The brief
Pre-production
Pre-production research included the textual analysis of different horror campaigns. To gain a broad understanding of varying institutions, plot structure and sub-genres, I looked at One Missed Call, Silent Hill and Paranormal activity 3. I chose these specific films to collect a range of secondary data. My aim was to explore films of contrasting subgenres to help inform my pre-production by gaining the confidence to be able to distinguish the codes and conventions of horror and to analyse the semiotic meaning and values behind them. I discovered that there are particular colours, mise-en-scene, typography and action codes in which we associate with different sub-genres of horror; this is knowledge that has guided me in my own construction of posters and editing techniques. These include the colour symbolism of blood red, ghostly white and deathly black which are used to dramatically emphasise the horror genre.
I created a questionnaire (Fig 1) in which I
asked 50 people to contribute their ideas to. I was able to collect a wide
range of primary data through the integration of both demographic and
psychographic questions. I obtained quantitive research through the use of
questions requesting age and gender and this was extremely useful in
determining the age specified target audience of my campaign, which resulted to
be young adults. Results proved to compliment the main cinematic audience, 18-25
(Fig 2 a) I also inquired occupation and this helped determine the social scale
of my audience. Qualitive research was achieved through questions such as
‘which is your preferred type of sub-genre’ and ‘what is the scariest place and
setting of a horror movie’ (Fig 2 b). The questionnaire results helped inform
my pre-production because they enabled me to construct my own ideas of a
successful horror campaign through the reassuring knowledge that I was
satisfying my chosen target audience by nourishing their expectations. I
discovered that my target audience wanted to see something relevant to
abandoned/isolated areas in which there is a fear of the unknown. This research
has informed my pre-production through a wider knowledge and understanding of specific
elements which we associate with successful horrors.
I created two mock up posters (Fig 3 a and b)
for my horror campaign, which I then presented to my focus group to gain
constructive criticism. I found pixilation of detail becoming an issue throughout
my work and it is something that I have been aiming to improve as I developed
my editing skills. I asked four people to take part in a 20-minute session, in
which, I gave them a few relevant topics to discuss for my project including
typography, layout, narrative and camera angles. The aim of the focus group was
to receive constructive feedback about my narrative ideas, and to discuss my
strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, it was crucial at this point to find
out whether or not I was being successful in suiting the codes and conventions
of the horror genre. I asked them to be as critical as possible; I used their
feedback as a guildline to improve my work. I was told I needed to condense my
narrative so it was brief yet informative. I was also told to incorporate more
images, ensuring that they are relevant to my narrative, to visually help
develop and add clarity to my campaign. The ideologies that came across
included many of the generic codes and conventions that I had learnt from my
pre-production research. These included lots of blood, heightened contrast and
intimidating camera angles. This research informed my production because I
gained accurate feedback from my specified audience, and
therefore I knew how to succumb to their expectations of a successful horror.
My next task was to create a draft of my
entire three-section campaign, of which, some of the ideas were expanded from
the strengths of my mock-ups. For my teaser poster (Fig 4), I created a mirroring of
letters to reflect the narrative of having a split personality. This idea was
drawn from my pre-production research where I learnt that the paranormal genre
is extremely popular within the 18-25 cinematic audiences. The paintbrush tool
was used to create splats, which are reflective of blood, horror and subtle
gore. Research showed that backgrounds
of horror campaigns are dirty and very textured. For this reason, I created
cracks and dirty smudges to taint the background. Using the ‘curves’ and
‘exposure’ tool, I created a fish eye effect to make the title and copy the
focal point of the poster; I only used one photograph and I found this
effective in ‘teasing’ the audience by not giving too much information away.
For my official
poster (Fig 5), I aimed to present more of my narrative to the audience by
incorporating more images. I wasn’t satisfied with my official poster as it was
too dark and my focus group reiterated this through their feedback. I was
unsuccessful in this task because it was a strained effort to distinguish the
narrative through the chosen images of my poster. The most essential tool used
was the 'free distort' tool which allowed me to manipulate the shape and create
a more intimidating appearance. A strength that was repeated was the relevance
of my taglines. The idea of the 'curse' is possession of the soul, and
therefore 'The horror lies within' seems quite appropriate.
The DVD cover (Fig 6)
achieved the most positive feedback from my focus group. The blurb consisted of
a brief summary of the narrative and the use of enigma and action codes were
used to hook the audience in. I made the background resembling of the teaser
poster and this way my campaign looked consistent through the use of similar
colour palettes of low saturation and sepia tones. I created a montage of
'stills' taken from the film and integrated positive quotations from reviews
which I used to reinforce my horror genre, 'An unforgettable horror
experience'. To make my DVD realistic and professional, I incorporated the DVD
logo, censorship warnings and a five star rating. I conducted some research
into horror reviews and added 'Scream Magazine' into my campaign. Language like
'spine-chilling' and 'terrifying' were used to emphasise the films’ success as
a horror. The tagline is short and reflective of the narrative blurb, which is
representative of the feeling of entrapment and solipsism. After completing my drafts of the teaser,
official poster and DVD cover, I was given some skilled feedback which helped strengthen
my draft ideas and improve my final piece production work. A range of positive
feedback was given, such as consistency across campaigns, as well as
constructive criticism, such as the blurb being too unclear to read and the
images of the official poster being difficult to distinguish.
Production
All of my practical work has been created and
edited using the website Pixlr. I had very little previous experience using
this site, and although I found it initially challenging, I found learning
about the new techniques very enjoyable and beneficial. Through frequent
photo-manipulation tasks, I have grown accustomed to using the burn, blur, and
sharpen tools as well as experimenting with the saturation, contrast and
opacity levels to achieve a degree of professionalism within my work. The
paintbrush tool allowed me to create blood splatters and dirty backgrounds to
satisfy the codes and conventions of horror. The creation of typography has
been an on-going experiment throughout my campaign; it is essential for the
copy to be suitable to the codes and conventions of horror and also to look
professional within the structured mise-en-scene. When editing the copy on
Pixlr, I often lowered the contrast and saturation to create a bleak canvas and
I integrated cracks and scorch marks, using the paintbrush tool, to make the
letters ancient and weathered-looking.
My final pieces were the result of
pre-production research, photo manipulation and textual analysis. The purpose
of my teaser poster was to hook the audience in through the use of enigma
codes; the screaming mouth is semiotic of fear and terror and is also an
intertextuality to the ‘Scream’ horror campaign. Due to making my production
suitable to the codes and conventions of horror, the paintbrush tool was used
frequently to create blood and gore marks. Therefore, the oppositional reading
could be that there is too much blood. I used a possessed female character as the
focal point on my official poster because my pre-production research informed
me that women symbolize vulnerability and fear. When creating my production
work, I checked that the posters were fit for their purpose by placing them on
a wall and asking people for their opinion on whether or not they look
professional; I gained much positive feedback from this. I also placed my DVD
cover amongst real DVD’s to ensure it looked realistic. Elements of realism
were incorporated through the use of DVD logo’s and age restrictions- the
effect of these created a professional finish on my production work. I am
extremely satisfied that my production work is suitable to its purpose.
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