A2 Media Evaluation

1. A2 Media Evaluation Charlie Taylor 2623 Group 206A

2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? As a group, we have created three media artefacts; a teaser trailer, magazine cover and a film poster. Before we began work on any of these we carried out extensive research. This involved internet research into the conventions of each medium and looking many teaser trailers of the same genres, looking at physical issues of magazines and posters to identify conventions and their aims and intentions.

3. Film noir conventions Originally we had planned to create a teaser trailer for the film noir genre. We researched a lot about film noir in order to plan for our trailer. We found that some of the most important conventions are filming style, crime orientated narrative and iconography of props and costume. Visual style of film noirs include: low key lighting, shadows cast by Venetian blinds (Chiaroscuro), Dutch angles. Typical scenes included: outside urban areas such as pavements and alley ways. Favored props include trench coats, alcohol bottles and cigarettes.

4. Film noir conventions Femme fatale is French for "fatal female". Found in noir films, the femme fatale dresses seductively, to tease and lure the protagonist into some sort of dangerous situation. Now we have filmed a crime thriller genre shot in the style of film noir we thought it would be less necessary to incorporate a femme fatale even though we had an actor lined up complete with red lipstick, red dress and heels. We didn’t want to confuse the audience as to what genre our production was.

5. Film noir conventions We then met up and decided that perhaps film noir would not be the best genre, so with a few alterations to our treatment we decided to begin producing a crime thriller teaser trailer. Conventions of film noir which we have used effectively are the black and white noir style. Our narrative as well as some of our chosen locations and props does not apply the forms and conventions of noir, we did this purposely due to not wanting to confuse the audience as to the genre of our film – a crime thriller shot in a film noir style. We also decided against changing the contrast so it would look less ‘film noir’ and more black and white.

6. Crime thriller conventions Our teaser trailer is for a crime thriller film. Crime thriller is a hybrid genre. The focus is often on the criminals rather than the detective. Typical narratives of this hybrid genre include heists, multiple storylines, robberies, murders and gambling. One difference between crime thriller and film noir is the focus on characters; we used the convention of crime thriller and focused on the criminals rather than the detectives which are the focus of a film noir. The narrative we chose was typical of a crime thriller, involving obviously crime, gambling and a ‘gang’ culture. The narrative we chose was important in determining the audience could easily recognise the genre combined with the other forms and conventions.

7. Crime thriller genre • Conventions in use: • Mystery (close up of antagonist, face hidden)depicts a person as mysterious and dangerous • Shadows (long shot of protagonist, shadows on building)often used to introduce characters, again adding to their mysterious persona • Close ups (poker chip spinning, etc.)emphasise an object in a way its not usually seen, create an ambiguous meaning to the object • Slanted angles (entering pin outside office)creates an awkward shot, combined with close up is a conventional shot used in thriller

8. Crime thriller conventions in use Mystery Shadows Slanted angles Close ups

9. Todorov’s theory • Todorov’s theory is when a film begins with equilibrium – there is no problem. This is then disrupted – a problem is introduced which sets off a chain of events for the storyline. Toward the end of the film, the problem is solved and order is restored. This follows Todorov’s theory.

10. Teaser trailer conventions Due to the small amount of footage in teaser trailers it may be ambiguous and leave the audience hyped and create a buzz. For example some teaser trailers may just be a 10 second clip of an image, such as with The Incredibles (2004), one teaser trailer consisted of an “i”. Teaser trailers are a truncated version of a teaser trailer. Usually teaser trailers are only released for big budget, blockbuster films. The purpose is to make the audience aware that the film is coming. Conventions of a teaser trailer include: short length 15-60 seconds, quick cutting, released usually several months before release of a film, contains minimal footage from throughout usually because filming hasn’t even finished, a voiceover.

11. Teaser trailer conventions We have challenged the length convention as our teaser trailer is 1 minute 17 seconds long which is longer than the associated length of a teaser trailer. This was because our trailer was required to be between 1 and 2 minutes long. Our teaser trailer was released in February and at the end of our trailer it states the release date 11.11.11, 11th November 2011. This means the trailer was released 9 months prior to the actual release of the film, like many real-world teaser trailers.

12. Teaser trailer conventions We also used the voiceover convention as we wanted to explain more than was onscreen. The script was short and to the point, and expands on the narrative – it doesn’t explain what’s happening onscreen. The voiceover is in first person so the audience could really connect with our protagonist, Steve Holt. We felt this would be an easier option than in third person as we didn’t want the voiceover to sound cheesy and too “Hollywood”.

13. Teaser trailer conventions Teaser trailers objective is to alert an audience that a film is being released. Some teaser trailers, such as Cloverfield (2006) didn’t even feature the films name, just the directors name alongside a date. However most teaser trailers reveal the name, usually at the end which is a convention we have chosen to use. Another convention is use of titles • Production company • Actors/director etc. Below is an example of how we have used titles within our teaser trailer

14. Magazine conventions Before creating a mock up of a magazine cover I extensively researched which magazine would be most appropriate due to our target audience and trailer and found it to be Empire magazine by looking at their media pack. Once I had established which magazine we would feature in I looked online at a gallery of every single previous issue cover. (http://www.empireonline.com/magazine/covers/)

15. Magazine conventions Conventions of magazine covers, more specifically an Empire magazine cover include: • Masthead: logo of magazine. In the case of Empire usually always the same size and in the top third of the cover. Font stays the same as it is a logo, but colour varies. Maintains a strong brand image. • Strap line: usually positioned above “EMPIRE” – a short phrase which entices a reader.

16. Magazine conventions • Pricing and date: above the “M” in “EMPIRE” in a V shape. Usually located here or sometimes above barcode. • Barcode: Usually positioned either horizontally or verticallyin the bottom quarter of the cover. Rarely positioned in thetop quarter along the right side. • Secondary/other stories: usually located in the bottom half. Brief summary of other films featured within the issue.

17. Magazine conventions • Main image: The covermainly focuses on one film,in our case “Hands of Red”. • I have posted an annotatedmagazine cover on the blog.

18. Magazine conventions Second draft My magazine cover uses all of theconventions listed above and I feelit wouldn’t look out of place on anewsstand.

19. Poster conventions • Star actor names at top • Large title – Hands of Red – located in middle • Slogan – beneath title • Production/ditribution/other credits atbottom • Main image(s) – we have used two. One ofeach of the main characters; the protagonistand antagonist

20. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

21. Brand image The brand image we have created involves our two main characters; the antagonist and the protagonist. Each publication uses black and white imagery – like the style of our trailer. Use of red is used for example on the magazine cover text, logo and the tie. In the poster the film name “Red” • ‘Gangster film’ • Same characters used in all publications • Usage of red

22. Web 2.0 Web 2.0 is the evolution of the internet and includes social networking sites Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. Web 2.0 is all about actively involving individuals, making them producers whereas web 1.0 was a passive audience. Using Web 2.0 we would run a viral marketing campaign on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. From my magazine research into Empire magazine, I found that typical readers of this magazine were the type of people who would research films online and watch commentary and interviews prior or even after seeing a film.

23. We would be able to post short clips on YouTube, which would excite the audience, creating a buzz and slowly release more information about the plot. Also there could be interviews with cast & directors on YouTube whichwould interest a differentaudience. We could also postlinks to the YouTube videosour Facebook and Twitter pageas well as our official websiteto rake in a wider audience. Another method to advertise ourfilm using Web 2.0 would be toadvertise on YouTube. The imageon the right shows ways in whichwe could advertise our productto a targeted audience basedon their age, gender and previousvideos watched. http://www.youtube.com/t/advertising_overview

24. Our main target demographic is males aged 15-30, using http://www.google.com/videotargeting/ifa/buildQuery I found that within the UK 71.4% of users of YouTube are male. The highest percentage age group is 18-24 with 40.6%. Looking more specifically at just the male audience you can see that 39.3% of users in the UK are 18-24. The age range 13-34 in males which is just slightly out of our main target audience is 76.8%.

25. Facebook is used by our target demographic so would be a good place to create a viral marketing campaign. A poker app could be released which would involve a wider audience and create a buzz for the film. • Facebook could also be used to advertise to our target demographic using their advanced advertising scheme.

26. Twitter could be used alongside YouTube and Facebook to advertise and run competitions etc.

27. iPhone App As well as our Facebook app we could also release an app for the iPhone which would • As mention above we could release a pokerapp on Facebook, this same app could alsobe released on Apple’s App Store. Thiswould be beneficial as over 10 billion appshave been downloaded and monthly theaverage • http://www.macrumors.com/2010/02/25/survey-reveals-application-usage-and-demographic-data-on-iphone-and-ipod-touch-users/

28. What have you learned from your audience feedback? • To retrieve feedback from our piece we showed our teaser trailer to our media class. The reason behind this was our class is of the target demographic. There were 3 viewings, each time taking notes on a different aspect and feeding back to us at the end. This feedback helped us make several changes to clear up any confusion and misconceptions they had.

29. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? • Throughout the project we used a variety of technologies. We utilised them to produce the best possible and easily accessible products.

30. Filming • During filming we used a Sony HD handycam to shoot HD footage in a 16:9 aspect ratio. This made our footage widescreen which is how it would look on a cinema screen. • During the project we learn how and why you would alter white balance, exposure, manually adjust focus, and avoid zebra (high lighting areas)

31. Varndean college blogs • Able to communicate with others easily • Put forward information – categorized • Edit and contribute to each others posts • Web 2.0

32. Audacity • Audacity was used by Ben to edit together and change the speed and pitch of our soundtrack which we acquired royalty-free from http://soundcloud.com/ • The software is easy to useand allows many changesto be made quickly.

33. Adobe Premiere pro CS5 • To edit our piece we used Adobe Primiere Pro CS5. I had previous experience with this software last year. • It enabled us to add a black and white effect to our footage, as well as speeding up and slowing down clips. Cutting clips shorter and placing together resulting in quick cutting – a sort of montage.

34. Adobe Photoshop CS5 • To create the magazine cover I used Adobe Photoshop CS5. I know how to use the software quite well and I did AS Graphic Design last year, which improved my skills with the software. • The poster was made by using different layers and complimentary fonts and a minimal colour palette.

35. Initial research and evaluation • I used Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 to present my initial research and evaluation, I feel its the best way to present this information as its easily accessible and allows you to embed YouTube videos, add images and create a layout which is kept throughout the PowerPoint. Although to utilise it’s useful capabilities it helps to be used alongside other software such as Photoshop to edit images and add them on.