Diary

Evaluation - Question 4

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

Throughout the different stages of my A2 coursework I have involved many different types of media technologies to help create a high quality product. Without the use of many of the pieces of equipment and computer software’s I have used the end result would not be at the same standard.

When it came to researching trailers, it was important to get an accurate idea of what codes and conventions were used, so for this I used ‘YouTube’. This website is a popular site for people to share video clips, so this is where I choose to research horror        trailers. In the presentation of our ideas for ‘Evil Awaits’, we show the trailer of ‘The Blair Witch Project’. This was done in order to show our background research of the codes and conventions of a horror film. As well as that it gave us and the audience an insight in what to expect out of a horror trailer. We researched other trailers along with ‘The Blair Witch Project’, however we thought that this trailer best portrayed what we wanted to achieve, due to its low budget techniques as well as fast pace camera shots. ‘YouTube’ became a practical website for researching such trailers. As well as that we used this website to post our final trailer so that we could use this as a link to have a shared viewing of it.

When it came to the actual filming of the trailer we used the Nikon D5000 Digital SLR Camera. This is a high quality camera that allowed us to zoom in effectively to create extreme close up shot, whilst still maintaining a good standard. As well as that it was able to pick up sound whilst recording. This was useful for a couple of scenes, however sometimes we had to record sound over the top of the footage as it didn’t pick it up clearly enough. As well as that during filming we had to ensure that the shots were steady when needed, this was done through the use of a tripod. The stability of the camera enabled us to have effective footage.

When it came to presenting the beginning stages of our film trailer to an audience we used a projector screen. With both the screen and camera being of a good standard, the audience were impressed with the high quality of the footage.

When it came to editing we used the software called Adobe Premier Pro. This allowed us to edit each individual shot when necessary to ensure that it all came together well. As well as that we were able to add tints to the scenes. This convention was something that I found to be a familiar thing that occurred throughout the trailers I had researched. It allowed us to add a darker tint to the scene, this made the shot seem more gloomy and mysterious. On this software we also could have multiple sounds playing at the same time. Although this took some time to get correct, the end result can be seen to be quite effective. Overall this software was ideal for what we required for making our horror trailer.

This print screen shot of our trailer shows one of the techniques that we were able to use on our editing software.With Adobe Premier Pro were were able to use two shots on top of each other. This was done through making the top layer translusant. This helps to create a proffesional look to our trailer.

When it came to producing our ancillary texts to go along with our film trailer the media technology that we used was Adobe Photoshop Pro. This software, similarly to the editing the trailer, allowed us to edit the tint and contrast of the images. As well as that, the editing of the photo itself was easily done on this program due to the different techniques you could use. For instance, on the poster I edited such details as the persons eye to make it darker. This is so that it would make it stand out more substantially as well as making it contrast more with the rest of the image. This program also enabled me to add text in different fonts, sizes, and colours. This is a necessary quality needed for creating a magazine cover or a film poster.  Overall the variety of techniques that are on offer with this program allowed me to create professional looking ancillary texts.

The final main media technology that I used was ‘blogger.com’. This website has allowed me to effectively display my A2 coursework in an organised manor. The functions such as, being able to label my work, title it, keep track of the date posted etc... have all allowed me to ensure that my work is displayed in an organised format. Another thing that the website offers, that I have taken full advantage of, is how easily you can upload photos. This is a vital thing for showing the work I have achieved, as it allows me to give evidence of the research and planning I have done.

Overall I have used many different media technologies to help me to develop my research, planning and evaluation stages. All of the different software’s that I have used have been an essential part of created the professional finish to my products that I have been aiming for.

Evaluation - Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Throughout the time of making our film trailer and ancillary text I have made constant reference to audience feedback. This has been done in order to ensure that I have a high quality product as a result. Audience feedback is a vital part of developing our products as it helps to ensure that it is suited to other people as well as getting different perspectives on how it can be improved. This process started from the very initial product in our practice short film, ‘Day in the Life’. Our group saw this as a vital step to take as it helped us to get the general feel of what people looked for in a film. Although this short film is not similar to the end result of our trailer, it was an important learning curb for us. From this point we then went on to have a group decision on what our trailer should be about. This helped us develop more of a target for what we were hoping to achieve, as it allowed us to put forward some of our ideas. As well as allowing us to discuss genre and plot of our trailer, it allowed us to get audience feedback on what techniques they have found to be effective from previous products.

After the initial stages of deciding which direction to head in with aid of our audience feedback, we then put forward our ideas for the plot, setting etc... in a presentation format. The feedback that we received at the end of this had its positive aspects, as well as its negatives. The people that we interviewed both liked the plot for example, Maria Gonzalez said that ‘the story line was very inventive and one that can attract an audience’. As well as Mr Morris saying that he thought ‘the plot was reasonably sound’. From this feedback we did not change the plot greatly, only the areas that we saw to be weaker than others. However the audience feedback from our presentation also gave us some areas of thought. This is because a problem that people thought that we could encounter along the way was location. Mr Morris said an issue that could arise would be whether or not ‘we would be able to find an abandoned house’; this would be where our main scene would take place. From this point we went on further to investigate whether or not this would be doable, this was the result:  Link. The audience feedback from this early stage helped us to consider factors that hadn’t been bought up before; hence, it helped up to ensure it was practical before we went any further. As well as that it highlighted the strong points of our trailer, this is the plot, so we didn’t make radical changes to this as it was seen to be a good idea.

Once we had started our filming we thought that it was important to get some feedback on what we had done so far. This was an effective thing to do as it allowed us to take on board their comments to ensure that the rest of the trailer would be effective. For instance a comment that was made said that, ‘things that need to be improved are the editing between clips and captions’, and that ‘it was too slow during the clip’. This was an important thing that we needed to improve upon. This is because some of the main conventions that a horror film should posses are fast pace camera shots, this helps to build up tension and suspense. After this feedback we then went on to improve the footage through cutting sections down and editing it so it gave a stronger sense of horror. This concept was also mentioned in another piece of feedback through saying that, ‘the length of the one shot does seem a little long for a trailer or though could be used with a supporting voice over to introduce the film's concept to the audience.’ From taking both pieces of feedback into account, we decided to edit the length of some section and to use a voice over at a later stage of the trailer. This can be seen to be done on many accounts throughout the trailer once the rest of the filming was done, hence the audience feedback can be seen to be very effective and useful. Through the use of the audience feedback I have managed to learn from it to help develop my trailer so that it was a better standard of product.

Another prime example of the use of audience feedback is when it came to producing my ancillary products. This has been done for the same reasons that audience feedback was a vital a thing whilst making the trailer; in order to develop my product more towards what the audience saw as being effective. As in the majority of attempts at making either the magazine cover or the poster, I asked for audience feedback after each product. This was important as it allowed me to ensure that my next attempt took on both the negative and positive aspects to develop the product further in the hope of the final piece was strong. For instance in my second attempt at a film poster someone said that it was ‘not very informative’. This made the poster weak in general, as providing enough information is a vital convention that a poster must possess. So in my third and final attempt, information was something that I felt as if I hugely developed to the extent that it had all that was required. This resulted in the final product having strong feedback. I took on the same format for when it came to developing my magazine cover. The final product of the magazine cover was one that was seen as being ‘effective and eye catching’. So due to the general strong feedback and time constraints there was no reason to further develop the cover.

Overall audience feedback was a vital thing that helped me to develop my product. Through taking on the comments I was able to adapt the trailer and ancillary texts to make it something that was suited and liked by the audience.

Evaluation - Question 2

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

The combination of techniques that I have used for both my trailer and poster are similar, however the magazine front cover is done in a different way, and this has been done to make each product more effective. The reason that I have approached my main product and ancillary texts like this is due to the fact that they will be targeted at different audiences. Both the trailer and poster would be produced by the same group of people advertising the product; however, this is not the case for a magazine cover. This is because the magazine company would be in charge of producing the cover to suite them as well as adding a different twist. This is done so that they would to appeal to a wider target audience. Because of this I have adapted my products in order to make it more effective and realistic.

The trailer and poster have similar themes to each other as they both portray the spooky horror idea. This is demonstrated through the use of different techniques. For instance, with the trailer we were able to take advantage of the fact we could add suspenseful music to fit in with the fast pace of the camera shots. As well as that we were able to edit the shots to adapt the colouring to make it darker, this further anchors the idea of horror. This then links in well with the poster as this shows photos from shots that are in the trailer, hence combining the two products. This form of advertising was done with a set target audience in mind, the age range of 15 – 25, this gives us a set goal in mind for what we need to achieve. These two products have been targeted towards this age range by the following techniques: showcasing the stars (young actors), setting, plot, dramatic camera shots, voiceovers, editing etc… all of these techniques have been used in a way to appeal to the target audience. These products work well together due to the intertextuality that exists between the two.

Through saying that the magazine cover is done on a separate basis is untrue due to similarities that it has, this is essential for advertising the film. Intertextuality exists between the products through the promotion of the main character, review quotes, and the dark atmosphere. The differences that occur between it is the use of different font, different images (although this character is shown in the trailer), a general new theme has been used to create a different effect. Although the magazine

company, ‘Exclusive', would still wish to portray the horror theme, they need to appeal to a larger target audience to be able to sell their magazine rather than just the film. This is the reason that it has been designed in a different manor. Ideally there would be more similarities between the magazine cover and the poster/trailer, in order for them to be linked more effectively, I still feel as if it is a successful and effective product.

Evaluation - Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The media products that I have produced can be seen as following the forms and conventions of real media products. This can be mainly seen throughout the genre that we have chosen. Genre is something that can be seen as a basic level of communication between the encoder and decoder, as it is the encoder’s responsibility to ensure that the conventions of the chosen genre are met to the decoder’s expectations. This is established through key elements that are used frequently throughout a number of different methods. In my research I outlined the main conventions of a film trailer, this helped me to ensure that we included the main qualities in my trailer (link to the trailer convention research). The main conventions of the film trailer are shown below, as well as how they help anchor the horror genre:

Iconography has been used with the abandoned house. As this clip shows the teenagers approaching the building. Iconography is something that belongs to a genre, e.g. a prop or setting. The abandoned house scene is something that can easily be linked with horror films. The mis-en-scene helps to create an element that results in matching the conventions of other products. Showing the main setting of the trailer is a common convention that has been used in all previous products. Because of this, having an establishing shot of the abandoned house is a vital quality for our trailer. The low close up camera shot at the beginning of this clip showing the teenagers walking, builds up tension, and further increases tension. 

Another convention that clearly shows the genre  of horror is the music. Music is a vital convention that is in all the trailers that I have done in my research.The music throughout the trailer is full of suspense and drama; I have chosen a clip from the trailer as the music has built up to match the anticipation that is going on in the footage itself. This helps to anchor the genre.

This clip shows our use of different camera angles to create a professional looking trailer. At the beginning it shows a tracking long shot of three girls sitting on a bench. This has been done so that it establishes the scene as well as showing the characters. This is important so that the audience gets to know the characters. The camera angles help the characters/trailer to be more likable. The next shot shows a low camera angle looking up at the abandoned house. This low shot is significant as it signifies how big and powerful the building is, resulting in the audience feeling small. The next significant shot in this clip is a medium shot of the three people talking. This is a good and effective way of showing the conversation.

This clip shows examples of how we have adapted the use of conventions into our trailer. At the beginning it shows a blacked out screen with text saying 'THIS WINTER', this is what the voice over also says. This convention is a quality that is shown in many other trailers, so we saw it important to include it in our footage. As well as having a voice over the top of the footage, I have also given an example of how we have involved sound. The screams that have been edited into the trailer anchors the genre, as well as fitting well in with the footage.

The genre horror has been chosen for our trailer mainly due to the fact that we felt we could match the qualities that are needed for it better than any other genre. As well as that we felt that the genre fits the target audience more specifically, as horror films are more commonly watch by people aged 15-25. We felt that people can relate to our film by the fact that the characters are the same age as our target audience (this was obviously a practical decision, as our group have done the acting), as well as the plot being something that is common for people of this age range, exploring and getting into difficult situations. This has resulted in our genre being the perfect fit for what we were aiming to achieve.

The generic textual features of our 3 products have occurring themes within them that relate them to other products similar to them. This can be shown by the creepy setting, basic themes that are related to horror films, as well as the plot following the normal conventions.

Through the use of research on both my magazine front cover and poster I was able to use specific techniques used ensure that they reflected accurately what is required whilst still maintaining a horror theme. The poster that I produced has the normal conventions that any other poster has and requires. This is demonstrated by the use of a bold title that is the main focus of the product, as well as, relevant images, release date, reviews, and a strong representation of the theme of the trailer. All of these elements help to anchor the horror theme that is necessary when it comes to advertising such a film. My magazine front cover also achieves this with the use of the conventions of any other product likes it. This is done through the title, selling of inside articles, main focus image, strapline etc…. All of these elements help to produce a magazine cover that reflects accurately other real media products.

I have compared my magazine cover to an existing product, this demonstrates the basic codes and conventions that both products have:

Overall the three products that I have produced have been developed through the use of other real media products like them. The research that took place before starting each piece helped me to create an accurate reflection of what the real product would look like. This has helped through the essential conventions that I have interpreted in my own way to produce a product that is specific to my film, ‘Evil Awaits’.

Final Film Magazine

This final magazine cover demonstrates a use of many techniques that have resulted in a product that is 'effective and eye catching' (audience feedback quote). This can be seen as effective due to the fact that it possess all of the qualities that a magazine cover should have. For instance it clearly advertises the articles that are inside the magazine, hence enticing the audience to buy the magazine. Another interesting quality that it has is the use of more than just the one picture. Although, only the main picture is for the film that I am focusing on, there is a film strip advertising the 'Free trip to the Harry Potter set'. This is seen to be done in many other film magazines, as this further entices the audience. Like in the draft of my magazine cover, I have also done a strap line in this cover. I see it as an important quality as it promotes the magazine itself as well as making it stand out. The magazine can also be seen as eye catching due to its contrasting colours which make it stand out. This is important as this will help to sell the magazine. As well as using the technique of the one main image being the focus, I have also used the image of trees to link it back to both the trailer and the film poster. It is important to make the link between these 3 products. The way in which the trees are faded in the background is effective due to the fact it links back to the film itself, it does this in a subtle manor so that its is a simple background, this makes it more eye catching. Although it is a 'well made product that advertises the film well' (audience feedback quote), 'the way in which the text is done could be improved' (audience feedback quote). Making some of the text clearer would be how I would improve this magazine cover, however, due to time restrictions, this was not possible to do. However, overall, this magazine cover sells our film trailer for 'Evil Awaits' well due to its 'striking appearance' (audience feedback quote).

Initial Film Magazine

This is a simple first attempt at my film magazine cover as it contains the basic qualities that other covers have. From my research of other film magazines the style of having the main character of the film that they are featuring as the main focus of the product is common, hence I am also taking on this style for my front cover. The text that I have included is also in the same style that I have seen in previous covers, for instance the way in which the title is partially covered by the image and also the advertisement of articles within the magazine is a theme that are in other magazines.  The strap line at the top of the page makes it more eye catching due to its boldness. As well as having a set style brewing is important. For instance the 'plus' and 'free' being in capital letters as well as being bold makes it have a little bit more personality. Although this is only a basic draft it gives me a good starting place in which to develop it further as it has all the simple things that are required. In my next attempt I will make it more eye catching and bold.