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Planning - Poster
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
After carrying out much research into genre and codes and conventions surrounding movie trailers we chose to use the stereotypical conventions seen in many horror trailers. We decided to do this as we figured that if that is the way most trailers are made then it must be the most effective way of reaching their target audience. We conformed to the typical codes and conventions of horror trailers through use of costume, lighting, sound and through the plotline of the movie.
The costume seen in our trailer may appear to the audience as casual clothing that has had no thought put into it but we have purposely dressed the characters in this way so as they are portrayed to be 'normal' high school students. It is set in a sixth form of your average English high school and therefore we did not want the costume to be a central part to our trailer. Furthermore they were all dressed similarly as it is unknown to the audience that one of the characters is the villain and so we did not want to make it obvious which character this was as it adds to the mystery.
The lighting we used often looked more effective when filming than it did on screen so we ended up editing the lighting quite a lot in post-production. Often there was too much light to give the effect that we needed to make the genre clear to the audience. Therefore on many of the shots we used a brightness decrease tool to dim the lighting and to stick to the codes and conventions of lighting in horror movies.
The sound took a considerable amount of time to get right, we had problems with the software we were using in overlaying the soundtrack and sound effects so as they could be heard at the same time. Through looking at our research we saw that there was rarely times when you just heard sound effects without the soundtrack being heard at all in the background so we had to figure out a way to do this. We used sudden 'bang' sound effects to excite the audience in certain shots, we found that the timing of these sounds was crucial and must fit exactly to the image to be effective. Before much of the sound was added the trailer was much less effective than it is now with the sound added, we found that the sound is a major part in the trailer and that without it, it would not meet the expectations of its audience.
The costume seen in our trailer may appear to the audience as casual clothing that has had no thought put into it but we have purposely dressed the characters in this way so as they are portrayed to be 'normal' high school students. It is set in a sixth form of your average English high school and therefore we did not want the costume to be a central part to our trailer. Furthermore they were all dressed similarly as it is unknown to the audience that one of the characters is the villain and so we did not want to make it obvious which character this was as it adds to the mystery.
The lighting we used often looked more effective when filming than it did on screen so we ended up editing the lighting quite a lot in post-production. Often there was too much light to give the effect that we needed to make the genre clear to the audience. Therefore on many of the shots we used a brightness decrease tool to dim the lighting and to stick to the codes and conventions of lighting in horror movies.
The sound took a considerable amount of time to get right, we had problems with the software we were using in overlaying the soundtrack and sound effects so as they could be heard at the same time. Through looking at our research we saw that there was rarely times when you just heard sound effects without the soundtrack being heard at all in the background so we had to figure out a way to do this. We used sudden 'bang' sound effects to excite the audience in certain shots, we found that the timing of these sounds was crucial and must fit exactly to the image to be effective. Before much of the sound was added the trailer was much less effective than it is now with the sound added, we found that the sound is a major part in the trailer and that without it, it would not meet the expectations of its audience.
2) How effective is the combination of your main product and your ancillary tasks?
We believe that our main task and our ancillary tasks worked well together, ensuring that the genre was consistent throughout them all, and that they were cohesive.
Although the characters in the trailer are not introduced directly the audience still gains an incite into the roles that they play. We continued this when creating the poster as all the characters have their eyes closed but one, therefore making the audience question why that particular character is different from the others. By doing this it allows the audience to speculate as to what the meaning behind this is. This is also seen in the trailer with the same character where she turns to look directly into the camera at the end, this leaves the audience thinking about what the significance hr role has in the film. By using direct mode of address in our main product and both ancillary tasks we believe that this links them all together and allows them to be recognised.
Another way in which we made our three products combine is by using the same font on them all. This way it would become recognised almost as a logo for the film.
Trailer
Poster
Magazine Cover
One of our main focuses was to ensure that all of our products had the same feel about them in terms of genre and atmosphere. We believe, and our feedback shows that we were successful in maintaining the horror genre throughout and having a feel of mystery about them.
We also wanted to make sure that all of our products were as effective as one another so although we did more research into the trailer, much of our findings could be applied to both our ancillary tasks.
Although the characters in the trailer are not introduced directly the audience still gains an incite into the roles that they play. We continued this when creating the poster as all the characters have their eyes closed but one, therefore making the audience question why that particular character is different from the others. By doing this it allows the audience to speculate as to what the meaning behind this is. This is also seen in the trailer with the same character where she turns to look directly into the camera at the end, this leaves the audience thinking about what the significance hr role has in the film. By using direct mode of address in our main product and both ancillary tasks we believe that this links them all together and allows them to be recognised.
Another way in which we made our three products combine is by using the same font on them all. This way it would become recognised almost as a logo for the film.
Trailer
Poster
Magazine Cover
One of our main focuses was to ensure that all of our products had the same feel about them in terms of genre and atmosphere. We believe, and our feedback shows that we were successful in maintaining the horror genre throughout and having a feel of mystery about them.
We also wanted to make sure that all of our products were as effective as one another so although we did more research into the trailer, much of our findings could be applied to both our ancillary tasks.
3) What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
From the very start of our project it was important to collect audience feedback to help us create the best product we could. By asking other peoples opinions it enabled us to target wider audiences of different ages and genders. We carried this out for all of our three products using the comments we gathered to improve them, catering to everybodys tastes.
The poster was an essential part of our advertising as it was the face of the film. This still image needed to create suspense, enigma, and an eerie feel, letting the audience know it was a horror film with out giving to much away. Initially the background was white as we assumed that this would make the picture stand out, making it eye catching for the audience. However, after asking people what they thought of this they disagreed on the grounds that a black background would be more effective as they associate black with death and fear. Therefore it would be more appropriate for a poster advertising a horror film.
People also commented that they thought it would be effective to have more than one image on the poster. We considered this however decided against it as we personally felt it would be to busy for the genre we were trying to portray. As the film poster was of the horror genre we felt that less was more, and that keeping it simple would have a greater impact.
Audience feedback for this was also vital as it assured us of what the audience did like and what was effective. We learnt that the idea of having one character with their eyes open and the rest closed was effective as it showed that she was different from the other characters, however the audience weren't informed as to why. This made them curious, therefore making them want to watch the film to find out.
It was also important that we got feedback for our magazine cover. Throughout our research we discovered that it was important not to make our cover to busy as that would draw attention away from the film. It was important that we got the balance just right as if it was to bare it would make it boring. By asking our audiences for their opinions we learnt that originally it was to bare, and by adding things such as a puff and our film tagline, we could make it more interesting for the reader.
Some people also commented on the fact that the title of the film was unclear against the background of the magazine cover. We experimented with this giving it a glow behind it, however decided against it as we felt it made it to cartoon like. Although it did make it clearer we felt that it took the eeriness away therefore, we decided to keep it as it was.
Without this feedback it would have been impossible to create our products as it is important to make sure it is to everybodys taste. Many of the comments made were ones that we may not have initially though of, therefore broadening our minds and forcing us to cater to every ones interest's, not just our own. Although we were following the typical codes and conventions, this would prove pointless if it did not attract our target audience therefore making it even more vital that we listened and took on board their ideas.
The poster was an essential part of our advertising as it was the face of the film. This still image needed to create suspense, enigma, and an eerie feel, letting the audience know it was a horror film with out giving to much away. Initially the background was white as we assumed that this would make the picture stand out, making it eye catching for the audience. However, after asking people what they thought of this they disagreed on the grounds that a black background would be more effective as they associate black with death and fear. Therefore it would be more appropriate for a poster advertising a horror film.
People also commented that they thought it would be effective to have more than one image on the poster. We considered this however decided against it as we personally felt it would be to busy for the genre we were trying to portray. As the film poster was of the horror genre we felt that less was more, and that keeping it simple would have a greater impact.
Audience feedback for this was also vital as it assured us of what the audience did like and what was effective. We learnt that the idea of having one character with their eyes open and the rest closed was effective as it showed that she was different from the other characters, however the audience weren't informed as to why. This made them curious, therefore making them want to watch the film to find out.
It was also important that we got feedback for our magazine cover. Throughout our research we discovered that it was important not to make our cover to busy as that would draw attention away from the film. It was important that we got the balance just right as if it was to bare it would make it boring. By asking our audiences for their opinions we learnt that originally it was to bare, and by adding things such as a puff and our film tagline, we could make it more interesting for the reader.
Some people also commented on the fact that the title of the film was unclear against the background of the magazine cover. We experimented with this giving it a glow behind it, however decided against it as we felt it made it to cartoon like. Although it did make it clearer we felt that it took the eeriness away therefore, we decided to keep it as it was.
Without this feedback it would have been impossible to create our products as it is important to make sure it is to everybodys taste. Many of the comments made were ones that we may not have initially though of, therefore broadening our minds and forcing us to cater to every ones interest's, not just our own. Although we were following the typical codes and conventions, this would prove pointless if it did not attract our target audience therefore making it even more vital that we listened and took on board their ideas.
4) How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Windows Movie Maker
We used this program throughout to create our trailer, we decided to use this program because we had previous knowledge as to how it works and therefore decided that we could produce a better outcome with a program we has experience with. If we had used a new unknown program them we would have been trying to teach ourselves how to use a whole new program and waste time trying to figure out how to use it to its full potential.
Powerpoint
Although Powerpoint is not designed to make posters or magazines it is a program that we had huge depth of knowledge in how it is used and so chose to use this. It may be seen by some as being an unprofessional program but we believe and as seen in our feedback we have created an effective product and meets the aims of what we needed to meet our target audiences needs.
Photoshop
We briefly used Photoshop to remove the background from the image we used in our poster. We were very unfamiliar with this program and so something that should have been relatively simple became rather time consuming. We had not planned to use this program but the other programs we were using did not enable us to remove the background of an image.
Picasa
This program was used when we were editing images for the poster and the magazine cover. We used the 'highlights' and 'shadows' tools to increase and decrease darkness to create the desired effect.
Paint
Though this is a very simple program it came in useful reguarly. We used it when print screening progress shots for the poster and magazine cover, also for the storyboard and the images used in the questionnaires. It was useful because it allowed us to save printscreens as picture files and upload them straight to our blog.
Excel
We used excel to create our pie charts to clearly display our findings in questionnaires to find peoples opinions on titles, fonts, narratives etc. This was also a program that we had previous experience with so was quick and easy to create what we needed but was also effective.
We used this program throughout to create our trailer, we decided to use this program because we had previous knowledge as to how it works and therefore decided that we could produce a better outcome with a program we has experience with. If we had used a new unknown program them we would have been trying to teach ourselves how to use a whole new program and waste time trying to figure out how to use it to its full potential.
Powerpoint
Although Powerpoint is not designed to make posters or magazines it is a program that we had huge depth of knowledge in how it is used and so chose to use this. It may be seen by some as being an unprofessional program but we believe and as seen in our feedback we have created an effective product and meets the aims of what we needed to meet our target audiences needs.
Photoshop
We briefly used Photoshop to remove the background from the image we used in our poster. We were very unfamiliar with this program and so something that should have been relatively simple became rather time consuming. We had not planned to use this program but the other programs we were using did not enable us to remove the background of an image.
Picasa
This program was used when we were editing images for the poster and the magazine cover. We used the 'highlights' and 'shadows' tools to increase and decrease darkness to create the desired effect.
Paint
Though this is a very simple program it came in useful reguarly. We used it when print screening progress shots for the poster and magazine cover, also for the storyboard and the images used in the questionnaires. It was useful because it allowed us to save printscreens as picture files and upload them straight to our blog.
Excel
We used excel to create our pie charts to clearly display our findings in questionnaires to find peoples opinions on titles, fonts, narratives etc. This was also a program that we had previous experience with so was quick and easy to create what we needed but was also effective.
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