Summer Task: Inspirational texts for my Advertisment Campaign

Text 1 – Insidious ‘outro’ soundtrack (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L-sgxGli0Y)

I believe a specific theme tune similar to the Insidious ‘outro’ soundtrack will fit my horror teaser trailer (The Unnatural) exceptionally well due to it being outstandingly eerie and disturbing. The start of the song is the area I’m more attracted to, as I believe the sound of the primary instrument, the violin to be particularly chilling compared to the rest of the song. It repetitively plays a 5-note melody at a steady pace and begins to increase in speed and volume, as it starts to be overplayed by another violin which I believe unsettles the mind of the audience, slightly disrupting their concentration. As well as the steady growth in volume and tempo, the sound of a violin also startles the viewers, pre-warning them for a horrific shock, so the audience may remain tense and nervous whilst listening to this type of deceiving music. In the background a piano can also be heard very silently but at a rather quick speed which only emphasizes the sound of the violin. Within this part of the song there is also a series of loud sudden breezes that corresponds with the tempo of the violin to add a slight ghostly effect that relates to the movie. On this basis, I believe the connection of the melody to the film is the reason the soundtrack(s) to be a success; because when combined with the musical orchestra, the both can be perceived as disturbing, eerie and ghostly which forces the audience to mentally portray a paranormal sensation. Therefore because my film also represents a psychological horror, I believe this type of soundtrack will correspond with my trailer and the slight changes in the tempo and volume will allow me to compose a complex commentary that will not only symbolize the story-direction of the film, but also help me in adjusting the speed and volume of my teaser trailer.

Text 2 – The Woman in Black Advertisement

(Teaser Trailer-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arixaTWmIA0)

& (Poster - http://www.onlinemovieshut.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/the-woman-in-black-poster.jpg)

This film acts as a remake from the original in 1983 (same storyline and character types) and purely based on its released teaser trailer and poster (as well as exposed acting information), I believe this upcoming ‘horror’ has achieved in capturing their target audience solely through their promoting approach. The teaser trailer uses a number of unique methods to single itself out from other horror films within their category, one of these being children using a variety of phrases to sing a nursery rhyme in a slightly demented manner about the key antagonist (the woman in black). This impression also connects to their other sell point, which is allowing the audience to stereotype certain characters through the setting i.e. environment, costume design, certain scenes etc. Because of this, the audience begin to obtain the impression that the main character (Daniel Radcliffe) is a slightly naïve, but moral character (scenes show him young and afraid, but willing to face the woman in black) whilst also perceiving the community as fearful (displaying children concealed behind curtains), but yet mysterious in that they are familiar with the Woman in Black (the description of the antagonist through the nursery rhyme). As well as the teaser trailer, the movie poster also attracts the target audience, as it corresponds with the messages in the trailer giving the movie an overall professional advertisement campaign. Firstly, we can see both has similar lighting effects (a dark misty colour), that enhances the realism of it being set in a much older era, also the protagonist’s facial features is not fully shown whilst the opposite character is, which is parallel to the trailer as Author Kipps’s (Daniel Radcliffe) personality is not highlighted verbally in any part of the trailer while the Women in Black’s is throughout (nursery rhyme commentary). The film title is perceived in a clear white font and shadowed with a ‘smeared’ effect, whilst the main sell line ‘Do you believe in Ghosts?’ camouflages in the grey misty background to almost mask the open question that will be answered in the film. In summary, I feel I’ve taken great inspiration from this, as I believe this film already has great expectations through its exceptional approach of unique advertisement.

Moodboard - The Unnatural (Horror)

Reflection on My AS Media Coursework

In the text below, I will give an in-depth analysis on my strengths and weaknesses to certain aspects of my AS Media coursework last year, highlighting and emphasizing on my ability in the attributes; using conventions from real media texts and digital technology:

Using conventions from real media texts

I believe I possessed a great level of skill in this aspect, as I felt I produced a very unique opening 2 minutes of a horror film. I achieved this through avoidingthe tedious stereotypes within the horror industry i.e. by not including a femme fatale character (scantily dressed females unaware of their situation as seen in films such as Scream or The Descent) and by not producing a film consistently relying on the ‘gore’trait (as seen in the more modern horror productions The Saw movies and films such as The Hostel and also the Final Destination series). Because Ievaded in constructing a clichéd horror movie, I considered taking a more unique approach, and I therefore decided on producing a psychological horror involving a psychiatrist and a mysterious antagonist. This choice became fairly simple, as I realise that a more intellectual character such as a psychiatrist is rarely used within the horror industryand would therefore be an excellent trait to draw the audience. I also chose the psychological genre, as I believe these to be the more successful than any other horror genre with extremely rare films such as The Sixth Sense, Donnie Darko and The Others etc. There are very few movies that can convey a great level of psychology into a horror movie, but I do believe that films within this category do produce a very anxious and suspense-filled horror that the audience can be entertained by the ability of story-direction, which is the primary reason I chose this genre. Overall I believe I achieved in carryingthe appropriate conventions from a unique class of relevant existent Horror films.

Digital Technology

When reflecting back on my capabilities to effectively use digital technology (consisted of operating the Sanyo Flip Camera and operating the Adobe Premier Pro CS5 to film and editmy opening 2 minutes), I believe that although the technological equipment took up a frustrating amount of time to become familiarized with; the time spent into ‘perfecting’ my opening 2 minute Horror Film did compensate and I was overall satisfied with my final product. The first feature I noticed when exploring the Sanyo Flip Camera, was that it was waterproof; therefore I used my creativity and decided to produce a scene involving the camera to be underwater to utilize its technological advantages. I also operated the camera with the tripod in specific occasions (still camera movement shots); however I did have difficulties with the speed of the zoom in and zoom out on the camera and was therefore forced to transfer back to handheld. This resulted in the huge ramification of certain shots being completed through unstable camera movements. As well as these problems, I also had difficulties when using the Adobe Premier Pro CS5, as I was extremely naïve to the new software and consequently found it highly complicated to use. However after many attempts to adapt myself to this system, I believe I did acquaint myself in almost every aspect by spending 3-4 hours on the software to familiarize myself within every system feature which I did utilize in my opening2 minute horror film. Overall I did have irritating problemswith both the Sanyo Flip Camera and the Adobe Premier Pro CS5, but by using my initiative I managed to produce the best possible solution for every difficulty I encountered.

Introduction - A2 Media Coursework

Welcome to my Media Blog where I will plan and research for the brief I've decided to chose; A promotion package for a new film, consisting of a teaser trailer, together with a film magazine front cover and a poster featuring my film. I've decided to continue from my AS coursework and base my film trailer on the work I produced last year, thus situating the three tasks on my horror film, The Unnatural.