Evaluation 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback? 






It is clear that the movie was well received by the two A Level students shown in the video clips above. One of these students is currently studying A level Media Studies at our school, and found the film very funny as he understood the responsibilities of having to go out and complete a movie, which can be stressful and saddening, depending on the student and movie style. This is good, because our specific target audience was teenage male students, but we knew that Media Studies / Moving Images would enjoy the film more, as they would find it much more relatable.

The movie works well for those who have a tolerance for comedy, and one member of the audience even commented that the horror was more of a black comedy and they found it quite funny throughout, rather than just up until the island scene. I have found that an audience can be attracted that are doing coursework subjects, not just Media Studies. The audience found the editing 'choppy' in parts, and commented that not all the audio was as clear as it could have been. If I was able to change the movie, I would re-record all the dialogue, rather than just the audio that was completely unusable. The soundtrack was well received by all, especially the use of the violin cover of the Pirates of the Carribean theme, which most viewers could recognise.

We decided as a group after showing the movie to an audience that our foley wasn't so good. This was because it was our first time using foley for a movie, and we thought it was easier than it turned out to be, so if we were to use it again, we would research the best way of using foley in a movie, then going and using it. My favourite thing about the audience feedback was that the audience actually cared about the characters we created and their deaths, which I was very proud of. This was due to using the comedic features, such as telling jokes. Making the audience laugh made them more connected to the characters, and then the horror elements take them by surprise. From this, I would definitely like to see more comedy-horror movies in Hollywood, because I believe the right film team can create an excellent movie.

Evaluation 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real 
media products?

Evaluation 4

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? 

Evaluation 2

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?


Note Form & Emaze

Notes:

Marketing is very important for any movie

Looked at posters from similar style movies and movies we like (wicker man & Star Wars poster) 

Decided to create montage poster

Shows a lot going on

What makes it effective

Shows 3 main characters and setting, recognise actors without even seeing the names

Shows cast names

Relevant font

Colour scheme 

Viewer knows the movie will feature a dock / pier / lighthouse

Review includes social media platforms for promotion 

5 star verdict on movie, clear indication of how good the reviewer thought it was

Well written, doesn't give away the whole plot

Everything compliments eachother well, they all follow the same sort of them

Effective ancillary texts

Emaze:

The Poster

Our poster was inspired by 'compilation' / montage-style posters like Star Wars and the other posters shown below. These posters were our favourite type of poster as they show a lot going on from the movie in one image. The protagonists, the three boys and the villain are clearly shown on our film poster for Samhain. 

This version of The Wicker Man poster is a similar style, but using hand drawn images. I admire the border and symmetrical sky design. I wish to adapt this technique to our poster incorporating dismal colours. To do this, I will draw images by hand, scan the drawings and convert them on to Photoshop, where they can be perfected and formatted in a fashion to grab the audiences attention.

As the film is a horror, I will need to draw some ominous pictures, such as upset skies, desolate islands, and an unnerving portrayal of the Pagan Wildmen. Using colours such as Red, Black, Grey and Deep Purple, will further help the audience indicate that the movie is associated with the horror genre.

Incorporating key images you see in the film is important when emulating this style, the light house, town, boat and the three characters will therefore feature in this poster.

We took in to consideration the dimensions of our film poster, as international standards are used for any poster. In the US, the size for an advertising movie poster is 27" x 40", known as the one sheet.

The Magazine Review (Described in Evaluation)

Historical Research

Historical Research

The background of our film is loosely built around the Pagan festival 'Samhain'. This is an important part of the year for Pagans as it marks the 'Feast of the Dead'. Samhain was the time of the year where the veils of underworld and our world are at their thinnest, where the dead spirits could mingle with us living humans. In Pagan ideology, death is not something to be feared, but celebrated as it is a key point in life as is being born. Samhain is what those who are aren't pagans would know as Halloween.




Inspiration for the film comes from the stories of the primitive pagan barbarians, who would sacrifice humans with the award of demonic power. In researching some ancient Northern European customs, it is believed that on summer solstice; the longest summer day, human sacrifice rituals had taken place. The purpose of these savage rituals is to connect with nature or 'the other side'.

It is said to be a danger in calling on to random spirits, but by covering ones self in the blood of the sacrificed will give power in the spiritual realm, but if not protected by the blood, demonic oppression can occur.

For our film, three characters will have sinned or tampered with an unwelcoming presence, the acts of those seeking the three characters blood will be inspired from the brutish last rites of Satan's worshipers.