Trailer Final Product

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Magazine Final Product

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Poster Final Product

Our final draft is very similar to draft 3. However we decided that the red in draft 3 was not bright enough to stand out against the dark background, for that reason we decided to use a brighter red that was more eye catching. we also realigned the realease date to make it more prominent. we made the websites at the bottom slightly bigger to make them more obvious to the viewer and also added a facebook address and the facebook logo to allow the audience to acess and share our film via social networking. We also changed the way in which the certification logo was formatted; rather than having two we just had the BBFC certification. We also changed it's size and posittion to to make it less obvious as it is a legal formality and would play little part in the marketing of our film.

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

Trailer

Our trailer mostly follows forms and conventions of real trailers and more specifically those of horror trailers. The setting for our trailer, being mostly within the house, is a classic of the horror genre. Most horrors have very few settings. For example the only location in ‘The Strangers’ is the house they are staying in and the land around it and the events in ‘The Shining’ take place almost exclusively within the one building. This is not necessarily convention of the genre but more of a common trait within the films.

The title is fairly conventional as it is fairly simple. This is important because it is essential that the title of the film is memorable and one that is to long will be harder for an audience to remember as it will not stick in their heads as effectively. The title is also very relevant to the story. People will not wonder why the product has this title and they will instantly know what the film is about from the title alone.

The graphics we have used are very conventional. The typeface is quite eerie. However the typeface is relevant to our film as it is designed to look as if it were written on a typewriter. The colour red is often used for the titles in horror films as it is the colour of blood. However relatively unconventionally our graphics change colour from white to red as the tone of the trailer changes and the nature of the content becomes clear.

The sound we have used is also fairly conventional. The music changes in tempo as the content speeds up and slows down as the images change in pace. The music also changes in volume depending on whats happening. For example in the shots that require tension such as image 8 the music is slow and fairly quiet but during the montage at the end the music speeds up and becomes louder.

As in conventional trailers our product consists of three acts of different paces and nature of content. In the first act there is no threat or danger and the pace is slow. In the second act the threat is hinted at and the pace is a little faster. In the third act however the pace is a lot faster and the threat is made explicit, without releasing to much information and taking away the mystery. This formula is present in most film trailers and almost all horror/thriller trailers.  The shots we have used are fairly varied but do not differ in style.

The following shot numbers correspond to the shots in the image grid above.

Shot 1-This shot is a characteristic of a trailer as it sets the scene, we know that the couple are buying a new house. The shot is fairly short but key information can be inferred. Being the first shot there is little hint of danger, although the music fits with the genre telling the audience early on that it is a dark film. The lighting is relatively despite the lack of danger or threat. This is arguably a characteristic of the genre as even in the happier scenes the audience is made to feel dread for what may happen next.

Shot 2- Shot two is very conventional as it gives the audience more information about the film and provides the main premise of the narrative, the character cannot write. The font used hints at the horror genre as it is not plain text, that would be expected from for example a drama, but a slightly spooky scratchy typewriter style. The background is black and the text blurs in. It is arguable that this is conventional as it is important for text to have some kind of movement or transition in a trailer.

Shot 3- Shot number three is conventional for a trailer as it shows the audience that a variety of shot are used in the film. This makes it more interesting for the audience and prevents the trailer from being too bland. This is important because if the trailer is bland it suggests that the film is bland.

Shot 4- This shot is conventional for a trailer as it is the point at which the audience realise that there is definitely something wrong. It is the beginning of act 3 and the element of danger had been revealed as well as the second premise of the narrative, he develops psychosis. The font remains the same but changes to red. This is because it is the point where the audience knows for sure that it is not a drama.

Shot 5- Shot 5 also fits into the forms and conventions of a trailer as it is the shot in which the audience is introduced to the physical symbol of the threat. At this point the element of danger is fully out in the open and made completely explicit.

Shot 6- Shot 6 follows conventions as it highlights the fact that the characters state of mind is deteriorating. This is conventional as it shows a transition from things being ok to things being bad for our characters. In almost all films there is this change in situation, a problem for the characters to overcome, or to fail to overcome, and in most trailers this transition is shown.

Shot 7- Conforms to conventions as it shows dialogue from the film and adds a third character, the estate agent is mostly an extra. This suggests that the film has depth to it and is not just the main character. It also suggests an effort by the characters to overcome problems. It also highlights the struggle of the writer’s wife as she struggles to cope.

Shot 8- Very conventional as it hints to one of the scarier scenes in the film. This would hopefully attract and audience that want to be scared. The shot also has a review in it. This is also conventional as it helps the sell the film, the actual purpose of a trailer.

Shot 9- This shot is obviously conventional as it tells the audience the title of the film. Again the font is conventional as it is interesting for the viewer and characteristic of the genre. The colour red is also characteristic of the genre.

However one may argue that our trailer challenges forms and conventions as it does not name the actors. This is because the actors used are not particularly famous and therefore would not be a selling point for our film and may even distract the audience from the storyline, being the main selling point. For example

The film in general may be considered unconventional, as it is the male character that is the victim of the threat. Some may observe that in most horror films it is the female that is the victim, for example in ‘The Strangers’ it is the female character that is scared whilst the male insists that there is no danger. However the trailer is essentially conventional.

Poster

The colours we used in the creation of our poster are classic of the horror/thriller genre. In general the colour pallet of our poster is dark. This is used in horrors and thrillers as it hints to the dark nature of film’s content. The colour red often symbolises blood and gore in horror films. However in the case of our film there is little blood and gore, the use of the colour red is merely to make the information that is designed to sell the poster stand out.

The main image is also a conventional image for a horror/thriller poster. It is mysterious and gives very little away. This is often used for horror posters, for example the poster ‘The Strangers’ depicts one of the killers but gives away little information. The image is also a photo of a recreation of one of the scenes in our film. This is often used for film posters. For example the shot used for the poster of ‘The Shining’ shows one of the most famous scenes of the film. The use of a single image is also very powerful and is most often used in horror and thriller posters.

The font we used is the same as the font used in our trailer. This is a convention for film posters as it creates a link between the two products allowing the audience to associate them with each other. The more similarities there are between the two products the higher the likelihood of the two audiences becoming one.

As per convention our poster has a billing block. Our billing block is conventional as it is in the conventional font as well as the actual content of the block (actors etc.). The billing block is also in white rather than red. This is to differentiate between the information that is most important for the viewer and other information which, in real media products, for legal reasons e.g. the names in the billing block.

However one could argue that the poster we have produced is not conventional for its genre. The tagline is fairly ‘tongue and cheek’. This is not necessarily a common characteristic of the genre of our film. However the tag line, we believe, does what is meant to do as it is something people often say but is still relevant to the story making it memorable.

Magazine Cover 

The most important convention for magazine covers is self advertisement. everything on the cover should be designed with the aim to sell the magazine, anything else is simply a waste of space. 

Our front cover follows all the conventions of a real product.  It is clear that it is designed to sell. Almost the whole page is filled with images and information that will help to enhance the sell-ability of the product. As per convention the top third contains the title of the magazine in big bold font. This will allow it to stand out in a magazine rack. Also in the top third is the tag line of the magazine 'Britain's favourite film magazine'. This is designed to be one of the first things the viewer reads when they see the product in store and should help to convince them that the product is worth buying. Also in fitting with convention we have a barcode and RRP together as well as a clearly displayed web address.

The typeface used on our magazine is consistently very large. This is in fitting with real products as you need the titles of the articles to stand out as much as possible as they are essentially what sells the magazine. the colours used are complementary yet varied. This will also help to sell the magazine as it will make it even more eye catching. Our puffs display the content of the issue helping the viewer decide whether they're interested in the content and therefore whether they issue appeals to them and ultimately whether or not they will buy the magazine.

Another way in which we have followed conventions is the use of a single large central image that is associated with our film. This is conventional as the main image is the principle way in which the issue advertises itself.




When you compare our cover with most standard (non subscriber's) covers of 'Empire' or 'Total Film' you can see that we have clearly followed conventions.






It is clear by looking at our product that is follows conventions as what ever segment you look at your will find something that is designed to sell the product to the consumer.

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

JT+TS

What can you learn from your audience feedback?

Trailer


We carried out a test screening to establish what an audience thought of our trailer. Participants filled our a questionnaire having viewed the trailer.

From the data above we can clearly learn that the trailer is effective in its purpose, that is to sell the film to the audience. 100% of participants stated that they would see the film our trailer is advertising at the cinema and the entire sample identified the genre of the film from the trailer alone.

However we can also learn that there are faults with our product. A minority of the participants did not feel that graphics and sound were used as effectively as they could be. From qualitative data we learnt that they felt that they did not have time to read the information presented in the graphics and that they would prefer to have had more dialogue.

However despite indications that there are faults participants would still see the film at the cinema and therefore we can conclude that our trailer serves its purpose well.








Magazine

We carried out interviews to find out what people thought of our magazine cover:



From this qualitative data we can learn that our magazine cover is comparable to a real product and that it would stand out on a shelf effectively enough to catch the eye of a potential buyer.

Almost all the participants said that font and colour was used effectively as well as eye catching images. They also expressed the view that our product was similar to a real product (such as Empire) and that they would pick it up off the shelf if they saw it. It is clear from these comments that our product follows the conventions of real media products.

However participants also said that the product could gain from minor improvements. One participant stated that he wouldn't buy the product straight away based on the cover but he would have a look at the content first. Others commented that the RRP of the magazine was a little steep, however this is around the standard price for a mainstream film magazine such as total film or empire.



Poster

For the poster feedback we interviewed a member of our media class and created a Facebook page to collect feedback from a larger sample.



From this interview we can learn that the poster is effective in making the genre of our product clear. As well as this we learn that the layout of the poster is effective in catching the viewers eye and that it is similar to a real product. We can also learn that the poster tells the viewer enough about the narrative of the film to encourage them to see the movie.

However we also learn that the poster could be even better. The participant states that the background image could have more texture to it.

The main thing we can learn from the Facebook comments is that the use of the main image is very effective as is the use of graphics and colour. Participants also commented that our poster was like that of a real film.

JT + TS

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

please click the image to go to Flickr in order to view the annotations

please click the image to go to Flickr in order to view the annotations

We used the updated version of Final Cut, Final |Cut Pro X, as opposed to Final Cut Express. This gave us greater creative freedom as the technology simply allowed us to do more, especially in terms of graphics.  The update also allowed us to add more visual effects, such as day to night filming. We also used Photoshop to create our poster and magazine cover. This allowed us to easily manipulate images to create an overall effect. The HD card cameras that we used allowed us to shoot in stunning high definition and upload our images quickly and easily to the Apple Macs that we would be editing on.

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