Evaluation Activity 4

The technology/software we used were Youtube/Photoshop/iMovie and Blogger. Youtube was very helpful, we used it to analyse film trailers so that we could get a good look on how trailers are structured and how they are set up. Youtube also helped us on how we could create the perfect look for our zombies, after detailed research into tutorials we created a youtube tutorial. This was effective because by doing this it gave a theatrical look. Looking back at our work from year 12, the make-up has improved dramatically, from just simple blood splatters to full on zombie make-up.

Photoshop was really important in the developing of the poster and the magazine, for the poster we could manipulate certain photos to create the poster, we cropped the photograph and made it look visually horror-like. We then added the title and the company ratings to really make it look like a poster. The magazine that we came up with worked because we just had to manipulate it and photoshop some different photos together. Abbie is incredibly knowledgable when it comes to phosohop, so she was a key part of creating and designing the poster and magazine cover. 

We have used iMovie over our two year course, we used it in Year 12 to create our opening 2 minutes and preliminary task. It worked really well, so we decided to use it to edit our trailer. We also used iMovie because we are more familiar with that than Adobe Premier. Blogger was also part of the process, as we could record our research and planning so that he has something to base his trailer on. 

Evaluation Activity 3

Evaluation Targets

You have worked so well this year and now, albeit in the busiest part of the calendar, you need to push yourself to achieve as many of the twenty marks available to you before the end of this term. Complete the activities set as well including director's commentaries and interviews with each other. Comment on your findings from your target audience and evaluate your progress. Analyse every techincal aspect of your promotional campaign and set future targets for yourself.

Evaluation Activity 2:

The three texts compliment each other as advertisements, firstly the trailer shows the audience what they can expect from this particular film, by showing clips of semi important scenes, and showing characters that link to Propps theory of Narrative. Emma as the hero, Zombies as the villains, Shanie is the Helper/Donor and the Princess was Beating the zombies/surviving the Apocalypse.

The poster that we created fit in with the trailer very well, we used a photograph where the make-up had already been done, because it created a good link with the trailer, as it was a similar make-up seen at the end of the trailer. The way the bold font of 'Virus' stands out works well, because the Audience's eyes will be drawn straight to it. The use of having different magazines and what they thought of the film is a technique used so that people get the urge to see it, as they see that some very high profile media products enjoyed the film. The enigmas that the poster creates are: Where has this virus come from, Is that what all the zombies will look like and "Will I enjoy it as much as these companies did?"

The magazine poster we created worked well, the use of a zombie hand links to the trailer and poster, but shows a different side to the zombies, as we haven't shown them coming back from the dead. I think that the cover compliments the trailer and poster, as it keeps the bright red colour we've used in all of the promotional material. The cover compliments the poster due to the relation between the Zombie's body parts, i.e a zombie hand and the side of a zombie face.

The poster, trailer and magazine cover are all very effective on their own, but much stronger as a collective. They all go together, although there are some parts that could be improved. For example, the magazine cover looks very similar to the promotional material of Oz: The Great and Powerful.

Evaluation Activity 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of teaser trailers/posters/magazines)

The Title of the Film: 

The title we selected for our film was VIRUS, as it fits the story line of our film well. We also thought it fit neatly into the conventions of the zombie genre. We decided to have it in a similar style to older horror films like psycho, with it being on a black background and having one bold colour. One thing we could do to make it a bit better is maybe having the text in a paler colour, so it really contrasts with the black background. Although it fits well with some of the older conventions of a horror film logo, I feel like we could have pushed ourselves to create a logo that defy the conventions. We decided to use the word Virus as our title because it fits in with the story, and the fact that being a Zombie spreads like a disease. This creates an enigma for the audience, as they want to know what this mysterious virus is.

Setting/Location:

The setting we used for our film really gives off the feel of a horror film, we made sure that it was quite empty and quite gloomy. We used a location that didn't have a lot of people around, and din't have many signs of everyday life (Cars/Bikes/Trains). We ended up facing a few challenges with the locations, as members of the public would walk around or accidentally wander into shot, so we agreed that it would have been better if we had used a place that's quite enclosed, or generally unused by the public. 

One of the locations of our film is a school, as our target audience all go to school, so therefore they can relate with the characters, and understand how the characters feel being trapped in the place where they used to spend their time.

Costumes and Props:

The costumes and props used in our trailer all had a very gloomy feel to them, as the film is set in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, so having the dirty clothes shows the characters aren't living their everyday life, linking to the conventions of a zombie horror film trailer. Abbie is incredibly skilled at doing make-up and prosthetics  and was able to create some really interesting and life like wounds and zombie faces.

Camerawork and Editing:

The Camera Work and Editing that we used were really conventional to the Zombie Genre. The Birds flying in the sky shows a disturbances, and connotes that something bad is about to happen, or that the birds may be something to do with the virus. We decided to have the whole trailer in black and white, apart from the close up shots of Abbie at the end. The Black and white really pushes the creepy and scary atmosphere of the trailer. We also did it so that we could mimic some older horror films, for example Psycho, which was in released in Black and White in 1960.

Title Font and Style:

The font that we used for the other titles was very clean and smooth looking, as we wanted it to contrast with the main title. We used a red colour because it fits in with the horror genre, and the blood that is frequently seen in films with a similar premise to our. The use of the title font was really because of the hands that make it up, as we thought it reiterated the fact that this was a zombie film.



Story and How the trailer is set up:

The main story is how the UN manufactured a virus to keep population under control, that only affected people over a certain age. This trailer sets up the story by showing the characters in a school environment, and her having to fight her way out. We show various shots of Zombies which stixks to the conventions of the Zombie trailers, and it also sets up the beginning film. We didn't want to give away too much of the story in the trailer, much like the trailer for the horror film 'Cabin in the Woods'.

Genre and how the trailer suggests it:

The genre for the trailer is Zombie/Horror, the trailer suggests this by showing zombies after the main heroine of the film. We kept conventions by keeping the trailer in black and white, apart from the last scene, where we had vibrant red colours, much like the slasher films that were popular in the 1980's/1990's. The locations we had in our trailer were aimed at teenagers, by using settings like schools and woods.

How Characters are introduced:

The first main character is portrayed by our friend Emma, who is a strong survivor. She then meets Shanie's character with very little dialogue between the two. We decided against having a lot of dialogue, because we wanted the audience to find out as little as possible, so the plot wouldn't be ruined. The zombies are introduced in a selection of different ways, such as being killed or chasing the survivors.

Special effects:

The special effects that we used was mostly make-up, because we wanted the trailer to be realistic, rather than over the top. The blood was made very vivid and bright, because the color of red connotes danger, murder and anger, which are the things we wanted to channel in this trailer. We looked at a variety of youtube tutorials, wanting to get a good grip on what the zombies should look like.

Production Credits

VIRUS Poster