audience theory

Examples of audience theory-

-Blumer & Katz

-Young and Rubican

- Dyers star theory 

-Male gaze theory 

-Passive and active audiences (hypodermic needle)

It is very important that as well as planning our trailers we have to look at different types of audience theories to see how our trailer can relate to these different theories. Due to our trailer being a horror film it is a good example of the effects model which is still the dominant theory that is used by politicians, the media and some religious organisations. This theory suggests that watching a certain type of film can have an effect or impact on the way a person behaves. this could be the case with our film as it is a horror and shows some violence scenes. we have to make sure that the rating of our film is appropriate so that viewers are not to easily influenced. examples of other films that follow this effect model is 'childs play', 'a clockwork orange' and 'manhunt'. 

film poster analysis

This is a typical example of a film poster. This is is different from a teaser posters it has a to more content. This film poster follows most of the conventions of a normal film poster. An example of this is that it gives away the name of the main actress. This is important as it will not only gather a bigger audience they will also gather the attention from the previous fans of the actress, which will give the film a larger audience before it is released. this is a typical example of a film poster as it follows many of the different codes and conventions of a horror poster. By looking at the poster you can see that the main image is the eye of a woman. This could suggest that she is the victim in this film which would show an example of a typical stereotype. 

film poster evaluation

During our lesson i had a look at a film poster and a film magazine that other students had produced. i looked at these as it gave me an idea of what was expected from my poster and magazine cover. when i looked at these products i evaluated them and picked out all of the things that had ben done well and then the things that could be improved. The first one that i looked at the was film poster shown below. This was graded at a level 4. this was because it stuck to the min conventions of a film magazine, it had a wide variety of texts and fonts as well as good integration of the text and the images. There was only a few things that were wrong with the magazine, such as it is not clear if it is a teaser trailer or a full film poster.

film magazine evaluation

During our lesson i had a look at a film poster and a film magazine that other students had produced. i looked at these as it gave me an idea of what was expected from my poster and magazine cover. when i looked at these products i evaluated them and picked out all of the things that had ben done well and then the things that could be improved. The first one that i looked at the was film magazine shown below. This was graded at a high level 3. This was because they had used the correct conventions of a magazine for the page layout, used a variety of different font and text sizes, has a good use of IT and ha good integration of illustration and text. The reason that this didn't get top band was due to only a few minor issues. for example the bar code was places in the wrong position and on the wrong side of the magazine. The title of the magazine also needs to be a bit bigger and a different font as it doesn't look as realistic as the real magazine title.

Teaser Poster

This is a teaser poster for 'The Dark Knight'. this is a teaser poster as it reveals very little about the film other than the title, release date and a tagline. The purpose of the release date is to hype people up for the film and get them excited to see it as soon at it comes out in cinemas. they also use a tagline from the film to spark interest as well as giving a connection to events that happen during the film. The image on the poster relates to two main people within the film. the black eyes and the red mouth symbols the main villain in the film which is the joker and the mouth also is in the shape of a bat which represents batman himself who is the main character in the film. The main colours that are used in the film are dark blue and black. they use thee course as it is supposed to be a dark and intense film, these colours symbolise the darkness and make the poster look dramatic. The bat is in red to make it stand out as thats the main give away from the film. This poster meets most of the conventions of a horror poster. an example of this is the colour scheme that is used. most horror films use black, white and red which is the same colours that are used in this poster.

The role of posters

The main point of a Film poster is to advertise the release of a new film. this is because they are usually released very early on and release the date of the film, which gets people excited and hyped up for the film. the posters usually have a range of different information about the film such as the name, the main actors and actresses, the information about its release and the age rating certificate. The posters usually name popular actresses or actors that are starring in the film as it attracts viewers due to the popularity of the stars. the Role of film posters is also to target specific audiences. for example for a film there may be several different posters made so they are all able to work together to target a larger audience. As well as being used to advertise the film, they can also become merchandise. This is because if people are looking forward and excited to watch the film and enjoy it after they have watched it they may decide to purchase one or more of the posters for the film.
There are any different types of film posters that are used for different things, such as teaser posters, character posters and a motion poster. A taster poster is usually used a promotional poster that is released before the official one. it usually doesn't give away much information about the film but contain a large image to spark interest. its main purpose is to generate excitement for the film. the character posters usually just feature a large image of the main character or 2 characters that star in the film. there is usually a tagline to reflect the qualities of the characters.

25 word pitch

"A girl is murdered and her stalker knows it was one of her friends, he decides to torture them to find out which one"

Camera Workshop

During our Media lesson we went out of school and went along to the local film festival. when we were there we met with camera man Robert Foster. Meeting him and taking part in the talk helped us and gave us tips and ideas of what we need to include in our trailers, for example-

- lighting is very important to create high quality film  (creating a professional look)
- it is more difficult to make good quality film without some sort of budget
- to film in dark places you usually need to have high budget lighting to make it look real and    professional
- The lighting inside and outside has a different colour temperature- this is very important when choosing a shot
- natural lighting is better to use as it creates less shadows
-making sure that you use appropriate camera angles depending on the type of shot that you are filming
- continuity is very important. for example you have to make sure that in different filming sessions you use the same lighting to ensure that it stays the same throughout.

BBFC guidelines and age classification

There are many general factors that can influence the age classification of a film. These factors are the things that that decide the particular age rating of a film.


context-
the context of a film is very important when deciding on an age classification. Things such as sex, language and violence are an issue if they are presented in the film. when deciding on the age classification it is also important that they review the manor of the behaviour that is being shown. For example if this behaviour is shown in a violent or aggressive way then the rating will be higher than if the behaviour is used in a more light hearted way as this may be seen as less offensive.


discrimination-
any content that can be seen as offensive in any way relating to race, gender, religion or sexuality must be reviewed and the age classification will depend on the strength or impact of the behaviour. If however the discrimination is being used to challenge the view rather than offend then the rating is more than likely to be lower.


drugs-
films following the guidelines of the BBFC are not permitted to show the misuse of drugs and any films that do may be cut. films that do normalise drugs may be given a higher classification than those who show drug use but also the dangers that are involved.


imitable behaviour-
classification of those films that contain imitable behaviour depends on how extreme the behaviour is. For example films that show anti social behaviour/bullying and involve objects such as weapons and knives are more likely to receive a higher classification. other films that try to promote illegal behaviour are more likely to be refused a classification and cut completely.


language-
within a film there is no set list of language that falls into each classification. the classification on language is based on how rude or offensive views may find the content. for example some people may find that sexual, religious or racial language may be very offensive as they are commonly seen as rude gestures. however due to this being based on personal guideline it is very hard to come up with a set age classification so most of these are just advised age restrictions.


nudity-
if nudity is shown In a film with no sexual content is acceptable to be shown at all age classification levels however it is not often shown in films that are rated 'U'. The films that show nudity as part of a sexual content will receive a much higher classification and will not be rated anything under '18'.


sex-
sexual activity in a film and can be anything from kissing to detailed sexual actions. it is becoming concerning to the BBFC that overly sexualised activities are becoming too normal for the younger categories. the way the classification works is that the older the age restriction the more sexual activity they are allowed to show. films who have a primary purpose of showing sexual scenes will only be shown to the adult categories that are 18 and over. films that are 'R18' rates may also only be shown at licensed cinemas.

audience research

for my audience research i asked 10 different questions to find out wha the target audience likes and dislikes in a horror film to help give me an idea of what they would like to see included in my horror film. 

For 2 of our questions which were 'do you think that home footage is effective in horror films' and 'do you find plot twists thrilling and exciting' we asked our audience to state why so we had a more detailed response. 

here are some of the responses.

Do you think home footage is effective when featured in horror films?

- makes the film more original 

- makes it more scary

- captures it as though you are seeing it 

- can create better suspense 

- adds a realistic element 

- leaves mystery 

- makes it look unprofessional

- adds to the suspense and tension and makes the audience feel more involved

-makes it more realistic

- makes the audience more attached to the characters

- more realistic

- you can see from the characters point of view

- first persons perspective, makes you feel like you're there

- can make it more scary

Do you find plot twists thrilling and exciting?

- stops horrors from being predictable 

- makes you reevaluate what you've already watched

- keeps it exciting all the way through 

- makes it more dynamic

-it can change the whole course of the film

- makes the film more exciting 

- keeps you interested in the plot

- its not always necessary

- increases intrigue in the film 

- makes it more unexpected 

- adds more of a thrill 

- builds tension

- always something unexpected

- keeps the audience engaged

why horror appeals to an audience

why horror appeals:

• The role of zombies is a reoccurring motif in horror films.
•  To make horror effective they have to make sure that is has realistic portrayals of human           relationships
•    Thrill when characters escape danger
•  Male death in horror is usually very violent and fast as well as unexpected
•  Women’s death is usually long and drawn out, the audience are waiting for it to happen.
• audience like the thrill without being in the situation 
•  fear without danger
•  to watch others reactions and responses 
• to feel a sense of accomplishment 
• allows the audience to escape from reality
• 
  

advertising research

Paranormal activity- 

• the target market was mainly for teens as the film was shown in college towns for anyone that wants to watch it
• some paranormal activity is a low budget horror film that was fixed in just over 1 week by Oren Peli. 
• the movie was first advertised when it was shown at a few film festivals, this went on for around a year.
• the film then came to the attention of DreamsWorks where they loved the film. 
• the film was only ever released in one city at a time. 
• there was then a website that was created for the film. when you clicked onto this website there was an option for you to vote. the vote was for the film to be shown in your city. 
• the website also stated that if it reached 1 million votes that it would be released nationwide. 
• the film had a very simple trailer
• gains views by listening to their demands
• there were Facebook and twitter ages created to allow he viewers to interact 
• the Facebook and twitter pages were proven to be more effective than a 30 second teaser trailer 

Insidious- 

• the first promotional clip from indigos was released on September 14, 2010
• The following December, the production company IM Global releases an image and sales poster for the film.
• on January the 22nd in 2011, FilmDistrict released the first teaser trailer for the film
• one month later the films theatrical trailer was made available to the public online via daily entertainment news site called Blastr. 
• the film insidious had its world premiere in the Midnight Madness program at the Toronto international film festival on September 14th, 2010.
• on 29th December 2010 it was announced that the film was going to be released on the 1st april 2011.
• it was released on DVD and Blu-ray on july 12th, 2011
• the Blu-ray disk contained 3 bonus features 
• the day before the films home release, son pictures and sangria hosted a free screening of the film. this was at the silent movie theatre in LA. this was then followed by a question and answer with the director of the film, James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell.

The Conjuring- 

• the first promotional images for the conjuring were released in November 2012
• the teaser trailer for the film was released in 2012 at the New York comic con.
• this was the start the marketing campaign
• the film was heavily promoted as 'based on a true story'
• tv adverts and trailers began to feature the real life family 
• the main use of advertising was the use of social media- this was used to attract a wider audience and to interact one.
• they created twitter and Facebook account which showed interviews with the characters as well as releasing posters and short film clips 

safe haven- evaluation

As one of my practise tasks i had to chose aa trailer and edit it to make it a new genre. The film that i chose to do was called safe haven. I chose to change this into a horror movie as there were some scenes that i was able to use that had dark lighting. This was useful as that is a common feature in a lot of horror films. i rearranged the original trailer which shows more of a love story and made it look like the characters were in trouble, and in danger of something. i removed certain scenes from the railer such as the characters looking happy and smiling. i did thesis i wanted to make it as effective as possible and happy family scenes ar not usually included in horror films. i removed all of the sound from the trailer as it didn't fit with the new genre. my plan for the sound was to add in scary music all the way through the trailer. the music i was going to choose had a childs soft voice in the background singing along with the music, this would have made the trailer a lot more eerie. however i struggled with this as i was not very confident using the programme therefore i ran out of time to add in the sound. after struggling with this task i watched a range of different videos and tutorials on how to use final cut pro which was the programme i was using successfully. i did this as i wanted to make sure that when i made my final trailer i was clear on how to use it effectively and without such a struggle. 

Analysis of original and recut of 'The shining' trailers

The shining- official trailer

In the original trailer for the shining the editing makes it clear to the audience that the genre of the film is a horror.  They do this from the beginning of the trailer by starting off with a voice over as well as showing the setting of the film with an establishing shot. The trailer shows the film to be set in the middle of nowhere with no people around. The voice that is talking to the audience says that the main character seemed to be ‘completely normal’ however this could make the audience think otherwise. There is juxtaposition between what the voice is saying and the action on the screen. The trailer then shows the main character walking down the corridor of an empty house holding an axe. This shows a typical convention of a horror film.  The voice over is matched to non-linear narrative shots, which implies what is going to happen during the film. However this wouldn’t be as affective without the voice over as it is this that provides the hints.  As you get further through the trailer the music starts to change and becomes atmosphere becomes tense. This suggests that the genre starts to become more obvious as the conventions of a horror film start to become clearer. The trailer also shows the characters with axes, knifes and blood which are the typical icons of a horror.

In the recut version of The Shining they have firstly changed the name to just ‘shining’ this is because it makes it sound more positive and helps it to match the new genre of the trailer which is a family drama/ romance.  The music in the new trailer has been changed to an upbeat happy song to imply positivity and happiness within the film.  The voice over has been total rewritten to change the narrative and other subtle changes have also been made such as the voice talking in a completely new tone. This is done as it is in harmony with the music so that they can work together to create an overall positive feel of the trailer. The new trailer has purposely been made to show many moments of a father and sons loving relationship in order for it to fit the typical conventions of a family/romance film.  In the original trailer at 0.29 seconds and in the new trailer at 0.06 seconds the same shot of the main character in a brightly lit office is used. However the voice over of the second clip overrides the original genre even though the shots that are used are the same in both of the trailers.  In the original clip it shows a shot of ‘Murder’ written on the door in what looks to be blood, which is an iconic moment of the film. However in the recut version of the trailer they have edited the same scene however it makes it look like there is just a child innocently drawing.

Crime and Gangster film presentation

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this is a prezi presentation which shows the different conventions of crime and gangster films as well as some history and background knowledge.

film analysis- The Matrix

Opening-

The opening of the trailer you see a city skyline, which gives the overall view of where the film is going to be taken place.  At the beginning it also shows characters just doing everyday things that you would do on a normal life.  Throughout the opening of the trailer writing flashes up on the screen talking about normal life and different activities, however after about 35 seconds of the trailer the message changes saying that ‘ you live life as a salve’. This could suggest that there is going t be an unexpected twist within the film.  The film title does not appear till the very end of the within the last 3 seconds. This could be done to encourage the audience to watch the full trailer and by the end be enticed to know what the film is.  This trailer does not include any credits, as they have no characters that would really stand out to the audience or characters that they want to promote.  

The matrix trailer is a full 2 minutes and 30 seconds, which means that it is a full-length theatrical trailer. These trailers are often shown closer to the release date of the film as they show more footage of the film. This can entice audiences even more as it gives them more of an insight into the film and the plot.  From the trailer you can gather that the film is a sci-fi however people may also say that it involves elements of action and fantasy.

You can see from the trailer that it is sci-fi as it from the trailer it doesn’t look like it is set in the normal world. This is shown with the green text which is commonly associated with sci-fi that is shown in the trailer as well as them talking about the future. You can see this at 0.38 seconds into the trailer as the editing of the trailer shows things happening that cant actually happen in real life. Although it is mainly related to sci-fi people may also say that it is fantasy as it takes you to a new world and has an element of magic, escapism and wonder.  People may also say that is has an element of action as it involves scenes with weapons such as guns and fight scenes. 

During the trailer you can see the plot start to build up, and you start to get an idea of what may happen throughout the film. However the trailer doesn’t make it too obvious, as this makes more people intrigued in the plot therefore more people will want to watch it.  The trailer shows a man throughout his intense training living too separate lives. He seems to be in another world where t shows actions that a normal human would not be able to do.

The main character is also faced with a problem that he doesn’t really know who he is or his true purpose and identity. He is told that the world is not real and it has just been created to hide the truth from people. The trailer suggests that his purpose is to save the world from a secret or an unknown event.

Film Genre- information

Horror 

• ·       Tense music
• ·       Ability to manipulate audience
• ·       Gore/ jump scares
• ·       Jaws
• ·       Roots- literature (Frankenstein)
• ·       Silent films – universal films
• ·       Iconic psycho shower scene
• ·       1960’s Hitchcock- the shining (psychological)
• ·       Hybrid- comedy/teen/monster/slasher
• ·       The rocky horror picture show- combines horror, comedy and musical
• ·       Old horrors are now being remade to a better standard
•      Supernatural is now seen as scary

    Action and adventure 

• ·       Fast plots with excitement
• ·       Recognisable structure
• ·       Good vs. evil
• ·       Hero is usually male
• ·       Overcome odds
• ·       Characters work towards goals
• ·       Special effects
• ·       High budgets and large amounts of merchandise
• ·       Great train robbery- first action film
• ·       60’s James Bond style movies
• ·       80’s big Hollywood blockbusters
• ·       Fast and furious/ avengers/ James Bond
• ·       Include sub genres e.g. Mr and Mrs smith includes action, comedy and romance
• ·       2000’s females started to have bigger roles creating a wider appeal

Romantic comedy 

• Appeals to mainstream audience

·       Usually involves a relationship between a male and female character

·       Film progresses and the characters fall out and then fall in love

·       Usually has a happy ending

·       Witty jokes

·       Usually a mentor character

·       Funny best friend

·       Light hearted

·       History relates back to Shakespeare  ‘much ado about nothing’

·       First romantic comedy ‘ trouble in paradise‘

·       Iconic examples,’ breakfast at Tiffany’s’, ‘Pretty woman’

·       Popular genre

·       Not many changes in the genre over time

·       Usually all have a similar plot

·       A few films flip the main conventions such as ‘500 days of summer’ and ‘pitch perfect’

·       Deal with more serious issues within the film- making people more aware

·       Hybrid genre itself- often combined with tearjerker sub-genre as well as fantasy.