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

Aswell as producing a short film, I was given the task of also producing two ancillary products, a poster for my film, and a double page magazine spread with an article. To first deceiver the effectiveness of my main product and ancillary texts, I must first look at the four Fs of poster and magazine design:

• Format - They are the design choices that are repeated. These are used to define the magazine/posters overall look and feel. Included are a logo, cover line, size, department headers and other things that repeat in every issue.

• Formal - It is the editorial content (eg: what is included in the magazine). This includes the type of articles, their length, departments in the back and front of the book (The same sections used in every issue of the magazine) all make the formula.

• Frame - The frame is the standard size for outer pages, margins and also gutters. Majority of magazines use the same sort of margin width throughout the content of the magazine; others sometimes vary the width, using tall top margins for features to set apart the well, for instance. The rule for using margins establishes consistency from issue to issue.

• Function - What the magazine and poster itself is trying to achieve and the message it is trying to send.

Poster and Film

Crucially my poster and film had to match each other as in the industry itself, the advertising and the production of the film are all done by the same company so unlike the magazine spread, there had to be consistency and similarities. The text I used for the tag line and the actor names is the same text used at the beginning sequence of my film, this is the sort of level of consistency and familiarity I needed to keep throughout the entire production. The characters are both wearing the same costumes that they are wearing in the actual film which massively links the two production pieces together.
I used a red colour filter over the images of the two characters, as a subliminal message to the viewer of danger, as we know that red represents this as well as anger, which ties in with the theme of revenge throughout the film. In keeping with the use of colour as a tool of representation I also used black as a secondary colour for the text at the masthead and footer of the poster, due to black representing death and darkness, again, another theme of the film.
To add authenticity and a sense of realism to my poster I added at the bottom four logos, a "R" rating, which is an American certification system I know but in my opinion it looks better than the British certificate ratings. The logo for the "Motion picture association of America" was added because through looking at other different movie posters, there was a common theme that the majority of them were approved by this association or one similar, by having their logo at the bottom, so for this reason I chose to put it on my poster as well. Finally the "20th Century Fox" and "Dolby Digital" logos to make it appear like it was produced by real, big time production companies, again, to add authenticity.

Double Page Spread and Film

For the second ancillary task, I created a double page magazine spread, which unlike my poster, did not have to show as many signs of similarities to my film, because usually the film and magazine production companies are entirely separate manufacturers of entertainment, with some, very few exceptions. However, having said this, I did need it to show signs and indications to the reader that the pages were about my film, even before reading a single word, this was done through use of images and text. The first thing you'll notice when looking at my double page spread is the title of the film at the top of the page, for obvious reasons this is vital for gaining the readers attention and highlighting to them that these two pages are all about the film. Moving down on the first page reads the films tagline "What is lurking behind you?", not only does this, as a rhetorical question, involve and entice the reader into the article, it also gets them thinking further, wondering what the film is about, whilst showing them that there is a horror/thriller aspect about it. Beneath that is a "fake" quote from a real movie critic, Peter Travis, who is a well respected and highly popularized critic within the film industry. The quote, along with the five star rating, is the kind of positive note that forces you to indulge deeper into the article and read what its about, all the while adding an authentic essence to the entire spread, like that you would find in a real magazine article about a film. I used varying fonts and text sizes to make each section stand out individually, and to come across as unique.

The second page features a large body of text from a real person, Shaun Goater (ex-professional footballer) but fake movie reviewer. Again, at the top of the page reads the film title "Don't Turn Around", which instantly tells the reader that this is linked to the last page, that along with the background image of the house split into each side of the two pages. Beneath the body of text is an image of our main actor and protagonist, Ashleigh, as the film is centered around her, it shows only her eyes which is effective in the sense that it looks like you are being watched, which links in with the tag like "What is lurking behind you?". The colour scheme on both pages had to match the theme and emotional feel of the film, for that reason I chose a very dark and dull colour scheme, but not so much as to appear boring and unappealing, I feel a created the right balance of grey, black and white to indicate to the audience the theme of darkness in the film, just by looking at the page before reading a single word.

Evaluation - What Have You Learned From Your Audience Feedback?

To gain myself appropriate and relative audience feedback for my film, I made a questionnaire for a few of my close friends and family to answer anonymously. The questions were both open and closed in order or accumulate a variety of responses. The questionnaire itself was quite short however the questions asked allowed me to really understand and analyse feedback from both my target audience, and other age groups. Below are the questions given, and their responses numbered 1-6.

After watching, use one word to describe the film

1. Scary
2. Intense
3. Suspenseful
4. Slow
5. Confusing
6. Jumpy

What was, in your opinion, the best part of the film?

1. The bit where she points the gun at herself.
2. When the girl is looking through the box and the demon thing is behind her.
3. The ending where she's killed her boyfriend or husband.
4. I liked the opening shot of the box, I thought that was a cool way to start the film.
5. When the ghost is standing behind her telling her to kill the boyfriend.
6. Where the necklace drops right at the end and you hear a gun shot but don't see what happened.

After looking at the poster, what genre would you think the film is?

1. Horror
2. Horror
3. Horror
4. Thriller or Horror
5. Ghostly Horror
6. Horror

If you could, yourself, add anything to the film that you felt was missing. What would you add?

1. More blood
2. A little more back story for the demon
3. A scene where you see her kill the boyfriend
4. Maybe a bit more dialogue
5. A fight between the demon and the girl in like her head or something
6. More jump scares

Finally, what would you rate the film out of 10? (1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest)

1. 7/10
2. 7/10
3. 8/10
4. 6/10
5. 6.5/10
6. 8/10

Having received and listened to all of my audience feedback I decided that it was predominantly positive and for that reason I won't be changing anything from both my final film, and both my ancillary tasks. None of the respondents had really negative feedback to say, however all the critiques I was given especially in the 4th question, I have taken on board and agree with completely as I myself would add quite a bit to my film if I had enough time to go back and if I could make it as long as I wanted. It was quite difficult to make a horror film that was both scary, interesting and conclusive all under a very low time window. The main critique being more introduction and explanation for the demon, and if I could go back and add, or change anything, it would be a sequence where you understand why the demon is there in the house, in the first place and what it wants.

In addition to that, what I would of changed if I could do the movie again, I would start by changing the scene where she is sat at the table with her boyfriend, by muffling the dialogue a bit more to make it feel like you are listening from inside her head. As well I would have changed the scene when the demon is standing behind Ashleigh and the camera is cutting quickly, I would have made that sequence a bit longer with a few flashed of the demon by itself, and towards the end of the sequence I would have made the cut to black longer, to add more suspense as I feel that was something that lacked throughout the film.

Overall, I gathered from the film that it was fairly easy to digest and follow, bar one exception which was respondent 5 who said the film was at times "confusing", which I fully understand as I myself felt that there was alto of information and story that wasn't presented to the audience that probably should of been, again, due to the short run time. However challenging this, all other responses indicated to me that the plot was simple to understand and the scares weren't over used or over saturated to the point where the film becomes repetitive and therefore boring. The only thing that could have been remotely debatable for the audience was the reason why the demon is there and what its purpose is.

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

Throughout my the research, planning, production and evaluation stages of my coursework, I have been able to use a variety of different media technologies, and computer software's and programs  both ones I am familiar with and ones that are new to me, this has allowed me to progress my already pre-existing knowledge of useful technologies and also develop understanding in other similar areas. They have all aided me in different ways, to produce my coursework and some have helped more than others have.


I used blogger to showcase my various posts and work throughout my research and the planning for my film. I have previously used blogger before during my AS coursework so I knew how to use it in most aspects, however there were a few things that I learnt this time that were new to me, for example the ability to put frames round pictures and change the layout of my blog itself. These were all useful in the aesthetic sense for my blog.






For editing the actual film portion of my coursework I used a software called iMovie. I had previously used this software in personal projects of mine so I was able to apply my pre-existing knowledge to the editing process of the final film. This ranged from simple techniques like, cutting, splitting and uploading clips, all the way to adding sound and video filters, adding voice overs and slowing down/speeding up clips.

For filming, I used a Canon EOS 700D DSLR Camera which I had not used prior to this project. However from using this specific model I have broadened my own understanding on various cameras and was able to use it practically, efficiently and correctly. There were no limitations from using this camera due to it being a very high spec model, and I was also able to use features like the light correcting lens on it in order to adjust light filters for different shots.





Canva, again, is an online program which I have previously used in my AS coursework last year. This time I was able to use it to produce both of my ancillary tasks, which were my film poster and my double page magazine spread with an article. I used all my prior knowledge of this program to produce what I feel are two realistic and quality products, there were no limitations when using it due to it being so simple and easy to understand. I believe this is the best site for producing products like as it contained various different styles and had loads of editing techniques available.

I used Photoshop for the images used in my poster and double page spread, and in my opinion is unarguably the best editing software available. I am quite familiar with this program prior to this task, so this was not hard to get a hang of. Especially as my photos did not need that much editing anyway, just a few colour alterations and adding a filter to the pictures, this is by far my favourite editing software and the one I enjoyed using the most for editing the pictures for my ancillary tasks.

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

Throughout the production of my media products, I have incorporated and included many classic conventions of a paranormal horror film. The genre itself toys with the fear of the unknown and what we deem to see as normal in life, and I have used this in the production of my film in order for it to be easily digested and recognized as a horror. A key aspect of the supernatural genre is the idea of an omnipresent being or entity, that later indicates danger or inflicts harm upon the main protagonists, not only does this show in my film but I have also used many of my own implications of this idea in order to convey a shorter run time and create a story line easy to follow. Throughout the film it is evident that the entity shown is that of an antagonistic nature which will follow onto the theme of death and darkness, due to the colour scheme throughout being very dull and unhappy creating a good setup for the plot and horror to unfold.

Another aspect of the supernatural I would like to discuss and one of the most prominent features of horror is the use of a relate-able and likable main character that will frequently confront disturbed characters or entities and situations, which usually will often be the encounter in the story. Nevertheless, to some extent, I've gone in contradiction of this convention, as my main protagonist, Ashleigh initially seems to be quite sullen right from the start due to the lack of dialogue throughout the film and this is done on purpose in order for the audience to be able to compare her with that of both her partner and her surroundings, which show similarities, foreshadowing to the viewer that something is about to happen.

The supernatural tends to heavily focus on the relationship between the possessed and their mind, with this I was able to show the process of a once seemingly normal woman thrown into mania and a state of possession using cinematic and editorial techniques like quit cuts of a still image, distorted sound score and slow paced build up, which in my opinion this film has plenty of. There has to be this element of build up to make the process feel and seem for believable to the viewer else otherwise they wouldn't be able to identify that this person is going through a traumatic experience and that we are taken along with it. This would not be achievable by having my protagonist normal one shot and then absolutely manic the next, a key sequence which highlights this is the second to last, where she is seen with the demon behind her, whispering in her ear and holding up the pendant.

Jump scares are more of the recognized conventions of any horror, or in some case at least a disturbing build-up of images creating a tense viewing experience. I included only a few jump scares in order to shock the viewers even though it is for a split second, it is the moments after a jump scare in which the viewer is vulnerable and this is the moment when most directors hit you with the real horror. One of my favourite directors, James Wan in a TV interview “Horror is much like comedy, you come in with both the scare and the punchline of the joke, and if your timing is off, both are not scary or not funny”, which he says that timing is a key element in making a good jump scare, and I have taken inspiration from this and incorporated it into my own work.  Numerous main stream horror films contain quite a lot of jump scares; a cheaply made “cash-grab” would include only jump scares. I've decided not to 'over do' the convention, due to my film being only five minutes long, and containing one every half a minute would not produce the anticipated result.

In response to my previously made statement, one of my favourite directors of all time has to be James Wan, who has directed movies such as, The Conjuring (2013), Insidious (2011) and Saw (2004), which are seen to be as some of the last few centuries greatest and scariest horror films. It is apparent that Wan borrowed many elements of The Shining (1980) and applied this into Insidious, as we follow father Josh Lamberts decent into mania which eerily mirrors the transformation from father to maniac that we see from Jack Torrence in The Shining, not only have I attempted to mirror this in my own film, but we also feel great amounts of empathy for Josh and his family as the film strongly centers around their unity and relationship similar to what we see from the 80s horror classic, whereas a film like Amityville Horror (2005) which showcases a fathers pure anger and hostility, we don’t feel a real connected to him or the family like we do in Insidious, and through analyzing this theme of family and unity we can see James Wan adapting his own take on the deterioration of a once loving fathers mind. By utilizing the formula of a classic horror better than many imitations do, this elevates Insidious a couple of notches higher than many other modern horror movies as it is done in such a way that stays true to itself without tarnishing the reputation of its predecessor. This is exactly what I have tried to recreate in my film, and what I feel I have taken the majority of the inspiration from when it came to the production.

Storyboard

Story board made 01/03/18

Ancillary task - Double page magazine spread

Ancillary task - Poster