Evaluation Question 4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation?

Whilst constructing our media products, we used many technologies to help us create our trailer and ancillary tasks.

Research and Planning

To carry out our research and planning we used a number of technologies which were mainly in the form of websites such as YouTube to watch clips such as the trailers we deconstructed, the main ones being ‘Halloween’ and ‘Scream’. This helped us to research into our genre and figure out the codes and conventions of a typical horror film to help us on what to include in our own trailer. We additionally used YouTube to post our own videos onto the website as we set up an account so that we could get feedback on what we had done so far.

In order for us to figure out our target audience we created a survey on Survey Monkey where we made up a selection of multiple choice questions for people to answer so that we had some proof to back up our choices when making our trailer.

Another website that we used was DaFont.com which helped us to decide on which font we were going to use for our poster and trailer. After browsing the fonts we chose the one that we felt suited our theme of horror and clowns the best. We decided on Extrakrebel 1987. 

In order to present some of our information on the blog, we tried to use a variety of forms in which to represent the research and planning. One of the ways in which we did that was to use the website Prezi to show the evolution of horror movie posters.

We also used iMovie to show our storyboard and then uploaded it to our blog so that the viewers would be able to see it in a more exciting format.

Construction

Trailer:

To film our trailer we used a Panasonic Lumix model for some scenes in our trailer because we found that the school camera, which was a Samsung, was not of a good enough quality during the strobe light scenes and we found the Lumix model focused a lot more, making it more effective. We also used an SD card so that we could store all of our footage and then later on transferred this to an Apple Mac for use in iMovie. We also found that the school camera was better for shots in the dark, for example the corridor scenes.

We also used the tripod to make some of our shots more stabilised such as the scene where the girl runs down the corridor.

In our trailer we decided to feature a montage of clips that represent destruction and violence to help create the right mood and build up for our trailer. We did this by searching on YouTube particular scenes that we wanted to include in the montage, for example clips of animals fighting and the atomic bomb. We then used an MP4 converter to access the clips in iMovie to edit together.

Website:

We used the Lumix model, which can also be used as a camera, to take photos of the clown mask for our poster and website in the dark room at our school to give the affect we needed for our poster idea.

The program in which we used to construct our website was Wix, we selected a template which we thought would suit our film concept and then created it by importing the background photo of the clown as well as embedding links to our social networking sites and actual trailer.

Poster:

To create our film poster we decided upon a photo that we had taken of the clown mask and edited the colours on the website pixlr.com. The effect we decided to use was named ‘Polak’. We then used the program Microsoft Word to create our poster by importing the picture onto a blank document. In order to get the correct font from DaFont.com, we had to download it onto the computer and then import it into the font section of Word. However we did have some issues with this as we needed to print it off in A3 which would have to be done at school and found that the font would not download from the website onto the school computers. We solved this by printing it out onto an A4 size at home where the font was downloaded and then photocopying this to blow it up to A3 size.

Editing and post-production

Footage:

To edit our trailer together we used iMovie. This program was very crucial towards our end product as it allowed us to add certain effects to make our trailer more successful. Examples of this include the amendment of the brightness/saturation of some clips. The most noticeable examples are the scenes where the clown was seen in their day to day life outside of the party as we wanted to change the colour to make it darker and more chilling.

We also experimented with Photoshop because we found that the scenes where we had lowered the saturation/brightness took away the attention from the clown. This was especially true when the student was in her car driving away from the school. In order to make the red on the clown costume become more prominent in the shot we took inspiration from a YouTube video and googled how to colour edit. There was a step by step guide which we attempted to follow, however this failed to work because it could not be exported back into a moving image.

We also used the Ken Burns function on iMovie to zoom into this same clip so that the clown was more apparent in this particular scene as we could not edit the colour.

We also altered the speed of some of the clips such as the scene where the victim is backing towards the wall as we felt it went with the speed of our soundtrack as without editing it, it was too slow.

To put the scenes together we mostly used the ‘fade’ transition so that it was a smooth changeover between each party scene. 

Sound effects:

We used our soundtrack by importing it from iTunes onto iMovie. This was the main source of sound throughout our trailer and we edited it using the fade out tool so that it did not continue playing until the very end and helped to stop it subtly so that it wasn’t too sudden. To get other sound effects in our trailer such as the heavy breathing at the beginning and the evil laugh at the end, we used a YouTube converter to receive the sound onto our iTunes, then did the same as our soundtrack and imported it onto iMovie.

We muted some of our scenes because we had the soundtrack to play over most of the trailer and therefore some of the sounds that went with the clips did not fit in with the music. However we did keep some sounds for effect, for example the sound of the victim running up the stairs.

Typography:

In order to use the font Extrakrebel 1987, we downloaded it from DaFont.com then imported it into iMovie. To create the flicker effect we recorded the screen using Quick Time by moving the mouse back and forth the clips of the text placed in iMovie.

Evaluation

Social Networking:

In order to receive audience feedback on our products (trailer, poster, website) we used a number of social networking sites so we were able to interact with people and ask for their opinions. We were particularly looking for opinions on what we needed to improve and to write about it in our evaluation.

YouTube – We created a YouTube account so that we were able to update any work we had done towards our final product, including our trailer. We then promoted these videos on Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook – we created a Facebook page for people to ‘like’ so they could keep updated on the progress of our project. This included us posting a link to our draft and final trailer from YouTube.

Twitter – We created a Twitter account where people could ‘follow’ our progress and we kept it updated by tweeting the links to our trailer so that people could give us feedback. We also advertised our blog on these sites so that people could read about our project if they wanted to.

Final Girl Theory

The Final Girl Theory refers to the last girl that is alive in a typically slasher/horror film that confronts the killer. This theory has been used in many films such as:
- Halloween
- Friday the 13th
- Scream
- The Strangers
- A Nightmare on Elm Street

The term was founded by Carol J. Clover in 1992 in the book she wrote 'Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film' and suggests that the audience take the perspective of the killer at the start of the film and then towards the end they begin to move towards the 'final girl'.
The concept is usually that the characters are killed one by one with the last remaining character being the woman who either vanquishes the killer or manages to escape. According to Clover the 'final girl' shares many characteristics, a few of which is that she is 'sexually unavailable' and does not participate in the use of drugs and alcohol. 
This theory focuses on the gender representations of the characters in a typical slasher/thriller film and argues that when the girl faces the killer she becomes 'masculinized' by taking a weapon to confront the killer. Also because it is generally a male orientated genre of film, this makes it easier for the audience to identify with a female character. Clover states that in order for a film like this to be successful, it is necessary for the surviving character to be female otherwise the mostly male audience will reject it.

We felt that because our main inspirations were Halloween, Scream and The Strangers, it would make sense to portray this theory in our trailer. This, along with Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory, we decided on our main characters being female. Also we suggested there was a 'Final Girl' at the end of our trailer where she is backing away from the clown into a corner holding a bat as a weapon. 

Intertextuality

An intertextual reference is a recognisable feature from one media text that can be used in another. 

 

Because our film was based around a Halloween Party we needed the 'guests' to be dressed as Halloween characters. One that we felt was very typical of a Halloween character was the Scream grim reaper. We felt that we should use an intertextual reference of the mask so that the audience know what sort of film Coulrophobia is going to be and will help them decide on whether they would want to go and see it at the cinema, because fans of the Scream films will also most likely be interested in going to see Coulrophobia as it contains the same concept of a masked killer. We decided on just using the mask so that you can still see the the body of the person wearing the mask. This was so that it does not take away from the fear that the actual killer, the clown, has on the audience. It also helps the storyline to continue featuring an anonymous killer as it leaves options open for the audience to decide who the killer may be as you cannot see all the male's faces in the trailer. This will keep the audience guessing throughout which is vital in order to make sure they remain interested in the film.

Props

When planning our film an important aspect we needed to address was which props we were going to use.

Because it is based around a Halloween party, we needed to gather a lot of Halloween props. These included thing such as Bunting and Masks/costumes as we had to provide some Halloween costumes for our actors in order for the Halloween party to look realistic. 

We decided on the clowns weapon being a jagged knife which we took influence from films such as Scream as the Grim Reaper uses an axe to kill his victims and the clown in the film Halloween uses a kitchen knife. Because our location contained a room with a selection of knifes in, we felt that this would be the best option for the killers weapon in our film. We wanted the knife to catch the light in our trailer however we found this difficult because of the strobe lighting we had used.

We also decided to collect empty bottles of alcohol to scatter around our location so that it was more believable that the characters were under the influence as this is a 'typically teenage' thing to do. We also used the scene of the mirror to show that the character is fetching a bottle of vodka from the cupboard. This plays on the fact that because the teenager is drinking, perhaps under-age, she is ultimately sinning and will later be punished because of these actions. This relates to the 'Final Girl Theory' as those who are no longer 'pure' normally are punished for their actions.

Conventions of a Film Website

Typical Conventions of A Horror Film Website

An example we looked at was the Saw website. We found that a very typical convention of a horror film website was an intro at the beginning to show what the film is about. This is accompanied by sound which sets the mood and scene for the film and links it together. The website will also contain the key images that you are likely to see throughout the film. Saw for example uses the chainsaw image to show that this will play a particular role in the killing of characters. This allows the audience to associate certain aspects of the film with the website to help it to become more authentic. 

A film website also usually contains the main character as an iconic figure on the website. For example the Saw films have Jigsaw which is the 'bad guy' and appears throughout all of the films therefore the audience will associate this with the films as it is important to link the film with the ancillary products such as the poster and website so that it becomes a whole promotional package. 

Also they will keep the Typography the same throughout the film, poster and website which is obviously important as it helps convey the same message across to the audience. 

What's more is that the Saw website also has a 'House of Jigsaw' tab where it gives some background information about the killer in the films. This creates realism for the audience as it talks about the killer as if it were real. It also includes 'The Traps' and 'The Victims' where browsers can look through these tabs and see what traps were used on which victims in the films. This contains a concept that is related to our film and we thought we might be able to do a similar idea where we focus on the background of the clown so that viewers can really get involved with the story of our film.

Lighting

Strobe

For our party scenes during the film we wanted to create a nightclub effect as we had decided to base our film around a typical teenage party. We took influence from Skins as there is a lot of strobe lighting used in the parties that take place there. 

We therefore found a strobe light that we could use and decided upon using it as our only source of light when filming as we thought this would be more effective than if the light was on. 

Problems we faced:

Because we had to film our actors dancing in the strobe light we found that because it flashed on and off so quickly, the camera sometimes would not focus on the people. We found that when we held the strobe light up nearer the camera it was more effective because it lit up people's faces therefore focusing on the victims that the clown will try and murder. This was important because of the use of Facebook profile pictures featuring in our trailer along with the people actually in the party to be linked together by the audience. 

We took a lot of footage for the party scenes to make sure we had enough good quality footage for the final cut of our trailer. This gave us much more variation of shots to choose from and helped when editing them together because the strobe created a smooth effect when editing different shots together as it was not as obvious that we had taken two different cuts and put them together.

Other Lighting

Because the lighting was fairly dark anyway as we were in a cellar at night time, this meant that we didn't have to alter the lighting for the scenes outside the main party room that much because it already had quite a 'creepy' affect to it without much alteration. We ensured that for the scene which contained the mirror, we had quite high key lighting so that the shot of the clown behind the girl in the mirror was more effective, otherwise audiences may not notice the clown and it wouldn't have the same effect.

Typography

We used the website www.dafont.com to choose a font to use for our trailer, poster and website. Here are the ones we have been looking at:

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

We have decided that fonts 1, 2, 5 and 9 are our favourite as they fit best with the concept of our film. We will therefore experiment further with these three fonts in order to select the typography to use in our trailer, poster and website.

Audience feedback of first draft

In order to see what to improve in our teaser trailer we asked our target audience some questions about what they liked and what could be improved, and here's what they said...

We have taken this audience feedback into account and her is what we plan to do:

• Cut up the party footage at the beginning to make it look more like a trailer
• Add some background into the clown and characters to make the storyline clearer
• Research into fonts to use
• Add more scary/ gore aspects 

 

Feedback #1

This is the feedback that we have got from our teachers:

• Limit party footage at beginning - avoid it looking too much like a scene. Footage is good but needs intercutting
• Introduce the 'legend' of the clown. Give background - perhaps flashback scene of children's party
• Hand picking up mask to put on? Perspective shot of clown?
• Shots of clown spotted by characters in discordant places (party scene lessens impact). Think 'It'
• More anchorage needed to set up the story
• Festival title is blurry
• Production title?

Evaluation of "First Cut"

Overall, we are pleased with our first cut of our trailer. 

What went well...

Originally we were pleased with the footage we filmed as it was mostly how we pictured it to be. We also like the montage of YouTube clips we have edited together as it portrays how the killer is disconnected from society. We feel the track we had created fits will with the mood of our teaser trailer.  

Even better if...

We still need to research into typography, as the font in our first cut is not finalised. We also have decided to film additional footage in order to break up the party scene and make it look more like a teaser trailer. We also want to include more gore and scary scenes in order to enhance the fear of the film. We are going to experiment with the sound to see what creates the best effect and shocks the audience.

Storyboard

Evaluation of first cut: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real products

For our trailer we looked into coulrophobia which is the fear of clowns and chose to base it on this, we therefore researched in to this and how it affects to people in order to know how to use clowns in our film to scare the audience. 

We were inspired by films which use masks to disguise the killer as we cast our killer in a clown outfit, we therefore looked at the films Halloween, The Strangers, Scream and also films with party scenes as we included a halloween party in our teaser trailer

Halloween

We thought this would be a good idea for our trailer as many people are scared of the unknown as so having a masked killer plays on the fact that they do not know who they are or whether they know them. 

The Strangers 

We liked the idea that they could get into the house uninvited and it could happen to anyone ('Why are you doing this to us?' 'Because you were home'). We liked the fact that the characters were uninvited and used this in our trailer as the clown is not invited to the party but still manages to get in.

Prom Night 

We chose to look at prom night as it includes a party scene and also a murder and killing, both of which we included in our trailer.

Project X 

Although the film is not a horror, it still gives us some knowledge on how to film party scenes, and helps us think of ways in which the party can go wrong.

We also looked into other real media texts including TV and the music industry:

Skins

This show is an influence to us as contains lots of party scenes, which gave us lots of inspiration for our trailer. It also gave us lots of inspiration on what some teenagers get up to during parties and their lives that we could use. 

Slipknot

All the members of Slipknot wear masks and jumpsuits which makes them all look uniform. However, this look can make them look scary and threatening. The bands songs have also been linked to several violent and criminal incidents, for example in 2003 a man was stabbed to death but two people. The killers claimed to listen to Slipknot before and after the murder and according to detectives sang the lyrics to 'Disasterpiece' as they committed the murder.

Film Certification

We decided to classify our film as a 15 because of our target audience being mainly 15-19 year olds, along with the content of our film.

The British Board of Film Classification have defined the rules of a 15 classification to be:

What does the 15 symbol mean?

 No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a ‘15’ rated DVD.  15 rated works are not suitable for children under 15 years of age.

Are there any limits on what sort of theme a work can have at 15?

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Is 15 really stronger than 12A?

 Yes. 15 works are stronger than 12 or 12A rated works and could include any of the following:

• strong violence
• frequent strong language (eg 'f***').
• portrayals of sexual activity
• strong verbal references to sex
• sexual nudity
• brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
• discriminatory language or behaviour
• drug taking

How much strong language is there in a 15?

There could potentially be a great deal. At 15 there is no upper limit on the number of uses of strong language (eg f***).

Occasionally there may be uses of the strongest terms (eg 'c***'), although continued or aggressive use will not normally be passed 15.

What about discriminatory or offensive terms?

There may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory language, and the work could explore themes relating to this.

However, at 15 the work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

How much sex and nudity is allowed at 15?

At 15 sexual activity can be portrayed, as long as there is no strong or graphic detail. Some sex scenes can be quite long at this category and may involve some nudity and movement. Though nudity may be allowed in a sexual context there should be no strong detail.

There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

There can be strong references to sex and sexual behaviour, but especially strong or crude references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context.

Heterosexual and homosexual sex and sex references are treated the same.

Can there be strong violence?

Yes, at 15 violence may be strong. It should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury, however, and the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.

Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable.

Easily accessible weapons may not be glamorised.

What about sexual violence?

There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence (for example descriptions of rape or sexual assault in a courtroom scene or in victim testimony) but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

What about horror works?

Many horror films are rated 15. At 15 there can be strong threat and menace (as long as it is not sadistic or sexualised), although the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.

Can you see drugs in a 15 rated film or video?

At 15 drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse.

The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances like aerosols or solvents is unlikely to be acceptable at 15.

What about dangerous behaviour or things teens might copy?

We consider the risk of potential harm to impressionable teenagers. For example, dangerous behaviour such as hanging, suicide and self-harming should not dwell on detail which could be copied.

Based on these guidelines we decided to rate our film with a 15 certificate because it will contain violence and gore as it is a conventional horror film. We debated whether or not it would be an 18 but felt that we would be missing out on a large chunk of a market segment if we were to do this. As the guidlines say, many horror films are rated as a 15 so therefore we felt it would be appropriate to do the same.

Skins Influence

We've decided to take influence for our film trailer from Skins as it is a British teen drama which follows the lives of a group of teenagers in Bristol during their time at sixth form. The shows name orginates from the rolling paper of joints known as "Skins".

During the Skins series', there are a lot of parties that take place in clubs and houses, this relates back to our media idea of a halloween party taking place in the cellar of a house. 

The age of these teenagers are the same as characters we will use in our film trailer. Therefore the demographic of our audience will relate to them making it more of a success.

John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy, Jr. (March 17, 1942 – May 10, 1994)

• Born in Chicago, Illinois 
• American serial killer and rapist 
• On December 21, 1978, a police search of Gacy's house found he had sexually assaulted and killed 33 boys and young men which the majority of whom had been buried in his crawl space
• Would sometimes dress as his alter ego, Pogo the Clown and claimed that the killings were committed by an alternate personality, Jack Hanson
• Convicted of 33 murders 
• Sentenced to death
• Died by a lethal injection in 10 May 1994
• Worst serial killer in U.S. history

This case study is relevant to our trailer because of his alter-ego named Pogo the Clown. As he was the worst serial killer ever in America, this creates fear for our audience because they can relate it to this real life case study, making it a more realistic event creating a scare for the audience.

            Gacy's alter ego - Pogo the Clown >

Shooting Script

Party Scene - filmed from different angles (high-angle, medium shot, POV) inside and outside

People dancing, drinking, snacks 

No clown

Lighting: strobe lights, low lighting

Sound: music
Filmed on 20/11/12

Party Scene clown at the window - filmed from the doorway (zoom into the window)

People dancing, drinking

Lighting: strobe lights, low lighting

Sound: music 
Filmed on 20/11/12

Party Scene clown appears at the door - filmed from the opposite corner (high-angle shot)

People dancing, drinking, clown appears at the door, walks slowly into the party

Lighting: strobe lights, low lighting, high-lighting focused on the clown

Sound: music
Filmed on 20/11/12

Party Scene clown in the party - filmed from in the party (POV)

People dancing looking at the clown

Lighting: strobe lights, low-lighting

Sound: music
Filmed on 20/11/12

Nurse takes the clown off to another room - filming from the doorway (medium shot)
The nurse grabs his hand and pulls him out the room
Lighting: low-lighting
Sound: music
Filmed on 20/11/12

Clown wiping blood off the knife - close up of the knife and his hands
The clown comes out of the room and cleans the blood of the knife
Lighting: low-lighting
Sound: music

Party Scene - filmed from the corner (medium shots)

People dancing

No clown

Lighting: lights go off

Sound: people scream
Filmed on 20/11/12

Coughing up blood - extreme close up
Someone coughing up blood after being stabbed
Lighting: low-lighting
Sound: song

Slit throat - medium shot, high-angle shot
Shot a body on the floor with a slit throat
Lighting: low-lighting
Sound: song
Filmed 20/11/12

Dead bodies - close ups
Showing where they had been stabbed and that they are dead
Lighting: low-lighting
Sound: song

Clown walks towards the camera - long shot
The clown walks towards the camera 
Lighting: low-lighting, strobe lighting
Sound: song
Filmed on 20/11/12


N.B. The shots that are highlighted in orange are shots that we decided not to film on the day as we thought that they would not be relevant anymore.