Here is my film trailer all finished ready for my target audience;
Thursday, 6 May 2010
Evaluation
Now that I have come to end of my A2 Media project I must now fill in my evaluation questions to give myself a chance on reflecting on the work that I have done, being my own biggest critic.
1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
2) What have you learned from your audience feedback?
As I created a very organised feedback sheet for my audience which they could fill in (see example below.) it was easy for me to be able to understand the feedback alot easier.
As this image of my feedback sheet shows, I have asked specific questions which I believe where important to my film trailer being a success in matching the key criteria; 1) Being a teaser trailer 2) Gripping the audience making them wanting to go see the "film".
When I looked at my feedback I was really please to find that most of them were complimenting my trailer, saying that the transitions where vere professional, camera movement was used correctly to give the affect of horror which is what I wanted my audience to feel. The question in relation to it making them want to go see the film and being a teaser trailer was the last one on the feedback sheet asking "Did the trailer give away much of film? Explain" This question was a very useful one for me to have as I didnt only get a straght answer I also got a explanation for that answer from my target audence.
So what have I learned from my audience feedback? Well from asking my audience to fill in the feedback sheets I have learned what I have done well which to my delight was the same from all of my audience, they all said that it was gripping and wanted them to find out what the film was all about, so having the knock on affect that I wanted which was for them to then go to see the film. That putting information in the film even if not at the beggining or the end viewers can easily pick it out without knowing, e.g. Producers of the film, Release Date, Director etc. My audience feedback has alot told me that the music which I created to go with the film has been a great hit, most feedback saying "The music matched the images perfectly was hard to tell it was added."
It was all good reading the positive parts of my feedback but I did also get some negative, when I read the answer to "Negative Points of the Trailer" one person said that "Could of used a voiceover" which I have thought about since reading it and agree, a chilling voiceover like from the Halloween trailer would work really well. This is certainly something I would think about if I was to make another film trailer. Another said that "Some scenes where too dark and not suitable for PG" which is a hard bit of critcism as it is a horror film so dark images do build on suspense and that sense of fear.
After analysing and reading all of the feedback I came to the conclusion that most of the feedback was positive with very minor details in the negatives part of the feedback sheet, this is very encouraging to me to know that my work is being seen in the eyes of my audience to looking very professional considering the programmes and resources I had available to me. The only thing I would change on my film is the scenes where it is really dark so that people with slight eyesight problems would be able to see it that little bit better.
3) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
For any media based product there must always be more than one type of selling point, from food - cosmetics you will always find more than one type of advert. With my media product I have a film trailer, Poster, Magazine front cover. Every single one of these I have kept the same theme and same genre present at all times so that they all relate and combine together so people can see the poster for e.g. and remember the film trailer or magazine cover etc.
This I believe is the most effective way in selling my film trailer to my target audience really making them want to go out and see my film, the poster and magazine I have really concentrated on even little details like tag lines "Who will be watching you?" These were always present on my research posters so I thought it was a "must have" on my one. They are a way in which people can recognise the film after watching it, as most tag lines are contained actually in the films themselves.
Between the magazine and poster I really focused on keeping the mise en scene and atmosphere present at all times, this is why I chose the really dark backgrounds with scary styled text, also the big bold picture which stood out. I also had the main image faded so that it had a creeping out of the darkness affect which I believe has added to the conscistency of keeping the atmosphere present. I had also used the same image on both the poster and magazine cover so that again my target audience would be able to notice the image being seen around more and more that they would eventually want to find out more about what it is, therefore going to watch the film.
So altogether across my project, taking everything into account from the trailer and two posters, a strong personal genre has been imaged with the picture of my killers mask, making a identity for my film which would then be recognised by people who would see the posters or magazine covers.
4) How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Firstly what is new media? New media refers to the different ways in which technology has bought media to us. E.g. computers, we can now get all our media needs from the internet, television - Sky tv, this has allowed us to watch the latest films by renting them at home, or watching old films by selecting the freeview setting where they store hundreds of old films, tv porgrammes even historical sport games for which we can watch at any chosen time.
So here is how I have personally used new media technologies in my construction of this product.
1 Research - I wouldn't of been able to get half as much research done without using the interent with sites like Youtube.com, Screenrush.com etc. Also using sites like google and ask.com these have been my search engines for questions like "What film shots make good horror films."
2 Digital camera (Filming) - Using a digital camera which records straight onto a memory card which I can so easily plug straight into my computer and download all of my filming, pictures effortlessly has been a massive help in my product.
3 Editing - Using a PC and windows MovieMaker has been a real success for me, I prefer this programme to the mac based ones as I get on alot better with PC's and I had also used MovieMaker before so I didn't have to learn a new software.
4 Poster/Magazine Cover - Using Adobe Photoshop is unbelieveable the amount of different things you can do to a picture on this programme just makes coursework like this one the msot fun ever, I really just wanted to change it over and over again because I didn't want to stop using the programme. This programme I used to create my poster and Magazine cover, I has previously used this programme the year before but I use it alot as well for personal use, never gets boring.
5 Presentation of Work - As far as New Media technology can go, we are even using a website to present our work this year (Blogger.com) This site has enabled us to do work wherever we are with such ease. This has been a real plus for this year, the site is very user friendly and so easy to use. It is also very easy to upload images and link videos to the page, this is what I have done to explain my research alot better.
So this is how I have used new Media technology this year in A2 Media and it has been a real joy to do.
1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
2) What have you learned from your audience feedback?
As I created a very organised feedback sheet for my audience which they could fill in (see example below.) it was easy for me to be able to understand the feedback alot easier.
As this image of my feedback sheet shows, I have asked specific questions which I believe where important to my film trailer being a success in matching the key criteria; 1) Being a teaser trailer 2) Gripping the audience making them wanting to go see the "film".
When I looked at my feedback I was really please to find that most of them were complimenting my trailer, saying that the transitions where vere professional, camera movement was used correctly to give the affect of horror which is what I wanted my audience to feel. The question in relation to it making them want to go see the film and being a teaser trailer was the last one on the feedback sheet asking "Did the trailer give away much of film? Explain" This question was a very useful one for me to have as I didnt only get a straght answer I also got a explanation for that answer from my target audence.
So what have I learned from my audience feedback? Well from asking my audience to fill in the feedback sheets I have learned what I have done well which to my delight was the same from all of my audience, they all said that it was gripping and wanted them to find out what the film was all about, so having the knock on affect that I wanted which was for them to then go to see the film. That putting information in the film even if not at the beggining or the end viewers can easily pick it out without knowing, e.g. Producers of the film, Release Date, Director etc. My audience feedback has alot told me that the music which I created to go with the film has been a great hit, most feedback saying "The music matched the images perfectly was hard to tell it was added."
It was all good reading the positive parts of my feedback but I did also get some negative, when I read the answer to "Negative Points of the Trailer" one person said that "Could of used a voiceover" which I have thought about since reading it and agree, a chilling voiceover like from the Halloween trailer would work really well. This is certainly something I would think about if I was to make another film trailer. Another said that "Some scenes where too dark and not suitable for PG" which is a hard bit of critcism as it is a horror film so dark images do build on suspense and that sense of fear.
After analysing and reading all of the feedback I came to the conclusion that most of the feedback was positive with very minor details in the negatives part of the feedback sheet, this is very encouraging to me to know that my work is being seen in the eyes of my audience to looking very professional considering the programmes and resources I had available to me. The only thing I would change on my film is the scenes where it is really dark so that people with slight eyesight problems would be able to see it that little bit better.
3) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
For any media based product there must always be more than one type of selling point, from food - cosmetics you will always find more than one type of advert. With my media product I have a film trailer, Poster, Magazine front cover. Every single one of these I have kept the same theme and same genre present at all times so that they all relate and combine together so people can see the poster for e.g. and remember the film trailer or magazine cover etc.
This I believe is the most effective way in selling my film trailer to my target audience really making them want to go out and see my film, the poster and magazine I have really concentrated on even little details like tag lines "Who will be watching you?" These were always present on my research posters so I thought it was a "must have" on my one. They are a way in which people can recognise the film after watching it, as most tag lines are contained actually in the films themselves.
Between the magazine and poster I really focused on keeping the mise en scene and atmosphere present at all times, this is why I chose the really dark backgrounds with scary styled text, also the big bold picture which stood out. I also had the main image faded so that it had a creeping out of the darkness affect which I believe has added to the conscistency of keeping the atmosphere present. I had also used the same image on both the poster and magazine cover so that again my target audience would be able to notice the image being seen around more and more that they would eventually want to find out more about what it is, therefore going to watch the film.
So altogether across my project, taking everything into account from the trailer and two posters, a strong personal genre has been imaged with the picture of my killers mask, making a identity for my film which would then be recognised by people who would see the posters or magazine covers.
4) How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Firstly what is new media? New media refers to the different ways in which technology has bought media to us. E.g. computers, we can now get all our media needs from the internet, television - Sky tv, this has allowed us to watch the latest films by renting them at home, or watching old films by selecting the freeview setting where they store hundreds of old films, tv porgrammes even historical sport games for which we can watch at any chosen time.
So here is how I have personally used new media technologies in my construction of this product.
1 Research - I wouldn't of been able to get half as much research done without using the interent with sites like Youtube.com, Screenrush.com etc. Also using sites like google and ask.com these have been my search engines for questions like "What film shots make good horror films."
2 Digital camera (Filming) - Using a digital camera which records straight onto a memory card which I can so easily plug straight into my computer and download all of my filming, pictures effortlessly has been a massive help in my product.
3 Editing - Using a PC and windows MovieMaker has been a real success for me, I prefer this programme to the mac based ones as I get on alot better with PC's and I had also used MovieMaker before so I didn't have to learn a new software.
4 Poster/Magazine Cover - Using Adobe Photoshop is unbelieveable the amount of different things you can do to a picture on this programme just makes coursework like this one the msot fun ever, I really just wanted to change it over and over again because I didn't want to stop using the programme. This programme I used to create my poster and Magazine cover, I has previously used this programme the year before but I use it alot as well for personal use, never gets boring.
5 Presentation of Work - As far as New Media technology can go, we are even using a website to present our work this year (Blogger.com) This site has enabled us to do work wherever we are with such ease. This has been a real plus for this year, the site is very user friendly and so easy to use. It is also very easy to upload images and link videos to the page, this is what I have done to explain my research alot better.
So this is how I have used new Media technology this year in A2 Media and it has been a real joy to do.
Audience Feedback
After creating my trailer I asked my family and friends to watch it to give me some honest feedback, for the feedback I created a little questionnaire asking questions about how the film was. (Below is a copy of my questionnaire.)
The questions which I have asked mainly are specific questions but there are two questions which give a open discussion about what where the good/bad points of the trailer, these two are critical to have so that I could make easy adjustments to my film trailer if the majority of my audience gave the same feedback.
I have scanned in some of the feedback sheets I recieved back from my audience.
(To enlarge to read click on the image of the Feedback sheet) As my feedback shows most of the comments are positive meaning I must have done something right. The music was the best thing about it is what I can gather as it really did work well with the images, also how the shots went from one to another this also has been given positive feedback from all people. The only negative things that i did get was that it wasn't suitable for all audiences, was dark in some places and that not enough of other characters got shown but that comment also went on to say maybe it was a good thing. Overall I am very pleased with my feedback and believe I have done a very good job of making it work. Also it being a teaser trailer the one question that I really wanted to find out the answers to was the last one "Did the trailer give away much of the film?" Everyone answered in a similar matter saying that it kept the film a mystery even though it showed some key points. This is just what I wanted them to think so that it would encourage them to go out and see the film.
The questions which I have asked mainly are specific questions but there are two questions which give a open discussion about what where the good/bad points of the trailer, these two are critical to have so that I could make easy adjustments to my film trailer if the majority of my audience gave the same feedback.
I have scanned in some of the feedback sheets I recieved back from my audience.
(To enlarge to read click on the image of the Feedback sheet) As my feedback shows most of the comments are positive meaning I must have done something right. The music was the best thing about it is what I can gather as it really did work well with the images, also how the shots went from one to another this also has been given positive feedback from all people. The only negative things that i did get was that it wasn't suitable for all audiences, was dark in some places and that not enough of other characters got shown but that comment also went on to say maybe it was a good thing. Overall I am very pleased with my feedback and believe I have done a very good job of making it work. Also it being a teaser trailer the one question that I really wanted to find out the answers to was the last one "Did the trailer give away much of the film?" Everyone answered in a similar matter saying that it kept the film a mystery even though it showed some key points. This is just what I wanted them to think so that it would encourage them to go out and see the film.
Finished Poster & Magazine Cover
Firstly both of my Poster and Magazine cover went very well, creating them was both fun but challenging because I was determined to keep the whole genre of horror on the page at all times but at the same time promote my film the best I could.
Here is my finished Poster;
This is my finished Magazine Cover;
I decided to use the same image on both my poster and magazine cover because I thought that if people where to see this image over and over again on different billboards in shops on magazines they would want to find out what it was about, where as if I had used two different images they would have less self encouragement to go out and find what they were all about.
Both the poster and magazine have come out really well, keeping the genre easily on the page with the mask of the killer in my film trailer on the front with it half faded and very grim. The text I have used on both is very unique but also grim and gives out a very tense feeling.
Here is my finished Poster;
This is my finished Magazine Cover;
I decided to use the same image on both my poster and magazine cover because I thought that if people where to see this image over and over again on different billboards in shops on magazines they would want to find out what it was about, where as if I had used two different images they would have less self encouragement to go out and find what they were all about.
Both the poster and magazine have come out really well, keeping the genre easily on the page with the mask of the killer in my film trailer on the front with it half faded and very grim. The text I have used on both is very unique but also grim and gives out a very tense feeling.
Magazine Research
The last part of my visual project is a magazine cover, their are so many different types of film magazines out in the industry but the main ones are Empire and Total Film, these are the two which I am going to base my magazine around. So I took two magazine covers one from each company that were promoting a Horrow film on the front cover.
The first magazine cover is from Total film and is the front cover for issue 160 with megan fox from the horror "Jennifers Body".
The first thing you notice about the magazine cover is the main image of Megan Fox, she is central on the page and covers most of it at first you wouldn't tell it was a horror film until you see the blood on her hand and down the page. The title of the magazine is seen but part is missing as the main image overlaps it, at the very top of the page is a advertisement on why you should buy the magazine showing more of what else is inside like on this one it says "Our biggest preview ever" then has pictures of 3 films which personally I want to see anyway, so this would be a big selling point for me. The bottom left has a quote from the interview they have done with megan fox and on the right of the image of megan fox is a part of the contents with the text telling the buyer/audience what this magazine contains. The background being white really makes the images/text stand out and I think it works really well, but for my magazine I want to create a really dark and scary feeling so I can keep the genre of my film always with the images of it. But the layout of this magazine is one that I could certainly think about taking ideas from as it is very spacious with is good because I wouldn't like to read something which has too much going on.
The second magazine cover is from the magazine "EMPIRE" from the July 2008 issue with the joker from "Batman - The Dark Knight" on the front.
As you can see this magazine is alot more in your face with a massive picture of the Joker, (Note: Even though the film being shown on the front cover isn't a horror it has the characteristics of giving that horror genre over.) The background firstly is hardly visible and where it is the colour is black which is what the jokers body fades into (see right of the joker) this makes the whole white face paint show up alot more and make it alot more gripping. The title of the magazine "EMPIRE" has been outlined in a lime green which matches the colour of the jokers hair, this colour is used throughout the front cover on most of the texts and outlines boxes creating a colour scheme for the page. To the left of the joker is a selling point for the magazine telling the audience what special is in the magazine, at the bottom again is more of these selling points. There is a tagline for the film as well as the film title both on the jokers forehead. The way the jokers eyes are looking at the camera gives a very evil presence to this photo which is what I want to create when my magazine cover is made. This magazine cover is one which I will be taking ideas from and maybe basing my photo on the same way they have done with a huge on which covers the page really making the magazine stand out.
Now I have researched magazine covers I am ready to make my magazine cover using photoshop the same programme which I used last year, shouldn't be too hard.
The first magazine cover is from Total film and is the front cover for issue 160 with megan fox from the horror "Jennifers Body".
The first thing you notice about the magazine cover is the main image of Megan Fox, she is central on the page and covers most of it at first you wouldn't tell it was a horror film until you see the blood on her hand and down the page. The title of the magazine is seen but part is missing as the main image overlaps it, at the very top of the page is a advertisement on why you should buy the magazine showing more of what else is inside like on this one it says "Our biggest preview ever" then has pictures of 3 films which personally I want to see anyway, so this would be a big selling point for me. The bottom left has a quote from the interview they have done with megan fox and on the right of the image of megan fox is a part of the contents with the text telling the buyer/audience what this magazine contains. The background being white really makes the images/text stand out and I think it works really well, but for my magazine I want to create a really dark and scary feeling so I can keep the genre of my film always with the images of it. But the layout of this magazine is one that I could certainly think about taking ideas from as it is very spacious with is good because I wouldn't like to read something which has too much going on.
The second magazine cover is from the magazine "EMPIRE" from the July 2008 issue with the joker from "Batman - The Dark Knight" on the front.
As you can see this magazine is alot more in your face with a massive picture of the Joker, (Note: Even though the film being shown on the front cover isn't a horror it has the characteristics of giving that horror genre over.) The background firstly is hardly visible and where it is the colour is black which is what the jokers body fades into (see right of the joker) this makes the whole white face paint show up alot more and make it alot more gripping. The title of the magazine "EMPIRE" has been outlined in a lime green which matches the colour of the jokers hair, this colour is used throughout the front cover on most of the texts and outlines boxes creating a colour scheme for the page. To the left of the joker is a selling point for the magazine telling the audience what special is in the magazine, at the bottom again is more of these selling points. There is a tagline for the film as well as the film title both on the jokers forehead. The way the jokers eyes are looking at the camera gives a very evil presence to this photo which is what I want to create when my magazine cover is made. This magazine cover is one which I will be taking ideas from and maybe basing my photo on the same way they have done with a huge on which covers the page really making the magazine stand out.
Now I have researched magazine covers I am ready to make my magazine cover using photoshop the same programme which I used last year, shouldn't be too hard.
Poster Research
Aswell as making a film trailer I had decided that making a film poster promoting the film would boost sales to the film, as not everyone would see the trailer on television but out and about posters can be seen by alot more people, if they are up at bus stops, billboards etc. So how was I going to design my poster to fit the genre I was aiming for. I looked at posters which are for professional films like the ones I researched for my trailer The Strangers, Halloween etc.
The first poster I researched was the one for the film The Strangers.
The poster here shows the three "strangers" and their two victims, the poster instantly gives the genre away with the three masked people staring at two hopeless victims without seeing their eyes there is no evidence of how they are emotionally, in other words their eyes cant give anything away. At the top of the poster is the films tag line "Because you were home." which in the film is said by one of the "strangers" when asked "why are you doing this?" from their victims, but before seeing the film you wouldn't have known this, so when you hear it in the film you get that cold chill because you think where have I heard this before. The title of the film is below the main image in a unique font, just above that is the two names of the actors of the victims and at the bottom the film companies and the sponsors who made the film. This particular poster I really like as it does give across a very clear message of what genre it is especially with the way that the image has been taken and the use of text with the fade to black at the bottom. This poster would be one that I could take ideas from to make mine look as professional as possible.
The next film poster I am going to analyse for my research is the Halloween film by Rob Zombie.
This poster straight away gives you the genre with the main character Michael Myers holding his trademark knife in the foreground of the image. In the background there is the house where he grew up into being this physcopath. This poster has done something that I wouldn't have by using a very white background as most people would associate white with hope/god etc. so having it on the poster for a horror film is a clever thing to do, as they have made the character shown a very dark and dirty colour making him stand out alot more. The title text is across the middle of the page in near enough the same place as "the strangers" poster. The colour of the text is a dirty green the same colour can be found on the face of the killer this colour for me represents rotting/death which is maybe one of the reasons why they have gone for it. At the top right of the poster is the tag line "The evil has returned" that alone is enough to give away the genre. Behind the killer is the faded out house which I really like as it shows mainly the outline in the same colour as the text but a much more faded version again keeping the same colour scheme throughout the poster. Below the title of the film "Halloween" there is the directors name, companies names to do with the film and a release date. So all the important information about the film is present on this poster which is what I must remember to have on mine.
Now I have a better idea about what makes a good horror poster for a film I can now start making my poster.
The first poster I researched was the one for the film The Strangers.
The poster here shows the three "strangers" and their two victims, the poster instantly gives the genre away with the three masked people staring at two hopeless victims without seeing their eyes there is no evidence of how they are emotionally, in other words their eyes cant give anything away. At the top of the poster is the films tag line "Because you were home." which in the film is said by one of the "strangers" when asked "why are you doing this?" from their victims, but before seeing the film you wouldn't have known this, so when you hear it in the film you get that cold chill because you think where have I heard this before. The title of the film is below the main image in a unique font, just above that is the two names of the actors of the victims and at the bottom the film companies and the sponsors who made the film. This particular poster I really like as it does give across a very clear message of what genre it is especially with the way that the image has been taken and the use of text with the fade to black at the bottom. This poster would be one that I could take ideas from to make mine look as professional as possible.
The next film poster I am going to analyse for my research is the Halloween film by Rob Zombie.
This poster straight away gives you the genre with the main character Michael Myers holding his trademark knife in the foreground of the image. In the background there is the house where he grew up into being this physcopath. This poster has done something that I wouldn't have by using a very white background as most people would associate white with hope/god etc. so having it on the poster for a horror film is a clever thing to do, as they have made the character shown a very dark and dirty colour making him stand out alot more. The title text is across the middle of the page in near enough the same place as "the strangers" poster. The colour of the text is a dirty green the same colour can be found on the face of the killer this colour for me represents rotting/death which is maybe one of the reasons why they have gone for it. At the top right of the poster is the tag line "The evil has returned" that alone is enough to give away the genre. Behind the killer is the faded out house which I really like as it shows mainly the outline in the same colour as the text but a much more faded version again keeping the same colour scheme throughout the poster. Below the title of the film "Halloween" there is the directors name, companies names to do with the film and a release date. So all the important information about the film is present on this poster which is what I must remember to have on mine.
Now I have a better idea about what makes a good horror poster for a film I can now start making my poster.
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