5C plan

Media evaluation 

By Jack Gilbert 

The aim of our moving image production was to create a new and creative trailer in the form of a  horror film, catered to teens and media consumers who enjoy that style of movie. After looking at my movie trailer I feel that I have successfully achieved the brief and purpose of this movie, ensuring my trailer fits all of the requirements and making sure that the movie trailer is a representation of the movie genre that I am trying to portray. After completing pre-producion and production of the movie trailer I have concluded that the ideas and finished product that I have shown is successful in its purpose, this is because the trailer effectively makes viewers feel on edge and tense. Although not a completely original idea, my trailer has ideas that differ from the stereotypical horror trailer, for example with my use of varying shots. On the other hand I have demonstrated that I can research into other successful horror trailers and implement them into my ideas to further develop the intended response that I wanted. For example I have used multiple shots such as over the shoulder shots, and shots of peoples feet (running) to show themes of a horror movie. These shots are highly common in horror trailers and movies and prove effective In making the audience on edge; In order to replicate this feeling I have applied them to my trailer, therefore furthering its effectiveness in achieving the requirements of the brief and purpose. 

Within the production of this task we as a group have made decisions to alter the presentation, storyboard and shots included in this trailer. We feel that the choices we have made concerning the altering of the production of this trailer is necessary in order to create a successful moving image within the time provided and the resources available or unavailable to us. An example of a change that we have made along the way through production would be the storyboard. The storyboard experienced changes throughout so that we could meet the deadline provided. When trying to shoot the footage for the trailer using the storyboards guidelines, the shots listed proved to either be to complex to replicate due to the lack of resources or capability, or proved unsuccessful in achieving a professional look to them. Furthermore, due to the shots listen on the original storyboard being unsuccessful, changes to the shots, such as camera angles, locations and more had to be altered, adding time to the production of the trailer. However I feel that the changing of these shots is justified as the shots that are included in are finished production are as good, or better than the ones originally pitched. Lastly we have had to make changes to the presentation of this moving image. Originally all parties, myself, mollie and Hannah would produce and edit a film trailer together and present it as our finished product, however after some conferring and guidance from our producer (mrs rolls) we have decided to present the film using our own editing, therefore creating three trailers all differing in editing while having the same shots available to us all. I feel that the altering of things within our production has proved helpful to us, it has ensured that the deadline is met and has meant that the outside company has more trailers to choose from, therefore increasing their contribution and feeling of control over this moving image production. 

A key part of the success of this trailer was the contribution of all parties involved. Overall I would say that we all contributed well, however I feel that some may have contributed more than others. In regards to myself I felt that my contribution has been highly helpful, I have been involved with shooting of lots of the shots seen in the final trailer, I have been involved in the acting within the trailer, evident by the content of the trailer itself and additionally I played a key role within the pre production of the moving image. The contribution I made within the pre production phase of this moving image was significant, I was responsible for the storyboard and storyline for the trailer and movie. These are both huge components within the production of our movie, both of these components I feel contributed heavily to the success of the moving image production. Additionally I have edited my own trailer without the influence or decision making of anyone else in my group, therefore making my trailer all individual work. 

In regards to the strengths of our production, pre production and post production, I feel that there is a lot of strengths displayed. The pre production of this task was very successful as I came up with a storyline that succeeds in portraying a horror movie. I effectively researched into the key components, demographics and psychographics that would like the movie genre and therefore catered my film around the knowledge that I had obtained. I successfully found a target audience that I feel would like the moving image production that we have created, while also using the information to come up with a secondary audience that may also like this genre. The production phase of this task also contained many strengths including: the inclusion of multiple varying shots such as shots with different angles, types of shots and more. An example of a shot that uses camera angles is the shot with the knife. In this shot we use a low angle close up to show the knife in detail while also showing it at multiple angles for the audience to see. Moreover we used a close up shot so that we could pick up the audio from the knife against the counter. Although I didn’t use the sound of this in my trailer I felt that the sound of the knife against the counter was symbolic, easily recognisable and fitting with the horror genre. Moreover we used other shots such as POV (point of view) shots, low angle, high angle, close, medium, long range, establishing shots and more. The use of shots and camera angles has allowed us to increase the tension shown within the trailer. Lastly, in the post production phase I have been successful in editing, using transitions, text and editing raw footage to make it as professional as possible. one of the strengths included in the post production of the trailer is the ordering of the scenes. In the trailer I have ensured that I use a non-linear storyboard as to not give away the plot of the movie. This is a strength as it makes people want to watch the movie, while also preventing them from knowing the storyline before they watch it in full. If I had used a linear editing style this would have made the film predictable and would have also meant that people are less inclined to watch the full movie as they would have felt as if they have watched it before, therefore loosing revenue for the outside company and not meeting the requirements set for us. 

Although my trailer was good and for filled the requirements set for us, I feel that there is still room for improvement, and example of this is an improvement in our groups time management when in the production phase. Due to school and other commitments, group members were regularly unavailable to meet for filming, this in turn hindered the time it took to produce our finished product, causing stress and confusion. To combat this if done next time, I would set dates where people are required to meet up for filming, therefore making the production phase smoother. Secondly, to improve our preplanning phase, I would distribute the work load evenly, therefore making everyones contribution equal, and relieving myself from stress due to having a higher work load than the rest of my team. Another thing I would change about the pre production of this task would be the characters. I feel like the characters that we have used may be common in the horror genre, meaning different characters other than teenagers may be better for the movie as it sets the movie apart from many others. On the other hand having the main characters be teenagers is good because they are relatable and are also representative of the target audience that we are trying to appeal to, therefore making it beneficial for us to stay with the teenage characters. Lastly, an improvement that I could make concerning the post production of my trailer would be the use of different or multiple sound effect such as the implementation of the knife against the surface, or screams, whispers an other sounds that are commonly related or used within horror movies. The use of sounds such as these would quickly reinforce the message that the trailer is a horror trailer, therefore grabbing peoples attention quicker. Moreover I could implement  audio such as voice overs, use of a deep voice saying creepy messages could be effective in making the trailer scarier or tenser, making the movie seem more appealing. However a set back that we could face with this is that finding a man with a deep voice, fitting and willing to play the part may be hard.

In my opinion I feel the use of a mask like the one we purchased was helpful and influential to the success of our production. Additionally I feel that the last filming session that we had was one of the most influential things done within our production stage. We focused on the killer and the emphasis on the use of multiple camera angles and shots. In conclusion I feel that myself and my moving image production has been successful in achieving and for filling both the brief and purpose of the trailer, therefore I feel this product, if distributed to consumers would be greatly successful.