Evaluation

By using a horror genre for my teaser trailer, I have had to research and abide by the many codes and conventions included within the filming and editing of a teaser trailer. A good marketing campaign is aimed at the target audience to boost sales and can make a horror film well known before it’s even released. My teaser trailer would hopefully draw in the viewer, making them want to find out how and whom had captured and imprisoned my subject, therefore wanting to see the whole film. Television advertising is very successful at getting a mass audience to view the trailer, however it is very expensive. With the increased use of the Internet this can make it easier and cheaper to advertise. The movie poster could be advertised on websites such as Facebook which would be directed at a younger audience, my target audience! The magazine image would be used for editorial advertisement and other places the advert could be posted is on bill boards to catch the eye of the passing motorists, posters at bus stops or even on the sides of buses. Other movie’s such as ‘Jennifer's Body’ and ‘The Last Exorcism’ have combined viral marketing with television advertising which have been very successful.

There were many trailers within the horror genre which made it easy to research different techniques used. For example, in The Last Exorcism, I noticed unsteady filming and editing including fades and tints were used giving the trailer an unsteady look. Also the use of darkness and non-diegetic music builds tension which I have included within my teaser trailer.

Conventions have been challenged by not including dialogue. I did this as it was a teaser trailer and so being quite a short length of time, I wanted to just make it visual so the audience could take in the short clips and get an insight into the film. Also, by making the teaser trailer short, it keeps the mystery without revealing who or what is in the woods.

Combination of ancillary tasks and main product

After analysing the cross media of Jennifer's Body, I noticed techniques such as keeping the movie title in the same font and style across all types of media was important. I have done this with my products and believe this has been successful. I have used a photograph at the same location where I filmed the teaser trailer in the poster and magazine cover. This links them together and creates consistency.

Use of new media technologies

It was useful creating an animatic storyboard on Final Cut Pro as I could get an idea of how the clips were going to flow on from each other. This helped me come up with new ideas I could use within my teaser trailer to improve it. I also practiced making a sound track with haunting music on Sound Track Pro. This meant that when I came to edit and add sound effects to my teaser trailer, I had an idea of which sound effects to use.

I have set up a YouTube account to present my teaser trailer as well as my storyboard.This meant I could receive feedback on there and compare techniques used in my teaser trailer to others of the same genre.

I have used Photoshop to create my movie poster and magazine cover as it had all the editing facilities I needed. I have edited the background image by placing the 'attacker' over a picture of the location where I filmed my teaser trailer. On the magazine cover, I then varied the text colour around the red theme and placed it around the picture following conventions. I also imported my own barcode to the magazine which made it look more realistic and professional. On the poster, I used the picture as the background and then placed the title at the top of the page and small text at the bottom. I put a website above this which Indicated to the audience where to find out more information and a release date in the same font as the title, keeping consistency.

This was the first time I used iMovie however, I found it easy to use. It was useful being able to import sound effects to play over certain clips, such as the scream, and being able to shorten the length of the clips. I also liked how I could insert transitions such as fades and different effects over the clips. I found iMovie has all the editing software I needed to create my teaser trailer.

Audience Feedback

I set up a survey on Survey Monkey to get feedback on my teaser trailer. I found this the best way as I could post it onto Facebook therefore reaching a large audience who are also between the ages of 15-25 therefore my survey was aimed directly at my target audience.

This is the link to my survey http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3NQCXXV

The questions are qualitative which will help me understand what my target audience like and dislike about it as well as give me feedback on how I could improve my teaser trailer.

I had 25 responses giving an average rating of 7.5 which I am pleased with. A majority of responses liked the music in the trailer as well as the filming as though the girl is being watched. The ending was ‘chilling’ with the scream and then ‘blunt’ with the thud of the stick dropping. The silence there after added to the horror effect. Some dislikes were that no action was shown although this is a teaser trailer so I did not want to give too much of the storyline away. Improvements suggested were to make some of the clips of the man longer as they were too fast and slightly too dark. If I had time to re-do this, I would re-film this when it was lighter and possibly make the clips longer. Only 3 people were not interested in watching the film as they either do not like horror films or they thought it followed the typical 'girl in trouble' storyline. This is because I have followed conventions on horror films. However, 22 people said yes they were interested or would possibly watch the film if it was released. I am pleased with this feedback I have received.