Magazine Cover 
Teaser TrailerSaturday 5 February 2011
Tuesday 1 February 2011
Evualtion Q4.
How did you use media technoligies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Pre-Production
First off I had to create a blog on blogger to present all of my research and ideas into developing into my final ideas and finally my finished products. Using blogger last year gave me more confidence in being able to use it again this year; it is very straight forward and simple to upload pictures and videos.
Another useful website was Youtube. I used it for a number of different reasons, firstly to complete my Product Research; I had to find a number of different existing teaser trailers so that I could analyse them and also get some inspiration from them. Youtube and Blogger allowed me to embed videos onto my blog; this was useful as I could always go back to them easily on my blog, instead of going through Youtube every time. Without Youtube I wouldn’t be able to research and have access to teaser trailers quickly and easily. However as Youtube is a company that allows anyone to access and edit, this means that anyone can upload films and many of times I would be looking at a fan made film rather than an official teaser trailer, because of this I had to be sure that the video was uploaded by the official channel, like FoxsSarchlight official channel.
For my Audience Research I constructed a questionnaire and decided to give it to people, I used the popular social network site Facebook and Windows Live Messenger as they are both very popular by a range of different people and this way I could get the perspective and view from a lot of people quickly and efficiently. I also posted my blog on twitter, which was good as a number of my “followers” retweeted my blog and this means that my blog was seen by a lot of people, not just my circle of friends.
As I had to find copyright free music I had to use copy right free websites. This was time-consuming as I had look through a number of different websites to find the right type of music, however I thought this was good as I was able to find lots of music I liked then play them alongside my trailer and see which one fitted and worked well, I could also overlap music and play them together and use more than one type of sound in my trailer. I also used iTunes to upload the music listen to the music before putting it into my trailer.
Production
For my AS media I used the schools Sony HDV camera to film my opening, however this time as I wanted to film outside of school and in my own time, because of this I decided to use my own compact camera, this isn’t a usual device to film piece of media, but I found it very usual as I could film in my chosen location and the quality wasn’t effected by using a compact camera. Also during filming I also used a DSLR camera to take some still images, this was very useful as I was able to use a range of different depth of field and shutter speeds to create the image I wanted.
Post-Production
As I used my own filming equipment I decided to use a different programme to the programme I used last year. Instead of iMovie on the Mac computers I used Windows Movie Maker (WMM), I thought this was good as over the two years I have experienced a range of editing programmes. WMM was easy to use and enabled me to do a range of different effects including changing the brightness of my film and also changing the film to black and white/sepia. I could also add transitions into my film and title slates where ever I wanted them, which I thought was useful. The only down side to using WMM instead of iMovie was that I couldn’t edit the sound to a high quality, I could however put the sound where I wanted it and also control the volume level. I was also able to upload my film straight to Youtube from WMM, which I thought was good as I didn’t have to waste time converting anything. Overall the two programmes where both very easy to get started and learn all of the tools.
Pre-Production
First off I had to create a blog on blogger to present all of my research and ideas into developing into my final ideas and finally my finished products. Using blogger last year gave me more confidence in being able to use it again this year; it is very straight forward and simple to upload pictures and videos.
Another useful website was Youtube. I used it for a number of different reasons, firstly to complete my Product Research; I had to find a number of different existing teaser trailers so that I could analyse them and also get some inspiration from them. Youtube and Blogger allowed me to embed videos onto my blog; this was useful as I could always go back to them easily on my blog, instead of going through Youtube every time. Without Youtube I wouldn’t be able to research and have access to teaser trailers quickly and easily. However as Youtube is a company that allows anyone to access and edit, this means that anyone can upload films and many of times I would be looking at a fan made film rather than an official teaser trailer, because of this I had to be sure that the video was uploaded by the official channel, like FoxsSarchlight official channel.
For my Audience Research I constructed a questionnaire and decided to give it to people, I used the popular social network site Facebook and Windows Live Messenger as they are both very popular by a range of different people and this way I could get the perspective and view from a lot of people quickly and efficiently. I also posted my blog on twitter, which was good as a number of my “followers” retweeted my blog and this means that my blog was seen by a lot of people, not just my circle of friends.
As I had to find copyright free music I had to use copy right free websites. This was time-consuming as I had look through a number of different websites to find the right type of music, however I thought this was good as I was able to find lots of music I liked then play them alongside my trailer and see which one fitted and worked well, I could also overlap music and play them together and use more than one type of sound in my trailer. I also used iTunes to upload the music listen to the music before putting it into my trailer.
Production
For my AS media I used the schools Sony HDV camera to film my opening, however this time as I wanted to film outside of school and in my own time, because of this I decided to use my own compact camera, this isn’t a usual device to film piece of media, but I found it very usual as I could film in my chosen location and the quality wasn’t effected by using a compact camera. Also during filming I also used a DSLR camera to take some still images, this was very useful as I was able to use a range of different depth of field and shutter speeds to create the image I wanted.
Post-Production
As I used my own filming equipment I decided to use a different programme to the programme I used last year. Instead of iMovie on the Mac computers I used Windows Movie Maker (WMM), I thought this was good as over the two years I have experienced a range of editing programmes. WMM was easy to use and enabled me to do a range of different effects including changing the brightness of my film and also changing the film to black and white/sepia. I could also add transitions into my film and title slates where ever I wanted them, which I thought was useful. The only down side to using WMM instead of iMovie was that I couldn’t edit the sound to a high quality, I could however put the sound where I wanted it and also control the volume level. I was also able to upload my film straight to Youtube from WMM, which I thought was good as I didn’t have to waste time converting anything. Overall the two programmes where both very easy to get started and learn all of the tools.
To edit my magazine and poster I used Adobe Photoshop. I am glad that I was familiar with all of the tools and tricks of photoshop before this as it was then easier to edit and know what my limitations were. Photoshop was very useful to me as for my poster I used it a lot to airbrush my actresses face and make her appear lighter than she was, I also enhanced the colour of her eye to make it stand out more. For my magazine cover I used photoshop to add all of the text and pictures onto my cover. I also used the website urbanfonts.com to find the font I wanted and then I downloaded it so that I could use it throughout my production pieces so create continuity.
Evaluation
When doing question 3 on my evluation I decided to use a website called "prezi.com" this allowed me to make a online moving production/presention, I thought this would be a good idea as I am using a different way to present my answer and also it is an easier way to explore the answer and also present lots of pie charts and images with text in a diffrent way. I really liked using this as I thought it was interesting and a very different way in pesenting soemthing.
Evaluation Q2.
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
In order to make all of my three tasks work together I decided to feature the same character (my main character, "Megan") in all three, I think that this creates character identity and therefore makes the audience familiar with my character and the film.
I also decided to use the same font throughout all three tasks -
1. Teaser Trailer :- On the tile slates
2. Magazine :- In the main cover story when I featured my film and the film title
3. Poster :- All of the writing on the poster is the same font
I decided to do this as it create continuity throughout the tasks and also creates familiarisation, where ever you see that font, they will know that it is the film.
Another way to make the tasks link was using the same colour scheme of red, black and white through-out all tasks. I decided to use these colours as they linked with the horror genre and make it clear to the audience what genre the film is.
Where you can see the main characters sartorial codes they are all the same, and also in the same setting, I did this so that there was continuity through-out all three tasks.
Overall, I think that the three task compliment each other well, for these reasons and i think overall it creates an effective promotional campaign.
In order to make all of my three tasks work together I decided to feature the same character (my main character, "Megan") in all three, I think that this creates character identity and therefore makes the audience familiar with my character and the film.
I also decided to use the same font throughout all three tasks -
1. Teaser Trailer :- On the tile slates
2. Magazine :- In the main cover story when I featured my film and the film title
3. Poster :- All of the writing on the poster is the same font
I decided to do this as it create continuity throughout the tasks and also creates familiarisation, where ever you see that font, they will know that it is the film.
Another way to make the tasks link was using the same colour scheme of red, black and white through-out all tasks. I decided to use these colours as they linked with the horror genre and make it clear to the audience what genre the film is.
Where you can see the main characters sartorial codes they are all the same, and also in the same setting, I did this so that there was continuity through-out all three tasks.
Overall, I think that the three task compliment each other well, for these reasons and i think overall it creates an effective promotional campaign.
Evaluation Q1.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Teaser Trailer
Conventions of a teaser trailer:-
- Fast pace editing
- Title slates / voice over
- No dialogue
- Release date / coming soon
- Wide shot / establishing shot
- Duration time > no longer than 1.30
Teaser trailers are used to create “hype” and suspense for new up coming films. Because of this there are usually 3 main sections to traditional teaser trailers, these include:- 1. establish location & introduce main character 2. introduce new characters and some sort adventure 3. crisis and ends on a cliff hanger. As I wanted to make my teaser trailer look and appear like a real one I decided to follow this structure.
I began with a pan shot of a graveyard, this was to establish the setting and also tell the audience the genre of the film straight away. This is a common convention of teaser trailers as usually from the first 10seconds(ish) the audience can usually tell the genre through its shots, setting and music.
I also used eerie music that goes well with the setting and genre really well.
Another common convention for horror films is the young girl in white dress I decided to use this convention as it will confirm the audiences knowledge of the genre, I also think that it is a convention that is so common in horror films that have a young girl in it and I think the convention very well with the treatment.
I also used all young characters this was to appeal more to my audience so that they could connect more with the characters.
I used lots of conventions for horror teaser trailers as I filmed all of my scenes during the day, this was due to time and equipment restrictions, so I decided to use all of the conventions of horror films so that it was clear to the audience that it was a horror film even though it was shot during the day which challenges the conventions of most horror films.
I tried to make my teaser trailer seem more realistic by using an actress with blue eyes, this challenges the common conventions of horror films as they mostly have actresses with dark eyes of they make them bloodshot to appear more scary.
Poster
Conventions of a film poster:-
- Institution information
- Release date
- Tagline
- Certificate (some posters)
- Shocking / eye catching
- Image of main character(s)
I tried to mimic the conventions of “The Grudge” poster as it is a very eye-catching poster and also very memorable, which is what I want for my poster.
Magazine Cover
Conventions of a magazine cover :-
- Masthead
- Puff
- Date/price
- Barcode
- Main cover line/story
- Cover stories.
I tried to mimic the conventions of “Empire Magazine” as it is a well established magazine.
I tried to use most of the common conventions of a magazine cover, to appeal to a large audience, regardless of my film being independent I want it to appeal to as large audience as possible.
Overall I think I both used and challenged the usual conventions of media.
Teaser Trailer
Conventions of a teaser trailer:-
- Fast pace editing
- Title slates / voice over
- No dialogue
- Release date / coming soon
- Wide shot / establishing shot
- Duration time > no longer than 1.30
Teaser trailers are used to create “hype” and suspense for new up coming films. Because of this there are usually 3 main sections to traditional teaser trailers, these include:- 1. establish location & introduce main character 2. introduce new characters and some sort adventure 3. crisis and ends on a cliff hanger. As I wanted to make my teaser trailer look and appear like a real one I decided to follow this structure.
I began with a pan shot of a graveyard, this was to establish the setting and also tell the audience the genre of the film straight away. This is a common convention of teaser trailers as usually from the first 10seconds(ish) the audience can usually tell the genre through its shots, setting and music.
I also used eerie music that goes well with the setting and genre really well.
Another common convention for horror films is the young girl in white dress I decided to use this convention as it will confirm the audiences knowledge of the genre, I also think that it is a convention that is so common in horror films that have a young girl in it and I think the convention very well with the treatment.
I also used all young characters this was to appeal more to my audience so that they could connect more with the characters.
I used lots of conventions for horror teaser trailers as I filmed all of my scenes during the day, this was due to time and equipment restrictions, so I decided to use all of the conventions of horror films so that it was clear to the audience that it was a horror film even though it was shot during the day which challenges the conventions of most horror films.
I tried to make my teaser trailer seem more realistic by using an actress with blue eyes, this challenges the common conventions of horror films as they mostly have actresses with dark eyes of they make them bloodshot to appear more scary.
Poster
Conventions of a film poster:-
- Institution information
- Release date
- Tagline
- Certificate (some posters)
- Shocking / eye catching
- Image of main character(s)
I tried to mimic the conventions of “The Grudge” poster as it is a very eye-catching poster and also very memorable, which is what I want for my poster.
Magazine Cover
Conventions of a magazine cover :-
- Masthead
- Puff
- Date/price
- Barcode
- Main cover line/story
- Cover stories.
I tried to mimic the conventions of “Empire Magazine” as it is a well established magazine.
I tried to use most of the common conventions of a magazine cover, to appeal to a large audience, regardless of my film being independent I want it to appeal to as large audience as possible.
Overall I think I both used and challenged the usual conventions of media.
Saturday 29 January 2011
Friday 28 January 2011
Thursday 27 January 2011
Photography Element
I made a short clip of a series of photos of gravestones and the car in the teaser trailer and I added the sound of a camera shutter, this was so that it would seem as if they were pictures being taken and this would give more of an idea why the photography element is in the teaser trailer.
Wednesday 26 January 2011
Tuesday 25 January 2011
Teaser Trailer Rough Cut Number 2
After watching my teaser trailer again and getting other people to look and comment, without reading the treatment they didn't quite understand the importance of the camera and photography. Because of this I have decided to add something which will make it clearer why there is cameras and photography involved.
Thursday 13 January 2011
Rough Cut
This is a very rough cut of my teaser trailer, I still have a lot of editing left to do in the middle and also I need to add in music. Still a long way to go but I will get there.
Wednesday 12 January 2011
Using Windows Movie Maker
To edit my teaser trailer I used Windows Movie Maker. I found it easy to use as it was easy to navigate round all of the tools and import and export. It also didnt reduce the quality of my video. Also it allowed me to sink the music to where I wanted it.
Monday 10 January 2011
Back to School
Today is my first day back at school and I plan to film tomorrow, but due to time constrictions I have decided to change my location to Streatham Cemetery, which is a lot closer but still a good location as it will link with my treatment and genre well. I plan to get all my filming done in one day to prevent having to go back and this will mean longer time to edit.
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