Priest: Director's Featurette

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

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

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