evaluation question 4

Construction: while I was filming my trailer I used one video recorder to capture the whole things and edit and put it together on a movie software. I also started by taking the photos for my poster from these clips but when I looked at them they were blurring and weren’t the best quality so I decided to take photos of things featured in the trailer with a good quality camera.

Research and planning: for my research and planning I used websites such as youtube to view known existing trailers, to be able to learn and understand them and the conventions and to also get inspiration from them. It also allowed me to see the comments on there and what people thought if them, giving me more of an idea on what my target audience wants ad enjoys.

Evaluation: in my evaluation I used social media sites such as blogger upload my evaluation so people are able to view it. I did this via Google which help develop my skills further using a Google account to access media sites.

I used this software to post all of the work I did for this project. Overall I liked this software because it’s quite easy to use and is generally simple to post all the work I’ve done onto my blog which also makes it look more organised and presentable. Although when using it there were a few problems with it but once they were overcome I was able to continue making it a good software to use.

To create and edit my trailer I used a software called serif movie plus. I hadn’t used this software before so it was quite new to me and it took a while to get used to it and learn how to use it effectively but once I got used to it, it’s was easier to use, however there were a lot of problems when using it which made it very difficult when I was trying to edit my trailer. I would prefer to use different software if I was going to make another trailer as I think I would be able to produce it faster and more effectively and it probably would have a better outcome.

When creating my film poster I used the software Microsoft word to edit my photos and blend them together as it is really simple and easy to use, I also used the software Microsoft publisher to put my poster together and add the wringing and age rating as this is also a easy software to use. These are good software’s to use because they are really simple, easy and quick to use and give you the necessary tools to edit my photos. Although there are better software’s made for editing photos to give a professional look but these software’s are quite complicated and time consuming so I decided to use software’s I know to benefit the photos. Although software’s such as Photoshop would have been better for editing my poster I would not have been able to use it properly to make the poster look good so it would have look basic and easy, showing my decision to use a software I know and trust.

evaluation question 3, what have i learnt from my feedback

When I had finished all my media products I asked some people such as friends and family who fit in with my target audience to give me feedback on all the products. I did this by asking them to watch my trailer clips and developments, look at my poster and look at my magazine cover and give me feedback.

 

What I learnt from my feedback

After getting feedback I found that a people were generally happy with my trailer developments saying that it had a good storyline and relates and has similarities to existing trailers and followed the conventions. They also thought the film poster I created was appealing and linked with the trailer showing a clear indication that they’re for the same product and looked quite professional. However they thought that my magazine cover was the weakest production I have created as it isn’t quite to same quality as the others and doesn’t look as professional. So I learnt a lot from this experience and thought of ways to improve my products.

evaluation question 2 combinations between projects

combination between trailer and film poster

My main product and my ancillary combine and link quite well. This is because my film poster is a photo of a doll featured swinging in the trailer along with a photo of the boy’s eye also featured in the trailer, linking them well. Combining a film poster and a film trailer is vital because they are both promotions of the films and promote it in different ways. The film poster makes the audience want to watch it when they see it around in the streets or in buildings getting them interested and the trailer makes them want to watch the film as it shows clips and bits of the story from the film leaving the audience on a cliff hanger, grabbing their attention. So the combination between the two is important as when the audience sees one product it makes them want to see the other, promoting the film in an effective way.

Combination between my film trailer and magazine

The combination between a film trailer and magazine cover is also important, not as important as the combination between a poster and trailer because they link as a couple. But a magazine cover still promotes the film to mass audience, making the film seem appealing, it also gets the attention of the target audience and gets them interested, making them look at the poster viewed in the magazine then getting them interested in the trailer which makes them want to watch the film. So these combination of products are like a cycle working together to promote the film to a huge mass audience getting a lot of people interested.

evaluation question 2 part 3: trailer

I think the trailer does its purpose for the film I’m promoting, a trailer is supposed to insight people and intrigue them to come and see the film without giving out too much information which is what I believe my trailer does. And it interested the people I shown it to, who were also my target audience.

Using conventions of a typical horror filming featuring a family and a young boy who start getting haunted, I found that I was appealing to a large mass of horror genre fans, as this is a typical horror story, which will appeal to my target audience.

I tried to keep the theme in mind while filming my trailer. I used my brother as the young vulnerable boy who gets haunted and possessed, and he featured in most of the trailer. I used a lot of shots of things around the house such as photos moving and things changing at night again trying to in keep with the theme of the trailer.

evaluation, question 2 part two: magazine

I think my magazine helped to promote my trailer. I used the typical conventions of existing magazine covers to help create my magazine cover and to give me inspiration, conventions such as; mastheads, sell lines and features to help intrigue and tempt my audience. On my magazine I wrote ‘starring the new young actor Cameron Woods’ to promote the film and get the audience interested as he’s a new actor.

I made two magazine covers with the same contents and different background photos and asked for family and friends opinion and they agreed that the one with the hand background was the better one. I also included a picture of my final poster on my magazine saying that there’s a free copy inside to advertise my trailer and tempt my target audience to buy it.

I chose the title ‘cinemag’ to appeal to the target audience and intrigue them as it reaches out to my target audience. And the hand photo also appeals to them and fits in with the theme and genre of magazine, and the dark background also fits in with it and adds a sense of darkness and evil.

evaluation question 2 part one: poster

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

For my poster I followed typical horror conventions, such as the main picture as the background, the title and slogan at the bottom of the page with the age rating and the character and the date release at the top. I tried to be more creative with the poster by blending two photos together of a doll featured in the trailer along with the eye of the boy in the trailer. I produced 5 posters all similar to each other to portray my trailer and making it in keeping with the theme of the trailer.

I showed these posters to friends and family and asked their opinion on them and which one is best and best in keeping with the theme and trailer and they all agreed on the one with the doll on the as the background with the eye overlapping and blending in. So this helped my decision on which one to choose.

I also followed the conventions of typical horror trailers with the colours these being dark and deep and the photos being edited to be very dark and shadowed off to enforce the horror theme. The dark colours indicate danger and evil, and this is contrasted with the off white writing which shows the pureness and vulnerability of the young boy.

 

evaluation question 1

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

In my research I used different media products to see what real trailers and movies were like and get inspiration from them. I got a lot of inspiration from the films ‘Insidious’ and ‘The Conjuring’ and developed my own characters and storyline from this inspiration.

My Trailer goes along the lines of the typical codes and conventions of existing trailers, showing a normal family and the boy starts getting haunted and possessed. It also enforces the fear in people as it shows a real household and real people, showing that this could happen, bringing out the fear in the audience. It also looks a little on religion, showing possession, and haunting.

I changed my trailer slightly, focusing mainly on the young lad in it, him being the main character, rather than the whole family, to make it more intense and to show how vulnerable and scared the boy is.

I tried to make sure that my media product followed the media codes and conventions when creating them. This way my media products seem more realistic and professional and would fit in with the existing products that are made for my target audience.

Conventions of a horror film;

In horror films there are typical conventions to make them recognisable, such as; Bursts of sound or music creating tension or slow slightly creepy music throughout the trailer or a use of both for an effective trailer. Scenes, or indications of death to make the genre clear. The colours black and red are often used to indicate darkness or evil and sometimes white as a comparison showing pureness. Todorov’s narrative theory is used in horror films to indicate clear character roles. This genre don’t reveal much about the film just hinting at the storyline to intrigue the audience. Also dark, shadowed off settings such as the woods or a basement are used again indicating the genre, or a natural family environment such as a family home are often used to show how an incident changes peoples life creating more fear in the audience as its more realistic. These are just some of the main codes and conventions horror trailers follow in order to make it an eye catching, re-memorable and realistic product.

Making my trailer follow these conventions;

In my trailer I tried to follow the codes and conventions of a typical horror trailer because they are what make an appealing trailer and make the audience want to watch the film. I used a family home environment as the setting in my trailer to make it seem more realistic and to bring out the fear in the audience. I filmed most of my trailer at night showing the disequilibrium of the trailer and to indicate something is happening, also making it more scary and effective, although I filmed some of my trailer in daylight to show normal life before the disturbance of the disequilibrium. Filming the equilibrium section of the trailer works filming in daylight but the disequilibrium section works best filmed in the dark showing why I chose the lighting for different sections to make it more effective and following the conventions.

I feel that one of the most important conventions is not giving the storyline away and just giving hints of the story to tempt the audience as, tempting the audience is what gets them interested and by giving away the storyline would mean no one would need to watch it. But getting the balance right with not showing them too much but not showing them too little to make the trailer confusing. I also think Todorov’s theory plays a big part in horror trailers as it shows the clear characters in the film so that it isn’t confusing, making it unsuccessful.