In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Looking back on my completed trailer it is clear that i have primarily used the codes and conventions associated with real film trailers, as a result of the preliminary research i undertook. My trailer instantly presents the set up of the plot in a linear fashion that states the situation before the horror aspect appears and turns the story from one of optimism to that of a horrifying situation. After analysing several trailers i noticed this use of a set up particularly in "Dead Snow" (where the group are on holiday leading to them finding cursed treasure) and "Scream" where a killer is already on the loose and eventually targets the protagonist. In fact i also developed this convention by exploring the set up in a more linear and clear fashion that offers a more clearer possible plot outline. Furthermore our antagonist is not openly presented and instead remains a more mysterious character than the the protagonist that is essential for drawing in viewers who are curious of the films horror element.
My magazine also majorily uses the conventions of real film magazine covers. After focusing on "Empire" magazine i acknowledged that the colour scheme of black and red was essential in terms of the association of our magazine with the horror genre. This is due to the connotations of violence and murder that the colours represent which link directly to our plot. And while the structure of our magazine was that of a typical magazine our central image can be seen as a challenge to the image usually used. Where as most of the images on the covers featuring horror films feature the antagonist in a concealed style of pose, i decided to portray our villain in a more open view as i felt he was concealed enough in the trailer and poster for me to reveal more of his persona so that the potential viewers were complete oblivious to his appearance and style.
Finally i feel my poster was the product that avoided majorily challenging the conventions of real film posters. After studying real film posters from films such as "Friday the 13th" i felt it was nessecary to include an aspect of the films plot and our antagonist on our poster. While we avoided heavily using red and black on our poster we decided to imitate the style of "The Silence of the Lambs" poster by presenting the horror of the film in an obsure fashion. As the poster features a knife by studying it closely the villain can be seen in the reflection. I feel this is something that helps reveal the persona of the character as it is clearly something that is conventional in terms of its usage in horror posters.
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
I feel that the combination of my film magazine cover, poster and film trailer was very effective, as all three products linked to the central focus of the production. Our main focus was the link between money/fortune and murder which we have made a reoccuring focus in all three products. In terms of the trailer i address this in terms of the content of the trailer and the title itself ("Payday"), then i express this further in the poster by creating an image that included blood stained money and the knife of the villain and then finally the person responsible is identified (the villain). And while the package works well by focusing on this theme in terms of the individual products, i also incorporated a font in the poster that was very similar to the one used in the magazine cover. I was very consistent by relaying the key focus of the production which is murder and danger in unique styles respective of the product type, as while the trailer serves as the basis for the key aspects of my horror film the poster and magazine serve to ellaborate on this by adding to themes previously presented to the audience.
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
In terms of the audience feedback i recieved i learned a considerable amount in terms of what my audience expect before i have constructed my products. Using a preliminary questionnaire i created several questions that expressed my original ideas in terms of colour schemes, main focuses etc and then delivered them to random inviduals. Once i recieved the feedback i made alterations to my original ideas that were opposed my many participants as clearly they were not something that they felt was associated with the product i was creating. After my products were finished i allowed participants to view my products and then gave them another questionnaire that asked their opinions on the finished products. After recieving the results i could see whether i achieved what i set out to originally do in terms of putting my ideas to paper and appeasing what could be my future potential readers/viewers. Upon recieving reoccuring criticism on a particular apsect of one of my products i realisied that it needed to be altered in a way that made it more applicable to the conventions of the product in question. Clearly my audience is who the product is aimed at and by altering my magazine to meet their expectations will result in a more successful product that is appreciated by the majority of my audience.
How did you use media technologies in the construction research, planning and evaluation stages?
Media techology has played a major part in all aspects of my promotional package. For the research that was undertaken i used Youtube to obtain and view several film trailers of which i went on to analyse in terms of identifying how they deal with the codes and conventions of film trailers. Furthermore i used Google to obtain a wide selection of both movie posters and film magazine covers of which i also went on to analyse.
In terms of planning my products i used Microsoft Publisher to create my mock ups for my magazine and poster which provided me with a basic outline for what i wanted to acheive when it came to constructing the products. When it came to planning my trailer i used online storyboards to plan my scenes individually and obtain a clear vision of a what i wanted to film.
The construction of my products was where media technology was used the most. For my ancilliary texts while i used Microsoft Publisher as a basis for my magazine and poster by incorporating the manditory features such as barcodes and subheadings i also used Photoshop. Using this program allowed me to manipulate the images i intended to use, as it allowed me to crop, resize and edit my photo in terms of brightness, contrast etc to achieve the desired effect. When it came to my trailer the two programs i used the most was "Windows Movie Maker" and "Sony Vegas". Both programs allowed me to the construct the trailer in accordance to my vision as the program gave me the ability to cut clips , add effects such as fade ins, manipulate the speed and import both sound bites and soundtracks which were equally as essential as the clips themselves.
For the evaluation the blog was the most important piece of technology. Allowing me to insert print screens of the creation process that was available via "Paint" allowed me to show the process and then elloborate on this via the use of a text box that provided a more detailed explanation.
In terms of planning my products i used Microsoft Publisher to create my mock ups for my magazine and poster which provided me with a basic outline for what i wanted to acheive when it came to constructing the products. When it came to planning my trailer i used online storyboards to plan my scenes individually and obtain a clear vision of a what i wanted to film.
The construction of my products was where media technology was used the most. For my ancilliary texts while i used Microsoft Publisher as a basis for my magazine and poster by incorporating the manditory features such as barcodes and subheadings i also used Photoshop. Using this program allowed me to manipulate the images i intended to use, as it allowed me to crop, resize and edit my photo in terms of brightness, contrast etc to achieve the desired effect. When it came to my trailer the two programs i used the most was "Windows Movie Maker" and "Sony Vegas". Both programs allowed me to the construct the trailer in accordance to my vision as the program gave me the ability to cut clips , add effects such as fade ins, manipulate the speed and import both sound bites and soundtracks which were equally as essential as the clips themselves.
For the evaluation the blog was the most important piece of technology. Allowing me to insert print screens of the creation process that was available via "Paint" allowed me to show the process and then elloborate on this via the use of a text box that provided a more detailed explanation.