Final Trailer

Below is the link for my final trailer. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CQL3REIQeE&feature=youtu.be

I started with my establishing shot of the couple sitting together on a table. This introduced the relationship between the two straight away. I wanted the audience to know the genre of the trailer as soon as they saw the first clip. I used a two shot which tells the audience what relationship the two people have. I started off with a heartbeat as the heart is an indexical sign that represents love so having a heartbeat represents the genre more. I used a voice over of the male narrative so that the audience can get a better perspective of the storyline and have it explained to them in more detail. I then showed an institution of universal studios to show who my movie is produced and supported by so that people recognize that it is a good institution that has done popular movies before. As soon as the institution of universal studios shows, the romantic soundtrack starts to play which automatically shows the audience what genre it definitely is. I then started to introduce my characters, starting with the main female. I used tracking to show the whole body so that people can have a bigger insight to her personality from her body language. I used a voice over as well as the soundtrack so that the male narrative can introduce this character and the women he has fallen for in more depth. I then cut the scene to the second female used a tracking shot on that character for the same reason of introducing the character. I used transitions like fade in and out to make the trailer more effective. I wanted to use 'Todorov's theory' and create a beginning, middle and end for the equilibrium, repair and reinstatement of the equilibrium. I showed scenes of the male being with the two females and showing the audiences how they fell in love. My aim was to allow the love to grow with the audience so that they start feeling all the emotions and feelings that the characters feel so get a wider knowledge of the story line whilst watching the trailer. I had to make it effective to encourage them to watch the movie as the trailer is a advertisement and one of the key elements to persuade audiences. Locations and settings used, I used from my feedback in research strategies and tried to keep my target audience satisfied. I kept a voice over throughout the trailer, however, also had dialogue from the characters to show the audience how they feel from their own speech. This would grasp the audience more as they would want to know their feelings and emotions in the movie. I brought up text near to the end of the trailer by using enigma questions so that the audience can have these questions in their mind and think about how they would feel if they were in this specific situation in the trailer for the movie. This is very effective as it leaves the audience with a cliff hanger and make them want to know more. I also brought up the actors names so that audiences know who is featuring in the movie and if they have seen them in other romance trailers it will encourage them to watch it more. It will also show them that their acting will make this movie more realistic and interesting to watch. I used over the shoulder shots when characters were using dialogue to put the audience in each characters shoes when they were speaking or being spoken to. I used mid shots and close ups for a more detailed shot for the audience to see clearly. Finally, I brought up the title of the movie with a slow fade in on a white background. I kept the colours, white with a mixture of pink and orange to keep synergy between all three media products. I then brought up the release date straight after that so that is the last thing the people see, it will be easier for them to remember and that would be the key element they would be looking for when watching the trailer so they know when to go watch it. The institution logos come up after that to show the support the film has had.

I kept the colours white with a mixture of pink and orange because it was a demand from my feedback. These are typical colours that represent romance so using them would state the genre straight away. The Mes En Scene for the characters was different depending on their personality shown. I made sure that the male and the female he was having the affair with wore the same colour clothing to show how they were in the wrong for going along with the affair. I used blue because it represents sadness of the main female that this is happening too as blue signifies depression and sadness. I used 'Propp theory' when choosing the clothing for the characters because I wanted to show the audience who the heartbreaker in the storyline was and who was the victim. I showed this by bringing out their personalities with how they acted, what they wore and the way they spoke. The media language I used was picked out carefully as I wanted emotion to be shown in every clip. I made sure body language and facial expressions were shown effectively to create an atmosphere for the audience. Smiling and laughing is essential in my trailer as romance is represented by that mostly. I used action scenes when showing the disruption in Todorov's theory by using diegetic sound of the door slamming by the character. Diegetic sound was used by having dialogue and movement by the characters. Non diegetic sound was used by having a voice over, heartbeat sound clip and a soundtrack.

Evaluation

Evaluation

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

My main media product produced was a trailer with the genre of romance. I researched and analysed other romantic genre movies of the recent year and wrote down the parts that stood out for me and the conventions that showed me the genre is romance. I broke down the different functions and looked at camera angles, shot, movements, sound, and mes en scene. With my existing knowledge, I recognized how these conventions gave the trailers a romantic touch. I used institution logos at the start to show the audience what institutions are supporting this trailer. This gives the customer some loyalty as they must have seen these institutions in other popular films. I used universal because it is a huge company with fantastic films that it supports. I then introduced the characters so that the audience can get to know them and see their personalities. This is usually done in romance films because the main characters are the most important. For the scenes used, I used two shot to represent the relationship between the characters in the film. This shot is used a lot in other romance trailers as the audience need to see the connection between these people. I used natural lighting to show the purity of their love and to show how emotionally connected it is. The natural sunlight signifies their love more because of the specific colours used and shown. I edited the trailer by using slow motion as it allows the audience to let the characters affection in. The clothing used, is very casual but I made the two main people wear a similar shade of colour to show the connection between them. I used the colours orange, white and red to represent love and signify it more. I also used blue to show the dark side of the relationship love triangle. I used a narrative of the male characters dialogue because I noticed that this was used in other romance trailers to show the story from the male’s point of view. Most women like the see the opposite sex’s point of view because it’s interesting to acknowledge within the romantic genre. In the trailer, the male shows gaze from his view towards the women as males think that they have power over them. I then brought up text to show more detail of to what’s going on in the trailer. It enhances the story line more and I used a mixture of pink and orange because it’s a light colour which connotes love and romance. I then brought up the actors and actresses names to show the audience that they are popular people that have done hit romance movies before so it is sure to not be a disappointment. I then finally brought up the title at the end so that the characters have something to wait for as they would want to know the title of the movie. The title slowly comes at the end in other romance trailers I have analysed which made me want to do it to my own so that it keeps the romantic style. I put the release date the end because it keeps the audience intrigued. The logos of the sponsors of this movie are showed at the end of the trailer in a couple of seconds to show who has supported the trailer and to involve them so people see organisations they recognize them. The only thing i would change is to use different clothing in the trailer to make it look more realistic and so the audience get a better insight on the characters personality by their style. I would also make the natural lighting more visible for the audience to have a clearer view.

In my other media product of a promotional poster for the trailer, I used the same colour scheme as the trailer to show a connection between the two. I used the same font as well which lets the audience know that the poster is made for that specific trailer. I kept the title at the bottom and the end to keep the same style as the trailer and to make the audience look at the poster from top to bottom until they see the trailer. I placed the three main characters in the middle to let the audience know who features in the movie. I made the male narrator give the audience eye contact so they have a connection with him straight away. I made the other two females look in different directions because they don’t know that they are both in a relationship with the same guy. This shows that the audience knows exactly what is going on but the two sisters don’t. I made the image connect to the title so there is some joint within the two. I put the characters names at the top so they are visible to see clearly. I made sure the two characters who are having the affair are wearing the same colours to show what they are guilty of. I put the release date underneath the title so the audience know exactly when the film is coming out.

My final media product was a movie magazine cover advertising the new movie I was creating. I placed the title of the whole magazine at the front because that is where they are always placed. This is to let the audience know what the magazine is called. I used ‘Empire’ because that is the most common magazine used. I then placed the image in the centre to show the same connection between the magazine cover and the promotional poster. I used the same clothing of the characters to show the association between the media products. I then placed the title at the bottom, using the same colours and font to show synergy between all three products. I then placed other text around the sides to let the audience know what other context is in the magazine to persuade them to buy it more. By having the front cover as my movie ‘Playing Duo’, it shows the audience the main topic inside the magazine. The pricing and date of issue is under the title so that the audience know where to look for it as it is the same on majority of the magazines. I placed the bar code at the bottom left because I tried to make it look similar to other magazines I had analysed.

 

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

My trailer that I had produced of ‘Playing Duo’ has a specific house style that I have kept for the promotional poster and magazine cover. I used synergy so that the audience realize that all three are connected. I wanted to use the same house style so that they all look similar. Within the font I tried to create a logo so that when the audience see it they recognize it because of the font style and the shade of colour I used. The image of the characters is obvious for people to recognize the title of the film. When creating all three media products, it is very important to provide a strong continuity between them all. A way I kept continuity is to keep the title ‘Playing Duo’ at the bottom or end of every media product and made sure the title was directly underneath it. I also made sure all three characters were in the main images for three of the media products I had created so that audiences start to notice all their faces together.

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

I used YouTube to watch other romance trailers like ‘Dear John’ and ‘The Last Song’. This showed me the codes and conventions I could use for my own romance trailer. YouTube allowed me to press pause on the trailers and go back to the parts where I wanted to analyse with detail which was beneficial for me. I also used YouTube to search for romantic soundtracks that I could use for my trailer to find the perfect one. This allowed me to listen to different romantic soundtracks that I thought would be the best match for my trailer. I then used my knowledge with the internet to convert the sound track to MP3 so that it would be the correct format for me to upload in my trailer. I used social networking sites to promote my questionnaires to a wide range of audiences so that I could receive different feedback for my research and planning. This is an easy method of gaining feedback as it is a quick and simple method. Most of my feedback would be from random people and therefore there would not be any bias results. I used movie maker to edit my trailer and cut the scenes to what was best for the trailer. I recorded all my scenes by using a digital camera and then transferring them onto my laptop. I then opened them up into ‘Windows Movie Maker’ and then I edited the scenes by using slow motion and fading to give it a better effect and to help the audience realize what genre it is. Movie maker helped me place the scenes to where I wanted them to go and to add in any text which includes the title, actors/actresses names and the release date. I also added in institutions so that my trailer looked professional as possible. I also created my trailer to be the duration of 2 minutes and under as that was the duration of other trailers I analysed. I could also add different effects on clips to make them stand out more. I also added a soundtrack onto the trailer and made parts of the clips have no sound so that the soundtrack over takes it. I then added in a narrative by using a microphone and recording the sound that I wanted. Then I plugged it into my laptop by using the USB cord connected to it and transferring the files onto Windows Movie Maker.

I used Adobe ‘Photoshop’ for my other two products:  Promotional Poster and Magazine Cover. I took two different images which a digital camera but made sure that they both had a connection in the way they looked. I then used the crop tool that Photoshop provided and cropped the excess that I didn't need. I then used the background eraser tool to take of any background of the picture that I didn't need and changed it to the colour I wanted. I then added text on both products and placed it to where I wanted it. I made both media products have synergy so that people could recognize that they were linked. To come together which a template of the magazine cover, I used the search engine ‘Google Images’ to browse some other ‘Empire’ magazines so that I could get an idea of how to create mine. I analysed them carefully and connotations out the points I liked about them. I also used my mobile phone to take pictures of some other movie magazines and posters that I saw so that I could analyse them and create my own media products.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

From my research from audiences, I have learnt that their views are very important as audience demand is what makes the film successful. I wanted to make the trailer, magazine cover and promotional poster something that the audience wanted to see. By creating questionnaire and making focus groups I found out exactly what the audiences expected. I found out within my target audience which are the most important audience that I needed feedback from, I also found out from people that don’t really watch romance genre films. I made several questionnaires for each media product to get detailed answers from different ranges of people. The majority of the outcome was expected however some of it was very unusual to receive. To conclude, audience feedback is very important as it helped me with my final outcome of products and i knew that it was what the audience demanded and expected to see. This shows that majority of the audience were satisfied with my products.

Interview Research: Trailer

Trailer Research

 

I have created questions to ask my target audience in my focus group to get a better idea on how to create my trailer for my A2 coursework. I want to get their opinion as they are my target audience. I will be recoding them using a video recorder and using them as a guideline for my coursework.

Trailer Questions

- Why do you think romance genre is your favourite movie and why?

- What stands out to you in romance trailers?

- What lighting do you think should be used for romance genre trailers?

- Do you prefer a narrator or dialog throughout the move, or both?

- What camera angles would you expect to be shown?

- What symbols would let you know that the trailer is a romantic genre?

- When would you want the title to be shown throughout the trailer?

- Would you want text guiding you through the trailer?

- What do you think the colour scheme should be?

- What is the one thing you would love to see in a romantic genre trailer?

 

I did an interview with a male and asked him questions about romance genres and what codes and conventions he would like to see when watching one.

Below is the link to my interview with him...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62Ptxg0sLKA&feature=youtu.be

I did another interview with a couple who are together and made them answer a few questions so i could get feedback on how to create my trailer and what they would want to see in my trailer.

Below is the link to my interview with them...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLCcq3zvbgU

Below is a Questionnaire I created for people to fill out so I can get a better insight on how to create my trailer and what codes of conventions would be the more effective.

 

 

 

I gave it out to 20 people to fill out and share their views and opinions with me. I wanted to know audience demand and what I would need to do to satisfy them with my trailer with the genre of romance.

 

Feedback

 

 

 

Magazine: Final

MAGAZINE FINAL

This is my final magazine front cover, below i have explained how i came up with the idea of creating it this way. 

I decided to alter my magazine poster and tweak some elements around to make it to a higher standard. I kept the white background to keep a synergy between all three media products and kept the font and tag line in the same position as the others with the same font of colour as i wanted to keep the house style the same. I kept the masthead as 'Empire' because it is a popular film magazine that i wanted to use. Having it red shows how evil the affair is in the story line but also connotes love and romance at the same time.  I kept the price and website visible at the top where it is always placed on 'Empire' magazines so that people automatically know where to look. At the very top, i placed text because when i analysed other 'Empire' magazine covers, they always had text at the top so i wanted to keep my layout similar. I used black and a mixture of pink and orange colours throughout the magazine as i did in the promotional poster and trailer to keep synergy. I edited the text and placed 'WIN A TRIP TO LONDON' on the side as an encouragement strategy for audiences to buy this magazine and want to read more. I didnt place too much text because i didn't want to give all the content the magazine featured away.

The main image has the main male character giving the audience eye contract which shows how he and the audience know exactly what he is up to. By having both girls looking in different directions shows that they don't know that they are being played by the same guy. This also shows the audience how unaware they are of this. It increases tension just by their body language and makes the audience want to know more. I also added text right at the bottom because this is usually an element that is on all empire magazines. The bar code is visible on the bottom left so that it is easy to see when people are buying this product. 

Poster: Final

FINAL PROMOTIONAL POSTER

This is my final poster that decided to change and improve for a higher mark. I changed the codes and conventions to make it look more professional and keep the synergy between all three media products.

 

I decided to change the background to a clear white, to help the main image and text surrounding it to stand out more. This is because these are the main elements that make the promotional poster as its aim is to encourage people to watch this movie that is releasing. I used 'Adobe Photoshop' to cut around the image with the background eraser tool and took away the excess of the image that wasn't needed. This helped the characters to stand out more and my target audience wanted white as one of the main colours in my poster. 

I kept the title font the same as my trailer and my magazine cover to show synergy and keep the house style. I also kept the colour of a mixture of pink and orange as that was the demand from my research strategies. Also this is a colour that represents romance as it is very feminine and is close to red which symbolizes love and the heart which an indexicle sign as it is the main representation for romance. I placed a box around the title to show how the main mail is trapped in his own head about who to chose between the two sisters, it gives the audience a tease on what the story line is based on without giving too much away. I used the tag line for the movie on each of the media products that i had created to help the audience see the similarities that all three had. 'You can't help who you fall for' is a tag line i used to go with the title of the movie and to make people want to know more about this and persuade them to watch the movie.  I kept this white to show the purity of how you cannot help who your heart falls for, this shows the innocence of it and how love is a powerful thing. I placed this under the title to show the connection between the two. I put the names of the actors right at the top of the poster because i noticed this is usually done in other romance posters i had analysed. I wanted to keep the house style for romance genres the same. The colour for the names is black to keep it simple but also make it stand out. I placed a line underneath the names to show the separate worlds between their reality lives and their roles in the movie. Underneath, i told the audience what other films the author had done so that if they are a fan of those films they will understand that this would be the same as they are both scripted by the same author. This is another encouragement strategy i used for more popularity and reputation of the movie. I used black and the same colour i used for the title to keep the house style the same. Under that, i showed ratings that popular organisations have said about the movie to show audiences that this is rated an excellent film. Is is another encouragement method used in most romance genres i analysed to pull people to watch the film. I put the institutions, distributors and production lines at the very bottom of the poster in very small font as it is not that important for the audience to view unless they wanted to, they could by going out their way to read it. I used capital font for this to make it bold and professional as this explains all the production and people involved to create the movie. At the very bottom of that i placed when the movie will be released in bold and in the same colour as the title. This is a key element people would want to see so that they know when the movie is coming out. This is one of the first things they look for on the poster. On the right hand corner i put a PG sign as that is what the age rating is for this film. I wanted it to be clear on the white background so audiences could see it straight away. This is essential. I kept the colours for the house style the same throughout all three media products to keep synergy and to help audiences remember that they are all connected to each other. I added in institution logos at the bottom of the poster because it shows who the movie is supported by and is also on other romance promotional posters I have analysed. I have also added the website of the movie at the bottom so people can go on it to find out more information about the movie: Playing Duo.

I am very impressed with the new improved magazine cover i have created as it has more codes of conventions of average romance promotional posters. This helps people know exactly what genre this is when they first see it. It also gives it a professional look and shows a high level of my understanding of promotional poster layouts and conventions. 

Audience Feeback

Audience Feedback

I got a lot of audience feedback from my peers which helped me know what i had to change to improve all three of my media products. I got a variety of feedback giving me an idea of how i could make my products better to represent that the genre was romance. I had one to one conversations with peers after they had viewed all three of my products and i also got three stars and a wish so that i know the positive and negative points. 

I changed a few elements to make it better and then showed people again and got a better response this time. This showed me that majority of audiences were satisfied with my products and notice straight away what the genre is.

I put my trailer, promotional poster and magazine cover on different social networking sites like: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube where i got responses from different audiences so i could get a deeper knowledge of what people thought of it. This gave me a wide range of audiences to get feedback and opinions from. 

Feedback For Trailer

Pooja: 

+ Good use of natural lighting, it goes well with the romantic genre

+ Good scene layout, the use of todorovs theory is in check

+ Voice over is effective

- Needs more scenes to show the audience more

Karisma: 

+ Voice over shows the story line more

+ Text throughout guides the audience

+ Over the shoulder shot

- More dialogue from characters

Sunil: 

+ Good structure of the trailer

+ Locations used brings out the genre

+ Body language 

- Level the volume of soundtrack and dialogue

Kwesi:

+ Very good shots/scenes

+ Soundtrack

+ Good form of dialogue 

- Volume 

Natasha: 

+ Nice text structure

+ Transactions 

+ Shots 

- More scenes needed

Arabella: 

+ Good camera angles 

+ Transactions

+ Soundtrack 

- More text would make it better

Feedback for Promotional Poster Draft

Pooja:

+ Colours used

+ Layout of image

+ Structure 

- Background colour

Karisma:

+ Image taken

+ Rating

+ Professional look

- Colour of background

Sunil:

+ Font Used

+ Shot of main image 

+ Title and release date

- Need a full shot of the image

Kwesi:

+ Colours used

+ Layout of poster

+ Font of title

- Background colour

Natasha: 

+ Main image is taken well

+ Actors names at the top of the poster

+ Colours used

- Structure of the poster

Arabella: 

+ Actors names on the poster at the top

+ Colours of the poster

+ none

- Background colour

Feedback for Magazine Cover Draft

Pooja:

+ Using a popular mag like Empire

+ Colour scheme 

+ Image used 

- Better font 

Karisma:

+ Structure of magazine 

+ Encouraging text

+ Masthead

- Mixtures of colours

Sunil:

+ Main image

+ Colours used for magazine 

+ Title of magazine 

- Add more colour

Kwesi: 

+ Main image shot 

+ Where the title is placed

+ Extra information on the side

- Structure of the magazine layout

Natasha:

+ Colours used

+ Name of the magazine shown

+ none

- Not enough information

Arabella:

+ main image taken

+ colour scheme of romance colours 

+ title and tag line 

- pricing needs to be a bigger font

Draft Poster

DRAFT PROMOTIONAL POSTER

Here is my finished promotional poster draft that links to my trailer for the movie: Playing Duo. After getting feedback from 20 people from my target audience, which are people that follow and enjoy romance films, i created this so that my target audience would be satisfied with the outcome. 

I started off by placing the main image in the middle as this was the demand from my target audience. I also followed trends of other promotional posters i analysed as they would also have their main image in the center/middle too. I made sure the male character, who was also the main character and the narrative in the trailer had eye contact which the audience. This shows the connection between them both and shows that they both know the secret that he is hiding in the story line. This creates a good effect as it gives the audience a feeling of mystery and that feeling of knowing something that could cause complications. i made sure that all three characters were linked when taking the photo as i wanted to tell the audience how strong their relationship between one other was. This makes the story line more emotional and intense. Both of the female characters are facing a different direction and not towards the audience. This shows that they don't have a clue as to what is going on and they are blinded by his love towards them. This can relate to the feminist theory as it shows men are ore powerful and can control women the way they want to. It shows how low a women status could be. I made sure that the two that were having the affair wore the same colour clothing to show that they are connected in that way. 

I used my questionnaire feedback and placed the mast head in the middle, under the main image. This shows how the male is playing both females underneath all this lies and betray. I used the same font and colour as the trailer to show synergy between the two. I want people to look at the masthead, font and colour and release what movie it is straight away. An example of this would be 'Harry Potter' because of the font it uses, people know it straight away. Its kind of branded and a logo. I placed the actors and actresses names at the top above the characters so people know who they are easily. Again, using the same font and colour throughout. I placed the institutions, production lines and distributors underneath the title as this is needed so that people know more about the institutions and production. This can give the movie a good reputation depending on who has produced it and what institutions have supported it. Finally, the release date is placed at the bottom of the promotional poster so that the last thing people see is when it is released so that they know when the watch it.