LIAAR analysis of film websites

LIAAR analysis of horror posters

First draft of my film trailer

I meant to upload this raw footage of my film trailer to show that I had something filmed back in November. Before the new year, I was off due to personal reasons and as a result I wasn't able to film. This isn't really a film trailer as it's not edited. It's more like a short film and is very linear which isn't the conventions of a film trailer. It needs to be re-organised, add inter credits to show off director, actor and production names so the target audience recognise them and become more drawn in. The lighting is not very well done, there are hints of yellow and the shots used within this do not really signify the genre.

Development of my horror poster

To begin with, to create the fog, ripped wallpaper look I used "Render" and selected "Clouds"

 

To make the white more predominant and connotate the genre, I increased the contrast quite a bit.

 

I then started to create the scratched effect. So I went and used the effect "Ocean ripple"

By doing this, it create more of a distorted image.

 

To create the scratches, I used Motion Blur.

 

I then increased the pixels to increase the effect of the scratches and I changed the angle to 90 degrees so that they are straight lines.

 

I then used a old paper texture. This is only one of the two outside resource I have used from Google images. It is only to make the wallpaper look more predominant.

 

I applied the overlay effect to the old paper texture layer.

The overall look was too yellow and did not reflect the genre enough. So I used a new adjustment layer and selected gradient map.

 

I messed around with the gradient and selected the colours brown and white to add more of a psychotic/asylum look

I began to add text. At first this font I downloaded from the site "Da.font" but I realised that this is using too many outside resources and resorted to using the font "Trajan Pro" which was first selected in my planning. I wished to experiment with a downloaded font but I recieved feedback that it's using too many resources that are not made from scratch,

 

I then placed the tagline underneath the Masthead to see how that looked although in my planning the tagline was above so that it didn't get in the way of production, director, social networking information.

 

I selected the style "Outer bevel" so it added a sharp and bold look to my text. I did this to make the tagline more effective and stand out to my target audience.

 

To create the blood trickling from the walls, I used "render" and selected fibres"

 

There was too many black lines and I did not want too much blood as that is over powering and demonstrates gore which I am not reflecting to my target audience. I changed the output levels of the white in the colour balance so that there was only a few lines.

 

I then applied this effect and selected the paint tool to fill in the selected lines with a deep red.

Drafts of my horror poster

Here is my initial first draft. Due to time constraints, I uploaded this to prove that I have started my ancillary texts. I received feedback and it was a mixture of negatives and positives. Firstly, the background did not really reflect the genre which is a major convention in film posters. It was too "bright" and that it's not a signifier of the genre. The typography for "Host" must be present within the film trailer and I used a font that was available on my computer, but not the editing machines at college. So I must change this. The typography for the directors and production was good too.

I then received feedback again and had a mixture of criticisms and positives. I have used a colour scheme which signifies and denotates a worn, old wallpaper from existing posters like Sinister, The Last Exorcism and Hostel. By using familiar conventions, it will draw the target audience in. The white background creates a engima of how old this mystery has been going on, will there be a solution to the box connected to the little girl. Again, I need to change my title but I thought I would improve the background graphic first. I was told that I could improve the background graphic by adding some effects such as mist which could reflect the genre even further. 

Here, I added the conventional mpaa.org symbol which is found on all movie posters. I stated it was written by Stephen King. Stephen King is a widely recognised author and therefore it would capture my target audience's attention. The feedback was quite positive this time. The white fog effects added to the poster adds more of a psychological enigma and signifies the genre. It was said that the white fog effect connotates an asylum look which adds more of a psychological effect which is what I'm achieving. I still need to add a main image which fully grabs the attention of my target audience. The text doesn't really reflect the true psychological nature which is white and black. The red text connotates gore and is more appropriate in a zombie film.

Here is the improved black and white text for the main title to connotate and signify the psychological elements of the film. I asked most people what they thought of my poster, if it needed a main image. Some said it doesn't really need it as the post creates enough enigma as it is. But I felt that my poster did need a main image so that it looks better.

I decided to choose the main image as a doll's house. The doll's house colour was originally pink. I decided to de-saturate the colour  If I left the colour pink it would contrast greatly against my colour scheme which is to create a psychological feeling and would defeat the objective of signifying the genre to the audience. I was then told as a final improvement to maybe add a child's toy to further demonstrate the genre.

Shot list

Shot 1: 0:00 to 0:04 Mppaa. org film ratings
Shot 2: 0:04 to 0:07 Lionsgate advertisement
Shot 3: 0:08 to 0:09 Establishing shot of house (Colour correction so it looks like it was set in the night)
Shot 4: 0:09 to 0:10 Medium close-up of weeds
Shot 5: 0:10 to 0:11 Back to Establishing shot of house with voice over
Shot 6: 0:13 to 0:16 Cut to the child's drawing (graphic)
Shot 7: 0:16 to 0:18 Inter credits; 11 Years later
Shot 8: 0:18 to 0:20 Over the shoulder shot Alx is speaking to Danny (Equilberium)
Shot 9: 0:20 to 0:23 Family sign
Shot 10: 0:23 to 0:25 Over the shoulder shot "Ryan is coming over later"
Shot 11: 0:25 to 0:26 Static effect
Shot 12: 0:26 to 0:28 Inter credits; "From the directors of Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity 4 and Sinister"
Shot 13: 0:28 to 0:38 Medium shot of Ryan proceeded by the dialogue "Sorry I'm late guys. But I found this box in my attic. I'm not really interested." -Peaceful music stops-
Shot 14: 0:38 to 0:45 Close-up of the box surrounded by darkness but is illuminated so the audience can see accompanied by voice over "It has a ancient mythology which I was told about, it was owned by a little girl. I thought you would be more interested in it than me."
Shot 15: 0:45 to 0:48 Medium shot of Alx opening box
Shot 16: 0:48 to 0:50 Over the shoulder shot of Alx looking inside the box and a Voiceover of Alx stating that she has been doing some sleuthing of about the dead girl who owned the objects
Shot 17: 0:50 to 0:52 "It's said that she used to own a bracelet" Close-up of the bracelet
Shot 18: 0:52 to 0:54 " A pencil"
Shot 19: 0:54 to 0:57 " And writing paper"
Shot 20: 0:57 to 1:02 Over the shoulder shot of Alx opening the paper to reveal the message "I see you" "What the hell?"
Shot 21: 1:02 to 1:03 cuts to black
Shot 22: 1:03 to 1:06 Cuts to mobile phone out of focus gradually to in focus
Shot 23: 1:06 to 1:09 Medium close-up of Alx picking it up worringly "Hel...lo?"
Shot 24: 1:09 to 1:14 Alx holding a knife with the tip on her finger it shows a close up of the knife in focus as opposed to Alx who is out of focus
Shot 25: 1:14 to 1:17 Intercredits: How far would you go to save your family?
Shot 26 1:17 to 1:25 Medium close-up of Alx holding the knife coming into focus Voiceover (Danny to Ryan) "Alx has been acting really strange since she got that got box, you haven't noticed anything have you?" Alx then looks up sharply.
Shot 27: 1:25: 1:30 Medium close-up of Alx of her scribbling on the paper "People suffering...People dying"
Shot 28: 1:30 to 1:33 cut to graphic of Children's drawing
Shot 29: 1:33 to 1:36 Intercredits "No-one can save you"
Shot 30: 1:36 to 1:39 Two-shot of Alx and Danny sat at the table in medium close-up Danny asks Alx "What's the deal with that box? Why are you so enthusiastic about it?"
Shot 31: 1:39 to 1:42 Danny is sat down and his laptop is next to him. It's playing music via youtube accompanied by Ryan's voiceover "It's said that the box is associated with the Jewish deity Dybbuk. It connects to the world through animate objects, videos, pictures etc
Shot 32: 1:47 to 1:50 Alx's possessed state then appears on Youtube in full screen after the cuts of black screen
Shot 33: 1:50 to 1:54 Immediately cuts to the scene where it looks like Alx is going to stap Danny's hand
Shot 34: 1:54 to 1:57  Intercredits: You will never escape the nightmare
Shot 35: 1:57 to 2:00 Medium close-up Alx is sat on the bed scribbling again
Shot 36: 2:00 to 2:03 Medium close-up of Danny "Alx are you ok?"
Shot 37: 2:03 to 2:06 Medium Close-up of Alx "For whom the bell tolls..."
Shot 38: 2:06 to 2:09 Medium closeup of Danny accompanied by the voice over of Alx "It tolls for thee"
Shot 39: 2:09 to 2:10 Medium close-up of a knife dropping
Shot 40: 2:10 to 2:12 Ryan says to Danny "The exorcism has to be performed tonight"
Shot 41: 2:12 to 2:14 Intercredits "Lionsgate studio presents"
Shot 42: 2:14 to 2:15 Medium close-up of the scribbling on the paper
Shot 43: 2:15 to 2:16 Low angle shot of Alx holding the knife as she's walking
Shot 44: 2:17 to 2:18 Cuts to the desolate field
Shot 45: 2:18 to 2:19 Cuts to the camera falling down with Danny on the floor
Shot 46 2:19 to 2:20 Intercredits 'The Host'
Shot 47: 2:20 to 2:21 Extreme close-up of Alx's eye
Shot 51: 2:21 to 2:22 Intercredits "Have you seen her.com" #THEHOST See more at (facebook logo) Facebook.com/HostMovie
Shot 52: 2:22 to 2:23 Alx's eye closes -cuts to black-
Shot 53: 2:23 to 2:24 Alx's eye colour has changed altogether
Shot 54: 2:24 to 2:25 Intercredits: coming soon

Site Navigation Plan

For my website, I made a basic navigation plan on Microsoft Word so that I had my pages properly organised.

LIAAR analysis of 3 horror trailers

Target audience research (continued)

I decided to present my research/audience profile for Empire on a PowerPoint presentation slide. I decided to look at film magazine demographics and psychographics to truly establish my target audience as I didn't know where mine fell exactly.

I then decided to investigate the Bauer Media Magazines website to see if my research was correct and it is reasonably accurate. For the purpose of copyright, I don't own the above statistics. It was used to get more of an insight into Empire's target audience. The data shows that the main readers are mainly are 15-34 and over which matches what I had discovered. This source is reliable as it dates back to April 2012 - September 2012

I then decided to research "Total Film". It seems that the demographics and psychographics which I have stated in my research correlates with the poll results in my blog. In my poll results, 50% of my votes are in the E category. I then established that my audience would be the following: "C2DE" as that matches my vote.

Explanation of the quote "For whom the bell tolls" (Intertexuality)

"For Whom the Bell Tolls" - Intertexuality quote e by Dan.T on GoAnimate

Animated Presentations - Powered by GoAnimate.

I decided to look at specific meanings that I could include as dialogue in my trailer which would add intertexuality. I used a goanimate to explain the interpretation as opposed to just plain text - using different ways of presenting my research. I decided to use this mainly as it's a famous Metallica song title and I heard the line used by a character in The Walking Dead game.

Audience Profile

I decided to make my audience profile on PowerPoint to show case the use of ICT to present this.