos:

 

Products Before Break

We are leaving our products for a time while we concentrate on other aspects of the course. We discovered last year that building a break into our schedule was beneficial as we were able to reflect on the work we had done to that point but also have new energy and enthusiasm when we returned to the coursework. When you have been working hard on something for a while, you can lose track of what it actually looks like, and we need to see it from a different perspective. This is our review of our products to date:

POSTER

This is the product we most need a break from. We are pleased with a great deal of it but are struggling to find a final layout that we are satisfied with. We are happy with the main image as we think it is simple but strong. We think it will pose a lot of questions for the audience that they will want to watch the film to have answered. Our main issues are:

1. Is all the text in the best places?
2. Have we got the right colour palette? What about the pale yellow?
3. Does coming soon need to be bigger?
4. Is there too mcuh empty space on the left?

MAGAZINE COVER

This is probably progressing more smoothly at the moment although it is further from being finished. However, we are much clearer about what needs to be done and how we might do it:

1. Sleepless teaser text - needs more 'selling' language
2. Smaller images - film titles need to stand out more
3. Teaser text on right needs to be cut down - too 'wordy'
4. Colour palette and font of text needs work
5. Pleased with balance of text and image
6. Pleased with new photo choice
7. Masthead - colour needs adjusting?
8. Background is ok but could it be more relevant to film?

TRAILER

Again, although this still needs work, we are aware of what we need to do:

1. Priority is sound mix
2. Also needs formal elements - ident, coming soon, end credits etc
3. Revoicing of two dialogue moments - caretaker and Rebekah
4. Ending still needs to be sharpened up

Progress with Poster

 

We have been battling with the layout of the text for this poster. It has been difficult to find a composition that totally satisfies us. We have swapped all the key elements around several times without finding a composition that seems quite right. However, we are pleased with the tagline which we think really summarises our film's theme well and also acts as anchorage for the poster image. We also think the Mail review is in keeping with the style of this kind of soundbite, including the pun on the title.

Progress with Mag Cover

MAGAZINE COVER

We discussed taking new shots using the Mac screen for lighting and a closer shot distance in a previous post. Here we are trying to find a clour scheme for the magazine cover which reflects the poster colour palette, where blue is the key colour with red as shocking accent.

We created this blue-ish background on Photoshop as it has both a slightly watery and a dream feel about it but it may well be too dark.

We are choosing between these shots. Again, we are looking for a dream-like feel and we think the contrast between the shadowed face and the lighter side works well. Gabi's left eye is really emphasised here and she looks startled. When an extreme close up is used, we have seen that teh masthead goes in front of the image rather than the more usual behind. However, the overall look is too dark. We are avoiding red, the conventional colour of film magazine mastheads, as we need to use this for our title. We will have to think again about the colour choice here.

We are also not entirely sure this is the right shot to choose. We liked the idea of the shadows to add an eerie feel, but maybe it is too much.