Question 4

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

Throughout the course we have used various technologies all interlinking with the construction of media products, these ranging from iMovie to Prezi and have constructed all of our products using the newly developed iMacs that we wouldn't ordinarily use in our day to day lives. 

We'd used Microsoft Word and PowerPoint in order to construct our research and planning together, I believe we'd used these due to the familiarity of them. Becka and I are both aware of each programme and I believe constructing our ideas and planning on these allowed us to broaden our knowledge on research because it was a tool that we knew would work and be able to be appropriately saved. Becka had created some research mind maps using PowerPoint because she was easily able to incorporate various shapes and arrows that she needed to effectively create a mind map. 

Word allowed us to construct and appropriate questionnaire that we needed to give us an insight of what the viewers really wanted within a thriller film, this was beneficial as it allowed us to then print off multiple questionnaires we'd designed. Word also allowed us to write down everything such as; ideas, analysis and evaluation of other products that we needed so then we could then post it to our blogs later on. Using this product meant that we weren't just simply talking about our ideas; we would be writing them down so that we could apply them later without forgetting vital parts of discussion. 

We had also used PowerPoint to adapt our billing block to have a more professional appearance, using Photoshop claimed to difficult as the text wouldn't move or change as we'd have liked however using PowerPoint and simply copying and pasting items we were able to make the professionalism of our billing block greater. 

To conclude I'd suggest Word and PowerPoint to be a beneficial programme that instantly allowed us to construct greater ideas and products, however we wouldn't use this software to develop our images for our products because unlike Photoshop it lacks professional quality and limits what you can do to the chosen product. 

Photography studio

We'd used the photography studio to capture our images for our ancillary tasks, we wanted our images to look as professional as possible and felt that using this setting as opposed to a natural setting would benefit our film greater. 

Paired with a studio setting is artificial lighting and we took full advantage of the quality equipment. We shot our images in the dark room and simply used the artificial lighting, we wanted to give the impression that the female was held hostage within a dark room even though the one in the trailer featured no element of pitch black. The pitch black eliminated the busy dark room background and meant that our products would have a plain background that wouldn't need to be extremely tampered with. To conclude I'm very glad we used the studio to capture our images because it meant the images looked very professional as we'd also used a professional camera that we had private access to. 

Internet 

We relied on the internet a lot when constructing, researching and planning our media products because we'd used the following: Facebook for feedback, Google for images of movie posters and magazine covers, YouTube for trailers and clips and traileraddict.com for all of the trailer previews.

I believe the internet is a useful way to retrieve all the information you need to research a product because it accesses everything you could ever want to know about. I believe it's improved our product because we were able to access existing media products so that we could compare and contrast the similarities and what we could improve so that our product had the same potential as the real life magazines, posters and trailers. 

We used Photoshop to develop our images for our ancillary products, we felt that Photoshop had helped us achieve the all important look that a thriller genre consists of. Using this software we were able to create 'low-key' lighting which thriller genres promote. 

The advantage of Photoshop is that it is a software that professionals use to create media products, as we have used it we are one step ahead of those who are unaware of how to use a programme, the software allowed us to professionally enhance our film poster and magazine cover. 

iMovie was the most vital programme we'd used to construct our media product, the trailer was priority and even though people say iMovie is 'too simplistic' it offered us the tools we needed to construct the most effective trailer. iMovie gave us the greatest options and I already had background knowledge of the programme which meant I didn't have to waste additional time learning how to effectively work a new software. I'd became quite a 'pro' when using the programme as I had background knowledge and I was developing this knowledge experimenting with tools that I hadn't before. 

The benefit of using iMovie was that it had a wide variety of effects and transition options which would be suitable for any genre that was being created, especially thriller as the 'dissolve' transition was at our fingertips. The effects were also at reach whenever we needed them, these were effective as they created the past and present look that was needed in our trailer. The layout of the programme was also simpler than more advanced software: Final Cut Express which I felt limited our options and knowledge as I was unable to effectively work the programme without messing our scenes up. 

To conclude I'd highly recommend this programme when constructing a media film or trailer because it has many options and tools that are easily accessible without confusion. 

Question 1

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

Trailer

The aim of our trailer was to successfully construct an engaging piece that stuck with the general conventions of a thriller film; we wanted the audience to feel empathy for all characters featured in the trailer, however we wanted them to feel confusion asking questions such as; ‘why has this happened? Who is the victim? Why has he done that? What’s going on? ... These questions could inevitably persuade or entice the viewers to want to see the entire film.

This is easily achieved by the number of different shots and angles we’d used throughout our trailer, each shot was properly thought out so that slight suggestions were made of the location, the narrative, the status of each character, emotion, time period and age. 

This shot was used to establish the area of the victims route, thriller films usually begin locations that are very similar to regular people to reinforce the idea of 'anything can happen' ... I believe a regular setting that creates familiarity would entice viewers to want to watch the entire film because some elements are easily relate-able. The setting could suggest that anything is able to happen, even in the least expected areas. This doesn't massively give-away the thriller genre because we wanted the viewers to guess what was to come. I believe this is a useful shot because it clearly establishes the area we intended to promote as an area of crime, however it also suggests the time period that the scene is in as we alternated from the 1990's to 2014 in every scene shown within the trailer. 
This shot also establishes what sort of female the victim is as people are easily able to identify the sort of person they may be from the clothing and fashion. This is effective in this sense because the long shot clearly shows that the victim is just a normal young female, she has not been victimised because of a provocative fashion because she is covered up. Overall I believe the shot to be efficient due to the surroundings and female victim (e.g. the car acts as a suggestion for the time period, the clothing suggests the traits of the girl), this could be useful in terms of visual suggestions.

We specifically used this transition because we wanted to imply that within the window of the standard house the victim was tied up and caged upon it. This transition bettered our trailer because it differed from the previous dissolving transitions I'd specifically put throughout the trailer, it provided a visual in-sight that the victim was within the the bedroom that the window looked out from. Audience feedback was generally positive from this transition and they had understood the idea of why we'd used it within our trailer, however the framing of the shot wasn't perfect and some of the window had been cut off. However to overcome this, with the additional improved skills I'd developed in iMovie I now knew how to battle this. I simply clicked onto a tool that would zoom into the chosen scene as much or as little as I needed, the overall effect of using this tool had bettered our product because the framing looked deliberate and not much window was cut off as we understand how important the framing is. 

We established the relationship of father and daughter through the use of the camera shots and angles, this was effective as these scenes provided visual evidence of how close their bond was. The shot had also enabled the setting to be exposed, a playing park also reinforces the idea of happiness and how the father made attempts to bond with his daughter. 

Using these scenes were useful and actually exploited the narrative of the film because the precious locket was always visible and it exposed a male of the same build (who later commits the abduction) with his daughter; this is for the viewers to interlink each scene with each other to summarise their idea of what the films about.

A close up shot of the locket was vital as this was the key narrative of the film, it's effective because it successfully shows off the locket that the victim in the later scene is also wearing. Not only does it do this but it also exposes the time period it was taken in as the actors Converse is also present, and from further research; was very popular during the 1990's. 

We used this as a point of view shot as it was taken from a low angle, this is effective because when we see someone of higher authority and power we usually 'look up' to them, this provides an indication of how powerful the male abductor is. 

Using my developed skills in iMovie I had added a special effect called 'flash and hold last frame'... this incorporated a 'camera shot' effect; as if someone had taken a picture of it. This shot was valuable as the audience would now link the locket from the past scene to this one, and hopefully understand the narrative better. 

This scene was used as another point of view shot to reinforce the idea of being watched, this promotes the conventions of a thriller film as point of view shots are presented to either show fear of a character. I believe this to be a useful shot because it shows the abductor to be concious of who's watching him and how every so often he'll peer out his window in search of his daughters return to reinforce the idea of his mental instability. 

We purposely used a slow motion special effect on this scene so that the viewers come to grips with the baby carrier being empty and that this was a trap to lure the abduction. The next scene was purposely sped up because she was being abducted at this scene, we wanted to visually imply that this was quick and simple, it also reinforces the idea of danger so I believe these scenes to be one of the most effective scenes within our trailer. 

We even deeply considered the text we'd use throughout, we used the effect that appeared and then gradually faded out. I believe this adds to the mystery of the trailer. Each piece of text provided a main director or where the film was from or a tag line that acted as a give-away for the film. We included things like 'A father is supposed to never give up' on one and then after a specific scene of the father and daughter bonding we'd continue with 'and Jason never did...'. This provides evidence of the narrative of the film and gives visual suggestions of what's happening. I believe the black text screens are very effective as they do present an idea of what's happening in the trailer and including things such as 'NEW LINE CINEMA PRESENTS' shows the professionalism of our trailer. .  

We even deeply considered the text we'd use throughout, we used the effect that appeared and then gradually faded out. I believe this adds to the mystery of the trailer. Each piece of text provided a main director or where the film was from or a tag line that acted as a give-away for the film. We included things like 'A father is supposed to never give up' on one and then after a specific scene of the father and daughter bonding we'd continue with 'and Jason never did...'. This provides evidence of the narrative of the film and gives visual suggestions of what's happening. I believe the black text screens are very effective as they do present an idea of what's happening in the trailer and including things such as 'NEW LINE CINEMA PRESENTS' shows the professionalism of our trailer. 

This was a very short clip and was only included to provide evidence that the child was abducted, however the true story was that the mother had abducted her child back, this would have been revealed in the whole film. This wasn't the best scene to use within the trailer because it does present a massive give-away to the film, however we wanted to include it to engage the audience further so that they were confused and questioning who had actually captured the young child and why. This improves the quality of the film because it does essentially create mystery and does make the audience want to see the film. 

The framing wasn't amazing in this scene because we didn't know how effective it would have been when piecing the trailer together. We needed to follow our actresses movement on the playing item however when filming we kept the camera still. We should have re-took this shot however with the limited time we'd left ourselves it was merely impossible, however we had overcome this by using a special effect on iMovie the tool allowed the shot to be zoomed in as much or as little as needed. By slightly zooming out it made a huge impact on the scene and made the framing slightly better. The shot also included features of the chosen setting and the all important pendant, this created a more effective opening of the trailer as it showed the child actress wearing the beloved pendant. 

These scenes were important and represented the fact that she was later going to be taken from him. To achieve this I'd used a special effect to reverse the entire scene, I wanted to include this and paired with audience feedback it remained because people thought it was effective as it slightly foresaw what was to come. 

This was an effective scene and I believe the scenery reinforced thriller conventions because they're usually within a dark, mysterious and eerie setting. 

To add to the elements which we'd adopted from real products I believe that our media product is a good example of following thriller conventions, it clearly shows how we've applied our knowledge to our product. 

Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Trailer
We felt that collecting audience feedback was an essential process after we'd created our trailer to see what individuals from inside and outside of our target audience had thought on the finished product. We issued our trailer onto a social networking website because the targeted age ranged from 15+ and most of the people I'm associated with on that website fit within the target category. 

Issues that rose from our feedback on the media website was that the billing block was quite unclear; this was because I had copied and pasted the image onto the trailer instead of importing it. To overcome this issue I had to quickly learn how to correctly import the billing block from Photoshop onto my trailer and get it to 'fit' the screen; I'd successfully done this after improving my skills and intuition. This immediately had a beneficial effect on the overall trailer appearance because it was readable and meant that we'd recuperated and improved the trailer to our target audiences' opinion. By involving our viewers and correcting our product to their needs it meant we empowered them which would essentially create a better product.  

Another improvement that was suggested by a peer is the use of voices within the trailer, we attempted to do this however everything we added sounded very artificial as it was essentially non-diegetic, never-the-less so that it had shown we'd listened to our audience feedback we decided to incorporate various, multiple noises to the ending of the trailer to increase the tension and intensity of the scenes, minor noises such as; loud breathing and screams had effectively improved our product because it did in fact create a lot more tension and excitement especially paired with the faster paced cuts. In conclusion I feel that the critical feedback has definitely allowed us to improve our finalised product into something more professional, overcoming programme defaults has increased my level of knowledge and skills and I feel that we needed more critical feedback to ensure that we'd done everything in our power to better our product. 

Never the less our audience acted very fond of our product, not only did we achieve feedback from the website but feedback in person once someone had viewed our product. However, on the social networking site people responded saying how they were most fond of the closing part of the trailer because of the fast cuts; this was also mine and Becka's favourite part. We specifically made the cuts faster towards the end to follow the conventions of a real media product that's in the thriller genre. We ensured that the faster parts only existed towards the end because we wanted the story to be told during the slower parts so that the audience got the message and then faster towards the end so that the viewer excitement had increased. 

I believe the fast cuts are what make our trailer and essentially reinforce the idea of a thriller genre and have greatly improved our trailer, the additional feedback was extremely useful and now that we've implemented it I believe our finished product appears better than ever and definitely more effective as it would now build excitement in our viewers. 

I'm glad that another person had expressed her opinion towards the different effect we'd used to present the past tense shots, she'd stated that she understood that these parts weren't set in present time which hopefully meant that other individuals would understand that this was the case. I feel we'd presented this effectively because the effect we'd used even had lines going across it as it taken from a video recorder. 

Another element that we needed to correct which wasn't posted onto the social networking website was the opening shot explaining the audience for the trailer, as I'd directly copied and pasted it onto the software it appeared very blurred; like the billing block. In order to correct this I simply imported the file onto the programme and 'fitted' it onto the screen so that no blurring or movement would appear. 

Receiving feedback was a useful process, using social networking websites proved a very quick and simple way of collecting target audience thoughts and opinions, it also enabled us to improve our work whilst involving and empowering our viewers. It informs us of the best qualities of our media product and ones we can adapt to improve our overall product. 

A major disadvantage is that we're unable to gain the opinions of regular people who aren't associated to me as everyone who is on my personal social networking website is an associate of mine, therefore we may receive bias opinions, it also means we can't keep individuals anonymous to protect their identity however I'm very aware that none of them will mind. 

Film poster

Again, I felt it was an essential process to gain feedback from people within and outside of our target audience to receive opinions on what they thought of our products. Unfortunately the magazine and film poster didn't receive any feedback from the social networking website, people had simply just 'liked' them. This meant that we had no evidence of feedback from the websites they were posted from, however we didn't just rely on the internet to retrieve feedback because technology is always bound to have faults. 

Alternatively we had used feedback from peers and teachers in our classroom to begin, a massive comment that threw us was that the billing block was too large. This threw us because my team member Becka had already 'flattened' the image which meant that we were unable to change, decline or adapt any layers we had previously combined together. 

An individual suggested we alter the size of the billing block as it was simply too large and didn't fit in with the general conventions of a film poster. Instead I had to correct the entire poster and completely start the entire editing again, it was pretty difficult to achieve and was a long process to complete in such little time however I'd managed to successfully re-incorporate the same design and overall appearance but with a smaller billing block. This was a beneficial comment that allowed us to better our product because it now became clear that the billing block was incredibly too large, the film poster now does look as if it's of a higher professional standard.

Another criticism rose from the tagline at the top, we included this because we wanted this as the official tagline of the film as it also featured in our trailer. An individual stated that there needed to be a gap between the comma and the wording or a '...' to add mystery and tension to the film. As I already had to correct the design of the poster I also ensured I changed this, I changed the wording of the tagline so that it made more sense and created a more fearful approach. The feedback received had ultimately improved our media product and made it more effective as it now completely followed the conventions of a real media product, I believe the professionalism of the entire product is now increased and feel we've succeeded. 

Film magazine

We felt that our media product was pretty good to begin with, however when receiving feedback we thought otherwise. To begin our magazine was very 'gapped' as we'd created our layout before adding and incorporating our enhanced image to it. Many individuals agreed that the text was too spaced out and some of the text was unreadable due to the colour scheme we'd stuck to. In terms of this criticism it became an essential process to recover and adapt our product to fit the viewers wants and needs to empower and involve them into the making our product, this was important as they were our target audience and anything that they like or enjoy needs to be featured so that they would want to see the film once it's advertised. 

Again, because we'd uploaded this to social networking website 'Facebook' it gave viewers the opportunity to simply 'like' the post instead of commenting, this provided very little or no constructive criticism so we solely relied on audience feedback we'd retained from our classroom, peers or family members which could be a bias opinion. 

Another criticism rose again from the text, under the big headlining 'THE TOP 100' we hadn't moved the text underneath over until we'd received feedback as they stated it 'cut the models positioning off' ... this was a simply adjustment that needed to be made, and I had simply moved this over to the side so that the models face and positioning wasn't spoilt. 

I believe that the minor corrections that are visible to the viewer eye are the ones that create the most beneficial criticisms because once rectified the product actually has the most professional appearance and if the viewer is able to spot these minor faults then once their eliminated they have nothing to criticise and more to enjoy. 

Overall, most of the feedback received was very positive with individuals stating how professional it had looked, I believe this is due to the similar layout Becka and I had agreed on. Many people had agreed that it looked very professional paired with the image because it was quite dark and the consistent colouring of the text again was very dark, they stated it had a very mysterious, dark theme that reinforced the thriller genre. 

In conclusion I feel the feedback we've received has been very beneficial, they've been constructive and allowed us to better our products by the slightest alterations. Without this feedback our products wouldn't be as effective as we'd have wished, it had definitely bettered our product performance and made each more effective.

Question 2

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

The aim throughout our entire A2 project was to ensure that their was a clear link and sense of consistency throughout all three media products; this would then ensure we produced the most effective promotional package and reach the highest quality of work that we could. We very much focused our time and energy on the following features: fonts and texts, content, expression/emotion, lighting and body language. 

Font/text 

We wanted to ensure that the fonts we'd presented on our ancillary products were fairly similar, we attempted to use the same font style of the film title as similar as we could and feel we've achieved in this way. We wanted to create this consistency so that all media products we'd produced looked to the same professional standard, consistency creates familiarity and if the viewers had seen our ancillary products they would have linked all three media products together to create the perfect promotional package that essentially encourages them to watch the film. We kept the colouring of the texts in each product consistent which was; white, red, grey and black, all of the colours being very dark reinforced the idea of danger and a thrilling nature. We wanted to imply that the film was full of dangerous adventure and we both felt that the colouring signified this, a lot of black was use; especially in the background to again reinforce the idea of danger and death as we so commonly associate dark colours with these elements. I believe that the colouring and font/text styles built up potential for the overall outcome and essentially 'made' the product as effective as it is. 

Posing/body language 

We wanted to achieve a vulnerable look for the main actress as she was the victim of the trailer and whole film, I posed laying on the ground whilst looking up because I feel it reinforces the idea of being trapped and peering up to someone of greater power; the body language improved the quality of our media products because it does actually represent and express how vulnerable the young female was. The additional rope and tape covering her mouth promotes this as well as she looks as if she's been punished and 'caged' which is our film title.

Within the film magazine the images were fairly similar and we didn't want the audience to think it was the same image, however changing the pose of the model was beneficial, luckily we took many images during this shoot so we had plenty to choose from. By making the girl look vulnerable we ensured the audience would be able to indicate what the following film had to offer, conventional elements of rope and tape created increased vulnerability; and these evidently show she is unable to escape from the manipulator. The title 'Caged' perfectly fits in with the ancillary products because they show that the victim is inevitably caged; the effect this has is that it benefits all three of our products because each of them consist of the same themes and ideas. 
As our trailer isn't stationary it meant that we couldn't replicate such poses within our trailer that we have in our products, however as she's tied up the consistent theme of being trapped occurs in all three media products we've created. I believe Becka and I have succeeded at created and establishing binary oppositions in terms of the characters, as we've captured the villain in very dark colours and isn't directly identified whilst the protagonist appears very innocent looking and is identifiable in each part of the trailer. 

Facial expression 
As the model I attempted to look distressed within these images, however I wanted to give the impression that this was a long term abduction; that this image wasn't just at the scene of the abduction but months after he had 'caged' her in. As I didn't appear as distressed as I would have liked I definitely wanted to give the impression that it was more like imprisonment and unhappiness rather than fear, that she had fought so hard for months that she had simply given up because it had been such a long period of time. I feel the facial expressions are important and that the facial expressions we've used present effective products which provide suggestion of our trailer or film. We'd have been more conventional if we'd have chosen a more distressed expression or an action shot however I feel with the correct justification stated previously we have successfully challenged the convention to better our products. 

Lighting 
From reviewing all of our media products it's highly evident that we had enhanced the lighting. Our trailer was something we intentionally needed to enhance because if we had kept it unedited it made it look very unprofessional and student like, however the various effects we'd applied to it created a vintage look for our period shots (set in 1990's) and an eerie feel to the present day scenes. The contrast in colouring through each scene took the audience through a non-linear suggestion of what the film will later reveal, as it went from past to present. I feel the lighting we'd enhanced onto each scene ultimately made our product more effective because it actually presented the different periods of time, without this the audience may not have identified what was going on in the trailer. In conclusion, I feel the effects we've used to be highly valuable and will engage a wider audience as the use of different scenes would be able to apply to people who are older, yet the newer scenes would apply to a younger crowd. 
We'd used artificial lighting in both magazine and film poster as we'd set up a studio like setting which generally combines lighting, professional camera and an unblemished background together. We'd created a more low-key tone to the images we'd used on each ancillary product which is effective because it sticks to the conventions of real media products that centre around the thriller genre. We'd used this to strengthen the genre and message of the film itself by creating a more vulnerable looking female that was in basic surrounding darkness. 

Check list

Every term we were given an assessment by our teacher on the progress we'd made to our research and planning, target audience research, set narrative, production schedule, location research, poster and magazine research, planning actors, sounds and lighting and blog updates. 

Question 1

 Film poster

There are many conventions we’ve implemented within our film poster, and I believe this has increased the professionalism of our poster. Piecing our poster together had great difficulty because of the position I was in when posing for each image, therefore we needed a quick solution to overcome this issue. Luckily as stated previous Becka and I both take A-level Photography and therefore overcome this with our technical skills of the programme.

Having reviewed real media posters I understand that the thriller genres use low key lighting to give off and reinforce the mystery of the following film being promoted. We enhanced our image using Photoshop by changing the levels and hue/saturation, this instantly improved our image and overall look because it made the lighting look more low-key promoting our thriller genre.

Unfortunately I didn’t wear the same outfit that I’d worn within our film so we alternated to wearing a black vest top that was barely visible, this was an valuable decision because if I was wearing completely different clothing (such as a different jumper) this wouldn’t show the consistency in our media products.

We had to quickly change our poster due to audience feedback claiming that it was too large, it had shown that we didn’t properly think of the posters we’d previously reviewed because the billing block is always very small. The quick change became problematic because we’d previously ‘flattened’ our image therefore in order to correct it I had to restart the entire poster. This was beneficial because now our media poster was much better and had actually stuck to the conventions of a real life poster product. The smaller billing block paired with a shadowed effect over the image created an overall more effective piece.

We stuck to the conventional appearance of a thriller film by having the victim low to the floor and peering up to the antagonist, the direct eye contact engages the audience into the model and creates a focal point. The effect of this created a more beneficial product as it presents the victim looking vulnerable. 

Question 1

Over many years people tend to associate certain conventions with a certain genres, generally reinforcing the idea of what a genre has to present. Various shots, scenes, camera angles and characteristics present the type of genre that the following media product will fit into, which ultimately affect the way the audience will identify and evaluate it.

Ways that the conventions determine the genre of a certain media product can be very different depending on what genre it’s trying to portray or reinforce, for example: mise-en-scene, lighting, camera shots/angles, character fashion and character personality.

Whilst developing ideas for our three media products (magazine cover, promotional poster and film trailer) we had to implement and test various conventions used within real media products in order to produce the most effective outcome and display and reuse our knowledge of real media products.

Magazine

I believe our magazine consisted of an effective selection of conventions used within real media texts, the conventions we’d used throughout the design of the magazine allowed our work to have a higher sense of professionalism. Below are the specific points Becka and I felt we have shown how we had followed real media products;

To widen or refresh our knowledge on how real media products were presented within magazines we had commenced primary research into the mass market film magazines; Total Film and Empire. We avoided taking further research into niche magazine titles because we wanted our media product to look as if it had gained great success; the widely established magazines also have set templates which appear at a higher quality standard. After a fair amount of discussion Becka and I had agreed on using Total Film as we felt it would work best with the look and approach we were edging towards. Total Film had very select and specific layouts that we’d easily be able to replicate so that our film magazine looked to a similar quality as a real product. We felt that Total Film had a wider audience and success rate, the magazine title is rarely ever completely displayed as the image or celebrity who features in the promoted film covers part, we suggested that this is a clear indication of the success because if the magazine title doesn’t need to be clearly displayed for purchasers to recognise it then it must be a popular and successful magazine. Choosing Total Film may suggest how successful our film would be because it’s the world-wide magazine that has instant recognition, however this would mean that we’d have to directly follow a layout to ensure our magazine cover establishes the same professionalism of the real media product.

Elements that are always featured within a magazine cover are items such as: a barcode, pricing of the magazine, the date it was issued, a website and the issue number, so it was obvious that we would need to incorporate these within our media design. When reviewing back to our magazine product they are all clearly displayed in the correct places as what Total Film are and therefore the effect of this is the improved quality of our work, also sticking to these conventions displays how a real magazine should look so we’ve ultimately improved the professionalism of the magazine whilst showing our knowledge of the conventions.

As the model on the cover of our magazine product I ensured I was looking directly at the camera, taking Photography and Media as an A-level taught me to understand the importance of direct eye contact in an image as it inevitably engages the audience and creates a focal point of the product. The enhanced darkness of the image reinforces the idea of what genre the film fits into, we ensured that the model looked as if she’d been battered and bruised to also provide suggestion on the genre the film would fit. I attempted to pose in a way that looked like I was being mentally tortured, imprisoned and helpless; the effect on this would suggest an idea of what was to preview in the real film. The small suggestion and in-sight provides enticement to the audience as they’d know what to expect however they’d learn the reasoning for this in the film, using an image like this makes the audiences question why this had happened, when and inevitably makes them want to find out therefore watching the film.

 Another convention we had used within our magazine product was the previewing of various other films above the title of the magazine; we had incorporated this idea from the research and planning we’d previously carried out. This has been a beneficial resource as the replication suggests the consistent layout and professionalism a real life magazine has. We had used our own images as we wanted to keep every element of our magazine our own, we had found this design on a previous issue of the magazine and felt that adding additional images would create a higher sense of professionalism and quality within our magazine. However to avoid copyright issues instead of using existing images from the internet of various films that we’d listed within the cover lines we’d used screenshot images from our AS project; Depleted. Using images within a magazine gives visual suggestions to the viewer inevitably engaging them into looking at the magazine, they were also featured in a distorted fashion instead of in straight lines; this has a better effect on the outcome as the messed fashion will draw attention to the magazine.

We’ve developed our magazine to fit the conventions of a real life magazine by adding phrases and cover lines in a larger font; this makes them more easily identifiable and gripping which would instantly create more positive audience feedback and better promotional ideals. Without the gripping phrases put into a larger font I believe the magazine would be too text-filled, too much text could potentially put off the viewers from wanting to buy and read the magazine as they would feel the magazine simply consists of text instead of exciting features. We ensured that the best features were presented on the cover and in a larger text size because these would be the potential selling point for the magazine, if they were gripping enough it would ensure more produce is sold.

A large selling point of a magazine is what features inside; usually the magazine will give a slight suggestion to what a following interview may hold. Therefore if we had revealed things that were going to be featured it should draw viewers into wanting to watch the film and read the entire interview. We didn’t feature any real life celebrities name within our film so unfortunately viewers may not have paid much attention to the interview clipping we’d featured on the front, however as we’ve followed the conventions of typical film magazines it shows our knowledge and understanding of real life concepts. I don’t feel we really challenged any of Total Films conventions when constructing our magazine cover, we felt obliged to stick to what knowledge we had developed through the research and planning because we wanted to evidently show how our primary research had guided us through the development of the cover, challenging it could have suggested a lack of knowledge; the ultimate effect of this meant our product layout couldn’t have looked unprofessional because we’ve basically directly followed a set layout.

As stated previously we had issues with the first image we wanted to choose for our magazine cover as it was taken from an angle that cut the models head off, however to recuperate from the mistake we used an image that was similar to the poster. Although many magazines and posters do feature similar images we thought that alternate images would look better, however as this wasn’t now possible we had to stick to similar image; the outcome was still very successful and I believe it betters our ancillary products. From primary research we knew that some films and posters are similar so it meant we weren’t challenging the conventions of real media products. Audience feedback was much more positive once the image was changed; they had stated that it made the media products ‘more consistent’ and that the products weren’t too similar as you could see the obvious alternate images. From receiving feedback we were able to have an in-sight of viewer opinions on what we need to alter, so I believe the feedback of changing the image was very useful and has effectively improved our overall product.

We stayed with the general convention of having only one character on our media products, we did this because we needed to gather our actors/actresses together and this wasn’t possible due to the limited time we’d left ourselves to take these images. As Becka and I have access to highly professional cameras we felt it was essential to use them to improve the quality of our images, because we had used good quality cameras it had actually improved our ancillary products because the images didn’t pix elate once opened on Photoshop. 

Film trailer

Directors Commentary

Film magazine

Becka and I discussed the film magazine company we'd like to use in order to create our own magazine cover for our own film, from researching established magazines that centre around new films and cinema releases we've found that the main magazines of this category are Empire and Total Film. I've found out that each are around the same quality and success therefore it's up to Becka and I to decide which would look the most effective. 
The advantages of going with a well established is that we have a readily made template that we needed to replicate, the well-known label would improve the professionalism of the trailer as it looks like our film has made it to the most successful magazine, it also gives us a set layout that we needed to follow. Never-the-less as we'd have to replicate a conventional layout of the magazine it limits our options for our own creative ideas, however as it's our magazine product we can alter the magazine cover in any way we please. 

Trailer feedback

Photoshop development

As stated previously Becka and I are very aware of how the Photoshop software works therefore we were put at an advantage when we were creating our magazine cover and film poster. Having existing knowledge of the software meant that we could combine our skills and create more developed and professional looking images. 

Promotional Package

Successful movies rely on promotional packages, solely because they essentially promote the film creating greater success. Promotional packages act as the advertisement to attract the audience into wanting to see the film; if they advertise the film properly it ensures that the correct target audience they have originally aimed to cater for is enticed by each media product. Promotional packages consist of things like; magazine covers, posters and other media products that ultimately promote the main media product (such as a trailer).

Becka and I have both created a promotional package to accompany our film trailer; the increased advertising will ultimately promote our film trailer so it has become an essential process to create the other 2 media products. Promotional packages can be shown through different visual stimulus; this means that the same media product is often present in various ways, for instance: trailers are shown on the television at various times of the day on various channels; they are also shown at the cinemas and easily accessible on the internet. TV and internet sources are always beneficial to use because they ensure that a wide audience access the material that’s been produced, they are also the two main sources that people use which suggests more and more individuals will view the certain product.

Becka and I ensured that all of our media products that acted as the promotional package interlinked and were consistent, by using characters that feature in our trailer on our poster and magazine cover it suggested the main character roles within the film; it also gave a suggestion to the narrative and content of the film.

The aim of our promotional packages was to slightly reveal the narrative of the film without giving away too much; we also wanted to expose the genre of the film to our audience so that they had a pre-conceived idea of what to expect. I always view thriller films as the most spine-chilling and exciting therefore revealing this was a tactic that would hopefully excite a broadened audience. 

Final poster 

Final magazine cover

Magazine development

We wanted completely diverse images for our magazine cover and film poster, we had partook in a photo shoot so that we had a wide variety of different images that could fit in both media products. Becka and I agreed upon the image above, however experienced problems when fitting it in to our magazine cover as the image wasn't large enough to fit the whole page. The alternative method to solve the situation was to use images that were quite  similar as these were more portrait and offered a longer image that could appropriately fit in both portrait magazine cover and film poster. This image would have been more effective if the photographer (Becka) had taken the image using a portrait shot ensuring my head fitted within the image, as the image cut the top of my head out it would have been impossible for it to look professional because viewers would see that the top of my head is literally missing. Once we had allocated the image onto our magazine cover it was evident that it would not work, however to ensure that people who were in our targeted audience agreed or disagreed with us we had asked them what they thought of the image on the magazine cover. Luckily they agreed with what we had said, asking for feedback deemed very beneficial as it gave us an in sight on what people who we wished to cater our product to had thought about our magazine cover. As we want to sell this product to people within our target audience we have to use material that they'd be engaged by, many agreed that the image was being engaging and interesting however as it was taken from a close up angle there would be gaps. 
From primary research I understood that many magazines allow close up shots on the front image for their magazine but I feel they have a greater use of either mid-shots or long shots of the starring character. With this said it was evident that we needed a different image for our magazine cover, being a vital source for promotion we wanted an image that would add mystery and excitement to the film without giving away too much suggestions on the narrative. 

Working with iMovie

I don't find iMovie particularly hard, I've used it in both AS and A2 projects because I find it relatively simpler than using Final Cut Express, I feel iMovie offers me more options than Final Cut and therefore creates a better outcome. 
iMovie allows me to add in my own transitions, sounds, cut scenes, pace, etc. and therefore benefits me greatly. I feel it's my product look more professional, I want my project to be much better than my AS product therefore different tools need to be included to create a better outcome. Having the experience in the programme made me more confident with using iMovie, if I hadn't have used it previously it would mean I needed to develop the skills, as I already have them I can enhance my skills further. 
I believe my project will be more successful and professional using iMovie, even peers have asked for advice on how to use the programme because I have developed a good knowledge on how things work on this particular programme. 
Some would suggest using iMovie to be very basic and a 'cop out' however I do not believe the same, I don't feel Final Cut would offer me the same tools I would need to produce a trailer like the one I already have. Final Cut is obviously more advanced in the sense that it offers more professional and precise tools, this would obviously suggest a better outcome however because of my inexperience and instant disliking last year, as the editor I avoided using Final Cut. I feel it would develop a music video better than a film trailer because the programme, if used correctly, is able to eliminate backgrounds and provide lip-syncing easier. I believe the naming of the programme iMovie gives a pre-conception of being a more beneficial programme for developing films, this is what lured me in during my AS project. 
Before completing my A2 project I was determined to develop my skills and overall media products by using the more advanced, Final Cut Express, never-the-less I feel that it didn't offer the tools I already grew fond of that were readily available on trusting programme iMovie, tools such as; transitions and background effects. 
Having readily available tools that I was already aware of and experienced with instantly put my at a slight advantage into the completion of my media product as it meant I didn't have to spend additional time learning a new software/programme that was quite difficult and wasn't always reliable due saving re-writes and problems other peers in my class had experienced. The only time I've found Final Cut to be beneficial was when developing and editing a music video as a preliminary task as I was able to eliminate the green screen into a gif from the internet, paired with a real music song that lip-synced perfectly. The advanced tools weren't necessary in the production of the film trailer, I didn't need to eliminate any backgrounds from the shots Becka and I had filmed as that is what created the perfect mise-en-scene to fit in with thriller genre conventions. The tools that I found I needed were all found in iMovie, I had a pre-conceived idea of how I wanted to adapt and improve the original filming and found iMovie to successfully fit the expectation. 
Overall I believe that our media film trailer has benefited greatly from using iMovie, it's impacted the trailer into creating something that originally looked very mediocre and home-made into something of higher professionalism. 
The tools I've used within iMovie were as follows: 
Transitions; which effectively dissolved each scene into another, this made the trailer flow as each went into the other, this was very effective and meant we had followed the conventions of the high majority of thriller trailers. 
Effects: this allowed me to literally add an effect over the entire filmed scenes included in the film trailer I've produced, this enabled different accessible effects that made each of my scenes fit the narrative of the film. Luckily there was an effect that created an 'old time' look over the shot, as half of our trailer is supposed to look like it's in the past (90's) this effect was brilliant and ensured the viewers were able to understand that some parts were set in the past. 

Movie Production Logos

Production logos are visual information that is included in every film that’s been produced; some actually suggest the type of film that is yet to come as many movie productions cater for one type of film, whether that’s Pixar for Disney films or Lionsgate which is a multi-film organisation. Lionsgate is a production logo which is highly recognised because of how many successful films the company associate with, Becka and I found it an essential process to research upon what logo we should use to promote our film. As stated previously I feel that production logos often suggest what category or genre the film fits into as many only associate themselves with only a select few genres of film, this would provide a clear indication of what the viewers should expect with the following film. From completing my AS media course I have learned and became aware that specific production logos only associated with particular genres, in my AS project the production logo Becka and I decided to use was Paramount Vantage which I believe is a logo that is generally seen on thriller movies, although this was an option I felt  it was necessary to change the production logo because it would show our developed knowledge and show that we’ve took our time to research into greater logos that feature on a thriller genre; we decided upon New Line Cinema simply because of the recognition and popularity of the production, it also had a great association in supporting thriller films. There was a wide variety that we could have chosen from as they all featured on thriller films however we could only choose one and New Line Cinema seemed most appropriate. Reviewing already established films helped us to come to our decision on what production logo we should use, we took a lot of time to review films that had the same genre as ours to give us a clear indication of what production we should be using. We looked directly at trailers such as; Final Destination, Night Mare on Elm Street, The Lovely Bones and Prisoners and most of the previous selection featured New Line Cinema so it was obvious that this was the production that would fit our trailer best. If successful films had already used this production logo and had resemblance to our genre then it made sense to follow the same production logo. As it’s also such a well known ‘brand’ it may suggest that the film has greater professionalism and quality because it has the same logo as successful films. 

Final Poster and Magazine Cover

Film poster

Magazine poster

Roles

Past experience has proved that Becka and I work well as a team, from studying AS media together and creating a film opening we’d learned that we were successful as a team. Becka and I worked together to create a film trailer, film poster and a film magazine, all media products would have a large workload and therefore the effort and participation needed to be equally shared, because of this we had set roles that both of us would fulfil. Being in a group with only 2 members has its benefits and meant that Becka and I was able to share, combine and exchange ideas and skills in order to achieve the most successful outcome.

We take very similar subjects however Becka benefits greater from taking A-level English, this meant she was effectively able to generate suggestions on what the script should consist of, this skill guided us through creating a successful narrative for our film trailer as she was able to express ideas that we should include and list why they’d have a greater impact and reaction from our audience.

Becka and I are both moderately skilled in Photoshop as we both study this subject as a part of our A-levels, from day-to-day experience it means that we have a greater knowledge on how the programme works and overall would generate a better image to fit on our magazine, poster and billing block. I believe Photoshop can make an ordinary image look much more professional than any internet editor would, having the experience and skill in the programme put Becka and I at an advantage because we were able to enhance the image, overlay items and essentially create all three media products effectively. I had decided to take the role of creating the billing block and magazine cover, whilst Becka contributed and successfully made the film poster, by sharing the workload it enabled us to create the products with ease without consuming too much time, however even though we had our set roles we’d still help each other complete each product by tampering with the Photoshop tools or giving feedback, this allowed us to progress our knowledge and improve our overall product. Assigning different roles was beneficial as it meant our products were completed in a shorter amount of time, and once they were completed we could either adapt them further after receiving feedback or work on something else.

Creating the billing block wasn’t as stressful as I thought it would be, by reviewing internet sources I was able to find a template which suited our film and that actually looked professional; I feel I’ve effectively produced a good billing block.

I had to volunteer to be the main actress of the film trailer because the original casting member was unable to do so; this gave Becka the immediate opportunity to get involved with the filming meaning she had a major job to capture good and effective shots for our film trailer. I believe Becka did a good job in capturing different angles and shots in order to create an engaging and interesting trailer, we needed to ensure the camera angles were in focus for greater professionalism, ensuring that each character was within the shot without the cutting heads or vital props or mise-en-scene out. I partook in some of the filming, the scenes where I wasn’t present (such as the park scene) is where I had filmed as I wanted to share the workload with fellow team member, Becka. When looking back onto the filming produce Becka and I didn’t film to the best of our ability on many of the shots taken, luckily we took plenty of different shots and had redone scenes multiple times. Several shots and scenes weren’t framed properly so parts were cut off however we re framed from using the shots that weren’t worthy, in order to redress the error we had made we should have re-filmed some shots, but we had left this too late when we were unable to use the same actors and actresses in good timing.

Filming the trailer was one of the most important tasks that needed to be completed; a lot of successful shots were captured however there was also a lot of scenes that could have been improved if we’d had taken multiple days with more time to get them. The more use of the camera the more familiarity with the tools, also a lot more retakes could have been shot, an example of a shot that didn’t fit the frame but still exists in our trailer is the one of the youngest actress on the rocking object; when filming I should have followed her movement, instead the top of her head cuts from the shot. This didn’t do us justice because the framing was off key, our trailer would have looked more professional if I’d have followed the movement instead of keeping the camera still.          

The editing of the film was my job, I decided to take on this role because of the experienced I’d gained from last year’s project that I’d constructed together, using iMovie. I was a lot quicker to make adjustments to the shots and trailer for this reason and it consumed less time if I was becoming more familiar with the software. Last year I really come to grips with the advanced software, especially iMovie, so this year I felt I could push my knowledge and experiment with new and developed tools. We used iMovie to construct and combine our trailer, although it is the most simple editing programme compared to Final Cut I found it a lot simpler to use because of the advanced knowledge I’d regained, it also gave me greater options to adapt my film that Final Cut did not. I believe that taking on the editing role was a very tough process as it involved a lot of technicalities and faults that computers always do, however we resolved these issues by organising our work more appropriately, this had a great impact on the outcome because we had finished our trailer within good timing. Becka in-putted her opinion throughout as she had a good judgement, she ultimately told me everything that should be included, what not to include, how we could improve our work and what transitions are most appropriate. 
I believe Becka and I had worked extremely well to develop the best outcome that we could with the footage we created, we have ultimately put in a good effort to achieve and feel this is demonstrated by the media products we've produced.