Focus Group: Finalising work.

Topic 1: How old are you? What is your ethnicity and occupation?

Topic 2: What are your likes and dislikes, hobbies and interests?

Topic 3: What do you like about this DVD cover and what do you think I could improve on?

Topic 4: What do you like about this poster and what do you think I could improve on?

DVD cover

• For my DVD cover I have written a narrative on the back and also made up my own industries and actors/actresses and so forth. 
• Narrative; 17 year old Nicole (Emilie Howard) has awoken to find her small home town has become dead silent.  In the devastating aftermath of a mysterious apocalypse she struggles to regain her existence and piece together the events that have left her isolated and on the run, determined to fight for her life and escape her terrible fate.
• Industries/copy; TORMENTED PICTURES and TENTH CENTURY INTERNATIONAL present a GLOBE TROTTING COMMUNICATIONS production a POPPY CARTER VANYA CORTESCI film EMILIE HOWARD RICHARD DAVIS “ESCAPE” songs arranged and composed by JENNIFER SHORT music by PHILL JEFFRIES costumes designed by ARCHIE SAUNDERS edited my EDDIE GOULD production designer LINDA JOHNSON director of photography DAVID MANTEL executive producers WILLIAM NEVILLE RICHARD DAVIS produced by LAURA BAKER HELEN WHITTIKAR based upon the book by STEVE GOSLING screenplay by PETE DONOHUE LEE THOMAS directed by SARAH COLLINS
  Tm & copyright  © 2013 Tormented Picture and Tenth Century International. All Rights Reserved.
  Soundtrack available on T.rebel 
  
  
  
  

Evaluation Report for Media Coursework Horror Poster Campaign

My task was to create a horror campaign this was made up of a main poster, a teaser poster and a DVD cover.   The genre given was horror, so before starting I had to research posters within this genre. I had to look closely at the typical codes and conventions of horror used and why. I researched many posters to give myself a clear understanding of the broad genre of Horror. Sub-genres are very important so early on I discovered that I would like to use a psychological sub – genre. I also found out that the main colour used is red and I wanted to use this within my own poster.

I analysed closely the ‘Saw’ and ‘The Last Exorcism’ posters, to gain a thorough understanding of the codes and conventions.  It was typical of both that they appear quite minimalistic when it comes to the layout and photography. The colour scheme of the poster is quite clinical, with the prominent use of grey scale colours.  The main colour used in the posters is grey, which shows death and lifelessness.  I discovered early on that the a main convention of  a horror film poster it the frequent use of red  to represent the horror genre as its closely linked with blood, however the grey scale tones of both of these posters work just as well making the audience feel uncomfortable because the poster hints at hostility (unfriendliness). Conventionally, a horror movie poster has an image of the victim, the villain, or a main key to the storyline. You can also view and see the institutions involved with the distribution and production of the film, at the bottom of the front cover poster.  This information is there, in a way for some type of advertisement of the companies that helped fund the film. Also the cast crews, directors and main characters are also at the bottom of the cover. This is because it is important for people to know what celebrities will be in the film. With having a film star in the film, people will be instantly interested to go watch the film, just because of the main actor or even the director. In all of the posters the taglines are enigma codes and do not give too much away ‘The Last Exorcism’ has used ‘Believe in him.’ and ‘If You Believe in God. You Must Believe In The Devil.’ And for ‘Saw’ they were ‘Every Piece Has a Puzzle.’ and ‘Every Puzzle has It’s Pieces.’        

Typography is essential for an effective poster and also has to help convey the sub-genre. Capitalisation is used on both of the titles (Saw and The Last Exorcism) which suggest importance creating a bold effect to accompany the image above.  Plus both titles look almost handwritten. This makes it look uneven, grunge, dirt and rough which gives it a haunting feeling; symbolic of the horror genre in general.  The writing is commonly in red and this is often associated with horror films as it represents blood and danger. I tried experimenting with my own ideas and the research to design my own copy (reference 1).  Here I used the font 'vani' which is quite formal and addresses the older audience. I changed the bottom word to red to fit in with the blood and horror theme. I like the final typography as it looks effective and conveys the idea of horror and gore.  I used the same font on my next typography experiment (reference 2) however I do not like this piece as much. I think the copy is too bland and the focus group agreed by saying “it seems a bit basic”.  

After researching these posters, I decided I would want my posters to target ages between 15 and 21. This is because all of the horror posters include a lot of gore and sometimes violence, some of which I may include in my own work, although this may not appeal too much of the younger or female audience.  Fans of the slasher films will prefer the gore as that is a main connotation of that genre. I will display this in some way within my poster as blood is a typical code and convention which I greatly want to display on my posters.  I am aiming at a younger audience that will come under the category “D” and “E” which are known as ‘working class’ and ‘lowest level of subsistence.’ This is because most of the target audience will either have no job or will be working on the minimum wage.  Also, some may be paying educational fees which will push them into the lower categories of the social scale.  The majority of people who I am aiming my horror campaign at are still in higher education as they are aged between 16 – 21 years of age. This is when a lot of people attend college or university, this also means the majority may not have a job and if they do it is likely it is only a part-time job.  With this information we can assume that they either still live at home or live with friends. I would like my audience to have an interest and enjoy watching horror films otherwise it would be a lot harder to meet the needs of my audience. A lot of my target audience also enjoy using social networking sites, so they would be able to see my designs both online and about in public. I want to target both male and female mostly because I don’t want to dramatically cut out a large amount of publicity and people who are interested in horror films, and mainly enjoy similar sub-genres.

Word count: 946  

Coursework

Teaser Poster - Escape

Teaser Poster Ideas

Here is the original photo that I am considering using in my teaser poster. It has enigma codes all ready put in place before the editing has even begun, a reason I think this would be a good photo to use. 

This is an unfinished version but an idea of merging different used and dirty effects to the image. My image is in their as well to add to the storyline.

Looking at the codes and conventions of horror it is clear that all of the backgrounds are dirty with a textured look, to achieve this I used the 'splatter' and 'dirt' brush strokes (to give it blood).

Here I have added the typography to it to see how it fits within the poster and to see how the tagline looks and sounds as well. 

Whilst I was on "Layer 1" I changed the layer to 'alpha' which has given it a brighter effect which I don't like as much.  

I also changed 'layer 1' to 'screen' which has also given it a lighter affect. 

This is the final which I will hand in next Wednesday  

Escape - typography 2

Here I have used the font 'utsaah' and just used the blur tool continuously over all the letters to create a kind of old blotchy copy.  

I then went around the edges of each letter quickly with a size 40 brush and finished off by going over a couple of letters a time with a size 200 brush..

Escape - typography 1

I did the same as before but I used a thinner brush, I like how the 'E' at the end is reversed. It is almost like bookshelf ends, like an end to a story.

The brush I used was under smudge (number 20) and I used it on a diameter of 20. 

Then I used the blur tool over all of the letters too thicken them out a little.

Here I have used the bloat tool, I am trying to create different effects that could be like someone has drawn a  quick panicked message somewhere.

The 'Pinch tool' doesn't look so good here but I may be able to change it to make it look like blood. 

I wanted to try something that looked handwritten I don't like this result so I will have a go with some other tools and maybe a dark red colour to follow the codes and conventions. 

This was the brush I used it was under 'smudges'

Focus Group

Focus Group

I did a short focus group in which I asked 4 people to take part in.

-Steven Budd
-Beth Smith
-Amber Dale 
-Claire Younger

Topic 1: How old are you? What is Your ethnicity and occupation? 

S- I'm 18, Caucasian and currently in education

B- I'm 17, Caucasian and also in education. 

A- I am 16, Caucasian and I'm at school. 

C- I'm 17 too, Caucasian and in education.  

Topic 2: What are your likes and dislikes, hobbies and interests? 

S- I like music, anime, watching youtube videos. I dislike chavs, chav programs like TOWIE. I don't really have any hobbies, I play games if that counts. My interests... erm I have no idea games again, TV programs and video game designs.  

B- I like free wifi (laughs) and I dislike facebook, that's a bit contradictory I know. I literally don't have any hobbies, music interests me. I like youtube and dislike odd numbers. 

A- I erm like listening and playing much and I really dislike being bored. Erm my hobbies and interests include writing music and drawing.

C- I dislike negativity but my likes, hobbies and interest are things like photography, art, fashion and socialising.

Topic 3: What do you like about Typography 1 and what do you think I could improve on?

S- I like the use of blood splatters I have an idea, keep the word outcast in the same style but cut it in half horizontally and have knife there? 

B- I really like it erm I guess the background could be less plain. 

A- It's really effective how the 'outcast' is in red and looks like splattered blood, it gives it more of a creepy feel to it and to improve it um maybe try a different font. I don't think it needs improving really but that's just an idea. 

C- I like the scratchings and markings behind the word 'Outcast'. Yeah, like Amber said you may be able to improve it by changing the font. 

Topic 4: What do you like about Typography 2 and what do you think I could improve on? 

S- I like the colours as the stand out but it seems a bit basic, maybe have blood dripping down.

B- I like the cracks you could always improve by putting blood like pouring down from a few of the letters, like what Steven said. 

A- I like the red and black contrast it makes the title stand out more and to improve maybe make the black more faded or something?

C- I like the use of a pattern inside the font it's cool. Maybe to improve change the colour? 

Topic 5: What is your favourite poster and why?

S- 'The Outcast' shows the person and the building rather then just the person taking up the whole space, give it a bit more of a creepy feel looking up at a build.

B- 'The Outcast' is more effective and mysterious, it looks more intriguing to. 

A- I like 'Escape2 because it shows all the detail in the girl and it's like she is hiding which goes with the title and I really think it's awesome how the space

 in her arms shows the location. 

C- I think 'The Outcast' is better as there is more emotion that you can kind of relate to it goes with the title more. 

My Audience Profile

23/01/13 Plan

• Write up my audience profile 
• Write up my focus group notes

Narrative

When everyone is gone and you are the only one left, how do you escape?

17 year old Nicole wakes up to find her self enclosed in her own village. Barbed wire fences have been put up over night and she seems to be the only person left; but is she? 

16/01/13 Plan

• Ideas for narrative and finalise them
• Finalise focus group questions 
• Start planning the final idea

Focus Group Questions

Demographic - Age, Gender, Ethnicity, Occupation,

Psychographic -  Emotional, Likes, Dislikes, Hobbies, Interests

Show my mock ups, typography, narrative plot, taglines, titles and plans and ask for their responses (opinions, interests, likes, dislikes)

I will ask;

• Their demographic (what is your age? Gender? Ethnicity? Occupation?) and psychographic (what is their likes, dislikes, hobbies and interests). 
• I will show them my typography and ask for their comments, what they like and what they think I could improve on. 
• I will also show them both of my mock ups and ask them which is their favourite and why? 
• I will ask them what they think on the narrative and taglines and titles and how I could improve them. 

09/01/13 Plan

• Focus group questions (plan)
• Audience profile