Evaluative Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop, or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our media product is the result of a combination of two horror film sub-genres, teen and supernatural/possessive. The blend itself is a subversion of general horror conventions with there being several teenage characters largely being associated with slasher flicks such as Sorority Row; in true possession films narrative is largely focused around one teen girl among adults, for example, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and the pseudo documentary, The Last Exorcism. Our product challenges the conventional group of characters in a possessive horror this is because of the feedback we received from initial questionnaires regarding the identity of our main demographic; females between the ages of 15 and 18.

The narrative location is briefly outside of the girls’ school and within one of the characters' homes; these are safe places in which a violation would be most frightening. This choice is a fairly typical convention of real media products that we agreed would also be effective in our piece. The home becomes a prison when the spirit takes hold of the girls.

 

A feature frequently used in trailers is the use of a voiceover or, more commonly an abundance of dialogue. We subverted this convention and only used one phrase in our media product, "What do you want?", which is screamed by one character directly into the camera, giving the audience the point of view of the possessed. Dialogue gives the audience more insight into the narrative of the film; we however, felt it more important to concentrate onappropriate mise en scene to give an idea of the narrative and the genre, for example, the ouija board. A non-diegetic soundtrack did much of the work of a voiceover, developing this idea into something more effective. One film that include both of these features is The Craft, a poorly received horror film from the 90s.  

We chose to associate our media piece with film companies Twisted Pictures and Dark Castle. We used their institutional idents to help give an indication of the genre and associate our film with others that have used these institutions. Institutional idents are a traditional feature in film trailers of all genres.

 

Without the code of heavy dialogue it was important to define our characters for audience, and let them stereotype them. By dressing them in school uniforms reminiscent of that of St Trinians it was easy to give the idea of upper-class private school girls, promiscuity and rebellion.

The use of conventionally attractive actors is a broad and common feature of trailers of all genres, only really differing when the narrative of the film is somewhat based on a character's disfigurement or simply that they are monsters. Attractive actors make films appealing towards those of the opposite sex and especially important in a film of this type. We conformed to this convention in order to make the film appealing to men, with women already interested because of they are unable to relate to the characters. An example of this is Sorority Row, a film that could be considered a 'Chick Flick' because of the majority of female characters, despite its genre. Attractive women and sexy clothing e.g. lingerie, make this film also appeal to men.

Teen party clothing such as that in Sorority Row or Night of the Demons reflects the desperate nature of the situation by becoming torn, dirty and often bloodied; this typical aspect didn't play a part in our production. In fact, very little clothing is seen after the turning point of the trailer; the characters continue to wear the same clothing but the low level lighting and frequent extreme close ups does not advertise this There is more than a suggestion however, of the dire and dangerous environment they are in demonstrated by a host of wounds, cuts and bruises display on our characters in the final third of the trailer.

 

Final Girl Theory can often be applied to horror films; these include Halloween, The Ring, The Grudge and Sorority Row. Although usually associated with Slashers, our Possessive/Supernatural Horror trailer was made with the idea  that the most morally 'pure' character would survive to defeat the demon. This is displayed mainly by the use of a weapon and that fact she is set apart from her peers by not 

'pursuing pleasure', for example, smoking and dressing provocatively.

The use of a knife as a weapon by the protagonist demonstrates the important skill of utilising the environment in order to give a better chance of survival. Weapons in horror films are generally
items found around the home in the desperate struggle to protect themselves and the other characters. Examples of this include Laurie in the 1978 film Halloween, in order to defend herself
against the crazed killer. The hint of subversion of this traditional convention is the actual pointlessness and hopelessness of such a weapon against a possessive evil spirit. This weapon is very
unlikely to defeat the evil antagonist and therefore will only provide temporary protection, if that. 

Teaser trailers generate an interest in the audience generally by showing some of the most exciting material of the film. These are fast cut in and often in an order that does not match the true order of the film. This gives little of the narrative away. This technique of creating disequilibrium is jarring to the audience and is a way of pulling them in.  Despite this however, our one minute teaser trailers also features scenes to establish information such as the location and characters, despite being a more of a characteristic of a theatrical trailer. Usually, in this kind of trailer about half of the product is dedicated to the establishment of the initial situation and the rest to confuse and entice the audience with the disruption of the situation, relating closely to Todorov’s Theory. We subverted the convention of disequilibrium so that we might include more of the narrative in our trailer.

• Our poster most obviously conforms to forms and conventions of the genre by featuring the film’s antagonist.
• Rule of thirds that is often used to create effective posters, this poster uses very defined sections. Our product does conform to this but not entirely accurately, giving a jarring effect on the audience.
• The bold whiteness of the face stands out against the background. White is a common colour used in the horror genre, usually coupled with red; this however is not featured.
  Unlike in teen horror posters such as Sorority Row or The Craft, only one girl instead of the whole group of characters is present, suggesting that she has some significance to the plot. This is namely as the embodiment of the antagonistic spirit, appearing decaying and threatening.
• Like the poster of the film Orphan, this poster employs the one iconic portrait.  However, it is to the side, creating a landscape image with the title present on the other side.
• Shadows around the image signify the darkness of the film and also so there are no distractions from the image, this is a convention we conform to because of its effectiveness. An example of this is the film poster of The Number 23. 

Our webpage is very typical of the horror genre and largely conforms to codes and conventions.

· Black background and same iconic image shows the threat and mystery of the events in the film, parallel to that featured on the poster.

· The title text of the page is at top in the centre, clearly standing out against the rest of the information on the page.

· There are share options linking to Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube, something that has become very common among sites that generate interest with viral campaigns.

· There are links so that more of the page could be explored, as well as large font in order to draw attention and clearly mark the different options.

· There is the option to pre-order the DVD, online shopping in the second function of any film webpage, after promotion. Our film conforms to typical codes around the film generating profit.
· Teaser trailer centre of the page, with the tagline of the film and the release date underneath it.
· Involvement of secondary images on the page such as the planchette that give clues to the genre and the narrative.
· Placement of portrait makes her appear somewhat predatory, and follows the idea of the rule of thirds.
· The main soundtrack has not been included. The site remains silent except for the teaser trailer when played to keep the focus on it. This is one thing that is uncommon among movie websites and a code we have subverted.

Changed Poster

-Changed poster by Emily

Audience Feedback Further Ideas

The original release date for our film was chosen to be '12/12/12', as we thought that the symmetry of the date looked appealing and effective, for example on the poster . 
However, it was suggested that a lot of horror films, especially those dealing with the idea of ghosts or demons, are released on Halloween. This is to create a sense of consistency and adds to the theme of the supernatural that is trying to be created, while relating to the enjoyment in being scared that can arise during Halloween. Therefore we made the decision to change the release date of our film to follow this trend, so that it would maximise on the audience we reached. 
Therefore this is our finalised and changed poster.

-Emily

Final Choice in Poster

We are pleased with the effects we created on this version and decided that it would be our final poster.

-Emily

Poster Further Editing and Feedback

We edited the initial edited image further in order to experiment with the appearance of the poster, using the same editing software or Adobe Photoshop and Picnik.com. We then used social networking site Facebook to gain feedback from other people of our target audience so that we could see which posters would be most effective.

This is the first possible poster that we created, using the initial edit of the selected image. It was popular with our audience, with many people saying that the make up looks very effective and scary. Some issues raised with it were the fact that it is perhaps too clear, such as the plain neck and shoulders.

This has been edited further using Picnik.com to create a dark and slightly blurred effect. We thought that it looked quite effective in terms of the black and slightly green colouring, as this is often linked with the supernatural, and also made it more mysterious by hiding even more about the girl and surroundings than the previous poster. This poster was also popular with our target audience, and it was reported that the colour scheme added to the scary effect. However,it was commonly reported that they would prefer it if it were slightly brighter and less blurry, so that the image of the girl and the text was easier to see to create more intense fear.

Combining the two feedbacks of the previous posters, we decided to use the same effect of 'Ghostify' on Picnik.com to create a monochromatic and slightly blurred effect on the image and text, but we lessened the blurriness and increased the contrast so that the image was much sharper. The blurred effect was enough to make the face seem somewhat distorted, adding to the unnatural theme of the image and relating to the corruption of humanity that occurs when the spirit takes over. We were happy with this effect as it made the face really stand out from the black background, with her decayed flesh and unnatural eyes becoming the most prominent feature of the image so that the supernatural theme is very clear. The black and white face also referred back to our interest in the 'The Number 23' poster in which monochromes were used. We experimented with the font, using the same font that we used for our teaser trailer of 'Sell Your Soul', as it is decorative and gothic in shape. We used a mottled red and pale yellow for the text in order to make it stand out against the background, and also to connote the ideas of blood and violence that are often represented in horror film posters. We have tried adhere to to the conventions of posters through this, and felt that the product looked very effective through the soft colouring. As the only colour on the poster, the red stands out and shows the connoted violence and threat to be a major part of the film. The slightly smudged effect of the text could suggest smudged blood, or an unnatural tone to the text as it is not conventional in appearance. The layout places the three pieces of information about the film of the tagline, the title and the production information in one third each of the right hand side of the image, following the rule of thirds to make the poster well balanced.

We experimented with a textured and coloured background instead of a plain black one, to see whether this aided the effect of the poster. We used Picnik.com to add the texture, fading it so that it was slightly visible but not the main focus of the image. The fading of the face against the textured background was effective, and the red colour being used across the background made it obviously a strong theme throughout the narrative. It also makes it appear more supernatural due to the aged and smudged look that is unconventional in normal film posters. In order to make the text stand out against the poster background, the title is very pale so that it appears white. The poster used the same layout as the previous poster in terms of positioning of the girl and the text. There was some concern that the added background detracted somewhat from the impact of the girl and the make up, and so lessened the blunt aim of the poster that was better achieved with a black background. 

-Emily (post)
-First poster edit by Meg
-Further poster edit trials by Emily

Poster Initial Editing of Selected Image

This is the initial editing of the selected image. We have mainly used the editing software of Adobe Photoshop. The image has been editing in a similar way to the test edit in terms of making the eyes appear unnaturally coloured and textured. More edits have been included by making the hair appear greasy and heightening the contrast so that the colours and flaky quality of the skin are harsher. This makes the face appear very decayed and unnatural, casting a very clear idea of the supernatural. It could be said to be similar to some zombie images, but this still links to the decayed impression that we want to create. The editing around the eyes has also heightened the shadows around them created by the make up and pose, making the girl appear very ominous and abnormal. We are pleased with this initial edit and will use similar techniques to create texture wording next to the image for the poster. This image could be improved through editing by making the shoulders more shadowed so that it is not as obvious that they are still normal in colour, as it looks somewhat strange currently.


-Emily (post)
-Meg (photograph and edits)

Poster Photo Shoot

We organised a photo shoot with the real girl that would be appearing in the poster as opposed to a test subject and repeated the make up on her face. We tried out different poses with this girl to see if she looked more effective in a different pose to the test subject, although they were all quite similar. Meg took the actual pictures as her expertise from Art and Design meant she was the most capable, as well as creating the makeup itself. Emily and Rhiannon gave character motivation to the model and suggested appropriate poses and expressions.

In this image the girl is leaning forward as in the test images, as we thought that this looked predatory and interesting. This again creates the idea of coming out of the darkness, which is a theme we are keen to include in the finished poster. However, the face needs to be more down-turned in order to create darker shadows across the face, as in this image her face is quite light, making her appear less threatening.

In this image the girl is leaning away from the camera and pulling a slightly snarling face in order to try and express a more animalistic quality. However, this does not work very well as it makes her shoulders too visible and does not make her look very threatening. Although the face is unusual, it does not have the same intensity as a closed mouth stare so is not as effective. As the girl is leaning away from instead of into the camera, it does not create the same feeling of invasion, which was part of the discomfort we were trying to create in the poster.

This is the most successful pose that we found, as the girl is leaning towards the camera and therefore inciting the predatory nature we wanted. She has also tipped her head forward in order to cast some shadows across the face, especially around the eyes. This makes her appear much more ominous, and her stare appears more intense. Her head is tilted very slightly to the side, making her seem slightly animalistic in her movements, and therefore showing her humanity to have been somewhat lost. We will use a pose similar to this one for our poster.






-Emily (post)
-Meg (photographs)

Poster Test Shots Edited

This is the selected shot with test edits and the initial layout plan. We have used photo editing software Adobe Photoshop and Picnik.com in order to create the effects of the strange eyes. The texture of the skin was also used behind the wording in order to produce a continued theme of colour and decay while also standing out due to the light colour. The face is close to the camera as it leans forward, making it appear more threatening to the audience, and this is emphasised through its stare straight out of the poster. According to the rule of thirds, the main features of the girl and the title and date of release are in the middle of the image. The tagline and other information is below in the bottom right hand corner. The background is black so that nothing except the title and face are shown, revealing very little about the narrative and portraying the darkness of the threat as it comes forward.
We were pleased with this test poster as it appeared effective in the positioning and make up of the girl. The placement of the title also looks good next to the face, showing it to be significant equally with the face of the girl. We liked the basic nature of the poster as it was not too cluttered with information that could lessen the impact of the image or the title of the film. The tagline plays into the title as it refers to the idea of paying for sins while undergoing penance, showing a definite religious or spiritual theme to the film. The repetitive nature of the date also looks appealing. The poster could be improved through the use of more editing on the face to make it appear even more unnatural, and perhaps by incorporating a different font that appears more striking and gothic.


-Emily (post)
-Meg (photograph and editing)

Poster Test Shots

We tried out different make up on the face to find the kind of effect we wanted of decaying skin. We wanted to create shadow on the face to make the face appear more gaunt and also more threatening. Meg used her skills learnt in Art and Design to aid the group in exploring different techniques in order to find the more successful one.

This attempt used porridge oats, fake tan, black paint, flour and water, with a layer of face paint over the top in order to accentuate the black circles of the eyes and the lips. However we found that the mixture did not create the desired effect of flaking skin and instead went brown and sticky. It was also incredibly difficult to paint on without the paint being obvious. Emily's similar colouring to our main character meant that she was selected for the initial experiment of the makeup, while Meg tried different techniques.

This attempt used just porridge oats, flour and water as we thought that the last mixture may have combined too many ingredients. This mixture was also too runny, making it difficult to paint on without the paint running down the face and creating black streaks. The mixture went see-through in some places, making it appear less realistic as so many different skin tones were visible. It did however emphasise the black eyes, although they were perhaps too obvious and created a panda effect. The mixture was somewhat flaky in areas.

This mixture used the same ingredients as the previous test of flour, porridge oats and water, although less water was added in order to make a less liquid-y product. This worked as it made the skin appear more flaky and decayed. It also created an easier base to paint on as it hardened to become more solid. This is the mixture that we moved on to paint over as it was the most successful.

The face paint used over the top worked to accentuate the eyes without being too dark. It makes the face appear gaunt and threatening, reducing the human nature of the face. Some shadow was used across the cheek bones and mouth to create texture across the face and make it appear more decayed. The base mixture was especially effective as the face paint made it flake slightly, leaving some parts darker than others.

The face painting was continued and other colours were added in order to make the face appear more unnatural. The colours mainly used were green and purple, with the purple appearing almost bruise-like to connote ideas of violence and threat. Letters from the ouija board were copied onto the face in random places. We first spelled "Penance", but decided that it looked too contrived so used other random letters. We did not want to completely cover the face in order to maintain the effects of the face paint, but used enough to make it evident that it is important. We thought this looked effective as it appeared unnatural and hinted at the mysterious antagonistic entity.

We then began experimenting with the poses that would be used for the poster image, using the idea of the girl leaning forward out of the darkness towards the camera.


The end result of Emily's face makeup took a considerable amount of time to produce, something that definitely made this process necessary.

-Emily (post and model)
-Meg (makeup and photographs)

Initial Poster Ideas

After looking at different posters of the horror genre, it was clear that the image usually involves the main protagonist or antagonist of the film in order to reveal some of the narrative, as is seen in the poster of 'The Orphan' on the left. In this poster the image is centred and reflected through the middle to create an unsettling tone. The title and tagline are both centred, at the top and bottom of the poster respectively. In relation to the rule of thirds that is often used to create effective posters, this poster uses very definite sections with the girl's face in the centre of the image to show it as important and ominous. The colouring of the text is white in order to stand out against the background, which links with other poster deconstruction we did that found white to be a common colour used in the horror genre, usually coupled with red. The colour red has been included in this image, as the choker around the girl's neck is dark and due to the positioning is clearly visible. Red is also used in the text below the image in order to draw the eye to the question "Can you keep a secret?", referring to the mystery of the narrative and directly involving the audience.


From this poster and other deconstruction we decided to include the image of one girl instead of the whole group of characters, suggesting that she has some significance to the plot. She will be pictured as an embodiment of the antagonistic spirit, as will be clear in the make up and editing that we will use, as we researched in our Horror Make Up Research post. We will make her appear decaying and threatening. However, while many of the posters we deconstructed were portrait, we would like to experiment with a landscape image and instead of having the girl in the centre of the poster we are going to place her to the side with text next to her. This will still refer to the rule of thirds as the title of the film and the girl's main facial features will be in the middle, with the text on the right hand side spread across the three vertical thirds.

We also considered the poster of 'The Number 23', which was heavily inspirational for our poster. We found the effect of writing covering his face very effective, linking to our previously mentioned Horror Make Up Research post in which we considered markings on skin to signify possession. The poster is similar to 'The Orphan' in that the main character is centred in the image looking directly out of the image at the audience. Few features are shown about him other than the letters and numbers covering his face, showing his lack of control and the fact that his life has been taken over and some sense of self has been lost. The letters and numbers also reflect the title of the film, making it clear that the number 23 is the core of the narrative but also making it appear threatening. The poster uses black and white effectively to make the image bold and shadowed, with darkness around the image in order to signify the darkness of the film and also so there are no distractions from the image. His face is large on the image, making it clear how personal and close the subject is, which could incite feelings of discomfort in audiences to foreshadow the tone of the narrative. The colours of white and red are used for the text in this poster as well, with the title white and the tagline and main actor's name is in red. The colours both stand out against the image and dark background, with the unconventional layout of the title catching attention from the audience. It is placed in the bottom left hand third, relating to the rule of thirds on images. The actor's name is large and spread across the top, obviously reflecting the success of the actor to be a main appeal in the film.


The poster of 'The Number 23' has led us to decide to definitely use lettering across the face of the girl, as it appears very effective in poster form to reveal some nature of the narrative without revealing too much. We found the use of black and white compelling, and may consider it for our poster, although we also enjoy the use of harsh colours to create a blunt effect. The use of darkness around the image will be replicated in our poster as we do not want to distract from the subject of the film by overcomplicating it, and the surrounding darkness will also connote the incoming threat of the antagonistic spirit, although it is not clear what it is. This mysterious element will intrigue and broaden audiences. We are going to use similar head positioning for the subject of our image, as his intense stare out of the poster captures attention and makes him appear threatening.




-Emily