Evaluation Q4: How did you use new media technologies in the Construction, Research & Planning and Evaluation stages?

Film Poster Analysis

Audience Profiling: Analysing Results

How will audience profiling help me in planning my short film?

The results form my audience profiling questionnaires are useful in helping me to plan for the creation of my own short film. Majority of my questionnaires were filled out by people of age 17 and 18. These ages are part of the age group I am going to target my film at so the results will be very useful.
The choice that I made selecting the genre of horror for my film was reinforced by the feedback as horror seemed to be a fairly popular genre. Although there were a few responses from people who didn't like horror but I was expecting this result as I gave my questionnaires to a variety of people. So I know that a lot of this age group enjoy watching horror films.
I saw a surprising mix of people who watched short films and people who didn't. For the age group that my responses came from a lot more people actually watch short films which is good because I now know there is an audience in the younger generation for short films.
Most people said they heard about films being advertised via trailers, TV ads and on line and less people heard about them via print and radio. So this suggests how I would need to advertise my short film on more popular media outlets, and if I decide to use the less popular media outlets then the techniques I use would need to be very effective.
I also asked why people like watching horror films and what they expect to see in them. People really enjoyed the suspense and atmosphere created by horror films, being scared provides an adrenaline rush which a lot of people said they liked. Suspense was a big element that people expected to see in horror films and a lot of people said the stereotypical elements of blood, ghosts darkness. I have used this response as I know suspense is a key thing that should be in a horror film, there are also elements that I am not going to include form this response such as blood because I want to create something that doesn't fit to all stereotypical views of horror films

What Makes a Successful Film Trailer?

What makes a successful film trailer from lstafford97

The Avengers film trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOrNdBpGMv8

Inception film trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9337-QZuGc

Film Trailers

Trailers

Trailers are one of the most important ways to market and advertise films in the media. They enable a film to be advertised to a wide audience in a short space of time. Often a lot of money is put into making trailers to ensure the quality of the trailer is of a high standard to lure the audience in.

Types of Trailer

There are three different types of trailer:

• Theatrical trailers - These are trailers shown in the cinema before the screening of a film. They are often the longest type of trailer and can be around 2 -3 minutes long. They are extended versions of the teaser trailer where more of the film can be seen with a bit more of the plot given away.
• Teaser Trailer - This is the shortest version of a trailer and will often be shown on TV and the internet. This gives audiences a small segment of the film not giving much away. These are used quite far ahead of the release date of the film. These leave audiences with a sense of mystery about the film as not much is given away, hence the name 'teaser'.
• DVD Trailer - This is released leading up to the release of the film on DVD. They are less important as the film will have most likely already been released in the cinema. The sole purpose of these trailers is to advertise the DVD to a wide audience.

Codes and Conventions

The codes and conventions of film trailers are what makes them unique. The majority of trailers will all have the same or similar codes and conventions and will use them to appeal to the audience. However some films will stray away from using the normal codes and conventions for their trailer but this is only if they are well known and already have a very strong fan base. Often sequels of already critically acclaimed films stay away from the norms in a trailer because of the fan base already built.

Example:

The shining trailer is an example of not conforming to the norms and codes and conventions of film trailers. This film trailer uses a static camera filming the same scene with rolling credits of the makers and stars of the film. There is no movement until the blood flows through and submerges the room. The only sound is non-diegetic music which is repeated throughout. All of the components to this film trailer make it more enjoyable for the audience. The initial shock of the trailer will be unexpected by the audience making them want to continue watching it. Also none of the film plot if given away so the trailer presents a strong sense of mystery and enigma. This teases the audience as they will only know about the film by watching it. I think this is a good way to use simple effects and still create a very strong impact. Although it is so simple it would still be hard for the director to make this so effective.