Evaluation Task 2

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Professional Feedback

I have collected and received both positive and negative feed back from some people. Some of my feedback has come from a man who specialises in professional trailers and has works on trailers such as interception. I was pleased with the feedback that we got from him as by his comments he was pleased with our trailer. He told us that 'the trailer generally has good pace, particularly with the cuts' and that 'the titles are good at the end'. He also told us something we could do to improve. He said 'at 1.37 maybe darken the shot or use violent camera shake and intense sound design to imply struggle/violence/fear'. He also commented that 'just after head turn to girl maybe use scream or disturbing sound'. Lastly he said that 'the ending should be more intense, could do this by making the whisper "he's here" a little louder, it’s a nice whisper but needs to stand out a little more'



Class Feedback
We then got our class to look at our trailer so that we could gain positive and negative feedback. Getting feedback from my class was good as because they are also a-level students they could give us feedback using techniqual media vocabulary and give us more detailed feedback, they could help us make our trailer look more professional. Some said that they like the use of the mirror as its a generic convention and shows us what film genre it is'. Another student said at 1.33 we had uncapitilized text which should be capitals in order to make the trailer have continuity. They could also talk to us and give us feedback from an audience’s perspective. A couple people in the class advised us to cut the clips or move them around so that the inter-title appear closer together, as they were they said you see one inter-title then when the next inter-title came up they forgot what the last one had said.

I then asked my friends and family a couple questions to get a rough idea of what people thought of different parts of my film.

Music

The first question I asked was, ' was the music successful in the trailer and what could have been changed about the music'. One person said on the shot when the victim is running down the stairs the music builds up creating tension. Another person also made a comment about the shot and music, they said 'I like how the starts of the shot of the victim running down the stairs is synchronous to when the music kicks in.' Someone else said that thudding sound effect when the inter-titles appear is effective as it build more tension and makes them stand out more'. The last comment I got on feedback on the music was that 'overall the music is good as it fits in well with cuts and the pace of clips, both working together to build tension, with exception from the bathroom scene at the end. It could be made more synchronous as when the victim shuts the bathroom door the music could have stopped.'

Camerawork

Another question I asked was 'what your overall thoughts about the camerawork were, what was successful and what could be changed. One person said 'I think the bathroom scene was really successful as it looks professional and was an iconic shot in the trailer, meaning it would be remembered'. another person contradicted this point by saying, 'The lighting on the shot of the main victim in the mirror could be better as it is too dark, this could also help it not be so blurry.' Another person commented saying 'I like show you used a photographic elements of previous victim, which you do not usually see in trailers, and then you see someone running in the present tense showing she is in danger and he is going to kill again'. A couple other people also commented on these shots saying that 'The images of the newspaper clippings are on for too long' and someone else said that 'The photos of the female murder victims could be made sharper so that you can read the notes.' Lastly someone said that 'the lighting on the mid shot of the mask being picked up would be better if there was low key lighting'

General Feedback

Lastly I ask generally what people thought was good and bad about the trailer and what I could of done to improve it. One person said that they like the use of the white mask as it build tension as you cannot actually see the antagonist, I particularly like the creek at the end when he turns his neck as this emphasises the creepiness of the film.' Another commented on the voice over 'I like how the voice over overlaps the images on the notice board; it is affective because it is as if it is narrating the context of the images being shown.' I also got lots of comments that the 'pace is good throughout making it like a professional trailer' on top if this the same person added that 'The trailer leaves you wondering what is going to happen making it a successful professional trailer'. I received another comment that 'the trailer is a good length, not to short not to long'. Someone else said that 'the whisper "he's here", at the end is successful as it tells the audience that they do meet'. The last bit of feedback that I have received is 'it would be better if there were credits as it could bring in potential fans of actors and actresses and directors that are not obvious to be in the film'



Narrative and understanding

To finish off my feedback I asked one general question which was 'Could you understand the narrative of the film even though it wasn't in chronological order?' I asked 5 people and they all said yes they would. One person said 'yes, you could understand who were the antagonist and protagonist and what was going on'

How did you use new media technologies in the construction,reasearch, planning and evaluation stages?

Voice Recorder

We used a voice recorder during the process of filming as we needed various reports to be over-layed on clips. We used a recorder as the sound is much clearer on there and the sound was going the overlap and so it would not work being recorded on the footage. while doing this i have grown more confident in using the voice recorder as I can import the files onto the mac by myself.

 Social Media
I used you tube to add my drafts of our film, this meant we was able to get feedback from people about improvements we could make. This allowed us to get feedback globally not just from people in the school. Another social media website we used was Facebook, we used this website when talking to others in the group via personal message. We used this when we could access our gmail as Facebook we could use when out and about.


Photo Shop
I used Photoshop when creating my two ancillary tasks. I used a range of tools, one's which I have used before and other which were new to me. The tools that i have used before are the move tool, magic wand tool, lasso tool and the magnetic lasso , erase tool,crop tool and rectangular marquee tool. Tools which were new to me was the blur tool using the brush 300, the fill/eyedropper tool, outer glow/fill opacity, adjustments with hue/saturation, levels and brightness/contrast, duplicate layer and smudge tool. The tools which I were new to me allowed me to create and more sophisticated piece, as i was advancing in how i can manipulate my images. on top of this i have also grown more confident in using tools which i had already used, this allowed me to become advanced in my knowledge of how to use the tools and how to do more impressive things with basic tools stretching there capability.

Blogger
During the process of making the film, I used blogger to log my ideas of my film, this meant that I was able to see my progress I had made throughout the making of my film. I had a lot put down my research and generic conventions of psychological thrillers and so i could make sure that i had included them in my film. I also included my research from poster and magazines meaning I could
make my ancillary tasks look as professional as I could.

Macs- Final Cut Pro
I used a variation of tools on this program such as transitions, blade tool, colour saturation, adding sounds, detach audio, volume control, auto save and camera effect. My skill particularity in cutting out small sections of footage out has improved as I have been using this program from couple years and so I have been getting a lot of practice allowing my trailer to become more successful and professional. Some tools which I haven't used is hold, reverse clip and screen grabs. we used screen grabs to have stills of news paper clipping in our film, we also used hold to keep on screen for longer if we wanted our audience to concentrate on a certain clip. We used reverses clip when Parker walks out the bathroom from pitch black then walks back again, this made it a generic convention of psychological thrillers.

Digital Camera and Video Camera
For my ancillary tasks I used the digital camera for taking pictures. We also took pictures for our film of the newspaper clippings on the notice board. I learn t to take a variations of images so that i have lots to chose from when it came to putting the stills into the trailer and choosing an appropriate image for my poster and magazine. We used a variation of shots such as close ups, mid shots, long shots, panning, tracking and hand held, we also used the flash light in some shots. We didn't use many creative shots as we didn't want to draw the attention away from the context of the film. it is also a generic convention of psychological thrillers that they use ordinary shots. along with the use of the video camera, for some shots we used the tripod, this allowed us to create a steady shot when we wanted one.

Gmail
We used gmail to to email scripts drafts, this meant we could makes changes to the script if we felt necessary to discuss making possible changes. We also emailed title fonts and production logos to one others too see if they were right. In school most laptops and computer suites cant access media accounts meaning we couldn't get onto social media such as Facebook on normal laptops, this meant we couldn't used Facebook messenger and we didn't have internet connection at school. D
ue to this we used gmail during school time to contact one another.

Mobile Phone
I used my phone for a variation of things such as taking pictures for evidence of what i had done in my film and my initial ideas, i used my phone instead of a digital camera as it was quicker and I didn't need the quality that a digital camera gives. I also installed the Facebook messenger app as this allowed me to contact others in my group quickly and if I wasn't at home to check my email or go on my laptop. It is also easier to use Facebook messenger on my phone that it is email and it is a more instant way of communicating. I also downloaded the YouTube app as this meant i could easily show my family and friends my trailer in order to get feedback, it was a much or convenient way of showing them rather than using my laptop.

Other Websites
FREE PLAY MUSIC- I had previously used this website in my AS course to find music for our opening title and so I thought it would be a good place to look for my music and sound effects for my trailer. However after searching for music for a while on this website I couldn't find anything that particularly felt right for the trailer, however it didn't help me get an idea for what I was and wasn't looking for.
NETFLIX- I used this website when researching psychological thrillers, it helped me get an deeper idea of generic conventions. This website was particularly good to look for genre and they have genres and sub genres so i could find the genre i was looking for.

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

 

 In frame one I have shown the font style that I used in my film , which you can see in this particular inter title. I have used this font throughout my film to show consistency in the film trailer, this is also a generic convention of film, particularly psychological thriller. Throughout the trailer I have kept to the theme in making the import words/ words i cant to be emphasis in bold and this allows the audience to see what is important in the film. The text colour is white as it contrast against the black background. This is seen in the film 'The boy next door'. Originally I was going to use red but I thought this was to cliche. The white and black contrast also suggests the clash of evil and purity.

In frame two I have shown story line and plot using this shot of when Grace, the victim and Sam Parker, the psychopath are in the same room together, the bathroom, again the setting of a bathroom is another generic convention of physiological thrillers. I believe this is because even thought your house is a private place the bathroom is particular private and therefore you should be safe. This is a significant point in our film as this is when the danger occurs in the film.

In frame three you will see a shot of the radio we used to introduce are main character Sam Parker. The shot is of Grace turning on the radio in her bedroom. In this shot there is a voice over over this shot and a couple other. This is the point in the trailer where we find out the story line of what Sam Parker has done it the past and why his was in a mental institution. While this voice over is going on images come up of various characters in our film which are on the detectives notice board. We decided to introduce are characters separately as we want it to be clear who the separate characters are.

In frame four you will see the main location/setting of our film. The main location is at the victim, Grace's house as this is where you are meant to be safe but this has been taken away from her her the antagonist. Also the audience can relate to this location and therefore the film may have a greater effect on them when they are at home. Due to this people are likely talk about the film in social situations and therefore will make the film be distributed through word or mouth. Other locations we have in our film are the detectives office and there are some shots filmed of characters running down an alley. We did not want to over crowd the trailer with multiple locations as we would not get are plot across to the audience. Detectives play a big part in psychological thrillers, which is also a generic convention of physiological thrillers and therefore we thought we should emphasis the detectives role in the trailer to get the point across that he is of high importance in our film.

 In frame five you will see the title of our film. We chose to have a title with sharp edges to signify the point of Sam Parker weapon, his knife. the points suggests danger and it looks fierce and edgy. The colour of the font is a silver metallic colour, this again signify his knife we have placed it against a black background as this represents the darkness in our film. To find an idea for the title for the film we try'd to find synonyms for the word mad as we did not want to include this particular word as it seems to cliche and it was to basic, it did not show are creatively or the high standard of our film. Other words that came up was words such as crazy and disturbed.

In frame six there is an example of special effect we used, we used a transition to represent a photo being taken. apart from this we have not included any other special effects as we did not want the attention be taken away from the context of the film.

In frame seven you can our main props in our film, which is Sam Parker's mask. Other props we used in our trailer was a radio, a mobile phone and the detectives notice board. We used a mask for Sam Parker to wear as we wanted to hide his identity, allowing the target audience to create their own image of what Sam Parker looked like, it is also a generic convention is psychological thrillers. We used a radio to show how Grace finds out about Parker's escape as this shows that news is national news and of high importance. We also used a mobile phone to show that the detective and Grace were in connection with each other but were not with each other and therefore she was by herself and in danger. Lastly we used the detectives notice board in the majority of our trailer in various ways to show that he played a big part in the film and that the film was more about the detective finding out the answer rather than the actual killings. It also hinted to the audience clues in the film allowing the target audience to come up with there own ideas. Our costume was very basic and they wore everyday clothing, Parker wore a hoodie and jeans, which were the clothes from one of his victims, we chose to have him in a dark hoodie as this further covered up his identity. Grace wore dark clothing to connote that she has in fact the power over Sam Parker. The detective is dressed in a suit to show the formality and seriousness of his job/role in the film.  (talk about costume)

In frame eight there is an example of  my camera work and editing. We included various shots in our film including, close ups, tracking, long shots, mid shots and high and low angle shots. We used these simple shots in our trailer as we wanted the focus to be on the context in the film, this is also a generic convention of psychological thrillers. For editing we used a range on techniques.We used transition including black fade, white flash, white noise, we chose these as they are simple and would not take the attention away the film context.

 In frame nine you will see our production logo of our film. We chose to call our production company 'prime' as this connotes that it is the best. We also put the title in the middle of space to connote that it is better than the rest.

Deranged Final Trailer

Poster

Magazine

deranged draft and feedback

 

We have shown are trailer drafts to the class which we were given some feedback from, here is what they said;

- cut the clips between the inter titles so that the titles appear closer together

-at 1.33 on the inter title change un-capitals to capitals for continuity

On top of this we also received feedback from a man who specialising in trailers, this is the feedback we received;

-we had good pace with cuts etc.

-1.37 maybe darken the shot

- or use violent camera shake and intense sound design to imply struggle/violence/fear - just after head turn to girl maybe use scream or disturbing sound

-ending should be more intense

- titles are good at end

-"he's here" make a little louder, its a nice whisper but needs to stand out a little more

Overall we was pleased with the feedback that we got as there was not many adjustments we had to make which told us we had a successful trailer.

shotlist

0.05-0.06-prime productions logo
0.06-0.09-Mid shot Grace turning of radio
0.09-0.27-  various close ups of the detectives notice board showing reports about Sam Parker's escape
0.27-0.29- inter title 'This winter'
0.29- 0.34 - Mid shot of Grace looking in mirror and Sam is in the bathroom
0.34-0.41 various close ups of another notice board of the latest victims since his escape
0.41-0.43- inter title 'The past is relived'
0.43-0.45 - mid shot of Sam picking up the mask
0.46-0.48 -mid shot of the detective pinning a note on the notice board
0.48.0.49- inter title 'Based on a true story'
0.50- 0.52- tracking shot from behind of Sam Parker walking
0.52-0.55 mid shot of the detective putting another note on the board
0.55-0.57- inter title 'you'
0.57-0.59- tracking shot from behind of Sam Parker walking
0.59-1.01- inter title 'can't'
1.01-1.03-  mid shot of the detective putting another note on the board
1.03-1.05- inter title 'run'
1.05-1.07- tracking shot from behind of Sam Parker walking
1.07-1.10- mid shot of the detective talking on the phone
1.10-1.12- inter title 'forever'
1.12-1.14- long shot of Sam Parker our side Graces house and grace looking out the window
1.14-1.18- tracking shot of Grace running down the stairs to the door
1.18-1.19- inter title 'he's back'
1.19-1.23- Close up of Grace looking door
1.23-1.24 - inter title 'for the one that escape'
1.24-1.28-  Mid shot of the detective taking a folder and looking in it
1.28-1.30- Mid shot of the detective on the phone to Grace
1.30-1.32- tracking shot from the front of Grace running
1.32-1.35- panning shot of the detective walking out of office and out double doors
1.35-1.40 - mid shot of grace running into the bathroom where Sam Parker is
1.40-1.42- deranged title
1.42-1.44- inter title 'in cinema' date of release' and film websites

Music and Sound

We looked for our music on various different websites, the main one being freeplaymusic.com, which I had used in my foundation portfolio. However we couldn't find anything suitable for our trailer. After searching on the macs we found a track called 'Digital Fortress' which we felt had good pace, climax and really suited our genre and footage. The music was played throughout our film and we adjusted the volume when we saw fit to do so in order to build suspense.

 

Other non-diagetic sound we used in our trailer were voiceovers and sound effects. We had multiple news reports at the beginning of the trailer talking about Sam Parkers escape and the murders. We layered these and adjusted the volume to where we saw fit. We used sound effects in our trailer in to emphasis the importance of a location, to make clear what the particular location was or to make it more obvious what was going on in a scene. For example we have a static sound when the radio is being turned on. Other sound effects we used were static noises during the news reports, a camera clicking taking photos and helicopters and sirens.

 

Diagetic sound we used was diagetic dialog that we had recorded with our footage. There was only a couple clips with this in, for example when the detective is talking on the phone to Grace, which we overlapped onto the next clip of Grace running. We only used a little diagetic sound as we wanted the focus to be more on the footage. Also I found that the sound wasn't as clear on the video recorder as it would be on the voice recorder.

Editing Deranged

I have improved significantly in my editing skills in comparison to my foundation portfolio. In order to make my editing fit in with the conventions of physiological thrillers I watched many trailers and used some of the features they used in order to make my genre clearly come across, these included things like fast pace cuts, black fade and white flash.

At the beginning of the process we made story boards of ideally what shots we would like but we haven't set them in any particular order that was going to be definite as we knew we wouldn't know what would look right until we had the footage in front of us. We knew however that we wanted it to be in non-chronological order as this is one of the conventions of trailers as otherwise it gives the plot away.

At the start of the trailer we have lots of different news reports talking about the escape of Sam Parker and the murders he has committed. We layered them accordingly to where we thought worked and adjusted the volume to accordingly. We heightens the volume where we specifically wanted to audience to pay attention to and quietened the not so import information from the reports but we still needed them there to show that being broadcasted a lot and was a high priority case. The music was also adjusted accordingly for example when there was no other sound we turned the volume up and when there was sound, whether it was diagetic or non diagetic, we turned it down so that it could be heard.

The music that we have playing throughout the trailer slowly gets quieter when the victim runs in the bathroom, this emphasis the creek Sam makes when he turns his head, again this emphasis the creepiness in our film.

We used black fades when showing different reports of Sam Parker escaping and some of his suspected main victims, this was to try and bring the effect of turning a page. We then used white flash when looking at his latest victims along with the location of where they were murdered. This was to make it seem like we was taking pictures of the crime scene. We also used sound effects in our trailer in order to emphasis the scenes ambiance. For example along with the white flashes we also had the sound of a camera taking a picture to make it clear this is what we want the audience to think is happening. We also used sound effects at other points such as when the radio is being turned on, static noises during the news reports on the radio and helicopters and sirens.

At one point in the trailer Sam Parker walks out of the bathroom slightly so that the audience can see him in the reflection of the mirror. In order to make it follow  conventions of psychological thrillers we reverse the clip so that he walked back into the darkness. This is something that I hadn't tried before and so I was pleasantly surprised with the successful outcome

I have also learn in my advance portfolio how to adjust the colours on Final Cut Pro. This meant that I could create an idyllic lighting for particular shots. For example when Parker picks up his mask we wanted it to look more gloomy to fit with the mood of the film and so we adjusted the colour/contrast accordingly.

Between our intertitles 'you can run forever' we use small clips in-between in order to make the intertitles make sense as other wise you would get to one and forget what the last one said. This meant that it slowly started to build up tension which was help full for the climaxing point in the trailer. Doing this help me refine the best footage and helped me with how to use the blade precisely. Also on our intertitles we used a booming sound effect so that the they were acknowledge and shown as important. I think they also added a feeling of crashing, urgency and importance to the trailer.

In doing my advanced portfolio I have realised how much of an effect music and editing time can have such a big impact on the success of your film. After the intertitles 'you can run forever', there is slight silence which comes to a fast pace section in the music which fits perfectly with the victim running down the stairs, building suspense and reinforcing that fact that she is in danger, followed by various others short fast pace clips reinforcing that panic.

deranged productions

                                                                

We chose to call out production company 'Prime Films' as it connotes that it is the best.Our production company has the same metallic colour as our film title as this makes them synchronous, the silver colour also represents quality. The logo has been placed in  the middle of space to connote that it is better than the rest and above others.

deranged title

                                                                     

We originally was going to use red for our font colour as this connotes danger, however we thought this was cliche and therefore went with a metallic silver as this connotes the weapon that Parker uses.
The font we have chosen has sharp edges, we chose this as it connotes the point of the knife and it connotes danger. We have also placed it against a black background as this represents the darkness in our film. To find an idea for the title for the film we try'd to find synonyms for the word mad as we did not want to include this particular word as it seems to cliche and it was to basic, it did not show are creatively or the high standard of our film. Other words that came up was words such as crazy and disturbed.

Props

The main prop in our film will be the physcopaths, Sam Parker's, mask, which we see him find during the trailer. We wanted to use a mask as it will hide his identity meaning the audience can picture themselves what they think he looks like. Masks are also a generic convention of physiological thrillers and so we thought it would be good to use as a prop to show are audience the genre of out film clearer.

 

 Another prop we used in our film was a radio. We used a radio to tell the audience what was going on in the film by over lapping various recordings of reports about Sam Parker's case both old ones about the school killings and new ones about him escape. By using a radio to share this news to the audience it shows that his case is known all over the country, it shows the news is national news and emphasis the imports that people are aware of his escape, therefore telling the audience that Sam Parker is a national threat.

 Our next prop we used was a folder which contained the profile of Sam Parker. This showed the audience he was a high profile due to the amount of papers in the document showing how much information they have on him.

Another main prop that was used was the detectives notice board. There were two separate boards, one containing information from Sam's previous killings and one board showing information from his escapes and current killings. We thought this would be a good prop to show in our trailer as we could shows quick clips revealing snippets of information to our audience.

 

 Our last prop we used was a phone, we used this to show to the audience that when the detective is trying to contact someone it is urgent as he could use other ways of communication such as email but this is a much slower form of communication.

                       

Actor Choices

Sam Parker- The psychopath

 We chose to use this particular person as he was tall, and we thought this was a key aspect as this made him come across more powerful against his victim/s. His physical features did not matter as his face in the trailer would not be seen but we wanted someone with dark hair as this connotes danger.                                                 
                                                     Grace Taylor- The main victim

 

We chose this particular female for the role of our main victim as she is petite and there for will make our antagonist look more over powering. We also chose this person due to her dark hair as our plot is based around our killer killing people who looked like this girl and so we needed her to have a natural hair colour and style. Furthermore the dark hair also connotes that she is also powerful and will clash against Sam Parker.

The Detective

For our detective we chose to use an older man as this would show to our audience that he is experienced in his job. we also wanted his to wear glasses to show that he was intelligent as this is what glasses connote. The detective was dressed in a formal suit to show that he takes his job seriously and that he is a professional

Intertitles

Intertitles in our trailer

 

These are the intertitle I have used on my trailer deranged and they show in the trailer in the order. We decided to make the the last word on each intertitle bigger and in bold as it emphasizes important/key words we want the audience to pay attention to. On our second intertitle we also made the word 'past' bold and larger as this is a significant word as it tell the audience that we will also be going back in time. We used white for our font text as it contrasts significantly against the black background, furthermore there is an idea of contrasts in our film and so this magnifies the idea of contrast and clash throughout our film. The intertitles that 'you, cant, run, forever' a spread out from 0.56-1.12, we places the over 5 shots as otherwise the would be to big of a gap and people would forget what the first one said by the time they got to the second intertitle.