What have you learned from your audience feedback?

One of the most important things you can gather from feedback on a whole is that you can gather a different perspective, for example as it is my own work there were things that i could not see initially due to a bias opinion. Gaining feedback allowed me to see these faults and rectify them.

In a project such as this it is very important that you know what the audience want and to give it to them, after all, it is them you are aiming to entertain. Therefor if i did not get the feedback that i received, my outcomes would have turned out awful.

On a more specific note, there were vital aspects of the Teaser Trailer that were only put in because of audience feedback. For example the blue vocal line, (audio graphic) during the phone call was only entered because the feedback said that it looked too blank without it. Instead of that there would have been about 40 seconds of just a black screen so the feedback was correct when it said there needed to be "something on screen".

Also in the film the Fonts in the cut scenes would have been suited for a film of a different genre;


Also it was because of the feedback that we put some Production company logos into the film, once again to fill space on the screen during the phone call.
(The different screen shots of them can be seen below)

When it comes to the magazine there was initially a lot less text on the page, and the font was a lot more "Amateur" according to feedback. The feedback also stated that the image of the axe was too small and should be enlarged. So that's exactly what i did. I made the image larger, added more text, i.e. films to promote and edited the font to make it seem more professional.


















The poster was a slightly different story all together. The final outcome of the poster is very similar to the first draft. The only differences being minor ones such as certain names in the text at the bottom and certain effects on the title/actor names at the top. Even though they were only minor changes, they were still because of Audience Feedback. I think that this establishes how much i have learnt from audience feedback and shows how important it is to a project like this.

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

From day one I have constantly been using different types of media technology.
One of the first things that i felt it was important to do was to set up this very blog as a method of keeping track of ideas, my thoughts and in a way help me to progress because i was able to see everything in one place. The blog has been the one of the most useful pieces of technology for me. As previously stated it helps with the flow of ideas and also the flow of production. Also the fact that it is on the Internet means that it is much easier to access all of my work and also receive feedback from my target audiences. It allows anyone around the world to be able to view any of my designs and final outcomes.

When it came down to actually coming up with a concept for a film it became obvious that we would need to be able to research at the touch of a button. so that's exactly what i did. YouTube and Google were vital for me when doing research. For example i would research trailers from 'YouTube' and then i would use 'Google Images' to research Magazine front covers and Posters.

When it came to the times when me and my co-creator were apart we both used social networking sites e.g. 'Facebook' as a method of communication. This also became vital as there were points where we would desperately need advise from one another and to discuss certain things about the project.

When it came to actually constructing both the Teaser Trailer and the ancillary texts we both knew that this would be the point in which we would use the most varied types of technology. For example in construction of the Teaser Trailer we would have to use a Video Recorder to obviously capture the footage and then we would use editing software in the Mac Suite to compile the film together. We used such software as 'LiveType'; a method of creating text that appears on the screen, 'FinalCutExpress'; the software which was used to put everything together, allowing us to cut clips, add music, add text etc.

Then for the construction of the ancillary texts I used multiple different technologies in order to create these pieces. For the most part I used 'Photoshop' for importing images and text on to the Poster/Magazine as well as using images that we took from 'FinalCutExpress'

Film Statistics

Here are some statistics that youtube shows us, as it is the format that we have uploaded on, every view etc becomes stored on their website.

30 Day Totals:

7 Day Totals:

Country Chart:

Discovery of Links followed to this video:

Discovery of Locations of players when viewed:

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

One of the key ideas which i had from the beginning was to have this one iconic image that would be easily recognizable and representative of the "Asylum" brand. We found this "image" in the final shot of the trailer, with the title fading in and out over it. This would be the image of the axe.

The way the light falls upon the hand and the axe instantaneously becomes an automatic front runner for the image which we would use for the Poster and Magazine.

In the above screen shot from the trailer you can see 'the axe' with the title "Asylum" pasted across it. It was because of this final scene that we decided to use that same image for the poster and that magazine cover. We did this in the knowledge that such a beautifully taken shot would easily tie in the two ancillary texts with the Teaser Trailer.

















Due too this choice to use the same image for both the ancillary texts and the Teaser Trailer causes the combination to be very effective.
Unlike a lot of other people who use images of actors or characters from their films in the posters and magazine reviews, we decided against that due to the current conventions that have already been set in place by previous successes. For example the "Scream" brand is solely identifiable via the mask of 'Ghostface' as you can see below. This was something that attracted us both and, like other franchises such as "Saw", became a huge influence for our ancillary texts.

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

Some might say that our film trailer was actually quite cliché. Firstly, the filming; the shots that we actually have are very typical of the conventions of a horror film. There is a mix of shots involved, i.e. Very dark shots with sudden lighting or very soft eerie lighting as you can see here below. Each shot is only a second or so long and quickly flashes onto the screen, hopefully slightly shocking the reader. There is a lot of silhouetting, with the light sitting behind the object or person. Or there will be flashes across the screen.





You can see in these screen shots from the trailer the different sort of shots that involve the lighting, the quick flashes, the silhouettes etc.






The sound in the film is also follows convention as it is a constant drone like sound, quite eerie and unpleasant. For example when all of the shots appear there is a sound that the audience can hear at the same time. Something like digital scratching etc. This sound certainly follows conventions of the horror genre and is once again quite cliche. We use some influences from the real media world, such as Scream, Saw etc. These are obvious with the fading cutscenes, the quick and sharp shots mixed in with the unpleasant sounds which will make the audiences skin crawl.

The Final Poster

The poster is something what both Harry and I did together, Unlike the magazines which we did separately. It was initially Harry that designed it but i was with him constantly giving feedback and my opinions on the poster.

The Final Magazine

The Final outcome

Aesthetic Choices

There were certain decisions in the making of our Teaser Trailer that were made for aesthetic reasons:

1) Not showing any form of violence or murder. This is because we knew that people have a certain feeling, a heightened sense of fear at the moment just before something bad happens. We wanted the audience to hold that feeling of fright just before the actual act occurs. We did this by purely because the film is meant as a teaser and should show nothing more.

2) Not showing who the villain is. This is because once again it is only meant to be a teaser and showing who the Antagonist is will be somewhat of an anti-climax.

3) Also we cannot see who the victims are which holds back a lot of identity about the plot of the film, locations, etc. Contrary to belief, it is actually important to make sure that the reader does not know any of this information as it subconsciously installs a sense of safety knowing there is no link between them and the victim.

If you listen to the trailer carefully there is a slight ticking noise that constantly occurs. Initially we stumbled across this yet i feel that it has actually become quite a vital part. It causes the audience to feel like there is a countdown to something, which is quite fitting in terms of a teaser trailer, which is essentially counting down to the release of a film.

Feedback From Filming

One of the biggest issues that we came across when receiving feedback about the film was that at the beginning there is too much black while the phone conversation is happening. To correct this we placed some production logos, slogans and an audio graphic to make sure that something was happening on the screen;

1) We put in a "Preview for all audiences" green screen at the beginning.


2) We inserted some production logos.




















3) The Audio Graphic

Secondary Filming

This is the second edit of the trailer. Here we can see that the mistakes and comments from the first one have been put into place.

Feedback from Magazines

The feedback from the magazine basically said that the magazine was too blank. There is too much empty space on the right hand side so i plan to fill that side with logos for up and coming new films that i can also advertise. Also the fonts on the left hand side of the image looked too "amateur" so i will make them bold and italic. Also as there is was a lot of space to fill in, I will enlarge the image.

Feedback from Posters

Here is a list of the comments that was made about our posters;

"It is very realistic and although i am a bit wary of the title design, i think that it looks wonderful"
- Jo Hamilton

"I love it, very professional!"
-Kerry Goodwin

"When i first saw this poster i thought it was for an actual film! I'm stunned"
-Chris Burton

Due to the positivity of there comments we have decided that we will not be changing anything about the poster.

Poster designs

We designed this straight from the word go and have received nothing but good comments about the poster.
To do this we compared ours to others such as the poster for Fightclub and Scream 4;

Magazine Deigns

Here is the initial mock up of the magazine cover. It follows all of the conventions of a magazine cover, for example following the Z pattern that can be seen on the cover. The Z pattern is the route that your eyes automatically follow across the page, starting from top left, too top right, too bottom left, too bottom right.
Also the colours all follow the conventions of that of a horror film, with a dark background and red writing, holding connotations of blood and death. Also there is a large iconic image in the centre of the page, with a large masthead across the top of the page. the title of the film is clearly advertised at the bottom, with smaller articles down the side of the page.

This is the classic and iconic image of the axe that will be used in the magazine AND poster.

Poster Specifications

From justcreativedesigns.com;

A poster should be:
Aesthetic – It should get attention so the message is delivered.
Focused – It should focus and communicate on a single message.
Ordered – The sequence should be well-ordered and obvious.
You should also remember a poster is going to printed in a relatively large format so anything you do should be done using a high resolution. ie. Use a high resolution setting on your camera or scanner when digitising your concepts. A good starting point is at least 150ppi.
You should also consider other factors of the poster design such as the film title, classification, leading cast, distributors, directors, producers etc. The best way to find out what should be on a poster is by looking at other poster designs.

What else needs to be changed?

Upon getting feedback for the initial shoot i have compiled a list of things that need to be edited in our Teaser Trailer.
Firstly the teaser needs to be much longer as in the initial shoot it is only just over 30 seconds. This is a much shorter time than usually given to a teaser trailer so it would be better to extend it by about a minute.
Secondly some production companies need to be put in as they will make the whole trailer feel more professional.
Also the fonts in the cut scenes needs to be changed and enlarged whilst some music is added.

Initial shoot.

The initial shoot that we did only left us with the main clips that we needed.
This is only a rough example of how the film will look with the right shots.

Research for effects theories.

Here is a summing up of some effects theories courtesy of Wikipedia:

The Hypodermic Needle Model
The intended message is directly received and wholly accepted by the receiver.

Two-Step flow
The people with most access to media, and highest media literacy explain and diffuse the content to others. This is a modern version of the hypodermic needle model.

Uses and Gratifications
People are not helpless victims of mass media, but use the media to get specific gratifications.

Reception Theory
The meaning of a "text" is not inherent within the text itself, but the audience must elicit meaning based on their individual cultural background and life experiences

Obstinate Audience Theory
This theory assumes that there is a transactional communication between the audience and the media. The audience actively selects what messages to pay attention to. The Zimmerman-Bauer study found that the audience also participates in the communication by influencing the message.

Propps Theory of Narrative

The explanation courtesy of Wikipedia:

The villain — struggles against the hero.
The donor —character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.
The (magical) helper — helps the hero in the quest.
The princess or prize — the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. the hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess, thereby beating the villain.
Her father — gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father can not be clearly distinguished.
The dispatcher —prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.
The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess.
False hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess

I decided to relate this film to Shutter Island by showing who the main characters are and where their roles link...


Leonardo DiCaprio as Teddy Daniels (The Hero)


Mark Ruffalo as Chuck Aule (The Donor)


Ben Kingsley as Dr. John Cawley (The Helper/Dispatcher)


Michelle Williams as Dolores Chanal


Emily Mortimer as Rachel Solando












Elias Koteas as Andrew Laeddis

Initially Andrew Laeddis is the villain of the movie. he fits the conventions as he struggles with the hero in terms of a mental battle inside the hero's head.

Props

The props that we want to use in the film are as follows;

Weapons:
-Knife
-Axe
-Gun
-Blunt object

Vehicles:
-Van
-Car
-Police Car

The weapons will al be easy enough to gather together but is the vehicles that will cause the problems.
To get a van it is possible to hire one, from a Van Hire company. Also to get a police car it is possible as a friend of mine's father is a police man and it would surely be possible to ask if he would let us film him driving it.

Locations

,div.
Upon having a cemented idea of what our teaser trailer was going to be we had to suggest locations. The ideal location we had in mind for your film was Cane Hill Asylum. This is a building located in coulsdon which is now abandoned and certainly has a sinister and scary look about it.