Evaluation question 1
- 1. Evaluation In what ways did your media product develop challenge and use conventions of real products?
- 2. Conventions of a Comedy Trailer When researching the general conventions of a comedy trailer I came up with an intriguing list which one would not necessarily think of. The main points from the list were: - A misleading or ambiguous beginning - Up-beat/lifting music - Short, entertaining funny clips form the film - Sudden stop/pause in trailer for punch line. I have aimed my trailer at a mainstream comedy film audience so most of my conventions follow the general pattern.
- 3. Misleading Beginning My beginning sees several zooming in shots on pictures of Andrew. Over the top of these shots there is dramatic, mood-setting music and a voice over “He was an ordinary boy…etc.” I chose to do this to make the switch from dramatic movie to comedy movie more entertaining and funny. The audience would enjoy that transition more if they were not aware of it coming. In trailers like “The Love Guru” this technique was used to good effect and from the feedback I have received from my trailer the desired effect was achieved.
- 4. Music For my music I chose the snooker theme tune. I did this because it is a song that automatically brings a smile to one’s face thus giving the correct response and the one I wanted. I took a risk by choosing this theme because (from what I have heard) the theme tune was the “best bit” of the snooker programmes and so they hoped that would not be the case with my film. I cannot comment as I love snooker but I feel confident that my choice of music matched the content of my trailer and would encourage people to go and see it.
- 5. Funny Clips I chose a number of amusing clips. These clips without fail have made people laugh when they have watched them which is very encouraging. The clips are chosen for their humour and not for their chronology. A risk once more was that people may feel what they saw in the trailer were the best bits but hopefully they were funny enough to make people want to watch the film anyway.
- 6. Sudden Pauses I used sudden pauses in the music twice in my trailer. The first time is when Andrew enters the toilet closely followed by Chris. The music then stops and Andrew screams “OH MY GOD!!” This works well I feel and gets laughs. The fact that what actually happens is hidden from camera makes the illusion more effective as it allows people’s mind to wander. The second time is at the end when Andrew once more exclaims “OH FOR F….” before the titles come in. This works well as it is a link back to the start, offering some structure, and the cutting short of the expletive allows some slap stick comedy which everyone enjoys.
- 7. Subversion of Conventions I didn’t really subvert any typical conventions. This is because I was not looking to make any clever statement, I simply wanted to created something that people would enjoy. The only slightly unconventional technique I employed was the use of both voice over and titles. This was done simply to show that I was able to use a range of different technical ideas as well as attempting to get the point of the plot across to the audience.
- 8. Overall Overall I feel I have created a typical comedy trailer which offers laughs. The feedback I have received from peers and other non-media studying friends has been exclusively positive which is pleasing. I will post video footage of this feedback soon when I address that specific evaluation question.