Evaluation Question 4

How did you use new media technologies in construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

What I used:

I researched the different film magazines covers, film posters and trailers to see how they could inspire me when creating my film magazine, poster and trailer. I used the search engine GOOGLE to find all the information I needed. I then evaluated each magazine cover, poster and trailer and published it to the blog I had created, using Blogspot.com.  

I then used the camera to take the images for my poster and magazine cover. I took some of the image indoors and some of them outdoors. When taking the photographs of my models indoors I wanted to use the flash so that the skin on my model would look paler and so that many imperfections would disappear.

I then went on the computer to edit the image and get rid of the rest of the impurities on the model. This was created using Photoshop. The technology was different from any other program I had ever used but I had found it better to use.

The next thing I did was use Microsoft Word to create a draft of what my magazine and poster should look like.

I then uploaded the draft magazine cover to Blogspot.com as this was one way that I could show my progress.

I used Photoshop to add the text on the magazine cover and poster and then when the poster and magazine cover was finished I uploaded it to my blog.

 

Evaluation Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

To gain some feedback about my media product I asked a targeted audience about my trailer and what they thought about my media product. I also posted the trailer online, on YouTube to get audience feedback from people who wanted to give feedback on my product. The questions I wanted to know were:

In what ways does my trailer remind you of other trailers? And what do you think the strengths and weaknesses of my trailer are?

 

First question

In what ways does my trailer remind you of other trailers?

 

 

This is the feedback I got online, after posting my work on YouTube. If I had posted the trailer on YouTube for longer I may have had more comments.

Comments I received after showing my trailer to a group of friends.
"I like the music in the background; it goes well with the genre of the film."

"The plot of the trailer is good, all trailers should have a good plot"

"The trailer has fast parts to it which makes it more interesting, I have seen lots of trailers that have fast trailers, mainly action and horror.

Comments I received after showing my trailer to a media student. "I like the font used to give more information, as lots of trailers use strong fonts to help the trailer become eye-catching"

I received a lot of feedback from this question which was good. The comments were very positive. People thought that the different features my media product includes are very similar to real life trailers of the same genre. Many people were impressed with the background music and how I had used it effectively in order to add pace to parts of my trailer.




Responses to second question:


"I think the music on the trailer works effectively as it makes it feel like something disturbing is about to happen"

"I like the different types of shots and angles used to create your trailer, for example the tilt used in the fight scene."

"I think the music is one of the strong points because it works well with the rest of the trailer."

"I like how the heart beat sound hits when something is about to happen, like when the girl wakes up and turns her head in worry."

The main strength in my trailer is the sound and music I have used. This is something I feel very pleased about as I think it can be difficult to find the perfect piece of music to fit a specific trailer. Although most horror trailers use slow music with a sting when a piece of action is about to take place, the same piece of music may not suit two different types of horror trailer.

Responses to third question:


"I don’t think the quality of the trailer is good as professional trailers, but think this could be to do with the type of camera used."

"I think the brightness of the filming doesn’t really tell me that the genre of the film is horror. If the set was a little darker then it would seem more like a horror film trailer."

I agree with all these points and if I were to create my trailer again then I would listen to the advice given although some thing could not have been helped, for example, the quality of the trailer, as this was to do with the camera not being as good quality as something that professionals would use.

Evaluation Question 2

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

 

 I think my main product works well with my ancillary texts. The reason for this is that I have kept to the same colour scheme throughout all my products; I have also kept to the same font and colour of text for my film title throughout. For my main product which was the trailer I used a silver text with specific font to give the viewer additional information about the film for example the title of the film and release date. I wanted to use the same font throughout each construction to help each product link together. When creating the ancillary texts I couldn't find the same font necessary to keep the continuity between all my products and so had to print screen the font so that I could use that font and title of the product and obtain the exact colour scheme throughout. The colour grey is a shade of the black that is usually related to horror and so enhances the genre I wished to portray as the common connotations of this colour are darkness and negativity. Black also connotes mystery, evil, death misery and fear. Using the shade of grey means that the connotations are similar but not as strong. Grey is the combination of black and white and is the most neutral of all the shades which means that the Levi Strauss- Binary opposition theory, showing good and evil, life and death E.C.T.

I have also tried to keep the protagonist/ antagonist an on-going theme in my ancillary texts, for example I have made sure that the antagonist used in my main product, is in both my Poster and Magazine cover. To create an effective combination of the media product and both the ancillary texts I have kept the exact same font throughout. This is particularly shown in both of the ancillary texts as these need to capture your attention immediately so fonts, size and colour, will help an audience link the products together. By using the same fonts, the target audience can identify the film by recognizing the same type of texts and colours. Each product together, helps the audience link the products so that they have as much information as possible when deciding what they want to do in my case watch the film, in other cases play the game or buy the album.

Evaluation Question 1 A, B and C

 

 

When creating my media product I have tried to use, develop and challenge the forms and conventions of real media products. I have decided to show how I think I have done this well by comparing real media product screenshots with my film trailer. The research i conducted before starting the production of my trailer helped me understand my chosen genre, which was horror. When doing my research i found different conventions used, that are used when making a film in the style of my genre. This helped me as i was able to use the conventions to create my trailer. Some conventions included the institution logo and different codes, conventions and theorists, like barthes enigma code which is a theory that suggests a text (whether that be television, film, or poster etc.) portrays a mystery to draw an audience in, pose questions and makes an audience become intrigued in the piece. Claude Lévi-Strauss' theory, which was binary oppositions which meant; a situation is reducible to two possible answers or states. It is a pair of theoretical opposites, for example, alive or dead, day or night, good or bad. This is used to keep the text interesting, for example the trailer would have good and bad to keep the storyline interesting. All these have been used in my trailer to keep it interesting to the audience and make it look professional.


 

For this example I wanted to show how I used and challenged the forms and conventions of real media products. My institution logo was created by looking at various other institution logos in which I researched. The reason why it is necessary to including an institution logo in my trailer was because all the trailers I had researched included them. To challenge typical conventions I decided to change where the text on the logo was positioned, usually above or below the image used in the institution logo, whereas I had decided to place the text in the top right hand corner of the image, breaking conventions. I stuck with the convention where the institution logo would begin at the start of a trailer, so that the institution logo would become recognisable and so people would link the logo to the trailer easier.

 

I think that I have used and challenged conventions of the horror genre using the the mis en scene, locations and camerawork such as the soundtrack, camera angles and edits. Both of these shots are similar in the way that both use a mid to long shot to capture 2 people running. The locations of the shots are both similar and so this works to my advantage, trying to portray a specific scene. In this scene I used a the mid to long shot was used of a women running away from another character, the killer, because I wanted to allow the audience to take in the surroundings, in which the most of my trailer would be filmed. As the trailer is filmed in the woods, I think that used the location convention to show the genre of horror. this is because a lot of horror films are filmed in the woods.

 

 

 

 

 

I focused upon my lighting throughout my trailer, having the cover of the trees as shade. although the trees created shadow, it was not enough to make the trailer look darker. Within this scene, I tried to use a limited amount of light to create a more sinister and dark look to the trailer reenforcing the genre, being horror. This is a typical convention within horror trailers that I tried to follow because it instantly represent to the audience that it is a horror trailer.

Usng a two shot helps the audience get to know some of the characters. this scene is very important in knowing what the rest of the trailer is, this being the equilibrium. having the two characters in the shot means that the audience can understand the link between the two characters and understand why, in the case of my trailer, one of the teenage girls went to the woods on her own. The shots are also used to show the emotional reactions between the characters and is used in most films, sometimes without even intending this type of shot to happen

I added text to my media product in order to give the audience more infomation about my media product. Above is an example of the text shown in 'The Hunger Games' trailer. Both trailers include infomation that does not give infomation about the events happening in the trailer but many trailes add infomation about other films produced by the production company. I have used this screenshot to highlight the use of developing of a real media products. the font is specific to the trailer as 'The Hunger Games' includes a golden compas which makes the text link to this. Although there is nothing to link the text to my trailer, i think that the font i used works well and highlights the name of the trailer more specifically.



 

 

Again this is another two shot which shows the emotional reactions between the characters in the fight scene. Most horror film trailers will have an aspect of a fight scene to make the trailer more intreresting, showing that the antagonist might not win the battle between good and evil.

Having this low angle shot means that the audience can see upwards. This can make something seem more aggressive as they look larger and more intimidating. Having a low angle shot also means that the audience can view something that may not have been spotted by a character. In my trailer, this is the antagonist, in the professional trailer, it is the pece that is not visible from ground view.

 

I started the soundtrack that i used after the sound for the institution logo played. I listened to other institution logos to hear what sounds were used to combine with the institution logo and found that Metro Goldwyn Mayer used a loins roar as the sound to accompany the logo. i thought about adding a sound to my logo in the same way and decided to make the sound for the logo of an old fashioned film reel. The music to accompany my trailer was slow at the start and so i did not need to fade this at all. Most trailers make their music at the start of a trailer slow so that the sting in the music can kick in at the disequilibrium of the scene and connote an aspect of horror. Because the soundtrack gradually increased throughout the trailer this meant that i had used another convention that i had researched in other trailers.