Evaluation activity 4

Computer software - IMovie.
As a group we decided to go against the schools software (Adobe) and went with a software we felt that we knew best from previous movies we have made, this was IMovie. By using IMovie it meant that we were able to know everything on there well as we used it last year for our Opening Two minutes. This meant that we saved time as we didn't have to get to know the software and we could edit our film quickly and successfully to make sure our final product looked professional. Initially we were going to use one of our team mates brother to play the Ukulele for our soundtrack however, we were able to find non-copyright music and many sound effects on IMovie which went with our trailer well and made the production as a whole a lot more successful. We were also able to create our own institution which was very good for us as it meant that everything that is shown in our trailer has been created by us. For example, some of our classmates found a non-copyright institution which meant they were restricted on how they wanted it to look and come across to the audience. This was not a problem for us as we were able to design it the way we wanted it to look. By using IMovie we were also able to edit out some mistakes that we did whilst shooting the film on set. For example, in some clips we did not have the correct exposure (too light or too dark). However, this was not a problem as on IMovie you can edit this to get the exposure/lighting just right for the mood that you want to pursue to the audience.


Camera - Nikon D3100.
We used the Nikon camera for all of the elements that were involved in our A2 media course (magazine cover, poster and trailer). This was a great choice for us as this camera allows you to change exposure which was a great help as sometimes we were not able to film at the same time which meant the lighting was slightly different. Another good thing about this camera is that it had a manual focus, this meant that we were able to change the focal length lens which allows you to put different things in the shot in focus. For example on one of our shots we have the background in focus which shows the antagonist walking and we foreground blurred which shows a close up of the protagonist face. We also used this camera to decide on what we wanted our final location to be filmed in. We went to various different locations and took short panning films of it and took some pictures so that when we got back to school we could refresh our memory on what it looked like and pick our favourite.

Evaluation activity 3

This is our audience feedback for our trailer 'Betrayal'. We asked our peers to watch our trailer through and comment on certain aspects of it and tell us our strengths and improvements that we could have done to make our trailer more successful.
This was very useful to us as it allowed us to find slight mistakes that we have done in our production and will help us develop our skills when we make videos in the future.

Positives; 
- Fast pase editing was successful
- Music art the beginning worked well with the target audience.
- Sound effects worked well throughout the trailer.
-Enigmas are shown well a couple of times throughout the trailer.

By having these positive feed-backs, it helped us realize that we did meet nearly all of the conventions for horror films which allowed our trailer to be successful.

Negatives; 
- Sound could flow a bit better (when the girl screams - could have let it sound bridge over into next shot)
- Could have used more of a range of camera angles.
-You are introduced to a character and then don't know what happens to her (narrative could be quite confusing)

These negative feed-backs that we were given were things that we had already looked upon however decided to do it this was as we thought it made our production look better. For example; The girls scream we decided to cut short because we thought that when we used a sound bridge to link it into the next shot, it got rid of the adrenaline that the fast pase shots were giving the audience. This shows that we trailed and errored this part of the production.

We do agree that we could have used a higher range of camera angles to make our film come across more dramatic and link into the conventions of horror films - we will be sure to do this in future films.

However the reason we decided to leave one of the protagonist characters out of some of the trailer after introducing her is because we wanted that to be an enigma, leaving the audience asking questions, which we have proven successful as from our feedback they picked up on this.

Evaluation activity 2.

This is our film 'Betrayal' running commentary. During this commentary we talk about how our trailer links into our final film poster and final magazine and the reasons as to why we chose to do specific things to make our trailer link into the conventions of horror films.

Evaluation Activity 1.

Screenshot 1 
This screenshot is of our opening/establishing shot. We have angled the camera so that you can see slightly down the road however the car is initially out of shot. As the car comes onto the shot the non - diagetic sound comes in from quiet to loud, this goes with the flow of the car as the camera panns slowly following the car round. The main reason we wanted to show our characters in a car was so that the audience could get a feel for the age of the characters and therefore  sympathize or relate to them. This will make the impact on the audience even stronger.
Screenshot 2
Screenshot 2 is of our institution. We were able to design and create this institution our self which enabled us to show our genre well. The main reason for this is because we have dark and gloomy colours shown which conforms to the conventions of a horror institution.
Screenshot 3
Screenshot three is of two of our protagonists. It is a medium shot and allows the audience to really see the characters which will allow them to relate and get to know the characters. This will then allow them to find the trailer more scary and intimidating to watch as they will either feel as if they know the characters of feel as if it is happening to them as they can relate to them.
Screenshot 4
This screenshot is of our font. We have kept it the same font as our main title which allows us to have a recognizable feature of our film and therefore when the audience see's this font title they will be reminded of our film. We have chosen to have our font colour white with a black background because it means that there is a high contrast in colour and therefore means that the writing stands out well and is easy to see for the audience. Another reason why we chose to have our background colour black is because it will them easily flow into our next shot as we have tried to keep our shots fairly dark so that it conforms to the conventions of horror films and will come across more creepy to the audience.
Screenshot 5
The reason i have taken a screenshot of this shot is because it is one of my favourite shots as it creates suspense and conforms well to the typical conventions of a horror film. The diagetic sound works well with the camera angle and the length of the shot because we have used deep music with the non diegetic sound of a heavily breathing gas mask. As this shot is one of our longest shots, we wanted to make sure the suspense was built up the correct amount in the audience to make sure that the finale shot where we want the audience to be most scared is effective.
Screenshot 6
The reason I have screen-shotted this shot in our trailer is because I think that it is a very effective shot. It has been put in during our fast pase editing part of the trailer which means it can only be viewed for a short period of time by the audience however I think that this makes it even more effective. the way that we have angled the camera (low angle) helps emphasize to the audience that the antagonist is extremely terrifying because the low angle makes the audience feel vulnerable because they are being looked down on by the antagonist. I like how there are the outlines of the trees in the background as it reminds the audience that they are in the middle of the woods which can make them feel even more scared as they'll know that the protagonist is isolated with no one to help them.
Screenshot 7
This next screenshot is one of my favourite shots of the trailer and has also been one of the most recognisable and favourite shots from the public. The main reason for this is because it leaves an enigma, creates suspense and causes the audience to jump during the fast pase editing, this intrigues them into watching it and makes it very memorable. By having the shot at a low angle it means you can really see the girl being dragged however can not see who is dragging her. This leaves an enigma and make it even creepier as there is a hidden identity.
Screenshot 8
This is a long shot of our antagonist swinging on a swing in a park. This comes across as a establishing shot because it is a change in location which leaves an enigma to the audience as to why and how he got there. The gloomy sky on the background makes the shot even better as it conforms to the conventions of horror films as they tend to have gloomy dark skies.
Screenshot 9 
This was our last shot of the trailer. This meant we wanted it to be very memorable and really scare our audience. We therefore made it a close up to allow the audience to really get close to the protagonist as see the fear on her face from the reflected light coming off of the lighter. We made this shot the longest shot of the trailer to build suspense so that when the antagonist covers the girls scream and the non-diegetic sound comes in, it will have a huge impact on the audience.
Screenshot 10
This screenshot is to show the font titles and colour of them. We have kept the same font to make the trailer link and flow well. However on this title page we have put two words in the colour red. This conforms to the conventions of horror films because red connotes danger, blood and fear which are all conventions of the genre, horror.
Screenshot 11
This is a screenshot of out main titles. We have used one of our main antagonists as the background image to make it flow into our trailer better as we decided to have a different shot as our ending shot. This has been done in a few other horror trailers however we decided to do it to make out film original and not the same as all of the other horror films. We have put an effect on the titles so that it flashes an inverted colour. This looks creepy an can link into the flashes between life and death which makes the audience be intrigued into seeing what happens in the actual film.

Audience Theory.

My film 'Betrayal' is a horror film and adheres to several codes and conventions of the horror genre. For example; we have an antagonist and a protagonist. The protagonist is seen as vulnerable due to the mise - en- scene that we have used. The girls that are shown in the film are seen wearing the usual teenage clothing which will allow the audience to relate to the characters and allow it to link into mundane realism more clearly. Our antagonists are shown wearing masks to hide their identity which links into the conventions of a horror film because they would usually have a hidden identity so that it comes across more creepy towards the audience. We have set our film in a campsite that is empty. This makes the setting look very abandoned and secluded making passive audiences not want to be in that sort of place alone or with a group of friends as the trailer shows a group of friends and they still get harmed.


According to the hypodermic needle theory, a media text injects its messages straight into a passive audience. This means that the audience is seen as passive mass who will immediately accept the presented version of texts.Therefore, from watching the film 'Betrayal' the passive audience will be lead to believe that as the characters are all friends, that your group of friends will be hard to trust and likely to be only pretending to be your friend. It would also lead them to believe that if you were to go camping in a deserted place in the evening that you would be likely to be harmed as it is seen as unsafe through our trailer. The passive audience will also be lead to believe that girls are vulnerable because all of the protagonists who get harmed are female. You are unable to see what sex the antagonists are because they have a hidden identity from the masks that they're wearing.


Horror films are rated '18' because those messages are deemed too frightening for a younger audience. As a result my film 'Betrayal' is also rated '18' because it is a horror genre and has lots of frightening moments of which could scare a passive audience drastically. For example, the clip where the girl is dragged along the floor backwards screaming and digging her fingers into the ground to try and stop herself from being taken. A passive audience might see this as real life and will therefore be effected by it.

Audience Theory Evaluation

Betrayal is set in the middle of the woods, this makes the scene look very deserted and creepy. The group of friends are going camping. This could make a passive audience think that if they were to go camping or for a walk in the woods that something like this is likely to happen to them. Also this is why our film links into George Gerbner's 'mean world syndrome'. The masks that feature in our film could also link into George Gerbners mean world syndrome as the audience will begin to relate the masks that we have used with people that are violent, evil and murderers.



Our trailer promotes to the audience that the world that we live isn't safe and you can not trust anyone. The main reason for this is because the group of friends end up getting chased and murdered by their friends. As they are in a place that you usually wouldn't expect murders to happen as well as the beginning of the trailer juxtaposed the ending of the trailer. This links into the hypodermic needle theory as the audience are believing what they see in the the trailer and linking it into real life.



The audience would choose to watch our film in order to gratify the need for entertainment.The reason for this is because they would be able to escape their everyday lives and focus on the creepy jumpy scenes that they're being shown. This is Bulmber and Katz (1970) - uses and gratifications theory. Another need that our trailer will link to is the social need. For example. people will want to watch our film so that it is something to talk about with their group of friends so they feel involved with the conversation and part of the group.



Laura Mulvey's theory of 'the male gaze' argues that women in the media industry are used to make the male audience happy and more likely to come and watch the film. For example, if a sexulised female is shown starring in a film, the male audience are said to me more likely to want to watch the film. If the women was seen as a damsel distress it is also likely that a male would like to go and watch it as the male character is usually seen as a hero meaning he would want to go and watch someone that he can relate to being seen as a hero. Women are seen as vulnerable in our film which link into stereotypes of women being weak and needing a man for survival.

Claude Steeles theory of the stereotype threat is shown in our film as people will begin to associate the murderers in our film as the people who they can relate to in real life and begin to think that the stereotypes are true. As the group of antagonists are supposedly friends, it could make a passive audience start to think that their group of friends might actin the same way. This could be a bad effect on the audience as it could hugely effect their lives.

Stuart Hall had a reception theory, he states that there are three reading that the audience can adopt when watching a film, these are; Preferred reading - this is when the audience respond to the product the way the producers expect and want them to. Negotiated reading is when the audience partly agree with the message or product but may disagree with other parts. Oppositional reading is when the audience is in complete disagreement with the product/message.

WMJC Presents Our Theatrical Trailer...Betrayal