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

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

One of the key conventions I focused on in my trailer was low key lighting, in all of the trailers I looked at in my research I noticed a heavy use of low key lighting. The lighting being darker gives a more intense atmosphere and also gives the sense of impending fear. To the left is an example from my trailer and to the right is  an example from The Ring trailer.

Another convention we found in camerawork was close ups of the characters faces. It portrays there emotions well and gives a feeling of intensity. To the left is an example from my trailer and to the right is an example from The Strangers trailer.

Thirdly I noticed the use of fade to white and black in many of the existing trailers I watched pre-production. I used both in my trailer, they link the clips together well and along with the fast paced editing they give the audience a feeling of adrenaline.

Evaluation - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

Media Presentation

Evaluation - What have you learned from your audience feedback?

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

Evaluation - Technologies Used on Prezi

Final Magazine Cover

Final Movie Poster

This is my final Promotional Movie Poster. The image is perhaps the main focus, it has been taken straight from the film so relating well. Through looking at existing products I have been able to identify the conventions and what an audience would expect. I have included the pull quote at the top of the page, the font I have chosen is not completely straight giving it a playful element tying in with what the quote says. Just left of centre I have included a quote which would have come from a magazine, this promotes the film and gives it more credibility. The title of the film is in the largest font so to stand out, also all of the text is white or grey so to contrast the dark background and catch the eye. Along the bottom I have included the credits of the film, another convention of movie posters. 

Main Task Construction

Animation

First Draft Magazine Cover

Audience Feedback Questionairre Analysis

The majority, 60%, of the people that took my survey were between 16-25 which is my target audience age bracket. Therefore the results from my survey will be accurate in determining whether my main task and ancillary tasks succeeded in appealing to my chosen audience. 40% of the people that took the survey were between the ages 26-49, this allows me to see whether my pieces also appealed to a wider audience.

The majority of people that took the feedback questionairre were male however only one less person was female meaning that I will receive the opinions of both genders. I aimed my pieces at both females and males so the feedback may determine whether I succeeded in doing so.

My third question asked whether each of my pieces appealed to the respondent and the reasons for their response. The aim of this question was to determine an overview of the piece and whether or not they were generally liked or disliked. Firstly my respondents gave their views on my main task, the trailer. Each person said that, yes, they did like the piece. Comments given focused on the editing which seemed to appeal and was done well, and also that the acting was of a high standard. Also by appealing to each of the members I have created interest surrounding the film which could potentially lead them to my other products.

Secondly the respondents gave their opinions on my promotional film poster. Again each person said that, yes, they did like the piece. The main comments obtained from the survey regarding this piece is that it looks professional and is eye catching. By my poster being eye catching it again creates interest and the professional finish gives an immediate impression of the film.

Finally I asked the participants of this survey to comment on my magazine cover. Three of the five people that answered this question said they did not like this piece, the reasons given highlighted that it did not look professional enough, did not have enough articles and did not look enough like a conventional movie magazine. However two people said that they did like it as it has a good layout and interesting articles. From this feedback I have obtained constructive criticism which will help me re-draft the piece and improve on it so to appeal to my audience more. 

The fourth question focused solely on the strengths of the trailer. The editing seems to be the strongest point of my main task as each of the respondents made a comment regarding this, I feel that I kept the editing conventional as it is fast paced and builds the tension. Another element to the trailer that seems popular is the music used, one person commented the music fits well with the footage. Again I aimed to keep the piece I used conventional and create an atmosphere of mystery. Overall I am really pleased with the feedback for this piece as I feel majority of the elements appealed to my target audience. 

The fifth question focuses on my ancillary pieces. Again I asked what the strengths of my work are, comments mainly focused on the fonts I used and the images. I wanted my images to be memorable so to leave a lasting impression on my audience. I feel as several people commented on my use of images my aim has had an impact, also the fonts I used carried over on both pieces so to create continuity between my work. Again I am pleased with this feedback as I feel what has been commented on was what I focused on and spent most time on. 

My final questions focus on the weaknesses of my pieces and what I can improve on. For the trailer, the main focus is the beginning as there are slow and quiet moments which could be improved by cutting certain pieces of film to reduce the amount of time between the beginning and middle sections of my trailer. Also from the feedback I can see that another, different, piece of music could be included to give the opening an atmosphere. However these were the only comments made, which although could be improved are not major aspects to the trailer and it seems there are more good points than bad. 

The comments for the weaknesses of my ancillary pieces concentrate only on the magazine meaning that the respondents to my survey were happy with the quality and look of my poster. The comments regarding my magazine cover suggest that it needs to look more conventional by including elements such as relevant articles. 

Overall the improvements that could be made to my work are minimal and focus on the conventionality of my magazine cover and the opening of the trailer which could use further editing and sound. 

I feel that this audience feedback survey has been useful to me as it has allowed me to see what I have done well and what could be improved. I feel that, overall, my pieces fulfill my aims of appealing to a younger target audience well and flow together with a house style appropriate to the genre. 

Secondary Focus Group

As my secondary focus group I asked a group of three 16-25 year olds, as this is my target audience, what they thought of the finished version of my horror trailer for 'The Awoken'. My aim was to gather feedback regarding what was successful and unsucessful about my main product, to determine this I asked each respondant five questions;

What was sucessful about my trailer?
What was unsucessful about my trailer?
Does the trailer make you want to watch the film?
What did you think of the editing and use of sound within the trailer?
How could I make the trailer  more appealing to you?

Respondant 1;

1. What was sucessful about my trailer?
The fast editing builds tension as the trailer moves on, the pace of the music also fits well and the volume fits with key parts of the trailer.
2. What was unsucessful about my trailer?
The beginning of the trailer is slow and could do with some music, although the voice over breaks it up slightly I feel it would benefit from maybe some more positive upbeat music. To fit with the more stable beginning events
3. Does the trailer make you want to watch the film?
Yes, I think that the quick, short clips from the film create a sense of mystery and make you want to know what happens.
4. What did you think of the editing and use of sound within the trailer?
Editing, as I said before, is really good, I like the ue of the 'night vision' effect gives the trailer a dark, sullen feel. The sound again promotes this same feeling.
5. How could I make the trailer more appealing to you?
I like horror movies with more violence and action and so for it to be improved for me I would like to see a little more of the 'monster'.

Respondant 2;

1. What was sucessful about my trailer?
The short quick clips give a small insight into the film and make me want to see what happens and learn more about the characters.
2. What was unsucessful about my trailer?
I didn't really understand the beginning and at times the camerawork was slightly shaky. Seemed a little irrelevant.
3. Does the trailer make you want to watch the film?
Yes, I like that the main characters are both male and female and are also around the same age as me.
4. What did you think of the editing and use of sound within the trailer?
I felt that the editing was done really well, I especiallly liked the use of slow motion as I felt it gave pace to the trailer and also drew attention to those specific parts - made them memorable. The music used was good, fitted with the genre well. However I felt the voiceover was slightly to animated, could have sounded a little more 'scary'.
5. How could I make the trailer more appealing to you?
I prefer horror films to have a science fiction element to them and although the 'night vision' effect brings this across in a way I would like to have seen more of the 'unknown' and how it affects the main characters.

Respondant 3;

1. What was sucsessful about my trailer?
I really liked that the 'monster' was relatable to the targeted audience with the costume (i.e hoodie) and that all of the characters were of similar ages to the target audience.
2. What was unsucessful about my trailer?
Felt that the music could have changed from the first set of clips to the second and also could have been faster.
3. Does the trailer make you want to watch the film?
Yes, I would be interested to see how the story develops.
4. What did you think of the editing and use of sound within the trailer?
The sound could have been used better within the first set of clips, there should have been a piece under the voiceover. However I really like the editing, liked how the pace increased as the trailer moved towards the end, and the slow motion was used well, it held my attention on those certain pieces well.
5. How could I make the trailer more appealing to you?
I would like to know the certificate of the film and also which production company are exporting it. Other than that I feel it fulfills all I look for in the genre.

Rough Cut

This was our first attempt at filming and testing out the camera. After watching it back we realised that there was a lot we could improve. I felt we had focused too much on the script and it became more like one scene from the film rather than snippets from several scenes which is what we had planned. We also felt we needed to re-consider the lighting and set up of our characters. Although our rough cut was far from what we wanted our final piece to look like it gave us a chance to test the camera, lighting, acting and set. We also got to play a little with editing and become more familiar with the software we were using. I feel that filming a first draft was extremely helpful and it helped us see where our plan had flaws, where we needed to improve and what we needed to change.

Evaluation - Audience Feedback Questionairre

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Homework

Sixth Sense Trailer




Blumler and Katz - Uses and Gratifications

The audience have certain needs which, this theory says, are met by the piece of media. These are divergence - an entertaining break from every day life, personal relationships - when an audience member creates empathy, or sympathy, or a certain connection with certain characters, surveillance - tells the audience what is happening in the world and personal identity - shapes values of the audience member. The sixth sense satisfies several of these, the first being divergence. The story line is something abnormal and something that is rarely heard of in day to day life, therefore providing an unusual and interesting watch. The second is personal relationships, through the film the audience feels sympathy for the young boy as he is targeted by and afraid of the supernatural. The audience also empathizes with the character played by Bruce Willis and the young boys mother as they see the strain upon the boy of these occurrences.

Morley - Reception Theory

Reception theory states that individuals have different perceptions of media texts depending on their background; social influences, sex, race, age etc. Within this film age is probably the factor which would affect a persons reaction the most. Being a thriller/scary movie it is likely to have a bigger impact on a younger audience as they are more vulnerable to being scared and fear the unknown. Also as the main character is a young child it would be easily relatable for a young audience and therefore made more real. However an older woman, a mother perhaps, could also be equally as affected as they could empathize easily with the role of the young boys mother. Choosing to use a young child as the main character gives the film a vulnerability which would be recognised by women who have children of their own and have at one point or another felt the same anguish when they see their child in trouble.

Hall - Encode/Decode

Within a film or television programme the producers encode the preferred reading into the through different technical aspects. This is them decoded by the audience to understand the message of the piece. The preferred reading of this film is that ghosts exist and often need help moving on which can only be given by certain individuals. The film is supposed to be scary so the producer would encode this through several different techniques, we can see these used in the trailer. The eery music and SFX create a 'spooky' atmosphere and give the impression of an impending, outside threat. The editing and its pace as they quicken instill a feeling of adrenaline into the audience, the low key lighting also gives the idea of something unknown and dark. Each of these are typical conventions of a horror/thriller movie trailer. The inclusion of a child as the main character gives a sense of vulnerability which is ultimately more scary as the audience fears for their safety.

Ancillary - Promotional Poster + Magazine Draft & Planning

These are a selection of fonts I have found from dafont.com which I feel are appropriate for the genre of my ancillary pieces. They could be used for both my promotional poster and my magazine front cover. They each connote blood and death and all fit with the horror genre well. Selecting these fonts has allowed me to have a range to choose from for my ancillary tasks.

I have created several colour charts to inspire me as to what theme I should use for my ancillary products. Each connote different ideas linked with horror such as blood, mystery and ghosts. The charts allow me to see what colours work best with each other and through looking at existing products I am able to see what colours are common for horror posters and magazine articles/magazines.

Draft Poster Layouts 

These are three drafts of my promotional poster, I have tried several different layouts, fonts, colours and styles. I feel each would be appropriate however I will use the second as I feel it looks the most professional. 

Draft Magazine Layouts

These are two draft layouts for my final magazine cover, I feel that both would be appropriate however I think the second looks more professional and more like an actual magazine cover. I want to use the conventions of a magazine, such as mast head, relevant cover lines, a barcode and price etc so it is easily identifiable, however I also want it to stand out by the image I use and the fonts. I have chosen the title 'SPOOK' as it connotes 

Pitch

Title: The Awoken
Genre: Horror Film Trailer

Summary of Target Audience;
The primary target audience for our trailer are 16-25 year olds, 50/50 male female split. My target audience are regular cinemagoers who enjoying going to watch movies in groups. The target audience enjoy horror films with a particular focus on psychological and survival themes.

Description of Ideas;
The Awoken is a trailer for a horror film aimed at 16-25 year olds. It follows the story of four teenagers; Joe, Sam, Ella and Chloe who discover and begin to use a Ouija Board for the first time. What they first think is just a joke, a game turns into something much more than that. Each of our characters is within the age bracket of our target audience so making the story more relatable and therefore more realistic. We focus on the vulnerability and naivety of our young characters emphasising the realism of the story and reinforcing the feeling of fear with our audience. From the four characters two are girls and two are boys, this enables our trailer to appeal to both genders, alienating neither of them.

Why our product will be successful;
Our trailer will be successful as we have completed in depth research into our chosen genre and also our target audience so we know what their expectations are and how to meet them. Through looking at existing products and examples of horror film trailers we are able to recognise conventions and include them into our product. We have looked at trailers specifically aimed to our target audience, from this we have learnt what appeals and what has been successful in the past. From creating a questionnairre which aimed to discover who our target audience is and a little more about what they expect and like to see in trailers we have learnt that the storyline is the most important factor in a horror film. Characters, violence and the actors were also fairly important to our target audience. To ensure our trailer is successful we will take each of these factors into account, we aim to create a horror film based on a unique storyline which has not been seen before. The main characters we have decided to use are two young females and two young males this is so that they are easily relatable by our target audience as they are of similar and therefore make the story more realistic and thus more scary. We chose to use two main characters of each gender so to appeal to a wider target audience by not alienating either sex. In the actual trailer enigma was a key element which or target market look for. We will make sure, when constructing our product, that we are careful not to give too much about the plot away and leave the audience with questions regarding what happens. The most popular sub genre of horror was survival closely followed by psychological, we aim to incorporate both of these into our trailer as they can both be worked in conjuction with each other fairly easily.

Summary of Conventions for Horror Film Trailer;
Trailers for horror films follow certain conventions which, through looking at exisiting products, we are able to include in our trailer. Trailer's for films of this genre often begin with a happy atmosphere, an equilibrium, which is clearly soon to be disrupted. To create this feeling high key lighting and up beat music is used, the editing tends to be fairly steady and at a slower pace towards the beginning of the trailer. As the trailer moves on we see the disruption of the equilibrium, this is bought across to the audience through low key lighting and a darker piece of music. From this point on tension is built creating a feel of adrenaline in the audience. Music and editing work together to create this, as the pace of music increases so does the pace of the editing. Shots and clips from the film are intermixed with transition slides which give certain pieces of information surrounding the plot however leave the audience with questions and no answers. Trailer's often use quick fades to white and to black to create a smooth transition between the clips but still keeping in with teh fast pace and jumpy feel. Trailer's aim to give an impression of the film without giving away the complete plot so to create interest in the film and make the audience want to watch the film in its entirety. Within many trailers short sections are specifically included to make the person watching jump, to the audience this is a gauge as to what they can expect during the film and whether or not this would appeal to them. Normally this section is executed successfully by the sudden movement or appearance of a character or by a sudden louder noise which is unexpected. The trailer most commonly finishes with the music at its loudest point and the editing at its fastest, to create an air of mystery around our product we will leave it with a cliffhanger so the audience will want to know more.

Conclusion of my research - Conventions

These are a summary of the conventions I have found for each of the products I will be creating through my research into similar, existing products. To create the mind maps I used https://bubbl.us/

Poster Layout

Layout

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