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.