Evaluation

Evaluation

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

My media product develops the conventions by having a non-diegetic sting throughout the trailer, which is synchronous to the trailer makes it easier to be recognised of the genre of the film and how just by the watching and listening to the trailer you instantly know the genre and that it has an eerrie vibe in it and that something is going to happen. I have challenged the conventions of the trailer as I think my trailer doesn't have short cut edited clips it has quite a few long clips I think the longest extract it about twenty two seconds however there are a range of camera angles and shots with different compositions. I really wanted to have a range of edits aswell in my trailer, most were just cut, however there was crossfade, cross blur and, fade black, fade white and cross zoom. My final trailer I think turned out really well, however I did go back to look at my questionnaire feedback to see what my target audience said which was very helpful. I also think I have challenged the conventions also as the protagonist connects with the audience, by interacting. She does this by looking directly at the camera, by doing this she is showing the audience her emotions and feelings directly and the audience is instantly shown her emotions that are veing expressed. I did this to not only challenge the conventions but so that her character is clear and portrayed correctly and there are no hidden connotations just like the print screen below on the left.  I also used narrative and audience theories to create structure to my trailer and to have a narrative but also to entice my audience to keep intrigued in my story line and my trailer overall.

 Above in the print screens of my trailer I also had contrast of light and dark throughout the trailer, constantly back and forth to resemble the graduality of her insanity and the darkness is resembling the insanity and being metaphorically in a bad place. Towards the end there are less camera shots/scenes filmed in the light to show that she is unaware and that the darkness is overtaking her ( in other words her insanity). I used this symbolism of the light to make my trailer more effective and make there have a metaphorical meaning of insanity. Also the whiteness of the wall implies that her life is plain/boring which could also lead to part of her insanity. I have used the setting to give the trailer more meaning which is commonly used in trailers, as one of my analysis's does this; Abraham Lincoln vampire hutnter uses its background to build tension and create a eerie ambience, this has enabled me to use this in my trailer.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
I think that my ancillary tasks really do compliment my trailer well in the way that they are a good representation of my trailer and the picture I used was taken around the time I was filming so the poster and the magazine are showing a preview of what the film is about and is what I wanted to achieve. My ancillary tasks look better than I thought they would and I am very proud of them as the represent the film genre really well of thriller and border Horror I think as there is an errie tone. Also my ancillary tasks look professional and are to a good standard. They also challenge the conventions and represent the typical conventions too. My film magazine challenges the typical conventions by having a picture from the actual trailer from the front cover, as sometimes they have a plain picture of just the main actress/actor, however some have a representation of the film. My film magazine has a colour scheme that represents the genre of the film with the dark colours;browns, oranges, yellows and black to create an eerie feel. My poster is quite bold and my photograph I photoshopped looks really effective and creates the mystery of something following her and a shadow, also bringing back the idea of dark and light again as a theme in my trailer symbolising  her insanity. My theories helped me to have more knowledge about structuring my trailer and also how the other trailers I analysed maintain the same theories as this.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?
I think that my audience feedback has really helped me to make quick decisions by their feedback helping me. As the feedback they gave me was really useful of suggestions for my trailer and what they wanted to in it and some of the typical conventions. This gave me a rough brief of something I needed to follow which would make my overall trailer what my audience wanted. If I did this all again I would have used more audience feedback, however in my head I knew the style of what I wanted but their answers from the questionnaire helped me have a clearer idea and what my audience wanted. Especially in my final design of my film magazine as peoples feedback helped bring to my attention that my magazine didnt follow the typical conventions and in particular the masthead did not stand out. I then changed my layout and looking back without their feedback I would not have been able to develop my magazine cover and make it look as good as what it does now.

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
I used different types of technological convergence such as; Apple Mac, precision editor, sound enhancer, photoshop, microsoft word, internet for some research, IMovie, Publisher
I used all these technologies to help improve the standard of my work and make them more technonlogical. My poster I used publisher and used photoshop to edit my poster picture and make a hand into it  and have darker eyes. I think that this created an errie tone and looks like the thriller genre, it really has made it look so good especially as it looks professional and really effective. It helped my magazine front cover as I was able to reuse my poster picture by using different fonts and with exciting colours that would contrast the picture and stand out. With my trailer I was able to use a variety of different technology to make it professional and quick paced also precist, it took a long time to edit and get it right but I think it is really successful and intrigueing. By looking into narrative theories it allowed me to have structure and include successful content in my trailer by following the narratives by using the traits of the theories.

Final Film Trailer

My film trailer 'Insanity' I think is better than what I expected it to be as I edited it really well, I kept looking back at my questionnaire to make sure I was making a trailer that appealed to my target audience. I think that my trailer has good variety of camera shots, edits and compositions I experimented with different angles and movements. I think the best thing about my trailer is the non diegetic synchronous music behind the trailer the whole time and the only parts you can hear is the dialogue from when the girl and the consultant are speaking, at the end I enhanced the sound onto a special setting that made her voice echo, I think this added to the erriness of the trailer. There are are quick paced edits towards the end to resemble the build up of the trailer.

There is continuity throughout the trailer as the consultant scene is cut in to reveal more of the story as it goes on, I really like the way this is shown as the more you watch it the more it grips you and interests you. Also to show her insanity of how she is happy at the start and gradually goes down hill. The speed of some of the shots have been fastened up to create an impact and that when she remembers it that it happened so quickly and how quickly she is becoming insane. I edited the shots of when she is about to jump to look like a dream as it seems she is unaware of her surroundings and is purely focused on that. I used mostly dark areas and dark clothes to symbolise the unhappiness and the thriller genre that makes it more intense that something is building up. The start of the trailer starts with the ending to create a mystery to make the audience question what is going to happen. I used alot of edits so the trailer flowed better and to show a flashback scene. Alot of my shots I slowed down to create more of an impact; the shot of her and her boyfriend is when she is happy, I slowed the shot down to represent the length of happiness they shared together. I also ranged in the compositions; the high angle shots showed the lowness and insuperiorority of her situation and how it is out of her control. Also to show that the person following her is always watching her. When the actress look directly into the camera it shows how she is reaching out and the struggle of the insanity. The scene of the phone  

My Final Poster

My Final Poster

When thinking about my final poster I wanted to make it original, and photoshop it into  soemthing better with more creativity. I wanted my poster to be quite dark but with an eerry feel to it a kind of mystery to it to make people think and to be intregued. To do this used photoshop using the 'smudge tool' and to make her look more gaunt as if she hasn't slept and the feel of being mentally unstable. I took pictures when I was filming to make it more continuous and for my project to have continuity throughout it and also to set the scene in the location.

 


Here I zoomed in on the picture and used the smudge tool using mostlythe black to spread more around the eyes. I also mixed the beigey colour into the black so it looked more natural and looked more like make-up instead of photoshop as only a thin layer of black was used around the eyes. I really wanted to make her face look airbrushed and to have a glow to it, however because of the lighting was a yellow colour it made this easier to make her skin radiant.

Below are three pictures I photoshopped and the three I'm considering for my final poster.

THE PROCESS...

Above is my final poster, I think it has worked really well as the image I photoshopped looks really effective as it created the mystery of what the film is about. I also think that it is intrigueing the way that the title of the film is 'Insanity' it makes you think what is making her go insane. I think it is good for the audience to interpret it the way the want as it is them who will want to watch the film. The dark colours set the tone of the eerie thriller genre, also I love that on he phone she is holding there is a picture of her face it's quite strange but it makes you question things and is in a way a rhetorical question; why is her face on the phone? who took it?. I think my poster also follows the typical conventions of a film poster. As the four lines at the bottom are normally at the bottom of the film poster, also the logo I made of the 'Pink Flamingo Studios' is a typical convention. Also the 'From the director of unknown' text shows contuinuity. Also the film critic comments on the side, to show

Film Poster Plans

Film Poster Plans

PLAN 1

Above is my first plan for my film poster of 'Insanity'. I think that this poster is really interesting and is appealing as the font is BOLD and is appropriate to the thriller theme making this poster a BOLD statement. The eyes are very blue as I edited the picture by adjusting the contrast and brightness which is something so simple yet is so effective. The line below 'Is it you or something else' gives an eerry tone to the poster and film in general. The colour of the blond hair shows the normality still inside the girl. The printed t-shirt shows that she is not plain and suggests there's something different about her. You can see a rough shape to her face and her features I could improve on this poster by having more of an outline around her features and have more text about the film, however I like the way it is quite plain as the picture gives a narrative itself. I love the way that the picture fades into the background and the them of white to represent her purity and the unstable side of mental things that relate to white and plain objects. I really love this poster and is it well photo-shopped and planned out I think. However there are some improvements I could make to it.

Could this be my final one ( positives and negatives)

+ BOLD statement

+ Has a clear message

+ Appropriate colours and styles

+ Well photo-shopped and contrasted.

- Does it not have enough text on it?

-There could be more information about the film on the poster.

PLAN 2

I wanted to incorporate the tunnel where I'm going to be filming in the poster as it will relate to what the film is about and where it is set. I like this concept as the actress looks like she's trapped. The font is appropriate to the genre of the film as sometimes 'insanity' does effect the mind and may feel like you are enclosed the feeling of being alone or trapped which is what I think I captured in this poster was the expression on her face of the confusion. However, this image is photo-shopped really badly and I could improve on the quality of it; as the photo shopping could look better. Also the photography I took on an-iPhone I could have taken on a normal camera as it would have been better quality and a better picture. I do think that the font for the title 'INSANITY' looks good as it is BOLD and brings relevance to the poster as the font shows the thriller genre. Also the line below it; 'Is it YOU or SOMETHING Else?' I used a rhetorical question to question the audience and to have a gripping line to entice the audience into watching and being interested in the film and to also show a glimpse of what the film is about. Also I made 'YOU' and 'SOMETHING' bigger to make it stand out more and have a different concept.

Could this be my final one? (positives and negatives)

+ The font is enticing and interesting.

+The picture presents something new and different.

+The font is appropriate.

-It's too plain.

-Doesn't give enough information about the trailer.

-There isn't really a clear message.

-Photo-shopping needs to be better.

PLAN 3

In this poster I wanted to experiment with a different layout, adapting the image, more text, to follow some of the typical conventions. I think so far this is probably the best laid out as it has the narrow font, the star rating with critics comments above them. The picture behind the character is an ironic metaphor to show that there is light as the end of the tunnel. Also the tunnel represents darkness and mystery of the film and applicable to the genre of the theme. The star rating is to show other peoples opinions of the film. In my final I'm going to ask a small group of people to fill out a questionnaire and have a rating from them abnout what they think the trailer should be rated. The font used for the name of the film 'INSANITY' is well suited for poster as even the font seems a unusual thats the 'S' is back to front and the line going through it could symbolise the condition she is in as it is looks like a monitoring chart which relates to health issues, making a statement that something serious could happen. The picture of my actress was photo-shopped; I edited her eyes to make them blue to make her look quite strange and make them more BOLD, Also I made underneath her eyes look quite dark to make her look tired and give her a kind of strangeness about her. She is wearing a animal printed top to show that she different and could represent that she is becoming something that is not a human and animalistic in a sense.

Could this be my final one? (positives and negatives)

+Shows the location of where it is going to be set.

+Good layout following some of the typical conventions.

+Critics comments and ratings makes it look more professional.

+The picture of the actress looks good and has alot of symbols.

+The font is well suited to the genre of the film.

- There are two release dates one says 'In cinemas now' and below it says '16.09.12' so I need to decide which one I'm going to use.

- It doesn't look very professional I would like to make it to a better standard.

-The critics comments could be bigger.

PLAN 4

Personally I think this is my best as I used my best font and the picture does show in the face 'Insanity'. There are alot of symbols in the picture itself, the setting compliments the picture as it is dark. Where the light shines out from behind her shows that she stands out there is something different about her and that she is not just a normal girl. The trees behind her set the location and suggest lonelines and that she is in a dark place. I really like the star ratings and the critics comments as it makes it look really professional. However it could have been photoshopped better also the picture doesn't blend in very well to the background and stands out in the poster as it doesnt really blend in very well with the poster in general. her top suggests that she is different and that there is an unusual side to her an animalistic side maybe. He hands placed on her head resemble that she is trapped in herself.

Could this be my final one? (positives and negatives)

 

+A bold statement.

+ The way ther hands are positioned it looks like something is coming out of her head and fits in well with the theme of the poster and trailer.

+Follows the conventional layout for a film postet.

+ The Ratings and comments make it look more professional and the colour of the white make it more bold.

+ The background make the poster intrigueing.

+ Her hair fits in well with the colour coming out of her head.

+The fonts are appropriate and all fit in well with the thriller genre of the poster.

-It could be photoshopped better on the left arm.

- Should've removed the bracelets and create more of an impact.

-I Could of made her fade into the background a bit more.

 

Overall I think this poster is probably the best and I really like the layout, I think I am going to take pictures when filming so she is in the the location where the trailer is set. And it will fit better altogether but I will use this layout.

Experimenting Camera Test Shots

I wanted to do some test shots to perform different angles and compositions which I could use in my trailer, also as I'm not very experienced in filming I thought it would be best to see what is good and bad before filming. Above is my first short clip I wanted to experiment on a flower something simple to try and do a focus pull as it would be a good edit and I think this looks effective as the white could represent the innocence of the girl and the gender as girls are percived as dainty and fragile. I would use synchronous non-diegetic music to go along with this to complete it.

This is my second camera shot which I filmed on myself as a close up on my eye as some upbeat storylines capture this shot to make it more intense and to show the panic, fear and emotion in the actor/actress's eye. Also how they can be percieved it also sets the mood for the trailer. I think this camera shot would look better on someone else and if there were more noises of panting of breath, and the ey to move about less and then just look directly at the camera to make this more of an intense part of the trailer and maybe even the person to cry to make the scene more emotive and believable.

Fonts and Themes

The fonts above are a brainstorm of a few fonts that I think personally will be appropriate to use and suggest the theme of insanity I would like there to be a constant theme in the way in which the font matches the eery tone and theme of the film trailer. Each of these fonts are both similar as to me they portray the thriller tone to the trailer.
My favourite fonts are font numbers; 2, 3, 5, 8, 9. These to me are the fonts that stand out the best as they demonstrate thriller in the font by the portrayal of something going to happen. I also need to think about what colours I want to use to show thriller; so really I need to use dark colours greys,browns, blacks maybe even a silver or white.                                                            

Critical Theories

Critical Theories

Psychoanalysis

In my trailer it is important that the portrayal of the character is perceived in a strange way in which the camera shots, composition and angles are at different angles and capture the emotion of what the character is feeling so that the audience become emotionally attached. Also to show if the character is an id, ego or superego so that we realise how selfish or selfless they are towards the other characters. Also if I do use the word insanity for my trailer it needs to present the character as the meaning of insanity;

Feminist

As I am a woman It's highly likely that I will make the woman have more sympathy than the man in the trailer. As it may spice up the storyline, however I do want the trailer to be a uni-sex trailer as it will have a larger target audience. However I will need to take into consideration which character I want to use to be perceived as the protagonist and the antagonist.

Deconstruction

Looking at my trailer from a deconstruction point of view, you cannot compare something to something else if you don't know what to compare it to. E.g the ying yang; if you only saw the evil side in people how can you see the good. Everyone has both good and bad in them just some have one section bigger than the other. The ying yang demonstrates how we can portray our characters as in every film they may be seen as the protagonist when all along they could reverse the role into being an antagonist. This theory, I need to think about as I would like to have a villan and a 'goodie' this must be represented in my trailer and I must decide which character/s must be shown as which roles and if I will challenge the conventions.

NARRATIVE  AND AUDIENCE THEORIES

Todorov's Theory helped me to plan the structure to my trailer by having an equilibrium-disquilibrium- new equilibrium, I think that my trailer will be a good example of this as I will have build in tension creating the structure of the equilibriu but also using sections to cut from one part to another to show the contrast of the situation but also to heighten the tension of the parts that have more tension to keep the audience interested and want to see more.

Desinsitisation  Theory  will allow me to not make my trailer have graphic content in my trailer, As my trailer is going to be a thriller I wanted to prevent any elaborate content which made the direction of the trailer turn more towards the horror genre. Therefore I applied this theory to not shock my audience and prevent any graphic content or revealing too much of the 'good' parts of the film so my audience would be enticed to watch my film.