Evaluation Task 1: Trailer

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

In my trailer, I used various different conventional methods to make it seem like a realistic trailer. Some examples of these are; the use of transitions and effects on the camera shots, the use of layered sound and the use of different camera angles throughout. I have taken screen-shots of some key moments in my trailer that I think encapsulate the methods I used to create an effective looking trailer.

My ideas about establishing shots for the opening for the trailer were directly influenced by some of the trailers from my research and planning. In the trailer for Dead Man's Shoes by Shane Meadows he presents his audience with an ordinary and unassuming town setting that will be dramatically effected by extraordinary events. This is similar to my trailer, where I used establishing shots to create an equilibrium in the narrative, which would soon be disrupted by the antagonist.

In my trailer, the conventional shot of a swing moving on its own is effective as it suggests an ominous feeling to the audience and indicates the genre right from the beginning of the trailer. This alludes to the innocence of childhood, and possibly the loss of innocence about to occur in the film. It creates an uneasy feeling for the audience, which highlights the horror genre. In addition, I used titles throughout my trailer to allude to a narrative. This enhanced the shots and increased the tension by allowing text to break up stages in the narrative and introduction of characters. The first character introduced is a pivotal moment in the trailer as it is the first time the audience are introduced to a part of the overall story. She is a character that the audience can relate to easily and is the character they will support throughout the film.

Introducing a second antagonist character is also an important moment as it creates fear in the audience. This character is immediately introduced as the character that the audience should not like. The jump cuts in this particular scene also establish fear and tension in the scene. This is effective as it contrasts the introduction of the victim, which alludes to the fact that he is the antagonist. This new character adds to the thickening plot of the trailer. Adding production credits makes my trailer look realistic and professional. I made the credits myself, adding to the effectiveness of my trailer. I decided to place these in the middle of my trailer as a way to break up the narrative and act in a more conventional way. Starting a chase scene meant my trailer had a faster, more enticing pace, and leaves the audience wanting to watch more to see what happens.

In the chase scene, I introduced yet another new character. This creates more depth to the trailer and shows more of the film for the audience to see. There is no information about this character, giving her a more ominous nature within the film and leaving the audience with enigmas. Cross-cutting between the three narratives is effective in portraying a confusion for the audience and creating a juxtaposition between the antagonist and the two victim characters. Having a main title at the end makes my trailer look effective. The colour change and transitions make the title interesting and memorable. I also added a date and social media links at the end of the trailer. This is something that is conventional of trailers as it lets the audience keep track and allows the film company to promote their film easily.

Evaluation Task 1: Ancillary Texts

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

For my film poster, I wanted to create an conventional, ominous look in order to make my film stand out and entice audiences. This is similar to other posters, for example, Shrooms (2007) features a similar colour scheme and layout. The dark colours in both posters allow the audience to see which genre the film is. The central images on the posters are both significant to the films, which is effective in showing the audience what the key moments might be in the films. I used a gradient effect to blur the lines slightly on my poster and, similarly, the poster for Shrooms uses the glow from the moon to somewhat blur the main image. This creates an eerie effect on the posters, which add to the genre indication of the overall film.

On my poster, I made sure to make the title larger and more enticing, with a smaller slogan underneath, and then the credits at the bottom. Similarly, the poster for Shrooms has an enticing smeared title, with a smaller slogan and credits. The effect on this title is interesting as it suggests an eerie nature to the audience. For my poster, I added a shadow gradient effect to similarly create an eerie feeling. I made my title red to make it stand out against the black background. In contrast, the poster for Shrooms has a white, glowing title to link to the moon image in the background. This makes the title stand out, however, in a different way to how I made mine stand out. 

I created production credits on my own. I used a squished, bold font to create a similar effect to other film posters that I had researched. Production credits are conventional of all posters and so I wanted to make sure they looked professional. I used a different font for the title and actors' names as I wanted to create a boundary between the texts. The Shrooms poster does this also.

For my magazine cover, I wanted to make it look professional but aimed at a horror audience. To do this, I used a monochrome colour scheme with red as an accent colour, which is similarly used in the Total Film cover. The black and white photos are effective in suggesting a more dramatic film, whilst the red accents highlight key points on the cover. The accents are also effective in drawing the attention of the reader. I used bold fonts to make the texts stand out, similar to how many other magazines use fonts and text.   

Having a large font for the magazine title as well as for the film title meant that the cover stands out and readers are draw in. This enables the magazine to promote the film easily and effectively. Total Film does this effectively as it is an already established magazine. The font is well known and memorable, which is something that I wanted to achieve in my magazine cover. Other conventions that I used are added text as well as other film photos at the bottom. This adds variety and is a prominent feature in many other magazine covers. 

Evaluation Task 1: Use of Titles

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

I used titles throughout my trailer to keep the narrative going and to split some of the scenes up. This intensified my trailer as it created a slower pace at the beginning, whilst ensuring that the narrative was continued and broken up effectively. I added transitions to these titles to create a more ominous effect, and I also used fades to black to create a greater effect between scenes. 

The font I used is quite conventional as it was bold and enticing. This type of font can be seen in other horror films and productions. I used a red and white colour scheme to highlight some words and indicate the horror genre. The swipe transitions I used on each of the titles also created an ominous effect to add to the horror genre. This is conventional as it indicates the genre and allows the audience to feel the ominous nature of the trailer. Other horror trailers use similar transitions and effects to make their titles stand out and add to the overall effect of the trailer - something I wanted to achieve with mine.

Evaluation Task 1: Use of Sound

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

For my trailer, I used sound differently to in my AS production. In my AS production, the sound was very much flat and minimally layered, however, this year I decided to research different sound motifs and sequences to enhance my trailer through the use of layered sound. 

I predominantly used quite conventional sounds to layer and increase the tension in my trailer. I started off with a few long low sequences that I could play the whole way through the trailer. This is conventional is it creates an atmosphere that continues throughout the trailer and indicate the horror genre. I decided to use a few of these as I thought it would create a more ominous feeling if the music changed with the narrative phase. 

To increase tension, I added in 'boom' sound motifs and ominous low notes. This enhanced the moments I wanted to be memorable. The 'boom' motifs are especially useful in alluding to the dark nature of the villain and his actions, as well as alluding to the danger that the girl is in. This is conventional as it entices the audience and makes them want to watch more to find out what is going to happen. As well as low sound motifs, I used particular sounds to enhance the shots in my trailer. For example, I used sound files of someone walking, twigs snapping, a phone ringing and of a dial tone to enhance the sound for the audience. By making these sounds louder and more prominent in the trailer, I was able to create significant moments using conventional motifs from other films. The use of twigs snapping and the phone ringing is very conventional of the horror genre and is something I wanted to use to improve my trailer and make it more effective. 

At the end of my trailer, I decided to play around with the idea of sound and video. I wanted to remove the video from one clip but keep the sound against a black background in order to increase suspense. I chose to use a clip of the second girl saying, "Hello? Who are you? Why are you doing this to me?". Having this isolated from the video creates an ominous and disorientating feeling for the audience, which is effective in drawing their attention. On this sound motif, I used an effect called Highpass to make the clip sound more conventional and frightening. This was effective in representing the genre to the audience as well as increasing tension before introducing the titles. 

Evaluation Task 1: Representation

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

Due to my trailer being for a horror film, I have mainly conformed to different character types in my trailer. I have used Propp's character theory to suggest different characters in my trailer - predominantly, a princess and a possible villain. Using these has enabled me to create an effective and professional looking trailer, appealing to an established horror audience.

The girl acts as a victim in the trailer, suggesting that, like a princess, she needs protecting and will be the character that is targeted within the film. This is conventional of the horror genre and I was able to create a character similar to females in other films. She is shown to be the main character and someone the audience should sympathise with, something that is common with female characters in horror films. This character is effective in intensifying the suspense within the trailer, and entices the audience to see the film in order to find out what happens to her. Another film that can be compared with mine in terms of representation is Scream (1996). In both trailers, there is an equilibrium of establishing shots and shots of an innocent looking girl. Both girls are similarly stereotypical of the horror genre and act as victims in the films. 

The panda acts as the villain in the trailer. Having a masked individual causing havoc is conventional in horror films. I thought that using an unusual mask might be interesting as it is not something that is necessarily expected to be seen in many films. By using a panda, I was able to take something that is not usually seen as threatening, and make it into a villain to be feared. Having a masked villain intensifies the trailer, and gives the audience a character to fear and to dislike. Another film that can be compared with mine in terms of representation is Motel Hell (1980). This film uses a pig mask as the villain. This is similar to my choice of a panda mask. Both animals aren't normally associated with horror, however, are shown as dangerous villains in the trailers. 

In my trailer, I also portrayed the location using the representation of a small town setting. This is commonly used in horror films as it creates an eerie and ominous setting to increase tensions. This is something that enhances the genre within the film and allows the audience to relate to the setting and the overall film better. I used a small village setting, with long shots of empty roads and a swing set moving on its own, to create an eerie setting for the film and enhance the idea of isolation commonly taken advantage of in the horror genre. 

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Presenting my Production

Final Magazine Cover

On my magazine cover, I used many different titles in order to make certain parts of the cover stand out. For example, I used the font that was used in my film to create continuity for the branding, whilst I used a thinner, italic font to contrast this and the other bold fonts across the cover. I used a bold font within the text across the cover in order to draw attention to the text and emphasise certain words. I made sure to make the text on each side of the image smaller, which is conventional for a magazine cover, in order to not draw attention away from the film feature in the centre - which I made bigger to draw focus to. I used the same thinner, italic font for the main magazine title to create continuity across the cover and to create a simplistic, classic design for the magazine. I made the word "carpet" smaller as a design choice. I thought this was different and would draw the attention of readers. With "the red" being bigger, it is easy to associate this with the spots of colour used across the cover to create a cohesive design.

I used a white and black colour scheme with pops of red. The white stands out against the black background, which is effective in drawing the attention of the reader. This colour scheme is the same as the one I used for both my trailer and poster. This creates a brand cohesion which will also draw the attention of audiences. By using a cohesive identity for the film it will make it easier to target audiences and market the film. I decided to use the pops of red throughout the cover to also draw attention to and emphasise aspects of the text - similar to how I used the bolder font. I decided to use a black background for my cover instead of a white one as it made the white font and image stand out and make the cover look more professional as a magazine. 

For the central image, I chose to continue the brand identity by using the same image of the panda as I did for the poster and within my trailer. This image is black and white, contrasting the colour in the rest of the cover. This is effective in drawing the audiences attention whilst also alluding to the genre and ominosity of the character. I used a gradient effect on the edges of the image to create a more ominous and mysterious effect and to allude to the genre further. I added smaller images to show other films. Applying these to the cover made it look more professional and varied as well as more conventional as a magazine cover. I left two of these images in colour as I felt it looked better than overusing the black and white. All of the images used on the cover are my own pictures that I have taken which meant I was able to manipulate how they looked to suit the cover. 

I spent a lot of time configuring the layout of the cover to get it right. I knew I wanted to place the image in the centre to draw the attention of the audience effectively but also because this is quite conventional for other magazines. I started with the main title at the top of the page, mainly because this is also something that is quite conventional for magazine covers. I think this is effective as it allows the audience to read down the cover smoothly and efficiently. By including the film title and the two tag lines above and below at slightly different alignments, I was able to create an interesting design that would attract attention. After adding the secondary images at the bottom of the cover, in order to not draw attention away from the main image, I was able to finalise where to put all of the text across the cover so that the audiences' eyes are drawn to each part of the cover. 

Magazine Cover Editing Process

For my magazine cover, I wanted to continue the dark effect, whilst also making it look like a magazine that you would see in a shop. I chose to make my magazine cover slightly less indicated at the horror genre, using a white background and red and black font. I tried to make my magazine cover look conventional of other magazines, whilst also making it look unique to my brand. 

First, I decided to work on the title and wider fonts for the magazine cover. This included adding a date, price and bar code, and placing them where I wanted them to be. I then chose to produce a rough layout of my final magazine to decide where I wanted to put pictures and words, making it easier to change this layout if I wanted. 

Next, I started to add content to the magazine cover and change the layout slightly. I added an effect onto some of the layout boxes, to produce a text box looking effect around the writing. As well as this, I added some colour and text to the cover. I chose to use red as an accent colour in order to tie the magazine together. The title, 'The Red Carpet' links to the red colour scheme to keep the cover looking cohesive.

The final things I did were to add some more images to the bottom of the cover, as well as adding more text in the boxes. This really brought the cover together and made it look more professional and realistic. By adding in other images, I was able to make the cover look full and engaging with other productions. The text used has also enabled me to look into other industries, as well as film, and make a professional looking magazine cover. I then decided to change the colour of the cover, as it created a more ominous effect and blended well with the image.

After changing the colour, I added in the text and changed the rough positions. I removed the boxes around the text, which made my cover look more professional and realistic. I kept the red and white colour scheme with the font. I made the central image slightly bigger and the secondary images smaller at the bottom. This gave more attention to the main image and title. I included a screenshot of the title from the trailer, and made this quite large in the middle of the cover to draw the audiences eye and enhance the way my film is promoted.