2. Q1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge form and conventions of real media
products?
Musical
Action
I decided to attempt to create a film trailer based
on the genre of romantic comedy aimed at
teenagers twelve to eighteen. I did a variety of
research to get the best possible product out of it.
The first thing to decide on was the genre, I
wanted to go with one I had an interest in and
romantic comedy is by far my favourite. It worked
in my favour having an interest and having plenty
of access to this type of film. I began looking at
various different genres for example: A Team, Fantasy
Mean Girls, Pirates of the Caribbean and
Burlesque. All very different in genre, this helped
me finalise what genre I wanted to focus on.
As a result from this I did a lot of research in depth
into the conventions and forms of romantic Romantic Comedy
comedies, looking at some more genre specific
trailers.
http://media.ksgs.cumbria.sch.uk/blog/rebeccalawa2/2011/11/04/main-product-research/
3. After gathering a more in depth analysis of these trailers I then played some other trailers of similar
genre to a focus group. I recorded their reaction and their views on what made them good trailers and
what aspects were most effective. This helped develop my ideas and gain a wider knowledge of what
the target audience wants.
http://media.ksgs.cumbria.sch.uk/blog/rebeccalawa2/2011/12/14/focus-group/
Another part of my research where I involved the audience is music research, I choice some copy free
music and made a poll. I used ‘Poll Daddy’ to create a interactive poll in which the public can vote as to
which track they think would fit best with my trailer. I used this to my advantage and the one with the
most votes became my main sound track. I used my analysis of similar products to also decide on my
music choices. The track I chose is a upbeat track which I thought represented my comedy well, this
seemed to fit the conventions of existing romantic comedies with a happy, bouncy soundtracks.
However in certain scenes I dropped the tone with a slower beat to create a more romantic atmosphere
when appropriate. As well as that I chose to have a soundtrack for each character depending on what
they are like and there stereo type, for example when Adam appears (the main love interest) I wanted a
tough strong track that enhanced his masculine side to make him seem more attractive. This was an
idea I was influenced by on the trailer ‘She's out of my league’ where the main character and love
interest appears in the air port, in slow motion and to a track that implies she is ‘out of this world’
gorgeous.
Doing the research in such depth gave me a clear idea of conventions found within the Rom-com genre,
however having a sub-focus of high school based films I narrowed the conventions down to then base
on that.
http://media.ksgs.cumbria.sch.uk/blog/rebeccalawa2/2011/12/03/conventions-of-romantic-comedy-high-school-
4. Title of film
I have my film title ‘Life Being Jan’ near the
beginning of my trailer. It is large with a quirky
font and multicoloured. I wanted it to be
different and if not slightly unusual to reflect my
main character, Jan, and her odd personality. I
chose to put it in different colours as I wanted it
to stand out and grab the audiences attention
so they wont easily forget it. I also inserted
some illustrations of a heart and some stars.
This was to give it a young feel to is as it is the
sorts of ‘doodles’ and images associated with
school.
5. Setting and Location
As my trailer is a high school based genre it
seemed appropriate to film it in a school. To
enhance the fact I was filming in a school I got
plenty of long shots of the location. For example in
the first shot of Jan I rotated the camera around
her head to get a 360 degree view of her face and
the clear picture that the scene is based within a
library. If that is not enough then the next shot of a
close up of her body and face is backed by a
bookshelf which instantly suggests learning and
school. I also filmed some of the shots in the
corridor which also has big connotations of school,
these long shots really enhance this image.
I wanted to create a realistic atmosphere to
develop a verisimilitude of real life so the audience
can easily relate to the film having all been though
school.
To help me decide on the areas I wanted to shot
my trailer in I went around school and took pictures
of the most suitable areas, I then did a health and
safety risk assessment on them, for example what
could be a hazard to those on location.
6. Costume and Props
Costume and props were very important aspect to planning
and producing my trailer. My film is based on very stereo
typical character and I wanted to get this across not just
though the way the characters act but by what they wear.
For example Jan is a geeky nerd who isn’t the coolest girl in
the school, after looking as similar genres I believe the best
way to convey this was to dress her to fit the stereo type.
After much though I chose quite practical outfit skinny black
jeans and a checked shirt. The shirt however was
accessorised with a dickey-bow tie which is unusual, this
was to reflect her personality.
The glasses where my main prop which really portrayed her
character, glasses are a well known sign of cleverness,
intelligence, perhaps geeky and un-cool in some peoples
views. These connotations are the stereotypical ideas I
wanted to get across to the audience. The props in which
helped to create this persona were satchels, books and a lot
of bags and folders. This again is a connotation of school
and ‘nerds’, but I exaggerated this by giving her more than a
couple so it really stood out and caught the eye of the
audience.
An important part of filming in keeping continuity, I believe I
achieved this. I did so by using the same props in every
scene so it was important to be aware and organised when
filming, checking I had the right props where they needed to
be.
7. Pink has
connotations of girls.
Product research They are dressed
typical to their
example: stereotype.
Mean girls is a great example of
stereo typical costume connotations,
the three girls in pink represent the
‘popular’ and ‘hot’ girls in the school,
which is a similar role to Arella in my
film and the girl in the image at the
bottom is an example of a ‘not so
cool’ character, however I wanted to
really enhance my characters
differences compare to the other. So
gave her glasses, books and folders.
Checked shit and plain
trousers and shoes.
8. Camera work and editing
I used a variety of shots but keeping them simple so not to confuse the audience. I tried to
establish the shot with longer shots so it was easy to see where the shot was located. I used
fading transitions between each scene as it moved to a different location so that it flowed and
was clear where the story was going. I also included different ways of establishing the character,
especially the main character. I first gave a close up of her head rotating 360 to get the full
impact, then did I full body shot which again give the audience a good impression of the
character. I introduced the main male character by pausing him mid walk to create impact I
added titles to ensure the audience knew exactly who he was and that he was important to the
story.
I chose to use close ups again when the two main characters, Jan and Adam, got close and I
wanted to draw out the emotions by letting the audience had a good view of the facial
expressions.
9. Camera work and editing
continued…
The shots jumped to different scenes a lot but before
most shots I tried to get the camera to follow the
character as if we where them. For example when Jan
walks into the library you get a shot of her coming up
the corridor to set the scene.
To focus the audience on a part of the trailer I used the
technique of freeze framing. Taking a still shot and
keeping it on the screen for a couple of minutes. For a
couple of these shots I added titles for extra impact but
I believe it really grabs attention. For example I used it
to effect at the end, freeze framing the shot on a
confused face of Adam, swapping shot into a full
screen title of ‘who will he choose?’ this makes the
audience want to know more, encouraging them to go
watch the film.
10. Q2) How effective is the combination of
your main product and ancillary tasks?
Through out creating my main and ancillary tasks I
have tried to keep continuity and a link. I kept this clear
link mainly through the use of photographs and images
of the main characters and in similar locations. For
example a picture of the main actors Sally (Jan) and
Will (Adam) with the same hair, makeup and costume
to it was easily recognized.
I also made sure the title of the film was eye catching
and tried to keep them in the same font style, quite big,
bold and slightly quirky which is a refection of the film
being different. I kept bright colours and similar one to
the titles used on the trailer. I also put the production
company name on all three products too, the trailer it
comes up at start and on the poster and magazine it
Title in same font and style to
features somewhere. The tagline ‘Not your usual Rom- show link, however these are just
com’ I wanted to include in my magazine and poster as developments but even when
designing I kept them all similar.
it may not be a s obvious as to the genre.
11. Q3) What have you learned from your audience feedback?
A lot of films get feed back from audiences though the internet, blog’s, sites based on the film or
films in general, polls, voting systems etc.
After research into romantic comedies and high school films I found that the main certification ages
are 12, 12a and 15. I wanted my target audience to between the ages of 12 and 18. However when
it comes to classifying it I would make my trailer a 12 because it meets the criteria I found when
researching on The BBFC website :
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/
But I think the film could be a 12a or 15 if the story continues it may contain a few sexual
references or bad language.
After creating a focus group of males and
females between 12 and 18 I came to the
conclusion that it is the right age as they could
relate to it, they feel more involved in the film
resulting in enjoying it more. I believe my
audience is reliable as it is coming straight from
those who watched the trailers however I could
have had a more varied age range as they
where within two years of each other and I could
have had more people to give feedback as I
would have got a larger variety of opinions,
resulting in having more information to develop
my ideas from. But getting feedback on
microelements such as props, costume, sound,
location etc was a big help and added to the all
important research to develop my trailer
12. Q3) …Continued
I believe that although I want my film to be aimed at a mixed gender I think that it is more for
females. I only think this because Rom-Com’s are preferred by that gender. This is stereo typical
but so is my film, it really exaggerates the difference in class within schools, this is easy to relate
to as it is a modern aspect of high school and always has. However this is what the trailer shows,
if I developed it into a full length film, I would challenge this typical view of high schools and give it
a twist.
Including the audience focus group to get feedback I used other methods to make the best of my
trailer, I created a music poll to see what the audience thought would fit the best with my film. This
was very useful and helped me create the best trailer possible.
I also uploaded my trailer onto You Tube after a first draft to get the public to comment and share
their ideas on where its good and where it could be improved, I took these into consideration and
developed my trailer to improve it. I also showed the trailer draft to the class to get even more feed
back on which areas could be improved and developed.
One of the main feedbacks I received was that they though my trailer would be better with a
backing track, to create a atmosphere that evoked feelings and emotions from the audience. For
example after my research I found that changing the track to suit the moment in the trailer was a
better idea than keeping the same track throughout. So when the film starts it’s a upbeat modern
track, this changes when the main characters meet to create a romantic atmosphere, so I added a
slower track.
I believe that using audience feedback to develop and improve my product was of significant
importance as it gave me a real idea of what those who would actually be watching my type film
think and feel about my product.
13. Q4) How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research,
planning and evaluation stages?
I used many new technologies and some I had already used, some id never used before. I developed
skills in many new medias and improved on those since AS. The main technologies used where
computer editing software Adobe Elements which was totally new to me as last year we used Pinnacle
14 which caused so many problems on the school network. This new software forced me to learn new
ways of editing and creating products.
Another technology used, and a very important one, is the video camera which I already had skills in
but developed them even more creating my trailer, trying new shots and experimenting with different
aspects of filming.
I used the digital camera to take photos for my ancillary products, I needed to set up the photos to get
the best shot, this was a skill I had already used before however when it came to editing them I found
new ways. Usually we are expected to use Adobe Photoshop however I wanted to show I had other
skills in photo editing so research and found other editing sites on the internet, finally settling on
‘Picnik’, a free online editing site that I can create, develop and improve my images to a full extent,
adding text and laying pictures etc.
A technology that came in to huge use was Google, researching and learning new things though this
site to help develop my ideas and look on sites to find out similar products. You Tube was one which I
search though Google, this helped me watch similar products and upload my work to get feedback.
Audacity was a technology I had very little experience with, I wanted to record a narration but due to
lack of high quality equipment I didn’t end up using it. It was a good experience to gain though.
14. Q4) ..continued
A technology which came in use a lot was media converter WINFF as it was important to get the media
into the right format before uploading to either the blog, you tube or any other site or software. The
format supported on my blog for videos was FLV, however when creating a film on Adobe Element the
film comes out as a WMV, it then needs converting to AVI then FLV. This was quickly picked up and I
used WINFF to do so. I used this converter to change you tube trailers into the correct format to upload
to my blog, as well as pictures, music and images relevant to my products.
Email was another important technology I used especially when gaining permissions and copyright,
however I tried to gain copyright free music, which was played in Windows Media Player this was a
programme used a lot to replay, listen and watch clips and music.
