How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
While undertaking research to influence my media product as well as the planning stages to have a solid foundation and avoid plot holes as well as following the correct conventions to appeal to my target audience I experimented with a wide range of technologies to aid my process.
For the majority of my research I used videos, prezzie and power points to develop my presentation of research, having text alongside an analysed trailer enhanced the analysis on screen and being able to see the visuals as well as the explanation strengthened the point being made. The power point and prezzie was an easy way to present my findings as well as organised planning, being diverse, quick and easy to use.
For my audience feedback in order to get answers in quickly and easily to sort through I distributed my questionnaires on google document, being able to click the 'share' button and enable anyone with the clink to view the document as well as edit in their answers, copying and pasting a template into a new document to send to another person. This was implemented instead of the typical survey monkey in order to have more detailed and focused answers as well as questions, targeting a more smaller and detailed group rather than a wide uncontrolled amount of answers.
In order to gain many of the effects for the trailer, contributing to the chosen genres, I decided to morph Soul's voice in order to give off a more demonic and outer world voice to immediately indicate the audience that he wasn't human as well as to attempt to create an unsettling and sinister sounding characters to fit the horror aspect. To achieve this I duplicated the sound clip on Audacity and added an echo the the first layer as well as lowering the pitch on the second duplicate while making the pitch slightly higher on the original. Then I selected the reverb effect to exemplify the echo effect while also having an extra ghostly voice in the background which is usually the effect given if a character is in a large or echo y room, instead taking advantage of it in a demonic and morphing aspect. The result turned out a success and compared to the original brings much more from the character.
For the editing process I used Sony Vegas knowing it's diverse range of effects and manipulations of footage I could take advantage of to exemplify my horror and thriller conventions. This was particularly shown through the overlays with 'Contrast / brightness/ as well as /cool/ overlay to create a more toned down colour scheme to fit the seriousness of a thriller setting.
In order to exemplify the setting of the institute and the security Demi placed around Faith I also set up a security camera Point of view shot with a simulated overlay in order to make the quality of the camera appear more static and close to a real monitoring camera.
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
From my insightful and dynamic feedback from my target audience I learnt many things both from my chosen genres and how people view and react to these as well as their opinions, push's and pull's from trailers. Obtaining this knowledge I made it paramount to apply this to my trailer an presentation for Soul, tailoring it specifically to appeal to a larger teenage audience. (refferenced audience feedback : https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xnx50wOFXs-y5-foWy8zZuXtARG0qh8XPVvNlCe5B_0/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aNKiU5vKzslfreFz5_6KSsCzG-_yKaZRhdj97O-IvUY/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gXSX_b71rwSZbjxFoiiCd8ru7H2Lu__WypPbYCnQpwc/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AeNbP8P1WibGAdWiKyBaU8fghfg8qCsGhl343Cq5IJQ/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fNeUrhm3G8xMQNEEFUEmNQ998eIBJZEUwmbzbZsXjFQ/edit ) some of the key factors that stood out to me from the audience feedback was the atmosphere and presentation of characters and story in contribution to the genre or sub genres, having many peoplecomment on the mystery factors and arguing that this is one of the most important traits to keep an audience engaged with the trailer. This also comes into play with the introduction of characters and their intentions, giving the bases of their character personalities but not too much to give away their whole story, peaking the audience's interest to want to find out how they react and what will happen, persuading them to watch the full product. There was also emphasis on atmosphere as well as interesting character building. In response to this I made sure to introduce faith in a mysterious way, having the audience presented the information of her wanting to commit suicide for a unknown reason at face value and how she is even still alive after the contents of the three table boxes empty. This is also further emphasized when the audience hears Soul's voice for the first time with no presence on screen as well as the demonic filter over the top to elaborate upon his out of world character; exemplifying the mystery factor by having the audience piece together the points as the trailer goes on while at the same time leaving gaps in order to hook the audience on watching the full length film. Many people also commented on how characters should be presented while also acknowledging the time span the characters have to make a statement for themselves, saying that memorable characters will certainly make for a more watchable film upon release. In response to this I played further upon the vulnerability and position of Faith against higher status and powerful adults knowing the audience would oddly identify her within a thriller / horror film in an unconventional way, further adding interest to the character and story to see an unusual and stereotypical character in this genre as well as situation. I also wanted to make sure I asked about plot twists and false endings and people's opinions of them, knowing from my previous research that these factors alone can either make or break a film. Many people argued to giving hints that there could be a plot twist while others saying it's best left ambiguous to the audience so they don't expect it at all. for both sides giving reasonable and agreeable evidence I decide to implement both sides into 'Soul'. This was exercised by having the original fake equilibrium in leading the audience to believe that Faith and Soul would take revenge upon Demi for trying to break the two apart however with them in realty having a tough fight than expected, throwing the audience off completely as they are then forced to run a second time. With the audience believing this was the only plot twist in the story they are then presented with Faith's death as a sacrifice to lead Soul into the mortal realm however having Faith be reduced to a spirit in the spiritual realm.Having this would then also evoke the effect of having the audience on edge and not knowing what to expect next as a result of the original film's story going into a completely different direction compared to what was originally set up. Another question I was sure to ask was the opinion of what ruins a trailer for people in order to make sure what to avoid or perhaps work around and instead exemplify the opposite effect. The most predominant answer from nearly everyone was the trailer resulting in becoming too obvious and ridiculous as well as having the whole story said and done within the trailer, leaving little to no mystery or ambiguity in how the story would pan out or how the characters would grow to conclude the plot. I understood and completely agreed with what many people said because of the analysis of Carrie I undertook, comparing the trailer to the movie and seeing pretty much the whole movie summarized within the trailer and the segments it did leave out where too predictable due to the content that was shown, foreshadowing or giving obvious hints to what would happen. In comparison to this I made sure to link back to the plot twist question, having one plot twist slightly hinted at while the other not referenced in order to keep the shock factor and have ambiguity throughout the trailer, causing the audience to want to see the film full because of the questions left unanswered; There was still no conclusion to what Soul was or even looked like, why Faith had attempted to kill herself and how this being had found her in the first place as well as why Demi was so interested in Faith situation juxtaposed with her sinister and evil outlook.
Hoe effective is the combination of your main product to your ancillary texts?
While constructing the Ancillary tasks knowing they would favor and promote the trailer I made sure to keep the conventions as well as style very similar not only to keep the house style coherent but also to make the film as well as design used recognizable and contributing effectively to the conventions the full film possess.
As such, I made sure to keep the same font and style of the title 'Soul' having the glow around it present throughout the poster, film and magazine cover as the films own trademark, causing the people who see it to not only instantly recognize it due to the title but also the style. With the font of the title I also decided to use this with the accompanying text in the poster 'What would you do with a second chance?' as well as the promotional headlines of the magazine. This was to further emphasis the style of the film and to have it distinguishable as 'Soul's' font.
All three products also shared the same colour scheme in contributing the the thriller aspect of 'Soul' containing gray scale toned down colors, with the exception of blue, letting the audience know the serious and ominous atmosphere created from the themes of the film. Of course this was an inevitable convention to include within the construction of the trailer however in comparison to the promotional poster I decided to keep it more in the grayscale spectrum in order to make it seem slightly more on the creepy and sinister side, also representing the horror element of the film. the inclusion of a faded blue glow as well as the white luminous text exemplified the black and white element of the poster as well as bring out the blue more. I also included the appearance of Soul within the background of Faith to further capture the audience in wonder why a wolf would appear in such a place and what convenience it would have to the plot. In comparison to the magazine cover I decided to further enhance the gray scale effect upon the background and in the foreground have faith in dimmed down colors of blue and black making sure to consist effectively of the serious tone , fitting for the magazine suited for thriller / horror fans.
On both the poster and magazine I decided to have Faith's face half visible and on both occasions being shrouded in something to elaborate upon the mystery and the character and how there are two sides of her with the influence of Soul. The white upon Faith's face in the poster also brings out the innocent side of her which is present in the opening almost giving the potential audience the impression of a helpless girl falling into the wrong hands however only first builds a false impression for the double plot twists to come. As previously mentioned, I included Soul in the background to further peak the audiences interest in wondering what a wolf would have in relation to the plot and upon seeing the trailer would then perhaps begin to piece together that Soul was in fact the ghostly figure of a wolf.. This was also presented as a wolf snarling to emphasis his violent and negative side which then begins to fade away after him and Faith become closer. The evil and violent body language of the wolf juxtaposed with Faith's gray scale and plain face creates an interesting contrast of the characters further evoking a mystery or curiosity of the film.
Trailer side by side with and without effects in order to elaborate upon the effects used in the editing process to exemplify the conventions discussed:
Here I wanted to establish which scene would be best suited for recording the scenes of Faiths home so I decided to experiment with lighting in my chosen room.
Interrogation room analysis:
Microphone room analysis :
Similar to the experimentation of lighting within the house, I decided to carry out the same process in the microphone due to it's significance in reflection the characters present within the room.
The above link leads to the official script for the trailer of 'Soul'. Upon constructing the script I decided to add extra detail to scenes in terms of setting and actions within the scenes in order to give more clarity to my actors as well as help finish the construction of the storyboard, being able to coexist with each other and add on extra detail to dialogue, setting and camera angles.
In scouting for loyalty free music across youtube I discovered Audiomachine, a music company based in California who range from releasing their own original scores as well as providing for independent film makers and industry projects alike. Upon listening to a vast amount of their pieces it was clear that a huge majority of the pieces were tailored specifically for trailers. Because of this I contacted the company directly and requested to use their music, receiving the go ahead I begin to critically analyse the soundtracks to identify which soundtrack would be best suited for a horror / thriller trailer such as 'Soul'.
Audiomachine - Ascendance analysis:
The opening of this piece begins slow paced with the faint use of violin, drum and keyboard showing how suited a voice over would be to govern this segment or to build up tension to specific points in order to prepare the audience for the dramatic portion of the trailer. Having this calm opening creates a good pace for the trailer to present the audience with initial characters, location of setting, hints of the plot as well as indication of what genre the film is setting itself up to be.
This steady pace continues until 00:37 as the music intensifies to gradually becoming increasingly fast paced having drums beat every split second until 00:47 when the bass suddenly drops for a moment. This section, after following the easy paced beginning for the voice over, could possibly be building up to where the voice over ends; leaving a cliffhanger or a question to leave the audience on eventually leading them up to the intense section of the trailer and bracing for the action which is to follow.
From 00:42 to 00:54 seconds in, a static effect is introduced above silence with a drum sound every few seconds for 13 seconds having an almost distorted resonance to it however also an intense action and thrill vibe. For this part of the soundtrack to be such an intense segment of having the sound significantly differing from the rest of the piece it could show a major plot point or highlighting the disruption of the equilibrium; having quick one word titles appear, with clean cut transitions, in time with the beats to add more to the quiet but yet anticipating part of the score. After the quickening change of pace to the distorted segment, the pace of the score then becomes increasingly fast and dramatic with the additional speed of the violins and the continuous sound of the drums. The sudden pause at 00:57 breaks up the action slightly however continuous to maintain a decent pace while making the pauses work as the next one comes at 1:00 and followed by another at 1:03. Just as before with the sudden intense noise of the drum climaxing to an intense drop off, this continuous from 1:04 to 1:07 to which the split second silence then gives way for the climax of the trailer, having the majority of the action and thrilling sequences implemented within this segment elaborating the fast paced and story driven action and suspense; showcasing exactly why this film should be watched. Even though the coordination of the drum, violin and orchestra work creates an impactful dramatic trailer and works extremely well in setting up a the hype from the audience to persuade them to witness the film, there is still a vibe from the sound choice which sets up the trailer going with this sound choice to be presented as a block buster, mainstream film which ‘Soul’ is not set up to be.
Audiomachine - Crossing Destiny analysis:
The opening segment, despite starting at an extreme slow pace for trailer purposes, it still carries an extreme ominous tone, easily fitting the general conventions and setting up to be presented as a horror/ thriller film just as Soul is. While continuing the slow pace for a large quantity of the score this could also be a good use of a teaser for a film instead of a full feature trailer or for exploration purposes in order to fully establish the setting, characters and hints of plot through voice over, panning and establishing shots. As the soundtrack approaches the 1:22 mark the music dives to silence for a few seconds until then revealing a drum build up with a slight distorted pitch, perhaps leading up to a breaking point of the trailer to reveal a specific plot point. However after this mark the same continuous piece carries on, as if attempting to build up to something however is never reaching the climax. Another drop off point appears at 2:18 plummeting to silence for a few seconds to only then retain the the same initial beat as before only on a slight more intense level however nothing too significantly changing in the overall tone. towards the end a slight opera piece can be heard against the already existing beat, finally beginning to build up towards a slight climax. For the third time the soundtrack then falls once again to silence at 3:30, holding the silence for a few seconds until finally revealing the climatic and intense segment of the trailer fitting for shot reverse shot segments the attempting to excite the audience and wanting to repeat the segment in order to grasp what these split second clips may reveal or connote too. The use of fast paced violins and drums against the faint opera in the background can give the sense of the need to discover someone, certain knowledge or perhaps running away for self purposes which is partly fitting for soul however not quite.
My two biggest personal critiques for this piece, while sounding very well composed, has an extreme dulling slow pace to it which is more suited for perhaps a different genre or, as I said before, a teaser instead of full feature trailer. This slow pace in my opinion kills the dramatic tension of a trailer ,believing it is important to follow a balanced and structured routine of presenting a trailer with a slow start to establish characters, setting, themes and hints of plot to then follow through with a breaking point and a small but immensely dramatic segment of shot reverse shot clips at the end to climax the tension and then leaving the viewer longing for more. With this soundtrack however the slow paced beginning lasts for a unnecessary prolonged amount of time ultimately killing any tension and build up the trailer is attempting to create. Although this piece may be better suited for a different genre or perhaps more suited for a game trailer showcasing gameplay instead of a feature film trailer, specifically for ‘Soul’.
Audiomachine - Devil's Tower analysis:
As the score begins we are welcomed by a fast paced introduction almost throwing the audience straight into the action without warning or preparation; considerable unusual for many trailers. Although this specific kind of upbeat pace is not like the dramatic climax at the end of a trailer it can still be used for dramatic voiceover purposes however would generally fit more of a dramatic or action type film. My initial thought of the beginning is having stunning establishing shots of vast landscapes, perhaps more fitting for a fantasy or sci - fi genre to implement these and use this score for that purpose. As the track continuous 00:24 second in the sound falls to silence however a small distorted pitch can still be recognised perhaps implemented for dramatic purposes however doesn’t deliver as the same beat as before is carried on when the soundtrack is brought out of silence. This process is then repeated once more at 1:10 however has a slight change to the original track before the silence by having a opera sound choice in the background accompanying the orchestra. After this the soundtrack then returns to how it sounded before the silence, creating a very linear effect just as we witnessed in the analysis of ‘Crossing Destiny’. Only until the end are we presented with a change in the pace of the trailer having the suspenseful segment at the end however not as faced paced as previous analysed soundtracks, overall having the slightly fast paced score maintained throughout the whole 2:14, creating the same dilemma as ‘Crossing destiny’ had with the slow pace being maintained throughout nearly the entire score. despite carrying an easily recognisable heavy tone to the soundtrack rendering it as suitable for specific Thriller / Horror films I still believed it was more suited for a slight dark fantasy or sci- fi film rather than what I was aiming for; this unfortunately wasn't as structured and balanced as I’d been looking for to use for ‘Soul’.
Audimachine - Shadowfall Analysis:
In the end I decided to go with 'Shadowfall' as I felt it embodied the perfect pacing in having a slow start to represent characters, plot and setting to the transition to more dramatic and pulling sequences of the trailer. After, showing a small section in the middle to build up tension then to follow with increasingly intense music to showcase the more thrilling and grabbing parts of the trailer, ending with a perfect climax and settling down to leave the audience wanting more. I felt as though many of the pacing elements and instruments used build up a sinister and chilling atmosphere, especially in the beginning, for a thriller / horror film as well as the dramatic segments in the middle and towards the end made a great foundation to build upon with implementing the most dynamic and pulling segments of the film.
For the majority of my research I used videos, prezzie and power points to develop my presentation of research, having text alongside an analysed trailer enhanced the analysis on screen and being able to see the visuals as well as the explanation strengthened the point being made. The power point and prezzie was an easy way to present my findings as well as organised planning, being diverse, quick and easy to use.
For my audience feedback in order to get answers in quickly and easily to sort through I distributed my questionnaires on google document, being able to click the 'share' button and enable anyone with the clink to view the document as well as edit in their answers, copying and pasting a template into a new document to send to another person. This was implemented instead of the typical survey monkey in order to have more detailed and focused answers as well as questions, targeting a more smaller and detailed group rather than a wide uncontrolled amount of answers. 
In order to gain many of the effects for the trailer, contributing to the chosen genres, I decided to morph Soul's voice in order to give off a more demonic and outer world voice to immediately indicate the audience that he wasn't human as well as to attempt to create an unsettling and sinister sounding characters to fit the horror aspect. To achieve this I duplicated the sound clip on Audacity and added an echo the the first layer as well as lowering the pitch on the second duplicate while making the pitch slightly higher on the original. Then I selected the reverb effect to exemplify the echo effect while also having an extra ghostly voice in the background which is usually the effect given if a character is in a large or echo y room, instead taking advantage of it in a demonic and morphing aspect. The result turned out a success and compared to the original brings much more from the character.
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