Target audience and (notional) bbfc classification

• Our product is target a 15-24 year old audience so decided to rate our film 15 as the themes and context could be deemed as inappropriate for an audience which is any younger. We are targeting this age range as the characters in our production are of this age and it is also being produced by people who fit into the age category.
  The source www.sbbfc.co.uk showed us the guidelines to which films have to stick to in order to fit into that classification and we also compared it to other films similar to ours in terms of themes, language, nudity, sex, violence, imitable techniques, horror and drugs. Following bbfc guidelines we made comparsions from our trailer to other trailers believe it fits a 15 classification.

• Our production doesn't include any non-Caucasian characters. However, this does not mean our text only targets a narrow Caucasian audience as many other productions continue to sideline non-Caucasian talent and still are successful such as Donkey Punch, which is a successful british horror which just features white characters. Our teaser trailer has therefore gained a hegamonic status.
• Horror films are seen as a male dominated genre which is shown by all horror films using the male gaze theory to attract to the male audience to attractive characters used. We have also followed this code and convention by using 4 attractive blonde females in our production. Although, to avoid only appealing to half of an potential audience horror films generally feauture a tough, resourceful final girl character. Shown in Halloween with Laurie Strode. However, in our trailer we have not used a final girl . Eventhough horror films are typically a male dominated genre we didn't want to alienate half of our potential audience by ignoring females so the cast is predominatly females. This means that the female audience can relate and emphasis with the female characters.We considered the movie-as-date factor as the couples going on dates are predominately teenagers so even though horror films target males more, there needs to be characters which the female audience can relate to. The character females relate could be Sophie, the first blonde girl who doesn't get killed. This is because she is an attractive female who isn't portrayed negativly like the other girls are. In our trailer there are no obvious characters who would bring in the pink pound audience, however the 2 male characters may interest the pink pound as they could find them sexually attractive. 

• From our research into Horror films we found that most horrors are aimed at C1C2DE. As it is using middle class characters and a middle class setting this will also guarantee a middle class audience. To bring in ABC1s we could have used more sophisticated characters such as a adult for them to relate too. Even-though Northern films struggle a lot at the box office we still decided to keep with the northern accents and settings. However, there is advantages to using southern English characters and settings as it has an hegemonic status. Films such as Notting Hill, which is set in London, makes it accessible for a UK wide audience to relate to as its the capital of the country, therefore making it successful. Using northern England stereotypes could jeopardize the foreign sales as the southern England stereotype is normally the one given out to other countries. But there are successful Northern films which have overcome this such as Full Monty and This is England as the main themes in the films are accessible to all audiences. For example, the main theme in the Full Monty is unemployment, and the main theme in This is England is Thatcherism ( a prime minister which has been described as a dictator) Warp X and Redwave films chose such broad themes as everyone can associate to a time where they or there country has been unemployed or had a high unemployment rate, and the audience all know of a country which has had trouble due to the countries leader. After considering our options, we still decided to keep to keep our northern accents as we don't see it as a great problem. Also, if we had decided to use southern accents, then there would be the problem with finding southern actors or the characters accents sounding realistic.

We would expect our target audience to be interested in films which are similar to ours, especially the horror classics. Such as Halloween, Scream and Friday the 13th. This may be because these films are the ones that got our target audience interested in horror films in the first place. Our trailer is linked to these films as the cast/characters are all of similar ages and there are numerous killings throughtout the films.

• Warp X could be a possible distributor of our film as they specialise in regional films with a lower socio-economic grouping, such as This is England. These factors tie into our film as is it set in Yorkshire. WarpX also deals with low budget production methods to make high value movies that can reach cinema audiences across the world.

• Psychographic profile of our audience would be a teen/youth audience.
• Maslows hierarchy of needs is a pyramid system with a hierarchy of motivation. The levels must be completed before a state of self-motivation is reached. Maslows hierarchy of needs applies to my target audience as it they are most likely to be in the safely and security and love and belonginess levels as they may not have a steady job or relationship which they can relate to the characters in the film as they have relationship problems too therefore lack self motivation and are unable to move on emotionally.

Assessment criteria

Sample Marking Criteria for Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio in Media
Level 3 12–15 marks
There is proficient research into similar products and a potential target audience.
There is proficient organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props.
There is proficient work on shotlists, layouts, drafting, scripting or storyboarding
Time management is good.
There is a good level of care in the presentation of the research and planning.
There is proficient skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the presentation.
There are proficient communication skills.

Level 4 16–20 marks
There is excellent research into similar products and a potential target audience.
There is excellent organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props.
There is excellent work on shotlists, layouts, drafting, scripting or storyboarding.
Time management is excellent.
There is an excellent level of care in the presentation of the research and planning.
There is excellent skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the presentation.
There are excellent communication skills.

Marking Criteria for Evaluation
The questions that must be addressed in the evaluation are:
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Level 3 12–15 marks
There is proficient understanding of the forms and conventions used in the productions.
There is proficient understanding of the role and use of new media in various stages of the production.
There is proficient understanding of the combination of main product and ancillary texts.
There is proficient understanding of the significance of audience feedback.
There is proficient skill in choice of form in which to present the evaluation.
There is proficient ability to communicate.
There is proficient use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.

Level 4 16–20 marks
There is excellent understanding of the forms and conventions used in the productions.
There is excellent understanding of the role and use of new media in various stages of the production.
There is excellent understanding of the combination of main product and ancillary texts.
There is excellent understanding of the significance of audience feedback.
There is excellent skill in choice of form in which to present the evaluation.
There is excellent ability to communicate.
There is excellent use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.
Marking Criteria for the Media Text
Main Task
Subsidiary Task


Level One

0 – 14 marks

0 – 3 marks



Level Two

15 – 23 marks

4 – 6 marks



Level Three

24 – 31 marks

7 – 8 marks



Level Four

32 – 40 marks

9 – 10 marks
Level 3
The candidate is expected to demonstrate proficiency in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:
holding a shot steady, where appropriate;
framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate;
using a variety of shot distances as appropriate;
shooting material appropriate to the task set;
selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;
editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer;
using varied shot transitions, captions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set;
using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set.
Where a candidate has worked in a group, a proficient contribution to construction is evident.

Level 4
The candidate is expected to demonstrate excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:
holding a shot steady, where appropriate;
framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate;
using a variety of shot distances as appropriate;
shooting material appropriate to the task set;
selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;
editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer;
using varied shot transitions, captions and other effects selectively and appropriately;
using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task.
Where a candidate has worked in a group, an excellent contribution to construction is evident.

Teaser Poster

For our teaser poster we decided on an image from behind the protagonist where you can only see the side profile of her face. We did this as it brings an element of mystery as you cant fully see her face and are unsure of her involvement in the film. We put the majority of the poster in black and white and only used red as the other colour as red is a signifier of love, romance and death and only having red, black and white colours emphasizes this. The red dress also links into the protagonist wearing a red dress throughout the trailer and our production logo is 'red dress productions'.

        We chose the month December as it is a dull gloomy month which signifies sadness and links into the narrative of the film. It also links into the Christmas theme of romance as Christmas is associated with romance and people going on dates.

        The blog address enables potential audiences to research the film and find out more information therefore increasing there interest. It is also a good way of free advertising.

Looking back, our teaser poster may have been too mysterious for our audience to understand the narrative as there is no weapon used the audience may not link it with a horror genre. They may think it is a romance from the red dress and the word 'date' in the film title. We had also originally decided to use the cocktail glass during our production so the audience could relate from the teaser poster to the trailer. In the end we used wines glasses when the girls are getting ready and spirit glasses in the bar scenes.

Our teaser poster still reflects the narrative of our final cut as the girl featured on the teaser poster is still the protagonist in the trailer and the narrative is based around her.

Stuart Hall's theory of encoding and decoding.

" This approach to textual analysis focuses on the scope for negotiation and opposition on part of the audience. This means that the audience does not simply passively accept a text — whether a book or a film — and that an element of activity becomes involved. The person negotiates the meaning of the text. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Hall_(cultural_theorist)#Ideas

Although, when you compare our teaser poster to the Iron Man and New Moon teaser posters they do have many similarites. They both show only one of the characters faces and only half of the face which we did, there is also minimalistic text and only a small variety of colours used.

Research and Poster

We researched many different types of posters looking at a variety of genres to broaden our knowledge on film posters. We found that the majority of posters had multiple characters on the poster giving insight to the audience. However, films such as Saw and Scream only had one character on the poster.

• Phallic objects are a common convention used in horror films as they link into the narrative of the film. (Dark Ride Craig Singer 2006)
• The male gaze theory is commonly used as it increases the interest the male audience will have in the film. This is done by an attractive female wearing minimal, provocative clothing. (Jennifer's Body Karyn Kusama 2009)
• There is a trend in horror posters that the colours used are predominantly black and red as this connotes blood and death. Blue tint is also commonly used as it signifies supernatural which themes may feature in the film. (The Unborn David S. Goyer 2009)

Our research showed us that posters must include the following:

• A tag-line
• billing block
• Reviews
• Logo of film company
• Release date
• Dominated by images

From researching many posters we feel we have gathered a good idea of a what a poster needs to include and our poster is a good example of this.
For our poster we decided to use the original image of the protagonist which was on the teaser poster. We decided to do this as a low/no budget film company it makes it easier for potential audiences to recognize our film as the image is repeated. We also added still shots from our actual trailer of the other characters. This is an inter-textual to the James Bond film Casino Royale.

We decided to re-do our poster as we wanted to create a new poster that didn't have the same image as the teaser poster. The steps we took to do this follow. We used a photo which is taken during the trailer to link into the narrative of the trailer.

We uploaded the image and 'adjusted' the image by making the photo brighter and changing the contrast levels.

We used the font 'impact' for the billing block and a font which we noticed was similar to the one's used in 'The Unborn' and 'Dark Ride' for the title font.

We weren't sure whether to have the tagline in a large or small size or for it to go over 2 lines. After writing them all out we compared them against each other and looking at other posters we chose to have the

smaller font.
The font used for the tagline is downloaded of a website which specialised in horror fonts. http://www.1001fonts.com/fonts_overview.html?page=1&category_id=14 we used this website as it had a special compatability with Mac computers.

We then started to add the reviews to the poster. One from a magazine Kingdom (which we created). One from a tabloid newspapper such as the Sun, Daily mail or the Mirror. Also, a quote from a famous figure such as Johnathan Ross as people may see his quote and as he is a respected character, take his word for it being a good film and therefore develop an interest in the film.

After showing our poster to our potential audience we decided it would look better if you could see the actors on the sofa but then have a black background behind them were we could add text and other images. So using the magic wand tool we edited out the background. Our audience feedback also told us to move the billing block to the bottom of the poster instead of the top as this is a common code and convention of horror posters.

We also decided we needed something to signify it is a horror genre(although the font used for the tagline is a specific horror font we thought we needed more) so we took a photo of a hooded figure, eyes and a hand holding a knife.

We took all 3 photos so we had a varied choice of photos we could use. We decided to use the hand holding a knife as this is a phallic object and links into the narrative of the trailer as one of the victims is killed with a knife. We didn't use the hooded figure as the image isn't dark enough and you can see too much of the actors face. The image of eyes is one that we used as is gives a aspect of msytery as you can only see her eyes and not the rest of her face, it also gives a sense of 'being watched' .
The updated poster with the billing block moved to the bottom, reviews at the top and the bloody hand holding a knife.

Above is our film poster.

Coursework options

A promotion package for a new film including a teaser trailer between 30 seconds and 2 minutes; with the 2 following options:

• A film magazine front cover
• A poster for the film

Or

A short film lasting no more than 5 minutes, which can be live or animated work, with 2 of the 3 following options

• A poster for the film
• A radio for the film
• A film magazine review featuring the film

 We decided we would make a teaser trailer as we thought it would be more challenging to produce than a short film as you have to be able to convey a story-line by showing aspects of the film using different characters and a variety of locations. Also, we have watched a lot more trailers generally from when there being advertised on television or trailers from the cinema. Furthermore, we thought that short films would be harder to access than trailers.

I think it is arguable whether a teaser trailer or a short film would give you more creativity for the production. Although if you look at the short film Ant Muzak http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdgDTLW6-I8(2002 and Ben Gregor) and compared it to a teaser trailer Sex and the city 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKQ5yRFkBnE(2010 Michael Patrick King) Then it would appear that a short film would give more scope for creativity than a trailer as the themes used in the short film tend to be alot more 'wackier' than those used in the Sex and the City trailer.

Definition of a teaser trailer.

"A teaser trailer, or teaser is a short trailer used to advertise an upcoming movie, game or television series.

Teasers, unlike typical theatrical trailers, are usually very short in length (between 30–60 seconds) and usually contain little if any actual footage from the film. Sometimes it is merely a truncated version of a theatrical trailer. They are usually released long in advance of the film they advertise."

http://dictionary.babylon.com/Teaser%20trailer 

Definition of a short film.

"The description can be used to describe any film that has a duration longer than one minute and shorter than 15 minutes. The North American definition also tends to focus much more on character whereas the European and Australasian forms tend to depend much more on visual drama and plot twists. In this way, the North American form can be understood to be a derivation of the feature film form, usually acting as a platform for aspirant Hollywood directors. Elsewhere, short films tend to work as showcases for cinematographers and commercial directors." 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_film 

Logo

We decided on having a red dress as it is a key element used in our production as it signifies blood, death and love. Also, if we made another film this could be used again and we could use the same concept of a female killer. Another reason why we used a red dress is as we are a female production company, untypical in the film industry, our logo makes us stand out and be recognized within the industry.

Film Magazine research

        

Empire is a film magazine that reviews mainstream and arts films but predominantly focuses on mainstream, more current new releases. You can also view the articles and extra features such as trailers that they recommend and daily movie news on the website therefore it is more current and up to date information than buying a monthly magazine, even-though the website is free to view and the magazine costs around £4.00 to buy. There is also links to be able to follow and join Empire groups on facebook and twitter.

Fangoria is a film magazine that focuses purely on Horror films and it is Americas longest running horror magazine. Initially, when Fangoria was first released it was based around a 'fantasy' concept and by issue 4 the publisher confinded the magazine was losing around $20,000 per issue. A young editor was employed who re-invented the magazine to be wholly based on the horror genre with the first magazine featuring The Shining (1980 Stanley Kubrick) The layout is still largely unchanged to this date.

Since 1985 Fangoria has sponsered annual horror movie conventions known as 'The Weekend of Horrors' in Los Angeles, New Jersey and Chicago.
Fangoria created Fangoria Films in 1990 with the goal of financing one feature film a year. The first film was Mindwarp in 1990. However in 1992 it ceased production but in 1996 it re-emerged as a distribution company.
In 1991 Fangoria started its annual Chainsaw Awards which  honours horror cinema. The films were voted for by the readers of their magazine however in 1996 the awards show was stopped although the awards carried on through the magazine.
Fangoria is also featured in films such as in Friday the 13th (1982 Steve Miner) were Debbie is reading Fangoria shortly before she dies. Also, in Death proof (2007 Quentin Tarentino) Fangoria is seen on a shelf in a shop. This is because Fangoria is a horror film so people with a horror interest  will also have an interest in Fangoria  although if they are unaware of Fangoria after seeing it featured in these films develop an interest in it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fangoria_(magazine)#Fangoria_Branches_Out

From researching into film magazines the majority of the front covers are similar. They are dominated by a photograph of the actor/actress who is in the film there advertising, this is used as it attracts the audience to look at the magazine especially if they have an interest in that character.

 There is also snippets such as '15 films you must see' and 'icons of the decade'. This gives anchorage to the audience of what else they will find in the magazine.

A number of fonts and sizes are used to give variation.

The date and issue number is also given.

Masthead goes across the top of the cover and the photo often covers part of masthead.

Background colours matches the genre of the film displayed on front.
Most have humour linked in to cover, or taglines.

Costume, Props Location

Costume

The killer will be dressed in a red, tight dress; this has a poly-semic reading as red can be a signifier of love which fits into the narrative but equally a signifier of blood and death which is

anchorage for the genre of the film. She will be wearing stiletto heels to portray a sexy image and help to draw in a male audience. However. she will be wearing less make up than the blonde character which helps to emphasize the binary oppositions between the two.

The other female character within the trailer will be por

trayed as a stereotypical blonde, this will be shown by being sexually available and effective costume such as obvious makeup and revealing clothes.

Both male characters will be dressed smart-casual in jeans and a shirt. We feel this fits in with the mise-en-scene of the locations as the one of them is in a popular, classy bar.

Both characters are trendy looking and would engage the interest from a female audience. Male audiences would also be able to relate to the characters as they are your stereotypical boy next door.

The 3 victims, will only play a minor part in  the trailer. However, all 3 girls will be attractive and made to seem sexually available which is the main motivation for the killings.

This will be shown by the first victim will be wearing a red dressing gown as she is drying her hair, this gives theallusion that she is naked underneath the dressing gown. The red dressing gown is an important part of the scene as the colour red represents death (which is shortly about to happen to her) and it also represents love (which can coincide with the relationship she is having with the male protagonist). The second victim will only be se

en in the shower which is a inter-textual reference to the Grudge as Sarah Michelle Gellar is attacked in the shower. There is a similarity between Sarah Michelle Gellar and the 2nd victim as they are both attractive blonde females which will appeal to our target audience as the majority of people that watch horrors are male.  As she is onl

y seen in the shower this makes her seem sexually available to the audience and interpretated as a motive for being killed. The final girl will be attacked whilst wearing a tight top and a mini skirt. Again, going along which the trend of appearing sexually available.

                              

           Props

We chose the props that we will be using in our film specifically to represent and signify different things.

 The first prop that will be used is a red hairdryer. We chose this object as the red signifies blood and death and also links into the killers red dress. We initially wanted to have the victim

in the bath and the hair dryer being dropped into the bath so the victim is electrocuted. However, after thinking of different ways in which we could do this safely we deemed it to dangerous and changed the idea.

We are now going to show  the first victim drying her hair with the hair dryer

 and then the killer appears behind her and hits her over the head with it.

The second prop we are going to use is a knife. We chose this as our genre research has told us that this is a

common weapon to use as it is represents a phallic object. This also ties into the narrative as the victims are being killed due to the protagonists jealousy over the relationships the girls have with the boy that she likes.

The final prop that we will use is a bottle of

 wine which will be smashed over the 3rd victims head by the protagonist. We decided to use this object as its  stereotypically a woman's drink, and in the opening of the trailer the protagonist and her blonde friend are drinking the wine which helps set up the narrative. To film this scene the lighting we used was a car's headlights. We had already planned to do this as the street we filmed it on had no street lights so the cars headlights is the only source of light.


All of the props will be used by the female protagonist as she believes that they are seeing they boy she likes.

Location

The first rooms which includes the girls getting ready, will have pink featured in it so to connote it is a females room. this will include things like pink bedding and decoration. Make up and hair straighteners will also be visible for anchorage.

The bar thats used will be a up-market classy bar which appeals to the target audience (15 -24).

The location of the house is in a rural area which connotes loneliness and vulnerability which is visible to the audience as the taxi is driving down the road. This will lead to the audience to assume that the girl is the vulnerable character however, this is not the case.

The house is a inter-textual to the house in Scream as it is a middle-class detached house with lots of large glass windows and painted white. This will also bring in a middle class audience as they can relate to the house. As the house is painted white, it connote the male characters innocence and purity as he is a virgin. The amount of glass used in the house anchors the vulnerability of the characters as they are more exposed to danger.

The male characters bedroom will be signified by a stereotypical male posters such as boys toys and movie posters, if the commutation test was applied here it would fit as the posters don't include female nudity which is stereotypical of a 18 year old boy. This is anchorage for him being a virgin and 'not interested' in woman. It also sets up for him turning the main girl character down. At first we considered to have the bedroom messier than the girls room however, we decided the bedroom will be neater than expected of an 18 year old, this connote he is less of a lads lad than initially thought by the audience from the scenes in the bar earlier.

• N.B.   However, after we filmed our trailer we decided it would be simpler and easier for the audience to understand if the main boy and girl went back to the girls house which was previously featured in the trailer.
• We decided to only have one male character in the trailer to avoid confusion of what the role of the other boy was.
• We removed the hair dryer killing as it didnt look realistic and replaced it with somebody being strangled.

Audience feedback

Throughout our production we will be asking for audience feedback. This is a vital part of our production as it enables us to receive constructive  criticism  or praise for aspects of the film that they have disliked or enjoyed. The audience that we will be asking is predominately the target audience for our film, mixed gender aged 17-18 years old.

6th November 2009

Whilst discussing film titles in class, we received a range of feedback on our title "A Date from Hell".

It was mainly positive as they liked how there is a direct link into the narrative of the trailer however, some class members thought it sounded like a chick flick rather than a killer.

For the narrative of them film they liked the idea how it is unclear who the killer is as typically in most films, it is a male killer.


 27th November 2009
Good variation of signifiers that something is going to happen.
Could use more shots emphasizing vulnerability.
Shots blend in together well.
Majority of shots are framed well and lighting is good.

14th December 2009
Cut down shot off clothes being thrown.
Needs something to link Sam with the 3 girls.

18th December 2009
Change transistions so they follow each other such as Be prepared, for a little bit of heaven, but a lot more Hell.
Flash 3 killings before Protagonists face at the end.

5th January 2010
Change the dialogue from "i can decide between 3 boys" to "Is this too slutty?.. who am I kidding I don't care!".
On a night out they see the group of boys and girls, not a pre-set date.
The guy in the bar asks Lucy to take a photo of them and the other girls adjust to add a central device of a photo taken, with each victim cut out of the photo with a extreme close up each time they are killed.
Unidentifed killer, can see Lucy in the first killing.
We received audience feedback throughout the editing process right until the final piece. We did this because we had to constantly make sure our potential audience understood and followed the story and could pick up on problems immediatly so we could reshoot if necessary.
If we hadn't have got audience feedback then changes such as cutting down shots and changing speed of shots wouldnt have been altered therefore our trailer wouldnt have been as successful.

 Sophie aged 17

 Emily aged 18

 Sophie aged 17

We used the style of podcasts to film some of our audience feedback to make it a visual experience. 

Hardware

Camcorder.

I will be using the camera Canon Wide screen MV920 to record my production.

The dimensions of the camera are:
115mm in length
92mm in height
49mm in width
0.38 kg in weight
LCD screen 2.7 inches

Key features:
Auto White Balance
Manual Brightness/Contrast Settings
Multiple features to change lighting to day/night settings
25x optical zoom
Built in microphone

-During our filming we altered the settings of the camera to night mode as we were filming in the dark and thought it would pick up the light better then if it was on auto settings.

Boom Mic.

Throughout our production we will also be using a boom mic. This will make things alot easier than last years coursework as we will be able to have shots with dialogue were the protagonists aren't in a close proximity of the camera but the boom mic will be able to pick up the audio. This will mean we will be able to have more of a variety of shots.

Tripod.

We will also be using a tripod during filming as they are very useful for keeping the camera steady. The tripod we will be using has expandable legs therefore we can change the height of the camera depending on what shot we are achieving. The tripod's are also able to tip the camera to the side creating a dutch angle. Overall, the tripods make filming alot easier by being able to get a steady shot of whatever we want.

Macs.

Once we have filmed our production we will upload to the Mac computers were we will edit our trailer on imovie06 and Final cut.

Digital Still cameras.

We used digital still camera during our production when the protagonist takes a photo of the group of boys and girls in the bar. We also used the cameras to take photos of the cast to put on our blogs to make it easier to compare our cast to real film productions. We found the cameras simple and easy to use as we have used them many times before.

Portable audio recorder.

We used the audio recorder to record our podcast as we only needed to have the audio and they were simple to upload onto our blogs.

If the audio from our production wasn't clear or loud enough we could use this to re-record our cast speaking their lines and then dub it over our trailer.

External hard drives/ Portable drive.

Having an external hard drive made it easier to share files between the group as one of you could save a file on the external hard drive and then link it up to another computer and open the file on that computer so you didnt have to disturb the original person if they were working on that computer. It also meant the files we were using were backed up.

Podcasts

A podcast will be updated weekly providing information on how far we have come in the production progress. It also highlights whether we have missed anything or our behind on any tasks.

6th November 09


13th November 09

27th November 09

7th December 09

24th February 2010

Codes and Conventions

All of these trailers are from uk.filmtrailer.com unless stated otherwise.

American Beauty 1999 Sam Mendes
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6912264818605898886#
Serif writing, describing plot. Juxtapose as white on black.

Birds eye view of street. Denote typical American street with large houses and housewife in garden.

Music becomes faster which shows some humour. Contrast to initial music which was slow.

Binary opposition between two girls, one pretty confident blond, and other shy less pretty brunette.

Shaky cam so denote its a hand cam.

"what the hell" can tell by the woman's tone of voice she is angry and not happy with his actions.

Sequence of shots from different aspects of his life such as work, his child, neighbours.

Repeated close up on blond girls face, connote there is something going on between them and she is important aspect of the film.

"Americas weirdest family" other people see them as weird but contradictory as he's being weird by filming them.

"Yes sir" denote army.

"this fall" denote American film.

"I love shooting this gun" lots of built up anger to husband sets up the ending of husbands death.

Roses signify love but the amount used makes it seem weird or fantasy.

The Butterfly effect Eric Bress 2004
http://www.myvideo.de/watch/5487483/Butterfly_Effect_1

2 main characters established immediately with a 2 shot.

Ashton Kutcher famous actor.

Black and white clip denote its a flashback..

The use of blackouts, repeated shots of centre protagonist but over different periods of time.

Slow pan over graveyard emphasises death within the film.

Verisimilutide, sci-fi film expect technology that doesn't exist yet.

Elliptical editing, cutting out time.

The last Vampire Chris Nohan 2009


Shot of feet running through woods then high angle shot off the woods which connotes vunrability.

Flashes of a close up of a face screaming. Music building to create tension.

Final destination David R. Ellis 2009
http://uk.filmtrailer.com/cinema/all-30,120/2482/Final+Destination+4+3D+film+trailer.html 
Close up of things going wrong with structure of building eg. screws coming lose, ceiling cracking. Signifies somethings going wrong.

As a car crashes the image on the screen flashes on and off quickly which draws the audiences attention and makes it harder for them to look away.

Images of fire burning and people running and screaming signifies horror.

Friday the 13th Marcus Nispel 2009
http://uk.filmtrailer.com/cinema/all-30,120/1596/Friday+the+13th.html
Long shot of a lake and underwater shots. Emphasizing the size of the lake.

Voice over of a woman saying "didn't a boy die here, and today is his birthday" which makes the audience scared and expects bad things to repeat itself in the lake. Common code and convention for something bad to happen on the anniversary of things e.g in Halloween.

Blonde attractive girl windsurfing topless, the male gaze theory.

My Bloody Valentine Patrick Lussier 2009
http://uk.filmtrailer.com/cinema/all-30,210/1541/My+Bloody+Valentine+3-D.html
A group of men caving which connotes a claustrophobic setting as its underground and only a certain amount of exits.

Set on valentines day. Voice over of a news reader saying "its been called the valentines day massacre" which connotes there will be a number of deaths.

Repetitive use of red writing which symbolizes love and death.

Obsessed Steve Shill 2009
http://uk.filmtrailer.com/cinema/all-30,240/2098/Obsessed.html
Variety of shots of a large sunny city, it makes the audience think of Los Angeles as its a familiar setting used in films.

Shot of someone looking up the central protagonist on the internet connotes to the audience they are interested in that person and want to know more about them.

Point Break Kathryn Bigelow 1991
http://www.spike.com/video/point-break-trailer/3058153
American voice over, deep male.

Bold letters with 2 names highlighting famous actors.

Similarites to baywatch, pan across a beach.

Male friendly genre however 2 main protagonists draw in woman.

Donnie Darko Richard Kelly 2001
http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/donnie-darko/trailer
Signifiers of special effects and sci-fi genre.

Exaggerated diegetic sounds, wooshing sound from an axe.

Use of dull, dark lights.

Central protagonist is established early on.

School setting so emphasises target audience.

Cheap indie producers.

Fish Tank Andrea Arnold 2009
http://uk.filmtrailer.com/cinema/all-30,120/2967/Fish+Tank+film+trailer.html
Quick shots of teenage girls applying make-up and drinking.

Dressed in 'chavy' clothes with large gold earrings and tracksuits.

Arguing in the park connotes to the audience that the protagonist is angry.

Anything for her Fred Cavaye 2009
http://uk.filmtrailer.com/cinema/all-30,30/2087/Anything+for+Her+film+trailer.html
Slow piano music signifies love or builds tension for something to happen.

Police come through the door and arrest the protagonist, shots of the baby crying which appeals to the audiences maternal side and feel sorry for the woman and her baby.

Close ups of a man in a darkly lit room with bruises and blood on his face connotes violence.

Music gets louder and faster as more action on the screen, a police car chase.

Bangkok Dangerous Oxide Pang Chun 2008
http://uk.filmtrailer.com/cinema/all-30,30/1045/Bangkok+Dangerous.html
irst shot of protagonist who is a famous actor, Nicholas Cage, which gets the audiences attention immediately.

Protagonist on top of a building with a gun watching people, connote he is a snipper.

Sound of a gun being shot and voice over of protagonist saying "this is what i do".

Target audience would be boys and men and the action from the trailer reflects this and would interest them.

Triangle Christopher Smith 2009
http://uk.filmtrailer.com/cinema/all30,420/2740/Triangle+film+trailer.html
Slow opening shot of a long corridor with slow music denotes a sense of 'creepiness' about the deserted corridor.

Followed by quick shots of a girl looking over her shoulder then blood on her eyes.

Shots of the a group on the sea then the shots go back to the corridor. This connotes to the audience that bad things will happen in that corridor.

Girl feels she is having deju-vu about the boat then starts screaming, this confirms to the audience that something is wrong.

The fact that it is on a boat in the middle of the sea adds to tension as the characters cant get away like they would have been able to on land. The characters seem alone and like nobody can help them.

The Cove Louie Psihoyos 2009
http://uk.filmtrailer.com/cinema/all-30,330/3075/The+Cove+film+trailer.html
Immediately hear sounds of an police car which draws in audiences attention and links there minds to danger and bad things happening.

Voice over sounds like documentary style.

Music is gradually becoming faster and louder.

Angry raised voices show tension between the characters.

Saw 6 Kevin Gruetert 2009
http://uk.filmtrailer.com/cinema/all-30,270/2940/SAW+VI+film+trailer.html
Less anchorage in plot as its a sequal people understand the storyline.

Repetitive use of 6 such as "6 chances 6 lives"

Set in a unused factory which will have lots of old machinary could signifes one of the deaths.

88 Minutes Jon Avnent 2007
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5669653921718751964#
Weather is raining and dull which is linked to unhappy snappy people

Central protagonist is established immediatly who is a famous actor Al Pacino.

Called a serial murder then quick flashbacks of a knife and a woman screaming.

Information on who is the killer is not given away during the trailer.

Repeated shots of watch as its a fight against time.

Donkey Punch Oliver Blackburn 2008

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809931854/trailer
Fast shots of teenage girls drinking and getting ready and getting exited for the night ahead.

Mid shots of the girls being introduced to a group of boys and carry on drinking with the boys.

The boys and girls have coupled off and are flirting, shots of caressing hands.

Set on a boat so isolated. Sex is a key factor in the film which appeals to the male audience.

Drag me to Hell Sam Raimi 2009

Trailer
http://uk.filmtrailer.com/cinema/all30,90/1948/Drag+Me+to+Hell.html
Binary oppositions with slim, young blonde and old unattractive lady.

old woman attacks young woman which comes as a shock to the audience. Use of high shots and low shots to emphasis the strength and weakness between the two characters.

Repeated reviews from newspaper critics.

Eden lake James Watkins 2008
http://uk.filmtrailer.com/cinema/all-30,90/1288/Eden+Lake.html
Opening shots connote romance as slow shots of couple and tracking shots of the car driving on a sunny day.

Can Hear SatNav saying "turn around" emphasises they are lost and in unknown territory and nobody knows where they are.

Twilight Catherine Hardwicke 2008

Teaser trailer
http://uk.filmtrailer.com/cinema/all-30,420/1119/Twilight.html
Less description of characters as film is based on a well known book.

Aspect of verisimilitude with a boy stopping a car and couple stood on top of a tree.

Romance between the characters as kissing each other, appeals to female audience as good looking boy and females like successful romances.

Stephen Kings The Mist Frank Darabont 2007

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809834165/video/3906309

Group of people stuck in a supermarket, less scary factor than members alone as they can help and consolidate each other.

Comic factor as scared of the mist from outside.

The men group together to think of a plan emphasizes their masculinity as woman are ignored.

White Out Dominic Sena 2009

teaser trailer
http://uk.filmtrailer.com/cinema/all-30,420/2636/Whiteout+film+trailer.html
Writing comes up on the screen giving anchorage of the setting, "Antarctica" which is followed by " the most isolated landmass on the planet" this signifies vunrability and loneliness.

Repeated pans of the scenery emphasizing the size of Antarctica.

First minute is action, quick shots of people falling, working and struggling in the snow. Second minute setting the scene, giving anchorage to the characters. Opposite way round to typical trailers.

The Unborn David S. Goyer 2009

teaser trailer
http://uk.filmtrailer.com/cinema/all-30,390/1383/The+Unborn+.html
Opening shot of a girl baby-sitting, fits the babysitter stereotype as attractive brunette. Baby-sitting is often used in films as the protagonist is alone in an unknown house left to fend for themselves. Repeated shots of a boy in black and white signifies its a flashback.

Conversation with a doctor, audience believes what the doctor is saying as he is of legitimate authority.

Silence of the lambs Johnathan Demme 1991

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1140457753

Repeated close ups of the protagonist. Reporters voice over shouting about what the killer does to his victims with an exaggerated diegetic door slamming sound in between each one. This creates tension. Close ups again of the same fire but this time surrounding by fire this makes connections in the audiences house to the devil.

Hell Night Tom DeSimone 1981

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK89XlOUWms

Teaser trailer

Location is a party with lots of teenagers drinking and dancing represents target audience and makes it easy to associate with characters.

Red writing enters the screen signifying blood and death.

Fancy dress signifies halloween which again is a night that the audience can associate too.

Blonde female wearing red, revealing dress signifes that she is sexually available and the red could also signify her death.

The Last house on the left Wes Craven 2009
http://www.trailerspy.com/trailer/1740/The-Last-House-on-the-Left-Trailer
The first few shots are of location so gives the audience a feel of the setting.

Protagonist says "last house for miles" which signfies loneliness.

As the girls are going out theres a close up of the protagonists necklace which is significant later on in the film. Throughout the trailer there is alot of sexual references with a girl swimming in her underwear in the lake and a woman having a bath. This has a polysemic meaning as it could signify that it is a sexual film or it could have been used to keep the intrest of the male audience.

My genre research has shown me that there has been an increase in hybrid genres as they reach a wider target audience as there offering more variety, therefore increasing the cross-over appeal to America.  Examples of Hybrid genre films are The Unborn a horror/supernatural genre (David S. Goyer 2009) and Scream 3 (Roman Bridger 2000) which is a horror/mystery genre. Although our production is a horror/ slasher genre it would be  difficult to target a wide audience as we are working with a low/no budget and most low budget films target a youth audience. British films with a cross- over appeal typically use actors living in the south of England therefore have a southern accent so an American audience may not be able to understand a northern accent.(for example Hugh Grant is used in majority of British films). Our production is a horror/slasher as this keeps up to date with many modern horrors being released as the majority of them have a slasher sub genre.

Genre Research - Books
Adam Rockoff - Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film
"Although the term 'slasher' may be used as a generic term for any horror movie involving graphic acts of murder, the slasher as a genre has its own set of characteristics which set it apart from related genres. As long as you have a killer who murders people with sharp objects, and a few thematic and/or stylistic conventions that have become staples of the genre– the final girl or the killer’s POV, etc.– you’ve got yourself a slasher film"

Jim Harper - Legacy of Blood
Section The killer:
"The aspects of a film that stick in the audience's mind are invariably the weapons and equipment used by the relevant psychopath"
"Motivation is very important, Revenge is the main motivation but its not always directed against those who were responsible for the incidence"
"A large number of slasher films feature a strong family background for the killer, and example of this is 'Halloween' where the film is based around Michael Myers and the Strode family"

From our genre research it has led us to conclude that the majority of killers are male. However, we have decided to go agianst this code and convention as we believe if a female killer is used successfully than the production can be equally as effective and scary than if a male killer was used. We also noticed that POV shots are used alot as this makes the audience feel they are actually at the scene, we have decided to encorporate this into our film. From reading the book 'legacy of blood' it highlighted the importance of motivation for the killings which in our production the motivation for the killings is revenge. I believe revenge is a good motivation to use as signifiers can be provided to the audience throughout the film which keeps them interested.

The Encyclopedia of Horror by Richard Davis
He describes horror films as having developed 'new and rather disquieting trends'. He argues that the plots of modern horror films are largely centered around countless killings and sexual references as the genre has developed to meet the consumers needs.

Transitions 
While editing our trailer we started to think about what transitions we were going to use, such as writing on the screen or just a black screen. We decided to watch the trailer for Donkey Punch again, focusing on transitions this time (http://www.maxim.co.uk/video/trailers/12486/donkey_punch.html) and in this order the transitions were:
Production logo

When you party hard
Be careful
How far you go
(All flashed up one after the other)
This Summer

Get ready
To fight
For your life
(All flashed up one after the other)
Donkey punch

We noticed that they had quick shots with writing on giving exposition to the narrative.