Evaluation 4: How did you use media technologies in the construction , research and planning and evaluation stages?

Evaluation 3: What have you learned from your audience feedback?

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

My Poster magazine and trailer all worked synergistically to maintain a unique advertisement campaign. Although each one had a slight difference which enabled my target audience to get an alternative insight into my film, there are some features that remained consistent in order to make my campaign recognisable

The easiest way I consistently created a relation between my poster magazine and trailer was through maintaining the same colour scheme, this being black and white as well as font design. This was something that could be easily created in Photoshop as I had already designed the font colour and style. I maintained this across all aspects of my advertisement campaign in order enhance the recognisability of my campaign as a whole. And whilst the simple black and white colour scheme used clearly underlines the simplistic nature of my storyline it also mirrors the similar pattern seen in Central intelligence as they too maintained a colour scheme throughout their marketing campaign and as you can see here it differs just slightly  as it uses a orange and black colour scheme. With regards to the main image behind my poster and magazine front cover I opted to take shot from outside the film as opposed to using a scene from the film in order to give the audience an alternative perception of my film with my teaser poster giving the audience a clear understanding of what they can expect whilst my magazine gives the audience a behind the scenes and technical aspects of my film. I considered the conventions of both my genre and put these into place through my main image as my magazine clearly highlights an aspect of my film which is evidently pranks, as when planning my image I decided that one of the most stereotypical pranks is a cream pie to the face. So by emulating this on my magazine the audience has a clear understanding of the contents within my film but because I included Cover lines on my magazine the audience is encouraged to delve deeper into the production behind my film. Alternatively my poster offered limited information about my film besides a release date, some of the key actors and the title of the film. I deliberately made a teaser poster instead of a theatrical one as I wanted to leave as much to the audience’s imagination as possible, and in terms my marketing campaign as a whole this would’ve been released first so it was important that I only included distinguishable information. Then as my marketing campaign progressed my magazine would be released which would give the audience further insight into my film as they approach the release of my film. Both my poster and magazine focus on the two key characters within my film through each main image. I did this in order to encourage the audience to question any potential conflict or relation between the two as both pictures are different however both are linked. Given that my poster is a picture of my main character taking a video of someone, whilst my magazine is almost a shot reverse shot of this moment as he is posing for the video.

Another way that my marketing campaign was a success is through the representation of characters across my trailer, magazine and poster which enabled me to give the audience a minor insight into my film within each part. For example the representation in my trailer is used to show the characters across the whole film and how they gradually change whilst the representation within my Poster and magazine is used to give an alternative snapshot from my film, which also helps me establish my genre. And in order to not give too much information away the images used on my poster and magazine are not taken from my film but as I said before they offer an insight into what the audience can expect. However, despite these similar features of my campaign working synergistically there is some level of uniqueness to each part. For example the close up on both my poster and magazine is similar but the effect is different, as my poster encourages the audience to question the enigmas on it. These being why is he using a camera, why is he smiling. I also used direct address to enhance the degree that my audience engage with my film. In contrast the close up used on my magazine uses less enigmas and is more explanatory as a magazine is expected to be. For this reason I wanted the representation on my poster to have some relation and answer some questions that the audience may have, as typically magazines offer behind the scenes information. So through the wording on my magazine the audience will be encouraged to explore further the film itself as well as its production.

The atmosphere created also conforms to the genre in the sense that it creates an air of excitement and humour especially through my image selection, as the situation as well as the stereotypical nature of the prank that has been played on him invite the audience to consider if this style of comedy is relevant throughout. Which in turn encourages them to watch the trailer and then watch the film in the cinema. Despite the contents on my magazine and poster in the sense that they reveal the actors involved, the title of the film they do not however reflect the storyline. This enigma encourages my audience to then watch the trailer, during which they can see a broadened portrayal of my film. However the non-linear narrative in itself imposes questions that the audience feel they need to answer, such as if they ever end up being successful or if their friendship can last over the course of their journey. By also referring to the storyline as “a mission” within my trailer the audience considers the dramatic tone of the storyline.

However I would say that within all three parts of my advertisement campaign there is not a clear sense of narrative, as although there is a clear relationship between my poster magazine and trailer it is difficult to establish the narrative through a still image especially when the main image used is a still image not taken from a part of the film.

Despite this, I was able to establish a clear genre across all three products, given that the mise en scene of both my poster and magazine help contribute to this. For example on my poster and magazine there is a clear sense of genre represented through the facial expression and appearance of these products. If we look at my poster specifically as you can see the close up of my main character is effectively used to convey my protagonist’s smile, which in turn mirrors what the audience will be doing throughout my film. My magazine also identifies the comedy genre through my use of genre conventions, in the sense that I used a stereotypical prank this being a pie in the face to highlight both a key concept of my film and to establish the comedy genre.  As the audience immediately becomes aware of the style of COMEDY.                 

Mise en Scene as I have briefly mentioned before played a role in linking my Poster, magazine and trailer together, but it also combines to create an enigma in the sense that my audience will question things such as “Why is he aiming the camera at us” “Why is he smiling” or even for my magazine the audience may question “Why has he got cream on his face” or “Who is he in relation to the character on the poster” my ability to link my products together was dependant on making the audience question things across my product. For example, someone who has seen the poster, the product released first in my advertisement campaign, and then looks at my trailer or magazine will be intrigued to discover for themselves the enigmas that I have created.

Evaluation 1: In what way does your media product use,develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

To begin with, when making my trailer it was important to include various genre conventions and trailer conventions in order to create a realistic representation of my film.

Using naturalistic camerawork to highlight that there is a balance in power but also to create a realistic setting/moment in a film that is ultimately fake.

Diegetic sound in particular dialogue can heavily influence a comedy trailer as it is a way of creating humour be it through the sound and dialogue itself or the way it is portrayed through the actors: i.e. through exaggerated body language or perhaps through prosody of the dialogue itself.

 This considered, it was important that I manipulated the sound as such that my trailer flows quickly, which in turn as the pace of my trailer increases I can build up to a climax or conflict the will be the main plot or story line.

For example during by referring back to my research Central intelligence was a film that I followed closely and tried to match the pace and shot type of.

The title of my trailer is “How to Get Famous” this clearly identifies the meaning within my story line which is something that perhaps deviates away from the conventions of the genre as contemporary films such as Central intelligence and Ride along, do not describe the concept within the film. However, I did make use of the genre conventions when developing the font and style of my title and inter-titles as stereo typically the title is simple and does not include special effects, perhaps to identify a sense of simplicity as the title therefore does not come across as intimidating or complex. Thus enabling me to conform to genre conventions whilst also creating a sense of consistency, this is something that it also important when considering my task, as the simplistic font design and black and white colour scheme used throughout despite being basic, means that there is a relation between my Poster, Magazine and Trailer.

Within my design for the title of my trailer, I decided to continue on which the consistency of my Poster Magazine by using the same black and white colour scheme throughout, this matched the common feature of  the trailers that I analysed. Once again Central intelligence used the ongoing theme of black and orange throughout the poster magazine and inter-title/main title in order to create a sense of consistency.

Setting/Locations/Costumes and props:

My selection of settings locations costumes and props was another essential aspect of my trailer, as within the trailers that I analysed I discovered that within the complexity of a trailer the locations used are relatively simple, with social places such as bars, tables being shown at the beginning of a trailer in order to show the realism. Therefore by including a school and a dining room in my trailer, despite being simple locations they help create a connection with the audience as the audience find themselves being able to associate with these locations. It is also important that I used a variety of locations in order to create a sense of excitement and escapism as the audience then finds them self in unlikely situations which in turn creates humour. The costumes that feature in my trailer are simple yet relatable and are clothes that my audience can associate with as they are everyday clothes such as T-shirts and jeans, by including normalised mise-en scene and then quickly changing it to extravagant clothing this allows me to create humour once again through the unlikely hood and style of the clothing. 

Camerawork:

Camera work was a feature of my trailer that I tried maintain and keep simply throughout as not to over complicate what is a simple story line, this also enabled me to maintain the conventions of my genre which is stereo typically simple and naturalistic. For this reason I often reflected back of the trailer shot list that I made for Central intelligence which highlighted the need for Over the shoulder shots, Wide shots and close ups. I kept this in mind when story boarding as it showed me that these shots are important when attempting to create the humour aspect of my trailer, given that close ups are used to effectively show the emotional state of the characters. Here you can see how the close ups of my character differ at certain moments in the trailer in order to create a specific mood. The movement of the camera is a feature of my trailer that was important in creating a naturalistic feel for the audience, given that even slight camera movement ensures that certain moments come across to the audience as normal and relatable. For example moments in the trailer where the protagonist will have limited movement in order to highlight the sincerity of this particular moment. Whilst during scenes where my protagonist active in a specific situation there will be considerably more movement in order to exaggerate the drama of the scene.

Final Trailer

Final Magazine

Final Poster

Pictures for Poster / Magazine

These are the new pictures taken in preparation for my next draft. After my poster and magazine rethink I used a combination of photographs taken by a camera and a few taken on an IPhone. The pictures that have a filter on top have been edited on the IPhone and I am undecided if they will feature of not.

Poster Rethink

This is my updated sketch for my new poster, but unlike my last draft , I will take my next draft straight to Photoshop and it may even be my final draft if I think its good enough. I have taken into consideration the feedback from my audience as well as my own ideas in order to create this draft.

Magazine Rethink

Following the feedback of my audience I have made the decision to redraft new ideas for both my magazine and poster, which is important in terms of improving my product. For my magazine specifically, I decided to search the internet for fresh inspiration. As I already knew from my previous research that I wanted to use entertainment weekly as my magazine company, so with this in mind I looked into more products in relation to this.

Diary Entry #15

After looking at the feedback that my audience have given me, I have decided to take some new pictures for my Poster / Magazine in order to better suit my genre and to comply with the improvements suggested. I immediately organised a photo shoot with my original photographer and have decided on a date to get new (and different) images for my Poster and Magazine

Poster Feedback - Computer Draft 1

•  Maintain an ongoing a theme throughout both magazine and poster perhaps through emoji s.?
•  New picture?
•  Social media links?
•  Ratings?
•  Image manipulation?
•  Use an image alternative your magazine?

After presenting my poster draft in front of my target audience, I received some really important alternative opinions of my poster, this enabled me to see the flaws in my work that I normally wouldn't see. I will now look to build upon these suggested improvements, and improve my poster accordingly.

Magazine Feedback- Computer Draft 1

• Identify a tagline, 
• Increase the brightness of the background
• or find a new background that matches the genre. 
• Smaller information and fill in the blank spaces.
• Maintain a continuous font throughout.

So today I received audience feedback on my magazine , poster and trailer draft. I will review the suggestions in separate blog, as it is important for me to reflect on the suggestions given in order to improve my ancillary and main task. 

Audience Feedback: Reaction (Trailer)

Following up on my trailer draft feedback, I decided to start my improvements straight away with the inclusion of my institutions, and despite admiring the idea of Blue grass an a distributor, after reflecting more on my idolised trailers:Central Intelligence and Bad neighbours. I decided to include more than one large distribution company in my trailer, as I feel it reflects where my film would be placed in the market and it something that I had planned in my storyboard. I began by downloading a few institutions that Central intelligence used; Universal, Warner Bros , New line cinema. These may feature at the beginning of my trailer whilst the other information such as release date and social media links all come at the end. When preparing for this being able to look back at my story board made the decision making process a lot easier.

Trailer Feedback- Draft 1

Trailer Draft 1

Magazine Computer Draft 1

This is my first computer magazine draft, of course it is fat from perfect, however it incorporates aspects of conventional magazines which were very important to include, for example I have included the name of the actor, the title of my film as well as the magazine title itself. Which I chose to be "Entertainment WEEKLY", I also included features of convention magazines such as additional information on the cover, this being information about other media. Because, unlike a poster, a magazine advertises a variety of other medias, so despite being basic I included the likes of Tv series' that are returning as well as a seasonal related advertisement in order to highlight the release of film.

Poster Computer Draft 1

This is my Computer Draft for my Poster. By not including the actual names of my actors or any other information I could see if a teaser poster matched what my audience wanted. I will now await the opinions of my audience to see if I need to change to a theatrical version. But I am still confident that this is the right decision.

Poster Progression

Today I've begun developing my poster, before doing so I referred to my previous points for improvement these included:

Include a background in order to enhance the genre
More relevant images
Other details such as production company , actors etc.

This is the base of my poster, and whilst preparing this I was reminded of the features of a poster, of which I remembered that a poster significantly differs from  a magazine as it is designed to be a sneak peak of the film whilst the magazine is made to sell articles about the film. Baring this in mind I realised that I do not need to fill all the space on my poster I simply need to include the basic information such as tagline, title and perhaps actors involved. I might address the individual aspects of a Poster and Magazine in a later blog in order to further my understanding.

Despite being a draft it is important that I meet these improvements to some degree in order to progress the development of my trailer and ancillary tasks, and as I had already shot some pictures for my background based on feedback, I was positive heading into the designing process as one of these targets has already been met. With regards to including more relevant images during the designing process I made the decision to include my main actor, as it the conventions of posters include  their main character, therefore it was more important that I included this not only to comply with the poster conventions but to also make my poster recognisable to my audience.

Photos for Magazine/ Poster

These are my pictures taken for my Magazine and Poster. I chose the setting because the simplicity of the background will not take away from my title and other information such as tag line and alternative advertisements on my (particularly on my magazine). I have also considered the importance of using different images whilst maintaining some similar aspects. Therefore I will use two different pictures for my Magazine and Poster, with the intention that backdrop will create an aspect of similarity between my Poster and Magazine as it is important that the two are able to highlight the same film.

Editing Update #2

Just once again added yesterdays footage onto the Macs, this process is not as simple or as quick as it sounds, so I try to make use of my time by planning a photo shoot for my magazine and posters. Luckily I have a friend who own a really high quality camera which will enhance the appearance of my poster and magazine. However I am aware that it isn't only about the quality of my camera as there are a multitude of aspects that make a good poster / magazine. Including everything from social media links, to using a well known brand to represent my film. After I eventually uploaded my footage, I looked to add the extra shots in, as a key concept for comedy/action genres is to include a variety of shots from different locations edited together in a montage fashion. However these shots are easier to film than they are to edit, as when editing they need to be quick, snappy shots so I need to ensure that some of the shots doesn't last for longer than 4 seconds. But I also need to consider that if the shot length is too short then it will be difficult for an audience to understand the concept of my film.

Audience Feedback - Magazine (Basic)

Filming progress: Working title

So after mind mapping some thoughts and reflecting on the conventional action/comedy genre names I have decided on a new official title of "How to get famous" as it reflects the idea of the storyline within the film rather than as opposed to a concept within my trailer. As previously "Online Pranksters" was the title of my film, which I used with the intention of basing my storyline on this, however as the idea behind my trailer developed so too has my title. As I believe the new title I have used is both  recognisable and a better reflection of my film as a whole, which is ultimately the journey of two teenagers and how they get famous.

Film progression

Recently I've been thinking about my film a lot whilst editing and looking at potential magazine and poster designs. But even though I am convinced my story is ideal for the type of film I want to create, I am having second thoughts about my title, and although I have noted it down as a working title in my planning notes. In previous weeks and tasks such as the poster and magazine drafts it is clear that this has become my main title. And after reflecting on this I decided that "Online Pranksters" reflecting the concept of my trailer I feel that (similarly to the comedy conventions) the title of a comedy is often about a key idea rather than a feature of the film itself. In the coming days I will update my blog on new title ideas for my trailer.

Magazine Draft :Basic

This is my magazine pencil draft.I wanted to use a pencil for my basic first draft as it enables me to identify a simple yet appropriate back drop that I can then gradually develop and enhance. I identified "Entertainment Weekly" as a magazine title as when researching magazines, something that was clear to me was that Magazine titles such as Total Film and Empire are more often than not associated with Blockbusters - meaning films that have a high budget. Seeing as my film is of low budget it wouldn't be logical to be represented by magazines as such as it is both unrealistic and because there are other magazines that better represent the type of Budget I have available to me. Entertainment weekly for example has represented films such as TED, Deadpool and most recently Ghostbusters. These are all films that have low to medium budgets compared to the biggest of Blockbusters and these films also relate to my comedy genre. 

Editing Update #1

Today I added the footage that I had shot onto I movie, which surprisingly took a long time to do. I also looked closely at different vairations of edits, including the speed and length of specific shots, which is something important when looking to create the comedy aspect.