Evaluation Question 4 - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Sound:

To create the music for the teaser trailer, we used existing non-copyright sound that we found on a free music website and overlapped these on Final Cut Pro. We overlapped music and sound effects such as the rustling of clothes when the Demon Priest is getting dressed. We chose different sounds for different scenes in order to create the appropriate atmosphere - for example, we included a simple fast-paced drumming sound at the beginning when introducing the Demon Priest because the main focus was on what he was saying so the music could not overpower that. We also used GarageBand to overlap some sounds together as we preferred certain aspects of each musical piece, and so we edited it into one audio file.

Some of the audio from the character's speaking was hard to make out so we put it into Apple Logic to enhance it, however, to create the Demon's low voice, we asked a teacher to put on a demonic voice and recorded that by putting the microphone on a camera near him as it was easier than recording him in a studio.

Editing:

To edit the teaser trailer, we used Final Cut Pro as we had used this for our AS work and we accustomed to the software and knew how to add effects and edit clips well. We used many different effects to enhance the colours - for example, we used a darkening effect for the stomach wound to highlight the wound and not the person. We also added an angelic light effect for the flash appearance of the Demon Priest behind a victim to conceal the camera shift because, even though the camera was on a tripod, when the actor stepped into the shot then out again, the camera had moved slightly. However, this effect was beneficial as the white backing light juxtaposed the Demon's darkness, as well as his symbolic black clothing.

Wix:

Wix was used to make the website; we chose a default layout which we then edited to produce the SOS website. We took the picture from the poster and enlarged it and edited it to fit on the right side of the website with a large black space next to it for us to insert the trailer and critics' quotes. We also added the list of sins and slogan on the left side of the website so the visitors would remember the film's plot as the slogan and list are also repeated throughout the trailer - through the typography and audio. I put the trailer in the middle on automatic so it would start the moment the visitor enters the site so that they can watch it again which will subconsciously persuade them to want to watch the film. Then I placed the four stars on either side of the slideshow comments to make it look presentable and consistent, and the five stars underneath - as seen on the Filth DVD cover.

Filming:

During the production process we used lighting to help create the shadow of the demon's arms as it was about to take a character - in this scene it was myself. We did this by placing the light behind a

group member, and someone helping us whilst the group member held the camera in a point of view shot in one hand and extended their left, and the helper extended their right. This was difficult as they had to extend their arms at exactly the same time, as well as wiggling their fingers the same.

Photoshop:

Photoshop was used a lot during the editing stages - to create the poster, the typography, the quotes and picture for the website, the black eye animation, the movie titles for both the trailer and poster, and making the production companies for the trailer. To create poster, we enhanced the colours and added a reddish tone to the whole picture to fit in with the colour scheme, then we edited the black eyes and blood tears to appear more prominent and shiny to make it appear more realistic. Photoshop allowed us to add glows to the typography and create an animation where the letters change to form SOS and the slogan appears. This took a long time as we had to create each frame and shift and alter the letters in each frame, however the end result was impressive. The same was done for the black eye animation - with each frame the black colour grew. To make the movie titles, we had to download a font called Steel Tongs to make it look like conventional professional movie titles, and then we analysed existing movie titles to decide which to put on the poster and trailer. We also made small production company logos to put under the movie titles on both the trailer and poster as this is the convention. This was relatively simple; we typed out the names then added glows on both companies and changed the font for one to distinguish it from the other.

Planning:

During the research stages, we used Blogger to record our deconstructions and inspirations, and this helped as we used tags to find posts easily, as well as adding pictures to help aid the text. Survey Monkey was also used to decide the film name. We thought of ten names which we then narrowed down to five to put on our survey. Putting a comment box at the bottom of the survey allowed for the respondents to share their ideas of film names, and one suggestion we received as choosing The Subsequent of Sin which could be abbreviated to SOS - which would fit in with the sinners' redemption plot in the film. Even though Hail Mary and The Deserving were tied as the most preferred choices, we liked the SOS suggestion so implemented that idea instead.

We set up another survey asking which was the best from Subsequent of Sin (SOS), The Deserving and Hail Mary, and 100% of the respondents chose SOS which was beneficial because that is what we hoped would get the most votes.

Internet:

We used websites such as Blogger to record our findings in the pre-production stage, then record production processes, as well as write up the editing and evaluating processes. YouTube was used a lot when watching and deconstructing trailers (both theatrical and teaser) as there were many horror/supernatural trailers available there. We deconstructed the Se7en trailer thoroughly as this was the film that inspired SOS.  The mise en scene in the television series Supernatural was also deconstructed using YouTube and their website (www.supernatural.wiki.com) because we wanted the supernatural mise en scene in SOS to be somewhat conventional so the audience were able to identify the supernatural elements easily. IMDB also helped us when finding horror/supernatural films because either horror or supernatural can be sub-genres, so many horror/supernatural films simply label themselves as 'horror' or 'supernatural'. Therefore, IMDB allowed us to find these hybrid films quickly, as well as browse older and more contemporary hybrids in order to form good research for us to plan SOS.

Evaluation:

We collected audience feedback by getting them to watch the trailer on social media platforms such as YouTube, Tumblr and Facebook and write down positives and negatives, some told us verbally as well. We were able to evaluate the responses and revise what parts needed altering in the trailer, on the poster and the website. Uploading these on the internet was beneficial as it reached out to a global audience so we were able to gather feedback from many people. We received feedback such as the Demon Priest's speech is hard to understand - so we had to record him speaking again and insert the audio into Final Cut Pro again. Also, certain lengthy scenes such as the Gluttony character eating and the Sloth walking were not necessary so we cut those out. When we showed the audience an updated version, we received positive feedback that the fast pace added tension and suspense, making the trailer more gripping.