Trailer
To begin the project, I researched both theatrical and teaser trailers in order to gain a good understanding of the conventions to create an effective and accurate media product. Following this analysis, it became clear what these conventions were and the difference between the two types of trailer.
One of the main conventions that came up in the analysis of all the trailers was the footage had been shot especially for the trailer. This is so the film can be promoted while it is still in production or to create a back story. We have done exactly this by using especially shot footage that provides a back-story explaining the killer’s death. We have not focused of showing the narrative, which is another convention of a teaser trailer we have adhered to. A teaser simply acts as a way of getting the title ‘out there’ and the storyline can be indicated in a theatrical trailer at a later date. Our trailer also holds back a lot of information to create a sense of mystery which is another convention of a teaser trailer.
To ensure our trailer was a teaser, we followed these conventions as closely as possible to ensure that our product is accurate and will fully serve its purpose. Research was also conducted into the slasher-horror genre, including an analysis of killers, plot lines as well as titles. The conventions of these were highlighted to again ensure that we create an effective media product. All six killers that I analysed happened to be male, all with some form of deformity or wearing a mask. This is something we wanted to challenge, and did so by creating an unmasked female killer. Our intention was to create a sense of realism, and did so by using a killer that was visually closer to human. The use of a mask or deformity is generally to highlight the killer’s separation from humanity and the other characters involved however, we have highlighted this separation through the use of costume; a blooded old fashioned nightdress and bare feet. Many killers showed a menacing facial expression depicting a pleasure in killing; we have shown this in the final frames following the film’s title. This also indicates her change of personality following her death or capture as well as leaving a strong image in the viewer’s minds.
In the research stage, it also became clear that killers in this genre were normally killing to gain some sort of revenge for an incident that has happened to them prior to their death. In our trailer, this is told through the use of a voice over, explaining that she suffered years of prejudice because she was believed to be a witch and eventually went into hiding where she was caught and hung. The reasons for this accusal is not clear however it did not need to be as it was important to retain information to create a sense of mystery.
As identified in the plot lines that were analysed, we included a mixture of amoral and more intelligent teenagers in our synopsis. A group of teenagers can be seen in the trailer however their character traits are not displayed. Although one of the conventions of a teaser trailer is to introduce character, we have focused the trailer purely on a back story of the killer and the characters personalities can be shown in a theatrical trailer at a later date.
Film Poster
To accompany the teaser trailer, a film poster was also designed and created. I looked at existing film posters to influence my decisions on the design and content. It was clear that film posters of this genre used conventional colours such as black, white and red which can also be seen in my research into slasher horror titles and the use of this in our own title can be seen here: http://hangingontheheath.blogspot.com/2009/11/051109-film-title-designed.html We decided to follow a more simplistic design, using minimal colour and imagery to follow that same sense of mystery seen in the trailer, using this poster as our main inspiration: http://www.midwesthorror.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/hatchet-horror-movie-poster.jpg where the use of one piece of imagery creates other questions about what else could be in the film. Although the teenage characters cannot be seen in this poster, which may not make the target audience clear, we have indicated the BBFC’s 15 certification on the poster showing this film is suitable for that audience: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/ As mentioned previously, these characters can be shown in other pieces of the marketing campaign such as a theatrical trailer at a later date.
Magazine
Similarly, I looked at existing magazine covers to gain a clearer idea on the design and content. We wanted to make sure our magazine had the same quality as the biggest sellers such as Empire and Total Film so looked to these for inspiration. We decided to title our magazine Britscreen to target a British audience, using a simplistic master head to prevent the eye from being distracted by it. As seen in this issue of Total Film http://mos.totalfilm.com/images/m/magazine-420-75.jpg we overlaid part of the subject on top of the master head to gain maximum attention. Conventionally, a film magazine would use a close up or mid-shot as their cover image however we have decided to use a long shot to show the killers entire costume as well as setting as this could not be shown in her face alone. This also leaves more space around the subject to include subheadings indicating other articles in the magazine. We have chosen these articles to relate to other horror movies to promote this genre and fit with our cover story turning the magazine into a ‘slasher-horror special’.
By comparing our marketing campaign with existing campaigns, I think it is clear that we have created an effective set of promotional tools that can be accessed by a global audience, ultimately drawing in a potential audience of older teenagers, as well as creative and aspiring adults.
Our teaser trailer will spread a viral marketing campaign; the limited amount of information given in the trailer creates enigma and mystery, drawing the audience in, causing them to seek more information online and through other sources (the website address is listed in the final frames of the trailer) - this is an example of synergy, the promotion of a product through other media platforms. The hype created by this will spread further through word of mouth and continue to spread so that when the theatrical trailer, poster and magazine articles are released, there is already an established audience. Another example of this can be seen in the release of Batman Begins (Christopher Nolan, 2005) as there was already an established audience it was easy to create a viral marketing campaign through the use of a simple bat symbol with little text information. The use of the internet is particularly effective as our target audience will be 'computer savvy' and the use of this can be seen in the marketing campaign for Cloverfield (Matt Reeves, 2008) where social networking sites Facebook and Myspace were used to kick off a viral marketing campaign within the same target audience.
This method is needed for titles that do not already have an established audience. Again, films such as Batman (Tim Burton, 1989) will only have to release the iconic symbol as a poster to create hype, because its audience already exists. http://narrativebranding.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/batman.jpg
Throughout the project, both in research and planning as well as the construction and evaluation stages, a wide range of media technologies were used and converged into three media products.
We began by using both film and still cameras, to film footage for the trailer and still images for the other products. This was then transferred to the Apple computers using a FireWire and imported into iMovie where the clips were cut down, placed in order and combined with a copyright free soundtrack as well as a voiceover which was extracted from existing video footage. Following research, the soundtrack was taken from a copyright free source at http://www.freeplaymusic.com/
Production titles were created from scratch using Adobe Photoshop and imported into iMovie where it was placed in the appropriate sections of the time line. These titles are explained in more detail here: http://hangingontheheath.blogspot.com/2009/11/201109-teaser-trailer-final-edit.html
Once the editing was complete, the footage was exported as a Quicktime movie, both full quality and web streaming for use in the online blog. The still images were also manipulated in Photoshop, where they were resized, enhanced and corrected where needed for use in the poster and magazine. These products were also assembled using this software and were finally exported as a JPEG file so it can be viewed online.
All three final products were uploaded onto an online blog using http://www.blogger.com/ where evaluations both in text containing hyperlinks, and video can be seen. As this is a modern, more efficient way of accessing media, popular with a technological savvy audience, it can be a valuable asset to the marketing campaign as it can be accessed by the target audience globally. Similarly, the marketing campaign for Cloverfield (Matt Reeves, 2008) used the internet to create a viral marketing campaign through the use of the social networking site Facebook. This meant information prior to the films release could be accessed by the target audience through a website used frequently by them.
Any videos uploaded onto the blog were also uploaded onto http://www.youtube.com/ as an alternative if any technical faults and various images such as film stills, storyboard pages and flat plans were uploaded onto http://www.flikr.com/ to shorten the blog, creating a more dynamic way of viewing lengthy information, making it easier to take in. Part of the audience feedback was gained by collecting comments on Youtube as well was http://www.facebook.com/ as stated previously, using the internet as part of a marketing campaign is an effective way of accessing a particular target audience, in this case, an audience of teenagers and young adults who will be frequent users of the internet.
