Flatplans

Above is a flatplan for the front cover of the magazine. The magazine that I have decided to create belongs to a mainstream magazine. Therefore I have used the common forms and conventions such as "Behind the Scenes" competitions, extra content and so forth. This reinforces the fact that the magazine has value for money. Also I am going to use a three colour palette rule of black white and red, this is to tie in with the themes and conventions of the model featured for the film on the front cover. Therefore, the audience will then know that this is a horror film. 

Although, I have not included this in my flatplan I do intend to have my models head cover the masthead, as I have found that this tends to show that a magazine is professional and has confidence in covering the masthead, whilst the target audience still know what title the magazine is.

Banners Puffs, additional sell lines will also be used to reinforce the idea that the consumer is getting value for their money.



Here is a flatplan I have created for my Poster. As there is no image displayed... The image i wish to include is a location shot such as a woods or forest to convey themes of isolation and loneliness. I aim to use a three colour pallette of black white and red, as these are common colours used in the horror genre, I plan to desaturate the main image to black and white too. I will also have a credit block which will include links to social networking sites as this seems to be a common occurance in posters today. 

Revised Proposal of Ideas

Following my pitch, I have created a revised proposal of ideas which discuss the ideas of my trailer in depth.

Title Ideas: No Mercy, The Unforgiving, Rejection

Plot Ideas: 
Set in modern day England, in a hard hitting town,a girl who has been left isolated all her life is seeking out revenge.

She starts by seeking those who have hurt her in the past, killing them,showing No Mercy.

The deaths of teenagers suddenly becomes highly mysterious and the town are now wary of a killer, she then meets her last encounter, a boy who she once trusted who had hurt her badly.. she then tries to seek revenge but something changes, the boy tries to save her and they eventually form a bond..

however what happens next is left out in the open..
Poster Ideas:

I really want to convey the theme of isolation and loneliness, and the poster is going to represent this by the poster looking as though it is the antagonist looking on into the wilderness. Through photomanipulation this will create visual cues that the poster belongs the the horror genre, and the use of sell lines will inform the audience what the plot is about.

Magazine 

The magazine is going to be a mainstream magazine, thus covering a wide variety of genres.. The time that my magazine will be published is in October in order to promote a "halloween special" thus the magazine will be promoting a wider variety of horror films.

Pitch Feedback and Reflection

After pitching my ideas to individuals who fall within my target audience category i received the following feedback

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Following my pitch, my target audience said that I have researched current film trailers, film posters and film magazines well.

In order to improve, I need to think of a storyline for my trailer, which i already thought was a flaw in my idea development section. Having a clear thought process of a storyline for my entire film will benefit my overall trailer as if  I am unsure of my storyline I will be more likely to film shots which are unappealing, and there will be a chance that my trailer will not come across as professional meaning that there will be a further chance that the trailer will not appeal to the target audience. Furthermore, I should consider what soundtrack I'm going to use in my trailer and how I'm going to source it as it must be copyright free.

Although there generally wasn't any feedback about my magazine ideas, I have decided that if I have sufficient time, I will create two different magazine front covers, one of the antagonist and one of the protagonist. This is inspired through my research into empire magazine, who often create various covers for certain films, to encourage the consumer to purchase both magazines.

Proposal of Ideas

Genre: Horror, mainly inspired by the Scream series

Plot/Narrative Ideas: A town is faced with the threat of a zombie/mutant invasion

Character Ideas:

The trailer will include stereotypical protagonists, such as the dumb blonde, the vulnerable female and the slightly geeky male. They will be aged between 17-21 as my primary audience research indicated that they would prefer to see a horror film with characters of an age similar to them.

In terms of my protagonist ideas, I have been inspired by the costume of the nurses from Silent Hill. As my primary audience research indicated that they would like to see zombies and mutants in a horror film but also antagonists that look relatively human, I believe that the silent hill nurses fall under this category.

Location Ideas: 

Trailer: 
Shots which first introduce the protagonists accompanied with a voice-over which also works as part of the narratives. When the antagonists are introduced the editing pace will increase and will mainly consist of shots of the antagonists threatening the protagonists. Heightened diegetic sounds will be used such as a heightened sound of a heartbeat.

Primary Audience Research

Primary Audience Research on Prezi

Secondary Audience Research

In order to gain inspiration for my products, I have attempted to research the target audience of three different styles of horror films in order to outline if there are any similarities and differences in terms of their age and socioeconomic backgrounds.

The fist film I researched was Paranormal Activity 3, a horror film which is part of a trilogy and is generally a mainstream horror film. According to pearlanddean.com the film does not appeal to those under 15 whatsoever as it states that 0% watched this film, this due to the age restrictions of horror films. The film clearly proves to be most popular amongst those who are aged 15-24 making up 79% of the target audience. Which in contrast to the rest of the age groups, it is significantly larger with 12% of 25-34 year olds viewing the film and only 3% of 35-44 and 6% of 45+. This clearly signifies that paranormal activity is targeted to a younger audience, an audience who seek an adrenaline rush through watching others terror and discomfort. In terms of gender and the target audience, there is generally an even split with a of 53% males and 47% females. Therefore the film generally appeals to both genders. In terms of the socio-economic class, it appears that the film appeals DE (working class) with 35% and C1 (lower - middle class) with 33%.

The next film 'Fright Night' which is a fusion film of horror and comedy, again is a slightly mainstream horror film, but the target audience in which it appeals to differs ever so slightly. Again, due to age restrictions, 0% of people from ages 4 - 14 will pay to see this film. Similar to Paranormal Activity 3, the dominating age range of the target audience is 15 - 24 which makes up 65% of the target audience, however this is slightly smaller than the 15 - 24 group who see Paranormal Activity 3 (79%). This means that for fright night, the percentage of the next age group that are expected to view this film is notably higher than paranormal activity with 23% of 25-34 year olds viewing this film. The percentage may be slightly higher because Fright Night is a remake and this age group may have went to see the original film when they fell in the 15-24 group. Additionally, Fright Night may appeal to a slightly older audience too because it is a fusion of Horror and Comedy, meaning that there is an element of humour behind terror in which a slightly older audience may enjoy more. Furthermore, the actors used are slightly older too, such as David Tennant, and a slightly older audience may be able to relate to the slightly older actors. However, the film still has very little appeal to those who fall in the categories of 35 -44 and 45+. In terms of gender, again the there is generally an even split between genders, however in this case the female target audience is slightly more dominant with them making up 52% of the target audience. When looking at the socioeconomic class, it is evident that the film appeals the most to lower middle classes.

The film Red State, which appears to be a niche Horror film, due to its estimated box office of £500 000 appears to appeal, to slightly wider range of people. Again likewise with Paranormal Activity 3 and Fright Night, 0% of 4 - 14 year olds will not see this movie due to age restrictions. Again, the target audience is dominated by the 15 - 24 age range who make up 48% of the target audience. However this is notably smaller compared to the 79% of 15 - 24 year olds who watched Paranormal Activity 3, and 65% who watched Fright Night. Therefore Red State appears to have the highest range of target audiences. Red State appears to appeal highly to the age category of 25 - 34 (31%). The film also appears to have a ever so slightly high appeal to 35 - 44 year olds too who make up 15% of the target audience. The film has very little appeal to 45+ age category (6%). In terms of gender, the film appears to appeal to males slightly more as they make up 60% of the target audience. It appears that the film is marketed towards lower-middle and working class. 

In conclusion, this research has influenced me in the following ways: 

• I should aim to create a teaser trailer which appeals the most to 15 - 24 year olds, however I should ensure that my teaser trailer appeals to a slightly older audience too, in particular 25 - 33 year olds
• Furthermore the teaser trailer that I aim to produce should appeal to both genders
• The teaser trailer should also appeal to those who are of lower-middle class 

Magazine Reader Profiles:

Empire Magazine is a magazine targeted towards the "Die hard" film fans. The majority of the target audience is predominantly male, aged between 18-39 year olds. According to Bauer Media, the target audience is 76% male. Therefore unlike my film trailer which I aim to market towards both genders equally. Therefore if I want to use similar forms and conventions of Empire magazine, I should market my magazine towards predominantly male audience. For example the posters featured inside this magazine are of iconic films which would appeal to males, they are not of male actors who have "Sex appeal" that would generally appeal towards women. 

The target audience are also media savvy and are up to date with technology. This is evident through the fact that Empire Magazine now have an iPad app, in which the audience can purchase and read the magazine on their iPad. Furthermore, the audience of Empire Magazine are more likely to read the magazine through page to page as it was found that 90% of the audience of Empire Magazine are likely to keep there magazine in a safe place for future reference. 

On average, Empire Magazine readers are likely to spend 50% more on IT products. This suggests that the target audience falls within the AB sociodemographic model. This further suggests that the majority of Empire Magazine's target audience either are studying for a degree or have a diploma. Therefore it's likely that the majority of the target audience work within professional roles. 

Readership Profile:

• Total Film readers watch an average of three films per week and bought an average of 28 DVDs 12 months prior to this survey
• More than 60% have bought a product or service as a result of advertising or articles in the magazine. 26% visit the cinema at least once a week

Similar to Empire Magazine. This clearly suggests that the target audience of Total Film are die hard movie fans. They are also expected to be media savvy by frequently purchasing modern technologies such as iPads, Kindles and so forth. Although the readership profile does not state their target audiences socio-economic class. The reader profile suggests that they fall in the AB socio-economic class as their behaviours appear to be similar to Empire Magazine.

Overall Conclusion
It is noticeable that the target audience of the films and magazines vary greatly. The target audience of the magazines is very male orientated whereas there is generally an even split of the target audience in horror films. As my target audience is very up to date with modern technologies, I may consider using modern technologies in my trailer such as iPods and so forth.

Idea Development

Below is a moodboard I created which I created to influence what costumes, locations, props and characters I may wish to conisder using in my teaser trailer.

When collecting ideas for characters I focused on what both the antagonists and protagonists look like. The antagonists I have looked at all appear to have an appearence which would cause terror upon others. The majority of antagonists appear to have an element of supernatural forces within in them or they are covered in blood and scars. The protagonists I focused on were the stereotypical blonde vulnerable females and male teenagers. In terms of location choices, I focused on areas which convey themes of isolation and loneliness as it is these kind of locations which add an element of mystery to horror movies. I looked at the stereotypical areas such as graveyards and old farmhouses both of which are areas that i could feasibly use within my coursework. I also looked at the interior of houses which can create feelings of fear, such as the room covered in newspapers, this would create a more intense atmosphere than if the interior of the house was modern decor. When looking at props, again I focused on props which create an atmosphere of fear, such as pot dolls, which the majority of people find scary. I also looked at possible weapons, such as baseball bats which protagonists tend to use to fight off the antagonists. 

However, some of these locations may be difficult to use  due to areas being private property and so forth. I should also consider that any costumes I try to replicate look convincing and if I use real props such as knives, I should ensure that they do not impose a threat to the general public. My moodboard has influenced me to carry out some test shots to see if potential location ideas look convincing, or not.