Advanced Portfolio in Media
Media Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop, or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The brief was to create a promotional package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two or three options. I chose two options/ancillary texts, I chose a film poster and a film magazine front cover. The film genre I chose for my trailer was a rom-com. To create my rom-com trailer I had to research the conventions of rom-coms to understand the genre. However I also chose to research the conventions of other genre’s of films, as it helped me understand what to include in my trailer, and also helped me to gain a wider knowledge of film trailers in general.
For my project of creating a film trailer, the first thing I did was research the conventions of film trailers. Conventions are certain forms or rules that most film trailers follow, however some film trailers ignore or challenge these conventions. I looked at many websites to research the codes and conventions of film trailers, and the conventions of rom-com trailers, for example I looked at a website called www.slideshare.net, and this website includes presentations on trailer conventions. To further develop my knowledge of rom-com trailers I analysed four different rom-com trailers. At the beginning of trailers there is usually an image featuring classification advice; a convention of film trailers and this is relevant to the country they’re filmed and screened in. One of the most featured and recognisable is the Green Motion Picture Association of America Splash. This is featured in most film trailers, or the big budget trailers, as most trailers are nowadays created in Hollywood. They’re also usually produced by American Studios, ‘Universal’ ‘Warner Bros’, these studios are probably the most recognisable and famous studios, as they’re part of the ‘big four’. I have followed this convention for my trailer and used the Green Motion Picture certificate, as this certificate connotes interesting, big budget films. At the end of the trailer there are usually credits, and many trailers follow this convention. However some film trailers choose not to follow the convention, and challenge it, and I have also decided to challenge this convention. Instead at the end of my trailer I have a shot of my film name, the release date, and the film name. These are a convention of all film trailers, as they promote your film.
A convention of all film trailers, not just romcoms is to have a narrative structure to reflect the films story. The narrative is the chronological stages that progress from one to another throughout the film. In my research I have found that most romcoms apply the basic narrative theory of Tzvetan Todorov. This theory consists of five stages, but can be broken down into three. The first stage is a point of stable equilibrium, there is an initial equilibrium in the trailer or film. In stage two the equilibrium is disrupted by an event. However then after the event re-equilibrium is established. I chose to follow conventions of romcoms, by using this basic narrative theory for my romcom film trailer. I have followed the theory as there is initial equilibrium in my trailer; were the characters meet, and the shots in the trailer are of them together and happy, but then the equilibrium is disrupted. However I have not included in my trailer whether re-equilibrium is established; as I do not want to give too much away in my trailer, and by retaining enigma it should keep my audience interested in the film. I also chose this narrative theory as it easy for my audience to understand the film, as even though the narrative is the supporting structure and not the story itself, the narrative reinforces the story, and therefore helps the audience identify and understand the film. I have also followed the basic theory as I have two protagonists; a male and a female, which again is a convention of rom-coms.
Another convention of film trailers is that many feature the non-diegetic sound of voice-overs, to help the audience understand the plot, and to convey the narrative. Voice overs, are conventions of most genres of film trailers. For example I researched a horror trailer ‘The Blair Witch project’ released in 1999, and directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez. This trailer uses an independent voice-over, as they use a newsreader to convey the story. The voice over creates a connection with the audience and the main protagonist, as by hearing them speak it is almost like you know them, and can relate to them. An example of the main protagonist acting as the voice over is ‘Bridget Jones Diary’ released in 2001 and directed by Sharon Maguire. The non-diegetic sound of the voice-over helps the audience to relate to Bridget, and it creates a connection with the audience; as it feels as if she is talking to you directly. On the ‘Bridget Jones Diary’ trailer there is also a male voice over. The use of the non-diegetic sound of the independent voice-over is a way of detracting from a connection with the main protagonist, and also helps you look at the film without biased eyes; as when the main protagonist is the voice over the audience can sometimes become biased in their opinion of the main protagonist. This is a good thing as sometimes the directors do not want you to judge the characters from the trailer, but want you to judge them from the film, and it can also sometimes create suspense and excitement. However as you cannot relate to the character it can sometimes discourage people from seeing the film. I have followed the convention of a voice over, however I have used an independent voice-over and challenged conventions by not having a male voice over, as I found in my research of romcoms that they usually have a male voice over. I chose to do this as my target audience are females from 20-45, and I felt that they would relate more to a female voice over; than a male voice over. I have also chosen to challenge the convention of the main protagonist as the voice-over. Also I have found that nearly all rom-com trailers feature a soundtrack which has an indie feel, and is quite upbeat. In my research I found that singers such as ‘Corinne Bailey Rae’ and ‘Regina Spektor’ are featured on many rom-com trailers. There music is appropriate for rom-coms as they are upbeat, and are usually based on love. I have followed this convention, and for my trailer I have used ‘Lenka’ ‘Florence and the machine’ and ‘Adele’. I have chosen their songs as they are about love and relationships, and also have an indie, upbeat feel. I have also used three different songs as I found in my research of film trailers; especially rom-coms that they use multiple songs. The songs I have chosen all represent the scenes and the story of the film trailer, but they also represent the genre.
I have found during my research that another prominent convention of rom-coms is to include taglines in the trailer, and I have also found that taglines are included in other film genres such as Horror. Taglines are predominantly used to reinforce the voice-over, and to convey the story of the film. However the main premise of the taglines is to attract the audience; as in rom-coms the taglines are usually quite humorous and make you want to watch the film. I have followed this convention of taglines, and I have included them in my trailer; and my teaser trailer. I have used taglines such as ‘Every girl dreams of finding Mr Right’. This tagline subtly connotes that the film is about a woman finding her Mr Right. Also I used the taglines to convey my target audience of women aged 20-45, as you can clearly see from the taglines that the film is not aimed at men. The taglines and the story of the film also represent the certification of the trailer; which is 15. The definition of a 15 certificate is 'no one younger than 15 may see a 15 film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a 15 rated DVD'. I have chosen this rating as the film is based on their relationship, and as I am aiming it at adults I want the film to have some adult content appropriate for the target audience. Also as it is about a young couple the film will include some taboo language appropriate for the rating. I have also found during my research that many rom-coms are rated as 15, for example ‘Bridget Jones Diary’. Also to reinforce that my film is aimed at women I have put the font of the tagline in pink. However I have kept the background of the tagline white, I have done this in case some men are attracted to the trailer; and therefore the background is gender neutral.
Whilst analysing the conventions I also had to look at the media representation of my video. The first protagonist we meet is a woman in a red coat, the red coat represents the genre as in traditional film syntax red can connote love. However it can also connote danger, and I did this as I wanted the coat to signify something is going to happen to the couple. The man is in normal clothes, and I did this as it makes the female protagonist the focal point of the scene. The black clothes also represent that something bad is going to happen, as in traditional film syntax black can connote death. We then go to a tagline ‘Every girl dreams of Mr Right’ the tagline conveys the target audience of women, and ‘every’ includes all the female audience so they feel part of the film, and therefore can relate to the female protagonist. The colour of the tagline also represents the target audience of women as it is pink. The next shot is of him picking her bag up and them looking at each other, this therefore conveys how this is her ‘Mr Right’. The next shots are then of them together and happy, and we see her with a red rose, and this can connote love. We then go to him holding a box, and looking quite nervous. This conveys how he may be going to propose to her, and the next shot of them hugging suggests that maybe she has accepted, but it retains enigma therefore keeping the audience interested. We then see them sat down at the park, and he says ‘Sarah I need to ask you a question’, and this follows on from him holding the ring box. Then after the shot the music changes; and is quite fast paced and upbeat reflecting how their relationship has changed. We see her on the phone smiling, and we see another girl smiling at what she is saying, and these shots all signify that they’re engaged, however the trailer doesn’t not confirm that they’re retaining enigma. However when the tagline ‘love is not what you think’ comes up it changes the direction of the trailer as we see her looking at his phone in a quite shocked way. This signifies how something bad has happened in their relationship, and this links back to the red coat at the beginning of the trailer. The music also represents the change in their relationship as it begins with the line ‘forgive me first love’, and this signifies how maybe he needs to be forgiven for something. The scenes convey the narrative of the film but do not give too much away about the plot of the film, and therefore retain enigma.
Another convention I have followed is the mise-en scene of a film trailer. The mise-en-scene of a film trailer usually includes romantic settings for example in ‘Made of Honour’ released in 2008, and directed by Paul Weiland they are in the park together, and I have followed this convention of the mise-en-scene as my trailer has locations of the park. There are also usually many different locations, which I have also followed as I have used several different locations in my film trailer.
I have established and used the codes conventions of rom-coms and film trailers in general, as I wanted my audience to be able to understand the genre and the film from the conventions. For example at the beginning of my trailer I have an image featuring classification advice. I have also applied the basic narrative theory of Tzvetan Todorov, which during my research I found is the narrative structure used in many rom-coms. I have also included taglines in my film trailer to help convey the story/plot of the film. However I have challenged some conventions, such as the voice-over, as I have used an independent voice-over instead of my main protagonist. I have done this as I did not want my audience to be biased towards my main protagonist, and I also wanted to keep my film trailer quite unique; and different to other film trailers.
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
For the brief of creating a film trailer, you also had to create two ancillary texts. I chose a film magazine front cover, and a film poster. The ancillary texts are part of the promotional campaign for the film trailer. Promotion is one of the four elements of the marketing mix (product, price, promotion, distribution). A promotional campaign is the link between the sellers and buyers, and influences, informs and persuades the audience to buy into the media product. A promotional campaign is a series of advertisements using various marketing tools that share the same message and ideas to promote a business or event to a target audience. The typical campaign uses different media resources including internet, newspapers, television, radio, and print advertising.
As I created a film magazine front cover I researched four different film magazine covers. I looked at Entertainment magazine, Total Film, Empire, and I also looked at Radio Times which advertises films and T.V shows on their front cover. I researched the conventions of film magazine front covers by analysing these four magazines. I found during my research that the magazines masthead is usually at the top of the cover; in big, bold letters to stand out. The image is always in the centre of the magazine, and usually takes up most of the front cover; as the image is the feature what attracts the reader to the magazine. There are always cover lines on the front cover advertising what stories are in the magazine, and they encourage the audience to buy and read the magazine. There are also usually some extras on the cover, such as on film front covers offering free tickets to a premier of a new film. I have followed this convention on my film cover as I have offered free tickets to see my film ‘Loves Young Dream’. I have done this as it is a way of promoting my film, and it also follows the conventions of film magazine front covers. I have decided to follow all of these conventions of film front covers, as my audience can instantly recognise the front cover.
I also had to create a film poster for my brief. I researched several different film posters, and I researched different genres of posters, as it helped me to gain a wider knowledge of film posters and the conventions. I analysed the posters of two rom-coms; ‘In her shoes’ and ‘The ugly Truth’, as the research would help me produce my own rom-com poster. During my research of rom-com posters I have found that many of the posters have white backgrounds ‘The Ugly Truth’ released in 2009, and directed by Robert Luketic. ‘Bridget Jones’ released in 2001, and directed by Sharon Maguire, and ‘The back-up plan’ released in 2010, and directed by Alan Poul. I have decided to follow this convention as my poster also has a white background. The rom-com posters also usually have the female protagonist on, and I have also followed this by having my female protagonist on. However I have also challenged conventions of rom-com posters, as my male protagonist is also on the poster; and is quite central to the picture. I decided to do this as it conveys to my target audience that the story of the film is about their relationship, and that he is also central to the plot. Rom-com posters usually have bright colours on them, I have found that many posters use pink and red; as in traditional film syntax these colours can represent love. I have also followed this convention as some of the text is in pink, and this also links back to my film trailer; as the taglines on my trailer are in the same pink against a white background. Some of the text on my poster is in black, many rom-com posters use this colour, however I chose the colour to subtly signify the death of something. In tradition film syntax
black is usually associated with death, and I wanted to convey how something is going to happen to their relationship. I also researched a sci-fi, action thriller poster, ‘I-Robot’, and the war, comedy film ‘Inglorious Basterds’ to look at the different conventions. To combine my ancillary texts and my main product I used a house style of the font italics. I used the same fonts for my taglines on my trailer, my film poster and also my magazine front cover. I chose this font as the font has connotations of love and romance, and as my film trailer is a rom-com I thought it would be appropriate for the genre. I also challenged the conventions of film magazine front covers; as I used it for my masthead, whereas most magazine covers use bold, block letters for the names of their magazines. I also used the font for my cover lines as well to combine them with the masthead. I combined the poster and the trailer by using the colour bright pink for my text. I used this colour as it is very feminine; and therefore would represent my target audience of women aged 20-45. The colour also connotes love; which represents the genre of the trailer, but it also conveys to my audience that the plot of the film is about their relationship, and their love. To combine my poster and my front cover I also used the colour of black for my text. I used this for my poster to subtly convey that something bad is going to happen to the relationship of the protagonists. I used the colour on my front cover as I have found that many rom-com magazine front covers, and also front coves for other genre’s of film use the colour black for their text for their text, for example the ‘Entertainment Weekly’ ‘Juno’ front cover, this was cre
ated for the February 2008 issue. However instead of using pink on my cover I have used the colour of red, as I wanted my front cover to stand out and be a little different to the poster and trailer. The colour red in traditional film syntax can connote love, red roses, and romance, and as the cover for a rom-com magazine it is appropriate for the genre of the magazine. However in traditional film syntax red can also connote danger, and I used this colour to signify that there is danger for their relationship, and that something will happen to their relationship. This also links to my film trailer as when the characters first meet; the female protagonist is wearing a red coat. I used this to signify danger, and that there will be danger in their relationship. The images on my film poster and magazine front cover include both the female protagonist, and the male protagonist. I did this to further combine my front cover and film poster, but also to convey how the story is about their relationship. I used a close up shot of the protagonists for my film poster, as I wanted to show them looking into each others eyes, which again signifies romance and love. The close-up shot also represents the title of the film ‘Love’s Young Dream’ as it conveys their love for one another as they’re looking into each others eyes. Also in the image on the poster you can see the male protagonists checked shirt. I decided to keep this in rather than edit it out as the checked shirt is the sign of a working man, therefore it would represent how the couple are normal people, and this would hopefully allow my audience to relate to them, as they’re similar to the protagonists. Similarly on my front cover I have the male protagonist in another checked shirt, again to convey how he is a working man, and that the couple are just like everyone else. This is also represented in the clothes of the female protagonist as she is also wearing normal clothes. The shot on the cover is a medium shot of the two protagonists, and the shot is quite playful as the female is pulling on the male protagonists tie. I chose to do this as I felt the shot represents how they’re happy, an in love. I have also made the female protagonist look as if she is the one in control as she is pulling the tie, this therefore conveys how she is the main character in the trailer, and the story of the film is based around her. I have combined my trailer, magazine front cover and film poster through the use of font house-style, colour house-style, and also through the use of images.
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
To begin my audience research I looked at the audience theory by Abraham Maslow. He came up with a theory that we all have different layers of needs, and we have to achieve certain needs before we go on to the next level. This is his hierarchy of needs; This shows us how the upper levels are about self esteem, and it shows us how if you buy the new coat of the right brand on the advert you will feel better about yourself, and it will improve your self esteem, therefore this hierarchy of needs is very relevant to advertisers and institutions. To further understand the different audiences of films I looked at the different genres of films; and then analysed their target audience, for example horror films. I have found that the target audience is usually young adults, from around the age of 18-25, but sometimes older adults are part of the target audience. Horror films also target teenage girls as Horror films are sometimes hybrids, as they sometimes have some sort of relationship drama in the film, which therefore attracts women, but also in many horror films the protagonist is a young girl, or several young girls. I also researched the target audience of rom-com trailers. A target audience is a group of people a product is aimed at. The target audience can be aimed at gender or social class, age and occupation. The target audience is specific to each product, such as Action films are aimed at men from around the ages of 20-40, and are often aimed at young males. The target audience for most romcoms are women, and they're usually aimed at women around the age of 20-45, as they have had life experiences and can understand and relate to what the characters are going through, whereas people who are younger have not had many life experiences will not be able to relate to the character. I followed this convention as the target audience for my trailer is women from the ages of 20-45, as they will be able to relate to the female protagonist much more than a younger woman. I researched the demographics and psychographics of audience research. Demographics are a type of audience research, and it defines the adult population by their occupation, and it is broken down into six different groups. Psychographics describe the audience by looking at their behaviour and personality traits; the psychographics label a particular type of person, and describes their views and spending. Most rom-coms are aimed at the aspirers and succeeders group. The succeeders group represents the career women, and ambitious women, and I am also aiming at the succeeders group. The aspirers group represents the woman who like the good things in life, fashion and fun, and this group typically represents younger women. I am also aiming at this group with my film trailer.
To gain audience feedback I did a poll on my blog, I did this before I began editing my film as if the answers were similar I could incorporate this into my video. I asked questions such as What is your favourite part of rom-coms?’ I found that during my research people preferred the story and the characters, so I incorporated this into my trailer by having fun, likeable characters.
After creating my film trailer I created a questionnaire for my target audience to answer. I included 11 questions on the questionnaire. These questions included if the scenes and camera movements represented the genre, whether the music and the characters represented the genre, if the voice-over was appropriate, and also whether the trailer, ancillary texts were an effective combination. I printed out 25 questionnaires and I gave 15 to my specific target audience of women from the ages of 20-45. However I gave 5 questionnaires to teenage girls from the ages of 15-20 as I wanted to see whether the film would appeal to them. I also gave the other five questionnaires to men from the ages of 15-25, as I wanted to get their perspective on my film trailer. The first question was if they enjoyed the rom-com trailer, and I found that 23 said they did enjoy it. For example one said ‘yes it followed the conventions of rom-coms and has a narrative that seems interesting’, another said ‘yes you can tell they’re a couple’. However I did have two people who said no. For example one said ‘the trailer did not have enough speech in from the characters’. I can see why they said this as it does not include much speech, however I chose to do this as the only speech on the trailer is him saying ‘Sarah I need to ask you a question’. I did this purposefully as I wanted the audience to focus on that, and hopefully understand that he is asking him to marry her. I also did not include much speech as I wanted the music and the scenes to be the focus of the trailer. I also asked whether they thought the music represented the genre, and many said yes as they’re upbeat songs, and one person said ‘yes, they’re featured in other rom-coms’. I chose these songs as they are representative of the genre, and many have been in other rom-coms so therefore my audience will be able to recognise them and identify the film. I also asked questions on the use of the non-diegetic sound of the voice-overs and 19 people said that it represented the genre, and also that they preferred the female voice-over to a male voice-over. However one person said that ‘at times, I think that there are moments you didn’t need it’. I can see what the person means as I used the voice-over several times on my full trailer, so maybe I didn’t need to use it as much, and I could have put music were the voice-overs were. However I did not use the voice-over on my teaser trailer I just used the song ‘The Show’ by Lenka. This hopefully stops the audience from being put of from the over-use of the voice-over. I also asked whether the magazine front cover was effective and represented the genre of the magazine, and many responded saying yes it did, but for example one said ‘it is good but if you put more cover lines on it it would improve it’. I think that maybe if I did put an extra two cover lines on relating to the genre of magazine it would improve the front cover. I also asked my audience whether the poster was an effective campaign, and the response was positive as many said that it was effective and they would watch the film. However one person said ‘it might have looked more effective with a colour on the background’. I chose to use a white background for my poster as I used a white background for my taglines, and I also used a white background for my magazine front cover, so therefore it combines the trailer, the poster, and the front cover. Also I found in my research that many rom-com film posters use a white background, so therefore I am following conventions. The last question I asked was whether the trailer, poster, and front cover were an effective promotional campaign. They all responded yes it is an effective promotional campaign. For example ‘yes they work well together and they all relate to each other’, ‘yes there is an effective running theme’. These were a few comments from the last question of my questionnaire. My audience feedback has allowed me to see what I would change if I created my video again. I think I would add more speech as it would add to the verisimilitude of the video. I would maybe use less of the voice-over, and I would do some subtle changes to the ancillary texts. I would maybe add more cover lines on the front cover, to create a more sophisticated magazine.
How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
After I had chosen my brief the first thing I did was look at the definition of film trailers; ‘Trailers or previews consist of short clips from a film to be released in the cinema, or on DVD, with the aim of attracting the audience; and influencing them to go and see the film’. I used Wikipedia to look at the conventions of film trailers, and Youtube to look at film trailers. From using the websites I was able to look at trailers in the past, and also research the first film trailer. One of the earliest film trailers, and what is considered by some to be the first film trailer was released in 1912; for the television serial ‘the adventures of Kathlyn’. The trailer was a preview of the next episode, and this was seen as revolutionary as never before had a television serial produced a preview of the next episode. I also looked at when the first film trailer was released in cinema, and this was in 1913. However this was a trailer for a musical called ‘The Pleasure Seekers’, which is quite unusual as nowadays you do not really see many trailers advertising musicals in cinema. Nils Granlund produced this trailer, and because of this studios began advertising films in cinema. I also looked at a film produced by Edwin S. Porter, and that was ‘The Great Train Robbery’. This was a Western film, distributed by Edison Manufacturing Company, and it was released in 1903. The film is considered historic as he used many different editing and camera movements, he also used dissolves in this film, which had not been used before. The film also included several different locations, as apposed to the one location. These features went against the conventions of films, and some of the features are still used today, for example dissolves. The film consisted of fourteen different shots. Two scenes in particular garnered quite an emotional response. For example in scene 7 the bandits get on the train with their loot, and therefore the train was on the screen. The audience was not used to seeing a train on the screen, and when it started to move some of the audience actually ran out of the film because they thought the train was going to run them over. I analysed the films as they revolutionised film, and some of the techniques such as dissolves, cross-cutting are still used in films today. For example I have used dissolves in both my full trailer, and my teaser trailer.
I then researched the codes and conventions of film trailers and rom-com trailers. For example I looked at conventions such as the narrative structure, the use of voice-overs, and certification of the film. As well as researching the conventions I have applied them to my trailer, for example I have applied the basic narrative theory of Tzvetan Todorov, which is a convention of rom-com trailers. However I have challenged some conventions, for example the voice-over. I have used an independent voice over for my film trailer, instead of using my main protag
onist as the voice-over; which is a convention of rom-com trailers. For example the rom-com film ‘In her shoes’ released in 2005, and directed by Curtis Hanson, use the main protagonist (Rose Feller) as the voice over. #To further my research of film trailers I analysed four different rom-com trailers. ‘The Holiday’ released in 2006; and directed by Nancy Meyers. ‘He’s just not that into you’ released in 2009; and directed by Ken Kwapis. ‘Made of Honour’ released in 2008, and directed by Paul Weiland. ‘Bridget Jones Diary’ released in 2001; and directed by Sharon Maguire. For each film trailer I looked at the media representations, media languages and form, narrative, genre, media institutions, media values and ideology, and media audiences. I watched the film trailers using www.youtube.com, and I also recorded the time length of the trailers to gain some ideas about how long my rom-com should be. To further widen my knowledge of film trailers, I also analysed a Horror film trailer, ‘The Blair Witch Project’ released in 1999; and directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez. I also looked at an Action film, ‘Terminator 2 Judgement Day’, released in 1991; and directed by James Cameron. I analysed the trailers as I analysed the rom-com trailers. Also for my ancillary texts I analysed four different film posters. I analysed two rom-com posters ‘The Ugly Truth’ released in 2009; and directed by Robert Luketic, and the poster for ‘In her shoes’ released in 2005; and directed by Curtis Hanson. I also analysed a sci-fi, action poster ‘I,Robot’ released in 2004; and directed by Alex Proyas. I also looked at the poster for war, comedy film ‘Inglorious Basterds’ released in 2009; and directed by Quentin Tarantino. For each poster I analysed the conventions of film posters; the title/name of the film, the image, the credits, the text, the stars names, and how does the poster represent the film. For the research for my film magazine front cover I looked at four different film magazine front covers. I analysed ‘Entertainment Weekly’ the ‘Juno’ front cover for the February 2008 issue. ‘Total Film’ the ‘Terminator Salvation’ cover for the June 2009 issue. ‘Empire’ magazine, the ‘Public Enemies’ cover for the July 2009 issue. For my fourth cover I analysed ‘Radio Times’ the ‘Doctor Who’ cover for the December 2009 issue. Similarly to the film posters I analysed the conventions of magazine front covers; the masthead, cover lines, image, and sub-headings.
I also researched audience theory, for example Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. I also looked at the different audiences for different genres of films, for example Action films; the films are usually aimed at a target audience of men from the ages of 16-40. I also scanned examples of pictures for my film poster, and also my front cover.
After my research I began filming my trailer, and I created a shooting script. I shot the scenes for the trailer on a canon camera, and I used several different locations. I shot scenes several times over, and ended up with 32 minutes of film. After filming my scenes I used a program on the editing suite called Matrox Media Tools to capture my shots from the camera. This program enabled me to choose and keep the shots that I needed for my trailer, and delete the shots I did not need. After using Matrox Media Tools I then used a program called Adobe Premier Pro to begin editing my film trailer. As I had previously used Adobe Premier Pro to create my animatic, I felt rather confident in using the program. I created my animatic from my storyboard, I created a hand drawn storyboard, and I also did some I.T drafts of my ancillary texts using Microsoft Publisher. There are many effects on Adobe Premier Pro, such as dissolves which I used throughout my full trailer; and my teaser trailer. I also experimented with different types of dissolves on my trailer, for example cross dissolves. However I felt they did not work as well as normal dissolves so I did not use them in my final product. I used different techniques, for example razor tools and cutting to edit my film trailer. As a convention of film trailers is to include music on the trailer, usually several different songs, I chose to include three songs on my trailer. Conventionally music on film trailers are usually indie songs, quite upbeat and usually about love. I followed the conventions and have used songs representing the genre. The songs I chose were ‘First Love’ by Adele; released in 2008 by XL recordings, Allido records, and Columbia records. The song was produced by Jim Abiss. The second song was ‘The Show’ by Lenka, released in 2008 by Epic records, and it was produced by Stuart Brawley. The third song was ‘Dog days are over’ by Florence and the Machine, released in 2008 by Universal Island, Moshi Moshi, and IAMSOUND records. The song was produced by James Ford and Isabella Summers. I downloaded these songs from iTunes and burnt them on to a CD to allow me to put them on Adobe Premier Pro. To allow me to create my ancillary texts I used Adobe Photoshop. I opened my image on the program and as I wanted my poster and magazine front cover to have a plain white background t reflect the taglines in my film trailer, so therefore I had to cut the background out of my selected image. I used the magnetic lasso tool to cut around my image, and crop the background out of the picture. Then when I had my white background I included the text. I used the font house-style of Script MT Bold throughout my poster and also cover. I also used the colour black, pink and red throughout my ancillary texts. As a convention of film posters is to have the certification of the film on the poster, I used Google images to get a 15 certificate image and I pasted it onto Photoshop. Similarly as a convention of film magazine front covers is to have a barcode usually at the bottom of the cover, I used Google images to get an image of a barcode, and then I pasted it on to Photoshop. Also as I wanted to show the progress of making my film poster and magazine front cover I took print screen shots of Photoshop, and I copied them into Paint, then I saved the image as a JPEG and posted it on my blog.
During the production of my coursework I used many different technologies, for example Matrox Media Tools which enabled me to capture my shots and choose the ones I wanted to keep, and Adobe Premier Pro which enabled me to edit my video, and create my film trailer. However I also used many media technologies that I was already familiar with before this coursework. For example Adobe Photoshop, blogger, Microsoft Publisher, and Paint.
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