Copy of Hush Hush Presentation

In what ways does your media

product use,

develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media?

The establishing shot is distorted, showing a twist in plot (the final girl being a killer), our trailer is inspired by the use of this in "Grave Encounters".

"Psycho productions" - relates to "Pyscho" shower scene with the eye and the use of black and white.

The "male gaze" was subverted in the "dead girl" scene, and does not follow the rules mentioned in "Scream" about not being promiscuous to avoid death.

The trailer is non chronological to represent the confusion of the complex situation and history repeating itself, this is also present in the "Chronicles" trailer.

Basic backgrounds allow focus to remain on characters. This is different to "Psycho" (The scene with Marion and Norman's conversation surrounded by stuffed birds).

Todorov's theory:

Equilibrium - Chris in Uni

Disruption - accidental killing

Recognition - New uni for Chris

Attempt at restoration - Killer trying to kill Chris

New equilibrium - Chris kills killer.

Although we did not include a chase scene, there were scenes of near capture put the audience on edge more, near capture relates to "Scream".

"Nosferatu" was incredibly sucessful with its use of shadow, as it allowed the audience to experience the emotion and the fear of the main characters towards the villain.

The sound challenges convention as it is not music, however further shows the link to "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (other links include use of mask and crime scene shots).

Enigma - end scene of "Hush Hush".

Alfred Hitchock also relied heavily upon lighting, as the visual aspect of a horror film is the main cause of uneasiness for the audience, however it is not necessarily what they see that frightens them; quite often it is what they cannot see, showing why the introduction of the killer in "Psycho" during the shower scene was so effective.

The voice over relates to "Scream" news reporter and provides a background/reason for the events in the trailer.

We based our main character on the "Final Girl Theory" and featured many shots of Chris to show the importance of her, we were also heavily influenced by "Scream" and final girl Sidney.

The title is typical of a horror film in the way that it is short and dircetly related to the film plot, however words are not often repeated within the title and often begin with "The" such as "The Descent", referring to an event that is purposely made vague, as if those explaining it through the film find it too frightening to use details about it.

The colour scheme was inspired by films such as "The Last House on the Left", "Mirrors" and "The Grudge" and is used in horror film posters as the white often represents purity and innocence and contrasts with the, black usually representing evil and darkness and the red representing gore and fear. These colours although basic, create the dramatic effect desired when promoting a horror film.

The main image includes Iconography to show the horror element, important for drawing an audience interested in horror towards the film, this is present in many horror films, "The Last Exorcism" and "Saw", film posters largely inspired our red and white contrast decision for the image.

The BBFC rating found at the bottom of the poster is to warn younger film fans that the film is graphic, but also to show older viewers that the gore and violence found in the film will appeal to them, and the inclusion of the trademarks found on the bottom of the poster are also conventional.

The rating at the top of the poster is a conventional element further advertising the film, it also gives the audience an idea of what to expect from the plot, the gore, the jumps, the ending, etc.

The date is the birthday of Ed Gein, a murderer that inspired the horror classic "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", a film that our trailer was heavily influenced by.

In most horror film posters, the main image is of the main character, most often the final girl. Our main image challenges this convention by using the killers mask instead, like "Halloween" and "Scream", as our plot is focussed on the killer.

The tagline is a common convention of horror films that acts as an enigma, drawing an audience in by relating a memorable quote to the plot of the film and the design of the poster. rhetorical questions are not often used in horror films as a statement usually makes more impact, but as our plot is based around secrets our tagline was created in a way that would incite curiosity.

There is a knife replacing the "I" in "Empire" to show the consumer that based on the iconography, they can assume the issue is horror based. This also links to the weapon used by Norman Bates in "Psycho", a film our magazine cover was heavily influenced by.

The puff adds an element allowing the consumer to recognise the importance of the issue, as it is a special edition.

The colour scheme was based on an issue of "Empire" published with "Star Trek" as its feature article on the cover, as we were also using this magazine brand for our own and the "Star Trek" cover had elements that could represent our main character, who would appear on our front cover.

The expression, composition and greyscale used in the main image shows a link to Norman Bates in "psycho", and how our charater's mental state is slowly eroding due to guilt, like Norman's did. Our trailer was very influenced by "Psycho" in many aspects, but image was the main one as Alfred Hitchcock understands how to frighten an audience with using limited shots containing iconography.

The main plug links to the tagline of the film, we followed the typical way the text is written with a play on words that also incites curiosity in the reader .

There is a magazine website and slogan, allowing the consumer access to as much information as they want and advertising the magazine.

The barcode was used from a previous issue of "Empire" to add a professional look to the magazine.

The standard price and inclusion of the date the issue was "published" further adds authenticity to the issue.

The plug is used as further advertisement to the consumer if the cover article is not to their interest, as well as showing what else the magazine is offering that links with the theme of horror/thriller this particular issue has.

How effective is the combination of

your main product and ancillary texts?

setting - familiar but isolated, mainly shown in darkness to allow unfamiliarity, using the reality and expected safety of the area to incite more fear into the audience as they consider the possibility of themselves being in the situation, the expression on the main girl's face and the use of the mask also reflects unfamiliarity.

The killer wears all black throughout, showing likeness to main girl (impurity, need to blend in) as her past and his present are the same, this is reflected in the colour scheme of the poster and magazine.

Props limited - we did not want to complicate the scene as focus on the characters is important for the audience to have the ability to connect to them, there are no props used in the magazine, premiere invitation and poster to emphasise the main images.

Title with cold breath gives "hush hush" a physical form, representing the past of the main girl and the identity of the killer as unclear, this is shown also in the facial expression of the main girl on the magazine and the main image on the poster.

Shadows were used mainly to create a dramatic atmopshere and an uneasy feeling for the audience about the setting, playing on the fear of the unknown, this is also shown in the magazine cover and poster main images.

Iconography present in magazine, trailer, premiere invitation, trailer and poster - knife, blood, mask, shadows.

The colour scheme on the poster is dark and contrasting, especially with the red found in the text. This is to link to the lighting in the trailer and this is also a colour scheme mostly associated with horror.

The title and main image on the premiere invitation, the poster and the magazine cover each emphasise the other as one is brightly coloured and the other is black and white.

Mask - blank, representing no remorse and killers belief that his actions are just. Causes distrust and incites suspicion amongst audience. This is also used in the magazine cover with the final girl's face.

Main Image on poster - The mask represents the mystery and fear incited by the unknown, and how important the hidden identitiy of the killer is to the plot. The magazine cover shows a different identity of the final girl to the trailer, showing the complexity of the plot.

Eye contact on the magazine cover was important when connecting to the reader, and the main girl's facial expression is interesting to them because of this, and even more so to those that have seen the trailer, as in this image the main girl is depicted as having a completely different personality, prompting the consumer to read the article and find out who the character really is.

The colour scheme of the magazine links to that of the poster, showing a link and allowing sucessful advertisement of the film.

Magazine cover composition - allows full focus on the final girl's face, putting emphasis on her expression and showing emotion linking to the plot of the film.

Title - The font sybolises dripping blood, reflecting the genre of the film and tying in with the main images and other iconography of the poster, premiere invitation, magazine and trailer to create a link for the audience.

How did you use new media technologies in the

construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Web 2.0

Photobucket

Slideshare

Youtube

Google

Blogger

Video camera

Powerpoint

Photoshop

Adobe Premiere

Microphone

Media encoder

Computer

Mac computer

Canon camera

Video2mp3

Phone

E-mail

Prezi

Empiremagazine.com

What have you learned from your

audience feedback?

Feedback from actors

Post production feedback

Theories

Age groups - Paul Wells

Results

Questionaires

Reviews

Pre-screening questions

Reviews other films

Social networks

Feedback from actors

Feedback for plot

Magazine cover

Trailer

Poster

Trailer

Surveys