Evaluation

1.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our media products have been created to have the main conventions of real media products. At the start of our project investigations into the main features of magazine covers, film trailers and film posters where researched. Knowing what sells and what doesn't is very important when creating any of these products. We all as individuals explored popular, successful existing film trailers, posters and magazine covers. We each completed deconstructions that are evident in our blogs. As a group we decided that we wanted our products to be successful and typical of the media industry. This was to keep our products as realist as possible so that they would market well and take the form of previous existing media.

Below is a link to the web site containing the top rated horror movies up to date. This was/is voted by the public. This was very helpful in helping me to do some market research for our products, it contains a description of the film and also had the option to watch the trailer at a click of a button, this was very useful.

 http://www.filmcrave.com/list_genre_movie.php?genre=Horror


The structure of each product was an important area, the deconstructions showed us that existing media products followed a general structure in each area. All of the magazine covers and posters within our genre had a typical similar style and layout. Most of the film trailers also had the same structure but varied in length,sound and effect. We considered the general structure of each product when designing and creating our poster, trailer and magazine cover.



With our film trailer the editing process tended to be a difficult process,it was hard to get unprofessional footage to look professional with very high standards. We all knew what was expected of us when creating a film trailer after researching,the transitions between action,dialogue and text was a basic need and our film trailer was to consist of this. We put together all the main features of a trailer and created a climax that would entice the audience, I feel that our trailer successfully used all the techniques needed and overall was a great attempt at a realistic film trailer.

For our ancillary products we knew that we would be able to create them to a higher standard, these would look more professional as the editing process wasn't as complex, we stuck to the basic rules and structures of existing ancillary products. The technology we was able to use for this editing was of a higher standard than the trailer editing process. We wanted them to be original with our own style but to follow the conventions of real products and appeal to a wide audience.



Generally we came up with challenging and developing ideas but we used the forms and conventions of real media products to make our products a success.



Our magazine cover conventions comparison



forms and conventions of an existing magazine cover

                           

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
The film trailer we created plays a large part in the advertising of the film. This trailer enables the audience to see a small part of the film in order to reach out to them, the trailer creates unanswered questions and draws the audience into thinking about if they would like to go at watch the film. Even if the film does not appeal to the person watching it they may know someone that it will. 

Unlike the trailer that presents 2 minuets of footage to entice the audience the film poster only has one image. This has to be a main image that stands out to the audience, the fact that the image is memorable or not can depend on the success of the film overall. Our film poster clearly shows the genre of the film and also raises questions. The title being in large writing helps the audience to remember the name of the film and tell others. The picture from the poster links directly to the end of the trailer in that the same image is produced. It gives a direct link to the plot without giving too much away.

The magazine cover also presents a challenge like the poster but can contain more information about the film itself. The magazine cover didn't have to be as gory or as effective as the poster as the people that buy the magazine already have an interest in what it contains. Our magazine cover needed to contain hints of the film that would be revealed inside, we wanted it to be glossy and stylish like existing magazine covers. The magazine cover also had a direct link to the film trailer as it contained the 3 main characters and presented the situation they were in. The large image of the 3 characters took up the whole cover as is a great selling point as it is completely different to any cover i have seen before.

The combination of the trailer and the ancillary products took three individual selling points and combined them as a huge marketing project. It is important to have more than one advertising aspect as it will produce more coverage to a larger audience. I feel that this is a very successful combination, all advertising world wide consists of more than one marketing scheme. I feel that any film wouldn't become a success without posters,trailers or magazine covers I feel our combination worked well because we used a range of images and effects to portray the main plot/features in our film and the genre was clear through out. Our products have a large range of advertising ability and as a group enjoyed producing such a range of products.




3.What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

At the beginning of the research into the media products we were going to produce we made qualitative and quantitative questionnaires, this was to determined our target audience and the most popular structures behind the trailer.


The research taken was important as we found out what the audience wanted to see. If we created something the audience didn't want to see then we would fail our task. We took all the feedback into consideration and stuck to the founded information.

After completing the film trailer, poster and magazine cover several people have seen the products and agreed that they feel it is successful in advertising. The majority of the people who watch the trailer said that they would be interested in watching the whole film. They also stated that the magazine cover and poster were very convincing and realistic and they feel that they would read about the film in the magazine or stop to look at the release date on the poster.  

As an individual i feel i have have learnt that taking peoples opinions into consideration is key to producing a successful product. I feel our products are successful in meeting the demands of the audience research.

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

Research: As technology is for ever expanding and becoming more and more technical with new modern age apps,systems and equipment, just by producing coursework has come so far, from a simple text book, pen and paper to students like me producing coursework on blogs using visual and virtual aides. This technology allows anybody to create high quality images and videos with the touch of a button. The producers of magazine covers, posters and trailers have a large amount of expert computer systems to aid them in creating air brushed, height quality images used in modern society.  

After                                    before


This technology aided us in the research and deconstructions of existing products, we were able to collect high quality images of existing magazine covers, posters and to watch professional film trailers at the click of a button. Websites such as youtube and google images where great resources. We was also able to create questionnaires and results graphs of programs like Microsoft word and Microsoft excel.



Select the link below to view a prezi presentation of the advantages and disadvantages of media technologies:

/http://prezi.com/exwpwu5ydzga/media-technology/

Planning: Technology aided us in the planning of our products, we were able to take photographs of the filming locations to insert into our blogs. We were also able scan in sketches of any storyboards, magazine covers and poster ideas we had. Particularly in my case i was able to use the programmes fireworks and paint to design and experiment with colour, text font and images in the production of our film poster and magazine cover. The editing of the footage taken with the video camera and tripod  allowed us to create the effects of a realistic film trailer without any large difficulties.

Font experimentation
Font experimentation
Font experimentation
Font experimentation
Font experimentation


Evaluation stages were simple as just a typed post was needed to put across our opinions and information about what we had done through out the project.

Finished magazine cover

Editing/creating

After taking the individual photographs it was time to merge them together to great one image for our magazine cover.

This was done with a size control panel on the programme photo shop.

We took the individual photographs and decided that the side of he person that had  the blood spatters needed to be in shot.


Because Emma was the main character that answered the phone call, she needed to feature in the centre.


 I feel that the attention is not taken away from the other characters and the sides because the blood draws in the eye in to the expressions.


After merging together to create one image:


 

Once this had been done, it was noticeable to that the light was different in each photo. The photos were taken in the same place but the light my have differed due to the time of day and the position of the light.

To change the lighting, the levels of transition needed to be experimented with. This was done using an adjustment panel.(on left) 

 

After the light adjustment the brightness of the blood and the colour of the eyes stood our largely. This was a great result, as it created a piercing effect. When the light changed it also created a shadows that gave the image an harrowing, eerie feel.  

 

It was then noticeable that this image would be to large for a magazine cover, it needed to be an A4 size. So it needed to be cropped down to size. The image of Emma in the centre needed to be cropped down, so her elbows were removed.This meant that

the images on either side also needed adjusting.
Just a simple zoom in reduced the size of the

photos.



After the images had been cropped (A4 size)



Once the size and the light adjustments had been modified, the effects and features were able to be added. To effectively create a poster that would meet the genre of our film, the balance and levels of light needed to be darkened to give the surrounding picture an eerie, horrifying feel. This was controlled by a colour filter that had to be tested at different levels, this we a process of elimination, trial and error.

 

After the colour balance was at an effective level, it enabled experimentation of boarders, shading and titles.

After different boarders were selected, overall we felt that the pictures looked more effective without a boarder as some of the boarders overwhelmed the picture and made the intensity degrade.

 After experimenting with different fonts and styles of titles none of the above really made the right, bold impression we wanted. Experimenting with bright red,blood writing, made the magazine cover look as if it was a poster but gave a frightening feel. After this experimenting it was clear that a large bold title, without a surrounding boarder would produce a realistic magazine cover.

When adding the block title it was clear that this was the right decision and really started to bring the magazine cover to life. Although the title was red it didn't quite stand out enough to be picked out from the crowed. We wanted people to instantly see and want to read about our film. To get this boldness the redness of title needed to be enhanced.

The title was simply selected and the brighter red was chosen. After the title was completed, the next feature of the magazine cover needed to be added. This feature was the title of our film and the tag line advertising it. We decided that the blood writing would be good for the title of the film, it stood out,putting a black boarder around the name juxtaposed with the white surroundings, i thought it really caught the eye of the viewer.

The tag line and advertisement was then added but this made the black surroundings of the film title become larger and the black box distracted the audiences eye away from the photograph. With the text decided on, the surrounding box needed to be changed, a red blood effect was in keeping with the, poster and the genre of our film, the red blood spatters match with the blood on our faces and the colour of the magazine title. This all then tied in perfectly and gave a realistic

style magazine cover.

It was then time to add the finishing touches. This consisted of 2 main features needed on a magazine cover, the bar code in the bottom right corner, also the enticing page numbers of the main stories and the competition give away.

Photos

After deciding that we was going to use images of  the characters (us) we needed to take the individual photographs of each character.

  

We used the fake blood on our bodies before, rather than adding it in when editing, we felt that this would give a more realistic effect.  Emma's prop in this image is the telephone this featured in the film, we feel that giving away a slight part of the plot will grap the audiences attention to go watch our film. We also wanted to give some dramatic effect so we all pulled a terrified expression, not only does this shock the audience into reading on but gives the genre of out film away.

Magazine cover ideas

As a group we came up with some drawings of what our magazine my look like. We came up with ideas for images, titles and text.

This is one of my ideas i came up with, i originally drew this up on paper but feel that the image didn't really do it justice so i decided to create it on the program paint.

Amy's Idea

Amy used the same techniques found when researching and had the idea to use the same image from the poster on the magazine, to really enthuses the Gore factor.

 

Emma's Idea

Emma also used the techniques found in research but came up with the idea to feature each character in the magazine cover, this was to show another angle and give another view of the film, hopefully enticing a larger audience.



After discussing the ideas we had come up with we decided that it would be best to use elements from each others posters and bring them together. We decided to use the image from Emma's magazine design.

Magazine Cover deconstructions

 

To enable us to create a magazine cover, as individuals we needed to research current magazine covers and as a group we needed discuss ideas. For research purposes i have decided to deconstruct a horror,thriller and comedy magazine cover.

Shock Horror:

 This magazine cover has an overall colour scale of black, white and green.

The main selling points of the cover are in large block capitals. The title and the main features in the magazine are in large green text, this makes them stand out to the audience. The grey scale of the large picture brings another dimension to the cover. The expression on his face with those big black eyes draws the audience in making them wonder, why is his expression like that and what is he looking at. His name is in bold writing with a black surrounding making the text stand out from the green shapes in the background.

The cover also has two smaller images that are less obvious but are in great contrast with the rest of the magazine.

It also has a few tag lines that give a taste of what is inside the magazine, this opens the magazine out to a wider audience.

Empire (The Dark Knight):

This cover has a green,red,black,white and purple colour scale. The colour of the magazine seems to be coordinated with the main image on the cover. This title Empire in large red capitals is covered by the image but this magazine is so well known the producers feel that they can do this and the public will instantly know what magazine this is.

Again the name of the person/character in the image is in large bold text that stands out on top of the image. This magazine cover also has smaller text explaining the main features in the magazine, to entice the audience. The black surroundings of the image give the cover a dark,scary feeling this could be giving away the genre of the film featured. It also gives away the personality of the character. It has language like 'world exclusive' and 'PLUS!' this entices the audience to buy the magazine and is crucial for marketing and advertising.

Entertainment (Hangover 2):

This magazine also has the same features but because it is advertising a comedy it has a bright, light background and the title of the magazine is in a bright yellow. Like the magazine Empire because Entertainment weekly is so well known and popular they feel that the title isn't as important. The title of the film is surrounded by a red highlight so it stands out in contrast against the blue background. It gives away what may be in the film through the text under the title. It also has small text on the left revealing what is featured in the magazine.

The image is of the 3 main characters in the films, these are very famous actors, being seen in a different light, the actors are well known so the names of them are not shown. Although some of there characteristics are coming through the image and the way they are behaving. This cover has less text and does not feature any tag lines or competitions to sell the magazine. It entirely focuses on the image and the film on hand.  

The magazine covers that i have deconstructed have very similar characteristics, they all contain large titles, give aways on the main features, bar codes, marketing marterial and large images.

After we all completed our magazine deconstructions we had a group meeting about what we had found. We thought that bringing a little bit of each main feature in the magazine covers will result in a realistic, marketable magazine cover for our film.

Editing/ Final poster

Editing the poster to make the most effective image:

To make the hand prints stand out more against the light, the door and the darkness outside, we would need to adjust the light settings.
To do this, we created an layer then selected the adjustment 'Selective Colour'. We then reduced the amount of cyan in the red coloured areas of my image, and increased the magenta, yellow and black.

 

We had to play around with adjusting the colours and see what looked best, as any artist would do. If we added too much cyan with magenta, it made the hand prints look purple, so we had to balance each option in with each other or it would not only affect the red in the photo, but the rest of the colours. This involved a lot of trial and error.



After creating the layer



After modifying the settings in the image, we were pleased to see that the reds in the image were more bright and effective. This is exactly what we had in mind as beforehand the blood looked too orange and thin. By making the layer to adjust the colours, this made even the streak marks of the fingers stand out.   

With the right balance it was then time to add the main parts of the poster, i.e. the title,tag line and producers.

We wanted the title of the film to stand out in bold letters to enthesise what the film is called as this is very important. We placed the title at the bottom of the door to show as much of the image as possible. We also took this from our inspiration gained previously. We used methods seen in other posters, such as the a tag line in small letters to gain dramatic effect and the name of the producers at the top.

Final poster: