Ancillary Task: Film Poster

Ancillary Task: Film Magazine Cover

Focus Group Questionnaires

Below are the completed questionnaires which were answered while our focus group members watched our finished film trailer the second time:

Focus Group: Film Trailer

In today's lesson we completed our focus group for our finished media product. We ensured all of us had our questions complete by today's date so that a questionnaire could be made which had all of our questions in survey form. I set up the iPad and Tripod in order to record the focus groups comments and Kayleigh and Amber set up the video on the interactive whiteboard through YouTube to let the focus group watch the film trailer on the big screen.

We decided to let the group watch the trailer once without filling the survey and then a second time where the focus group made their comments on the survey sheet which was given out before starting the video of our film trailer. Once the group had finished completing their questionnaires then we moved on to discussing everyone's thoughts and suggestions. Below is the focus group which we uploaded after completing the focus group:

Audience Questionnaire

Audience Questionnaire Planning

Me, Amber and Kayleigh have decided to write a questionnaire because on Wednesday my group will  be presenting our trailer to the focus group in which they will fill out the questionnaire and give us feedback. All of our groups members are going to think of questions to then discuss with each other to whether or not use in the questionnaire and also I believe we should have a variety of questions for example horror stereotypes, sound, lighting, setting, costume, conventions and characters. Below are the questions which I have thought of and I believe are suitable questions to be used in the questionnaire for audience feedback:

- Does the setting look like part of a horror film?
- Does the trailer show todorovs theory throughout?
- Do you think the trailer looks like a psychological horror?
- Can you understand the narrative throughout the trailer and is their anything you don't understand?
- Do you think that this trailer features horror conventions?
- Do you think that the antagonist/s are effective at portraying themselves as frightening?
- Does the trailer give too much of the narrative away or conceals to much or do you believe the balance is right?

Finished Transfixed Trailer

Editing Session 14

In today's last editing session we uploaded the camera shot which was filmed on the previous day. I uploaded the footage to Final Cut Pro from the device which we plugged into the iMac and then dragged the footage into the timeline and we decided we wanted it near the beginning but after the moving in scene of the trailer. I used the blade tool and cut out the excess footage which wasnt needed and I made sure the shot was refined so it looked professional to watch.

After placing the final shot we watched the entire trailer again just to ensure we were happy with the latest version and then we uploaded the new version of the trailer to YouTube from Final Cut Pro ready to be watched.

Additional Filming Session

Unfortunately on the day we intended to complete an additional filming session I was very ill therefore I was unable to meet Kayleigh and Amber for filming the additional shot for the film trailer, however because we had arranged times and dates with the actors in which they were free we couldn't ask them to rearrange therefore filming went ahead, but only one shot was needed to be filmed and we had previously discussed how the shot would look and what actors would be needed and what diegetic dialogue is going to be used so I was able to have input in what took place is this extra filming session. Below is the footage which was filmed:

Filming Schedule

Our group have decided to complete another filming session in order to complete the suggested shots which were made by our media teacher. We discussed potential dates after recieving the feedback and came to a decision.

Dates/Times
Sunday 17th January: 12:00 - 1:00

Teacher Feedback

After completing all editing and successfully uploading the film trailer to YouTube, we asked our media teacher to watch and assess the trailer to give her opinion and some suggestions and overall we recieved some very positive feedback however there were some minor suggestions which were made and myself and the rest of the group want to apply these suggestions into the trailer to create a successfully media product.

One suggestion which was made was to shorten the beginning down and to have the equilbrium shortened so the chaos is seen quicker which will grab the target audiences attention more as they may become bored and uninterested if the beginning is too long as this is before the action shots and very much about the narrative. A potential camera shot which was suggested was to have some diegetic dialogue of shouting to enhance the point of Maddie and Elliot not getting along and to make it clear to the audience. I have discussed with my group when the next available time for us to film could be and we have decided on this weekend, the Sunday 17th and then we will be able to upload this footage and add the suggestions our teacher had made, to the media product on Monday 18th so it is ready for the next focus group in which we can collect more audience feedback.

Transfixed Trailer

In todays editing session we completed the film trailer and uploaded it to YouTube ready to be viewed. After some teacher feedback we were told to make some minor corrections but overall we recieved a very positive evaluation from the teacher of the media product. Below is the completed version of our media product:

Editing Session 13

In today's editing session we went back to media after school and finished uncompleted parts of our film trailer like postioning of soundtracks and increasing diegetic dialogue throughout the trailer. We managed to have an uploaded version of the soundtrack which we found in the previous editing session on the iMacs so we transferred the track onto Final Cut Pro and postioned it on the timeline.

I suggested on cutting different parts of the soundtrack where the sound began to increase in volume and then copy and paste this multiple times to create a dramatic effect for the audience and to create a more tension. Another part of sound was while we watched the trailer again to check for errors I felt as if we had too many soundtracks overlapping each other and Kayleigh and Amber agreed so we deleted one of the soundtracks and also near the shot of our actor Lauren appearing behind Amy I wanted to sound to begin its journey to the climax however there was a slight error which meant we had to move the entire sountrack further up the trailer slightly to ensure the non-diegetic sound was in sync.

I also had the sound of the keys removed near the end as this sounded out of place and didn't make the ending of the climax seem complete. As the ending of trailer had a sting, I felt it didnt have a great impact on the audience so I altered the sound on the sting so it seems more shocking and dramatic for our target audience.

Audience Feedback

I discussed audience feedback with my group and we all knew that audience feedback is very important for a product to succeed, therefore at lunchtime I asked two people and brought them back to the media classroom. I selected a male and female to balance out the feedback and also due to their ages and other contributing factors to make sure we were selecting our target audience. We asked them to watch the trailer and then give us verbal feedback on the positives and negatives, so then we can take these comments into account when we come to improving the trailers weaknesses.

Key Positives and Negatives

• The audience feedback told us that the diegetic dialogue was hard to hear in some places throughout the beginning of the trailer either due to the non-diegetic sound being to loud or that we need to increase the volume of the dialogue so that the speech is clear and concise throughout.
• The font choice of the quote which features throughout was said to be liked as they believe it fits in well with the horror genre. 
• The lighting and colour may need to be altered in some places as it doesnt seem like the trailers lighting and colour is consistent throughout so this is an area we will look into and ensure that it is corrected.
• The 3D effect on the title ''Transfixed'' was pointed out as a positive as they thought it stood out and that the shadows combined with the colour red of the title looked like dripping blood and blood is a convention of horror. 

Below is a video of Jessica and Ollie who were the chosen people to take part in our audience feedback session.

Editing Session 10

Me, Amber and Kayleigh all went back at lunchtime today to continue editing our film trailer. While waiting for Kayleigh, me and Amber decided to begin some editing by using experimentation. I suggested we experiment with fonts for the title of the film "Transfixed" and change the colour and backgrounds of title. Kayleigh shared her thoughts and offered suggestions on how we could develop the idea further. We choose two different styles of the title we liked and then decided which one we were going to use. The first style I though looked to fantasy as it had a Dracula/Vampire feel about it as the colours and font didn't relate to horror as much as I would of wanted and the rest of the group agreed, which therefore meant we choose the second style.

I changed the font and scaled the title down to make the text fit and flow better. Furthermore I added textures like dark wood and metal textures to the font to give it a more sinister quality and also added a red tint to the text to portray blood through the use of colour in the title. Also the chosen title we liked had a shadow effect already applied to the text which is a convention of our genre and portrays an atmosphere of mystery and horror. Lastly I changed the background to black as we all decided the colour white didn't fit with the rest of the trailer and doesn't really work with the theme of our trailer, also the colour black creates a sense of low key lighting which is a convention of puschological horrors, also we want to have calm non-diegetic sound playing over the title to create more of an impact on the audience when the sting is played afterwards.

We also chose our sting for the end of the trailer which was a masked female appearing in front of the camera, however I didn't think it had much effect and Amber and Kayleigh agreed, therefore we swapped this close up shot with another similar shot but with more dramatic effect for the audience. Amber suggested the shot of another masked character but this character slams on the door with his hand which has loud diegetic sound so this will work well as we are planning on using calm non-diegetic sound over the title.

We also briefly discussed the transitions which have the quote we chose displayed on and if the colours are right. Amber suggested red text with the black background however me and Kayleigh preferred the white text on the black background as there is more contrast and the text is more clear for the audience to read. However red appears in the title of the film which connotates blood and violence which relates to our film trailer and is a convention of pyschological horror, also white shows hope which symbolizes the main character as she is fighting to stay alive and she relays upon hope to survive thoughout the film and we see this in the film trailer.

Editing Session 9

Me, Amber and Kayleigh went back after school today to continue editing our film trailer. We wanted to concentrate on colour matching the shots because from my research low key lighting is a convention in pyschological horrors so changing some of the shots that have bright colours to darker colours connotates mystery and death. In the images below we colour matched the lighter scenes with camera shots which were filmed either in dark rooms or at night time.

We watched the trailer to check for any errors, and I noticed there was a lot of unwanted diegetic sound, so we all took turns in detaching the audio for the footage and deleting it, however we kept the diegetic dialogue which was mainly at the start before the disruption of equilbrium. Apart from diegetic dialogue, loud banging and sinister sounds were kept in the trailer as this is a convention of horror to have diegetic sounds which convey death.

Also we decided we should have more transitions featuring text apart from the quote we are using in the film trailer, so Kayleigh suggested using "Based on True Events" and I said this should go near the beginning as this is a convention of horror film trailers. Also the statement "Based on True Events" does apply because I have completed research into true stories and existing films which follow the same principle.

Lastly we used some transitions in the film trailer, and from my research and also my knowledge from watching horror films trailers and horror films themselves, fade transitions are very common especially near the beginning as this shows that the situation is calm and undisrupted. I placed some transitions near the beginning, so did Amber and Kayleigh. However we didn't place fade transitions between every shot as some shots are very short and this looked very unprofessional and also this would interrupt the continuity of some shots.

Photoshoot 2

For the 2nd photo shoot for the ancillary tasks, I wanted to create an image which has two meanings. One, is that I want an image which is subtle and mysterious which helps attract the target audience and gets them interested in the film, and the second type of image is where the characters emotions and status in the film are shown, for example the camera looking down at the protagonist which portrays her as a stereotypical woman.

These photographs show very little which helps conceal information from the audience and this can peak their interest. Also the photograph of Amy looking down helps convey her feelings showing she is sad and slightly scared which makes the audience want to find out why she is like this. Also the extreme close up shot of the eye could be altered on photo shop where an image of the mask used in the film trailer is seen in her eyes, which could be done by altering the transparency.

I like these photographs of Lauren, who plays the villain as I have used a prop in the shot which conveys the genre of the film to the audience and also it shows her personality to be violent. But also in the reflection of the knife, I might blur in a figure of Amy, the protagonist which helps foreshadow events of the film.

I like this photograph because her mad and pyschotic personality is portrayed though this camera shot meaning the audience have a sense of what this character will be like in the film, and also it is quite clear she is the villain of the film. Lastly to make this photograph more intimidating I will alter the picture and incorporate low key lighting to create a sinister image.

Photoshoot 2 Schedule

A group chat was made in the Christmas Holidays to arrange a date and time for the actors to meet up and complete a photoshoot which will contribute to the ancillary tasks of the film poster and film magazine cover. The characters which will be included in the photoshoot are the two main characters, the protagonist and the antagonist.

Date/Time
Saturday 2nd January: 11:00 a.m - 12:30 a.m