Sophie Coley

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE,

DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF

REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS ?

For our A2 coursework we created a film trailer, magazine front cover and poster. The genre we chose for our products was crime/thriller.

MAGAZINETo create our magazine we took inspiration from two different Empire magazine covers. We combined the convention of a close up as seen in the ‘Tron Legacy’ version of the cover and the depth of the background image in the ‘Inception’ version.1) As we based our magazine off of Empire Magazine we recreated the Empire Masthead for on our magazine. Empire is a very well known film magazine and has various different genres of films on the cover meaning our own film will fit in with the magazine. As it is well known we placed part of our main image over the logo similar to the ‘Inception’ cover.

Tron Legacy Inception Our magazine- Voices2) The background of our magazine cover is of flats/buildings within the

distance. This fits in with the two magazines we used as inspiration and the codes and conventions of film magazines. It gives the magazine cover depth and also establishes the location of where our trailer is set.

3) Our magazine also has the barcode, price and release date linking it to the conventions of existing magazines. 4) The straplines and content of the magazine has been laid out to the left side of the image. It shows the audience clearly what is included within the magazine even when it is placed on a news stand.

5) The title of our film is included on the front cover. It takes up more space on the page compared to the other pieces of text similarly to the existing magazines. Also by having this piece of text the largest it shows the audience that our film will be the main feature within the magazine.

6) The image used on the magazine is of one of the main characters within the trailer. The photograph is a close up and is similar to the image used on the ‘Tron Legacy’ magazine. It has also been edited to look darker in order to fit in with our genre and the darkness within our trailer. Also the darkness of the image gives it an air of suspense linking to the conventions of our genre.

7) The colour scheme of the magazine is similar to the ones we used as templates. We continuously used red, black and white to make the text stand out on the page and to keep with the house style of the magazine ‘Empire’ We have also kept with these colours on the poster and within the trailer.

POSTERTo create our film poster we took inspiration from several different film posters but especially from the ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ and the ‘Act of Valour’ posters. We combined the silhouette idea from the ‘Act of Valour’ poster and the convention of using a Master/Establishing shot from the ‘Harry Potter’ poster.

2) The main image on our poster is the 5 main characters within the trailer made to look like silhouettes. The original image was a long shot and a master/establishing shot in order for the audience to see the whole of each character. We based this idea off of the ‘Act of Valour’ film poster as we thought it would create mystery and suspense towards our trailer.

1) The poster includes the information all the cast and production team as this is a main convention of film posters. By adding this our poster looks more professional. Also this key information will engage and persuade the audience towards the film if they like a certain actor, director or producer.

3) The title of our film ‘Voices’ is in capitals and is written in the same font as on our trailer and magazine front cover. It is bold and black and stands out against the black background. It follows the conventions of the title being near the bottom of the poster making it look more professional.

4) The release date of the film is placed underneath the title of the film. This is a convention of typical film posters and makes ours look real and professional. It also links to the release date placed within our trailer.

5) There is not strapline on our poster as we felt it added to the mystery of our film by not including one.

6) The background of out poster is a mug shot background which links to the crime aspect of our trailer. We decided to go against the posters we were using an inspiration and chose a background without depth. It links well with how the silhouettes are placed on the poster.7) We have kept our colour scheme to black and white. This creates an air of mystery as the characters are not seen and it keeps the audience guessing as to the way our plot will be revealed.

Harry Potter Act of Valour Our Poster- Voices

TRAILER

Murder by Numbers Trailer Our Trailer- Voices

To create our trailer we took inspiration from the ‘Murder by Numbers’ trailer. It has a similar plot line and many of the shots used within the trailer we have used in ours. We also took inspiration for our plot line from a film called The Hole.

TRAILER CONTINUED…

The first shot in our trailer is an establishing shot of the main location in where the majority of our film is shot. Although, this is a convention of typical film trailers, we were inspired by the Murder by Numbers trailer where an establishing shot of the house is used as their first shot. We used this shot in Voices as it is stereotypical of people who live in this type of area to be up to no good similar to the characters within our trailer.

At the very start of our trailer we included the logo of our production company ‘Castle Rock Entertainment’. We used the same production company as Murder by Numbers as we were producing a trailer with the same genre and a similar plot line. In our original trailer we did not include this information and when given feedback our audience said that we should include this. In turn this made our trailer look professional and more like a real trailer. Including the production company’s information at the beginning of the trailer is a convention of typical film trailers not only in our genre but in general.

We also included the information at end of our trailer about our production companies, Warner Bros and Castle Rock Entertainment. We placed both of their logos on the last intertitle along with our title and release date. This is similar to the Murder by Numbers trailer, however they include this information against a shot rather than a plain background, and fits in with the conventions of a film trailer.

TRAILER CONTINUED…Within the ‘build up’ section of our trailer we

have introduced all five of our main characters. This will allow the audience to know exactly who the trailer and the film will focus on. This is similar to the Murder by Numbers trailer we used as inspiration as within that trailer the three main characters are also introduced during their ‘build up’ section of the trailer.

This is a typical convention of all film trailers as it allows the audience to already get to know the characters within the film and which characters the plot line will revolve around the most.

Although in some of our beginning shots not all the characters are present, we have included an individual shot of each character a bit later on in the ‘build up’ part of the trailer in order to reinforce to the audience that these characters are the main characters and are heavily involved in the plot line for our trailer. Individual shots of the characters within the

trailer.

TRAILER CONTINUED…

We have used several intertitles within our trailer. These are used in order to give clues to the audience about our plot line in between some of our shots. It gives a good idea of what the audience should expect from our trailer and what the characters may be getting involved in. Although, it gives away some of the plot line, it doesn’t give away to much to the audience, making them want to go and see the film. The majority of our intertitles are quite short and snappy similar to the Murder by Numbers trailer and generic trailers.

The title of our film is shown at the very end of our trailer and forms the last intertitle within the trailer. Compared to the Murder by Numbers trailer this is different as their title comes before a couple more shots and then the trailer ends. However, this does fit in with the conventions of a typical trailer as many place the title at the end of a trailer, similar to what we have done.

TRAILER CONTINUED…

We were inspired by the Murder by Numbers trailer to use an extreme close up of one of the characters eyes. By using this shot it creates an air of suspicion and mystery as the audience don’t know what the character is looking at and why they are gasping and widening their eyes. Also this shot is quite random within in the trailer so again creates mystery within the trailer and intrigues the audience to think about what this might link and lead to.

We were also inspired by this shot of the two main characters, in the Murder by Numbers trailer, sitting with their backs to the camera. We liked the idea of doing this with our characters as it gives the audience a good understanding of the setting within the film and the relationship between the characters in the shot. The framing of the shot enhances this understanding for the audience.

TRAILER CONTINUED…We have a couple of shots within our

trailer that act as clues. This is typical of crime/thriller trailers as the audience cannot understand the relevance of the shots and makes them want to see the movie to find out why they are there.

Both of the shots are extreme close ups similar to the ones used with the Murder by Numbers trailer. This highlights their significance within not only the trailer but in the film as well.

TRAILER CONTINUED…

We liked the way in which parts of the Murder by Numbers trailer were edited. We used a similar transition which faded the shot into black. This makes the trailer transition between shots smoothly. It also gives the suggestion of the passing of time and creates a sense of mystery and suspicion. This is a generic convention within many crime/thriller trailers.

One way in which we subverted against the conventions of a film trailer was the use of soundtrack. We decided to add two different soundtracks into our trailer. One of them was slower in pace and built

suspension and mystery whereas the second soundtrack is more fast paced. This was the main reason we added two soundtracks to our trailer as it helped us fasten the pace of the trailer.

OTHER CONVENTIONS IN OUR TRAILERIn our trailer we edited the majority of the

clips in order for them to look darker. We added an effect to them called ‘Alpha Adjust’. We wanted to make the shots seem darker in order to fit in with the conventions of a typical crime/thriller film as many of these types of films are quite dark. By adding this it adds mystery and suspicion to some of the shots are some of the characters are difficult to make out and identify who they are.

When filming our trailer, we made sure that all the actors within it were using black or dark clothing. This is because it would fit in with the conventions of crime trailers as many of the characters wear dark colours to disguise themselves and to stay hidden so they are not caught.

We also asked some of the actors to wear black masks. This again allows the characters to stay hidden and keep their identity a secret from the police. By using the masks we were conforming to the typical conventions of crime films as many characters within these types of films use masks as a way to hide their identify and escape from the police.