Our Final Piece - Trailer

This is our final edition of our trailer, 'Betrayal'. 

Audience Theory Evaluation

Our movie trailer for 'Betrayal' conforms to many of the theories in which argue for the main conventions of horror.

Gratifications Theory

Blumler and Katz theory (1970's) links to our trailer as it explains how we use films for different reasons: To be informed, to escape from reality, for entertainment, for social interaction and to identify with characters and situations. In our case, Betrayal would be a way to entertain because of the target audience we have focused around (15-25 year olds). This age group enjoy the adrenaline of being scared (in particular, males) which means watching a horror would be watched for the entertainment values. Female audience members would watch is for the identification of characters as well as entertainment because we have used girls as our protagonists and antagonists, making them feel as though they can relate a lot more to the relationships between the friendship group.

Male Gaze
Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory argues that women are used in media texts to make the male audience happy, as we only used female characters her view appeals to us.Most of our female characters are blonde which shows their weaker side because the 'damsel in distress' is commonly known as a young blonde female in which needs a strong, dominant male to protect them from danger. 

The hypodermic Needle Theory
This theory suggests that media text injects messages straight into the passive audience. Horror films are rated 18+ because those messages are deemed too frightening for the younger audience, for example, The Human Centipede would be considered too disturbing for the younger ages because of the graphic themes. This means the audience is seen as a passive mass who will immediately accept the presented version of events. This links to our film as we show a group of friends in the woods which is mundane realism as this is a regular thing to do that the people watching can relate to. But the events in our film is what this theory relates to because the genre isn't suitable for ages younger than 15 due to the plot; the audience would instantly know its a negative story.

WMJC Productions Presents our final poster - 'Betrayal'

We decided to go with this photo as we like the simplicity of it and how that made it very effective. When we first started to create our film we thought that the main mask we would use was going to be gas mask because generally they are very effective in horror films, but we enjoyed working with the white hockey mask more and therefore chose it for the film poster. The colour of mask is what we thought was most effective; light bounced off and reflected on it which meant that it caught shadows. The main reason we used this photo was because we liked how the camera only grabbed the light of half the mask leaving us with a striking eye looking straight at us but also with the other eye in the dark making the character look even creepier. We took this photo at night time which meant for this photo especially we didn't have to do much editing because we could use the dark lighting to our advantage at the time. This meant that we only really had to make the background a little dark but also fade out the jumper of the antagonist. We chose to keep the numbers on the jumper on display because they looked a bit like a concentration camp identity badge which we thought would give off enigmas to the audience. Who is this person? Where are they from? and What are they doing here?  if you look closely you can see that around the mask there seems to a ring of light, this made it look like there was a light shining just on the mask. The blood stains on the mask make it clear to the audience that this is a horror film and that killing or abuse is shown in the film.

The font we used for the title of our film is called 'Ring bearer’. We used this font because it was simple yet is still showed a hint of the stereotypical horror film font with the pieces of the letters being left out, this gave the font a distressed look. We chose the font to be white because it stands out against the black background but also matches the colour of the mask. Having a light text also means that the distressed look stands out more. We chose to have the title at the bottom of the poster because we had a lot of spare space that we needed to fill but it also meant that we were able to have it larger and more central making it stands out even more. We didn't want to go down the really stereotypical path of using a lot of red because it has started to become a bit tacky, however we used it for our slogan and for the release date but made it a very deep red rather than bright. The slogan we made up is quite evil sounding so the colour red works well with it because it the colour of the devil. We also used it on the release date because we chose to have a that in a small font but the red means that it stands out enough for the audience to notice when the film is coming out. Friday 13th is also very well known to be used in or for horror films because its supposedly an unlucky day and therefore the colour red connotes blood, fear and danger. We chose to have the slogan, release date and actor names in a very similar font to our title font because we didn't want to make it to complicated and busy.

WMJC Productions Presents our final magazine cover

This is the magazine cover that we all created together.

  

Main Picture

The picture we chose what taken whilst filming scenes for our trailer, we thought this was a good photo for a magazine cover because it shows one of our main antagonists but also lets the audience get a better idea of what this character is like. The background is of the woods were we filmed, this a great background because it conforms to creepy conventions of a horror movie. We chose to dress our antagonists in dark clothes such as the grey hoodie and black gas mask that you can see in the magazine cover because it will make them blend in more with the surrounding but also hind their identity. What we really liked about this photo is that it subverts the normal choice of photo, most people would choose a picture that is face on with the character looking straight into the audience to make it seem more personal however we thought that our choice of photo went better with the idea that the person is hiding their identity.Choosing our weapon was quite a quick choice because we thought it made the character seem dominant and scary, but it also is a clear indicator to the audience about what genre of film the magazine is promoting.

Font/Puffs

We also went with the grey/dark theme for our text as we didn't want the poster to stand out because of bright colours because this wouldn't suit our genre of film, instead we went for strong bold fonts that will make the cover stand out instead. Although most of our text is in grey/white we used different shades so they would all stand out still, for example our puff is dark grey so we put a light grey font over this so you could still clearly see the text. We would of rather of used a wider variety of dark colours such as black and dark green however the background was too dark for them to be shown clearly enough. We chose to have the 'Empire' placed because our antagonists head because it gives a 3D effect to the cover and make it look like they are coming off the page.We added the glow to the font because it gave a supernatural effect that would work well with the horror genre. We were unable to use our official font that we used in our trailer for "BETRAYAL" so instead we chose one similar enough but also one that was different enough from the other fonts so it stood out the most.

Underneath our title we added some photo's from both of our old opening 2 minutes we thought this would be a great way to incorporate both 2 years of our work but also make it seem like those films are coming out in cinema and the audience can see a sneak peak. Putting the photo's in a film roll lets the audience know that these pictures are from a film.

Essentials

Like all magazines there needs to be a price, bar-code and issue date. We added these using a standard font so it didn't stand out but made the buyers aware. We chose to price the magazine at £3.99 because from our research of film magazines we found that they were quite pricey, so we continued this to make it seem realistic.

Final Costume - Antagonist

These are our final costumes for our antagonists, of which there are three. Two of them consist of the grey hoodie and white mask, and the other consists of a black hoodie and a gas mask. These grey hoodie antagonists, act as the sidekick of the gas mask one, which creates an unnerving atmosphere as it makes them seem as they are a family- a murderous family. The use of the hoodies, creates a vibe that these antagonists could be anyone, which adds to the scare factor, ideal for a horror trailer. We used white masks, to firstly hide their identity so would create enigmas of who they are and why are they doing this. Secondly, we thought within darker shots where lighting is low, this mask would stand out and contrast so would be visible, but would create an image of darkness surrounding evil. On the white masks there is also blood smears and splatters, to illustrate that blood will be shred but from who... 

This is the leader of the antagonists, due to wearing a distinctive gas mask, contrasting from the other antagonists. We chose the gas mask due to seeing a gas mask used repeatedly in actual horror films, therefore we were following the conventions of a horror. During the editing stages we also would darken the eye holes so you could not see anything but darkness for their eyes. This would create a scary atmosphere of which would make the character effective, as these will be the last eyes you see. This mask also hides the identity of the character therefore suggesting it could be anyone behind it. The gas masked antagonist is also wearing a black hoodie, which connotes to death and murder. This connotation was to suggest that this antagonist is the ring leader and the most evil of them all.
So next time you're camping in the woods, you may not be camping on your own...

Final font analysis

We decided very early on the process that we wanted to use a simplistic choice of font. We found that the more simple it was the more sophisticated and grown up it looked. In the 80's a lot of horror films used very detailed and intricate fonts in a bright read to signify blood, now that's it’s become over used it has started to look incredible tacky and cheap looking. Because the film is a mix between horror and thriller it also means that we have to combine ideas from both genres. Although simple is normally portrayed as bold, we have chosen a quite thin text which makes it seem more sophisticated, but so it’s clear what genre of film our trailer is for there is a bit 'wear and tear' making it look scarier. The text is also not completely straight which makes it looks like someone may of wrote it the uneven look could signify the ups and downs in the story. Like I said earlier in the 80's they used red fonts however we have chosen very plain colours, black and white depending on what looks best with the background. Both colours go with anything however one may work better or stand out more than the other. Having the font in capital letters also means it will stand out more and make more of a statement.

Soundtrack Production

To make our soundtrack more unique and special we have decided to create our own music. The sound will be created using a ukulele and will be played by Charlotte C's brother. Making our own sound track comes with both benefits and disadvantages. The benefits mean that we are able to base our music on our plot, but making it also means that we need to right the music but also organised the time to make and edit it. The main reason we want to create our music is so that it works well with the pace of the trailer. This means we are able to finish the trailer without the music then base the music around the pace of the clips on the trailer ,if we hadn't made our own we would find it hard to find music that would match the trailer well. We are planning to make the soundtrack so it has a variation in speeds and pitch's to create tension.

Not only will we have a creepy soundtrack we are also planning to start our trailer with a typical teenage pop song. This music will be played by the protagonists, therefore is diegetic music, and will be put on over clips of the teenagers driving to the common; this will reflect their excitement and eagerness for the days ahead.

The juxtaposition between the two types of music will also put an emphasis on how they were feeling before and what's going to happen to them. It helps to make the trailer more interesting and not bland.

Final font - Producing our final font

Producing our final font

Titles are vital for trailers as help maintain the continuity of the trailer, but also broadcasts the slogan and the title of the film. This means that it is essential for them to be readable and clear so that they contrast from the background and can be read from different distances; close to far. 

The first step into making our font was finding the font we wanted to edit. We did this by using 'Microsoft Word' to find our bold font we wanted to use for our trailer. The font we chose was to use was 'Yu Mincho Light', which provided us with a block bold typeface, which was ideal for what we wanted to do with it. 

The next step we did was to copy and paste the font into 'Paint' which would allow us to add small texture into the font. We did this by adding little cuts in the lettering, by using the 'line tool', which was white, so it would match the colour of the background. This would provide texture within the font, which would create a slight eerie and old effect, connoting that it horror events may occur, therefore following the conventions of a horror film. 

We copied this image into a document in the software called 'Photoshop'. This is basically much more advanced editing software than 'Paint', as it allows you to edit it with fine detail and definition, altering images drastically by the range of advance editing tools. What we did was we used the 'select tool' on which allowed us to individually select letters. This therefore allowed us to stretch the letters to make them thinner and longer, which we thought would make the font look more ideal for a horror. We also smoothed the white gaps we made in 'Paint' as we wanted the font to look professional. As you can see from this picture, the background was white, in which would mean if we placed it onto a shot, there would be a white block background; this would not look professional and would disrupt the continuity of the film trailer. This meant we used the 'Magic Wand Tool', that you can see in image above. This allowed us to remove the background colour, therefore making the background transparent. This meant when we edited the titles onto our trailer you could see the shot behind them, therefore not disrupting the atmosphere of the film trailer.

This is our final font, on which we are using throughout the trailer and on the poster/magazine (due to making the title recognisable). It is black and bold which is ideal for our horror trailer. Having it in capitals furthermore makes it stand out but also emphasises the negativeness of the word 'BETRAYAL'. 

Overall Evaluation of Questionnaire

Evaluation of Questionnaire

The questionnaire was very helpful for us in deciding some critical decisions in the making of our film. For example, it was very useful having the audience views and opinions in what they think would be best for our film. We found out the main people who were answering our questions were between the age group of 15-24. This is good as this is our target audience for our film as we are doing a horror and studies have shown that this particular age group are the one who are most interested in horror film.

Some questions that we asked in the questionnaire was "What do you think the elements of horror should be set - daytime or night time?” the majority of the answers were in the night time.
This was initially very helpful as we were then able to make sure we timed when we went out to film correctly. This is because we were able to make sure we filmed when it was just getting dark, however not too dark that you couldn't see anything. We were also able to use torches to create the right lighting when it got slightly too dark, this meant the lighting that was created showed suspense and tension as you could only see the protagonist or antagonist depending on what the shot was.

Another very successful question that we asked was about the title of our film. We had seven different potential names that we showed them and got them to say which one they thought suited our film best. 'Betrayal' was the most successful title. I think that the reason for this is because the name itself comes across quite creepy and leaves an enigma to the audience before they have even watched it. For example, they do not know who is betraying who and will want to find out. Campsite 31 was another companion however was the least successful. I think this is because it is quite similar   - least amount of votes

Final Soundtrack Research

Soundtrack research

Hoodie Allan - No Interruption

 This was one of the non - copy right music that we found. We found it on YouTube which was helpful as we were able to find a rang of songs easily and able to download them quickly without any trouble.  This was the first track that stood out to us as a group. We like how it is quite Hip-Hop/ pop as this conforms to the stereotypical music that teenagers listen to and makes their age group stand out to the audience. As this song will be playing for the first few seconds in the trailer when the group of friends are in the car driving to their destination, it will allow the audience to link it into their lives as they would most likely of experienced driving in the car with their friends with loud music playing. This will allow it to be more effective towards them when things begin to go wrong as they will see it as themselves. this is mainly because of the link into mundane realism. The music is sound bridged across the three different shots that we are using in our trailer of the car driving and pulling up into the destination of the car park that is in the camping site that they are staying in. 

Soundtrack 2

This is another non - copyright music that we found through YouTube. However, although we liked the music, we didn't think it flowed well in our trailer as it didn't link into the stereotypical conventions of music that teenagers would be listening to in horror films. This therefore meant that if we were to use it, it would mean that the audience wouldn't be able to link their own lives into it as they wouldn't have listened to it as much as the conventional music that we have also looked at. Therefore making it be less effective on the audience which would make the creepy things that happen in the film not be successful as the audience wouldn't feel it the way that the characters in the film would be showing it. However, we did the the fast paste beat that was in the music, the main reason for this is because it would go with the fast driving that would be shown in the trailer as it is teenagers driving with friends in the car. This is one thing that we made sure we looked for when we did further research into finding a soundtrack that suited our trailer and all the conventions that we want to show.

Soundtrack 3

This was the third soundtrack that we found, although it could possibly link into our trailer, we decided to go against it. The main reason for this is because it had no lyrics in the music. This meant it would be harder for the audience to link and put themselves in the characters shoes as they will not be able to compare their own music into the music that they are listening to in the trailer. It also took away the scene that we are trying to create as it makes it seem as if the teenagers will be set in a club when in fact they are driving to a campsite which is completely 

Overall

We decided to choose our first sound track that we found (Hoodie Allan - No Interruption) because we thought it went well with the setting of our trailer and linked well. It also created the right atmosphere that we wanted it to create within the audience which builds on the effect and tension that we want the trailer to further show.

Institution - WMJC Productions

This is our final institution we are using for our theatrical trailer. As you can see we have used a 'Vignette' effect on the out edge of the screen, which creates a eerie daunting atmosphere due to the black shadows created. This makes the institution effective, especially for a film with the genre of horror.

As you can see, from the comparison with our AS level institution, we have changed the image, animation and the name. The name is due to having an additional person who joined MJC Productions', therefore we thought it was only right to add her to the institution. The means that the institution stands for: 'Welsh, Marskell, Jones, Clark Productions'; emphasising how we are a team.

We also changed the image from clouds to icy mountains. This was to make the institution appear more eerie, which would suit a genre of horror more effectively. From our research into trailers, we discovered that horror institution were repeated dark, which is why we changed the image into something which connotes to more danger and eeriness. We also changed the typeface we used, which is due to following conventions of a horror as they usually use bolder and white coloured font. This institution was also made by us, which involved finding the image of the mountains, adding the vignette effect and adding thr animation for the font. This didn't take to long as we used Adobe Premiere to do this section, as it provided us with all the resources needed to achieve this. We added the stars to act like a rating, which we though looked fairly professional. This institution will be within and during a our trailer, so the audience would know who made this trailer and therefore increase popularity of our company and the film.