Evaluation Media

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Kainaat Mirza
Evaluation Q1-

2. Teaser Trailer
We were to make a teaser trailer for our media product, and were to
follow the conventions of a typical teaser trailer. The purpose of a teaser
trailer is to create enigma for the audience so they are intrigued to go
watch the film. This is what we intended to do, and so we had to adhere to
the typical conventions of a teaser trailer to do so.
A teaser trailer is a smaller version of the movie being portrayed, and it’s
purpose is to gain the interest of the audience and to create enigma.
They are usually released many months in advance to build the
anticipation with the advertisements, which tend to be shown in cinemas,
online and on television.
Having a teaser trailer is a great marketing campaign as it is a small
snippet of what will be shown and it isn’t costly to advertise. It creates a
bond with the audience. They can create a fan interest during the wait
between the teaser trailer being released and the actual film being
released.

3. Company Ident
A company ident is a visual representation of a combination of colour
schemes, designs, words etc. which link to a company. Regarding our film
it would be a particular logo/production name that is used at the beginning
of a film to show the company that worked within the production.
Company idents typically have a duration of 0-18 seconds,
however because this is a teaser trailer they appear for a
much shorter duration of 0-7 seconds as a whole teaser
typically lasts from 30-60 seconds.
Independent company
idents:
Major company idents:

4. Company Ident (c)
We came up with the name ‘Youth Pictures’ as the term ‘youth’ was
another word for teens/young adults and so we felt this would’ve been
suitable. And we felt that ‘pictures’ fit nicely against ‘youth’ and as a
group we decided upon this. We thought about the idea of having
teenagers, however once we added the image it didn’t look professional so
we kept a silhouette and we felt this worked better.
We had wanted to make a company ident which would be suitable yet
limited to a teen audience. With our research we figured we had wanted
to target the niche teen audience through an independent production
company. This is based off the fact that the major production companies
e.g. Disney have those of a cliche narrative.

5. Camerawork
The camerawork
which usually takes
place in a teen drama
teaser trailer is that of
many different shots.
There are close-ups to
signify different
things, e.g. a close up
on someone's clothes
could be signifying
their status and it
tends to show off the
characterisation which
is something that is
seen in many teen
drama films.
There were a lot of close-ups
and extreme close-ups that we
have seen in many of the real
media texts we looked at and
this was to emphasise certain
emotions being portrayed by the
characters. We decided to then
follow up with these shots to
show this in our own teaser
trailer. One example of a close
up was from the teaser trailer
for ‘Cyberbully’, and this is how
it was shown against ours:
As you can see these screenshots show the characters in a very similar
way with the extreme close-up of the yes. The emotion is being
portrayed very clearly, as with the real media text ‘Cyberbully’ the eyes
show a little fear, whereas with our teaser you see the close-up
signifying the character as being emotionally vulnerable as she is seen
crying and this arises concern which creates enigma for the audience.

6. Camerawork (c)
From this you can see from the screenshots as to how we incorporated this
shot into our teaser trailer. Cyberbully had low-key lighting in their shot
with the light only being focused on the character to convey more of the
emotions being shown. We decided to use the idea of this too, however with
our panning shot we panned with the welcoming of each new character and
we started the pan from where the last persons one had left off from as you
can see from the screenshots.
Panning shots seem to be common too as they give a slight overview of the character and
the situation that the character is in. For example in the real media text ‘Cyberbully’ we are
shown the character who seems to be scared due to her body language and gestures. So
we had decided to add a panning shot of our characters.

7. Mise en Scene
Setting Lighting/Props
The main setting in the real media
texts we have looked at take place
in the settings of where teenagers
would usually be e.g. at school,
their home, their local town area,
or any other social gathering
place. This is typically seen
throughout many films of the teen
drama genre, for example in Juno
the place where the protagonist is
seen is in their own home.
So for our own teaser trailer we
adhered to the teen drama genre
conventions and had three of four
characters in a home based area.
The lighting used in teen drama films tend to be those
of a high-key lighting where natural light is present,
and even artificial light in many cases.
For our teaser trailer we used artificial lighting in the
shots for the living room scene, however when we
were outside it was the natural light being portrayed.
The props in teen drama films range from those that a
teenager would typically be using, for example mobile
phone, laptop, alcohol, make-up etc.
In Juno, our real media text they also had used a
campaigning board which is what we wanted to show
in our film, and so our idea relates to this real media
text.

8. Mise en Scene (c)
Costume/Makeup Facial Expressions/ Body
Language
In teen drama films the
costume/makeup varies. For example
a diva girl will be wearing branded
clothing whereas someone being
represented as a geek/nerdy character
will have glasses/braces as that is the
stereotype given in this genre.
In our film however we had a
difference in the costume for one of
the characters which went against the
usual teen drama costume
conventions, however it did adhere to
the representation of the character.
The character was seen to be wearing
a hijab and Islamic clothing which was
key in our film due to the plot.
The facial expressions and body language
is very dependent on the character being
portrayed in teen drama films. This is highly
important in characterisation in which the
audience can find out what type of
character is being shown e.g. whether they
have anxiety, whether they’re happy etc. all
through the facial expressions being shown
or the body language. Also in this real
media text, ‘Now is Good’ we see that the
body language shown by the characters
represents their relationship especially due
to the proximity.
In our teaser trailer we had one scene in
which one of the characters was seen to be
emotional and this hinted to the audience
about how they were feeling.

9. Sound
The sound that is used in teen dramas tends to
be the music typical of the geographical area that
the characters would be living in as well as the
type of music being used. For example in the film
‘Kidulthood’ the music genre commonly used is
rap/rnb. This is because of the location of the
characters. However most cliche teen drama
films tend to have upbeat and happy music in
their films.
For our teaser trailer we wanted to incorporate
a mix of the two non-diegetic sounds being used
to suggest the narrative to the audience. At the
beginning of our teaser trailer we had a more
slower and emotional sound, in contrast to the
second half of the teaser trailer in which the
sound was a lot more upbeat and represented the
coming together of the characters as a joyous
occasion.
Most teen drama films tend to have a voice over
which is used in most cases by the protagonist as
they explain all that is happening around them from
their point of view, and also lets the audience into
how they are feeling under different situations. Voice
overs are also common in teaser trailers as some of
the main parts of the dialogue used could represent
some of the plot so that is added into the teaser
trailer.
We had decided to use voice overs also in our
teaser trailer to help suggest the narrative to the
audience if it was not clear enough. We did this
alongside the titles being displayed on the screen so
the audience could then also see and hear what
was being said.
Foley sound tends to be less common in films
as the diegetic sound works just as well so
there is no use in enhancing the audio.
However for our film we wanted to add a foley
sound over the alarm clock with the sound of
ticking for the clocks. We felt this enhanced the
audio sound, it also added to our teaser trailer
in the way that it showed the time on various
occasions and so it told the audience that the
time was representing something greater.

10. Editing
Montage/Continuity editing:
The type of editing shown in teen drama teaser trailers is
mainly consisting of montage editing which shows all the
different lot points which may be important. Especially if
the scenes have a lot of action taking place. A lot of teasers
use montage due to the fact that they can highlight
different scenes in different orders to create enigma. If the
trailer was edited through continuity editing it would be
through the theatrical trailer as the duration is a lot longer
also.
For our teaser trailer we adhered to the conventions and
we kept the editing in the style of montage editing only
showing parts of the plot in a different order as to how it
would show in the film.
Editing pace:
The pace in teen drama teaser trailers is highly dependent on the
mood being created for the audience. For example if the film is a
cliche love story, the pace would be a lot more slowed down with
slower transitions. However in a film where there is a lot of action
taking place then the pace of the editing would be a lot quicker in
regards to the transitions and a lot will be shown in much shorter
clips.
In our film we wanted to incorporate the idea of having the contrast
between the emotions being portrayed in regards to the narrative,
and so for the early part of the teaser when we have the more
emotional parts we have kept the pace slower and we show off each
character to get a wider representation of them as a whole. For the
latter part we have kept it a bit faster with the cuts, e.g. when we
come together we edited parts of that to make the walk seem
quicker.

11. Titles/ Text
In teen dramas the typical text conventions is that the text will be
bold and almost always in capitals to draw attention. The colours
also tend to be very bright and in a font that is handwritten in a
sense to convey the teen drama feel to it. The font and colours can
also hint at the narrative/genre being portrayed.
Here are some of the real media text titles:
For our teaser trailer we had decided to adhere to the teen drama
conventions and compare to the already existing real media texts.
We had decided on using a font which was suitable for a teen
drama genre, and the colours were bright which is typical of the
conventions.
This is our productions title:

12. Duration
The typical duration for a teaser trailer
tends to be shorter than that of a
theatrical trailer. It should typically last
around 30-60 seconds long and in that
time you will get a simplified version of
what the film will be about. It will hint at
the main actions taking place in the plot
and will create enigma for the audience.
In this duration you will also see titles
appear and any other information at the
end.
For our teaser trailer we then conveyed
these conventions and ha our teaser
trailer within the time limit of those in
the chosen real media products also.
These are the durations of
the teaser trailers we have
looked at in our research:
This is our teaser trailer in
comparison to the real
media teaser trailers:

13. Film Poster

14. Layout conventions
Title Character names
The title that is displayed on film posters tends to be a different colour to
the rest of the poster and it stands out more than all the other text on the
page. For our researched real media product ‘Juno’ we saw the text was
green and bold with a black shadow so we decided to incorporate that
theme with ours. We chose the blue and yellow colours over a white
background and we had a black 3D shadow to make it stand out.
The character names that are shown tend to be just above or below the
title, the real media text ‘Juno’ have many different film postes but all of
them ha the common theme of having the names at the top of the poster.
We had decided to use this idea too with our poster and had the names
at the top of the poster just above the title.

15. Layout conventions (c)
Critic Reviews Main image
The critic ratings on films aren’t
necessarily always shown on the
film posters, but many film posters
have them once the film has been
released, and this is to get the
audience aware of what professional
critics think of the film. With our
real media text we had seen they
used triple structure when
describing the film to keep it simple
yet something that the audience can
remember. So we decided to
incorporate this in ours and had the
critics shown on the side of the main
image of the poster.
The main image is the one thing
that will attract the audience into
watching the film. The genre should
be visible in the image yet
something that wouldn't give too
much away. In teen dramas many
of the film posters will tend to have
the main characters all looking at
the camera and not in action.
We decided upon using this and we
have created a similar shot as to
the one for our real media text
‘Teen Spirit’ which shows the
character facing the camera and
just smiling.

16. Layout conventions (c)
Billing Block Social Media
The billing block always appears at the bottom of the film poster and it
includes all the main details including the actor names, directors name and
all those who are the main people involved in the making of the final
product. The release date is shown in many cases also. We decided to
have the release date in the billing block and made it stand out and we
followed the basic conventions of the billing block according to the real
media text ‘Now Is Good’
Social media recently has been very common within the marketing
campaign for the film, especially with teen drama films as the audience
can engage with this and get updates of the films through social media.
Our real media text we chose to base our # on was from the Pitch
Perfect 2 film in which on their poster they have their website displayed,
social media and hashtag. We decided to incorporate this into our poster
and have the theme running through the teaser as well as the poster.

17. Magazine Cover

18. The Mast-Head
The masthead is the informational overview of a publication
and everyone that was involved within the creation, and it is
usually found on the front pages of a magazine. It tends to
stay the same size and in the same position at the top of the
magazine.
We had chosen to go ahead with Entertainment Weekly for
our magazine cover due to how they they cover many teen
drama films in the way we had wanted to portray our
magazine cover. For the masthead we wanted to abide by the
traditional house-style that followed Entertainment Weekly.
We used the exact same font which we had created by using
the real products masthead and then in Photoshop going over
and adding a gradient to it.
As you can see our template of the masthead is the first one,
and it stands alongside the original mastheads.

19. The Background
The background of the magazine cover should be bright and
have it to be a colour which should stand out from other
magazine covers.
The typical house style theme that is reoccuring is that there
is almost always a radial gradient background, or something
of the sort in which the background makes the characters
stand out as they are illuminated with a glow around them. It
is very common with Entertainment Weekly by highlighting
to the audience of the character.
We had decided to incorporate the same by having a blue
background with the radial gradient which highlighted the
characters a lot more, and as you can see alongside the real
media product it is very similar.

20. The Main Image
The main image is very important in catching the eye of the
audience. It is almost always placed in the center of the cover
and tends to be of the characters.
Entertainment Weekly tend to have a common house style in
which the characters would be in role of their characters they
would be in the film, and thi helps with the branding and
characterisation of the characters.
We decided to incorporate this theme and portray it in our
magazine cover and have all four characters on the front cover
respectfully of how we all are and this would help with the
characterisation. E.g. For the more noticeable signifiers, I am
in a hijab which signifies my religion, Megan is in a
wheelchair which portrays her disability, whereas the other
two characters still have their hidden situations.

21. Other Text Devices
Sell Lines:
The sell lines which are used
on magazine cover are used as
a marketing campaign, and
tends to be something will
will ‘sell’ the product.
Entertainment weekly tend to
use many sell lines with the
‘Rule of three’ or with words
like ‘Exclusive’. We had used
‘Exclusive pictures’. One
example of Entertainment
weekly using something
similar is ‘Exclusive first look’
Barcode & Price:
The barcode and price isn’t
always present on the front of
the magazine cover with
Entertainment Weekly so we
hadn’t kept the price on the
display of our front cover.
I had noticed that the
barcode and price was
present on the cover of the
magazine if it was the cover
for a TV programme however
not so much the case for a
film.
Date & Issue Number:
The date and issue number
are either always above the
title of the magazine in the
masthead, or just below and
the date is written out in full.
We had kept the date for our
own magazine cover below
the masthead just below
where it says Entertainment
Weekly.

22. Institutional conventions
When we were determining our brand identity we had planned that we were going to try
and convey a simplistic style, but with something that would stand out in this day and
age of film.
We didn’t want it to be a big Hollywood blockbuster, we decided to have kept it a British
film as we wanted to highlight the issues some people of the youth face today and in this
generation living in Britain. This decision was affirmed mainly with the variety of diverse
films that are produced, and by research on the BFI website, you can see they have many
films which are more controversial as well rather than the typical conventions that apply
with teen drama films.

23. Genre conventions
A teen drama film genre is a film that is generally targeted
at teenagers and young adults. The plot is typically based
upon the special interests of teenagers. The most common
plot points can include: First love, rebellion, coming of age,
conflict with parents, alienation etc.
These topics are generally displayed in a very stereotypical
way.
Teen drama films are typically set in schools, or contain
characters that are of a high school age. Sexual themes are
mostly used too and are used in the forms of humour.
For our film we had intended for it to be a teen drama which
is the initial genre for it, however it doesn’t follow the typical
conventions of a teen drama with a cliche narrative, instead
we have a stories within the film which are based upon real
life situations and we wished to incorporate this to show that
a change may be needed within society to tackle the
stereotypical views which lies with the discrimination
towards certain stereotyped individuals.
So we decided to have a more controversial baseline
narrative behind our film.

24. Narrative
The narrative in a teen drama film usually has the main
character narrating in their point of view, typically done as a
voice over. This way the audience can learn into their ways
and experience how life is for them especially in specific
moments. This way the audience and the character gain a
connection.
The typical storyline would include there being a love story,
or some type of romance indicated, friendship drama, and can
even be about bullying in a way.
The narrative of our film was a lot more controversial with
different stories from each individual character. We would
have the voice overs to follow the typical conventions of a
teen drama, and this allows the audience to engage with the
character and for them to have created an emotional
attachment with how each person was feeling.
The storyline in our film is about diversity and the coming
together of all the different problems that young people face
and showing that there isn’t any difference in people,
although the situations may be different we are all one.

25. Characters
There are always stereotypes within a teen drama film, the
wide range stereotypes include:
The jock/cheerleader
School diva
The geek/nerd
The rebel
The misfit/outcast
The new girl/boy
The characters in our film are all very different characters
that don’t fall under a specific character stereotype which is
conveyed in teen drama films.
Our characters were very different, for example one of our
characters had a hijab with signified her religious motives
and that was a clear indication of who she was and what
she represented.
We had another character who was disabled and was seen
to be in a wheelchair.
One of our characters had family issues in which abuse was
clear and this was also portrayed in our teaser trailer,
alongside the last character who had suffered from mental
illness and this was also signified in the film with the tablets
being taken.

26. Setting & Location
Teen drama films are almost always set in or around a high
school and this is because it allows many of the different
social stereotypes to be seen. This is the case for usual teen
drama films, however hybrid teen films can have different
conventions.
The location for our film followed the typical conventions that
a teen drama would follow in which the characters would be
in a place of social gathering for young people, for example
in a school/college location and even in the homes of the
characters

27. Iconography & Style
The mise en scene can signify the location of the characters to be in a high school or a
social gathering place that is typical for teenagers to be. This can also include the
character's house to represent how the character is presented e.g. social class etc.
The costumes that are worn by the characters would be typical of what teenagers wear,
although it can vary from how different the characters are e.g. a diva girl will be
wearing more branded clothing whereas that may be different for a geek/nerdy
character as seen as the stereotype for these characters.
The lighting that is used in teen drama films generally tends to be a lot more brighter.
The type of sound that is used in teen drama films tends to be upbeat kind of music
which represents the feelings of the character. This then helps the audience engage with
the way the character is feeling.
The camerawork that is used in teen drama films tends to include a lot of cross-cutting
from character to character. Some use panning or have split screens to emphasise with
everything that is happening. POV shots are used a lot so the audience can engage and
see from the charaters view. Sometimes hand held camera work is used to emphasise
that school life or something as of such can be quite chaotic.
The mise en scene in our film signified that the location of the
characters followed the conventions of a teen drama genre with
them being in a college/school location and even seen to be in
their homes.
The costumes followed what would be typical for each
character to wear, however there was one character, Kainaat,
who wore a hijab and therefore accustomed to more traditional
clothing to represent what was being shown in the film.
The lighting we had used in our film followed the conventions of
the teen drama genre with having as much natural bright light
as possible.
The sound used in our teaser followed the conventions by
having music that would’ve signified the mood of the
characters, so it would've been upbeat at times, and more
emotional at other times.
There were a lot of close-ups and extreme close-ups that we have
seen in many of the real media texts we looked at and this was to
emphasise certain emotions being portrayed by the characters. We
decided to then follow up with these shots to show this in our own
teaser trailer