Evaluation of A2 Media coursework
- 1. Daisy Cushen
- 2. During this presentation I am going to evaluate my A2 Media coursework. The areas I plan to cover are: Research Magazine Cover Poster Trailer Feedback And Evaluation Questions.
- 3. I started off my research by looking at existing trailers. I looked at many trailers for both films I have seen and up and coming films. From this I learnt the basic conventions of trailers in general and also the conventions of trailers depending on their genre(s). For example, horror trailers often used low key lighting, they didn‟t give too much away and the killer was featured but not too much was revealed about them. In the action genre trailers they were often fast paced and showed a lot of scenes that involved a lot of action, whether it was fights, car chases, shoot outs or explosions all the action trailers featured something along these lines.
- 4. From the trailers I looked at I started to get an idea of the genres of film trailer I would like to do and what is popular with audiences at the moment. YouTube is useful in working out the popularity of a film to a certain extent as more popular films get more hits on their trailers. YouTube is used by a wide audience, not just young people and is a very useful place to find film trailers as nearly every film that has come out in recent years has a trailer on YouTube. I found the Paranormal Activity trailer interesting as it shows how the conventions of horror trailers are changing. I noticed this as in more modern horror trailers the focus is on the reaction of the audience more than the film. Where as most other genre trailers and old horror film trailers focused on the film and not the reaction of the audience.
- 5. When I looked into film posters I decided to look at the history of film posters as well as the conventions and appearance of existing film posters. Whilst looking through existing posters I discovered that some posters become iconic over time, and some posters don't even need the text on to be recognised (e.g. Jurassic Park). I found this really interesting and I found that the posters with simple layouts are often the more well know ones and are easy to recognise. I also discovered how easily posters can be banned (like Final Destination 5 and Zack and Miri make a porno) and that the controversy around the banning of the poster can often make a film more popular as the public want to see what the fuss is about. This also taught me that even the tiniest thing on a poster can cause outrage so when creating a film poster you have to careful not too offend the pubic. I also discovered that some films will have a set of character posters for advertisement (sucker punch, Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean). This is a good way to promote a film that has a lot of lead roles, but will not be needed for my film trailer.
- 6. When I researched magazines I looked into the history of Total Film and Empire magazine (two of the major film magazines on the market). I also looked into there features and looked on their websites to help me get a better idea of what a professional film magazine would have content wise. I also looked in detail at roughly 19 different magazine covers that are on my wardrobe and the two on my blog, as well as remembering my work on magazine covers during my AS year. This helped my find inspiration for my own magazine cover as whenever I was struggling for ideas I could just look at my wardrobe and there was some inspiration there.
- 7. I looked in detail at a copy of Total Film and a copy of Empire magazine. This helped me to understand the conventions of a professional film magazine and also showed me the kind of finish expected of these magazines. I also found that in my opinion most professional magazines look very cluttered to me, and well I think less is more so if I see a cluttered front cover I'm less likely to look at it as there is just too much to have a quick glance at in Tesco or the newsagents.
- 8. Over all I think I did well with my research, although I think I think I could have imputed more of it into my blog as I have continued looking at new trailers, posters and have continued to look at magazines thinking what if I could do that. On reflection I should have put more of this into my blog as it would have made my research look less restricted, and it would have actually shown more of a range. I actually watched a lot more trailer than what I posted as I love films so I've always got an eye on what's new, and what films are coming out. From my research I decided that I didn‟t want my magazine cover to be too cluttered, and I didn‟t want to follow conventions by the book. I also didn‟t want my poster to be too cluttered. After my research on film trailers I was still unsure on what the genre of my trailer was going to be, but I was much more confident about putting one together as I had complete creative freedom over it.
- 9. After my research I decided to brainstorm several plots in varying genres. I chose genres I was comfortable with writing as there were some genres that made me feel completely lost writing about. I covered the sci-fi, romance, comedy, horror and adventure genres as well as throwing in a wild card plot that I was unsure on the genre of. I then asked my Facebook friends and my family to fill out a questionnaire and comment on each plot giving their opinions. I then asked them to chose their favourite plot. I wasn't surprised which plot came first as I knew sci-fi/comic book style films where gaining in popularity, however I knew it wasn't a feasible idea to do after really thinking about it. I really like the wild card plot and thought it would be a good opportunity to be a bit arty with the camera. I was very surprised to find that it was the public‟s second favourite plot, so that made my mind up that I would use that idea. I improved the plot a little before I carried it on to the storyboarding stages. I wanted my trailer to have the kind of gritty, rough style that a lot of independent films have as I really like the style. Also the kind of plot line I am using also doesn‟t really fit with the polished Hollywood style „blockbuster‟ films and is much more likely to be made by an Independent studio.
- 10. When it came to the storyboarding stage of the project I got into some troubles. I had nearly completed my storyboarding for my plot with the female star and a male co-star when I came across some troubles with the filming dates. I had already lined up a cast before I had started storyboarding and I had lined up my filming dates before the storyboard was completely finished. I then got told a week before I was due to film that my male co-star was unable to help me as he had made other plans. I managed to replace this character with another actor and continued with my storyboarding. I was then asked by my female star to move the filming back by three days as her family had made plans for the original filming dates. So I moved them back by three days for her.
- 11. I had finished the storyboarding three days before the shoot was scheduled, the night after my female star informed me she was unable to help with the trailer at all. I then had troubles finding a replacement female actor. I sent a shout out on facebook for help, I got a good response but from my male friends. After a long struggle trying to find a female actress I settled for a male replacement and decided the easiest option was to re-write/storyboard the plot for a male star and co-star. Although this meant more work, it also meant that I wouldn't be stuck without a cast. So I started to re-storyboard the trailer with a male cast and I had to change the locations so I could use one of the male actors also. I asked my cast members for advice when doing the storyboard so I would get a better idea of how the male characters would actually act and what they would say in this situation. Their input proved very useful as it helped me create a more realistic storyboard and I think made the trailer more natural. I decided that is was not worth putting the original storyboards on the blog and I just uploaded the new ones instead.
- 12. After my initial filming problems, my first day of filming went very well. I got a lot of footage filmed and the props looked better than I expected. The new location fitted much better with the idea than the original location. I also didn‟t have to travel between locations so it saved time and money. The location I actually used in the end was the co-stars flat, which meant I already had a typically male flat so I didn't have to worry so much about the mise-en-scene, annoyingly I had to keep moving the furniture back between filming dates as Benji kept moving his flat around. Even though the filming was spread out over a few weeks, the filming was not as stressful as I expected. The footage was of a reasonable quality and I had very few re-takes of footage and most of the shots only needed one take.
- 13. The flat was quite dark so I did need to use extra lighting, luckily I had shot some footage in the flat previously of a band practice so I knew where the lighting needed to be placed and I knew how the blinds had to be positioned so the flat was bright but I didn't get glare from the window on the footage. I enjoyed filming my raw footage, although it was stressful at times. At the end of it I was happy with the footage I came out with.
- 14. I used CyberLink PowerDirector 10 to edit my footage. I had been given the software for my birthday as I don't get on with the editing software at college (final cut on the apple mac‟s). I found the software relatively easy to use, I taught myself all the functions as I learn better that way. I picked it up fast and edited my footage together over the course of a few evenings.
- 15. I ended up changing the trailer a great deal compared to the storyboards. This is partly due to my actors changing bits as we filmed as they thought it looked more natural if they did it how they would normally act (some of the speech was changed as they also felt they wouldn't speak like that normally and knew that realism in this trailer was important to me). It also changed a great deal in post production as when I was putting the trailer together I realised I didn‟t need all the shots and also I put different shots together as it looked better than the original sequences. (I cut out the argument with the mother shots as I decided that they weren't needed and might give too much away) I also had too cut down some of the shots as they where either too long or you could hear me saying action at the start of the footage. This caused no big problem and most pieces of footage only had to be cut by a few seconds.
- 16. I took the audio off some of the shots as I didn‟t need it and the background noise would interfere with the non- diagetic sound (the soundtrack). I only really kept the sound on the shots that had speech on (as that sound was diagetic and needed to be heard) and the sound of the door bell. I also had too make some of the speech louder, which is a pretty simple process and useing CyberLink WaveEditor I only had to increase the volume of the speech by a few decibels for it to be heard properly. The still images I put into the trailer where to help the trailer flow properly as without them the trailer just looked random and nothing was really explained all that well. When I put the stills in the trailer, the storyline was explained a little and the trailer flowed properly. I added the audience suitability still at the start of the trailer to make it look more professional. I also added my own production company logo for the same reason.
- 17. The “Balloon” still and the realease date still are typical conventions found in a trailer. I added fade transitions, although I looked through many of the transitions my software offered I decided on using fade transitions as it is the least cheesy and most professional looking transition. I used the transitions in some places to soften the change in shots. I did this as the trailer is meant to be quite dark and sad with hints of happiness. The footage looked to hard and it just didn‟t have the right look without the transitions. The soundtrack was written and preformed by my co-star Benji. Before I put the music on my trailer I wasn‟t sure the trailer was what I wanted it to be, I wanted the trailer portray a feeling of sadness and without the music I didn‟t feel it did that. Once I put the music and the trailer together I realised that in my opinion they fitted together perfectly. It portrayed the exact feelings I wanted it too and I was very proud of it.
- 18. I have had a great deal of positive feedback about this trailer (most of it verbal as I wanted to see my audiences reaction). Many of the comments were on how well the music fitted too the footage. I also had comments saying the trailer was good in general. I had comments on the bad acting of my two stars. I also got some criticism about the lighting and the quality of the footage, which I have taken into account.
- 19. Overall I was very impressed by the overall outcome of my trailer. I liked the finish of it as it fits with style of an Independent film, its not too polished. The trailer gets the storyline across without giving too much away. The acting could be improved and some of the shots are a little shaky, but I was using a small handheld camera and untrained actors. I do also agree the flat could have been lit better. Overall I think it turned out very well, better than I expected.
- 20. I had a few ideas for the name of the film. I decided on using the name „Balloon‟ or „Lantern‟ depending on what prop I could get for the ending shots of the film. I ended up using a balloon left over from my eighteenth. I understand that if this was a real film/trailer I wouldn't have been able to use a Kermit balloon as it is copyrighted. I would of either had to have paid the use of it or used another kind of Balloon. The idea behind the balloon was that when my brothers father died we let go of balloons to say goodbye and I thought I would re-use this idea in my trailer as a way of my star saying goodbye to his best friend who died. I decided that the trailer would be named after the balloon as it isn't a cheesy name and I thought it sounded nice.
- 21. I came up with a few different ideas for the poster (although they were designed when I was unsure whether the trailer was going to be called Balloon or Lantern hence the ideas say lantern). I came up with some rough ideas for layouts, just to give me some basic idea of what I was going to do. After looking at my layouts I decided that I was defiantly going to use a landscape layout as it gave me more space to work with. I decided I didn't want the poster to be bright as it wouldn't convey the right connotations. I played around with the idea of black and white backgrounds and colour in the foreground or a completely black and white poster with coloured writing. I also played with the idea of having both the star and the co-star of my trailer on the poster, but I decided that looked too cluttered for my liking and I wanted to go a little minimalist when it came to the poster as I wanted it to be simple but effective.
- 22. When it came to editing my poster I toyed with the idea of having the Balloon in colour in the foreground, but I decided it didn't look right. So instead I decided to use an image of my star. Once again I taught myself how to use the software (Photoshop elements) and picked it up quite fast. I changed the contrast and brightness off the background and foreground so it was dark but without loosing all the colour as I still wanted some colour in my poster. As I wanted the colour in the poster to represent hope and some light in the darkness, plus I thought that the black and white looked a bit boring and bland. The background image is of the side of a road and a field. I took this just down the road from my house while it was raining as i wanted the image to look bleak before it was edited. I chose this for a background to symbolise the isolation someone feels when someone close to them dies.
- 23. I looked at a lot of different fonts for my poster but the one that stood out to me the most was Hawaii Killer as it just seemed to fit with the poster better than the others. I chose to use white as the colour for all the text on my poster to give my poster a classic kind of feel. I used a different font for the text that wasn't the title as I wanted the title to stand out from the rest of the text on the poster. I added a tag line in order to show a little of what the film is about and also to attract attention. I used a condensed font for the film info at the bottom of the poster to follow the conventions. I added the production company logo in the corner to link the poster and the trailer together and to the same production company.
- 24. I got a lot of good feedback for my poster. I was told it had good depth due to the road being in the background. I was told that the simplicity of it was nice. People thought the overall finish of it was good. I also got some criticism as some people thought it was too plain. I was also told it didn't correctly portray the genre of the trailer.
- 25. Overall I think my poster is good. There are some problems with it. For example I think the actor could have been cut out a little neater. I liked the finish one the poster and I think I managed to achieve a classic kind of look on the poster. I think I chose the right layout as the poster doesn't look too cluttered and it reflects the idea of isolation.
- 26. When it came to creating my magazine the first thing I decided I was going to do was choose the name. After brainstorming a few idea‟s I decided on the name Inspire as films inspire me and in my opinion if you buy a film magazine its because you want to be inspired by something and inspired to go watch something. I then started toying with ideas for layouts of the magazine cover, I only came up with two as I knew that I would probably scrap the layouts and do my own thing when it came to making the finished product anyway, but I still wanted a little something to work from. While I was sketching these layouts I did come up with some ideas I defiantly wanted to do.
- 27. I decided I defiantly wanted the cover image to overlap the masthead. I also decided I wanted the cover image to be central with the tag lines left aligned. I also decided I didn‟t want the magazine to be too cluttered. I also decided that continuing with the indie theme that I didn‟t want the magazine to look too polished. I wanted it too look rough and edgy. I also thought this would be a good idea as I want this product to be aimed and the teenage and young adult market, so I didn‟t want a magazine that looked too adult. I also decided I wanted to challenge a conventions a tiny bit.
- 28. When it came to editing my magazine made a final decision on my cover image. I decided I wanted the background to be in colour but the actor to be in black and white. Continuing the classic idea from the poster of using a black and white. I enhanced the colour of the brickwork in the background to make the colour more vivid and really make the contrast between the background and the actor stand out. I chose a quite bold font for the masthead (BadaBoom BB) and I decided to use a bright blue to make it really stand out from the image. I made sure that the masthead sat behind the actors head as I wanted it to look a little bit professional. I used the same font for most of the text on my magazine cover as I didn‟t want the cover too look too random and bitty, I still want to use my idea of simplicity.
- 29. I used the same font the poster and trailer use for the word „Balloon‟ (Hawaii killer) as I wanted to link all three pieces together further. I used mostly green and blue text as I decided while creating the cover that the two colour went well together and they are both very bold colours and they contrast the cover image and stand out from it well. I followed some conventions by having a barcode, issue number, date and price. I also used a the masthead in its typical place aswell as making use to sell lines and tag lines but unlike in most magazines I placed the web address in the centre at the bottom of the page instead of near the masthead, I did this to draw more attention to the online part of the magazine as using the internet and social networks to stay up to date with things like magazine is becoming increasingly popular. Also as my target audience are teenagers and young adults I decided i should have a focus on the online aspect as most teenagers spend a lot of time online, and online features are becoming more popular. I also added the facebook logo because of this as the magazine and film industry have started to use facebook as a major way of advertising.
- 30. The online aspects are in a different colour (white) to draw attention to them further, as it is an important part of the industry now whether we like it or not. I have used bold colours for the text to try and draw attention in to the magazine without making the page look too cluttered. I got the inspiration for the use of bold colours from the music magazine covers stuck to my wardrobe, I figure that music magazines are very popular with my target audience so I should take a leaf out of their book and go bright and bold.
- 31. I got a lot of feedback for my magazine. Some people thought I had left too much space free on the cover. Others thought it didn‟t look very professional. I also got told it didn‟t show enough features. Even though I did get some negative feedback a lot of my friends did actually say they would be interested in a magazine like the one I designed. Some people agreed it fit with the target audience well. A lot of people liked the colours and the cover image.
- 32. Overall I think my magazine fitted with what I wanted it to be. The cover wasn't too cluttered, it was simple and minimalist. I think it fits with the indie idea of being rough and unpolished. It suits the target audience it is aimed at. It includes online media. I really like the way the cover image turned out. The magazine doesn‟t look too adult. I am very happy with the finish of it. It links well with the poster and trailer.
- 35. When I decided on doing this plot I automatically challenged the typical Hollywood „blockbuster‟ conventions. Instead of having a film that was overly polished, with lots of glitz and glamour and special effects I decided I was going to go down the route of more Independent films that are more about the story than they are about the image of the film. I chose a quite complex narrative that has a quite depressing idea behind it. I wanted to portray a realistic story of a young adult moving on from the death of his best friend (as mortality rates are up in teens and young adults nearly everyone in this demographic knows of someone who has died at a young age). Independent films typically challenge the Hollywood „blockbusters‟ and mainstream film conventions.
- 36. Independent films usually portray the directors artistic vision rather than just going with what is popular like the mainstream film industry does. This is one of the reasons I went more towards the idea of an independent film than mainstream cinema as I wanted to create something a little different. Sure I could have made a trailer for a horror film, maybe a zombie film or a slasher but that's been done do much already that its just the same ideas being recycled over and over again and in my opinion it gets boring. I want free license over what I was going to do with out having to worry about conforming to conventions so it fits with a certain genre. I chose to have complete control over my narrative and how it was filmed as I didn't want to just conform to another cheesy mainstream film. I chose complete artistic licence over conforming to what's popular.
- 37. I have challenged conventions a little by using an all male cast, which in films of this nature is odd to see. Usually for a film with this much emotional content you will usually see a female cast or a boy girl cast. Using a male cast and showing emotions like this challenges mainstream cinema where men are meant to be macho and strong and not show their emotional side. I wanted to challenge this convention and show that men do have an emotional side and they aren't all macho men who like to blow things up and never show much emotion because real life isn't like that. I wanted to portray as much realism as possible.
- 38. I did how ever conform to some basic film conventions. The character develops mentally over the trailer, starting out very down and depressed and then slowly starting to find happiness again (finding a resolution to his problems). The ending is more uplifting and happier than the rest of the trailer. I have used elements of comedy to try and uplift the mood every now and then so the trailer is not completely depressing, this also portrays a little bit of hope that things will get better.
- 39. For the poster I did follow a lot of the basic conventions for posters. I clearly showed the name of the film „balloon‟. I put the release date on the poster, I used a catchy tag line to entice the consumer and to give an idea into the content of the film. I put the names of the lead actors on. I put a proper production blurb on the poster showing information about the director, music, costume designer, producer etc. I also used an eye catching image. I didn‟t really challenge any conventions here, instead I followed most of them. The only way I may have challenged convention is that my poster seems like a horror when it really isn‟t. It was just having a dark looking poster fitted well with many of the themes the trailer portrays as the narrative is based on a very dark subject. I think I followed conventions here as I didn't feel that the poster would look right if I didn't. The only things I didn‟t add where any award nominations or reviews and i felt it would clutter the poster to much and I also didn‟t think it needed anything else adding to it as it is effective enough as it is.
- 40. I followed most of the basic conventions for my magazine cover. The masthead is at the top, it has tag lines and sell lines. The barcode is clear, and the price, issue date and number are on their. I have added online element, such as the facebook logo and the web address, which has become more and more popular in the magazine industry. The cover image is in a normal place. I have challenged conventions a little with the cover image as it is not usual to see an image that's got a colour background with the person on the cover in black and white, which I did for artistic reasons and also to link the magazine with the indie style of the trailer. I don't have any other images on the cover of my magazine, but I don't feel that as challenging convention as I have seen a few magazines that only have one image on the cover. I have challenged convention a little with only using one main font style although „balloon‟ and the price and issue date and number are in different fonts to the rest, most of the text on the cover is in the same font as I wanted an element of simplicity on my magazine cover. The finish of the magazine also challenges a few conventions as it is quite rough, instead of looking very polished. I did this to further incorporate the Indie style, but also to create something a little different form everything else so it would stand out more from other magazines.
- 42. My main product links to the ancillary texts in differing ways. All three products link together as the all use the same name for the film „Balloon‟, when balloon is written it is in the same font on all three products. All three products use the same actor, Matt. They all have an element of darkness. The main product (the trailer) links with the poster as the same font is used in both of them (mostly), both products use the same production company logo, both pieces use white text on a dark background. The poster and magazine cover link by using images from the same photo shoot. The trailer and the magazine cover link as they both have an element of the indie style in them.
- 43. Having all the products link like this is a semantic device and means that people will automatically link it all together in the heads. Meaning that the advertising package is effective, and people are noticing the film. The visual links between all three products are an effective way of advertising, as after a while people will see one thing and then think I've seen that before and will like the material together, therefore generating interest in the film. Making sure that the trailers, posters and magazine features are seen is up to the distributor. Who is responsible for getting the film out there. It is very important that the products are seen in the right places, like cinema‟s, billboards, buses, colleges etc. This gets the word out about the film and generates excitement.
- 45. I found my audience feedback very useful. It helped me to develop my ideas further and create something better than I had originally planned. I have used audience feedback throughout my project, write from when I was thinking up plot ideas. At this time I wanted the audience‟s opinion on what was good and bad about the plots and also which plot they would watch if it was a movie. This helped me to decided on my final plot as well as develop it further and work out the flaws in it. When I had to re-script I relied heavily on audience feedback as I was writing for a male cast and as a woman I don't know how men would think and act in certain situations so I needed advice on what they would do to make the trailer seem realistic. The audience feedback I got at this stage was vital for me to get the effect I wanted at the end of the project.
- 46. When it came to developing the first drafts of the products I relied heavily on audience feedback. Even the tiniest bit of constructive criticism was helpful. Whilst getting feedback on my trailer I was told that the speech needed to be louder because the otherwise you couldn't hear the actors at some points over the non-diagetic sound, that was easily fixed. When I got feedback on the first draft of my magazine cover, I was told to add online details like a website and social networking logos which made my magazine look more professional. I was also advised to change the font „balloon‟ was originally written in on the cover to the same font as the one on the trailer and poster. When I did that the cover looked a lot better. I learnt audience feedback is a very good thing as it sometimes points out things you may not have noticed. I also learnt audience feedback may not always be right for your project as I discovered with the poster when i was advised to add a review or an award nomination to it and when I did the poster lost its effect because it looked cluttered and the portrayal of isolation wasn't as clear anymore. So I went back to my original idea and left it as it was.
- 48. I used the internet a great deal throughout my project, for sites such as google which i used to search for certain topics and to research into things. I used tumblr for my blog. I used facebook as a place to store the images for my blog as well as a place to get feedback. I used YouTube to watch trailers and to post y own onto. I used survey monkey to collect data about my plot ideas and basic data on genre, cinema visits, marketing and magazines. Slideshare – I am going to upload this presentation to it. I had used all of these sites before. My research skills have improved because of this project.
- 49. Most of my work was done on my Acer Aspire 5253, as it is more powerful than the college computers and I have my editing software on it as well as Photoshop elements. I used the college system sometimes to access and update my tumblr.
- 50. I used this program to edit my trailer as it is on my laptop. I get on with it much better than I do with finalcut on the college mac‟s as I find Apple mac‟s frustrating to use. This program is very powerful and can be very user friendly, I found it very easy to learn how to use.
- 51. I used this to edit and put together my poster and magazine cover. Again I found this quite easy to use after I had got the hang of it. I had never really used Photoshop before this project and found I have learnt a lot since I have started using it.
- 52. I used this very early on in my project before I got Photoshop. It was very user friendly and easy to use but I decided it wasn't technical enough to do my final pieces on.
- 53. I used two cameras in this project. I used a FujFilm FinePix AV220 for all my images as it has a better lense and is better in general for taking still images than my vidieo camera. For all my filming I used my Panasonic SDR- S26 as I have had it for a while and know all its functions. Plus it is easy to transport due to its small size.
- 54. I used Microsoft office a little bit whilst doing this project as my filming paperwork was done over it and so was my evaluation. I already knew how to use this software. I used paint to save my screenshots with so i could put them on my blog.