Evaluation part 4

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

Video Camera: We used a video camera to film our trailer, I believe we used a rang of shots but used the mid shot a number of times, this was conventional to comedy trailers to convey the characters expressions. For this project our school had brought new higher quality cameras, our group took half an hour to experiment with this camera finding out how it worked, what effects it had etc. This was effective to develop our skills using this new technology.  Using a high quality camera made our filming look professional, which contrasted to our music video as jus just used a flip camera. We also found this camera had a clearer zoom. While filming we filmed multiple shots, and kept looking back at them to make sure we had the right shot for our trailer. This was effective, as if we didn't achieve a right shot and had to go back to a location and film, the weather could have changed and it wouldn't have been conventional. As all of our group filmed parts within the trailer I believe all of our skills have improved. While filming my AS coursework my hand was extremely shaky but within this project I have learned how to control it and produce a better, clearer shot.

Still camera and photo shop: While our development within our poster and magazine we used still camera's and photo shop. When our group were at planning stages of our poster, we discussed the idea of using photo shop to create a split screen, like in one of our inspired posters 'Silver lining playbook.' We believe this wasn't effective as we kept adding layers to the background so our poster looked extremely fake. we also discussed the idea of using photo shop for our magazine, while we tried taking pictures of the actors in front of the green screen, these were not effective due to poor lighting. After these experiments we decided to take both pictures for the magazine and poster outside so there is natural lighting, and on scene so our photo's as then it was more easier to create that professional look. We used a scanner and photo shop to insert our drawn doodles within our poster and magazine, this was very time consuming as we used the laser tool, but I believe this has been effective and I'm glad we used this. We also used the still camera, to create the titles within our trailer, this was effective, as it gives the trailer character and a 'indie' streak.

Garage band: I adapted well to the use of garage band, following comedy conventions, which is using cheerful music to set the tone of the trailer, which is fun, and care free. I believe our use of garage band has heightened and dramatized our humour within our trailer, this effect was created by adding pauses when a funny bit is being said etc. using garage band was time consuming and hard at first, as we had to go through the trailer and fit our music in the exact time frame our trailer consisted on. I believe our use of garage band has been effective, due to our audience feedback, most said our music made our trailer look individual and was conducted well, this back up my point of using garage band is more effective then picking a song already made, as it develops our skills, and makes our trailer unique. When I use garage band again I would pick out what time of music I would like within the sequence before I start because at point me and my group went off topic and this would have saved us time. 

Final cut express: Our group edited our film trailer on final cut express. We chose this technology as we have used it  for our other media projects and we are familiar with the material. In this case our editing process wouldn't be as new to us and would take less time. During our development of our trailer our group experimented with effects such as a split screen, and transitions. We decided to use a surreal transition when the girls have changed bodies, so symbolise confusion. If I was to create this transition again I would make the duration longer, so it is more noticeable. We also used the split screen to show the audience the climax from two different characters perspective, this was effective as it symbolised there swap. If I was to include a split screen again I would make sure the characters were at the same shot to make it look more realistic.



you tube: During our planning process our group used you tube to, research into conventions of movie trailers. we also used you tube to look at final cut tutorials, for example a show motion tutorial and a split screen tutorial. We used a different slow motion tutorial, to our music video as this tutorial showed us a different way of changing pace, This was a easier method, and I am glad we used it as it saved time, within our editing process.  


Flip camera: Our group used a flip camera to film our voice overs. I believe this wasn't very effective as our voice overs echoed. If I was to produce voice over again I would either film within a smaller room, use a recording device or use the garage band voice over tool.


Photo booth:  Our group used photo booth within the apple macs, to film our discussions for our blogger. This was effective as we saved time, and we could always look back at your discussions.

Evaluation part 3

What have you learned from your audience feed back?

The poster.

'The poster shows the contrast in characters which supports the plot of the film. The rhetorical question is effective in making the viewer want to watch the film & the black and white doodles make it more appealing for the target audience.'

'I like the way the characters are represented and the fact there is a clear indication of the genre of the film. I also like the rhetorical question making you think will they turn back making you want to view the film to see if they do and also it makes you wonder in what sense does turn back mean? The colours work really well, along with the layout of the billing block, the image and other text on the image. It also hits the target audience immediately, making them feel involved as maybe they can relate to the characters.'

'I think that the animation on the poster looks effective and along with the models pose helps show the two different characters. The names and film title are very eye catching. I also really like the lighting of the photo with it having some shadows!'

'I think that poster shows the clear roles the girls will be playing. The title is eye catching which will get people to stop and read the poster. The rest of the information is displayed evenly around the poster so it doesn't make the poster look clustered.'

My response.

  The audience feed back  I have gathered about my groups poster is very positive. To get all of these quotes I uploaded the poster to Facebook and tagged friends ranging from 17-20. There was only positive aspects from this feedback and I am very pleased with the results. I believe that our poster has reached out towards our target audience extremely well and judging from the response I have gathered, I do not see a reason to change the poster.

Magazine.


'This looks good! I like that the colours all go together well and that the magazine title highlights the models top. The only problem I would say is that I couldn't really see some of the pricing at the top and had to zoom in as it was blending in with the brick a little but this wasn't a big problem.'

In response to the constructive critics, I believe that the picture I uploaded on the social networking sight of Facebook was smaller then an A4 sheet of paper (magazine front page.) In theory I believe that when scaled to fit an A4 page the viewer would be able to see the prices and date clearly, we measured the font and that is a typical size for Empire magazines conventions.


'I think the yellow "mix up" stands out more than the title of the magazine but the colour combinations look good. It previews the content of the magazine and the information is set out in a way which doesn't look too overcrowded.'

In response to the constructive critics. Our group made the decision to have our title of the magazine brighter then empire as we believe Empire is such a large global company people will instantly recognise it, but a our film is a new release we wanted to promote our new movie.

'Overall I think that you have done a really good job and the bright colours are clearly addressing your young target audience. The Magazine cover does not look bare or crowded and you have stuck to the convention of the individual staying in character. One thing I would say though is the headline at the top says "Who knows if THEY will change back?" implying there are two central characters, but there is only one character on the front of the magazine, is this on purpose? Anyways well done, its looks very good!!'

In response to this question state in the quote above, I will have to agree that this was intentional as we want our audience to be interested about the other stars as well. This question will make the audience want to buy that magazine to read more.

'Looks really professional, well done. I'm wondering what Amie Hartland has to say in her interview, how about a "quote" that makes you want to read more.'

In relation of this audience feedback above, our group has discussed a quote, but we simple did not have the space. We contemplated whether to make room for a quote but while looking at film magazines they did not often use quotes from the interviews, we gathered this was more for glamour magazines.  

'I think it draws attention the yellow mix up sign stands out the most which I think is good because its the main feature in the magazine.'

In conclusion our audience feedback towards our magazine was generally positive, and if not it was very constructive. 

Trailer.
 'I feel as if you've met your target audience well and it makes me want to watch more. I can see similarities to other trailer conventions of this genre, the music also works well. I would say I'd want to see a bit more of the characters sides before they switch out of interest so I feel as if I know more about the character. I think the way you've used the voice over when the two girls switched works really well showing good match on action.'
1- In response to this audience feedback. I agree that showing the characters personality's more, could have been useful for the audience to recognise the script. But as film trailers only last for the duration of around two minutes, we wouldn't of been able to portray the full affect of the narrative. In conclusion I will not be taking this on board as I believe we tried our best to portray the characters in the time we had .

'The music you have chosen goes really well with the type of film and stops at good places in the trailer, just how professional film trailers do. The use of slow motion when the two enemies meet for the first time is effective as it shows off their different characters and how the mean one is dominant and controlling. The writing moving looks really effective and is done well. It also has some comedy in it which makes the audience laugh and want to watch the film. Overall I think its really good and looks professional!!'

'I think that the advert shows the audience well what the movie is about!! I think that the trailer looks professional and really well put together. The way the two characters are portrayed is really well shown with the slow motion adding affect when they meet for the first time. All the information is well presented and the music over the trailer works well and fits well with the video.'

'The trailer itself is successful in teaching to its intended audience what the story line is about without loosing their attention, this is reinforced by the successful use of camera angles and script. However in my own personal perspective I would have liked to have seen more footage on the aftermath of the switch rather than before the event. Despite this the audience are able to make a clear distinction between the characters personalities and has created a comical relationship between the two and this is strengthened by the use of the upbeat soundtrack which amplifies to the audience the genre of the movie itself, this being a comedy/chick flick. All in all a well thought out trailer with a successful outcome.'

  I agree with this audience critic, which states, 'I would have liked to have seen more footage of the aftermath of the switch rather than before the event.' Although I agree with this, our group tried adding more scenes in relation to the after math but we did not succeed, due to the poor quality of shots. If I would be able to create this trailer again, I would defiantly consider this point by adding more clips of what happened, so the audience can gather more information about the narrative, without giving to much away.

In conclusion our audience feedback from our trailer was generally positive, and during another project I will try and take all these ideas on.
This was the questionnaire my group gave out to our target audience;

Trailer

1.     Do you think that our trailer uses a range of shots?

Yes      No

If no why not

2.     Do you think the storyline is clear throughout the trailer?

  
Yes   No         

If no why not

3. Would you go to see this film in the cinema?

Yes      No

If no why not

          

4.  Do you believe that the music sets up the genre of the film?

Yes      No

If no why not

5. Does the lighting look of high quality throughout the trailer?

Yes      No

If no why not

6.Do you think that the trailer has met the needs of the target audience (12- 25)

Yes      No

If no why not

Magazine
 

1Does our are final magazine product meet the conventions of Empire magazine

Yes      No

If no why not

2Do you think the photo used is of high quality?

Yes      No

If no why not

 

3. Would you expect to see this type of photo on a film magazine cover?

Yes      No

If no why not

4. Do think that we have used range fonts appropriately?

Yes      No

If no why not

5. Do you think the colours used are effective?

Yes      No

If no why not

Poster 
 

1. Does our final poster meet the conventions of a typical film poster?

Yes      No

If no why not

2. Do you think the photo used is of high quality?

Yes      No

If no why not

3. Do you think the use of cartoons on the poster is effective?

Yes      No

4. Do think the font used for the title is appropriate?

Yes      No

If no why not

5. Do you think that the poster has met the needs of the target audience?

Yes      No

If no why not

List any improvements you would make

This is a graph of our findings;

In evaluation I believe our audience feedback has been extremely positive as we ensured that everything within our trailer suited the ages of 12-25, for example text, location the narrative and genre. All the critics we received were very helpful, but some things they had commented on were intentional.

Evaluation Part 2

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

I believe our full promotional package is effective as we have used several factors that links these all together. Making our film stand out from the rest. Here are some of these factors

Doodles: Within both poster and magazine we have used doodles. 

This makes a clear link between them both. Within the poster we have used, the angel wings, the skull, the heart, the boot, and the can. We also incorporated devil horns and a halo from the internet. These doodles sum up both characters, this is why we inserted them all within our poster as both characters are present. While the magazine only had the 'Bad girl' character on the front page, so we used one doodle which was the skull, and photo shopped it onto her coat. This gives the reader an idea of the character. I believe the doodles have linked in will within the poster and magazine but if I was to make any improvements I would include doodles within the trailer to link all three together. We did have a discussion about adding doodles within our trailer and experimented but we just couldn't figure it out. Next time I will look at tutorials and accept a challenge to achieve the best results.


Film titles: We used the Same Title within all of our products.

  Using the same title within all of our media products gives a strong connection for our audience to see. Although using exactly the same title for the magazine and poster, we decided to change it up for the actual trailer, as we wanted our title to fit in with the other text within the trailer. We used the same font, but laid it out like a moving image. We achieved this by taking multiple photos of each letter and mixing them up. This was effective as it linked to the rest of the trailer, and gave the audience something different to look at. Even though the title was slightly changed within our poster I still believe there is a clear link to the ancillary texts. This is effective as the audience can link each product together. They would also be able to remember the short and snappy name, due to the font, size and boldness.


Colour scheme: Throughout our magazine and poster we have used the same colour scheme which consists of Mustard/yellow, red and black. This is effective as it shows are binary opposites yellow meaning good and red meaning bad. We have also used a brick wall for both magazine and poster this sets our film location and ties it all Together. Except for the title within our trailer, the rest of the trailers colour scheme does not link with the other promotional products. I believe this isn't as effective, and text time I would create text on a mustard background with black letters, not a pink background.


Headings: Both headings within our magazine and poster are pulled out from  the poem that is within the trailer. This is effective as in all cases makes the audience want to either read and watch on, as it's a rhetorical question.


Characters: Our characters have been consistent throughout all of our media products for example we have always stuck to the stereotypical costumes, the bag girl wearing shorts with thin tights, leather jackets and big jumpers. While the geek wears jeans, love sleeve tops with floral scarfs. This conveys our comedy genre as the characters are very stereotypical. While using both actors within our poster, they have created stances and gestures for there characters, for example the geek looks uncomfortable by straining her body more, whereas the bad girl is more relaxed and has a moody facial expression. These stances carry along through the final magazine and our draft and throughout our trailer. This if effective as if the audience see all of the promotional package they will begin to feel like they know the characters so when they change there stances will change and this will be dramatic.

Evaluation part 1

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

Our trailer has developed and challenged the conventions of real media products by;

The green rating sign: This appears at the beginning of all movie trailers as it shows an audience certificate. We used one that makes our trailer available to all audiences. This also reinforces that our target audience is for people at a young age.  
New Line cinema Logo: This appears after the green rating sign within our trailer, we have somewhat challenged this but also developed it. As some trailers it appears at the beginning, but others have it somewhere else within their trailer. During our development process we, discussed to use this logo. Our first idea was creating our own, but still using the production company of 'new line cinema.' This challenged conventions of typical trailers, so we decided to upload a real logo. I thought this was effective as it made our trailer look more professional.

Comedy Conventions: Our group have developed many uses of comedy trailer conventions throughout. Within our trailer we have used the effects of slow motion and split screens, this is typical of comedy movies especially of our narrative; such as 'It's a boy girl thing.' I think these effects have worked well within our product as it enhances comedy, and makes the trailer more interesting. Our group have also used a lot of mid shots, as they are again typical of the comedy genre. This shot is the most effective way to convey an expression to the audience. We have also used bold, colourful titles that is stereotypical of a comedy genre. Such as film trailers like; Juno.

We also incorporated cheerful music within our trailer, to again enhance the movie genre. The music was also modern so this would  promote our trailer towards our target audience. While researching trailers, I discovered that most music draws towards a climax, and within our development stages of creating our music on garage band, I added shakers to enhance the climax of our characters screaming.


Binary opposites: According to Strausses, within a film there are always Binary opposites. While researching into film trailers I discovered if the film does have these opposites, they show them within the trailer. We have met this convention by showing both characters within ours, the 'Bad girl' and the 'Geek.' This has worked well to enhance the narrative and give our trailer a boost.

Audience Theory: I also discovered that most trailers show this theory. We used this convention and our trailer also shows, an equilibrium, disruption and a new equilibrium. 

Film title: we have developed, the typical convention of film trailers by using a different font and background for the movie title from the titles explaining the film. We did this as we wanted our title to stand out to stick in our target audiences head.

Billing Board: the end of our trailer also included a billing board, which is typical for all film trailers. This made our trailer look professional.


Our poster has developed and challenged the conventions of real media products by;

Comedy Conventions: Within our poster we have developed several comedy conventions. During analysis of our inspired film posters, our group loves the picture from 'it's a boy, girl thing' Of to characters sitting on a bench expressing their character, we have developed this into our own, and instead we used a landscape picture of our two characters sitting on a bench showing there personalities. I believe this is effective as it conveys the audience the personality's. We have also included doodles within the poster, within comedy film posters we have looked at, they use doodles to express the narratives of the story. For example angus thongs and perfect snogging; 

  Another convention from comedy poster's that we have included within ours, is the colourful and bold title. This convention is effective, because the title is clear and stands out. This grabs the audiences attention and will draw them towards the poster and later on towards the film.  

Billing Board: We have inserted a billing board within our poster as this is a typical convention of movie posters. Within development we looked into billing blocks in more detail and decided to add a website and our production logo at the bottom. 

 
Heading: During our research into film posters our group discovered that a varied convention was headings above the title. Some posters had reviews above there title, while others that quotes from the film above there's. We decided to develop the quote, our first idea was from the poem, 'who knows if they will ever change back' but while experimenting with this, we discovered that this quote was two long so we shortened it to 'will they ever change back?' This is effective due to it being a  rhetorical question which engages the viewer to watch and find out.

We have challenged typical media products within our poster by putting our main actors names within speech bubbles, we did this to support our 'indie' theme and target audience.



Our magazine has developed and challenged the conventions of real media products by;


Title of Magazine: We have stuck to the conventions of an Empire magazine by including there original title within ours. We discovered Empire magazines always have the same bold red logo, so audiences will be able to recognize there magazine. Knowing this we photo shopped the original title, as the fonts on word were not adequate and this saved more time.

The picture: We have also stuck to the conventions of an empire magazine due to our chosen picture. The actor is in character, like many of the magazines we looked at. This is effective as it gives the viewer a feel to what the film is about. We also photo shopped the head of the actor over the magazine title Empire as this is a typical convention as the title is well known worldwide and people don't need to see all of it to know the magazine.

The text- We have followed typical conventions by the use of our text. It is positioned within a 'U' shape around our chosen photograph, this makes the text easy to read without distracting from the actor. We also used the convention of varying our text's font, colour and size. This makes the font more interesting to read and highlights certain facts the magazine wants the audience to know.  We have also used certain magazine language such as, ' we know what's hot, and what's not.' this makes the viewer want to buy the product and read what's inside. We also followed the convention of advertising different films, this is crucial as one magazine isn't just about one film, and this mean the magazine can be targeted to an audience of all ages for example we advertised films such as 'The life of Pi' 'The hobbit' and our other class mates work 'Queensdown warren.'

Heading: We have stuck to the conventions of using a heading above the title of the magazine. Empire magazines either have something within the magazine about the title or a quote advertising the film showcased on the front cover. We choose to use the same heading we used on the poster, so the audience want to read on, and it links to our over products.

Barcode and date/issue number: We have also followed the conventions within empire magazine by adding a barcode in the corner of our product, this is crucial as to buy a product you need a barcode. I believe this is effective as it makes our product look more professional and ready to buy. We also included the date and issue number within the 'M' of empire as this is another convention they use. From our audience feedback someone said that they couldn't read this, maybe next time we could have changed the colour to make it more noticeable.

Title of our film: We have rejected a convention of empire magazine, as they never usually have the name of the film on the front cover, we believe this was acceptable within ours, as it's not a sequel so we want our audience to know what the film is called, to get it in there minds.












 

How I have developed my skills from As-A2

As Film opening 

 

As Music video 

While looking at my first media project called "My imperfect life' there are things I has chosen not to do within my A2 trailer. This is including parts of my research, planning and time schedule. What I have learnt from this experience was to never trust anyone who is not taking the same course as you, as they don't realise how time consuming this project is and will let you down. As I didn't know this during our first project, I created a small time schedule, which lingered as me and my group kept getting let down. It is also less time consuming if we stick to people within our group as we all have the same lessons off and all want a decent grade. I believe this has worked well during my As project and glade I made this decision. Within my As film opening project my planning was also very poor, I didn't research enough into romantic comedy/ chick flick trailers. This caused us to keep changing our genre to meet the needs of our forever changing narrative. I have also discovered while looking back at our movie opening that we have made a technical error, where the coat the character coming home from holiday is wearing while walking up the stairs, is also within the room of the male trying to hide his 'bit on the side.' This has made me very aware of technical errors while filming our new project, and looking at our trailer I see no technical faults.


The music video was my second project that was conducted during the time between both AS-A2 projects. This was somewhat like a preliminary task for our A2 project. Before I started this project I decided to move groups as I believe me and My friend Megan didn't work to both of our best abilities with each other. I believe this was a smart move as this music video shows more quality and skill development then my first project. The skills I have developed within this project are using a slow motion effect, that we have developed into our film trailer. I also learnt how to use a green screen effectively even if the proportions were out, unfortunately there was no use for us to use the green screen within our trailer, but I'm glad I have built my skill level.

 

 

Media theories we can apply to our work

The uses and gratification theory.
 The uses and gratification theory argues that the audience hold power over media sources. As they will own use, watch or read certain media types to satisfy certain needs. Needs of people for the entertainment factor would be things like, escapism, diversion, relaxation, filling time, emotional release or sexual arousal.

 I believe the uses and gratification theory is relative within our project as we have made a trailer of a film that will have a use to an audience that would like to escape back to school and divert from there normal life, as it is a feel good film. This factor would be aimed at our older part of target audience (18-25.) This film could also relax people as it has a simple storyline that you don't have to focus fully on to understand the plot.


The Audience Theory. 
 Audience members view trailers for different reasons. Todrovs audience theory of the equilibrium (everything is fine and happy), disruption (a problem occurs) and a new equilibrium (everything is solved and everything is fine again.) This applies towards our trailer and our film narrative. Within the trailer we decided to show the characters how they were before they swapped bodies, this would be the equilibrium. After this we showed them waking up in different bodies this would be seen at the disruption, and the scream was the climax of our trailer. After the disruption, we have shown the two girls being friends this connects towards the new equilibrium. 



Binary opposites.

Strausses theory of Binary opposites also applied within out trailer. Our chosen binary opposites are the 'Bad girl' and the 'good girl.' We have also chosen to exaggerate our characters so the opposites is obvious for example when you see both of the opposite characters meeting the 'bad girl' pushed the 'good girl into the lockers. While editing this we made this more dramatic by adding a slow motion.