Exploring different poster techniques

I wanted to research film posters before going ahead to create my own without any proper knowledge about the area. In doing this I researched current film posters that had previously stood out for me, received feedback about what makes a good film poster and also tried out film poster layouts on the internet.

I created these on http://bighugelabs.com/poster.php which enabled me to view how my poster would look like.

Starting my evaluation

I have started my evaluation for my project, as I know this is important and will require a lot of my time. It is worth 50% of my ovveral work, so I need to plan a lot of what I want to do beforehand. I have been told that it should not just be done in essay form, but that we should be creative when doing it. Because of this I am going to research different websites that I can create videos or online powerpoints to answer the 4 questions.

Poster Inspirations

I have researched through looking at other posters. Particularly, I have looked at posters that have a face as the main image as I wanted to create a similar message to the audience from my own poster. I thought it was great to hide the identity of the model and to create a sense of mystery to the audience, because they do not know who the killer is. These are some other horror film posters that have inspired me:

• I really like how simple this poster is, the colours are complete connotations of horror. With the red for blood and the white which creates a mystical paranormal effect.
• The face on the poster is very abstract and it makes me want to watch it because you it doesn't give away any of the plot.
• The poster is scary because if the audience stare at the face for a long time they may feel that the face is going to come out.

• I really like how the teeth are the main focus of this poster, they are right in the audiences eyeline which indicates the film could be based on vampires.
• There is also a little of red text and I found that in most of the posters, the red is only used for a few of the text.

• Most of the text is white over black which makes it stand out and it also avoids the audience getting distracted, so they only focus on the image.

Problems encountered with my trailer

The main problems I encountered with filming my trailer were getting the right shots, to capture the angle I wanted. I had to film a lot of footage of the same thing, until I was sure it was right and this took time. It would of been better if I had created a shotlist beforehand so I was certain what I needed and wanted to film.
What went well was the location, we were able to take advantage of the isolated forest to create some really spooky scenes.

Final Trailer

This is my final a2 Media horror trailer!

Here is a link if you are unable to view my trailer. http://youtu.be/_C6Lapgdx_Y

Trailer Feedback

I showed my class the progress I have made with the trailer and got them to complete a short paper based questionnaire on what they liked and didn't enjoy. Here are a few quotes that I have taken from this activity:

"I really enjoyed all the different types of shots you have used, for example when the victim is running through the woods. The variation keeps it exciting and I wanted to know what was going to happen to her next."

"I think you can improve on your transitions as they lacked consistency from one shot to the next, but this can be easily done. I think that is the main thing that lets your trailer down."

"I loved the mobile phone sequence, I think that is really original and have never seen anything like it before. Definietly keep that in as it gave it a uniqueness that most horror trailers these days lack."

"I don't like the music at all, I don't think it fits the theme of your trailer. Instead I would of used something much more eerie and spooky."

TRAILER

This  is my second attempt at creating my teaser trailer. This was particularly hard because it was difficult to condense it down to the preferred time limit. I also still haven't got to grips with how to make the transitions look professional. This is something that I will look on the internet for a tutorial for.