Research and Planning questions/explanations

What real media and audiences did you look at? 

We looked at a variety of different horror films such as 'Cabin In The Woods', 'The Blair Witch Project' and 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'. We looked at these films because these all adhere to many of the typical conventions of a horror film. This meant we were able to take on board what we have seen in these films and work them into our film. This would mean that our film would be more recognisable as a horror film to our audience. This would make our film more enjoyable for the audience.

We also looked at our target audience. We looked at individuals who had a keen interest in horror films. We did this because they would know the typical conventions in a horror film. This meant when we questioned them about what they would like to see in our film it would be reliable and accurately similar to real horror films, therefore making our film similar to successful well known horror films. We used the same media and audiences for both AS and A2. We did this because we chose horror as the genre for both our media productions which meant all our research was relevant to both our productions. For our AS production we had to construct a two minute opening, so we looked at successful horror film openings. However, for A2 we needed to construct a trailer so we looked at horror film trailers such as House At The End Of The Street.

How did they inform your thinking about your media production?

The real audiences we looked at informed us about what they would like to see in our horror film.

This helped us with ideas for our 2 minute opening and trailer as they would be our target audience so we wanted to include things they most wanted to see. Also, if we made it appealing to the small sample of people we looked at, it would most likely appeal to a much wider audience.

How did you record all that research?

We recorded our research for our AS production by analysing two minute openings and making a note of what conventions the openings have adhered to. We could then use these conventions in our own film to make it more appealing to the audience. For A2 we used the same method, however instead of analysing two minute openings, we analysed horror film trailers. These informed us about what we should included in our trailer, therefore making it more conforming to the horror genre.

What primary research was undertaken?

AS: The primary research we undertook for our AS production was a questionnaire that we distributed to a number of people. The type of questions we included were about where they would most like to see the location for the film set, which murder weapon they preferred and if the murderer should have an iconic costume. The purpose of this questionnaire was to get an idea about what our typical audience members expected to see. This meant that we were able to adapt our opening two minutes to live up to the audiences expectations which, in turn, would make our film more enjoyable for our audience.

A2: The primary research we undertook for our A2 production was the same as what we did for AS. We kept the same method for extracting our primary data as it was the most effective way to reliable results.

How did it inform the production?

AS: We were able to understand what our target audience most wanted to see in our film e.g. murder weapon, location etc. So, as the most popular location was a woods we set the location for our film in a woods. This meant the audience would be most likely to enjoy watching our film as they would prefer the location.

A2: Similar to AS it meant we were able to include what the audience most wanted to see into our trailer. We changed some of our ideas in order to cooperate with the audiences preferences. E.g location.

What is the effectiveness of these kinds of research?

For both AS and A2 this research was very effective as it provided us with up to date information about our target audiences preferences. This meant we were able to adapt our production in order to suit our audience which would make it more enjoyable for them.

What quantitative and qualitative analysis methods were employed?

For both AS and A2 the quantitative analysis methods we used were questionnaires. We used closed questions in our questionnaire which meant the individuals answering the questionnaire had to chose one of the answers we had written on the page. This meant we were able to get a quantitative result which made it easier for us to understand what are target audience's preferences are.

The qualitative analysis methods we used were interviews with target audience members. This meant that we were able to get unique answers from each individual but could also be relate able to other target audience members.

How did the results from these inform the production?

These results informed the production as we were able to determine what our target audience would like to see, which allowed us to successfully modify our film ideas to adhere to what the audience wants to see.

What is the effectiveness of these kinds of research?

These kinds of research are extremely effective as it means we were able to successfully adapt our film to suit the audiences tastes. This means that they would be most likely to enjoy our film. It also means our film is likely to be successful as we know that from our research we are including things the audience wants to see. This lessens the risk of failure for our film

Evaluation activity 4,How did you use new media techologies in the construction and research,and planning in the evaluation stages

Adobe Premiere Elements 10- We used Adobe Premiere Elements 10 to edit our film. We decided to choose adobe because it was fairly simple and easy to use. Our film was only just after one minute long so we didn't need to use really complicated software to edit. Also because our film was relatively simple we didn't need anything too complicated. Adobe Premiere Elements 10 was best suited to our film. The group and I have no experience in editing as we have never edited before so we also didn't want to use anything too complicated otherwise it would of taken us too long to edit which would have pushed back our finishing time. Despite Adobe Premiere Elements 10 being fairly simple in our editing process, it did offer a variety of different effects and transitions. This was good because it allowed us to choose between different effects and transitions which would best fit in with our film to make it the best it can be.

Blogger- We used Blogger to upload everything we have done throughout the year. Blogger was an effective website that we used as we were able to document our progress and keep a track of everything we have done. It has showed our journey right from the very start up until now so it allows us to see the progress we have made over the past few months.

Camera- The camera we used was a DV1 camera. This was the most important aspect in the making of our film because it was the item that captured our film. It was a decent camera as it did the basics (take pictures, film etc.) however it was not as good as we would have hoped. The picture was fairly clear however we had issues with zooming. Throughout our film we needed to zoom in during one of our shots however we were not able to do this. This was because when you zoomed in during one of the shots it was very jumpy which resulted in a very bad quality clip. This therefore meant that we could not zoom in during our shots.

Youtube- We used Youtube to share our finished product with our audience. It is very simple to use so did not cause us any problems when it came to sharing our film. Youtube also played a big part in our research. We were able to watch other openings to films of our genre and get ideas from them and also see the conventions they follow and if they subvert any of the conventions. This helped us establish what we needed to do to make our film successful.

Enigma Codes of our film "the disturbed"

Enigma codes pose questions to the audience which will then be answered later in the film. Examples of enigma codes are 'Who is that?', 'Where are they going?' etc. Enigma codes are an important aspect of any film as it enables the audience to become intrigued about the film and influence them to continue watching the film.

In our trailer we have used various enigma codes to entice the audience. For example the audience will be asking 'Who is that?' when they are shown an over the shoulder shot of a suspicious figure following the victim. This means that the killers identity is an enigma as the audience will want to find out who the killer is by watching the film. This leads on to the next question 'Why is the victim being followed?' and 'Where is the victim going?'. These questions are all questions the audience wants answered and the only way to get these answers is to continue watching the film. Other enigma codes we used were 'What has happened to them?'. This is when the audience are shown a long shot of the victim being dragged through the woods. The audience cannot be sure what has exactly happened to them but will be intrigued to find out which, again, will make them want to continue watching our film. These enigma codes have all been recognizable in our trailer. During our audience feedback a strength of our film was that our mixed story line made the audience question what is happening which enticed them to continue watching.

Evaluation activity 2 director's commentary and marketing campaign of our film "the disturbed"

https://soundcloud.com/cory-nelson-24/directors-commentary

Our poster, magazine and trailer all compliment each other as they are part of a consistent and recognisable advertisement campaign. Each one was unique and had a different format-allowing our audience to see the film from a different aspect.

The main, and most obvious, link between them is the establishment of its horror genre. Each of the pieces included the props from the film,including a knife and dark hooded clothing-which is a clear indication to the genre. It was most difficult to make the magazine cover look like a horror magazine as we had to use various pictures, a mix of original and existing pictures, to compliment the final picture. We also had to make it look as sinister as the poster and did this by creating a fogged out background-setting the scene for the trailer. We gave prevalence to the main antagonist in both the poster and the magazine because we wanted to create an idea that this antagonist would not disappear and be every where you look. This made it clear that the main focus of the trailer would be the antagonist and this is evidenced in the trailer as we have various POV shots from the antagonist-to allow the audience to experience the antagonists side instead of the protagonists side, like many other horror films do. This gave the campaign its own unique feature; films usually focus on the protagonist and aim to make the audience feel for them where as we aimed to make the audience become, a sort of, detective in order to work out the mystery-viewing from the perspective of the antagonist and from a neutral perspective. At the same time we also focused on the main protagonist, Rachel, in the trailer by showing her to be different to the other characters and was also given prevalence in the trailer. This follows Claude Levi-Strauss' theory of binary oppositional forces; the stories focus on the conflict between opposite forces, in this case it is between good and evil. To make this binary opposition clear we had the the main protagonist wear white casual clothing and the main antagonist wear black hooded clothing-which makes it easily recognisable for the audience. The trailer supports this theory as the first half focuses on the antagonist, including POV shots, and the second half focuses on the protagonist and how she will survive this masked murderer.

The next obvious feature that links our campaign together is the title of the film; it is on all three pieces and is, hopefully, one of the main focal points.The titles on all three pieces is big and bold-with the most obvious part being the blood splatter behind the white text. This allows our audience to identify our advertising campaign and understand that they are all related. On the magazine front cover, the viewer will recognise the antagonist and the title as it is shown on both the poster and the trailer-making it the main feature of our advertising campaign, making it feel like the antagonist is following them around. In the trailer the title is shown right at the end, with the rest of the credits, making it very obvious and recognisable as it takes up the whole screen. This conforms to the conventions of a horror trailer; if the title was at the beginning the audience may have forgotten it by the end, whereas it the title is at the end the audience maintain their interest and are more likely to be interested in the film. Overall the title is another main focal point as it is reinforced throughout the campaign-making it very clear for audience to identify.

Another way that our advertising campaign successfully works together is through showing the film in different ways. This is highlighted in the differences between the poster, trailer and the magazine front cover. The trailer focuses more towards the storyline of the film whereas the magazine is more informative and focuses on the behind-the-scenes side, This allows the audience to get to know the film on multiple levels as they see the film from behind and in front of the camera. It also allows the audience to see how each scene was created-allowing to feel involved with the experience. The poster, however, aims to give as little away as possible-creating many enigmas. The "Enigma Codes" theory, devised by media theorist Roland Barthes, states that the purpose of the author of a media text is to keep the audience guessing through establishing enigmas for the audience to work out. Our campaign conforms to this theory as the audience are left guessing and trying to work out the motives of the antagonist and who he is.

The magazine front cover offers a slightly different perspective as it includes five star reviews and interviews with the actors-which gives the audience another reason to watch it as the film is highly rated and successful. This conforms to the "Uses and Gratifications" theory by Blumier and Katz (1970), as it fulfils the need to interact with others- as it allows the audience to watch it and talk about it with others. It also gives information that the poster nor trailer have as it has the feature of behind-the-scenes interviews, allowing the audience to understand the film and gives them something to discuss with their friends-again conforming to the "Uses and Gratifications" theory. The trailer on the other hand also conforms the "Uses and Gratifications" theory; offers a different perspective into the world as our film is a true story-creating a sense of fear and causing the audience to reinforce themselves.

Overall each part of the campaign works both individually and together to create a successful marketing campaign that is easily recognisable and is appealing to our target audience. There are many enigmas established and we have used many theories to help boost the impact of our campaign. Despite the different parts of our campaign having their own unique techniques and using different features, they all still clearly link together and make a strong, successful marketing campaign for our film. 

Evaluation activity 3 Audience feedback video's

From the audience feedback we were able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of our trailer. From the feedback we identified that our strengths were how we effectively used non- diegetic music to create tension and the use of the black screen with 'Based on a true story' written across it was successful as it also created tension for the audience. Also our shot types were successful. The over-the shoulder shot we used caused the audience to question why the victim is being followed and it encouraged them to continue watching the trailer in order to find out why he is being followed. Also, the close up of the murder weapon was seen as a strength of our film as it emphasises the size of the weapon which could be seen as more lethal to the audience. Another strength of our film was the way we used fast paced shots. This kept the audience enticed to our film and encouraged them to continue watching. The other close up we used was of the victims hand hitting the door at the very last scene. This was seen as effective as the audience will want to know what has happened to the victim and whether she is likely to survive or not. We also successfully used high- angle shots to show our victims are vulnerable and weak. This allowed the audience to understand that they don't have much power and are most likely to be targeted by the killer. These are all conventions of horror films which means our film can be relateable to successful horror films. Our mise-en-scene was also effective, especially the use of clothing. We adhered to the typical conventions of what a killer would wear- dark clothing to hide their identity. By adhering to this it meant the audience was able to recognise that our film genre is horror and therefore may make our trailer more scary for the audience. Also our story line was seen as quite mixed. This meant that the audience were seen small sections of the films which concerned different characters. This meant the audience would be wondering whats happening to each of them and if they are all linked to one another. However, the weaknesses of our trailer were that we didn't differentiate the transitions we used between shots. This perhaps meant that the audience weren't as enticed to our trailer as we didn't offer anything different which could create tension. Another weakness of our production is that it was hard to understand how each of the characters were linked. This may make it hard for the audience to watch as they will be trying to work out what relevance each character has to one another. So to improve this we could have included a scene of all our characters together with some dialogue which gives the audience a bit of background information as to how they are all linked.

Audience theory evaluation

The hypodermic needle-This theory suggests that a media text injects its ideas, values and attitudes straight into the passive audience.for example horror films are classified 18 because of the messages are deemed too frightening for a younger audience (the human centipede 2-banned altogether).our film incorporates the message of every time a girl is walking alone in the woods she is either being stalked in a vulnerable position or being chased by someone.

What does the theory suggest?	Strengths?	Weaknesses?
The theory is injected in the audience like a syringe used to inject a drug into the body, and it directly injects a message into the minds of the audience.	The approach draws attention to the power that media producers have, and to the importance of the forms of media to which audiences have access.	The “injected” audience is seen as passive and powerless, however they have they are smart and create their own perceptions of the media. It also suggests that all people think the same way, however we are each individuals and have our own ways of thinking-creating our own perceptions.

Reception Theory-This theory suggests that a media text is not passively accepted by the audience,the viewer interprets the meaning of the text based on their own cultural experiences and the meaning of the text is created through the relationship between the text and the reader.

What does the theory suggest?	Strengths?	Weaknesses?
Audiences are seen as active producers of meaning, rather than as merely consumers of media meanings. They make sense of media texts according to their social position and their gender.	This approach values highly the specific, personal and contextualised responses of individuals and groups. People’s life experiences are important influences which enable them to make active choices as members of media audiences.	The readings and responses of the audience are given more emphasis rather than the institutional aspects of the media. Some researchers can get side-tracked into analysing audience lifestyles, and thus media reception is sometimes neglected in favour of a more holistic sociological approach.

Uses and gratification-In the 1970s, media theorists Blumler and Katz presented their model of audience uses and gratifications, declaring that there were five main reasons why audiences consumed media texts: To be informed and educated,In order to identify with characters and situations,To be entertained,To enable themselves to socially interact with others (by watching, listening or reading together or through discussion of what they've see, read or heard),To escape from their daily troubles and woes.

What does the theory suggest?	Strengths?	Weaknesses?
Instead of researching what the media do to the audience, this approach studies what the audience does with the media. This approach also takes account of people’s personalities and personal needs.	The audience is seen as active and reasonably intelligent. Life experience in general is regarded as more influential than experience of media. The pleasures that the media offer audiences are not regarded as negative.	Too much optimism about the ‘power’ and ‘choices’ of an active audience can distract us from the power certain texts have, or the influence that media institutions and ownership may have on texts and understandings.

The male gaze-Laura Mulvey came up with the term ‘male gaze’ and she argues that in films the audience view the film from a heterosexual male point of view;Woman may be objectified in films for the pleasure of the male viewer.Characters/narratives etc may be designed to appeal to a male audience.Rachel's character of the young vulnerable girl is the main male gaze character to attract the younger audiences to watch as she is a good looking character amongst normal looking men.

Utopian solution theory-Richard Dyer states that entertainment texts offer audiences a ‘Utopian’ or perfect ideal that they can access through media consumption.This ‘utopia’ is in contrast to the imperfections and difficulties audiences face in their own lives.The Utopian Solution theory is in evidence as the audience is positioned to see Katniss Everdeen try and overcome great odds and succeed in winning the tournament and protecting her loved ones and we will take pleasure from her triumph.

The cultivation theory-This theory also treats the audience as passive and it suggests that repeated exposure to the same message, such as an advertisement, will have an effect on the audiences attitudes and values. A similar idea is know as desensitisation-which suggests that long term exposure to violent media makes the audience less likely to be shocked by violence and more likely to behave in that manner.

What does the theory suggest?	Strengths?	Weaknesses?
As audiences watch more television or films, they gradually develop certain views about the world, some of which are false.	This approach draws attention to the fact that audiences gain a lot of their knowledge from the media and also recognises the important role the media plays in our lives.	This approach can effect viewer’s perceptions and is hard to prove if accurate or not.

The two step flow theory-which was in a previous post, sees the audience as individuals who are active and interact with the communication process and use media texts their own purposes. It is the active audience model and is considered to be a better and more realistic way to talk about audiences. We behave differently because we are different people from different backgrounds with many different attitudes, values, experiences and ideas.


Todorov's theory-states that a film and a trailer can be broken down into five sections. These sections are an equilibrium at the start, a disruption of that equilibrium, a recognition of the disruption, an attempt to repair the disruption and the final stage of where the equilibrium is restored. Here narrative is not seen as a linear structure but a circular one,this narrative is driven by attempts to restore the equilibrium. However, the equilibrium attained at the end of the story is not identical to the initial equilibrium. Todorov argues that narrative involves a transformation. The characters or the situations are transformed through the progress of the disruption. The disruption itself usually takes place outside the normal social framework, outside the ‘normal’ social events.In terms of our film Todrov's theory is incorporated in aspects such as a group of friends being together before different clips of them being killed of in mysterious ways . 

For example:

• A murder happens and people are terrified.

• Someone vanishes and the characters have to solve the mystery.

• The character start to work out the pattern and track down the murderer.

• The characters try to catch the murderer by setting up traps and attempt to get the police involved.

• The antagonist is caught or killed and the characters live the rest of their lives, well the ones that remain.