Evaluation

The coursework for A2 media was to create a promotional package for a new film, including a trailer, a film magazine cover and a poster. Real media products within the same genre influenced these three products.

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

Before I created my product, I had to carry out secondary research to discover why certain codes and conventions were used; I did this by comparing many horror trailers, poster and magazine covers in order to find any similarities. Common conventions I found looking at horror trailers included dark lighting, loud noises, quick camera movements and point of view antagonist shots. By researching other products, I was able to gain this knowledge that I then could apply to my work.

Looking at horror posters first, I noticed that the majority used dark, grungy colours such as black and dark brown as these are seen as a negative colours and symbolise themes of fear, death, mystery and the unknown which represents the genre well. My product uses a black background, which dominates the majority of the page. This dark background shows that the antagonist, featured on the poster, is dark, evil and possibly is hiding a threatening secret that will encourage the audience to watch the film to find out more.  The title of my film is called “Lucifer”, many horror films name their film after the protagonist or antagonist such as “Dracula”, “Carrie” and “Lovely Molly” as this gives viewers a connection with the characters even before seeing the film, Lucifer is a character within my film, his name is also another word for the “Devil”. The font of the title is ‘Skin&Bones’, looking at the titles of horror posters; there was a range of different font styles used, some were quite simple where as others had a more destroyed look. I went for the destroyed look as I thought it represented horror to a better extent, with the ‘L’ being smeared as this signifies blood, another horror convention. Most horror posters use white or red colours for a title as these stand out on the page; I went with white as it can be seen as lifeless and ghostly. I wanted the title to be the largest text on the page so it is the first text my audience read, it also makes it stand out that extra bit more.

An image on a horror poster should characterise the film and draw the audience towards the poster. After secondary research by analysing horror poster, I found out that many horror posters use the villain for their image as this creates a tense and unsettling atmosphere, which through primary research (questionnaire) shows that it excites audiences. My image is of the antagonists face in greyscale, as this looks eerie and unnerving and also represents that there may be two personalities to the antagonist. The face can only be partly seen as it is hid so that it is only seen though the cross of St. Peter, a symbol that is associated with anti-religious imagery and has been used in films such as “Rosemary’s Baby”, “The Devil inside” and “Paranormal Activity”. As the face is partly hidden, it continues to further hide the identity of the antagonist. There is a silhouette of a child, lingering over the face, which can be seen as ghostly and mysterious which is a successful convention as it makes the viewer want to know who it is.

Nearly all posters have a tagline that is catchy, short and witty, it may also give subtle hints about the film, for example, ‘Dawn of the Dead’ (1978) has the tagline “When there’s no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth”, this automatically lets the user know the film includes ‘zombies’ and possibly stating the film will include much gore. My tagline is “When the Angel leaves…the Devil arrives” which lets my audience know my film has something to do with the Devil/ supernatural themes. I chose to have my tagline, along with the release date, in red, as it is a common convention for the horror genre as it represents blood, murder and gore.

I have also noticed that posters will include a “From the creators of…” quote on the poster, mostly popular films that audiences are familiar with as they will be more likely to watch the film if they’re a fan of films stated. I used “From the creators of Saw and Insidious” and I found out through primary research (focus group) that my target audience enjoy those two films.

Moving on to my magazine cover, I looked closely at Empire Magazine covers that fall within the horror genre in order to produce a similar product with a comparable layout , to show synergy and allow Empire Magazines audience to feel familiar and comfortable with the magazine. The masthead of Empire is in a bright red which fitted well with my horror theme as red represents death, murder and blood; however I adapted the masthead so that it looks more worn and destroyed. This would be a conventional development as I have altered it to suit my theme of Horror.  The main/ central image on Empires’ Magazine cover is usually a well known character/ celebrity that the audience are familiar with and the image has something to do with the film preview inside, for example, Empires ‘Inception’ preview featured Leonardo Dicaprio on the cover. My main image is of the young boy who goes missing, Lucifer (also the name of my film) as this character plays a big part in the narrative. I kept the school shirt on the boy as this shows realism, which allows the viewers to relate personally to the character. This image was also in greyscale as I feel it portrays the character as ghostly or possessed. I erased the iris and pupil from the characters eyes as it looks as if the character is lifeless or out of control, which creates tension for the viewers.

I have placed several hands around the central image as this takes up some negative space, but the hands also help draw attention towards the main image because of the way they’re pointing. The hands can also be portrayed as if they’re reaching out and trying to grab the boy.

I noticed that Empire Magazine have a plus symbol, placed at the bottom left hand corner, to let the viewer know more about what is featured inside that magazine. I used this convention but adapted it in the same way I did with the masthead, by using a paint tool and spraying the symbol so that it looks worn and damaged. Another way I developed the plus symbol to suit my theme was to change it into ‘St. Peters Cross’ as this links in well with my theme and represents the horror genre well as I think the first thing people will associate with ‘St Peters Cross’ is the devil. Next to the plus symbol are titles of new and exclusive films that Empires audience are likely to be interested in, I used films that popular around the time of my magazines release, these included Skyfall, The Hobbit and The Twilight Saga.

The film that the magazine is trying to promote will have the film’s title on the page; this is most likely to be the second largest text on the page, after the masthead. The title of the film has to be big and bold so that it catches the eyes of the viewer, I placed my title in the centre and chose to colour it white as it stood out well on a dark background. Just above and below the title is a small amount of information that may entice the reader into buying the magazine, I chose to go with “The devil has arrived...” just above the title, and “First look at the scariest film of the decade” just below the title, the words ‘scariest film’ give the film a sense of quality and value.

Not just Empire but many other magazines use puffs/ imperatives to increase their sales, I used one that said “Free Poster!” as many young people, especially teenagers, collect posters and teenagers are a big part of empires audience. Another marketing technique that Empire use on their magazine covers is to show the audience what films are featured inside their magazine, I used an image from the ‘Seven Psychopaths’ film, another popular film out in the cinemas during the time of my magazines release, and stated, “Interview with Colin Farrell inside!”, as Colin Farrell is a well-known actor then many people will be interested in reading the interview and finding more about the film.

Another way I developed Empire Magazine to suit my theme was to change the issue number located at the top left hand corner of the cover. I used the numbers ‘666’ as this is meant to be the ‘number of the Beast’.

Finally I will look at the ways my trailer uses, develops and or challenges forms or conventions of real media trailers. I had to first start by researching many trailers within my genre and comparing them in order to find out the common codes and conventions. The main trailer I looked at was The Strangers, which I analysed for my secondary research. I noticed, from all the horror trailers I looked at, many of the conventions they had in common were loud noises, dark lighting, eerie music and rapid camera movements. These conventions/ codes are there to add tension and create an atmosphere for the audience. I found that the main characters (protagonists) are established early on in the trailer allowing the audience to become familiar with the main characters in the narrative, however the villain (antagonist) is established about two thirds of the way through the trailer, I followed this convention as is holds the tension and mystery of who the antagonist is and what they look like. At the start of every trailer I looked at, Idents are shown to show and advertise the companies involved with the production of the film. I chose Lionsgate as this is associated with films like Saw, a big horror franchise. I also decided to make my own Ident 'Mute'. Towards the end of horror trailers, the pace picks up, shots change faster to fit with the faster and upbeat music and the camera angles are more interesting as this creates a more tense and uneasy environment that the audience expect. About 2/3rds of the way through my trailer, I decided to change the music so that it was faster, I was then able to successfully fit the camera shots to the music, my camera shots also became a lot more jumpy as I felt that this made the trailer more gripping to watch.
Sound plays a huge part in a trailer, especially a horror trailer as sounds such as bangs, crashes, shrieks and footsteps are considered a code/ convention. In my trailer I didn't want to include too many sounds if they weren't needed as it would make my trailer look cheap, 'tacky' and look like I tried to cram too many codes/ conventions into my trailer just because they fit within the genre. Sorts of sounds included in my trailer are both diegetic and non-diegetic. Diegetic sounds include character voice, bang sound made by a falling object and a car driving along the road. Non-diegetic sounds include sound effects such as loud shrieks added for dramatic effect and mood music. I feel both are important and effective however non-diegetic sounds may be considered better suited to the horror theme as they're the ones that audiences notice best.
Most common settings for horror films are an abandoned/ haunted house, dark forests and places with high human activity like shopping centres or schools. Throughout my trailer, you can see settings such as a dark and empty street and a house. These are shown in my trailer as this is primarily where the film is set.
Having a mask on the antagonist is a significant prop in many horror films such as "Scream", "The Strangers" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". They add a sense of mystery and also hide the identity of the killer. My antagonist features a black mask in the shape of a human face, similar to the masks seen in The Strangers. I chose to make it black as black is a code and horror convention, it shows death, evil and mystery. The human like face is to relate to realism and have a connection with the audience.

Have a distinct body language between the protagonist and antagonist is important within a film, the characters personality should be represented well so it is clear to the audience. In my trailer, it can be seen that the female character is frail and vulnerable and that the antagonist is dangerous and controlling, this is shown in one of the shots where the female character is lying down asleep and the antagonist approaches her from behind, this also shows the villain is cunning and has a higher authority.

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

Synergy is extremely important between a main product and its ancillary texts as it shows the connection between the products, making the audience feel familiar and comfortable. Ways in which synergy can be shown between products includes characters, layout, text, colour schemes, sounds, setting and much more.

Ways in which synergy is shown between my main product and ancillary texts are by having the film title placed clearly on all three of the products, this shows the audience that there is a connection between the products. The tagline "When the Angel leaves...the Devil arrives" can be seen on all three products, a tagline should be memorable so whatever product my audience see it on, they should know its for the film 'Lucifer'. Colours also play a big part in my products synergy, the main colours I used where red, black and white. These link well with the horror theme as red can be linked to blood and gore and black can symbolise death, mystery and a sense of the unknown. The use of red, white and black are used in the main product on the title page, and on my ancillary texts, for example, on my magazine cover, the main image/ background is greyscale and the text surrounding the main image is red, as well as the masthead. On the poster, the image is also in grey scale (shows synergy between the magazine) and the tagline and date of release are the only red text on the page which helps them to stand out.
 There is synergy between the characters shown on the three products, the protagonist (little boy) can be seen on the trailer and magazine cover and the antagonist can be seen on the trailer and poster. Many posters do this as a connection with the characters and audience is very important as you want your audience to connect emotionally with the characters as the film becomes a lot more realistic and enjoyable. The image on the poster is a close-up which hides the identity of the antagonist and lets my audience know the that my poster represents a theme of horror.
Another way in which synergy can be seen between the main product and ancillary texts are that on the magazine cover, you can see that the character is wearing a white school shirt, not only does this link to realism but it also is associated with themes of purity and innocence, that is why there is white text on the poster and trailer but the majority of colours are black or red, to mask the fact that in the film, there is possibly themes of possession but without seeing the film, it is not obvious to the audience.
My main chosen institution Lionsgate, can be seen on both the poster and trailer, I chose Lionsgate as it is a well-known institution so it is likely that my audience will know who they are. Not only does this institution help link my poster with my trailer, but helps link my products with other horror films that use Lionsgate such as the Saw franchise, Hostel and The Haunting in Connecticut. Therefore giving my film more publicity.

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

I used many media technologies within the four stages, for the research stage, I used technologies such as a computer so that I could search sites like Google for other products within my genre, this also helped inspire me when it came to constructing/ planning my own products. Other sites I searched include YouTube which counted for secondary research whilst I looked a other horror trailers. I used software such as Microsoft Word, so that I could write up my questionnaire which was used for my primary research, I used Word as it is quick and simple to use. I used a camera in order to record an interview with my target audience.
Moving onto the planning stage, Microsoft Word was also used to construct the layouts for my poster and magazine cover as it was more effective than drawing it out as if I decided to make any changes, I could easily adapt the layout.
The construction stage is where I used the majority of media technology, for the creation of my trailer, I used the camera to record, it was not the best quality however it was suitable for A Level coursework. Once I had recorded all my footage, I uploaded it onto the Mac computer and used iMovie to begin creating my trailer, iMovie was easy to use and had no trouble using it. I decided to mute all clips I had taken as there is quite a loud static noise due to the quality of the camera, so I used GarageBand to record voice and pick out any sound effect that I found I needed in my trailer. For the construction of my ident at the start of my trailer, I used Adobe Fireworks and made a GIF image. My magazine cover was made using Adobe Photoshop as this would give my product as professional outcome, however it was quite tricky to use but after a while I got the hang of the software. For my poster, I decided to use Adobe InDesign as I had used it in AS Level and found it easier to use than Photoshop.

4) What have you learned from your audience feedback?

To receive feedback for my main product, it was shown to my media class, this was useful as the age range in my class is between the ages of 17 and 19, falling directly into my target audience.  Each student had to write two positives about my trailer and one thing I could improve (two stars and a wish method). Some good points I received include having a good storyline, interesting camera shots and use of suspense/ tension. Some improvements suggested were brighter lighting and louder dialogue. I didn’t find this type of feedback that effective as the majority of people put the same as what their partner put which showed a lack of opinion, however the feedback I received will help me to improve/ adapt my trailer.

I also received feedback for my trailer from my teacher Mrs Jenkins, she stated that because my actors were laughing at points in my trailer, that this would drag my mark down, she also pointed out that some shots were too long, therefore my audience would begin to lose interest. With this feedback I was able to cut out some of the less important dialogue and also cut down some shots that were longer than they needed to be.

I also received feedback on my ancillary texts, for this instead of asking the class, I asked two individuals, both aged 17 years and my teacher Mr Gibson as this would allow me a more in-depth analysis of my poster and magazine cover. For the poster I was told that my logos under the billing information were a bit fuzzy, however my composition was creative and interesting and my image created an effective ghostly impression. My magazine cover received more criticism as it challenged the conventions of Empire magazines layout, as its colour scheme was greyscale. My teacher also mentioned toning down the eyes so that they look more realistic and not stuck on. On the other hand, they liked how I used the grey scale to illustrate my theme of horror; they also found the hands around the border of the page to be quite haunting. I was happy with my feedback as it showed that I was doing something right and that my target audience enjoyed it, I also found the criticism very important and helpful as it will help me to improve my marks.