Evaluative Report for Media Coursework

For my media AS media coursework, my task was to create an advertising campaign for a horror film. This campaign would consist of a main campaign poster, a teaser poster and also a DVD cover. The task involved researching the typical codes and conventions used by the horror genre by looking at the posters and DVD covers used by real films and then implement them into my own campaign. Whilst researching horror film campaigns, I decided that I would proceed with using the supernatural horror sub-genre. The reason I chose to use this subgenre for my film is because there seems to be many films under this subgenre that are popular with today’s cinema going audience.

I first debated between choosing either a slasher or a supernatural subgenre for my film campaign. The reason I chose to use the supernatural subgenre was ultimately down to the current trend in the horror genre. The slasher subgenre has not been as popular in recent years as it has been in the past and there is a lot more supernatural subgenre films being released today compared to slashers. This meant that there were a lot more modern examples that I would be able to use as inspiration for my own campaign, and also my target audience would hopefully inclined to like my film campaign.

With this, I began to research horror film advertising campaigns with the idea that supernatural horror films would be my main focus. The first film campaign that I researched was ‘Sinister’ which was supernatural horror film released in 2012. I researched this film not only because it was a supernatural film but also because the film also involved themes of child possession which I wanted to include in the narrative for horror film. The main reason for using this Sinister’s advertising campaign is because of how well it created an enigma code within the teaser poster of the campaign. The poster showed a symbol with a face that is present throughout the advertising campaign of the film. The poster also displayed a simple phrase “Have you seen him?” What I liked about this is how it gave a simple question that made the audience what to further explore the film in more detail. There is also the inclusion of a website under the domain “www.haveyouseenhim.com” which shows that the producers are trying to target a young, internet using audience. Moving onto the main campaign poster gave me more of an indication of the codes and conventions of a supernatural horror film campaign. As I stated earlier the symbol of the face is also present within the main campaign poster. This shows that a campaign must follow themes of repetition; this is mostly because it gives the audience familiarity and they form an understanding of the film by recognising some themes from the teaser poster and recognising them again in the main campaign poster. This is added to with the fact that the posters also share the same tones and colours which include similar tones of a dirty grey and black.

In addition to the research on the Sinister advertising campaign, I also briefly analysed the teaser poster for another supernatural subgenre horror film which was Drag Me to Hell. The poster was very simple in its image. The poster displayed a large close-up of an ordinary horse fly however it has blood splattered behind it on the wall making the spectator question what the fly has to do with the film. This shares similar conventions with the teaser poster for Sinister which is that they both create an enigma code through the use of a symbol; Sinister using the face and Drag Me to Hell using the horse fly. This again tempts the target audience into researching further into the film with some more information given in the main campaign poster. Although the posters display different colours, they both use the similar grunge/dirty textures on the backgrounds of the posters by using things such as cracks and scratches, things that I was able to implement in my own work using the tools in Photoshop.

After researching both Sinister and Drag Me to Hell, I had more of an understanding of the codes and conventions of the supernatural horror subgenre and how the films target their audiences. Using this information and also my own knowledge of the horror genre I decided that the demographic for my film would be people of the age between 15 and 28, both male and female. I chose to use this audience because it became obvious that the supernatural subgenre is aimed towards a younger audience with the inclusion of social media links and websites. However I decided target the film to audiences no younger than 15 because from my research it also became apparent that the majority of horror films are rated 15. I also use the age 28 as a rough boundary as I felt that audiences above this age would generally not be the target audience; this later became clearer from the primary research I undertook, especially my survey.

The research I undertook also heavily influenced the work I produced in pre-production. I had learnt from both the Sinister and Drag Me to Hell campaigns that the typography used in supernatural horror films are normally kept rather simple and with only a simple effect used on them. For example the typography used on the Sinister posters is a simple font in black and with only a simple smudge used on the text. Drag Me to Hell also kept to a very simple text with a plain white font and small cracks over the top. I decided to follow this minimalistic theme in my own typography using white text (due to the black background) and a simple Cambria like font.

DVD Cover

Main Campaign Poster

Teaser Poster

Typography Experimentation

The Unexpected: Narrative

 My narrative follows a family that consists of two parents and three children. The children include the teenage daughter Kirsty, around 16 to 17 years old, then a slightly younger daughter name Daisy, around 8 years old, and then the younger brother called Ben, who is 7 years old and also has a speech impediment where he is unable to talk. The family had lived in a suburban house in the outskirts of the US city Chicago. However, an incident happened with their youngest child, Ben, where he was involved in the death of his and Daisy's elderly babysitter, Mrs Jefferson. One night Ben and Daisy are dropped off at the babysitters house when their parents have gone out and their older sister is at a party. Ben  makes it obvious to his parents that he doesn't like Mrs Jefferson before they are dropped off but Daisy tells her parent's that she really likes Mrs Jefferson. When they are at Mrs Jefferson's house both Ben and Daisy play a board game with her. We see that Daisy is really enjoying herself and gets along with Mrs Jefferson, but Ben refuses to play. Daisy then walks of to the toilet upstairs but on her way there she see's a bedroom door open into what looks like a child's room, which we see is Mrs Jefferson's son that died at a young age and we see this from old photographs and newspaper articles. She finds a teddy lying on the bed and we see that Daisy gets some strange connection with the teddy and this is how she becomes possessed. She walks down the stairs where she finds that Mrs Jefferson is at the top of the basement about to walk down because Ben has run down there in a form of protest. When she walks down, Daisy (now being possessed) breaks one of the steps so Mrs Jefferson falls down the stairs and ultimately dies as a result. When the parents return, Ben obviously gets the blame because of his negative attitude towards Mrs Jefferson and the fact that he was at the bottom of the stairs.
This all happens in the form of flash-backs throughout the film, and so at the start of the film the audience believe that it is Ben that has caused them to move, hence the unexpected. The film begins with the family on their way to their new home in the small country village of Cobden as the parents felt that it was a good idea to give the kids a new start. We see that Daisy has taken the teddy with her. Throughout the film the family witnesses strange paranormal happenings in their new home, the audience is led to believe it is Ben that causes these paranormal event. However, through the form of short flashbacks to the event where Daisy kills Mrs Jefferson, the audience slowly finds out that it is Daisy that is the possessed one. The finale of the film ends in the teenage daughter, Kirsty, finding out that Daisy had caused the death of Mrs Jefferson and eventually that it is the teddy that causes the paranormal activities. In the end Daisy kills the parents.

Focus Group

For my focus group, I asked three people (Archie, Daisy and Bernette) the following discussion points and questions:

What do you think of my horror poster mock-ups? How could they be improved?

Me: This is my first mock-up 'The Unexpected'.
Daisy: I like the mood and the atmospheric lighting, and the symmetry in the image. Also the way that the face is covered... enough that it leaves mystery
Archie: I think that the girl could be younger...
Daisy: I don't think she should. I think it's the socks! The socks makes the girl look more like she's just sitting on the bed [too relaxed]. If she was barefoot it might be more scarier.
Archie: Yeah, barefoot with dirty feet.
Bernette: She looks like she's reminiscing over childhood things or something by holding the teddy.
Me: How could I improve it?
Bernette: Are those drawings on the wall?
Me: No they're cracks that I put in when editing.
Bernette: Oh they're really good. Well, you need the names of the actors at the top of the poster.
Archie: I think you should include the antagonist in the poster, maybe.
Bernette: Maybe her clothes need to be more tatty! She looks too tatty...
Archie: Because at the moment I don't know who the bad person is, like is she the bad person?
Daisy: Well that's part of the mystery.
Archie: Yeah but I think you need to include something for the audience, something...
Daisy: Like a hook!
Archie: Yeah there needs to be more of a hook.
Daisy: Yeah like if she was holding a knife or something, it could be more mysterious.
Bernette: Yeah maybe you could cut of the Teddy's ear something!
Daisy: If there was like dead bodies around the bed or something, you could pick more up from the poster...
Archie: Or if you could see like a shadow in the background.
Daisy: Yeah! If you could see a shadow, you should have been more creative with the shadowing... Like if there was a full light on her or from above, and there was a shadow behind her. Oh maybe there could be a shadow of someone like walking in that you could see behind her. I guess you could always Photoshop it in.
Me: Okay, this is the second poster 'The Massacre'.
Archie: It looks like the blood is splattered onto the poster, rather than in the poster if that makes sense.
Daisy: The blood is very orange.
Bernette: Yeah, that doesn't look very good...
Daisy: It doesn't look very realistic...
Archie: You could improve it by having more realistic blood.
Bernette: Maybe don't use such a shiny knife, and maybe an older knife.
Archie: The title 'The Massacre' doesn't look very prominent I don't think... It's not hard to see, but...
Daisy: If there was less colour in it because it looks kind of tame having a sort orangey worktop.
Archie: Yeah I think you need to dull down the colour a bit. And also I think you should put the title nearer the bottom corner of the image in a black colour.

What horror sub-genre do you like the most and why? The sub-genres include things such as slasher, supernatural and psychological.

Archie: Oh I like slashers, because I find films like Scream and Saw hilarious! I like old slasher films because I don't find them scary I find then hilarious!
Bernette: I like films like Saw, what's sub-genre is that?
Me: That's more of the torture sub-genre. Why do you like that sub-genre?
Bernette: Erm, because I like how they come up with ideas of how to kill people and how they do, I think that makes it interesting.
Archie: I like zombie films because I don't like being too scared, more tame. yeah like more mild.
Daisy: Yeah because I like more mild horror films too because I like films like 'Zombieland', more comedy horror like 'Shaun of the Dead'.

If you went into a shop to specifically buy a DVD, what would attract you to a particular DVD? What would you look for in a horror DVD?

Archie: It has to be quite stylish, I don't really like 'cheesy' DVD covers.
Daisy: I guess if it looked quite young...
Archie: I think if it was tailored towards my generation I would like it.
Me: What would that include?
Daisy: Well, I guess because you would be able to relate to it and you get drawn into it, if it looks exciting but it doesn't look too... terrifying.
Bernette: I think I a DVD cover with action and cool effects on it would attract me to it, and also a well-known actor or actress. Something that doesn't look too gory either, something that would make you think of what's going to happen.

What do you think would be a good name for a horror film? And what are some of your favourite horror film titles?

Bernette: Well, my favourite horror film is Saw, and maybe The Texas Chainsaw Massacre too.
Archie: I like Scream. I think I like film titles like Scream because you don't really know what the films about.
Me: So kind of single word titles?
Archie: Yeah, like with a film like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre it kind of gives away what the films about straight away.
Bernette: I think that 'The Eye' is a good name for a horror film.
Archie: I think 'The Hills' sounds quite good too, like it doesn't sound very scary until you put it into context.
Bernette: The Grudge' sounds very scary too.
Archie: Yeah, I just think like unconventional titles are good.
Bernette: I think like '6 Rooms' would be good and what would happen is there is six rooms and people get killed in different ways in each room.

Do you think it would make you want to see a particular horror film if the poster came across as very explicit, for example if blood is shown, or would you prefer to watch a film that was slightly mysterious and left you asking questions?

Bernette: Mysterious.
Archie: I guess I would go with a film that is more mysterious, because it sounds more intriguing. Especially because I don't like really gory films anyway, because if the poster looked really explicit I think it would put me off, because It would me think it was too much.
Daisy: Yeah you would want it a bit mysterious.
Archie: Yeah, because with your mock-up's I much more prefer 'The Unexpected' poster because it was less explicit and the idea seemed more mysterious and interesting.

Production Plan

Date	Tasks and Targets	Completed
16/01/13	To collect feedback from a focus group adding to my audience research.	X
20/01/13	Create an aims and audience research page. Also an audience profile page for the focus group.
20/01/13	Finalise a poster idea and write up an overview for the narrative of the film.	X
23/01/13	Using all previous research, come up with some ideas (and basic mock-ups) on how to improve poster mock-ups.
27/01/13	Create some mock-ups of the DVD cover, again following the advice of all previous research.
06/02/13	Take more and improved photos for the final poster and DVD cover.
06/02/13	Experiment with techniques or features using Photoshop using new photos and alter typography. Take into account advise from previous research.
13/02/13	Add improvements to final poster mock-up to create the finished poster and finalise the DVD cover

Focus Group Questions/Discussion Points

What do you think of my horror poster mock-ups? How could they be improved?

This question will allow me to gain feedback on the mock-ups that I have already created. This will then guide me on how to then improve my poster by following the advice of the focus group. 

What horror sub-genre do you like the most and why? The sub-genres include things such as slasher, supernatural and psychological.

This will help me find out what type horror sub-genre will be better to use, especially as I have both a slasher and a supernatural sub-genre poster mock-up. As I have asked them why, this topic will also give me reasons as to why they like the sub-genre.

If you went into a shop to specifically buy a DVD, what would attract you to a particular DVD? What would you look for in a horror DVD?
This discussion topic will help me more so when creating the DVD cover rather than the poster. I first asked what attracted them to a particular DVD in a shop, this will help me decide what to include on my DVD cover and how to attract an individual to it. I also asked specifically about what they look for on a horror DVD cover as this will help me with the specifics of my DVD cover.

What do you think would be a good name for a horror film? And what are some of your favorite horror film titles?
I will not use the film title idea's that the focus group come up with, although what this will do is give me a rough idea as to what my focus group prefers to see as a horror film title. I can then create my own horror film title that has some similarities to the titles that the focus group has come up with. Also asking them for  their favorite horror film titles will give some similar feedback to their own title ideas.

Do you think it would make you want to see a particular horror film if the poster came across as very explicit, for example if blood is shown, or would you prefer to watch a film that was slightly mysterious and left you asking questions?
This discussion topic will give me an idea of what type of route I will go down when creating my poster, as horror poster's aren't always the same and as I hinted to in the question a horror poster, like the Saw franchise, may display explicit images with blood and one poster even including teeth on a string. Whereas as another poster, such as The Ring, would be slightly plain in it's presentation with more white colours rather than red and brown colours that can derive from torture and slasher genres.