How the aims of production have been met.
This Assignment's aim was to create an effective film trailer of an approximate duration of 2 minutes for a specific demographic. Our genre was horror so we had to use the appropriate mise en scene to convey the genre successfully to the audience. We made sure that the attire and lighting followed conventions, and due to this the main character (the victim) had regular clothing that teenagers wear but the items of clothing were dark to continue the dark atmosphere of horror films and the therapist in the trailer wears a doctor's coat to represent the character's profession to the audience. The killer's outfit comprised of a full black sleeved shirt and black pants and a white mask covering the face. We chose this outfit because the all black clothing brings attention to the white mask which allows the character to have a scary and creepy appearance. The only prop we used was the knife the killer uses in the trailer, everything else was a part of the location where we shot. We all managed to do this over the span of a few weeks during days off from school, and we found it easier to find an agreeable time to meet for the shooting as all the actors and film makers were from our group itself. The only filming equipment we used was a camera and tripod. The tripod helped keep shots stable to make them look more professional. We didn't use any lighting equipment besides the flashlights on our phones to shine light on dimly lit scenes, and after we shot all of our scenes, we edited them in Final Cut Pro. We used fast transitions between shots of action and some shots required a black screen to appear in and out of scenes to make the shot look more fragmented and violent. Other scenes, dissolve transition was used from places where the captions lead to the next scenes.
How the product applies appropriate codes and conventions and uses appropriate media language.
To convey a realistic portrayal of horror film trailer, we applied the use of conventions, as they are easily recognizable and ensure the desired reaction from the audience. Conventions for the genre itself were followed, like dark lighting and character tropes as they allowed the trailer to be identified as a horror trailer by the audience. Costumes and scenes were carefully thought out as a means to fully portray the horror genre on screen in our trailer, this was done through the continued followed use of conventions. We avoided challenging conventions because of the time limit and availability of our group members, and following them was the best way to convey our genre (as mentioned before). Conventions for the general film trailer like captions to explore the narrative were used so that the trailer was not confusing for the demographic to understand and view. We followed all the conventions in this area too so that we could create a proper film trailer for this assignment.
How we represented people, places or events.
How we represented people, places or events.
In order to have a convincing trailer, we needed convincing characters on screen and this was done through accurate representations of them. Their clothes (discussed earlier) were chosen to establish to the audience who they are, and makeup was used in different ways on the different characters. Makeup was avoided on the teenage girl's face to depict a tired and restless appearance from her nights dreaming of the monster. The monster needed no makeup whatsoever as it wears a mask and the therapist in the trailer was chosen to wear makeup to make the actor portraying her seem more adult like and mature. Makeup was also used in the scene where the teenager wakes up with scars on her arms.
Where and when the product would be exhibited/ distributed.
In order to make our demographic aware of our trailer we would distribute it on social media sites like instagram with appropriate tags like #horror in order to reach our teenage audience but avoid sites like Facebook as they have an older aged audience. We would also release the trailer before horror movies in the cinema in order to ensure the appropriate audience watches it.
What regulations and controls might be applied to the product and how these have been taken into consideration.
Our trailer would most likely be rated 12A as it is of the horror genre and consists of material not suitable for years younger than 12 as those younger than 12 may find it too frightening or their parents may find it unsuitable for their age, as a feature film however the movie would most probably be rated higher as the trailer is viewed without context to an unsuspecting audience with few scary scenes but the movie itself would consists much more terrifying material suitable for an older demographic. In order to follow the 12A rating we would make sure that there are only a few scary scenes and no use of crude language, references and sexual instances. We could however lose the scene where the character wakes up with cuts on her arms as the BBFC does not allow emphasis on blood or injuries in this age rating.
The strengths and weaknesses of the product in meeting the needs of the audience.
As the trailer is a horror trailer our audience would be looking for a sense on fear and perhaps thrill when viewing our trailer. I believe some shots do encourage fear in the audience as they are scary and timed at the right moment in the trailer. Other shots, especially the beginning ones, add some context and narrative to the plot of the movie to get the audience intrigued and persuade them to watch the actual movie. Our shots followed the recognizable conventions of horror trailers to envoke the similar sense of terror in the demographic they feel when watching other horror trailers. Some shots however, could have been more carefully planned to get a more successful response from the audience, like the scene where the main character is huddled in a corner or looking up the stairs.
