Sunday, 6 June 2010

Institutional Context

Institution -

For my task I have been asked to create a film trailer, film poster and a movie magazine, this will involve me undertaking most of the jobs which are involved in this such as producer, director, writer, camera man, photographer, editor and so on. For my product I am considering making a mainstream product, such as ones made by Universal so as to reach a larger audience in the process. Universal is an example of horizontal intergration as it offers a variety of products within the media genre other than film, such as it's music company under the same name. If I was to work with a company like Universal; a horizontally intergrated company, it would mean there would be more resources and knowledge available to me in the production stage, rather than if I was to work with an independent company. A larger company would be best in most cases of this work, such as with the film magazine a company like Bauer Media would be a better choice in company as like Universal it is also horizontally intergrated meaning again that more resources and knowledge will be available, also larger companies are more likely to be well known and therefore people will be more willing to buy or view their products, meaning a pretty large audience would be established quickly. A large business would be needed to distribute the product, because of its link to a large production company, the products would be expected to be seen across the country or world, so a large company like "WWMD" for example, would be needed to distribute my magazine. Because of my products audience of mainly 16-24 I would expect the product to be stocked in shops like Tesco, due to their popularity with the younger generation and being a well known supermarket, it would mean the product would be more readily available and seen by it's audience, therefore making them more known of the product and likely to buy it.

The Process -

To collect information on the process I might undertake when my product I decided to look at http://www.skillset.org/film/business/ for an idea.


1. The Idea

The idea involves the process of coming up with an idea for a film and taking steps to push the idea into action by way of finding people interested in the film such as the producer, who will be the one who takes the action of producing the film. For this stage in the process, I do most of the work, such as the jobs producer, director and writer who are all part of this stage and are jobs that I will personally be taking up for my product. While ideas and the pitch although majorly owed to me, I took some action in the research stage in my focus group to involve and ask people of what they wanted for a storyline within the horror genre, whereupon they provided ideas of their own or agreed with my own.

2. Development Finance

This stage describes the finance needed to develop a script for a film, it could involve the producer finacing it, or a production company finacing it, but in many cases this involves pitching the idea to people, so takes charisma and time. This stage also involves finding a distribution company and the Film Council, this will mean your product will be able to reach your audience and be have some funding. With my own products I would follow much the same process as this, finding people who are interested in investing in the film.

3. Script Development

This stage refers to the key development of the script of a film, it involves a close working relationship between all people involved in this stage. This stage will mean the creation of a synopsis, step outlines, drafts and finally final draft, which will all show a variety of things including what will be seen on the screen, what the dialogue is and so on. Again with this stage, it is fairly suitable to any film, so therefore a would be using it for myself.

4. Packaging

Packaging is a stage which involves creating a budget for a film, by combination of a sales treatment and the final draft. Actors or stars are important assets for getting funding for a film, as they package the film in a certain way, meaning the bigger the star the more likely they are to get funding for the film. Finally the stage is also a time to start setting up schedules, plans and budget, mainly revolving around finance. This would be the same process I myself would take in this case, as it is a key planning stage, whereupon I would be able to make the film more appealing to people who would offer finance.

5. Financing

Again another key stage, this stage of the process involves attracting people who would fund the film production, these investors could be from private, co-production or even public, sources, yet attracting the investors is quite hard work. A producer can gain money selling the rights to the movie even before it has been made, this could be to a broadcaster, a distributor or a sales company. Banks are another source of finance in this stage. One point within this stage that may cause problems is the financer, a financer may impose conditions for the film, such as a certain crew or cast, meaning this may distrupt the production process. After everyone is happy and everything has been done in this stage, they are allowed to start production of the film. Financing with my film would be a key issue and I would like to see myself gaining money and such from the large production company I would be working with, one such as Universal.

6. Pre- production

This stage, is mainly collecting staff and arranging departments for the different aspects of the film, it also means making the finishing touches on the cast of film. This stage needs a lot of time and planning as it involves storyboarding each key scene, planning scenes and plans for special effects. With my own product, I myself would be filling most of the positions available within the film, such as writer, casting director, editor, production designer and so on. For my film, planning will involve, taking reece shots, storyboarding and much more.

7. The shoot

The shoot involves the creation of the film, such as the acting in combination with all the different departments like camera, lighting and sound and special effects. This stage is probably one of the longest as it takes a while to film scenes and then combine them together. For my own trailer I will be taking most of the jobs available here, such as camera man in most cases and possibly an actor, but majorly acting will be taken up by people of my choice.

8. Post-Production

This stage involves inserting computerized effects such as music into my film, while it is also a combination of editing as this stage involves putting all the scenes together and enhancing them with colour. With my own trailer, this stage will be quite similair as I will aim to put all the scenes together into my desired narrative sequence, while also inserting possible music choices as well to enhance emotions within the trailer.

9. Sales

This stage is the point in which a producer will aim to sell their product out to the public, but to do this they use a distributor. This stage also involves creating a trailer and commencing with screenings, so as to increase the suspense of the film within the market. With my own product I would aim to follow the same sort of thing by selling the product, creating a trailer, taking it the market and commencing with screenings.

10. Marketing

This stage is the begining of starting to advertise and market the product to the desired audience, it could involve an audience focus group, advertising by billboards and such, press and media coverage and internet advertisements. This stage is the time when the film starts to establish itself and target its audience, with this stage in my own product, I will being doing a similair thing by producing posters, magazine articles and creating a trailer, I will also try to create an audience focus group for this stage to get feedback on my product.

11. Exhibition

Exhibitions is the time in which all the hard work and planning is tested as the film is released and premiered to the public, if the film is a successful box office, it equals finacial success for the film and all involved, therefore investors can recoup their money. For this stage I would follow the same process as this, by premiering the film to get more attention and hopefully being succesful in getting a postive revenue for the film.

12. Other windows

This stage is basically the sales after the product has been released, such as DVD's and videos, games and broadcasts on the TV, this will mean more of a profit for the producer as they will gain more of larger revenue than they did for the cinema release, this is usually the final stage unless they are thinking of bringing out a sequel.

Job Descriptions -

Editor - The job of an editor is a very notable one, involving overseeing the whole of the magazine, controlling and laying it out so that it achieves its purpose of appealing to someone, maybe through appropriate articles or images and such.

Publisher - A publisher ensures that all texts or articles within a magazine are writtin well and suit their purpose, they will also oversee their rights as a publisher within the organisation. They control theory how the product is going to be sold and who to and also ensuring everything is done on time.

Photographer - The photographer is in charge of taking the pictures for the magazine and also ensuring they maintain purpose, mostly through mise-en-scene, shot distance and angle.

Delivery person or company - The people in charge of delivering the magazine are to ensure that the product reaches it destination on time so as to reach the shelves quicker.

Casting Director - It is the casting directors job to list actors appropriate for the roles appropriate to the genre and script, they may conduct interviews or casting sessions.

Camera man - The camera mans job is to control the camera and position it in the correct shot and distance so as to get the desired final shot for the film or in my case the trailer.

Light and sound man - It is this persons job to control the use of sound and lights on the set of the film, it will mean in reality hiring a team of people to help out in controlling the lighting and sound.

Production designer - This person has a busy job as they are in control of all designs, such as sets, costume, locations and props, they are the ones who held accountable for the authenticity of the film as their designs need to be appropriate to the storyline and genre.

Producer - It is the producers job to be in control of most things within the film, as they are the ones who set the film production into motion and control most of the important things such as finance.

Director - Directors are important for the script of a film to actually become a reality, as they are the ones who develop the script into a visual aspect.

Writer - A writer is the person who writes up a script for an imagined storyline for a film; without a writer their would be no script, therefore they are an important asset to the production of a film.

Proposal of Ideas/ Treatment

The idea of my products; the trailer, magazine cover and film trailer is to get my audiences attention and make them want to go and see the film. My audience, from my research is that of an audience of 16-24 and of no particular gender, but by a slight percentage a majority of men. I am aiming to create my products representing the genre, of horror and triller, due to it's interest to me and the variety of storylines available within it.

Storyline -

For my storyline, I conducted some research during my focus group, into what my audience might like to see, or got them to give me some of their own suggestions. My storyline is a combination of two genres; horror and thriller, it was originally adapated from an idea given to me by a friend during the focus group. The basic outline of the storyline is this -
After a night of heavy partying, a girl wakes to find herself still at the rather isolated party spot and her boyfriend missing. Asking other partyers around whether they have seen him, it quickly becomes apparent that he has gone missing. The boyfriend as the other main character wakes to find himself in a plain blacked out room, with no way to get out. The rest of the storyline follows a few grusome acts on the abductors part, while the girlfriend viligantly looks for him on the outside.

Narrative of the trailer -
My trailer is going to with institutional logos and some slow music then go into media res, meaning that it will begin during some of the action, my trailer is going to begin with scenes of the party in full swing, then following in chronological order it is going to show te sequence of events through some small clips of signifcant scenes. But about halfway through when the trailer picks up tempo, I will begin to mix up the scenes, to make it apear more action packed and exciting to the audience, as that is an incentive with a horror, the audience wish to feel the adrenaline rush of the characters. The trailer will involve some appropriate music at times, such as when the scenes start to rush past, fast drumming music could be used to enhance the feeling of tension. The trailer will end, by cutting to the title of the film and possible some sound effects like an over voice of a scream from one of my characters.

Poster and Magazine -
The plan for my poster is quite similair to that of the Eden Lake one, due to being of a similair genre. For the poster I am going to use a dark, dreary looking colour pallette so as to represent the negative connotations of the genre. The text for both the magazine and the poster, will be done in large bold text, as it will attract more attention, this may mean me using the colour red, so as to be brigheter and represent the negative connotations. The layout of the poster will be done in landscape, so as to be more apparent as a poster, while the magazine will be done in potrait. The images will possibly be of one of the key characters sat in front of a door, as they can't escape, or don't want someone to escape, or a combination of key locations and factors within the film. Appropriate mise-en-scene will be used for the images, so as to be more authentic.

Mood board -

Target Audience Research

For my film trailer, poster and magazine front cover I have decided to upon basing mine around the genres of horror and thriller due to my vested interest in those genres, while the combination of the two genres may also mean that there will be a larger audience. My inspiration came from such films as Eden Lake and The Descent as they are exciting and interesting films as well as having some interesting film trailers and posters.

Secondary Research -

To collect some quatative data on my audience I decided to look at some secondary data from the website pearlanddean.com, due to its collection of numerical data on the audiences for films. By looking at the data on the website I will be allowed to look at films which are similair to my own in genre and establish a possible audience for film trailer, poster and magazine front cover.

Pearlanddean.com -

Eden Lake -



The Descent : Part 2 -


28 Days Later -

Dawn of the Dead -


In analysis of the data collected from pearlanddean.com it shows that when it comes to gender with these films, it is quite similair in size, meaning that this genre may appeal to both males and females. When looking at the age of the people watching these films, it is quite simialair throughout with the age group of 15-24 being the dominant age group watching this genre, with 25 - 35 usually being the next dominant age group. Of course the younger age groups are at 0% due to the fact they are too young to watch the films. Variation in the trends can be seen with such films as The Descent: Part 2, dropping in percentages and being higher in the next age group up, this maybe just a coincidental thing though as the rest of the films follow the trend that 15 - 24 are the highest in percentage and the next group is the next highest and so on. When it comes class there is no common trend, but throughout them C1 seems to be the dominant class throughout, which maybe because they are the largest group overall. In conclusion in analysis of this secondary, quantative data I find that the genre I have chosen may apply to both male and females in large numbers, while 15 - 24 year old and people of the class group c1 would be my dominant groups.
To collect some qualitive secondary data I decided to have a look at the website UkTribes.com. so as to establish any similarities of likes in film, in contrast to my choice in genre. This will involve looking at descriptions and similarities in people so as to group them to a certain tribe, whereupon they may share likes, dislikes or a personal image.

UKTribes.com -

UK Tribes is used to describe the many social or commercial groups that make up the Uk public, specifically that of the younger generation, those that have built a personal image for themselves, maybe through choices in fashion or tastes, it could include Chavs, Emos and Skaters. In analysis of my findings on UK Tribes, I don't really find that their is any particular group which would be interested in my genre, due to the fact that is a genre which applys to them all, but I think that it could be more focused at the Alternative, Leading Edge and Mainstream groups, due to their amount of film consumption and the fact that the genre could apply more to their tastes than that of other groups like Urban. My thoughts on this are that the Alternative, Leading Edge and Mainstream groups would be more interested in my genre due to the fact that they have high film consumption and that the horror genre would traditionally be more applicable to groups like goths (alternative) but in modern days is watched by nearly everyone.

Primary Research -

To collect some data I decided to conduct a questionnaire to get an idea on my audience on a more primary basis, when conducting this questionnaire as I tried to ask both genders equally while looking for a varation of ages as well.

Questionnaire -



Pie charts -



To analyse some of the results collected from my questionnaire I constructed some pie charts to reflect some of my results. In my questionnaire when asked what their favourite film genres were they could only state two of their favourites, the majoirty as can be seen in the pie chart above said that they liked horror. The implications of this is that the horror genre must have a large market therefore it may mean a more neutral way of advertising as it could cover whole different segments of people. The second pie chart shows that the gender within the first pie chart is equal, the size of each gender who liked horror is the same, again meaning that advertsing for the horror audience more towards targeting a mass audience. In conclusion of my finding with my findings from questionnaire I find that my audience for a horror film could be equal in size of gender and quite profitable in the way that the majority of the people I asked enjoyed the horror genre more than any other.

Focus Group -

To collect qualitive primary data of my own I decided to conduct a focus group so as to gain a more detailed understanding of what people might want in a product. But to do this I decided on conducting the focus group on a facebook discussion group; specifically set up for the purpose so as to reach a larger audience in a shortened time, while the anwsers could be observed and annotated.

Questions -

Film Trailer -

"Here's a link to the Eden Lake trailer"
"http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D-6j3K4MmOKs&h=e920duIH1Ew_g3adV2BpO5nVkGQ"

"What did you think about the trailer? What did you like or dislike? (e.g. Camera Angles, Clothing, Music.....) "

"The trailer was quite good as it went in a chronological order so it was telling a story, but it did reveal to much of the story. The use of the voiceovers was good and made the trailer more complex. I think it did reveal the ending too much maybe it should of ended when she asked for help at the party making the audience want to know if this was the end of the madness. The music added to the atmosphere of the trailer like she was racing against time to stop the trauma. The introduction to the chase was a bit too long, should be short and get straight to the point!But apart from that the scenes looked daring and exciting!" - Stephanie Pattison

"The trailer wasn't very effective in creating intrigue in the audience, it was too long and gave too much away. it should be much shorter, and start slow like this one did but speed up, like flashing shots and packing lots into a small time. this would make the film appear full of action and also cause the audience to question what was happeneing, making them want to watch the movie. the music was quite predictable for this type of film, and not very paired with the actualy shots. you should use music thats calm at the start but possible add a slow quiet heart beat or drum beat which gets progrssivley louder and faster." - Helen Corby

"Trailer was was too long. showed basicly all the film, which isnt good cause I thought the film wasnt good the first time i watched it. you should make yours shorter (and a better film). with flashing between peoples faces on stills or quick shots. not revealing much but enthesisng the dramticity and horror on peoples faces. also include some slow drum beating music that gets progresivly faster untill it blacks out and ends with the title." - Daniel Horsfield

Storyline -

"What do you think would be a suitable storyline for a thriller/ horror? I've decided on a few possiblities -"

"- A group of friends out camping; each slowly getting picked off one one by some unseen attacker or attackers."

"- Some strangers witnesses a grievous crime in which someone is murdered and prosecuted and the attacker jailed. When some of the witnesses start dying in mysterious way, its evident someone is out to get revenge, but who is doing it? And will they survive?"

"- A woman/girl is being abused by her boyfriend, when in retaliation she kills him by accident, her and some friends help her to hide the body. A couple months after that some of those friends start getting mudered and the rest have to run or hide for their lives."

"Or do you have any other suggestions?"

"I think the second one! :) interesting! :)" - Stephanie Pattison

"I like the first one, but you could add in various superstitions and things which go wrong making it like fate. it could possibly end up being a blend of 1 and 2. people go camping and witness a man being attacked, they call police and man is saved. but then they go camiping, following that it is like they are being followed. then they are picked off one by one killed and attacked in ways. 2-3 suvive and escape to go home. they are told by note (or some wierd scary way) that they shouldn't have stopped the justice, then research the man, finding nothing excpet he owns a fishing lake in the woods. then search the woods and find a series of children have gone missing and have been founf to have been killed . 5 children in total, (5 original characters who went camping) they realise the ways 3 of the children have died are the three ways each of their friends have died. and you can probably get where this is going." - Helen Corby

Film Poster -

"Here's a link to a film poster"


"What do you think of this poster? Is it good at advertising its purpose and genre? Does the poster need reviews and such to be included in it's layout? Do you think my own poster for a horror/thriller like Eden Lake should have a similair layout and design?"

"The poster is effective at hinting at the dark and threatening nature of the film but also doesnt give much away about the nature of the film. As for adding a review in your poster, only if it is a good review by a decent reviewer. Your poster should follow a similar trend of hinting at things to come, but not spoiling much in the poster by including a big main moment. perhaps shots of group of characters or 4 or 5 shots of moments throught the film surrounding the title." - Daniel Horsfield

"It is an effective poster due to the eerie feeling suggested by the darkness and poses of the actors, suggesting it is a thriller. this suits its purpose because the picture is intriguing, which paired with its suggestion of the horror genre would draw in any possible audiences to horror film. forall it doesn't give much away about the film, this adds to the suspense of the shot and the intrigue felt by the audience to the poster.another poster for a horror movie like eden lake should have a simlialy laid out poster, with possibly more suggestive photos, but still maintaining the air of intrigue." - Helen Corby

"I think the poster needs the reviews because u know what other people think to whether it is any good or not. I think the people in the background should be slightly closer to the woman to make her seem in more danger. Also the woman needs to look more scared or she should be injured/bleeding to make it look more dramatic." - Katie Pearson
"Its a good idea to add reviews as it may well promote the film better hearing it from someone else apart from the people who made it.I personally love the image xD its like were seeing it from the a characters prospective seeing the teenagers from a distance good use of a tagline as it links with the title creating and telling a story." - Stephanie Pattison

Film magazine front cover -


"Looking at this front cover to a film magazine front cover, is their anything that you think stands out in a good or a bad way to you? What do you suggest I include in my own magazine front cover?"

"Hm... the magazine doesn't look interesting at all. The colours are just cold and well not lively at all, and HEY! LOOK AT THAT! THE MOST NOT INTERESTING BACKGROUND IN WORLD! I would suggest to make your magazine with loads of dark and warm colours. Not just warm, because if you use orange or yellow you will totally give away the feeling of horror/thriller. Dark/warm colours=good. Cold/Light colours=bad. Well for me anyway" - Dajana Plona

"You should make better use of the sell lines to make the audience think the magazine has plenty to offer - For a horror magazine you should have more suitable colours such as red and black :)- Only the main keywords should be in larger text otherwise it will just be a blur to the audience-The image is interesting with the use of makeup to make him freaky" - Stephanie Pattison

Overall what I have gathered from the focus group is an idea of the dislikes and likes of my particular audience, as they are all people who participated in the questionnaire and said yes to be interested in the horror genre. I have gained an overall idea of what to include in my products, such as the trailer, my audience seems particularly interested in the fact that too much of the film is revealed, while they do seem to be interested in the interpretation of music within a trailer, so as to add suspense. With the storyline my audience and group seemed to be interested in rather original idea, so as to have something new, which may be a reflection on all of the people of the same genre, also one person seemed particularly interested in offering their own idea to a storyline, so again maybe a reflection on what to include in my storyline. The poster was mostly discussed as being effective in its advertisement due to its negative colours and its suspenseful use of image and is something which I think I may take on board so as to establish my own poster and to target the audience. The film magazines comments were mostly negative as they found that magazine front cover to be particularly boring, so may mean I'll have to make my own more lively, but comments suggested the image used was an interesting one as it reflected the genre, something I'll have to do myself.

Some participants in Focus Group -

(Stephanie Pattison, Dajana Palona and Daniel Horsfield)

Conclusion -

By analysis of my questionnaire, focus group and secondary data collected through reader profiles I have come to a conclusion that my audience is of the 16-24 year old, both male and females, this I have derived from my questionnaire and research on pearlanddean.com, my audience wont belong to any particular social group but is more likely to be that of Mainstream, Alternative and Leading Edge. My audience seems to be well versed in what they want in a product or piece of media, as during the focus group they seemed to be able to see what they liked and disliked about something quite easily. What I have gained from this research is an idea of how to design my products, to appeal my age group, specifically through music in the trailer, as music seems to potray to them certain emotions or feelings. Another thing they seemed to be particular interested in was the storyline, the storyline of the image is an very important aspect to them as my audience seems to be interested in seeing something new and original in everything they watch.

Viewer Profile -

An audience aware of their tastes in media and film, yet possesing their own individual thoughts on what a media product should contain. They are strongwilled and possess a strong sense of humour but still dont let that cloud their judgements.