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1. presentations

2. Research

3. Primary research For my primary research, I surveyed 20 people from different age
ranges and backgrounds
With these results I can tailor a campaign that would be best suit for my film
and gives me ideas on how I am going to design and market it now that I am
aware of what my audiences are interested I’m and what I can do to appeal
to them through my posters

4. Secondary Research
• https://variety.com/2018/film/box-office/horror-movies-study-
1202994407/
• The article above is data collected from 2018 about horror movie
audiences, from the data they gathered, they said that paranormal
films gather a younger audience of Gen X’s and Millennials than sci-fi
films in the same genre, however this younger demographic leads to
less cinema visits in general other than the other audience.
• In terms of gender, paranormal films have a more neutral audience
with about 49% being women, whereas with sci-fi horror films they
were lead by a mass male audience of about 70%, and in terms of
ethnicity the majority of audiences for both types of films were
Caucasian however with paranormal films there was a strong Hispanic
audience aswell especially for paranormal films
• With this information, it benefits me because I am able to market to a
wider and more general audience than what I could with my primary
research results, this data gives me a general idea of what type of films
are effective for the audience I am marketing to

5. Modern day advertising
• Typically for films nowadays, advertisements will have a much bigger
campaign and a more strung out plan, they will typically have the
budget to produce radio adverts, print adverts; such as, posters,
billboards, magazine covers and etc. and video adverts which could
be adverts seen on tv but in films cases they will sometimes showcase
them on big spectator events such as the superbowl in America
• They however specifically pick these mediums for the suitable target
audience with the genre of film in mind, e.g. a horror film will
probably me more targeted towards an young adult audience
therefore adverts will be played at night when children are unable to
see them and on more adult orientated channels

6. Codes and conventions for posters
• the codes and conventions will be very different to its counterparts as it relies
solely on visual information so it will typically have to implement a strong colour
scheme and something that is visually striking to the eye to appeal to audiences
they are typically distributed on billboards, public transport, shop walls etc.
usually they will also have big bold writing or a vibrant or cohesive colour
scheme. print advert also could potentially implement famous people to fit in
with iconography so consumers are familiar with who is endorsing the product
someone who they 'trust' and are influenced by, print advertisements rely on as
getting as much information on and efficiently interesting the consumer as there
is only so much space so they must follow these codes and conventions to garner
a consumers interest, iconography is a good way of ensuring that consumers will
be interested in what a brand is selling if it back by a celebrity or influencer as
there is a trust dynamic between the celebrity and consumer that a celebrity
wouldn't endorse a bad product a lot of diet tea brands use iconography to gain a
consumers trust

7. audience reception
The reason I chose this film and poster was
because this reflects a similar type of genre
and style similar to my film, however this film
is 20+ years older than mine so to a modern
day audience if we applied reception theory
to this poster, the overall message and theme
could be lost, an audience might disapprove
of this poster because of its showcase of an
all white cast, therefore a lack of diversity,
wouldn’t be well received, however it has an
overall good design and clear narrative

8. Competitor Film Posters
For a more modern competition I would like to look at the horror film happy death day (2017)
poster. The film itself which is produced by the Blumhouse productions which is a big company and
would be, compared to my film, a competitor. The target audience for this film would be typically
young people, mostly millennials, and most likely Caucasians with an equal split between men and
women.
The Codes and Conventions that can be identified from this poster can be seen as the colour
scheme: which is the prominent colour of red to symbolise violence and blood which is common for
horror films
And then it is complimented by black to symbolise death, these two colours are often complimented
together to symbolise horror in films
The film to be released on Friday the 13th is also another common thing when it comes to marketing
films because the day Friday the 13th is superstitious in western countries because of the film with
the same title
Another convention being followed is the use of a knife and the killer, this imagery is very common
in horror films especially the knife because it communicates the slasher theme of the film and the
showing of the killer is also very common because unlike paranormal films that like to hide the evil
things and have a more cast focus poster
Another feature is the use of a tagline which is very common for a poster it is key because it gives a
snippet into what the audience can expect about the film itself
Overall I think this film follows a great amount of codes and conventions and does well successfully,
And if we applied reception theory to this we would get a positive response (preferred reading)
because of its clear theme and there is nothing that an audience could necessarily disagree with
because of it’s simplistic design
What I can learn from this posters design is that a simple and clear design can create a good
impression towards an audience and nothing can be disputed or argued against, the colour scheme
is something I’d especially like to implement in my film because it is an effective way of
communicating horror

9. Initial Ideas

10. Synopsis and reader profile
• The title of my film is ‘unsettled’ the synopsis of the film is that two sisters
are watched by an ominous figure in the night, and the film is a horror as it
has scary tones and the target audience for my film is 15-25 age people
who are familiar with macabre and horror themes, people with strong
morales and who are particularly non religious, and would be in a social
grade of E/D and be in a younger demographic. I would consider this film
to be a 15 rating because it features moderate levels of threat, horror, and
violence according to the BBFC. The release date for our film would be
around Halloween due to it being a horror film and it would be best to
release it around this time as it would garner more of an audience being
around Halloween, it is typical for horror films to be released around the
Halloween period, as it is typical for people to watch more horror films
around that time

11. Poster theme ideas
• For my posters I wanted to feature the main character front and
centre and avoid showing the villain because with other horror films
they typically show the villain when they have a signature look and
mine has a typically plain look so I wanted the focus to be more on
my main character as it will attract more of an Audience
• Colour scheme, from drafting my posters I knew I always wanted to
have a red and black colour scheme, 2 colours that compliment each
other and when paired can communicate horror. I also knew this
would be bold and gain an audiences attention

12. the encoded message
• For the teaser posters of my film I want them to be a build up and slowly reveal small bits
of information about the film itself, visually and verbally, it will give viewers what to expect
about the film so, typically in teaser trailers early on they feature something symbolic to
the film so for example in teaser #1 there could be a still of a knife to let viewers know
what kind of film it is, the theme of it and then give the year it will be released. Then cut to
teaser #3 when teasers are more developed and reveal more it will show things like the
actors names, possibly a still of the killer or one of the main cast, and a exact release
date. It is important to do so because this is a good way of keeping viewers anticipated for
the actual film and the release of the posters will have to be done with a lot of
consideration as I have to articulately release them in a way in which my viewers will be
excited and interested. For the creative side of my posters I used elements of horror
posters to influence my posters which I think will be useful as they will serve as a template
for my posters. For my theatrically poster that is an accumulation of everything the
teasers will have revealed and more, it will be of a higher standard than the rest because
this is not just what followers of the film will be seeing but people who have never have
heard of the film so in order to get people interested i have to cram as much information
into the poster while also keeping it aesthetically correct and in order (so it doesn’t look
messy/ not put together) this will be released before the actual release of the film. The
encoded message of these posters is for my audience to understand the basic
information around the film such as identifying that the genre is a slasher/horror and
getting other key info such as cast etc

13. Other ideas for film
Titles
Some other titles for films ranged from
Watch out
Malevolence
Deadful night
However I chose the name unsettled because it fit well in theme with
the plot of my film and was short, and an Audience may like a title of a
film that is easy to remember

14. Flat Plans

15. Audience feedback on initial ideas
For the feedback on my initial ideas, I presented my audience
with the basis of what my film was going to be about and my
overall initial plans for the film and with that I generated feedback
that could be useful for the creation of my drafts and final posters
and see what is appealing to my audience
With that feedback I gathered that my audience were quite
pleased about the initial ideas of my film, especially with the
synopsis and the title of my film, they found it to be quite
mysterious and that in turn was Interesting so I want to keep that
mysterious aspect to my films posters to keep an audience
engaged
If we applied reception theory to my initial ideas I think we would
get a preferred reading because my audience have accepted what
is being communicated and are pleased with that is being
presented to them which is good because it gives me an idea as to
what they do and don’t like

16. Production

17. Drafts

18. Audience feedback on drafts
With the audience feedback I got from my initial
ideas, I used this feedback to create a start on my
drafts, with the use of my flatplans I was able to
create a simple design.
Then after I finished the design I presented them to
some of my primary audience and got feedback about
the posters being dull so for my next posters I will
implement more colour into them and for me to use
better images in them to make them more cohesive
and appealing
To apply reception theory my posters I think that it
provided a negotiated reading, because some
concepts were understood however there was a lot
that wasn’t communicated to my audience from what
intended and that is clear from my audience feedback

19. Original images
As my posters will be distributed from online to magazines to billboards it is important to use images
that are bold and dramatic that will catch an audiences eye. I picked these images because they
communicate a sense of intimacy as they are a close to medium shot for all of them and I think it gives
the audience a good look at the characters in the film,
As well as that the lighting is very low key and I think the dullness in colour creates a dramatic feeling to
the images and I thought that would be good to implement into my posters. As for the camera angles
for one image, it was taken at an angle which can communicate a jaded sense to an audience and I
think that could be a good thing to implement in my posters,

20. Official posters #1
In this poster, I diverted from my typical style than what I drafted and from my
flat plans and I wanted to do this as an experiment to use different style of fonts,
placements and colour scheme
Firstly with this image I used the original image and changed the contrast
between black and white to create more of a grungy image
Then I applied a VHS video texture to the image from google which created thins
blue effect and then edited the play button in from a separated image and then
with the paint brush I drew in the unsettled logo
As for codes and conventions, I think this poster specifically challenges the
typical codes and conventions for a typical poster because of its use in colour
scheme typically there is normally an implemented red that indicates violence or
blood however for this one it has quite dark colours which communicate more of
a thriller genre than horror.
But after the audience feedback I had gotten on my drafts about the black and
white colour scheme being too dull or not interesting enough I decided to
colourise the posters
It is notable missing a tagline or missing any credit of actors which also
challenges the codes and conventions of a poster as it is not going to appeal to
an audience however I wanted a minimalistic design as I wanted to create a
sense of mystery and not give too much away and persuade an audience to be
more interested because of that lack of knowledge

21. Audience Feedback
For this set of audience feedback I had received from the first
final of my poster, overall was not well received from my
intended target audience,
I tried to experiment with the colour of the posters and try to
communicate horror with the theme and overall the colours I
chose didn’t successfully communicate that
Aswell as that there was an overall lack of information, my
poster only had the title of the film and the release date and
that isn’t enough information for an audience to be appealed
although I thought it would communicate a sense of mystery and
intrigue an audience more
As for reception theory, I think that this was an oppositional
reading because my audience have not appealed to what was
presented to them, and have perceived my film to be of another
genre
Another thing that my audience couldn’t have appealed to is my
subject, having a male on the front cover of my film may not
appeal to a more modern audience who want more diversity

22. Official posters #2
This is image was technically the hardest to create and my least favourite of the posters. I
wanted to create texture photo
With this image I first started off the base image of my main character and then got a Polaroid
template from the internet and cropped my image into the template
Then I got a background of an old table and used that, then with the paint tool used a texture
brush to create the dirt texture on top of the Polaroid and then drew on the title
As for codes and conventions and with my previous audience feedback on my last poster, the
main complaint was that the posters were too boring and didn’t give enough away,
So for this poster I added a tagline, which follows the codes and conventions because it is typical
for a poster to feature one and it is a good way of intriguing an audience especially because it is
short it is easy to read and good for passer by’s of the poster who will catch a glimpse of it and is
a good persuasive technique
I also wanted to add more typically horror associated colours because another criticism was that
the poster was too dull and to add a red accent makes the poster more appealing to the eye
However I think this poster lacks the minimalistic look I was going for in my previous posters and
this wouldn’t be a poster an audience would necessarily collect, and I think it’s lack in
information e.g. Casting credits challenges codes and conventions
Although with this poster I liked the shot much more because of the subject is looking into the
camera and I think it creates a sense of intimacy with the audience and because slashers have a
big female audience I wanted to appeal more to that audience by having a diverse cast

23. Audience Feedback For the audience feedback on my second poster,
I definitely tried to appeal to my audience more
with the use of a woman on the poster and by
using a tagline to make it more appealing to an
audience however I am still getting comments
about it being dull so for my next poster I need
to make it very bright
A criticism I got was about the image I got not
being clear enough so for my next poster I need
to use something that’s very catching to an
audiences eye
I’d we applied the last poster to reception theory
I think we would have a negotiated reading,
because my audience have definitely gotten
some of the things I wanted them to perceive
but also have made so clear and important
criticisms that I need to work on

24. Official poster #3 - final
For my final poster i went back to my original draft and wanted a more simple poster,
So for my colour scheme I wanted to have the black and red contrast because it communicates horror, and
to do this I added a red layer on top of the image and blended it into the original one.
Then off the internet i downloaded a paper crumple texture and layered that onto the image and had to
duplicate the texture to make it more prominent and rotate it to create the 3x3 fold
Then with the paint tool again drew the logo and release date and then on that layer, blended it onto the
image to create the effect that it’s below the crumple to make it look like a real life poster
As for codes and conventions and audience feedback I feel like I successfully used the feedback on previous
posters and created a poster that delivers on that feedback and expectations and creates an interesting an
unique poster.
To start, a reoccurring criticism of my posters was for its dullness so for this poster I decided to use a red
and black colour scheme which to me communicates horror very successfully and is very common for
horror films to use these colours for posters as it is a good way of visually communicating horror, so this is
also following codes and conventions.
Another complaint I got was that the poster wasn’t appealing enough so I used a various set of persuasive
techniques that follow codes and conventions, first is the shot use, on the poster front and centre is a close
shot of my main character and it is very clear this time as a criticism I got was that my last image was hard
to make out/too distorted and they are staring dead on into the camera, this will create a sense of intimacy
with the audience and help draw in my audience, and with my secondary research it will hopefully allow me
to draw in a major female audience with a woman being on the cover.
On top of this, for my last poster I used a tagline and for this one I wanted to experiment and use
iconography to sell my poster and sacrifice the tagline as I didn’t want it to have to much, so stylistically an
audience could collect the posters, however so this poster users the name of one of my actors to sell
instead of a tagline

25. Audience Feedback
For my audience feedback I really tried to improve on some of
the criticisms and overall I think so and my audience think so
because the posters were very well perceived, thanks to the
feedback I received I was able to successfully make important
changes to my poster that improved them and made them
appealing to an audience.
I improved the constant criticism about the posters being dull
and made them very bold with the red colour scheme which is
a very good way of communicating horror and I definitely think
it was effective
Also the use of the the shot, of the woman looking dead
centre into the camera creates a very eye catching and
intimate effect that is effective at drawing in an audience.
And to apply reception theory to my final poster I think that
this can be perceived as preferred reading because my
audience knew what I was trying to communicate and
understood that well and was effective at appealing to my
target audience

26. Secondary Content and copyright
• Copyright is a big factor when it comes to the production of anything
in the film industry because to use someone else’s work without
being properly commended or notified then it could lead to a whole
product being taken down and then lead to further legal action e.g.
lawsuit, especially if the work is already copyrighted, so it is important
to credit someone else’s work or get their permission to use it in
yours.
• For the creation of my final posters I used textures created by
someone else online so this is the link to that
file:https://www.photoshoptutorials.ws/downloads/textures-
downloads/free-download-5-folded-paper-overlay-textures/

27. Reflection on audience feedback
Overall I think my audience feedback was very effective in improving
my posters as it gave constructive and useful criticism that helped me
improve the posters and make them more appealing not only to my
target audience but also would help me appeal to a wider audience
It’s also helped me know how things can be perceived if not done
explicitly and how an audience can interpret their own message from
what I have created even though it may not be exactly what I intended
and I think it’s good to know that information as it useful for when I am
next creating posters and other mediums

28. Production Log
15/10/20 – primary research
16/10/20 – secondary research
18/10/20 – modern day advertising
20/10/20 – reception theory, competitor film posters
21/10/20 – codes and conventions
24/10/20 – synopsis and reader profile
3/11/20 - poster theme and ideas
6/11/20 – encoded message
21/11/20 – Drafts Created
22/11/20 – Audience feedback on drafts and Original Images
24/11/20 – Final Image #1 Created and Slide completed
26/11/20 – Audience Feedback on final #1
27/11/20 – Final #2 created
28/11/20 – Final #2 Slide done
30/11/20 – Audience Feedback on Final #2 and Final #3 created
2/12/20 – Final #3 Slide done and secondary content done
4/12/20 – Audience Feedback on Final #3
6/12/20 – Reflection on Audience Feeback
12/11/20 – Titles
13/11/20 – Flatplans
15/11/20 - audience feedback on initial ideas