Critical Evaluation- Question 3

3- What have you learned from your audience feedback?
a) How did you respond to the original brief with the audience in mind? Give details of audience research carried out at the planning stage.
b) In filming and editing how did you ensure meaning would be apparent to the audience? What creative decisions did you make in planning, rehearsing, filming and editing that were influenced by your sense of the audience and how they might interpret your finished film?c) How did the audience respond when you trialled aspects of your film? Are there a variety of different possible interpretations of your film that will depend on the cultural situation of the viewer?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj4slh5FxgY&feature=youtu.be

Critical Evaluation- Question 3

Critical Evaluation - Question 3

Here is a Prezi, explaining how the audience played a vital role in our film process...

http://prezi.com/duij5i0mczi4/untitled-prezi/

Critical Evaluation - Question 4

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

Text:

The internet was a crucial source for research throughout. It provided us with access to: Distribution company websites- which provided us with information that allowed us to make the decision on which distributor to use: such as

-previous films

-budget

http://www.universalstudios.com/

http://www.warnerbros.com/studio/divisions/motion-pictures/new-line-cinema.html.

http://www.fox.co.uk/

We also used http://www.imdb.com/ to research into the typical conventions found in the Fantasy and Drama genres in order to apply them to our film.

http://www.imdb.com/ acted as a source of creativity as I was inspired by the flashback found from my research into "The Mummy Returns" of a ripple effect to convey a passage of time. This encouraged me to conduct my own research into flashbacks which have been incorporated into our own flashback.

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/ permitted us to conduct extensive research into film classifications. The findings allowed us to award our film a PG to meet our target audience (females 10+), by using the guidelines on the website.

http://blogger.com  was extremely convenient as it allowed us to store this research in an easy and creative way using presentations, images, videos and prezis.

http://prezi.com/ became a main feature on our blog for recording research in a concise, easily accessible way and planning our film effectively.

http://prezi.com/r1utcu4mujfv/what-makes-a-good-short-film/

http://prezi.com/dxvw5v9419fw/production-company-name-ideas/

Prezi offered us inventive ways to structure our research through mind-maps, flowcharts and online presentations, making memorable notes. During planning it allowed our creativity to flow as we could edit notes online quickly and easily.

Sometimes the Prezis failed to load on our blog, which limited our creativity as it was time consuming having to manually type in the Prezi and wait for it to load rather than having direct access to it.

However, we overcame this by adding links to all the Prezis on our blog, so that if it didn't load, we could access our plans, without it slowing us down.

Our planning was also effective as we had access to https://drive.google.com and a Sony HDV1000 camera which allowed us to create online and video questionnaires for the public to provide us with feedback on our plans so far. This feedback was extensive as the online questionnaire was quick and easy to complete and the video questionnaire provided us with a verbal account of the public's view. This allowed us to develop our film creatively as

we were able to use the feedback when making decisions for our film, which meant that our film would be enjoyable for our potential audience. People from different ages/backgrounds/gender/education were able to provide us feedback on our films plans, which has proven beneficial as it allowed us to gain a representative response from the public which we used when planning our film, in order to ensure we please our audience females 10+.

The Sony HDV1000 video camera was effective for filming at it was versatile. We could film at different heights, angles and movements, without a loss of quality and were able to shoot in HD. Similarly, the tripod was extremely sturdy as it had a spirit level that allowed us to film even if the location was unbalanced. Collectively, they allowed us to shoot our film creatively as it didn’t restrict us. By using this equipment we were able to shoot our desired shots such as long, close up and pan shots, without any loss of quality.

A major problem during film was that the actors spoke too quietly, which would make it difficult for an audience to hear over the music. For instance, Sarah's closing speech. We fixed this by using a Zoom Recorder which allowed us to re-record the quiet dialogue and replace it with a clearer version. By creating these recordings we were also able to create an effective radio trailer as we used those recorded by the Zoom Recorder for dialogue in our trailer, which meant that they were loud and clear.

After filming we imported all recorded video and audio clips onto Final Cut Express, in which we were able to edit our film. FCE provided us with lots of tools that met our creative needs, which has made our film much more professional. Low pass audio filter: allowed us to make Diane appear as though she was in another room to Sarah in one scene and on the phone to Sarah in another, creating believability. We had never done this before, so we used http://youtube.com to watch tutorials on how to achieve this effect. We believe this has improved our film dramatically as now it is believable that Diane is not present in the scene.

FCE also allowed us to create passages of time in our film. We used fade to blacks to convey time progression, which the audience would understand and therefore not get confused. We also learned how to use colour corrector. This became really important throughout editing as in some cases, our white balance was not correct and therefore we were able to alter the tone by using this tool. Similarly it provided us with the opportunity to set a grey tone to the flashback at the end of our film, by altering the tones and colours present in the shots. FCE also allowed us to overlay music with dialogue, due to the vast amount of tracks, in an attempt to make the film more dramatic in the finale. Final Cut Express effectively permitted us to develop and create our film effectively as it provided us with tools that we could use to create effects that were not achievable with the video camera alone. 

http://www.youtube.com htttp://www.twitter.com and  http://www.facebook.com provided us with the means of sharing our first draft of our film to the public. This was crucial as it allowed us to gain actual feedback from a potential viewer, and use their feedback in order to improve out final draft. Once taking into account the suggestions made, we then posted and uploaded our final film on these websites too. These websites are important as they have allowed our film to be seen by a wide audience, as friends shared our film and it can be viewed globally.

Critical Evaluation- Question 4

4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Through out the majority of researching and creation of our film new technologies have been critical pieces of equipment we needed to allow us to do so....

Critical Evaluation Question 4

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

Radio Advert Script / Plan

Here is the provisional script and plan for our radio trailer. 

What should a radio trailer consist of?

When creating a radio trailer for a film, the main aim is to entice a potential audience into watching the film. In order to entice an audience, the radio trailer should make use of elements from the original film. The radio trailer should be able to entice an audience using:

Voice overs:
Radio trailers usually include voice overs in order to provide information about the film. For instance a voice over may reveal when the film is released, reviews, the actors/actresses in it and the director. This is crucial information for an audience, as anyone of these may encourage or discourage them from watching the film, so it is important to ensure that this is in a radio trailer. 

Dialogue:
Any radio trailer for a film should really use sound from the actual film. Dialogue from the film can entice an audience to watch a film as it gives the audience an insight into what the film consists of and the storyline. These quick snippets of dialogues between the characters may act as a way to encourage an audience to watch a film, as they may touch on topics that an individual may find interesting such as relationships, family or friendships. 

Narration:
Radio trailers sometimes use narration from a character in order to put across the character's view. If the film has heavy narration throughout it would probably be a good idea to use this in the radio trailer to ensure consistency. This can be effective as a narrator could ensure that before an audience even watches a film, that they sympathise with the character without even hearing the narrative. It can also be effective if it is from another person's perspective as it could provide an audience with knowledge about a character or event, which an audience may find interesting and then want to watch the film. 

Music:
Music is also useful in a radio trailer as it can portray a mood/atmosphere to the audience in order to ensure that they feel a certain way, such as relaxed or worried. Radio trailers usually use the same music from the film in order to maintain consistency. This allows the audience to make connections between the two if they decide to watch the film.  

How do we plan on applying this to our radio trailer?

We plan on incorporating all of these conventions into our radio trailer. We plan on taking the music and certain dialogue from our film and placing it in our radio trailer. For example we want to use "This penny has brought me years of good luck, I want you to have it," as this is probably the most crucial part of our film, as Dorothy gives Sarah the penny that causes her to have bad and good luck. The audience wouldn't know the importance of the penny from our radio trailer, however, they will be provided with enough information in order for them to make the decision as to whether or not they want to watch our film based on the dialogue and music provided so far. We also plan on using voice overs to provide information about our film name, reviews and when it is released. This is important information for the audience so we plan on having it clear so that the audience doesn't need to look elsewhere for this information. 

A radio trailer shouldn't be any longer than 40 seconds, as they are supposed to provide an audience with a quick insight into the narrative rather than the whole plot. Because we have made a short film it would probably be more appropriate to create one at around 20 seconds due to the minimal dialogue we will have available. We only want to provide the audience with an insight into our film, and because of this, 20 seconds should be enough time. 

Radio trailers only get played on appropriate radio stations. For instance, a hollywood blockbuster film is more likely to get played on Capital FM. A radio trailer needs to be played on an appropriate radio station in order to target their audience. For instance, a family film such as Shrek is more likely to place a radio trailer on Hallam FM than Classic FM, as more families listen to Hallam FM. We need to take this into consideration when planning our radio trailer. If we had to chose a radio station, the most appropriate would have been Hallam FM as our film is from the age 10+ and this radio station is more likely to target this audience than any other radio station. 

Example of a radio trailer: Superman the movie 1978 
(Stop at 29 seconds) 




The trailer begins by introducing the name of the film, Superman. This is effective as a radio trailer should be used to entice the audience straight away into the film and by providing the name of the film, they will be aware of what they are listening to. The voice over goes straight into reviews about the film, for instance from News Week. This is another effective element as it informs the audience that the film has brilliant reviews and encourages people to watch it as some people base their likelihood of watching a film on the reviews it has been given. There is then some dialogue taken from the film to give the audience an insight into the film. This is another effective element of the radio trailer as an audience may be intrigued about the scenario and use this as an incentive to go and watch the film. The radio trailer continues to pick reviews given for the film and sections of dialogue from the film. This acts as a way to build up tension. It is an effective way to get an audience to watch the film as all the way through the radio trailer has been emphasising the good reviews given by critics, so why wouldn't someone want to watch it? The radio trailer ends with the name of the film again in order to ensure that the audience remember it. Because it is the last memorable voice over, an audience is more inclined to be able to recall the name and go watch the film. The age rating and certificate is then spoken in order to alert the audience to who can watch the film or who the film is suitable for. This then can inform an audience whether or not they can watch it and may encourage them to go watch it at the cinema. Throughout the radio trailer, there was constant music playing. This also acts as a tool for building up tension. The music is not too loud nor too quiet, so the audience can still be encouraged to watch the film through the voice overs. The use of music is effective as it makes the radio trailer more interesting, and links it directly to the film as similar music will be heard throughout the film, which the audience would then be able to link the two together if they go and watch the film. The radio trailer is effective as it is short. It captures the audience's attention and provides information about the film in a short space of time, which would have ensured people went and viewed the film, to find out more about it. The radio trailer encompasses the different elements required in order to ensure an effective radio trailer. We plan on taking inspiration from this radio trailer when making our own. We plan on encompassing reviews, dialogue, music and voice overs in order to create an effective radio trailer, in hope that people will then be influenced to watch out film. 

Research into Radio adverts

Radio adverts are not usually used or created anymore for films. This is seen as an outdated method of promoting films and as TV adverts and bill boards are more commonly used slowly the amount of radio trailers have declined.

Here is a powerpoint I found on www.slideshare.net and shows statistics on the amount of people who listen to radio and which types of radio, it also questions if radio adverts are worth doing for the amount they cost. I think this is one of the reasons that radio adverts have slowly disappeared from our radio station, radio adverts are not overly cheap to make or have played especially on main radio stations. The adverts have to be able to draw the audience in on sound alone this can make it hard to set the scene or get the true picture of the film across and trying to sell a whole film just through words and in generally a shorter time than a TV or Cinema trailer can be not have the desired effect. Therefore can sometimes be seen as an unprofitable or unnecessary thing to do. 

  

Radio Advert Research from jenjen23_92

On youtube there are few poor quality radio spots, this is one for the film Alien, the date 1979 shows how old the film is and the quality of the spot shows how much the media industry has changed and advanced since spots like these were made. 


 


Due to the rarity of radio spots, they are very hard to find on the internet unless you can record them off of the radio as they come on. Sinister a film released only a few weeks ago has one, this is the first one that I have personally heard since paranormal activity 1 a few years ago. The link below is to a blog I have found where another person has found and listed some radio spots of horror films, which are the most likely ones to come across. There is an option after the list to download and listen to some of the film spots. I personally feel these are very outdated and that from some of these it is clear why radio spots aren't made as much anymore. I think this is as they need to be much more complex and detailed due to the new technology that has been made available in the past few years especially sound effects and the radio signals which we now listen and of a much better quality.
http://universalhorrorsounds.blogspot.co.uk/2007/10/halloween-countdown-19-horror-movie.html

A radio trailer should consist of music to suit the genre, along with reviews of the film and its release date, the film title and any famous or well known actors/actresses are staring in the film along with quotes or bits of the film to inform and entise the listener into coming to watch the film when it is released at the cinema, this is why the date it is released and the title of the film is vital so the audience know what they are listening to. Radio trailers also need to be short and snappy to keep the audiences attention as people can tend to switch radio stations when adverts to come on to avoid listening to them. This is another reason why radio trailers are becoming less popular as time goes on along with the popularity of music channels, people who once listened to the radio in the house may now choose to play music through the TV as there are channels specific for different styles and types of music which may appeal to the listener / viewer more.

Radio Trailer Advert Research

The Radio is the first mass communication device and was invented by Gugliemo Maconi in late 1800's. In 1923 radio began broadcasting. Due to the radio reaching the majority of people this has, and is a key method for communication with the public, and so is the perfect way to advertise. 
The radio can advertise anything from products, to companies to film and is much cheaper than advertising on the TV. It is also easier to target the appropriate audience. 

Film radio trailers are very similar to a picture trailer, but need to include more detail through sound, so that the atmosphere and mental image of the film are as similar as possible to the actual film. To create the same effect as a picture trailer several techniques are used:
- Music
Music sets the scene in a radio trailer often representing the film with its tone, lyrics, familiarity and how appropriate it is, for example an action could have rock music and a romance could have a romantic song etc. In many cases the music is the soundtrack to the film. 
It is an important way to get the audiences attention, also to associate the music with the film and the film with the music. During a radio trailer the music will play throughout, but mainly in the background, with the voice over and sound clips from the film over the top. During the end of the trailer the music often gets louder and more dramatic to get the audience interested and wanting to know what happens.
- Voice over
The voice over is the narrator of the trailer and explains key parts of the film such as a brief on the story line, reviews, nominations or awards and the release date. The voice over has to be memorable but also needs to be able to relate to the target audience for example a deep masculine voice for action, or comedy and a less powerful voice for something like a drama or romance. 
A well known Voice over is Don LaFontaine, he has a naturally deep voice which gives power, atmosphere and character to film trailers both radio and picture. 
- Sound effects
Sound effects are used to give the trailer character. These effects often include paradigms of the films genre e.g. An action film will have explosions, these sound effects will come from what are in the film. 
- Clips from the film
Clips of sound from the film are included to give an idea about the film; the story line, style, genre and an idea whether you may like it or not. These clips often include key parts of the films story line and give a taster of what to expect but not giving away the whole film. 

Layout of Film Radio Trailers
Radio trailers all have a similar layout in the way they are set out and what is included. The voice over often begins by setting the scene and maybe a review about the film, it would then have sound clips taken from the film between the voice overs comments, there would be some sound effects and the music would be louder and finally the release date would be mentioned.


Example
This is an American Radio trailer for the 2010 film 'The Book of Eli.'
This radio trailer is very generic in the way that it has a deep male voice over, which gives the film suspense  drama and action. And gives all the key points of the film with out giving away the whole story line. The trailer starts by mentioning reviews from critics and what they think of the film. By having this first it would attract more people to want to carry on listening to the trailer and find out more about this highly rated film as it is said to be 'An absolute must see, Action packed and inspirational.'  The description of the film is very brief and so only gives a small explanation into what happens but because of all the positive feedback and the way it is said for example 'action packet' and 'rare' this gives us extra information about the film with out meaning to and so the small explanation would not matter too much. Denzil Washinton is mentioned to be 'at the top of his game' and so would appeal to people who like to watch this particular actor, or just like to watch actors who have a special mention in film reviews. By having the certificate in the trailer it shows clearly who can go and watch it and gives an idea what type of film it is because younger teens are not permitted to watch it. We also know from the trailer that this film is already out in the cinemas as it states clearly that it is in cinemas everywhere. The music in the background gives the feeling of suspense  threat and triumph and so would give the impression this is what to expect while watching the film. Even though the music is quiet it is still loud enough to hear and take effect.
There are however quite a few differences between this trailer and conventional British film radio trailers. This trailer doesn't have any sound clips from the film its self only a background soundtrack that may or may not be from the film. It also doesn't have any sound effects that you would expect with an action film. Another difference is that trailer in Britain don't usually say the certificate of the film.

This is the picture trailer of the same film. This trailer is very similar to the radio on as it doesn't give too much away about the story line but still gives a taster on what the film is about. However a difference is that it uses a character to do the narrating voice over instead of a deep male voice. 



Our Radio Trailer
We will use this information in our on trailer by using all the conventions found that needed to be in radio trailer; music, voice over, and clips from film. We will use key quotes that are said in our film to explain in brief our story line, as well as a narrator to explain in further detail, maybe including reviews or nomination etc. Unlike the book of eli radio advert we want to include clips from our film so that the audience can get a flavour of what to expect. 

Film Poster Step by Step

 This is how I created the film poster step by step until i got to the final design.

I started by uploading the photo onto photoshop and but around the two characters using the laso tool. I then deleted the background ready to add my own.

I then added another background. I used a photo f a location we actually used in the film. I like this look it is bright and natural just like our film.

However when I added the title of our film we we wanted it to be the same colour as the coin, but to have this it blended too much into the background.

 To sort this problem I lowered the opacity of the background so that it was still able to be seen and the wording and characters still stood out.

 I then added the names of the actors, what films we have directed before and extra info e.g. who directed, produced and edited.

This is our final poster design. We have used one of the draft designs as a template. We took our own pictures of our two characters and uploaded the best ones to photoshop, we then chose the clearest more appropriate photo that represented our storyline and the two characters. The rest of the poster was then built around the photos. The photo of a location we used in the film is used as the background and then opacity was lowered so it was still able to be seen but didn't take the attention away from the main parts of the poster. The title of the film is in the centre so it is clearly seen and stands out well for it to be read easily. The O is a slightly different colour to represent the coin, we have tried to get the colour as close to a coin as possible but still  make sure it stands out and doesn't blend in. The writing at the top and bottom of the poster is in steel tongs font, that is used on almost all film posters. The colour is similar to the coin colour but because it is on the photos that are quite dark I had to lighten the shade so it was able to be seen better. The top of the poster shows what we have made before and can appeal to audiences who have watched that previous film and enjoyed it. Also by having the actors name at the top this also can appeal the people who like the certain actor/ actress. Their second name is in bold because in most cases actors are more well known for their second name than their first.