Evaluation - How Effective Is The Combination Of Your Main Product And Ancillary Tasks?

Evalutation - What Have You Learnt From Audience Feedback?

Evaluation - In What Way Does Your Media Product Use, Develop Or Challenge Forms & Conventions Of Real Media Products?

The majority of the aspect on my poster are conventional mainly due to the fact I wanted to achieve created the correct atmosphere and impression of my narrative and the genre with it, particular aspects like this is the layout and positioning of everything of the poster. When looking at what was conventional in this area I looked at many real-media such as Ouija, Friday 13th etc. where I found there were two conventional layouts where you can either have the title at the top of the bottom of just above the credits at the bottom, I decided to go with the first as I felt as though identifying the film should be the first thing they read as people conventional look at something from top to bottom, like a book. Seeming as my title was a Greek word (which I shall discuss in my Main Task section ) I included a subtle translation underneath it, almost like a reflection and this is something I didn't find any other real-media doing making it unconventional so, in this sense I challenged a posters conventional which could actually lead to my audience seeing my poster as unique and that particular aspect catching their eye as they haven't seen it before.

As I said previously, the majority of my layout and positioning such as the image, the image is conventional the most dominant and eye-catching aspect of a poster which is why I decided to use and keep the typical positioning of it right in the middle however, with the image itself it would usually fill the whole poster almost like a background but with my image I had the female seem as though she was emerging from the darkness of the poster or even fading into it, I did this to help me connote my narrative to my audience and how to darkness is taking over this character, something that I believe looks very good on the finished product.



For my colour scheme, it's very conventional for the horror genre to include colours such as red, black, white, grey and in general very dark colours so I decided to limit myself to a few of these colours (black, red and grey) to not only help to connote the genre but also to give the poster a sort of aesthetic which is an audience pleasure and could make the possible seem more professional. Keeping the same colour scheme throughout both of my ancillaries and main task would also help to create a form of brand identity so that the audience are able to make a connection between the three.

An aspect that was not as conventional as most aspect would of still use on a few real-media products I analysed was the use of a catchphrase. I wouldn't say this was challenging the codes and conventional but just using them and developing it slightly, I wanted to include it because i felt that it could help to intrigue my audience into continuing on to watch my short film as it hints at the narrative and events within the short film leaving them with curiosity as to what is meant by the catchphrase.



Just like my other ancillary (poster) the majority of the layout is conventional so that the reader is able to easily identify it as a double-page film review. Certain aspects of the layout that are the most conventional is the column structure of the text (review) as I found that this is the case with any text within magazines therefore, I felt it was crucial to have this aspect within mine as it so widely used within every magazine that if it wasn't to be in that structure it would seem mis-placed and even though I want me double-page spread to stand out I believe that the reader wouldn't find it pleasing to have the conventional and almost rules suddenly broken and would most likely skip past it. It is also conventional for the text to be broken up by things such as pictures, quotes and fact sections, I have used these because I feel as though it helps to grab the readers attention at first look but also, with it breaking up the text it could make it even more interesting which makes them to continue reader from where they left off until they finish, ultimately helping them make a decision on whether or not to wait the short film. Within the layout there is some areas that I challenged, conventionally (especially with EMPIRE magazine) the layout if very organised and almost in boxes, rarely does one section touch or cross over to the other however, I has done this often in some of my sections particularly near the images, overlaying a blood splatter etc. My reasoning for doing this was because the conventional, organised layout didn't fit the atmosphere and narrative or neither the horror genre or my short film, I wanted to make it seem a little bit more chaotic and stand out from the rest in a way that something supernatural does therefore, connoting the narrative but also, helping to make a lasting and eye-catching impression on the reader.

Previously, I mentioned how I broke up the text using things such as quotes which is something rather conventional to do however, typically they would be played in speech bubbles. Within my double-page spread I used this feature however, developed it further to match the rest of my double-page. Instead of having them within speech bubbles I had one simple on it's own, overlaying an image slightly , while another one was overlaid on top of a blood splatter to make it seem more importance and emphasis what the quote contains. Yet, I did still include the convention of saying whom the quote was from which is something I hadn't originally done until I received some audience feedback about it and by using and following this conventional I feel as though it gives the quotes some credibility helping to influence the readers decision towards watching the short film.

Earlier within my ancillary task - poster section I mentioned how my title was a Greek word which is very unconventional of any film to do, the reason I did this was to both challenge the conventional and to challenge my skills. I understood that having the title 'θάνατος' could possibly put my audience off slightly as it doesn't give much clue to what the film is about etc. and it's not self-explanatory which conventional an audience does like because it helps them to make an impression and a decision on whether or not to watch it however, the very feeling it would create within the audience is the feeling I'd want to provoke within the film as they look for the meaning of the word they don't understand or as they wait for more information on it etc. it is mysterious and unknown to some, just like the supernatural.  The title itself is symbolic which links into the way I connote particular things within my narrative almost of though it's the nature to the film, this will help the audience to create a strong like/connection between the title and the film/narrative and to hopefully understand what it means by the end or a theory which would lead to them being engrossed in the film to do so.

The mise-en-scene within my short film is both conventional and unconventional, some aspects where I have enforced some codes and conventions is within the lighting. There is a particular scene where a character is in a bathroom and her nose begins to bleed, due to the lighting being in front of her and directing on her face it made her skins much paler and softer which led to the blood being much more shocking and emphasised against the white of her face and the another shot where I used conventional lighting to do the opposite is where the antagonist lifts her head to look into the camera and with the light place below her face at an angle it was able to create dark shows under her eyes, emphasising the whites of her eyes giving her a sinister look and it was purely down to the lighting, I had found shots and techniques like this in some real-media texts where someone would be around a campfire and they'd do the stereotypical torch under the face to tell a scary story which had a similar look and gave a natural, sinister and scary expression, I felt that it helped to make someone who was ordinary and seem innocent to subtly and natural turn dark and evil without the use of make-up to make them look like an evil spirit as in theory the evil was on the inside of the antagonist.

With the costumes of the the characters I played with the conventions but developed them to lead the audience astray which could be argued is actually unconventional. For the costume of 'Claire' who eventually becomes the antagonist, she wore all light clothing as if to connote her innocence and purity while her best friend wore dark clothing such as a leather jacket, black and white top along with dark jeans as if to connote that she is the antagonist rather then Claire because conventionally dark colours are typically used to connote evil so in theory that would be the logical and stereotypical associated/connection however, it turns out to be the very opposite. I feel that by leading the audience astray by possibly making the incorrect connections and assumptions it creates more of a shock factor  when it is revealed which could even lead to them having to re-watch it to see why they made assumption or what they missed.

While editing I decided to stick with the codes and conventions to help me maintain the correction atmosphere for a horror film, ways that I did this was by having a lot of long duration shots, some were one takes meaning no cuts which was more to do with camerawork because through analysing real-media texts which as 'Don't Move' I saw this was very conventional and effective when wanting to place a jump-scare or something shocking. So when editing I could having this types of shots before I wanted to have a sudden movement or an event occur because the audience would be slightly more relaxed as they focused on the continuous movement of what was in frame until sudden it broke away and was disturbed which would suddenly change the atmosphere that the audience was not prepared for, almost leading them into a false sense of safety. Also, conventionally following something like this is a sequence of much faster paced shots that help to connote distress and panic, this is something that I included in mine, a particular example is when 'Claire' suddenly begins to fidget and twist and her behaviour comes strange and it gets fast and faster until it is suddenly broken off by her fist hitting the table, by doing this it builds the intensity of the sequence and the atmosphere to connote that something is going to occur building the audiences adrenaline and the feeling closely and conventionally associated with the horror genre.Also, within my fast paced sequence I included conventional shots such as handheld ones which help to connote the distress and panic the character could be experiencing, ultimately helping the audience to connect with the character and become worried for them or it could yet again connote that is some bad is going to happen.

Overall, I used and stuck to the majority of the conventional with the horror genre so that my audience were able to easily identify my short film as part of the genre itself, I did challenge some of it's aspects to help connote things specific to my narrative or even to help me develop of their intended connotation but to make it more tailored to mine or even to make it more interesting and intriguing.

Film Poster | FINAL PRODUCT

After some audience feedback and advice I have only made one small change/tweak to my ancillary task of a film poster which was said by a couple of people and that was to make the billing section (title) smaller as it's too close to the edges and just doesn't seem correct. So, I make it smaller but made it longer width ways to make sure it still stood out and overlaid the image slightly like I initially wanted, I also had to alter the upside down letters spelling 'death' under the title so that it still matched up while being subtle, I actually make the opacity to 10% from 13% because I felt like it stood out too much and even though I want people to notice I don't want to have to make it too obvious as that's no the point of subtle.

Double Page Spread | FINAL PRODUCT

θάνατος | FINAL PRODUCT

For ym final product I have changed some small aspect such as removing the fire around the flash-forwards but I also added more flash-forwards and even a subtle flashback, accompanied by more whispers but also specific ones that can actually be heard to be saying words, almost giving the character 'Claire' instructions, I was hoping this would help with some character development.

θάνατος - FULL DRAFT #3

After some feedback I made the beginning idents a bright more blood red as some said that it blended into the black background too much. And then after doing this I made some shots longer to help the switch and motions of the characters between the two flow much better and making it less chopping which was due to my rough editing in the beginning.

I also added a section to help with some character development and that was a section where there's a shot of Claire's eye and then a clip of fire over-lays it followed by a sequence of shots that will be seen further on into the short film as if to foreshadow what might happen without giving too much away, this is then repeated at the end to help the audience make the connection between the two.

Double Page Spread - DRAFT #5

Having a rough edit of my main task done I added a rounded up duration/running time to my double page spread and after some feedback I changed the first image on the first page to a more exciting one as there is now now image basically introduction the characters to the reader and then two other giving an impression of the storyline. I believe that this is is my final draft as I am very happy with how it looks and happy that it meets a majority of the conventions of a double page spread for a film review but also I'm just overall happy with the process and the feedback I've had with this task.

- MAIN TASK DRAFT #2

I have added/editing in the ending credits, I put the same names that I used for my ancillary task credits (poster) to stick with the brand identity and even though they aren't actually part of the team or real people in this sense, it fits the conventional and professional look as thought it was the real official product. I also put music over it that's calming but still intense which helps to draw it to an end but still keeping the audience's attention. I also added one more thing which was a knife impact sound effect when the possessed Claire stabs her best friend because even though it's evident what has occurred I received some advice/audience feedback suggesting that adding it could be a good idea and when I tried it out I found that it helped to emphasis the impact so I have kept it.

Poster Ancillary | DRAFT #5

Θάνατος - MAIN TASK DRAFT #1

This is the first full draft of my main task (Short Horror Film), overall I am moderately pleased with it's outcome so far. I still need to tweak parts however, nothing major, I still need to add ending crediting to my short film but that is the last thing I shall do. There's some areas I feel are still a bit choppy but it doesn't effect the flow too much, when editing I tried to keep some shots almost like a one take as I found through my real-media text research that, that is something effective and conventional to do.

Double Page Spread | DRAFT #4

During some feedback on my review page so far some individuals said that the dominant image seemed too empty but that it was a good image and to maybe see if there was a way to remove some of the space so, I went into Adobe PhotoShop CS6 and try different methods, one where I simply cropped it however, that was only effective in making it smaller, the issue was the space right in the middle of the image so with a bit of trail and error I ended up actually cutting out Sasha (left)  and then placing her more forward then the raw image to give the impression that the two were standing closer and thankfully the eye line of each character still lined up and it did actually help the image to look less empty but this also meant that I was able to making it bigger on my double page spread going with the code and conventions of the dominant image being the biggest but also it helped to fill up any background space making it fuller without the need for anything else.

Also after some feedback I added newspaper company names to the two quotes I had made such as 'Daily Mail' and 'The Sun' as they're very common and mainstream companies that do both mainstream and niche news/reports/articles on everything. Also, by involving these the reader would see them and instantly make an impression based on these companies opinions as though 'they think it's good, surely it must be then.'

Main Task Ending - Very Rough Draft

So I did a rough draft for the ending as I haven't yet filmed the bathroom scene. Right now it's extremely rough with no extra audio put it or effects or anything, some of the audio has even been removed due to unwanted talking over it however, that can be fixed by adding external audio. It's very choppy right now and I ran into a few issues with the positioning of myself and Sasha as you were able to see my facial expressions and not the knife which is the exact opposite of what I'd wanted so that is something I'm going to work around. Hopefully, everything will turn out alright.

Adding My Main Character To My Poster | DRAFT #4

After trying a few of the images on the poster I finally went with one of the last that I tried which was where Sasha had her head tilted to the slide ever so slightly but almost her eyebrows were the most narrowed in this photo which helps with the sinister and dark atmosphere I am trying to create with this poster whereas, the others just didn't seem to be as effective.

I had to actually edit the photo before hand to get it to fade into black around the edges by using the gradient tool within Photoshop CS6 which is something I have become very skilled in since this production. I also used this technique to darken Sasha's face to help remove any parts that remained of the orange, warm colour from the original JPEG, something that I found worked to highlight the darkness under her eyes which actually makes the whites of her eyes stand out more which would actually draw the audiences attention as they look at her eyes to see she is starring back.

I have also made the colour of the slogan, production logos and 'in cinemas' section a brighter red to make it stand out slightly more, but also so that it matches the colour scheme with more other ancillary a bit more giving it some consistency which could even be associated with the brand. This colour also closely matched the colour of my production company logo at the beginning of my main task, reinforcing the idea of bran image.

Lastly, I changed the font of the 'In cinemas' section because it got lost within the credits and didn't stand out like it conventionally should so as a result I make it the same font as the slog and the title as I didn't want too many different fonts on the poster which could make it look too busy or less aestehtic. As a result, I think it looks much better and I am very happy with my decision.

I still have a few things to add on but I very close to being done, I think I am going to add more scratched into the background as I feel they got lost as I edited my image in and I really like the effect they had on the image but also, looking at real-media texts of horror film posters I think I need to make the credits slightly smaller as they're very close to the edge of the poster which isn't the usual look.

Taking Pictures For My Poster!

During one of my filming days I took photos of my actor Sasha Webb whom is portraying Claire. I took these photos so that I would later on, be able to edit them onto my already existing template/draft of my film poster. When taking them I had in mind the stock imaging I had used initially, so I had Sasha positioned her head down while look up and directly into the camera to make it seem as though she is looking at the audience and her eyes will follow them. I did a couple of shots at different distances, some getting all of Sasha's hair in while in others I cut it off but also in a couple I had her have her hair up to see what impact that would have and I came to the conclusion that it made the image itself look less sinister.

The lighting of the images do look slightly orange giving it a warm tone to it which is the opposite of what I want however, I can easily change the settings for this in the editing software therefore it's not a problem.

The Blood Drip

While doing my storyboarding I had come up with the idea of not actually showing a character being stabbed by the Antagonist but rather you see the blood fall/splatter connoting the injury or event. I wasn't 100% sure on how I would film this so when it came down to it I decided to pick out the most popular and well know symbol and tip fake blood onto it from a high angle to connote the blood from the injury and thankfully it worked perfectly! The impact sound on the blood also works well and the way that it's highlighted on the white paper really helps to connote it's importantance of the scene and what has just happened.

DoublePage Spread Film Review | DRAFT #3

A big issue was filling in the gap below and next to the images I has chosen on the second page of the double page spread however, after looking at some real-media texts I did think about include a scare-o-meter but then felt as though it wouldn't go with the atmosphere that my review page was trying to create so instead I decided to only include the percentage of which it would be scary, I also decided to make this a separate font which I downloaded from DaFonts, I went for a more pixels font re still represent how the scare-o-meter would of appeared, another reason I did this was the make it stand out yet I kept it a dark, pastel red so that it didn't draw to much of the readers attention away from things such as the title and images as that isn't very conventional however, it would grab enough of their attention to help them make an impression for the film without reading it. I also overlaid this on top of a blood splatter to help to connote the conventional use of blood of the genre.

MEDIA EVALUATION Question 4 - How Did You Use Media Technologies In The Construction, Research, Planning And Evalaution stages?

θάνατος So Far! DRAFT #1

This is my Main Task so far, there is a small shot at the beginning that I haven't filmed yet due to changing my storyline which is just what is on the note and a shot of it beginning taken off the bag. I still have music to add etc. And the next scene is the bathroom one where you get the first glimpse of the real antagonist which is the last thing to film.

Edited First Part Of Dialogue

So due to my slight change in the storyline to limit the amount of dialogue I finally got to edit the first section which I think worked really well and looks really good! Also, I feel as though not having dialogue a the beginning means that the audience have no speech pattern to compare 'Claire' to before and after the 'possession' happens so it will seem as though nothing it wrong.

Changing font colours/ Adding things | DRAFT #3

After some small audience feedback I got the observation that perhaps the catchphrase and production company logo colour is too dark and should be kept within the same scale but just slightly brighter, so I straight away experimented with it and have seen that it works 100% better. It does take the attention away from the Ouija Board behind it slightly but that can only add to the subtly of it. I have also moved all of that section up slightly to add in a 'in cinemas' section which I chose the date January 13th, the same date I put in my double page review because I wanted to go with the theme that January isn't known for any supernatural or scary events such as October and halloween and therefore, nothing seems out of the ordinary much like the storyline.

Adapting/ Changing The Storyline

Going through the beginning footage I shot I really wasn't happy with how it flowed and felt like there was too much dialogue which would take up a lot of the short films time whereas, silence it more of conventional way to build suspense plus, with us not being the best at acting I thought that by having less dialogue would actually help to improve it, this is something I have talked about previously. So I create a new storyline for the beginning of my short film which includes a bag being left with a note explaining the situation rather then the dialogue, I feel as though this will be much better and might even help the reality of the situation as I was beginning to dislike the idea of the conversation between the two characters and then 'Claire' giving in so easily and taking the bag whereas, this storyline she has no choice as the friend has already left it and there's nothing she can do about it but also, the audience get an introduction to the second character as the 'Best Friend' as that's what she shall sign the note with so it's still the sae characters just different way of telling the story, I didn't want to change it too much as I didn't want it to no be relevant to the previous work I had done.

Opening Credits #2

Adding/Choosing My Production Company Logo | DRAFT #2

I finally decided on which Production Company logo font/positioning I am going to use an it is design 3 (see left) which is the font 'Another Danger'.

I chose it because the audience feedback on it was very positive and a lot of people said that it represented the horror genre very well, there were a few comments saying it was more related to a slasher sub-genre and even though I can see that aspect I feel that the use of the sharp endings to letters, texture and slight splatters gave it a menacing feel to it which works well with my image of the 'jester' to connote trickery and perhaps mischief just like how a spirit from a Ouija Board uses to set themselves free.

I have added it to the left bottom corner of my poster, within the credits which is conventional for film posters to do as they are essentially part of the credits. I have made it the same colour as the slogan/catchphrase to keep a limited colour scheme within the poster.

My Poster So Far | DRAFT #1

Here's my poster so far! I have used a stock image to work a template for my settings and positioning of my text and other images. I have got rid of the satantic symbol I previously had on the background because like I thought it would, the main image covers it to the point where you can barely see it and overlaying it overs the main images and takes away it's effective sinister look. I made it so that the title is longer in width to that it doesn't look so out of place but also, I have added a slogan/catchphrase just above the credits saying "You don't have to play to be in the game" this is to hint and the not as conventional storyline involving the Ouija board which is slightly visible behind the catchphrase to connote that, that is indeed what it is referencing, it's up to the audience on how that is interpreted but either way it provokes curiosity.

When coming up with my title name and do a few sketches I talked about how I wanted them to understand that it was a Greek however, I wanted them to know what it meant so I had the idea of having a shadow like or reflection like effect under the title spelling 'death', this is something I have easily been able to do as all I had to do was place the letters upside down and then lower their opacity to make them more subtle.

I haven't completly finished as I still have to add the production comapny names and logos in the left and right bottom corners but also replace the stock image with my own image to help with character recgonisation.

Page Two Underway! Draft Two

Now that my review page is half finished I can focus all of my attention onto the second page of this ancillary task. On my second page I did add more scratched onto as there was a slight random black section that seemed out of place, this was just to help with the consistency and theme of the background as having a random plain section could actually draw the readers attention to it when it's not needed.

I also played around with the positioning of the verdict section as I felt like it didn't fit in well and was almost like an eye sore so, through looking at other EMPIRE review pages through Google Images and actual magazines I saw that some copy the style that was used for the summary section and when trying that I saw that it looks great. I feel like the rectangle to the side almost indicates the beginning and the end of the review, beginning with the summary and ending with the verdict. However, this has actually resulted in leaving a rather large gap in the second page with I have attempted to fill with more text but then it feels to text heavy which I know and personally find as something not appealing, I've also tried to fill it with another image but then the layout of the images doesn't look correct and they look misplaced so that is something I need to figure out and I have some ideas in mind such as, a scare O'meter etc.

Page One COMPLETE! Draft One

I have completed the first page of my ancillary task, the double paged film review. This page is more dominantly filled with text however, I broke that up with my 'Look Closer' section, a quote about the film and then an image just so that it doesn't seem to text heavy and less appealing, initialling I did actually forget to include the small summary section that is placed before the review even begins, I was able to easily and quickly move the review column down to leave enough room to add it in.

When looking at the way other EMPIRE film reviews present this section I saw that they conventionally have the rectangle to the side of it, which I have included and I believe that this is because a sudden solid colour against the draw background draws the readers instant attention with is what you'd want as it provide a quick summary on the film itself ultimately helping them to decide whether to read the review or watch the film. For both pages I have added the conventional layout for any magazine with the page numbers in the bottom corners followed by the websites in the opposite corner, I actually chose the pages numbers of 65 and 66 because of the satantic representation and association with the number 6 and I couldn't have it ad 666 and EMPIRE magazines or any everyday magazines don't have over 140 pages.

I also noticed that a lot of magazines will have quotes in-betweens breaks in the text from viewers or famous and popular film reviewers as they themselves are appealing but it can hep them to make an instant impression on it as it to say ' well they thought it was good so surely it must be'.

Now, at the end of the final paragraph of the review it's conventional to have the writer's name at the end in the same text and colour what the sub-headings for the beginning summary are to add to the consistency.

Poster Background

After placing the scratched background on my review double page spread I thought about the relationship between my poster and the review page itself to give it some brand identity and an aesthetic, this would help the audience/viewer to recognise the theme and design and associate the poster with the review page and vise versa. Even though I have used the same image for the background I have faded it more and added more gradient to it by only have the scratched visible at the top and bottom of the poster as the fade around where the dominant image would be.

When I was analysing the Ouija poster it had a section where an Ouija board was placed just below the centre of the poster and then faded out into the darkness, this is an effect I really liked as it connoted the use of the Ouija board and spirits etc. without making it the dominant image. This is something I have tried to copy but placing it just above the credits and yet again using the gradient tool to try and get the same fading effect and then lowering the opacity so that it's more subtle.

The next aspect I added it more experimented and not something I'm sure if I'm going to keep. I added a satantic symbol, one that used within the actually main task (short film) however, I think that the dominant image might overlay it too much to the point where it isn't actually visible and overlaying it on top of the dominant image night make it a little too busy.

Look Closer Fact Box

While I was adding more to the text section of my review I noticed that the background just didn't seem right and looked too plain and I started playing around with some different colours but then when I was going through my fonts I thought about maybe having a theme between the background and the fonts which meant a scratchy background so, I went onto Google images to see if there was a scratch PNG file I could easily apply however, there was not so instead I had to use an image with a black background but white and grey scratch already applied onto it. The image itself was only half the size of A4 so I placed it onto my background 4 times and then used the gradient tool to blend them into one another to make it look like one big images but this also allowed me to have some of the plain black background still showing, this allows for the text not the blend with the scratches and help it to still stand out against the black background but also, it doesn't over power the double page spread and gives it the right amount of scratches to plain ratio.

This itself actually helped me with finishing the design for my fact box/look closer section. I had come to a part within the text of the review where I wanted to break it up slightly by using a fact box however, I thought a rectangle box would look out of place amount the scratches and would be the wrong kind of eye-catching I wanted so thinking back to went I google for PNG scratches I remembered that the individual ones could help to match the sort of theme I had going on but then I thought they would be too thin to contain the fact so instead I leaned towards a brush stroke which went in with my storyline as a small part is the character painting out Satantic symbols therefore, this could hint and connote that to the reader. I found a PNG image of a single brush stroke which made it easier to add onto the review page without the struggle of having any white marks around the edges. I created four of the brush strokes to contain the facts and made them the same colour at the title to keep the colour scheme conventional and consistent, the numbers for the fact section are in the same font as the title however, the actual font itself doesn't have numbers built in so I had to create them by using letters and then editing them together which I found actually helps with the loose but at the same time blocky font. Overall, I am really pleased with how it turned out and even though it doesn't look like my initial designs I believe that it helps to keep the flow within the double page spread and helps to make it more interesting and unique, I also decided that seeming as I was using the EMPIRE logo
and that I was mainly using that magazine for inspiration,
that I would keep their conventional 'Look Closer' title for this section.

Poster Title Font

As I said before, I want to use a scratchy almost chaotic type font for my title and to begin with I created the title above and was initially thinking of using that one however, after recently searching for more I came across one called 'Jo Writes A Love Letter' a bit of an off name but it fits really well with the look I want to achieve. So, I went into photoshop to create it and here is how it turned out:

I think it makes the title much more easier to read then the previous one without taking away any of the effect it has. I also put it onto my two ancillary's that are currently a work in process just so that I can get a feel to how it would look and if it would be suitable. I found that I love the look that they had and have decided to go with the second decide I have created, the first one was good but i felt like the word got lost in everything that was going on with it.

That Was Close...

I started placing the text part of the review onto the template I had created and altering the lay out to make room for the facts section when something just didn't look right, it looked more like a book then it did a review page, quickly it clicked that I'd forgotten on of the biggest conventions... the column formate/structure the text is usually laid out in. I wasn't actually sure how to create columns in photoshop however, I found out pretty quickly through trail and error and the result looks 10 times better.



I'll probably adjust their font size and positioning as I develop it more but at least step one is complete, so far so good. I have also changed the background to black to go with the conventional horror colour theme but thinking about when I looked through film magazines a majority of the pages would be white with thinks over laying it so a sudden black page should grab the readers attention more.

Measurements For A Double Pages Spread

To make sure I make my ancillary to the best I can with it being just as realistic as possible I have searched up the correct and accurate measurements conventionally used for a double page magazine spread. I won't necessarily be using the second on colour and gutter however, the rest I have found to be very helpful and easy to apply to my template I made previous and I can now start putting it all together.

Using this measurements and a simple image to guide me I was able to create the template on Adobe Photoshop CS6 which I can now use to develop my drafts leading into creating the final product for my review page.

Having To Re-Shoot

While going through some for the footage I filmed with Sasha I saw that some of the lighting was off but also some of it didn't look very realistic so I've decided that some of it needs to be re-shot and some shots added such as close-up of relevant sections as from personal experience I know that this can help to fill in any gaps in dialogue or help to break any long pauses and just make it more interesting, but this will also help me work around the fact that we are fantastic actors so any parts that don't seem right I can cut away to a different shot relevant to what it happening to help it flow without taking away any of the realistic features.

Main Production - Editing #1

In my planning stages I talked about having whispers at the beginning which would ultimately be interrupted my the main character waking up well, I was searching through sounds and found some good ones but then I found that they didn't help me create a creepy atmosphere but then I came across an ASMR track which when played through surround sound speakers or headphones can act as a way of involving the audience/viewer and making them feel as though it's happening to them and the sound will play through separate speakers instead of all of theme making the directions of the audio vary and more realistic. Adding this into my opening has proven was effective and goes well with what I wanted to achieve!

Initially I created a draft for my production company opening credits but since actually creating a logo I feel like my first draft doesn't fit the theme I have in mind or the the theme of my ancillaries therefore, I have taken my logo and changed it to a dark, maroon colour as though it's like blood and placed it against a black background which runs through the whole of opening because that way the audience have nothing else to focus on but the sounds around them, making them more intense. As the logo transitions onto the screen there is a faint evil laugh that can be heard to go with the picture of the jester as I felt this would be a nice touch but it also feels as though it's part of the sinister whispers making the logo fix in and flow even more.

The whispers themselves fade up and down through the small duration but as they near the end they suddenly pick up to give it a slight blast of sudden sound so that when it is cut of it is more emphasised and shocking to help make the characters movement more sharp, something that I think worked very well.

Fixing A Problem

A prop within my main task production is an Ouija Board, I had ordered one from amazon after seeing if anyone had one I could borrow but sadly they didn't. Now here comes the problem, the Ouija Board didn't show up on the delivery date and then continued not to be delivered for the day of filming, today. So I had to work around the issue but trying to use something that resembled one, for this I used a large, wooden, black clapperboard and used it for close up shots mainly, my thought process was that the majority of people know what an Ouija Board looks like and seeming as both the clapperboard and the ouija board have the similarity in looks I thought it would help tp resemble/represent one.

Looking back at the shots I filmed today I'm happy to find that my plan slightly worked, there are some where it doesn't work aswell but some can be used. This means I have to stray slightly away from my inital plans and storyboard for this certain scene however, it doesn't effect much of anything else so thankfully crisis solved!

Poster Credits #1

For every film poster, whether they're at the top or the bottom of the poster there are credits! I decided I would begin to create mine so that I can have all of the pieces to create my Ancillary task of a film poster. I have already done some ancillary research into these therefore, I knew that certain parts had a different font size to others but also what was contained within the context and the order. I did use images of other posters to help me but also some websites into fonts etc.
The font I used for this is 'Promenade De Le Croisette'
I used my own production company name and the real actor's name 'Sasha Webb & 'Maddy Flaherty' however, the majority of the rest I used an online randomised name generator as it being a niche and independent company on a low budget it's not likely to have big names in it such as Hugh Jackman, Tim Burton etc.

To do this I used Adobe Photoshop CS6:

I found that it surprisingly took longer then I thought it was going to take however, I am happy with the ending result. When it comes to placing it onto the final product/poster I think I will make it more central or either in three straight lines because right now it goes off the the left and down like a book which isn't the correct effect for a poster however, for a first draft I am happy. Also, I made the credit text a light grey because the white seemed to stand out too much and what I noticed on other posters was that whatever colour they were they were always darkened due to them not being as big of an important part of the poster, any important credits would be placed at the trop of the poster to highlight their importance and who they were. These aren't the finished credits as I still need to add a 'website' link and my production company logo which is still in the works however, these will be added shortly.

Film Review - Fact Box Designs

When looking through film magazines such as EMPIRE, I noticed a similar section in most of the reviews which was a small review box which gave the audience some behind the scenes insight and facts about the film. In EMPIRE is was called a 'Look Closer' section with five or 4 bullet points, this is an aspect that I really like as it breaks up the text of the review, it also looks very appealing especially when it matches the colour scheme of the entire review. Another thing their does is allow the a audience better connection with the film and the behind the scenes, so as a result I behind drawing out some designs for a small 'Look Closer/Facts' section of my own but also playing with some colour schemes which I will later one create in photoshop for a digital version. 

The fonts I have used for the designs will not be the fonts I used for the actually final one on my Ancillary product, this is just for the examples and drafts.

For the first design I created (first left), instead of having five bullet points like the majority of the ones I'd seen previous I decided upon having four mainly because it's an even number which is actually known as an audience pleasure as people will usually round things up to them so even though this is an odd reason it could draw the reader into the section. The colour scheme I have chosen is black, red and white which is actually a very conventional colour scheme, especially for the horror genre as it help to connote the genre itself due to the red connoting danger and the black darkness which could actually connote fear as it's known as one of the most common phobias/fears. I made the text for the facts white so that it stands out easily against the black background, making it eye-catching. 

The second design (second from left), where the majority of it is very similar to the first with the exception of the red rectangle going fully across the black background. I did this design to see if it would be better for the entire fact to be separate from the background making it more highlighted and stand out more as it connotes it's importance and that it is indeed the fact, everything else I have kept the same. 

For the third design (third from left), in this one I changed the order of the colour scheme whilst also removing the white. I did this to see if it would change the impact it would could have or it's appearance, personally I prefer the first colour scheme because this one seems as though it is missing something and it all seems to blend in together too much which is something I don't want as I want it to be more appealing and eye-catching. 

For the fourth design (last right), I combined them all together. Having the background red with black rectangles going across it with will contain the fact in a white text to help it stand out more and easy to read but also, I added a small title box saying 'facts' which might later change to something more catchy to draw the readers attention to it like how EMPIRE has 'Look Closer'. I also feel like the use of rectangles and squares give this small fact box some consistency which could be an audience pleasure for the reader as it also gives it a slight aesthetic which is known to be visually pleasing, it also makes it look very professional. 

Doing these I see that I want to take the first design and the fourth forward further when it comes to the final product as the layout and final colour scheme near to the and might effect my decision further so by doing this I will be able to play around with the colour scheme and layout more. 

FINALLY FILMING!!!!!

So now that part one of the script/shot list is complete and I have my cast I can finally begin filming!!

I have scheduled a filming date for Sunday 5th Feb 2017, which has been agreed upon. This is where we shall film part one of the script/shot list as that is a very major chunk and I don't believe we will get much further. I'm very excited to start filming and test out some things that i got as advice during my research and also some of the things I found through online tutorials. We're filming indoors so there is no chance of rain interfering with any of the equipment or meaning we have to move the date, the worst it will do will be create some background noise which might even add to the creepy effect.
Fingers Crossed everything goes well !!!

Shot List/Script PART ONE - θάνατος

Model Release

In my main task production (short film) I have two characters, one how becomes possessed by the antagonist and then the friend. While trying to find people to play the parts I was about to find one person whoever, was struggling with a second due to it being a busy time for people with exams, mocks, college work etc. So I went to the back up plan of being the character myself however, I have adjusted it so that I am the character in the production in the least so that I can film instead of leaving it on a tripod for the entire time.
So without further or do here is the 'cast':

Name: Miss Sasha Webb
Sex: Female
D.O.B: 26.01.1998
Age: 18 Years Old
Sasha will be playing the female who becomes possessed by the antagonist/spirit. She has signed and agreed to the model release form and due to her being 18 does not require a signature for 'Parent/Guardian Signature'. Something I really wanted to emphasise about her character is the innocence and purity of her that slowly gets darkened as the spirit takes over and with Sasha having blonde hair and blue eyes goes well with that, it could also been seen as the cliche character stereotype for the 'dumb blonde' however, that is not how I want her to be portray in my production.

Name: Miss Madison Flaherty
sex: Female
D.O.B: 11.07.1999
Age: 17 Years Old
I will be playing the friend, I have signed and agreed with the model release form followed by a parent seeming as I am only 17 years old.

Claire's Outfit (Antagonist/Victim)

While doing some mood boards for both my initial ideas and final idea a section I focused on was looking at the teenage age group within horror films. My storyline is set in what seems to be any ordinary day so I wouldn't want to my characters clothing/costume to be anything but ordinary and seem as though nothing is out of place.

I asked Sasha to wear something she would normally wear with my only request being to wear a white t-shirt as I wanted to use that to connote her innocence and what could been seen as purity but then as the possession begins and the spirits takes over to make her the antagonist the white t-shirt can have some black markings on to connote how her innocence and purity is being darkened. Not only that but in the finally scene where she attacks and kills the second character there will be some blood splatters as the knife is drawn back, some would land on her face but some can land against the white t-shirt to make it stand out against it, making it more striking along with the same connotation as the black marks as her innocence being tainted as she now has blood on her hands. As I've said previously this could be seen as a dumb, blonde cliché character type however, this is not the case. In most horror films it's the 'dumb blonde' that goes and starts playing to Ouija board or goes down the dark hall way but in this case she's the one who doesn't want anything to do with the Ouija board and it dragged into it.

I will also be using the make-up I experiment with where I used watercolours to turn the characters hands dirty and dark to connote the over taking of the spirit/antagonist and the evil taking over her, I may also apply some of this to her face however, I don't think it will work as effective unless layered on maybe I could apply some paint strokes instead to connote that she was indeed the one to hand drawn out all of the symbols.

Painting The Symbols

Throughout this entire planning and research stage I have said how I wanted to use symbols to represent the presence of evil, spirits etc but also to have hidden meanings whether the audience know them or not. While actually creating the drawn/painted symbols for my main task (short film) I came across more symbols which worked well. To do the symbols I used ordinary plain paper and used acrylic paint to paint black symbols onto the paper, I used just plain because that's what you'd find in a everyday house and seeming as that's the location it was set it seemed like the logical options. I didn't do the symbols to perfection as they are supposed to be rushed and have an eerie look to them which the un-neatness gives them. 

Examples of some symbols that I added are the ones above.

• The first one (left) is a square with a cross in it, quite like a checkbox however, this actually means 'help' so I thought this would be good symbols to include as it can represent/connote how the female(victim) was and is asking for help as she tries to escape the possession of the spirit/antagonist yet no one realises, this is something the audience can also relate to as it's unlikely they will know what this symbol means. 
• The second one (middle) is more obvious then the others. It is a face/skull and the symbols means death. I thought this was a good fix as it links in with the conventions of the hour genre but also it looks very sinister within the other symbol and draws your attention. I also believe that it is rather unsettling which is a good atmosphere to have when it comes to being the suspense 
• The last one (right) is a spiral, yet again this is one that is likely to be unknown by the audience. It has different meanings in different translate (e.g. revenge, grief etc.) the translation I am using to represent is the idea that something is brewing/coming which in this case is the spirit. Even though this symbol does have many translations they all relate to the horror conventions rather well so even if something in the audience does know a translation it will not change their idea of the suspense or storyline. 

This symbol is known as a 'Satantic pentagram' I have included it because it a symbol known by almost everyone for it's common use in horror films and just the media in general. I want to use it because it connotes to the audience that what is happening (if even they don't know what) is satantic and evil and shows that even if they don't know what the other symbols means they know they would have a similar meaning/translation to the Santanic Pentagram. Therefore, giving the audience some insight without having to actually tell them but by playing to their own knowledge to make it up in they imagination, this way they continue to watch to see if they're correct or even researching after to see if they were correct.

My next step was to see how they looked in the actual location. I scattered them around to give it a chaotic feel to it, I put some on the walls, tables and all over the floor, the symbols could not be missed which is just what I wanted. Also, seeming as the colour of the carpet is a dark orange and beige the white of the paper stuck out even more, as well as the black symbols painting on making them eye-catching. I am happy with how these turned out, I am going to create more to fill in some of the gaps however, not too many as the gaps show that under all of these symbols there is just an ordinary house from the shots they saw before hand, it also shows the audience that the location has not changed however the state of it has making them just as confused as the character which could actually help them to connect with them and be more engrossed into the storyline. 

Credit Research/Decisions

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/where-credit-is-due-film-credits-order-hierarchy-with-free-film-credits-template/

While doing another project I went onto Google to look up the correct order for the opening and closing credit sequence and came across the website above which gave me a very simple and helpful bullet pointed list of how the order goes but also they gave me examples from other films to show me how they should be laid out and presented. The font for them can depend on the theme of my short film etc. but usually the opening credits will overlay a shot as the scene plays out whereas, ending credits occurring after the film once the conclusion has been drawn or maybe a cliff-hanger, and are conventionally in the middle of the frame as they move in and out of it like a list.
For my beginning credits I was thinking of doing what I did for my ident draft and having the letters move around to form a word, in this case it would be the names of the people within the credits. I want to do this because it would give the beginning some consistency and a slight theme which can help to set the atmosphere and is known as an audience pleasure, I'm not sure whether I want the opening credits to overlay the shots in the beginning or be on the blank ouija board like the ident because I'm not sure how the transition between the move letter would be to the shot however, I feel like the blank ouija board could become very boring and take up a lot of time. I guess this is something I will have to test out and maybe experiment with to see which one works best.

Title Font Designing

So as you already know I have chosen my Short Film title to be Θάνατος which is the Greek word for death, linking in with my storyline. I have been trying to chose and come up with the font for my title however, have been struggling as only a elect few actually word with the Greek word due to the settings and origin of my computer (UK) as it isn't set in Greek. I attempt to sort this however, it did not solve anything so I decided to try and make my own phone or try to edit an already existing one as I didn't want a standard Microsoft one that would not be effective in setting the atmosphere for both the opening credits and poster.

So to begin with I sketched/wrote out the word Θάνατος to see if there was a way I could draw it out and then trace it digitally through photoshop and as I was doing this I began very neat and straight forward but then started to think about all of the symbols that would be surrounding the Ouija board and thought why not try something in the style of that. slightly more messy which is what ended up being the one at the bottom but then the way that it was messy I felt represented scratches almost which then got me thinking about maybe giving the title the effect as though it has been scratched into the poster or the opening shot which I did try to do at the bottom (in the picture) but it didn't work very well so I switched over to my computer to see what I would do on the internet/photoshop. However, I found that when I tried to write the wrote using the pencil and brush tools it wouldn't have the write effected and honestly looked really bad so I decided that instead of crying to create it from scratch perhaps I could edit a close english lettered version (Oavatoc) into looking like Θάνατος so I then decided to look up fonts with a scratchy look.



I used a website called DaFont to search for the font because I personally feel it is the best website to use as it has a giant variety of different font styles and the download files are 100% trusted and free. The font I ended up finding and using is xxii_scratch, I chose this font because it's very loose and messy which almost connotes at the person who wrote it's rush and careless behaviour as though they don't care how it looked it's just more important that they wrote this particular word. Also, to do this I used Adobe Photoshop CS6 which allows me to work with a transparent background so I will be able to save the text as a .PNG so when I go to place it onto my ancillary tasks I will have no problems with having to fit the background as it can then go onto any or overlay anything as it won't interfere with it.

I used the brush tool to create the first O into the Greek version Θ which was very simple as it was just a line but I had to alter it slightly to make it fit in with the rest of the font's theme. For the T and C it was a case of trail and error as I tried the same method as the O but it didn't seem to fit so instead I used the lasso tool to copy certain parts of other letters to join and add them onto the others to turn the T into τ and the C into ς and I was actually surprised by how well it worked out. The only thing I'm slightly wary of is the A's as the font automatically capitalises the letters with means the I can't make the A's matched the greek like the others or even add the accent onto the first A as it just looks out of place however, I do think that is looks okay without it and could work.

To place it onto my blog I had to change the fonts colour to white which I discovered makes it looks even messier then before for some reason and almost more chaotic which I'm not actually sure if I like or not. However, I think that effect could also be due to the drop shadow I put onto the font to make it stand out slightly on my blogs background which is something I intend not to use on the real thing as that is not something that would actually appear if someone wrote it/scratched it onto something, so I want to keep and add to the realism and the creepiness of the word and font. I really like this style and font but I do feel like I need to make some improvements and adjustments to do, to make it fit with the rest of the fonts I will be using but also if It looks better in black or white or maybe in red as though it was written in blood to give it a sinister and creepy look. Initially I wanted to include a shadow under it spelling out the word death however, I still want to do this but very subtle and in more of reflection, the colour of it depends on the final colour scheme of the poster and title sequence but I believe that a definition is needed for the audience because it adds to the intensity of everything as a whole but also, it could seem very confusing which would draw some people in but also be very off putting for an audience.