Further audience research

I have conducted some more audience research on the names I should call my cast. In the previous post I explained the names I have thought of calling each cast member but I thought it was only right to ask the people who my trailer is aimed at to show say there opinion on the names I have thought of.

I asked 8 people, in my research (4 males and 4 females)and I asked the group a few simple questions such as, What name out the three goes best with the character?, Do you believe the name reflects the nature of the character? and Is the name of a character important?

The male group.

I asked 4 males all similar ages from 16-20 which is perfect as they fit in with my target audience. All 4 males took the questions seriously and I made sure I asked each male individually to rule out the chance of bias.

1.What name out the three goes best with the character?

Curt- 3/4 males went with Charlie
David- 4/4 males went with Tom
Laura- 2/4 males went with Jessica
Kaela- 3/4 males went with Amy

2.Do you believe the name reflects the nature of the character?

Curt(Charlie)- 4/4 males agreed that the name Charlie fits in well with the character
David(Tom)- 2/4 males agreed that Tom is the best name for the character
Laura(Jessica)- 4/4 males had the opinion that Jessica suited the character
Kaela(Amy)- 4/4 agreed that Amy suited Kaela's character perfectly

3.Is the name of a character important?

I asked all four males if the actual name of the character made any difference to the trailer. I received a mix reaction from the male group, 2/4 said that the name of the character plays a fundamental part in relating to the situation they are going through and makes the audience feel more emotion for the character. Then the other 2/4 males said the name didn't make that much difference to them and they concentrate more on what the character says than what his name is. I still believe giving a name to the cast will be beneficial to the trailer but I understand the reasons for not having a name at all.

The female group

I asked 4 females all similar ages from 16-20 which is perfect as they fit in with my target audience. All 4 females took the questions seriously and I made sure I asked each female individually to rule out the chance of bias.

1.What name out the three goes best with the character?

Curt- 2/4 males went with Charlie
David- 4/4 males went with Tom
Laura- 3/4 males went with Jessica
Kaela- 3/4 males went with Amy

2.Do you believe the name reflects the nature of the character?

Curt(Charlie)- 2/4 females agreed that the name Charlie fits in well with the character
David(Tom)- 4/4 females agreed that Tom is the best name for the character
Laura(Jessica)- 3/4 females had the opinion that Jessica suited the character
Kaela(Amy)- 4/4 agreed that Amy suited Kaela's character

3.Is the name of a character important?

I asked all four females if the actual name of the character made any difference to the trailer. I received a positive reaction from the female group, 3/4 said that the name of the character plays an important role in establishing the connection they feel for the character. Then the other 1/4 females said the characters name is not that important in establishing a link between audience and character, the female also said she concentrates more on what the characters says rather than there name, which is understandable.

Ideas on creating cast names

For my film trailer I have 4 actors (Curt, David, Laura and Kaela) in my scene. I have had to think of character names for each member as their name will appear in the trailer. These are the names I have thought of to call each member;

Curt-
Curt plays a rebellious teenager and I believed these names fitted in well with his character;
- Charlie
- Drew
- Danny

I will speak to Curt personally and see which name he prefers, as I believe he should have a positive input on his role in the trailer.

David-
David plays a mysterious teenager who like curt looks to live on the wild side of life but we also see the timid nature of the character which will reflect the names I have thought of;
- Tom
- Adam
- Craig

Like every cast member, I will let David know the choices of names I have made and see which he finds the best to suit his character.

Laura-
Laura plays a very shy but wild teenager, she is the most rebelious of the girls but we also see like David her shy side in the trailer, these are the names i have thought of;
- Sarah
- Kate
- Jessica

Laura will be able to look at the names I have thought of and see which suit her shy but outgoing character.

Kaela-
Kaela plays the sensible but naive character who doesn't agree with the group of going to the mansion but still goes to fit in with the group, these are the names I have thought of;
- Chelsea
- Amy
- Chloe

I will speak to the actor and see what name she feels comfortable with playing as I believe its an essential part of the trailer in creating the right horror experience and the characters names help create the experience.

Clothing

The mise en scene of the trailer is vital in creating a realistic horror effect, I asked David who is wearing the items pictured in the trailer to wear clothes which he would wear on a normal occasion to create a laid back affect as it doesn't look as realistic if the audience think I've dressed him in clothes which don't look natural.

The hat which Dave wears is iconic of his character something which sets him apart from the other group. It shows his laid back style as hats are iconic of teenagers usually rebellious ones. The hat hides his hair creating a sense of mystery about the character which attracts the audience to know more about him.

The trainers Dave wears are a very popular style among teenagers, which shows how Dave fits in with the mass audience watching the trailer. If I had him wearing some high end fashion shoe, this may give audiences a wrong perception of his character so I was happy with the laid back style he wore.

The actor follows a mass audience style throughout with the jacket he chose, another popular style for teenagers. He wore a jacket for two reasons one that because of the weather I couldn't expect him to just wear a t-shirt. And secondly because the jacket is symbolic of youth culture, it was perfect for him to wear it.

I wanted Dave to wear jeans as well as I believe it reflects the laid back look I had in mind. I made a conscious effort to make sure the actor stayed away from a stereotypical bad boy look with clothes such as tracksuit bottoms and kept with a normal easy going look to fit in with the rest of the group. The jeans he wears in the trailer are very basic but fashionable which doesn't attract to much attention from the actual action going on which I believe is ideal.

The Script

The horror chase edit

This draft section of my horror trailer focuses on one cast member David. I used him on his own to see how is own individual take on the horror scenes and i will be able to fade his performance into the one with the full cast which i hope will give an horrific effect on the mansion scene.

I used a few props which we found on the set of the performance, i found a wooden plank which i checked for nails and other harmful substances and the prop seemed fine so i asked David to grab the prop and chuck it in the bush as if there is some sort of creature hiding in them. I also asked the cast member to pick up a wooden stick which i also checked for danger and the prop seemed fine. I asked David to use the stick as if he was battling the creature right in front of him which i believe has made a realistic battle scene for the horror trailer.

I found it much easier working with one cast member than working with the whole group as i found it easier to control David as i could just focus on his particular acting style and how i wanted him to work. Ive found that giving instructions are more effective as well as each cast member is different in their approach to carry out a task some are more confident then others.

On the day i filmed with David, the weather wasn't to bad but the icy weather did stop me from some scenes with him,health and safety reasons meant i cant order the cast member to sprint down the icy side street in case he slips and injured himself.

improving my film magazine front cover hand draft

The mock front cover draft i created by hand shows an idea of how i want to produce my final front cover magazine. I tried copying techniques from the magazine Empire which i have analysed for my of my analytical task.

As you can see i created my mast head at the top of the page. This is a techniques used not just by Empire but most film magazines this is used to catch the audiences attention of what the magazines name is, as my magazine Silver Screen is a brand new film magazine, i will have no brand awareness so when audiences look at the title they will recognise it is a new brand and might be attracted to purchase it.

The picture is of the group members Laura, Kaela, Curt and David in the mansion. One of the female cast is postioned in the middle of the screen with her hand on her face which represents her fear of the unkwon which is a big part of my horror trailer. I used a medium shot so the audience can see the full cast members in the shot but the mansion is still seen in the background linking the two together.

Hand draft of my film magazine front cover

Conventions of a horror magazine front cover

After anlyasing film magazines i have found alot of conventions used to establish the genre of horror in the film such as;

• Dark colours such as red and black
• Creatures/monsters featured
• Main focus on the protagonist face often antagonist is place behind the picture looking in
• Exlusives e.g. world exlusive interview
• Give aways e.g. free top
• Main headline at top of the page
• Divided into sections e.g. like the rule of thrids infomation, image in the middle and then at the bottom a sub banner explaining more about the content in the issue
• Famous actors used to gain poularity and make audience members buy the issue
• Gore within the image such as blood

Challenging obstacles

Months into doing my A2 Media horror trailer i have already had some un-expected obstacles whilst doing the coursework.

Actors.

I have found it very difficult to schedules filming dates due to the group of 4 having other priorities such as part time work or family occasions which are both understandable reasons however this has affected the amount of filming I can do as all 4 group members need to be able to film at the same time or I cant do any filming at all.

Location.

It is not an easy task to find realistic horror style locations local to me and get permission to film at the locations. I have overcome this obstacle by finding a great location local to my house but due to Wyke College distance away from my house where all the props are and where the equipment is based, i have to rely on one of my cast members Kaela to take the cast from college to the location.

Equipment.

As the equipment i use to film is borrowed from the Media department i have to book dates to collect the camera which is become increasingly more difficult with the growing demand on camera time available to the students. I am understandable of this issue and know i have to be patient to be able to get the equipment I want.

Time.

I only have set period of time to film the sequences as the cast members don't have enough time to film for hours at a time. I also get an allocated period of time from the media department to have the equipment usually around a couple of days so i cant always manage to film the whole scenes i want to film.

Filming

I have concluded two filming sessions already lasting around an hour and half for each filming session, the weather has made it hard for me to keep filming as the locations i want to film at, im unable to get to each place by walking so the roads are essential in making sure i get to and from the separate locations. I have however filmed a good amount of my horror trailer and are making good progress.

What ive filmed so far?

• I have filmed nearly all the park scene where the group start drinking and planning how to get to the mansion
• I have filmed the group scene where they get to the mansion such as drinking down urban streets to create a realistic effect for the horror trailer
• Ive done some of the mansion scenes which is the main part of the horror trailer but due to weather and risk of my actors safety i have had to perspone some of the running and chase scenes for better weather

What i need to film?

• I need to finish of some park scenes as expected with editing some of the scenes didn't work to well on camera
• Look for some of my filming of the cast going to the mansion and see if there is anything which is needed to be added
• Finish all the mansion scene including the chases and deaths of some characters.

Mind Map

Mood board

This is a mood board i made using photoshop of 4 Empire magazines. I created this mood board to help me with the analytical process of film magazines and Empire. I have learned alot from doing this short mood board such as the colour used.

All four sections feature the same colour style combination of darkness which represents the urban style of Empire magazine. I have to pay close attention to these features used by Empire magazine to be able to maiupluate a realstic film style front cover.

Ideas of my magazines name

For my media project, i have to design a horror trailer style front cover. I have decided to think of my own horror magazine name to go with picture, this is why my analytical skills of analysing Empire magazine will come in handy.



The names i have come up with so far;

• motion









• silver screen









• fright









• panic

Front cover analysis

From my front cover analysis, I have chosen to analyse the Empire "Spider Man edition" i am looking for particular conventions and techniques used which I can use in my horror trailer front cover.

The medium shot of actor Tobey Maguire who plays superman is a common convention of film magazines, to establish the body of the person whilst looking at his face. The eye line match of Spiderman looking into the camera without his mask on shows how he is trying to to connect with the Empire audience via looking at them, attracting the audience to view the picture.

The colours red, black and white feature throughout the image contrasting each other. The colour red is used to represent the danger of Spiderman and the evil which goes with the Hollywood blockbuster movie. The colour black portrays the darkness the new Spiderman movie brings, it represents how Spiderman has developed over the years showings his transformation into a new superhero. The white contrasts with both the red and the black, this represents the light in which Spiderman offers, as the fictional character is a superhero we expect him to serve good rather than evil with the colour white this connotes good which brings a sense of relief to the audience.

The masthead of "Empire" is located at the top of the page, a convention of film cover magazines which which i want my magazine to be like as well. They are other ways which other magazine use to show the title of the magazine for example the middle of the page but to me this is less effective in grabbing the audiences attention of who created the magazine.

In the bottom left colour the text "FREE" is used in capitals which goes with the colour scheme of bold white, this is a common feature used in attracting audiences to buy the magazine. Empire was offering to give away a free set of posters for people who buy the magazine. I found this very helpful in using this for my front cover as this will attract people who look at the magazine to purchase it. Empire also have put the pictures of the posters such as the "Rocky" film poster next to the word free, as when the audience look at the word they see the pictures as well linking the two together.

The bar code is an essential part of any magazine, to enable the shop to scan the product for the customer to buy. But the way Empire have placed the bar code is not the traditional way used by most magazine company's which go for the bar code in the bottom right corner. I plan on putting my bar code in the bottom right corner.

The mise en scene of the Spiderman costume represents the change in attitude of the new superhero from the traditional red and black to the darker all black showing the change in the Spiderman ethos. When Spiderman was being represented in the red and black costume we identified the superhero as something who represented good but had a darker side which was reinforced through the colour red. The new outfit which Spiderman is being pictured wearing shows a darker side to his character somwthing which may come as a shock to Spiderman fans who associate the fictional character in red and black.

Magazine front cover research

For my A2 Media Studies coursework, i have to design a horror trailer magazine front cover. I have set out to analyse other magazine front covers to research ideas and be able to learn conventions and skills used to creating an established and effective magazine front cover. I have decided to analyse the popular "Empire" film magazine due to it reputation with the mass audience and its target market of the young male audience. I also picked to analyse this particular magazine as I aim to advertise my horror film front cover in a prestigious film magazine such as this.

Empire magazine are one of the lead film magazines in the United Kingdom and the most popular film magazine in Australia which shows the size of Empires audience, which would benefit my front covers publicity.

Keys Facts:

Price- £3.99

Frequency- monthly

Launch date- 1989

Male- 76%

Female- 24%

Average age- 25