MEDIA A2: EVALUATIONBy Hannah Maxwell

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

TEASER TRAILER: INFLUENCESInception:http://hannahmaxwella2media.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/inception-trailer-analysis.html

This trailer influenced me in terms of sound. There is an absence of diegetic sound throughout the whole of the trailer and it’s really effective because it forces the audience to focus on the visuals. I did use some diegetic sound in my product, however, I didn’t use a lot and tried to keep it as plain as possible so that the audience do focus on the visuals, as they are forced to in the Inception teaser trailer.

In addition, I liked the way this trailer cuts back to objects of significance, like the spinning top/glass of water. I used this idea in my teaser trailer, with the blue prints and also the tin that the stalker picks up.

CONTINUED...Shutter Island:http://hannahmaxwella2media.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/teaser-trailer-analysis.html

This trailer influenced me in terms of editing. The edits are really fast-paced and a lot of jump cuts are used. They conceal a lot of the story but reveal enough to invite audience’s intrigue. In my trailer, I have used some fast editing to conceal parts of my story and also to ‘tease’ my audience by not showing them what they would want more of.

The Shutter Island trailer builds tension effortlessly through the sound and editing and I tried to do this too.

PLOT INFLUENCERS

My storyline for Hunted was influenced by The Lovely Bones. Having read the book and watched the film I thought that it had a very powerful theme and message. Instead of communicating the events after the girls death, like in The Lovely Bones, I wanted my product to be about the build up to the murder. I wanted the girls to be a similar age because it’s controversial because of their assumed innocence and the violation of this. However, my victim is very different from Susie Salmon in terms of their personality, dress and interests because I wanted to highlight the vulnerability of girls that age as a whole and because as a society we naturally feel protective over this age and gender.

FILM POSTER: INFLUENCES

The Lovely Bones

Halloween

I really liked the two shots in the below images. For The Lovely Bones I really liked the way that the murderer was in low key lighting and the victim was in the light. In my poster, they are both in similar lighting to show that he has invaded her personal space by being in her home. The movie still from Halloween inspired me to have the stalker move into the shot and not reveal his identity to create a more sinister feel, which is what I have done in my poster.

FILM MAGAZINE: INFLUENCES

I decided to use Total Film as my film magazine because I thought that my film would be the kind of film to be featured in it. I liked the synergy that the magazine creates between itself and the film it’s featuring. I captured this by making the ‘F’ into a knife point like the film title, and by using the same house style as my film. However, I decided to break the conventions of magazines by having my model looking away from the camera, which follows the film ideals more than the magazine ones, but this still fits in with the magazine’s ethos.

REPRESENTATIONS OF SOCIAL GROUPS

My media product focuses on the social group of teenage girls, because they are stereotyped to be more vulnerable then older women or males. More narrowly, it focuses on teenage girls who are interested in rock music, because this is the image that my main character has. I wanted to focus on this group of teenage girls because they do not make up the ‘majority’ of teenagers; they fit into a niche group, which would automatically make my victim more ostracised from society than an ordinary teenage girl, resulting in even less protection from harm. (Thus inviting the stalker to more easily target her).

Within the film world, stalking/murder/rape are all horrific things to explore, but when it’s a child, like my victim, it’s more harrowing for the audience, as people naturally feel the need to protect the people most vulnerable in society, like children.

I took inspiration from The Lovely Bones and Leon: The Professional for this, because of the violation of innocence in the main characters. In Leon, Natalie Portman’s family are murdered, including her beloved little brother and we naturally sympathise with her because she is so young herself. In The Lovely Bones, Susie Salmon is far too young to die, but she is raped and murdered and her innocence is spoiled, which is the reason these types of films are so harrowing. They show a theft of child-like innocence which is something that every adult appreciates and values as they grow older.

AUDIENCE FOR MY TEASER TRAILERhttp://hannahmaxwella2media.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/concrete-target-audience.html

Hunted, is a 15. This is because it contains child murder, strong violence, and scenes that audiences may find disturbing. I used the BBFC website (www.bbfc.co.uk) to determine what my film should come under. The prominent adjective for 15s is ‘strong’, which is why I think a 15 certificate would suit my film.

Most specifically, I have targeted my film at 15-25 yr old males and females, but more predominantly females because the victim is female and so they will empathise with her. The reason that males will still be attracted to this film is because of the genre: thriller.

HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS YOUR AUDIENCE?Teaser trailer

I have used a close up on personal artwork to attract my audience because this could be something that they would relate to. At this tender age most people have a hobby that distracts them from everything that bothers them.

In this shot I have used a cant to represent how her safe haven has been disturbed. This would appeal my target audience because they would be excited by a shot like this in a thriller. In addition, I have also hidden the identity of the stalker. The cant also creates a sense of unease, as it is a physical representation of the disequilibrium within the narrative structure.

I chose to have a low angled long shot of the victim in her bedroom because you can see all the posters on the wall, the hairspray, cans of pop etc., which my audience would be able to relate to as teenage bedroom ‘decor’ is such a major part of expressing yourself at this age.Further more, this slightly low angle is a child-like view, which further highlights her innocence.

I used a close up of the victim tied up, using low key lighting, to conceal the plot and force the audience to use their imagination to fill in what they can’t physically see. They are forced to question, ‘why is this girl tied up? How did she get there?’ which would evoke sympathy from my target audience. Also, she is in white, which connotes innocence.

“Within my teaser trailer, I attracted my

audience through varying my shot styles

and lengths, using familiar mise-en-scene,

with atmospheric non-diegetic music and

stings.”

FILM POSTER The stalker and the victims silhouettes stand out against the translucent background which draws the eye straight to them.

The use of red in the masthead connotes danger, which would draw the audience because they are enticed by danger.

The framing of the victim and the stalker automatically creates a sense of unease, which would make the audience want to know what their connection is, because it is obvious it’s not positive.

The tagline would intrigue my audience because they would want to know ‘why’ there aren’t any safe havens and also ‘who’ is making sure your havens aren’t safe. With the domesticity of the image this would create a real sense of unease which would definitely entice my audience.

I have chosen to split ‘safe’ from ‘havens’ in the tagline because the knife personifies the narrative: the stalker literally splits the victims life, and safe haven, in two.

In cinema history, the ‘baddie’ came in from the right-hand side, and the good characters always came in on the left. For this reason, I have chosen to put the stalker on the right and the victim on the left.

FILM MAGAZINE Pug: advertising the film poster for the film. My target audience are most likely to be interested in posters.

Magazine URL. My target audience are the most internet friendly.

Synergy has been created between the magazine and the film through the uses of knives and red/black colour in the masthead and cover-line.

The main image isn’t making direct address. This isn’t conventional, and would attract my audience because, if they like controversial films, then they will like things that don’t conform.The background is creepy and ties in with the darkness of the film. I have also used low key lighting which would signal to my target audience that this is a film with dark content. In addition, the background gives off a sense of threat or that something is lurking, which ties in with the theme of stalking.

The bottom cover-lines again tie in with the house style of this issue and offer other information about films that my target audience would like, because my target audience are likely to like other genres too.

HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY PRODUCT?

HUNTED: A SENSE OF BRANDINGI have created a sense of branding in a number of ways. Firstly, I have depicted

the victim as vulnerable in all three products (below), as she never looks at the camera and is wearing school uniform. I have also used subtle high angles in the teaser trailer and on the magazine. I have also used low key lighting so that the mystery of the plot is sustained throughout all three products.

Between the two ancillary products I have used red, black and white as a colour scheme because red connotes danger; the danger that the girl is in, black connotes mystery; because the audience do not know the full plot from the trailer/poster/magazine combination, and white connotes innocence; because the girl is innocent and has done nothing to provoke the attack that violates her innocence. I have also used red and black in the teaser trailer for the title frames.

I have also used domesticity as a link between all three products. The poster is set in a house, the magazine shares the tagline ‘find out why there are no safe havens’ and the teaser trailer shows how the stalker invades her safe haven (home) and eventually kills her.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK?

QUESTIONNAIREThe first piece of audience research

that I completed was a questionnaire. The full results are on my blog: http://hannahmaxwella2media.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/questionnaire-results-primary-audience.html

I wanted to know what kind of films people are into, and from that age I determined my film certificate. I also wanted to know what people expect from teaser trailers.

From this questionnaire I decided that my film would have a certificate 15 and it would be aimed at both males and females in the 15-25 yr old category (but mainly females). I also determined that my teaser trailer would be short, concise, and only give away enough plot to entice my audience and not give it all away.

TEASER TRAILERFor the first cut of my teaser trailer, I

received a lot of peer and teacher feedback. I have posted on the blog all of my results. http://hannahmaxwella2media.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/first-cut-of-my-teaser-trailer-hunted.html

I found this really useful because people were picking up on what I wasn’t happy with e.g. The size of the font on the title pages and the lack of stings. It was even more helpful though, that people were picking up on things that I hadn’t thought about. This meant that I had a long list of things to experiment with, most of which I kept.

The positive feedback was just as good though, because it meant that I edited my teaser trailer with confidence, and a fresh perspective, to make the final cut.

I did upload all 4 of my cuts to YouTube, as a tool for feedback.

FILM POSTERAgain, I had peer and teacher

feedback for my drafts. In total I made 4 drafts of my film poster, each time encouraging feedback from my peers. I was told what worked and advised on what to change or add in. This was really useful because it gave me a fresh perspective on my product, which meant I could edit it more confidently. Looking over all 4 edits I can see a massive improvement from the first to the final film poster.

Every time I edited my poster I had to keep in mind who my audience was. As you can see, although my first poster wasn’t bad, it wasn’t gripping enough for my target audience because it’s not eye-catching enough.

By changing the colour of the masthead and giving it more depth, that alone made the poster more eye-catching and much more fitting to my demographic

http://hannahmaxwella2media.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/feedback-for-my-ancillary-products.html

1st edit

Final Poster

FILM MAGAZINEThe first film magazine cover that I

constructed was really basic. It didn’t demonstrate any skill and it looked really bland. The feedback I got from that was so useful because my peers told me exactly how it should look and what I was doing wrong. The background, as you can see, was very plain and it didn’t tie in with Total Film who always have busy backgrounds that are ‘film related’. That is why I chose to have the creepy forest in the background of my magazine; to create a sense of branding between my magazine and a real Total Film magazine.

The feedback allowed me to have a fresh perspective and I tried to look at my magazine with more of an ‘audience’ mind. I had to decide what it was that as an audience I would want to see.

http://hannahmaxwella2media.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/feedback-for-my-ancillary-products-2.html

1st edit

Final Magazine

“Acting as the institution has made me realise how important feedback is. Although my

ideology for Hunted was clear in my head, I had difficulty putting it into practise. Feedback allowed me to interact with my audience and

have them tell me what they wanted to see, which was actually similar to what I was trying to do. In conclusion, from audience feedback I have learned that my products can always be

improved and that audience feedback is

essential to a successful promotion package. Furthermore, it gave me confidence in my

editing because I knew what my audience wanted

to see.”

HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH, PLANNING AND EVALUATION STAGES?

RESEARCH AND PLANNINGI chose to do my research and

planning on a blog because I could make full use of multimedia technologies, such as videos, images and hyperlinks.

I found the blog really useful for each aspect of research. When I researched types of shot, using a blog meant that I could put images up with their descriptions. When I researched sound, I opened a www.soundcloud.com account, where I uploaded the sounds and posted the link on my blog. (http://soundcloud.com/hannah-94)

Not only does it utilise technology and strengthen my technical knowledge, but it also generates audience feedback because there is an option for blog users to post comments on my blog.

CONSTRUCTION: TEASER, POSTER, MAGAZINE

Teaser trailer:

To film my teaser trailer, I used a digital video camera. Although small, I managed to get the shots I wanted. I used Adobe Premier pro to edit my shots together. I liked this programme, because it was quite straightforward. However, if I were to do this project again, I would use a better computer because the software didn’t cope with the full size files. I had to condense the size of my picture to edit my trailer together successfully.

Film Poster:

I used Paint.Net to construct my poster. This software is very similar to Photoshop but it more straight forward. I learnt how to edit photos in layers to make my work more professional looking and this also made it much easier to edit layer too.

Film Magazine:

I used a digital camera to take my main image. I used Paint.Net and Microsoft Publisher to construct my magazine cover. Paint.Net was brilliant for photo manipulation with the main image, background and also the mastheads. However, I struggled with the cover-lines on Paint.Net so I imported it as an image in to Publisher and put all the text on in there. I’ m really pleased with the result.

EVALUATIONFor my evaluation I chose to

use PowerPoint because it is a multimedia piece of software. Similarly to the blog, I can easily share images and links on here to aid my meaning.

In this evaluation I have used screenshots of my trailer, images, hyperlinks and finally slideshare, so that it can be easily shared on my blog.

Using PowerPoint has further helped me to utilise the technology on offer.