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

The distributor has a very important job to fulfil, as it is there responsibility in order to get the film noticed by the public. However this is a very competitive job, as all distributors are trying to top one another and attract more and more interest for their own film. This is attempted through an advertising campaign, which must be successful and cost efficient. This in itself is a very difficult job, as advertising can be a long and tedious job, and the cost can be monumental, so key organisation is needed by the distributor. The advertising campaign must be a varied one. It cannot just include a teaser trailer or poster, it must include all of these in order to attract the widest range of people possible. Many devices can be used within a poster or teaser trailer, and these can include a 'snappy' tag line, which could make the audience crave more information about the film. It could include a website, which has been specifically set up in order to help sell the film to the desired audience more. These are all effective methods into creating a good and successful advertising campaign for the distributor.

The marketing campaign is always going to be different, and this can be dependant on several factors, one could be on the targeted audience, or the budget that the distribution company has. They must also relate the advertising campaign to the age ranges. For example a younger age range is more likely to see a web advert, or trailer which is located on the internet. Compared to an older demographic of people, who are more likely to read magazines or newspapers, or see outside ads.

This is an example of two films, which are both aimed at completely different audiences. 'Law Abiding Citizen' is an 18 film, where as 'Toy Story 3' is a universal film, which is mainly aged at young children. The different advertising campaigns is easily recognisable in both, as 'Toy Story 3' has a much more fun looking poster, it has a naturally lit picture, and shows a sense of comedy, which would be appealing to those of a younger age range. However 'Law Abiding Citizen' is clearly for an older audience, as this is easily noticeable by the smartness of the poster, the use of black, white and grey text, making it more appealing for the more inquisitive, and smarter audience.

However times have developed and in 2008 the film 'Cloverfield' was originally publicised with a teaser trailer that didn't advertise the films title, it only gave the release date: "01·18·08." However this was not the only use of 'Viral' campaigning, as elements of the campaign included myspace pages which were created for characters of the film.

Brand identification is crucial throughout an advertising campaign, for example 'The Matrix' is a good example of similar branding throughout as it uses the same title theme throughout all advertising campaigns, making it easily recognisable in all forms of advertising. 

For example the 'Matrix' logo, is the same in both the film poster, and the trailer. Also all of the merchandise which has been created for the film is easily recognisable with this text, which creates a simple but yet effect brand identification. 

My Marketing Campaign:

We decided to make the classification for our film an '18' as it would involve some of the more violent scenes, and would not be suitable for those of a younger age. Also the reason for this classification, was because of the need for an understanding of the more psychological elements which are located within this film, and those who are above the age of 18, we felt would have a more easier chance of understanding these elements.

The relationship between the trailer and the film poster, is clearly evident, as we based our horror on finding an insight into the antagonist, and this is also evident in the poster, as the antagonist is the main picture of this, but it does not give much of an insight into the film, like our trailer, it leaves the audience in a lot of suspense. I decided to use the final scene as the image for my poster, as this also creates a strong user identification, and with the inclusion of the film title, being identical to that found in the trailer, the branding and identification for the film is strongly reprocessed once again. 

My Film Poster:

 

I got a lot of inspiration for my poster, from the above films, as I appreciated the effect at using an extreme close up of the antagonist, and I thought this was a very effective function in creating a lot of interest from the audience for the film. I went with a lot of convention when creating my poster, for example the billing block is located in it's usual place at the bottom of the page, and the title and tag line are located above this. However I decided that because of the shaping of the picture, it was more effective for me to place the title higher up the page, where it would stand out more, and look effective. I decided that a easily and quickly recognisable brand identification trigger was needed, and in this scenario it was the title which I opted to use throughout. I thought that including only half of the gas mask, was a very creative tool in creating a sense of mystery for the poster, as it leaves an overshadowing darkness in the background, which can play a lot with the imagination of the audience, with the fear of "what is lurking in the darkness?" I also increased the contrast on the eye which is visible, as this shows that you do not know where this antagonist is looking, so once again can create a lot of fear for the audience. 

My Magazine Cover:

I based my magazine cover mainly on these two attempts by 'Total Film' and 'Empire.' I decided to use a similar shot to the one found in 'Empire' with the Joker, as I thought that a close up of the antagonists face was a very effective method in creating fear. I also copied the Max Payne 'Total Film' cover very closely as well, in order to make sure that my cover was conventional to the usual covers that you would find created by 'Total Film.' I decided to use the 'world exclusive' part, as this I found on the majority of these covers, and kept the date about the 'M' and the slogan located underneath the masthead. These are all stereotypical features that you would often find in one of these magazines. I decided to add a sepia effect to the image, as I believed this created a more warfare look, which is what I had aspired to make. I also kept the brand identity going, with the same title, but created an outer glow, in order to make it jump off of the cover. The tag lines are also in keeping with the colour scheme and conventional functions of a 'Total Film' magazine cover.

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

Web 2.0 is very useful for those who make low budgeted films, as it means through the use of free technologies, which are available to everyone, films can be easily and effectively produced, which can be as influential and attract as much interest as the big budgeted films. Through the use of Web 2.0 it has made the creation of my film and ancillary texts very easy. As I was simply able to create them, and then through the use of blogger and youtube, it made it easy for me to receive feedback, and also research much more easily.

These three technologies gave me the chance to easily broadcast my work to a wider audience, then that of just my classmates, friends and teacher. This automatically made my research and feedback a lot easier, as many sources gave me a good opinion on the improvements I could make. Flickr is a very effective tool for annotating your work quickly and easily, and when I was researching previous magazine covers or film posters, it gave me the chance to individually and easily annotate the different segments of each, which gave me a good idea on how I needed to make my own poster and magazine cover correspond with the already successful ones in production.

Through the use of blogger I have easily been able to update and organise my work, and means that I do not have to work my way through a packed ring binder! This is a much more effective and useful system of storing and organising work, and through Web 2.0, it is very easy to access, considering we have not had a budget in order to make this project.

Youtube is the most useful tool in order for feedback and research, as before I began producing the 'Diederich' trailer, I researched many previous trailers which had been successful, for example 'The Strangers' and managed to based my trailer on this very well. However some of the information found is very irrelevant, and can be spam, but overall it is an effective tool for creating a better final product.

Having the availability of an Apple Imac, which contained photoshop, final cut pro, and garage band, was a very influential reason as to why my ancillary texts, and trailer was very effective. The use of photoshop gave me the chance to modify everything down to the final detail, and this was a very important piece of software, as it helped me to create a very effective magazine cover, and film poster. 

Final Cut Pro, is a brilliant piece of software which allowed our group to easily piece together our trailer, and although the Final Cut interface can sometimes cause a few problems, we eventually managed to combat these and create a very nice trailer.

Garage band helped us to create one of the most important aspects of our trailer, which was our main backing track, and other sounds. Once again the interface at times could be relatively confusing, but after a little bit of practising this was easily combated. 

Without the use of a 'Sony Handycam' we would not have been able to complete our footage as successfully as we did. For the majority of our shots we used a tripod, which also enhanced our ability to receive good and effective shots. The downloading of the footage from the camera was sometimes a rather tedious and anxious job, but the using and filming of the footage was made very easy through the simplicity of these cameras. 

Through this project I have used a wide range of technologies, in order to produce a successful and creative piece of media work. Through the use of Web 2.0, hence meaning the lack of budget we had in order to create this project, I have managed to develop my skills on blogger, photoshop and flickr. However all of these technologies have given me the chance to create an effective piece of work, and has gained me valuable skills which will no doubt be beneficial for me to possess in the future, as society thrives more on the technological advances of modern society.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Audience feedback is one of the most important factors in making a good film. We valued the information from our fellow peers, who were very complementary and critical of our trailer. This feedback gave us a good insight into the effective and restraining factors of our trailer, which was very beneficial into us addressing these factors and eventually improving our trailer. The use of audience feedback is vital to all film producers, as this gives a chance for the makers of the film, to receive some 'outside' opinion, before their film is released, so any modifications or adjustments can be easily and quickly addressed.

In order to receive audience feedback we had a class screening which using questions such as 'Identify a convention of horror films which has been used in this trailer' and 'identify an element of the trailer which is particularly effective' gave us positive feedback on what we had received. However there were also questions such as 'Suggest how any weaknesses could be improved' which also gave us a chance to address the problems which our fellow peers had noted. However this was not the only method of audience feedback that I used. Our trailer was quickly posted on youtube, which gave a chance for me to show it easily to the majority of my friends and colleagues, and therefore receive further opinion on what they felt worked well, or need improving.

The feedback we received noted that we should modify the dialogue in order to make it more realistic and effective for a horror film. We quickly addressed this criticism, and attempted to modify some of the dialogue to the best of our ability. It was also noted that in some places the trailer needed more sound, this was especially evident at the beginning of the trailer, as we used basic sounds in order just compliment the footage. This was also linked in with the suggestion of our audience wanting more war related sounds, which we quickly addressed, and I believe the suggestion of this was a very pivotal one, into making our trailer stick to our desired war theme. 

However people did enjoy the unconventional use of a gas mask in our film, and also the use of the jump cuts at the beginning and end of the trailer. Many people noticed the final scene of the gas mask, and it did manage to frighten a couple of people within the class, so this was a very effective addition to round off our trailer. The simplicity of the location, was also picked up on by many, and this is a very conventional feature of a horror film, and with the unconventional theme of the gas mask soldier, located in a modern house, many people enjoyed the unexpected and peculiar use of this.

The feedback I received for my magazine cover was to add a sepia effect to the picture. I believe that this feedback really enhanced my magazine cover, and I managed to play on the use of this very well, and made it look like a conventional 'Total Film' cover. It was also suggested to me that I should give the masthead and tag line of 'Diederich' an outer glow, in order to make it stand out a lot more against the sepia background. I tried out this suggestion and was blown away by the effect that it had, so the criticism I received for my magazine cover was well appreciated, as overall, it did increase the final effect of my cover.

I also received some good criticism and compliments for my film poster, following audience feedback. However mostly the suggestions were just to increase the font size, and change the position of the "and you thought the war was over," which I quickly reassessed. However, I did receive many compliments on the use of picture on this poster, and also the enhancing of the glow from the eye, which creates a lot of mystery and fear.

I used the feedback which i received from all three elements of my work, very constructively in order to create better elements for all of my work. I believe the feedback which was received for our film trailer, was the most effective in creating a good and effective film trailer, as it pointed out key elements which we had not noticed before the audience suggested their input. 

Use of Sound in Diederich

The sound in our trailer, is very unconventional to those found in usual horror films. The start of the trailer immediately begins with the 'drumbeats' which automatically gives the sense of warfare, as it is a marching beat. This is very unconventional for all horror films, as following my research, I could not find any other trailers which offered such a peculiar sound straight away. However this does just add to the mystery and sense of unknown which is related with our trailer.
When this beat dies out, it is replaced with the heavy breathing from our antagonist. This gives the audience a sense that a being is watching over the couple within this film, and just intensifies the wanting to know more about the characters within.
The marching beat then replaces the heavy breathing, but a rare piece of dialogue is also used along with the heavy knock on the door. These are diegetic sounds which relate to the footage being shown. As Kyle opens the door, seeing that nobody is there. There is a loud beat, which then generates on to the background of strings, which is used throughout the rest of the clip. This beat now intensifies the action, and shows the danger that is now approaching the protagonists. The loud clap of noise is also shown when they rip the letters from the wall, and see the gas masked figure staring back at them.
As the action scenes increase towards the end of the clip, the beat is repeated more often in order to increase the speed of the action, and show the growing danger which is being placed on the individuals.
The use of the old aeroplane noise, once again shows a representation of warfare within this clip, but more importantly the speech from Winston Churchill, which says; "This is not the end, this is not even the beginning, of the end." Is a very effective tool which adds a lot of suspense to the end of the trailer, and once again links our trailer back towards World War Two.

The purpose of teaser trailers in terms of marketing

Teaser trailers are usually a very short version of a trailer, which would usually last no longer then sixty seconds. These types of trailer, are an attempt to create audience interest, and to 'tease' the audience into becoming more excited and eager for the film. This technique has recently been used in 'The Hangover 2"



This teaser trailer just gives a small insight into the well acclaimed feedback from the first film, and also gives a representation of the characters in this film, using well recognised features for this brand. Teaser trailers have been used very successfully on a lot of sought after films, for example; Spiderman, Saw and Batman. They give a simple representation of what to expect from the film, but without giving much detail away.

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

I decided to choose this image from the original version of 'Halloween' as it is near identical to the shot found in our trailer. However our image shows the view through the gas mask, in comparison to the 'Halloween' shot, which shows it from the killers eyes. This was a very effective tool in showing the view of the antagonist for the film, and adds a sense of mystery, and conspires against the usual conventional themes of a horror film, in showing the antagonists point of view.

I decided to compare these two screen shots, because they both show a body being dragged across the floor, in a low angled close up. The difference between these two shots however is we used more artificial lighting in our trailer, compared to the natural lighting which is found in 'Nightmare on Elm Street.' This shot however is very conventional to show a body being dragged by an unknown terror. 

This is a comparison between our trailer 'Diederich' and 'Saw.' It shows both of the masked villains of the films charging towards the camera. The shots are very similar in terms of shot size, and character positioning, however once again more artificial lighting is used more on ours in order to detect the character easier, compared to that found in 'Saw.' This is another very conventionally found clip, as I noticed this was found in many 'Scream' films as well, and is a good way of creating terror and fear of an  unknown individual.

This shot from the 'Scream 4' trailer, is a very good comparison to the one found in our trailer. The arrangement of the shot, and the extreme close up on both of the masked faces is identical. The lighting used is also identical, as we used night vision on our shot in order to only light the mask. Both shots added a extra part of 'horror' at the end of the trailer, when you least expect it.

I compared the opening of the door image in our film 'Diederich' to the one found in the original 'Scream' trailer. As they both show a quick bit of terror on opening the door. The shot used in the 'Scream' screen shot however is of a close up, which is compared to the long medium shot found in our trailer. However both use natural lighting, and show that it is these residents home.

This is a screen shot from 'The Strangers' film.  It shows the sense of mystery of opening the door and nothing being there. The shot arrangement is identical, and they are both similar rooms in which these shots are taken. However 'The Strangers' shot does appear to have a yellow filter on, compared to ours which was just used with the enhancement of a couple of desktop lights. 

This is a comparison of the text used in 'Diederich' and 'The Strangers.' We based the majority of our trailer, on the findings that we discovered from analysing 'The Strangers' trailer. We used a similar background to that found in 'The Strangers' but modified the text in order to make it more relevant with the war theme. 

"Inglourious Basterd" Sight & Sound magazine cover analysis

(CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE THE ANALYSIS.)