Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My media product uses and has developed upon existing horror film trailers that cater to a mass market that use similar horror genre film conventions. The genre of my film is horror, and so I have tried to adhere to the traditional codes and conventions for this throughout all of my media products by using a variety of contrasting colours as a colour scheme to attract my audience. I have also attempted to use visual motifs of light and shadows to create enigma for both the still images and the film shots.

For the trailer, I discovered that a common convention of horror trailers is that they are dark, the shots are diverse, and the editing is very fast. I challenged the first convention by filming my trailer in the daytime, as I wanted my trailer to stand out from existing media products, and I also tried to use the shadows cast by trees in the forest and the darkness of the shed to contrast the lightness of the day. Unlike a conventional horror film trailer, my trailer is also largely filmed outside. I have, however, conformed to the conventions of using diverse shots and locations.

I used a variety of camera shots and angles such as canted angle, low angle, high angle, slow pan across, dolly shot, close up and extreme close ups to show the character's emotional states as they were hunted, all of which adhere to camera angles and techniques used traditionally in conventional pre-existing horror films. I also tried to create enigma by keeping with the traditional convention of not revealing who the killer was in the trailer. Instead, I used a male figure dressed in black to connote evil and stalk the characters. I have also conformed to the use of a stereotypical blonde girl in a low cut top and mini skirt with high heels as being amongst the first to die, however, I have several of them in my trailer to challenge this convention and add diversity and to appeal to as many demographics as possible, though the lack of coloured actors may limit my demographic to a white only audience.

I have also attempted to use stereotypes to emphasise and challenge certain cultural myth systems, as defined by Barthes, such as the stupid, half-naked, sexually active blonde girl getting herself killed and the idea that women are weaker than men, who must always rescue them.

For my ancillary tasks I used a similar colour scheme to real media products. I used red, black and white to connote the loss of innocence to passion and danger. These colours also connote blood and death, which is fundamental to the genre of my film trailer. I also conformed to the convention of using the same image for the website and the film poster to allow for easy association for the audience. The image that I have used is of one of the main characters running through a forest. I have darkened the image and edited it so that it is tinted in red and half of her face is in shadow. Due to the shadow, the actress is not easily distinguishable as an individual and represents the generic 'damsels in distress' which commonly feature in horror films. Another effect of the shadow across her face is that many of the women in the audience may feel that they can relate or associate themselves with her, and men can look at the image and see whoever they want to see in her place, and so it attracts them too.

All of the websites that I looked at for my research and planning were interactive, so I tried to integrate this into my website as well. I created more than one page, whilst still maintaining the colour scheme and the traditional codes and conventions of horror film websites, and tried to make them as interactive as possible. I included links to the social networking sites 'Bebo' and 'Facebook', and to cinemas where my prospective audience can purchase tickets to view the film.

My short film trailer and coinciding ancillary tasks represent a social group of 15-28 year olds who typically fall into the socio-economic group of DE, which categorizes students, people who have just left university and don't have a very large income and the unemployed. My media product represents these types of people through the age and gender of the actors, the mise-en-scene, the narrative of the film, the costumes and the diegetic and non-diegetic sound used as the soundtrack for the trailer. My target audience are young, enjoy horror films, and want to have fun and be scared at the movies with a group of friends without any personal risk to themselves.

Many different types of media institutions would distribute my media product, such as cinemas and, eventually shops which distribute DVDs. As my media product a teaser trailer for a low budget film created by an independent British production film company, the movie would premiere at the Sundance Festival, which is an American festival which showcases independent new films, the Raindance festival, which is British and serves the same purpose, or somewhere similar such as a student film festival in England of as a Channel 4 short on the television.

The target audience for my media product are older teenagers and young adults who are not necessarily avid horror fans, but who enjoy a scare a the cinema with a group of friends to escape from reality.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

http://helen-chapman.supanet.com/hush/home.htm

To attract my audience I used contrasting colours and arranged my shots so that light and shadow to create a bold memorable image which connotes death, danger and creates enigma. However, as the image I created does not include a line of sight, it creates enigma, and allows the audience to make assumptions about the character based on the codes which are also present on the poster and website. As it is a teaser trailer for a horror film, I tried to adhere to certain stereotypical conventions, such as the generic blonde girl who is brutally murdered fairly quickly. I also used fast editing and a variety of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds, including screaming, to convey the genre to the audience. As the trailer progresses, more and more of the narrative is shown, and the soundtrack and editing together with the quick flashes of different shots and the variety of media language helps to build tension and creates an enigmatic climax when the trailer stops and a voice whispers 'hush'.

In order to create clearer links between my three products I have used the same colour scheme, font, images and house stlye in all three products.

To attract my audience I used a variety of young actors, costumes, mise-en-scene, props, and a range of shots and camera angles such as canted angles, low shots, high shots, long shots, slow zoom, pan across, handheld cameras, dolly shots, tilts, long shots, establishing shots and close ups and extreme close ups to convey the character's heightened emotional state and create an emotive link between them and the audience. The actors which I have used are of a similar age to my target audience, and so represent many of the ideals and lifestyles held by the audience.

To further hook my audience, I have followed the traditional convention of keeping the enigmatic procrastinator's identity a secret, and have simply used a male figure dressed in black to connote evil and death and as the person who, keeping within the connotations of the colour scheme, takes away the innocence and the lives of the main characters.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I used various different methods of audience feedback to gain constructive criticism from my prospective target audience members. I held a viewing with several different teenagers, who make up the larger part of my target audience, and asked them for constructive criticism, which I found very useful. I have also posted the teaser trailer on Youtube (httP://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJJfWwnynCE) so that it will be easily accessible to any member of the public who wishes to view it. I also showed my website and poster to the same prospective audience members so that they could be improved and changed to appeal more strongly to my target audience.

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

This project has allowed me to further develop the skills which I learnt last year while creating my print media product, whilst also simultaneously allowing me to pinpoint my weaknesses and work on improving them. Originally, I had had a lot of problems with using the Macs operating system, having been raised on Windows, but I overcame this by seeking help from my teachers and fellow media students if I found I had a problem.

I have also learnt how to edit properly, and how difficult it can be to create a teaser trailer package, as I have done. Though I would never say that the technology is easy to use, I feel that I am now more confident with certain aspects of the media packages, while other areas, admittedly, still need some work to boost my confidence. With the aid of the constructive criticism of my peers I was able to target specific areas of my product and ancillary tasks which needed work and alter them accordingly.

I have learnt how to edit clips together and cut sound. I have learnt how to crop images so that they adhere to the rule of thirds, and I am even more confident with Photoshop now than I was last year.

The preliminary task was to create a documentary, and my partner, Laura, and I created ours about the positives and negatives of our school canteen. When we had completed our documentary I felt very proud of it, though there were still some gaps which needed filling in. Looking back on it now, I can see those gaps even more prominently. After last year, I have become determined to do all that I can do to create the best media product that I possibly can, and constantly edited and re-edited my products, changing my initial ideas twice.

Though I enjoyed the preliminary task, there were several elements which we struggled with when creating it. We were unfamiliar with the imovie packages that we were required to use, and were unsure how to edit in music and visual effect such as transitions and even subtitles. I believe that completing the preliminary task helped to prepare me for the challenges of the main task,and enabled me to improve my main task as best I can.

The task gave me an introduction into how to use the software I needed, and I have tried to take into account all that I learnt then when creating my final products.