Priest: Director's Featurette

Priest: Final Cut

Priest: Evaluation Screening

Priest: Evaluation Cut

Evaluation part 4: What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Evaluation part 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

What key aspects and conventions did you include in your poster?

 

My poster, on the left, features many conventions that put it into the horror genre. For example it features a psycho killer character holding their murder weapon of choice whilst standing in a creepy location which is another convention of the mise-en-scene. Although it’s still quite brightly lit compared to the Amityville Horror poster, my poster also features low key lighting with the Priest’s outfit and nearby gravestones being contrasted pitch black, to connote death and represent the link between death and that the Priest will kill. The poster also plays with themes of loneliness and isolation as the Priest is represented to be in a small and lonely graveyard by himself which has creepy connotations attached to it. This creepy connotation can be reinforced by the fact that the Priest has his back to the camera which hides his face and therefore also represents a lack of humanity as the audience isn’t able to connect with the character.

The coverlines for the poster are red which gives connotations of danger and threatening horror, and represents some main themes in the horror genre. The main title, ‘PRIEST’ is in white which connotes a degree of innocence that in turn represents the religion the Priest believes in. However this font also has a small red border surrounding it and connotes that despite the good intentions of the religion it can still be dangerous as it can have extremists that taint the religion and make it appear evil.

Conventionally, the billing block is put into the bottom third of the poster so not to draw the audience’s attention which allows them to focus on the main image and coverline that will sell the film too them and make them want to see it. Despite this the poster also has certain unconventional aspects. For example the framing on my poster shows the Priest on the left hand side of the frame whilst the right hand side if the frame is left empty to further connote themes of isolation and reinforce the representation of the film to be weird and put the audience on the edge of their seat and make them uncertain of what to expect.

 What key aspects and conventions did you include in your magazine cover?

My magazine cover, on the left, features many conventions that put it into the horror genre. For example it features the antagonist, a psycho killer character archetype, to be framed in a powerful position and shot from a low angle which reinforces the ideology that he uses his power in an evil way. My magazine cover also features low key lighting with a spot light on the antagonist’s face to connote how the Priest stands out against the dark with the light of religion and his cross, which is also illuminated. His clothing is black which blends in with the dark and represents him to be bad. However, the religious imagery is brightly coloured, thus reinforcing the ideology of the film that it’s not religion that’s bad but individual extremists. 

The magazine cover is also designed to be similar to a classy and stylish magazine, such as Sight and Sound and features many conventions of that genre of magazine. For example my magazine cover features a bold red font for the masthead to give connotations of horror, danger and fear which is also what a ‘jump scare’ is supposed to do to the audience. My cover also features lots of white coverlines, to appeal to the eye, and extra information about the articles as so to intrigue the audience and make them interested in picking the magazine up and wanting to read the content inside.

How do your ancillary products fit into the style of your trailer and what audience were you aiming for?

The magazine cover and movie poster fit into the style of the trailer as they all feature a variation of low key lighting or darkened backgrounds in order to make the Priest appear darker and “washed out” in the lighting, further connoting that the Priest is evil and surrounded by darkness to represent how he’s too extremist in his religious beliefs. All 3 also feature the Priest to be shot from a canted, or other, low expressionist angle to represent that he is slightly warped and is powerful in the way he manipulates his religion to kill those that go against it, even in the slightest way.

For my ancillary products I was aiming for a target audience that would match the age group of the trailer, which is 18+, as the age group is also at the centre for the main demographic of the psychological/action horror genre. Due to the age group being high it means that I’m not limited with the amount of horror conventions I can show in my work and examples of body horror, restricted narration and expressionist angles are used to represent the horror that will be present in the final film.

Screenshot from my trailer

My horror poster

My horror magazine cover

Evaluation part 3: How did use media technology in the research, planning, construction and evaluation stages?

Original photos for my horror film poster

Original photos from our photoshoot in a local cemetery in January 2015.

The photos feature Sam, as Father Crowthorne, posing in a variety of places in the graveyard. Out of all the possible choices, I chose the third image for my horror film poster mostly because I liked the mise-en-scene of the cemetery and the way the gravestones and branches on the tree were composed and especially how the twisted branches could give creepy connotations. I cropped the photo heavily in Photoshop, removing the left hand side of the frame so Sam was composed on the left of the new frame. This would give him connotations that would fit with the magazine cover and make him appear twisted and creepy as he's standing in the graveyard overlooking the gravestones and holding his phallic crucifix which acts as a weapon later on in the film, further representing him to be dangerous and evil. 

Original photos for my horror magazine cover

Original photos from our photoshoot in a local cemetery in January 2015.

The photos feature Sam, as Father Crowthorne, posing in a variety of places in the graveyard. Out of all the possible choices, I chose the third image to be my magazine cover as the shot was well lit and it placed Sam in a red arch connoting danger to the audience. It also is a low angle shot and gives him connotations or power and authority but is also slightly canted too further connote that his power isn't good but is creepy and twisted representing him to be evil and abusive of the twisted power.

Evaluation part 1

Practice trailer: Not So Grave Encounters (2014)

This is our practice trailer- 'Not So Grave Encounters'.

This was made a year before our final trailer and allowed us to explore how to use the college cameras and editing equipment.

We used it to improve and produce the higher standard of work we achieved on "Priest."

Priest film poster

Horror magazine cover

Priest focus group screening

Good Aspects of the trailer 

Good Acting x 5- From all actors, but mainly Sam who's portraying the priest
Use of lighting- The lighting is dynamic and shots are well lit but needs to be darker
Narrative x 9- Engaging and interesting narrative that hooked the audience
Gore Effects x 6- The body horror was well applied and looked believable 
Dialogue x 6- Well written and performed again made the trailer more engaging for the audience
Sound effects x 12- The ones that were added brought more to the trailer and made scenes more impactful
Location x 7- We shot in a church and it improved the mise-en-scene of the trailer as it was a real, set location 
Mise en scene x 5- Props, body horror, creepy location, and restricted narration were the highlights of the trailer  
Intertitles x 3- tod more about the narrative and what to expect from the film
Ending x 2- The editing and body horror effects made for a gruesome and memorable ending 
Cinematography x 13- The wide variety of shots and angles used made the trailer exciting to watch
Tension- The slow paced music mixed with the quick paced shots and drawn out narrative made the trailer tense


Points of improvement 

In need of jump scare x 2- The jump scare was thought about but not added in the final trailer 
Variety of pace needed x 7- Collision cutting and quick paced montages have been added
Background music- The levels will be mixed so dialogue can be heard and have more menacing connotations
Louder screams- Sound levels have been mixed
Too light- Can be fixed by tweaking with the brightness and contrast of shots
Intertitles x 9- Need to be more readable and have been redesigned
Sound effects x 9- Need to be added on impacts to make them sound more realistic

AVG score for the trailer - 7.5

Priest rough cut

At this point we still need to add/change:
-Cinematic lighting effects to make the shots darker and richer in colour.
-Sound effects on certain impact points eg. the head being smashed against the wall and the whispering that will draw the Priest to the cross.
-Clean audio to be dubbed over the Priest's speech at the beginning of the trailer.
-Reduce the overall volume of the music so dialogue can be heard more easily.

The Conjuring (2013) trailer review

Name of film- The Conjuring
Genre- Horror
Year released-2013
Your mark after viewing- 8/10

What happened in the trailer?
The trailer is a scene trailer and starts by showing the family running into the house. After the studio logos, it cuts to the mother and children playing a game where the mothers blindfolded and searches around the house listening for clapping so she can find them. She stumbles into a bedroom with a wardrobe that opens by itself and a pair of hands emerges and claps. She searches in the wardrobe for a child but when she turns around the child runs into the room. There is an intertitle here. The next cut sees her sort out some laundry when she hears clapping. Upon investigating she hears a loud crash behind her as all the pictures on the wall have fallen down and childish laughter is heard. There is an intertitle here. She goes downstairs and hears clapping, before eventually heading towards to the basement as its door mysteriously opens. She peers in and turns on the light to see an empty room but before she leaves the door slams in her face and the light blows. She strikes a match and over her right shoulder a pair of hands emerges and claps next to her. The trailer end with a music box playing and the name of the film being displayed.

What positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are well fulfilled?
There were many positive aspects of this trailer that covered a variety of horror genre conventions. For example the trailer was set in a creepy location with moderately low key lighting to give the mise-en-scene creepy, dark, evil and lonely connotations to represent how horrible and haunted the house is. The trailer also features the restricted narration element of mise-en-scene by having a series of picture frames fall off a wall and clatter to the ground off shot. This connotes mystery and suspense, and coupled with the parallel music of mischievous childish laughter, it represents that supernatural forces are at work and haunting the family. The pictures shattering also acts as collision cutting between quiet and loud, ambient and parallel sound effects connoting that the shattering acts as a trigger for the ghost attacks and that the increased volume in music represents that as the trailer goes on the haunting will continue. The trailer also features contrapuntal music at the end with the music box. This music is out of place compared to the quick paced parallel music and has connotations of childhood and innocence. This isn’t the only example of collision cutting in the trailer as it goes from a slow paced montage when the pictures fall of the wall to a quick paced montage when the mother is investigating the house and the basement. When the door slams it returns to a slow paced montage, ready for the final jump scare and catch the audience off guard so they get connotations of fear and surprise. The trailer also features intertitles. The first reads “based on a true story” to connote fear and put audience on edge and represent it’s real. The second intertitle states it’s “from the director of Saw and Insidious” and connotes if you like these films you’ll like this one as it’s from the same auteur, James Wan. The trailer also makes use of the cinematography conventions of the horror genre.  Shaky handheld cam is used in the slow paced montage when the mother is blindfolded to connote stumbling and a physical instability whilst it’s used in the quick paced montage of investigating the house to build fear and tension with the shakiness connoting a mental instability from the ghost. This thus represents that handheld shots focus on an unsteadiness of character and try to make the audience feel uneasy.

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
I thought there wasn’t much that acted as disappointing or off putting for the target audience except the scene trailer only highlights one scene and doesn’t represent the entire film or the rest of the main characters like the Warrens who are key to the films narrative.

Why did it receive the mark you gave it?
It received the mark I gave it due to the wide use of horror conventions used in the scene trailer, through the use of cinematography, editing, sound and mise-en-scene. The trailer also has haunting connotations and makes the audience fear for the family and be afraid of the ghost we see so little of. 

Paranormal Activity (2009) trailer review

Name of the film- Paranormal Activity
Year released- 2009
Film genre- Horror
Your mark after viewing- 6/10

What happened in the trailer?
The trailer started by showing a queue of people about to enter a cinema to see Paranormal Activity. Once they’re all seated the film starts and we’re shown a variety of highlights form the film and we also get the narrative established and find out that a couple are living with a ghost who’s hauntings become progressively worse and intrusive and results in them setting up a camera in order to capture the actions as they unfold.  The trailer builds up a quick paced montage and ends in a jump scare where a body flies backwards towards the camera followed by giving “tour dates” for the film before its general release.

What positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?
The trailer has clever and interesting aspects surrounding it including the usage of shaky handheld camera shots, a cinematography convention, in order to connote fear, uncertainty and represent that the characters are amateurs in filming, similar to the group in The Blair Witch Project (1999) who are an amateur group too. As the trailer progresses it, it returns to a motif of a wide shot with the couple lying in bed as different supernatural events happen around them. The return to this wide shot connotes it’s a central location for the narrative of the film. The trailer also features collision cutting, from a slow pace to a quick pace, when the bedroom door slams and connotes the start of a quick paced montage. The door slam also signals another collision cut between quiet and loud with a static noise that connotes interference and represents that the ghosts are intruding on the couple. As the trailer gets close to the end the static parallel music increases in volume representing that the ghosts are becoming more intrusive and haunting as the film would go on. The quick paced montage also features a heartbeat noise which picks up in pace, connoting fear, tension and anxiety and is parallel to the feelings felt by both the characters of the film and the audience. The intertitles also give positive reviews of the film connoting that it would be god to see as it’s received so much praise from different sources. The quotes are also small and readable so the audience can read them for the short time they’re on the screen.

What aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
The unsuccessful, disappointing and off-putting aspects of the trailer for the target audience include the shots from inside the cinema where people are watching the film live. The reason this is off-putting is because you can the audiences’ heads illuminated by the green night vision light which distracts you from the movie footage. Due to the low key lighting of the cinema and the green light emitted, the high key cinema screen looks it’s been added in the editing process and makes the screen have connotations of being fake and amateur.
The trailer also ruins the only jump scares the film has to offer and shows of the scariest bits of hem film representing the fact that the audience will already be prepared to watch the film and won’t be as easily shocked or spooked by the film. On top of this the ghosts presence and attacks in the trailer weren’t scary enough and used a cliché of horror conventions to connote supernatural fear and suspense by using techniques like slamming doors, moving chandeliers and no footsteps in flour that’s been placed on the ground.

Why did it receive the mark you gave it?
Despite the fact it used a variety of horror conventions it also spoiled the main aspect of the narrative and didn’t leave much for the target audience to figure out. It also showed the main jump scare which appears at the end of the film, along with the other scariest pats of the film, meaning the audience won’t be as scared or shocked as they’ll have literally seen it all before. Also, like the Day of the Dead (1985) trailer, it also shows shots from inside a cinema which is very off-putting and distracting and draws the audience away from the action and horror of the film.

Class Research: Favourite Type of Horror

My personal favourite sub-genre of horror is psychological horror

Priest poster with feedback

Shooting schedule