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

To answer this question I have split it into 3. I believe that I have used, developed and challenged forms and conventions of real media products.

USED

I have used forms and conventions of real media products in a couple of different ways. I have used conventions of Horror movies in order to create a horror trailer. I researched at length to find out what it is that makes a horror and I used this when making my trailer.

I found in the paranormal activity analysis, there was a colouring aspect to horror movies. The PA films had a very blue tint to them from the home video camera, this added to the horror element of the shots. This then is something that I wanted to bring to my trailer. I used this convention in my trailer by adapting the RGB curves of the footage to bring out the colours I wanted. I made the shot look a lot colder and spookier.

DEVELOPED

I also feel I have developed forms of real media products. One in particular that I looked at in my research was the male gaze. In our trailer, we designed a sort of enigma where there is a really mislead character personality. The male gaze is all about the camera being male. It is the strong one and the women are viewed as ‘the prize’. Well as cameraman, when I shot this trailer I developed this form into a reversal of the male gaze. Lucy is the one with the power, she knows what’s going on and is the one causing trouble. It is actually Danny that is looked upon with sympathy.

CHALLENGED

I have also challenged forms of real media products. Looking at how the horror films tend to be designed, most of the time, the victim doesn’t actually see what’s coming. This was different for us; we shot a killer ‘the keeper’ but never showed his upper half. This is very different to a conventional horror film. This is how we have challenged it and judging by the audience feedback; challenged it successfully.

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

The combination of my main product and the ancillary tasks is very effective in its role of marketing the film. Whenever I have analysed other marketing packages for other films, I have found a common trait; they all ensure that there is a common theme between the audio/visual products and the print products. This is something I have taken enormous care with in my marketing package.

Just glancing at the 3 of them, it is clear that they are all related to each other. They clearly all have the same message. This means that the audience will psychologically link them together. This is something that marketing companies spend many resources and time on; to penetrate the mind of the customer and make them make sub conscious links between different things is a very powerful marketing tool.

My ancillary tasks use the same fonts and same quotes as each other and the trailer/s. The print products share the same main image and a lot of the copy. When the audience make the link between all these different things in their heads, they are taking in the information that I am trying to get across in order to market the film.

I am confident that throughout my products, there is a strong element of consistency in my goods. It is clear that they are all marketing the same film, they form a typical marketing package.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

I have utilised my audience and their opinions at different levels of this task. I will discuss them in chronological order. I started with Audience Research to work out my target audience, and find out what in particular they like about Horror films and Horror trailers. Then, once I had produced the product, I needed to test it out, a sort of quality control check, this is the audience feedback stage and is a vital part of film production.

Starting at the research stage, my plan was to first look at other trailers, this would help me decide what I like and dislike about the Horror genre which will then enable me to form a picture in my head of what I want to produce. But in order to produce something successful, it is imperative that you know whom you are producing it for. So, to work out my target audience, I developed a Questionnaire. This questionnaire had the specific purpose of calculating my target audience. After analysis of the results, I decided that my target audience was young adults. I also asked what were their favourite horror trailers and what were their favourite horror films. This then helped me to research the films that my target audience enjoyed. That way I could build up a better knowledge of the target market.

My other research questionnaire (Questionnaire 1) looked more directly at the type of trailers that are popular, long or short, revealing or not etc. I found this questionnaire was vital to the rest of the task; it directly aided me in my construction stage.

These research questionnaires gave me a base of knowledge, which I could then use to ensure that my own product was successful. Once produced, I then moved onto some audience feedback of the product, the quality control check.

I developed a feedback questionnaire that would give me a picture of what the audience really thought of the product. I handed it out to 25 people that I did not know particularly well, therefore they felt less pressured in their answers.

I have gone through the questionnaire below.

What Genre would you class the film as?

This question was a general start to the questionnaire, it told me whether the trailer came across as intended, a horror film. Thankfully it did just that.

What was the name of the film?

This question was about a particular part of the trailer, the name is only given away at the end of the trailer.  The result of this question showed that everyone had picked up basic information from the film, such as the name.

From what you have seen in the trailer, do you understand the plot of the film?

This question was one that I had particular concern over. I was worried that after myself and Joe decided on cutting the trailer down in the amount of the plot we give away, it was no longer clear to the audience what was happening. Thankfully I was wrong, the result showed me that I had nothing to worry about and the target audience could work out the plot from the trailer.

Would you see this film in the cinema?

A question that it more targeted at the possible success of the film, I wanted to know how many would go see the film in the cinema. At the end of the day, this is how the money is made in the film industry.

Rate the film, 10 being terrifying, on how scary it is.

The results from this question were particularly satisfying. I found out that most people thought this trailer was relatively scary, which is actually the main trait of a horror film.

Do you feel that this trailer portrays a cinematic film trailer?

This question showed me that what I had produced was in fact a cinematic film trailer, which would be shown before a film in the cinema. This was what I set out to produce.

So, the audience feedback has told me a lot throughout this task. I have utilised it from the start and without it, I believe my product would be very different and much less popular.

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

From the research, the planning and construction I have used a huge amount of different technologies. I have split this evaluation question into 3 so I can discuss the technologies of each stage separately.

1.     Research

Looking back on this blog, the research stage starts with an in depth analysis of Paranormal Activity trailer 1. I have analysed this trailer frame by frame. I found the trailer on the video hosting website, YouTube. This included loading the video over and over whilst writing out my analysis. I then used a word processing program called ‘Microsoft Office WORD 2010’ to type up the work. I prefer the font ‘Calibri’ so decided that all of my work on the blog will be the same. As blogger doesn’t offer this font, I used Word to type all my work, and then transferred it to the blog.

Further into research, I also used the internet as a powerful research tool. I needed to find the codes and conventions of a Horror movie. In order to do this I used a series of search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask Jeeves etc. It is all too easy to type into a search engine ‘Codes and Conventions of a Horror Movie’ and just copy and paste the results, so I decided, to get better results, I used advanced searches.

In an advanced search, you can choose exact words and phrases that you want the page to include, specify words that you don’t want to be included. You can also narrow results by language, region, site, terms, safety and usage rights. This means that, although it takes my longer to search, I gather more reliable data, without infringing any copyright. I then took the data I gathered and analysed it, picking out the information that I needed to help me in my task.

I took an in depth look into the ratings systems from MPAA and BBFC. For this piece, I needed to display many images on my blog. This involves saving the images on my hard drive, then uploading them to the Blogger server where they can be positioned in my post. This meant that I could show my relevant images in a well presented manner, next to the relevant text.

One part of research that I wanted to include on my A2 media blog was an interview with myself, analysing a trailer. I decided then to analyse the Paranormal Activity trailer. I interviewed myself by setting up a camera and a chair. I discussed the trailer and some theories. In order to do this, I had to film the footage, transfer to my computer, import into my video editing software (will be discussed in construction), edit the footage, insert the trailer, master the sound then export and upload to my YouTube account. I then posted the video on my blog. A series of skills and technologies used to produce a single post. Fortunately, Blogger offers a feature where I can link my YouTube video to a Blogger post. This is an example of using a combined technology, two sites working together which I have utilised.

In order to pinpoint my exact target audience, I produced a research questionnaire. I produced this in word and handed them out to a sample. In analysing the questionnaires, I wanted to produce a visual aid for the reader. To do this, I used another Microsoft program, ‘Microsoft Office EXCEL 2010’. This meant I could produce an accurate pie chart. I saved the chart as an image and uploaded to Blogger.

In analysing the Questionnaires, I had to show these on the blog. To do this, I used the first of many scans. I have an Epson BX300F All in one printer and an Epson Scan utility program. I scanned a couple of completed questionnaires and also an empty one. These are automatically saved as JPEG’s in my chosen directory. I then uploaded them to Blogger. Another example of using scanning was in my research for my ancillary tasks. I printed off posters and magazines from the Internet, analysed them and scanned them back in.

2.     Planning

In the planning stage, I have used even more different technologies. I started with a location shoot of the castle and surrounding area. I used a Canon Compact Digital Camera to take the photos. All Photos were taken by myself. These high quality (8.1megapixel) images were saved to an SD card. I then used an SD/USB adapter to transfer them to my PC, where I then uploaded them to Blogger.

Another use of scanning in my blog is in the planning stage. I produced a set of storyboards, which were then scanned into the computer and uploaded. I did this twice as I had a first and second draft storyboard.

On the day of filming, I set up my Toshiba HD Camcorder on my lightweight tripod. I filmed interviews with myself, Joe, Lucy and George. As these were digitally saved to an SD card, I simply transferred the file to my PC, imported to my video editing software, edited by cutting the mistakes out, exported as AVI and uploaded.

On stage I have missed out in the video production sequence is file conversion. I will go into this in the construction section.

3.     Construction

The construction, for me, contains the most advanced use of technology. My role in this production is Cameraman and Editor. I am the one physically producing the product. Therefore I had to be comfortable with my equipment and software.

I used a Sony Handycam to film with. This is quite a large camera that records video and sound to a DV tape. The reason I chose to work with this camera is because it is the best quality one at my disposal. It is owned by our school’s media department. It has 3 charged couple devices (CCD) which means it captures the Red Green and Blue light separately. This produces a fantastic output. I then captured using a DV cable (as I explained earlier in the blog). The skills I learnt with the Sony Handycam were mainly at GCSE and AS level. I have built on them constantly since.

Also, as Editor, I had to be comfortable with some of the most powerful software around, video editing software. I chose to work with Adobe Premiere Pro 2. It is my favourite of all the Adobe programs and I know it back-to-front. Once I have edited the footage (which takes many hours to have it how I want) I export the final video as a DV AVI (high quality and uses a lot of storage as it isn’t compressed). I cannot export the video to YouTube as it is else it will become disproportioned. On my blog I have made sure that the video you see is how it should look. You will notice that the video is in true 16:9 widescreen. Before uploading to YouTube I converted the file to Mpeg1. This is a relatively high quality format, but with a much smaller file size. This means that my 500MB trailer was only 22MB when uploaded.

I also used a powerful effects program called Adobe After Effects CS5.5 to generate my animated titles.

In the production of the ancillary tasks, I again used a wide range of specialised software. In creating both pieces, I used Adobe Photoshop CS5. This is one of the most recognised and powerful photo editing tools in the world. I used many different areas in this production, such as colouring with the RGB curves, gradients, advanced text transformations, and producing custom shapes.

Therefore, all in all, I have used many different techniques and a wide range of equipment. I have used skills and knowledge from previous media studies qualifications and built on them throughout this task.

Analysis of Magazine Front Cover

Finished Magazine Front Cover

Planning for Magazine Front Cover

From my research into magazines earlier on, I have decided to produce a magazine based on my following draft.