Below are the Evaluation Questions:
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media products?
forms and conventions of real media products?
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Analysis of 9 Frames:
- Title font and style - this frame shows the two fonts we used in the film trailer 'Arial' and 'Monotype Corsiva', we put this title at the start as it was our initial production title to introduce the film trailer. We chose to use the font 'Monotype Corsiva' as we thought it looked like old English writing which we thought fit very well with the romantic tragedy part of our genre. Also we chose 'Arial' font for the production title as nearly all film companies have different fonts for there production sequence; see below for some examples: Displaying our titles over a black screen is a common convention for films of genre horror and psychological thriller. By using this convention in our film trailer, we challenge existing media products by defying the normalities of romantic tragedies by using a convention atypical to that genre. However because the genre of our film is a hybrid genre, one of the aspects being psychological thriller, we are able to use this convention in our film trailer successfully. The use of this convention is effective as it informs the audience that our film isn’t a stereotypical romantic tragedy.
- Costumes and props - the next shot is of one of the opening frames, it includes a mobile phone which was one of our props, we had to make this shot look realistic so we created an audio recording of a vibrating sound effect and cut it so when the phone flashed there would be a vibrating noise.
- How characters are introduced - We introduced our main character by a close up shot of her face that zoomed out slowly to establish the bedroom she was in, we did this as we thought it was a very effective was of showing the character in there surroundings.
- Special effects - This frame is where we created the effect of overlapping video, we added a small transparency to the clips and when they played they merged into one another, this was a special editing effect we wanted to create as at this point in the storyline the main character was taking lots of sleeping pills, so using this effect created a better representation of how the character was feeling and how confused she was.
- Genre and how the opening suggests it - This grim scene of the main character in the bath with blood around it was a very emotional scene in our film trailer, obviously it is a very sensitive scene, and we created this as it allowed us to show the genre of the film, as in the storyline it was clear she was very upset because of her partner dying; this reflected the romantic tragedy part. Also the psychological thriller part of the scene was when there was audio added of Hayden Simmons the other character saying 'Karen' repeatedly in different tones of voice.
- Camera work and editing - For this scene we filmed a medicine bottle falling out of the main characters hands; we did this using match on action and editing the video so that the play rate was -0.5 (half the speed of its actual recording). This effect played the falling of the bottle in slow motion and looked like a professional effect.
- Setting/location - This shot consisted of match on action of a character walking into a cemetery, this was to establish that this scene was inside a cemetery.
- Story and how the opening sets it up - This scene reveals another part of the film where it is set on a railway track, this helps the audience to decode the storyline partially as it is at the end of the trailer so they should have worked out that lots of dramatic events are to occur. We used the railway as we thought it was a very different and effective place to film at in the area we live in.
- The title of the film - For this we used the 'Monotype Corsiva' font, this is because we decided it was appropriate for the romantic tragedy genre. Simple black background and white titles was used as we believe a simplistic design is the best.
A production company is responsible for the development and physical production of a new media product. Therefore considering that me and my group member were responsible for the development and physical production of a new media product, (being a film trailer) we could say that we have acted like production company throughout this whole process of producing a film trailer.
A production company may also be directly responsible for the raising of funding for the production of this media product. Our budget was extremely low and we spent less than £10 buying any needed props for our footage that we filmed. However if we were to create a professional media product that was defined as 'category A;' meaning the film was made with entirely British resources, most of the funding for our media product would be supplied by the British film council.
- Title font and style - this frame shows the two fonts we used in the film trailer 'Arial' and 'Monotype Corsiva', we put this title at the start as it was our initial production title to introduce the film trailer. We chose to use the font 'Monotype Corsiva' as we thought it looked like old English writing which we thought fit very well with the romantic tragedy part of our genre. Also we chose 'Arial' font for the production title as nearly all film companies have different fonts for there production sequence; see below for some examples: Displaying our titles over a black screen is a common convention for films of genre horror and psychological thriller. By using this convention in our film trailer, we challenge existing media products by defying the normalities of romantic tragedies by using a convention atypical to that genre. However because the genre of our film is a hybrid genre, one of the aspects being psychological thriller, we are able to use this convention in our film trailer successfully. The use of this convention is effective as it informs the audience that our film isn’t a stereotypical romantic tragedy.
We chose to use the colour white for all of our titles because it’s a very hard colour for an audience to decode. The colour white doesn’t have a specific set of connotations that an audience may pinpoint to it, therefore by using the colour white the audience could associate a range of connotations to it, which reflect each aspect of hybrid genre.
- Costumes and props - the next shot is of one of the opening frames, it includes a mobile phone which was one of our props, we had to make this shot look realistic so we created an audio recording of a vibrating sound effect and cut it so when the phone flashed there would be a vibrating noise.
- How characters are introduced - We introduced our main character by a close up shot of her face that zoomed out slowly to establish the bedroom she was in, we did this as we thought it was a very effective was of showing the character in there surroundings.
- Special effects - This frame is where we created the effect of overlapping video, we added a small transparency to the clips and when they played they merged into one another, this was a special editing effect we wanted to create as at this point in the storyline the main character was taking lots of sleeping pills, so using this effect created a better representation of how the character was feeling and how confused she was.
- Genre and how the opening suggests it - This grim scene of the main character in the bath with blood around it was a very emotional scene in our film trailer, obviously it is a very sensitive scene, and we created this as it allowed us to show the genre of the film, as in the storyline it was clear she was very upset because of her partner dying; this reflected the romantic tragedy part. Also the psychological thriller part of the scene was when there was audio added of Hayden Simmons the other character saying 'Karen' repeatedly in different tones of voice.
- Camera work and editing - For this scene we filmed a medicine bottle falling out of the main characters hands; we did this using match on action and editing the video so that the play rate was -0.5 (half the speed of its actual recording). This effect played the falling of the bottle in slow motion and looked like a professional effect.
- Setting/location - This shot consisted of match on action of a character walking into a cemetery, this was to establish that this scene was inside a cemetery.
- Story and how the opening sets it up - This scene reveals another part of the film where it is set on a railway track, this helps the audience to decode the storyline partially as it is at the end of the trailer so they should have worked out that lots of dramatic events are to occur. We used the railway as we thought it was a very different and effective place to film at in the area we live in.
- The title of the film - For this we used the 'Monotype Corsiva' font, this is because we decided it was appropriate for the romantic tragedy genre. Simple black background and white titles was used as we believe a simplistic design is the best.
We used a hybrid genre for our film which is made up of three different genres, romance, tragedy and psychological thriller. These genres are all reflected by different themes presented to the audience through our film trailer. To reflect the romance aspect of our hybrid genre we used a scene between two characters involving a kiss. The use of a kiss is a common convention used in existing media products as it is the easiest way to inform the audience of the relationship between a set of characters. Examples are shown below:
To reflect the tragic aspect of our hybrid genre we used multiple shots of our female character crying which suggests to the audience that the female character is unhappy, and that something bad has happened. We were also able to reflect the tragic aspect of our hybrid genre with the use of our locations. The graveyard for example instantly creates an unsettling atmosphere, due to being a place of mourning, and hence, causing the audience to associate this location with a tragic event in the storyline of the film.
And finally we were able to reflect the psychological thriller aspect of our hybrid genre with the use of voiceovers in our film trailer. With the use of voiceovers we were able to create the effect that our female characters dead husband was calling her name, creating the ideology that she was being haunted. However the audience don’t know whether this is real or whether it is all in the female characters head, playing with their minds. This is one of the main themes associated with psychological thrillers and therefore reflects this aspect of our hybrid genre.
In conclusion to this analysis i feel that we have used common media conventions associated with existing film trailers, making our film trailer comparable to these existing media products.
A production company is responsible for the development and physical production of a new media product. Therefore considering that me and my group member were responsible for the development and physical production of a new media product, (being a film trailer) we could say that we have acted like production company throughout this whole process of producing a film trailer.
A production company may also be directly responsible for the raising of funding for the production of this media product. Our budget was extremely low and we spent less than £10 buying any needed props for our footage that we filmed. However if we were to create a professional media product that was defined as 'category A;' meaning the film was made with entirely British resources, most of the funding for our media product would be supplied by the British film council.
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and
ancillary texts?
ancillary texts?
Font:
For consistency in the media products I created I used the same font throughout ‘Monotype Corsiva’ was the font type and this was used in the trailer, poster and magazine cover. We used this type of font as it looks like old English writing, this is because in Shakespeare's time writing this would be the standard font; the reason we are linking our film to Shakespeare is because most of his plays were romantic tragedies. One of the main reasons we chose this font for all three pieces is so that if an audience member has seen previously one of the objects they can remember and associate the products together more easily. This technique is an extra advertising technique that helps to sell the film further.
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Titles:
The title of the film and the actors names are included in all three of the products included in my promotional package, this produces a recognisable similarity which our audience would associate to be part of the same media product; which would automatically create a corporate image and brand identity for the film. Including similar titles is an effective technique as our potential target audience would be able to deter the titles with my promotional package, making it a better advertisement.
Tagline:
One of the decisions we made was to create a tagline on our film poster; this was because to it being a common film poster convention; therefore including one on our film poster would make our film poster more authentic and hence, successful. The film poster tagline that we used was, ‘when reality is better than your dreams.’ We created this by taking a part from an internal monologue that we used in our film trailer, and felt it was appropriate for our film poster due to reflecting themes involved in the storyline of our film.
Our audience will identify this tagline as a similarity between both of the products due to being in both. This is an effective advertising technique because the audience consume this similarity in different ways. In the film trailer they hear the tagline, whereas on the film poster they see and read it. By using a range of their senses the tagline will stick in their minds more abruptly, making this tagline more effective.
Actors:
Throughout all of the products included in the promotional package that I have created, I have used the same two actors/actresses for their production. In both the film trailer and the film poster, the two characters only ever appear together when they are in close proximity to one another. This emphasises the relationship between the two characters in the storyline, reflecting the theme of romance, an aspect in the hybrid genre of our film.
Costume:
Costume:
Due to the nature of our film we didn’t use any clothes which were bright in colour; instead we chose to stick with quite bland, dull colours such as; white, navy, and grey. This was because our audience would associate connotations with different colours. Therefore we chose colours whose connotations would reflect the themes and genre of our film. To create similarities between our main product and our ancillary texts we decided it was probably best to use the same colours for the costumes on our actors/actresses, ensuring that the products which make up my promotional package would match. Using the same colour for the costumes used on our actors/actresses in our main product and our ancillary texts would therefore make them instantly recognisable to our audience, making my promotional package more effective and hence, a better advertisement.
Composition:
For both our film poster and my film magazine front cover, the actors/actresses have been positioned in the centre, making them the main focus points of the ancillary texts, and capturing the audience’s attention. This again increases the success of my ancillary’s texts effectiveness, as our audience associates these actors/actresses with my promotional package, making them a better advertisement.
Conclusion:
By creating visual similarities that our audience can recognise between the products involved in my promotional package, I have created a brand identity. By creating a brand identity I have increased the effectiveness of my main product and my ancillary texts, as together they form a better advertisement, they are more authentic and they will inevitably work together to increase the size of our audience. This therefore makes my promotional package very successful
However on the front cover of my film magazine, I only used one of the characters to advertise the film, I used this technique because after researching heavily into film magazine covers and my audience research questionnaire for film magazine covers I feel that the covers that are most effective are of one person and the whole cover is emphasised on them.
3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
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Audience research I have discovered is an essential for producing types of media like I have, this is because you are designing the media for an audience and if you understand what conventions and techniques they would prefer. Audience Feedback has enabled me to create a trailer, poster and magazine cover that is effective and includes aspects that the target audience prefer and are attracted to.
After showing the target audience the media package I have created I feel that we have accomplished our task of creating a professional piece that the target audience would enjoy.
4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and
research, planning and evaluation stages?
research, planning and evaluation stages?
The programmes that we have used during the production of our film trailer include:
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I used Adobe Fireworks to create my film magazine, this was quite easy for me to function as I was familiar with its facilities as I have used it to design web graphics for my ICT A-Level and to edit images previously.
To document and present all of the theory aspects I used this Blog website, this was because I used it to create my AS piece and found it was very easy and functional. Some aspects such as the film trailer initial ideas I created on a web presentation software package called Prezi; I discovered this recently and decided to use this in our group work as we both agreed it looked very effective and dynamic; once we created the presentations we embedded them using html coding into a blogger post.
Also we used web-pages such as Scribd, this was because you can swiftly upload .doc, .pdf files (and any other text files) to this and create documents that can be embedded via html code into a blog post; this looks very effective as you can set the parameters of the blog size and have a scrolling document inside the post.
I used many other different types of technology; hardware and software to create our media products, most of them I included in the image with multiple logos.
Conclusion:
In conclusion I believe that since last year I have improved my technical knowledge a substantial amount since the start of the coursework; this is because this year we chose to upgrade to Magix video edit as it was a more technical piece of software compared to last years Adobe Premiere Elements. Also I used different presentation software and improved the way in which I use software.
I believe that using this new and improved technology has aided in me and my group member to produce successful products.
