Production Schedule

Final Trailer

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

Question 2- How effective is the combination of your product and ancillary texts?

When carrying out my research, it become apparent that film distributers used a number of tactics to advertise their film in order to make sure it will be a success.  They are responsible for the marketing, advertisement and overall, communicating with the film’s target audience and projecting an impression.  It is important for film distributers to allow their audience to have a clear understanding of what genre of film there is as well as the general feel of the idea.

Film distributers use techniques such as; Advertising billboard, advertising on TV and other devices, cinema adds as well as using social media and websites.  Marketing differs depending on the product being sold.  An example of this is the difference between a film company producing a horror film in contrast to a musical.  Horror films commonly use dark colours, distorted pictures and sharp text whereas musicals tend to use bright colours, happy pictures and lyric quotes.

It is incredibly important that film distributors do a great amount of research on their target audience to ensure they have an in-depth understanding of them.  They need to know what their target audience is attracted to as this will determine whether they will attract them or not.  Carrying out research on a target audience is easy because the film distributors will already have some idea of the type of people they would like to attract, it is just a matter of them learning more about them in order to gain a strong understanding.

Recently, there has been a very good movie campaign around the latest Star Wars film- The Force Awakens.  They were supported by a very large company (Disney) which marketed their film immensely.  They used the power of social media, television trailers, cinema trailers, merchandise being sold before the film was also released and much, much more.  I believe this was a successful campaign as the film followed a string of successful hits which had already Star Wars lovers dying to see the film.  Their marketing encouraged new fans as well as playing on their old fans by highlighting similar aspects from previous films to ensure it will be to the same standard. The merchandise and use of advertisement used the same ‘Star Wars’ logo that the company had been using for decades which meant people recognised it.  This lead to a brand being established that had a returning custom as people could recognise it instantly.

When creating the idea of my film, it was essential to know what classification to give my film.  I came to the conclusion that I would rate my film a 15.  I wanted it to be aimed at late teenagers however, I didn’t feel it needed to be rated as an 18 as it wouldn’t have the content to justify it.  By giving a film an 18, you could put an audience off as they may feel it to be too scary however, rating it a 12 may come across as childish.  I believe at the age of 15, a person would understand the story line of Red Balloons and would enjoy it, without being too vulnerable to the content.

When creating the poster to promote the film and stand beside the trailer in order to create an excited atmosphere about the film, I found it important to keep them similar as well as contrasting.
Similarly, I wanted them both to use low key lighting, dark colours to present a dark atmosphere.  On the poster, the main colour is black, with the background taking up a lot of space which is why, by adding the darkened boarder to the trailer, theses link very well.  Throughout the trailer, the audience saw a lot of the main girl which is why I didn’t feel the need to have her on my poster.  On the other hand, the ‘villain’ was only seen briefly which is why I decided that he would be the main character in my poster.  This ensured that the audience got an attraction to all characters evenly which would stop them from only focusing on a character, and instead, focus on the overall film.  When creating the titles of our trailer, I found it important to ensure they were simplistic to carry on with the theme of the poster.  The trailer itself isn’t very simplistic as the location is very detailed, the characters have a lot of dialogue which makes it come across as complex.  The trailer and poster contrast in this way which works well as it appealing to a wider audience as well as the audience wanting to know more from the poster which will lead them to looking for the trailer and then the film itself.  Although this contrast is purposely there, I also found it important to demonstrate some consistency to establish a brand which is why the simplistic theme continued through the intertitles and main title.

When releasing a film, it is important to get as much media coverage around the film as possible in order to get an audience to want to watch the film.  This is why it is important for film distributors to be on the cover of magazines.  Although not everyone will buy the magazine, they are always displayed on shop shelves which mean even those who do not buy the magazine, are also be exposed to the advertisement.  When researching magazine, I found that there is commonly the ‘bad guy’ on the magazine cover however, throughout the marketing of my film, I decided to keep his identity, somewhat, hidden in order to create suspense and excitement which is why I placed him in the background of the magazine cover. I then knew that my image needed a main focus so placed my final girl on there.  I wanted to do this as I was inspired by the release of ‘The Woman in Back’ as they used a famous leading man to promote their film which is the aim of my magazine cover.  I wanted to use her as a focus to entice her, already existing fan, to this film.  I made her look directly at the camera so that audience felt she was addressing them.

Overall, I believe that my three media products do work very well together.  Together, they present a strong campaign as they have similar features that are available via different forms of multimedia.  I believe that my target audience would look at all of my products and then want to watch the movie.  Saying this, the campaign would be successful as the aim of it would be met.

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

When making our trailer, we had to consider that we had a low budget which is why having web 2.0 worked to our advantage.  Web 2.0 is the second stage of internet development which allows users to be prosumers as well as consumers.  We can now use the internet to create our own products that we can share worldwide.  This worked to my advantage as the internet provides a large range of products that are free to use and have allowed me to create different products more creatively than if I was offline.  By using websites, such as Blogger and YouTube, I have been able to create a variety of products that I am now able to share with others.

One of the first pieces of technology I used was YouTube.  YouTube played a big part when researching the what horror products already existed.  YouTube is a website that provides users with an endless amount videos, it is free to use and this is why it was beneficial to my research.  I watched existing trailers and movie clips in order to get a clear understanding of the codes and conventions that horror trailers follow.  I believe that YouTube has been a very beneficial source as it provides high quality videos that cover a great variety of video clips.  It is very simple to use as it has a very effective search bar that provides accurate results as well as being fast and instant.  The only negative aspect of YouTube are the adverts that appear but they are easy to work around.  As well as looking at other people’s videos on YouTube, we were also able to post our trailer online which has allowed us to gain feedback, likes and shares.  This helps any small budget/no budget film company to gain publicity, an audience and possible success.

The second piece of technology I’ve used when constructing my coursework is Blogger. Blogger is another website that is online and free to use. It has allowed me to put all my work together that is accessible for anyone who may want to access it.  Using blogger regularly has been beneficial to me as it has allowed me to keep a clear understanding of the work I have completed as well as being able to look back as well as edit the work I have completed to ensure it is at a high standard.  Blogger is easily accessible as it is online, it has an easy to use layout as well as being very user friendly regarding its features.  If I was to carry out this project again, I would continue to use blogger as I think it is a good source for storing information together in a well formatted way however, I do believe that website could be improved by changing the way images are dealt with.  Although you are able to upload images on to a blog, it is difficult to move these images and can sometimes be frustrating when the website doesn’t proceed what you want it to.

The third piece of technology I used was Adobe Photoshop.  Unlike the previous two pieces of technology, Adobe Photoshop is not online and a programme that the consumer has to download and install on to their device.  I used Adobe Photoshop to create my magazine cover as well as my poster.  I have past experience with the software which is why I could use the tools effectively in order to create my products.  Although I have had experience, sometimes the software is not easy to use as some tools are poorly labelled which has made the process somewhat time consuming.  Having said that, I would still highly recommend the software as it creates very professional products which are very effective when used correctly.  I found the editing software particularly helpful as it helped me create images that I am not able to create by just using a camera.  The tools on Photoshop allowed me to manipulate my images to create the effect that I wanted to.

The forth piece of technology I used was Microsoft PowerPoint with Scribd.  Microsoft PowerPoint is a piece of software that users are able to download on to their devices and then create their own slideshows.  Scribd then allows the user to upload their PowerPoint to their website in order to post online and share with others.  Using Microsoft PowerPoint was very easy for me as I have a lot of past experience with the technology as well as it being very simply laid out and accessible.  Scribd allowed posting my PowerPoint on my blog easy as it has a simple embed tool that allows this to be straight forward.

The fifth piece of technology I used was FlipSnack.  FlipSnack is a website that allows its users to upload a series of images and paste them in to a document that formats them in to, what looks like, a book.  When carrying out my course work, FlipSnack helped me to upload some of my documents in a unique way.  I found using FlipSnack fairly easy as it is accessible anywhere due to it being online as well having straight forward features.  In particular, I found it easy to change the image orders which was very helpful when making finish touches to my product.  Although I did find it hard to navigate at first, after a short while of exploring the website, I would recommend it to others as well as using it again myself.

The sixth piece of technology I used was Prezi.  Prezi is a website that helps its users create a Slide Show in a creative way.  I previously spoke about PowerPoint which does the same thing as Prezi however, I find Prezi more effective as I believe it comes across as more creative and therefore more professional.  Although I like the overall look and effective of Prezi, I did find some of its features difficult to use.  In particular, I didn’t like the way it allowed me to upload images as it seems a very long process and the image did not appear where, as a user, you would think it would.  Saying this, I would still recommend it as I feel it is an effective way to share information and it has helped me to present my coursework in a unique way.

The seventh piece of technology we used was Adobe Premiere Pro.  This is the piece of technology we used to actually create the trailer.  It is a piece of software which allows the user to edit sound and film footage in a very effective way.  The tools on the trailer allowed us to make normal footage fit the product we wanted to make in an easy way.  While using Adobe Premiere Pro, I found it difficult at first as I had no previous experience with the programme however, common sense allowed me to work around the technology as it is very straight forward to use as it is similar to their other products- regarding layout and tools.  If I was to make another movie trailer in the future, I would continue to use Adobe Premiere Pro as I found it effective as the tools allowed me to edit footage to a high quality.#

In addition to these online technologies, there were also some phsical pieces of technology that we used.  We used a range of cameras that allowed us to produce all our products.  The video camera was used a great amount when creating our trailer as it was essential to film the product well.  Although our over all product presents a professional trailer, I believe better cameras would have improved the quality of it.  The cameras allowed out product to have, an overall, good effect on the audience however, if I was to create another trailer, I would use a higher quality camera.

Question 3- What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Final Poster and Magazine Cover

These are the products after I received feedback:

Recces, talent releases and location releases

How research impacted our idea

How Research Impacted Our Idea

My Idea

Before creating our trailer as a group, we all came up with an individual idea to present to each other when conducting the idea of our trailer.  My idea was to create a supernatural thriller that would be based around a circus.
My original idea was to base the trailer in a wood setting that would be implied to be the area of which a circus used to be based.  The trailer would show how a group of teenagers would go camping in the woods but would be faced with demon clowns wanting to get revenge for their beloved circus getting closed down.
I thought this would be a good idea as there is not anything similar to this out there yet and there is already an existing fear with clowns for many people.

Stages of Development

Risk Assessment and Budgeting

First Drafts for Posters

Poster and Magazine Cover (Drafts)

These are the products before collecting my feedback.

Questionnaires

Location Analyisis

    

    



                                           

Shot list and storyboards

Audiences and Institutions: The Woman in Black

Primary target audience:
Those who enjoy films of the horror genre. In particular those who enjoy the supernatural kind, as this film is based on ghosts and supernatural activities (shown through their marketing campaign).The primary audience are the ones who are most likely to see the film and those it is most aimed at.


Secondary audience:
This is a nieche audience who the film may also appeal to. The secondary audience for the woman in black is for people who are a fan of Daniel Radcliffe as well as those who enjoyed Harry Potter. This intention of theirs is shown through their focus of him within their advertisement as well as his own attempts of promoting the film.





The woman in black was marketed in a strategic way so that sales are maximised and the movie had the best chance for high publicity. The marketing for this film consisted varied greatly due to the large target audience; there was the teaser campaign, the main campaign, the online marketing, the social marketing and the merchandise. In the woman in black teaser trailer- we learn a bit about the setting, and the fact it’s in an old house, in an past era, which helps to set the scene. We also learn that Daniel Radcliffe plays the main character, as he is the main focus of the teaser trailer. They also had adverts, trailers, posters, articles, social networking and radio which allowed their advertisement to reach a great variety of people that may be interested in different multimedia products. The use of social networking was used on a large scale because they know the age range of Harry Potter fans (teenagers) use it greatly. Danielle Radcliffe himself was very on board with the marketing of this film, with him personally tweeting and Facebooking about the film, and doing many interviews and online videos about the film.








I believe that the marketing of is critical for the success of a film. If the marketing is on a large and aimed at the appropriate audience then it will reach those who are interested and then encourage them in. Marketing helps to get a film talked about as well as creating a positive buzz before the film is even released. The woman in black was marketed on a huge scale with many methods being used to reach as many potential viewers as possible. Overall, I believe the way the woman in black was marketed played a very large part in the scale of its success as they had much coverage and many people ready and willing to go at see it.


The release of the film was on a large scale with the film being shown in 2,855 screens in America in its opening weekend. Earning $20,874,072 and 412 screens in the UK earning £3,153,020.







The budget for the woman in black was 15 million USD. The box office trends show that the woman in black was a high budget film. However, due to the large scale of the marketing this increased the budget further. The weekend that the film was first shown, it made $54,322,273 which is already close to creating a profit. The worldwide gross resulted in around $4128956290, which shows the large extent to how profitable this film as well as the overall success.

I believe the film was successful due to the large extent of marketing, in particular the fact it had incredible support from Daniele Radcliffe as he took a personal approach to the marketing and allowing the marketing campaign to use him on their different approached. Another reason for the success of the film, is the fact that it is based on a popular book that people may have read and then want to watch the film. It is also a west end production that may have influenced a higher class of people to watch the film.

Film distribution

What is meant by the term film distribution?

Film distribution is the process of making a movie available for viewing by an audience. This is normally the task of a professional film distributor, who would determine the marketing strategy for the film.



What does a film distributors do?
A film distributor is responsible for the marketing of a film. The distribution company is usually different from the production company. Distribution deals are an important part of financing a film.

The distributor may set the release date of a film and the method by which a film is to be exhibited or made available for viewing: for example, directly to the public either theatrically or for home viewing


How does reach relate to film distribution?

This refers to film distributors reaching their audience in order for the film to even be successful. This is usually to encourage audiences to go to the cinema and maximize audiences.


What is meant by a marketing plan?

A marketing plan is a documents that illustrates future marketing and advertisement plans for the film and how they plan to achieve goals and meet targets.


What is meant by a film distribution plan?

This is the plan in which managers create in order to make sure the film reaches all business sectors and goes to the appropriate sales places. This is from the cinemas to when the film is ready to be released on DVD and Blu-ray.


What is the difference between advertising, publicity and promotion?

Advertising is showing the product to the public through different uses of multimedia, publicity is when something is given attention from the media and promotion is an action that encourages people to purchase the product.


Here is an example of different uses of film distribution advertisement and how Paranormal Activity approached their audience.








https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wiypresvrs

Cabin in the Woods- Representation of women

What were Jeremy Tunstall’s 4 character roles for women and do they apply to The Cabin in the Woods?

Tunstall said that women’s roles were to be domestic, sexual, be a consumer and be marital.  Cabin in the woods does not follow his theory as neither of the girls follow the role he claims they should.  Looking at Dana, we can see that she wasn’t seen as being domestic, she wasn’t sexual, she didn’t come across as a consumer and wasn’t marital.  Then looking at Jules, although she was sexual and a consumer she wasn’t domestic and marital therefore, neither girl follows his theory.



 How is Dana typical of Clovers ‘final girl’ theory?

Dana is very similar to the codes and conventions of a typical final girl.  Jules’ feminist characteristics emphasis Dana’s lack of them which really highlights that she fits Clover’s role.  Dana is very androgynous, she comes across as virginal and fights back against the evil within the film.  She comes across as a very ‘good’ character as she doesn’t get drunk, high and is cautious of doing anything that might have negative effects-  seen when going down to the basement.  However, when she is faced with evil, she knows how to fight back- seen when she is escaping the campervan in the water.   She doesn’t wear provocative clothes and dresses androgynous, she also get on with male characters as friends rather than a sex objective to be flirted with and seduced.

Jules undergoes mental and physical transformations during the film, what are they and how do they cause her to become a horror archetype?

At the beginning of the film, we learn that she has dyed her hair from brown to blonde.  The scientists claim they did this and it has made her appear as the ‘dumb’ blonde.  Her mental change is the side effect of the hair dye, this makes her think less and do what people tell her to (shown in the dare game when she ‘makes out’ with the wolf.  This makes her become the typical dumb, blonde whore which is usually the first to be killed.

Is Mulvey’s male gaze theory exemplified in the film and if so, how? Thank about framing, camera angles and POV shots.

This is mostly emphasised with Jules as she seen as a sex symbol and more sexually attractive.  The camera angle used of her are usually focused on her chest and leg areas. Low camera angles and low key lighting makes her appear as seductive as well as the fact that she shows much more skin than any of the other characters.  The male gaze is used mostly when Curt is admiring in her, this is used particularly when they are having sex with a POV shot from Curt. 

In the film we, as an audience, are made to be voyeurs; when does this happen and why is it important in regard to representation of characters?

We are made to be voyeurs because we can see the scientists in the lab and we know they are controlling the environment around them and the group of teenagers themselves.  They are unaware of this however, which makes the audience voyeurs.  This reveals that the scientists hold a lot of power and are being represented as controlling, important and powerful.  Marty does realise he is being watched knocking the lamp.  This shows that Marty is seen as character aware of his surrounding with an imaginative mind.  We also are slight voyeurs as we spectate Dana through the eyes of Holden (point of view shots) when he takes the picture down and reveals are one way window.  This reveals that Holden is a very honest person to tell Dana what he can see, as well as Dana being very vulnerable to others watching her. (This is the same as the scientists watching her).

Summarise the way women are represented in The Cabin in the Woods.  Are they objectified and there to provide satisfaction for heterosexual makes and/or do they fulfil another role/purpose?

In the film, we are presents two very different women who both have different images and personalities.  Jules is objectified and does provide satisfaction for heterosexual men.  Within the film, we see Jules dance provocatively, make out with a wolf sexually, dressing with little clothing and we also see her half naked.  On the other hand, Dana is represented very differently as she is a typical ‘Final girl’ as she fights back, survives until the end, virginal (or close to) and comes across as androgynous.  There is also a third girl in the film, there is a woman in the lab who seems to disagree with what the scientists are doing but continues to go along with this.  This shows that women are represented as a non-dominant gender and will submit to what men want- they are the bosses.

The Crazies

Does The Crazies follow the CHN? Why or why not?
I believe that The Crazies does NOT follow the classic Hollywood narrative as it doesn’t begin normally as the opening scene is of a village on fire and very derelict which is not the norm.  In addition to this, the ending of the film does not return to normal as you can see the characters being followed which implies that they are not safe and that the cycle of the film is now about to repeat itself.  These two factors do not follow the classic Hollywood narrative as the theory states that the ending and the beginning is both supposed to be normality.

How many of Propp’s character types can be identified within the film?
The villain- In The Crazies, I would say that the government is the villains as they are the cause of the virus and that it what is leading to the people being a threat to others and the disruption of the village.
The hero- The hero’s in the film can be seen as David and Judy as they both plan on saving their village and preventing the damage happening as well as the virus spreading.
The donor- Russell can be seen as a donor as he provides an escape for David and Jody by distracting the police.
The helper- Russell can also been seen as the helper as well as he is constantly by David’s side and is seen as his second in command. 
The princess- This could been seen as Judy’s baby as their happy life with the baby, is their reward if getting out of the village alive.
Her father- There isn’t really a rather within the crazies as there is no one actually giving out the reward.
The dispatcher- This could be the person in the truck who Russell kills as him and the soldier gives them information on the virus which results in them having the knowledge of having to leave the village quickly.
The false here- This could also be Russell because although he helps Jason and Judy, it turns out that he does have the virus and takes away the potential get away when he kills the man in the black car.

List five examples of binary opposition in the film and explain them briefly.
Binary opposition is the opposite values that reveal the structure of media texts.  The first example in the film is healthy and the infected which describes the difference between David, Judy and Becca compared to the characters we see with the virus.  The second binary oppositions is the government and the innocence of the people.  This is seen as the government are clued up and protected by their gas masks compared to the people of the village who have no protection of the virus.  This leads on to the third opposition which is the difference between the power of the government and the lack of power that the people of the village have over the virus.

  The forth binary opposition is the difference between science and nature.  Science being the virus and causing the people to be infected and cause more deaths in comparison to the norm of the village people who lived in a very natural, farming environment.  The final binary opposition is known and the unknown.  Once David and Judy knew what was happening, they were able to protect themselves compare to the other villagers who weren’t aware of what was happening which lead to their deaths.

Identify the three durations and give an estimate of the time each duration covers.
There are three durations of films and these are- Screen duration, pot duration and story duration.  The screen duration is the time the film takes to show and with The Crazies, this was 1 hour and 40 minutes.  The plot duration is the length of time that the plot covers which is around four days,  the first day which is when Rory gets shot at the baseball game, the second day when bill kills his wife, the third day when they realise the plane crashed and that night when David and Judy get taken away, the fourth day is when they’re running away, the village gets blown up and they get away and then we see the very beginning of the fifth day when they are walking to the next village.  The story duration is the length of time the story covers which is about 3 years in The Crazies as the drug has to be made before the film even begins.

Give two examples of events that cause later events in the film but which occur before the film ‘starts’.
Firstly, the decision to create a drug that makes humans become violent and want to destroy others.  This causes the village people to kill other residences due of the side effects of the virus, resulting in more deaths and murders.
Secondly, the decision of the government to fly the virus to Texas and destroy it.  This event resulted in the plane crashing, the virus spreading and the government feeling they had to destroy and illuminate the village and its people.

List two events from the 92 minute film that happens in a different time and space to the one we are shown.
The first event in the film is that plane crash.  Although we know that it happens at the same time we watch the film, we don’t see it happen only that another character hears the event.
The second event in the film is the army killing all the uninfected residents.  We know this happens because we see the dead people that are previously alive in the film.