2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
• In order to learn and understand how the industry presents real media
products, I did in depth research on professional magazine covers, posters
and teaser trailers – which broadened my knowledge in terms of how to
construct my products in a similar way.
• I looked at various teaser trailers and ancillary texts in the same field of
my chosen genre to gain a better understanding of how to meet my target
audience expectations. For example, analysing the different aspects in the
‘Harry Brown’ trailer to generate ideas of how to establish the right
conventions of my genre.
3. • My product also uses forms and conventions through elements of Mise en
scene. I knew that lighting plays a major role in film which is why I decided
to have the majority of shots set at night, to represent the dark setting of
events which take place in ‘Green Culture.’
• Whilst analysing professional teaser trailers, I noticed that most scenes I
came across in my chosen genre, took place outside. This inspired me to
follow the same route in terms of location and film outdoors too.
4. • Camera shots and angles are essential when shooting footage,
therefore I took effort in constructing the right shots throughout
my teaser trailer to make it look as professional as possible.
• From research, I noticed that the industry standard teaser trailers
use a variety of shots to give viewers different perspectives of
what takes place in the film, rather than focusing on only a few
shots and locations which may get boring for some people.
5. With knowledge of the different types of shots used in professional
trailers, I decided to use a range of shots and angles throughout my
product to create a different atmosphere in each scene. For example, an
over the shoulder shot of ‘Rodney’ looking at his phone – giving viewers
the benefit of seeing the picture of his girlfriend too. This works well as it
makes the audience feel directly involved with the trailer, providing a sense
of personal interaction.
6. • The image above is the final poster for my teaser trailer ‘Green
Culture’ – I decided to challenge forms and conventions of real
media products by not including as much information about the film
but taking a simple yet effective shot which portrays a dangerous
mood.
• For example, the majority of movie posters have a selling
review line, memorable catch phrase or details about the production
company. However, the picture I have used works well without too
much text bombarding it – therefore captures attention alone.
7. • Most film magazine covers consist of vivid colors which beg to
catch the readers attention, however I took a different
approach here, and used black as the dominant color since it has
connotations of power and elegance. Before creating my
magazine cover, I looked at various others in the same industry to
get a better idea of how to produce mine.
8. • My magazine cover uses forms and conventions of professional media
products. I gained thorough understanding of how the industry presents
material by researching into mainstream film magazines and acknowledging
their high quality standard of cover designs. For example, I looked at the
‘Total film’ cover of ‘Casino Royale’ for inspiration in terms of layout,
structure and what to include. (see below)
9. How effective is the combination of your main products and ancillary texts?
• The effectiveness of my main product (the teaser trailer) in combination to
the magazine cover and poster works well, as it creates a strong
atmosphere of what anecdotes ‘Green Culture’ consist of. For example,
during the process of constructing my poster - I wanted to depict a sense
of trouble, which is why I decided to blur out the suited character in the
background, as if the main character in the foreground has no idea that he
is being watched upon. This creates an immediate sense of mystery for
viewers when looking at the poster.
10. • In addition, the effectiveness of my teaser trailer in combination to my
magazine cover works well as it portrays the clear link of characters
between all three products. From the overall look of the ‘Green Culture’
magazine cover, we can see the seriousness and aggression of the
character that is reflected similarly in the teaser trailer and poster.
• I wanted to illustrate a sense of danger in both the poster and magazine
cover as the narrative of ‘Green Culture follows a sequence of
troublesome events. Therefore, I added smoke on the cover to symbolize
this, which works well against jet black.
11. • The combination of my main product (teaser trailer) and ancillary
texts such as the poster, are effective as they provide an identifiable
link which illustrates the mood, narrative and characters in ‘Green
Culture’. The font colours used are the same for all three products
and the expression of characters are portrayed similarly.
12. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
• From my audience feedback, I learnt that my target demographic wanted
a professional looking product without the typical movie aspects. For
example, the actual image on a poster or magazine cover itself should
represent an overall mood of what ‘Green Culture’ is about.
• In order to find out what my audience would want to see with my product,
I conducted a focus group which consisted of ten people, answering
questions in regards to suggestions and improvements which could be
made. This provided me with a stronger understanding of the aspects to
include in my product and ancillary texts which met my viewers needs.
13. • As a result, I gained a better understanding of what my target
demographic wanted. I learnt that my focus group thought that less text
and more visuals would be preferred as this can show lack of creativity
with the camera and shots. Therefore, I took this into consideration and
only included two main scenes of text in my trailer.
14. How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning
and evaluation stages?
• In terms of construction, I used a range of equipment which included a Canon
5D high definition camera, Final Cut pro and Adobe Photoshop – the three
main tools behind the production of my teaser trailer and ancillary texts.
• Research and planning was done through the use of Google’s search engine
and YouTube – in order to view and analyze the professional products.
15. • Since the original picture was too dark , I adjusted the levels
of brightness and contrast to the right amount in order for
people to see clearly.
• Color enhancements are essential when making a photo look
professional, especially on film posters. I added a dusty glow
to the image, to give it a worn out look – then touched on
the red highlights on the edges to balance the color.
16. • I took the picture on a Canon 5D high definition camera, then used Adobe
Photoshop. An effective program which enabled me to enhance my
selected photo, from looking basic to professional – as you can see below.
17. Exclusive feature
Masthead
Persuasive text
Background featuring
main character from Title of film
‘Green Culture’ –
instantly identified by
audience
Price
Bar code
18. • The image above is a comparison between the original magazine
picture used, to the final edited version. As you can see, there has
been an obvious adjustment in brightness and contrast. This was
done with a general purpose of making the cover more eye catching
as black can be tough to grab attention. I also created a smoke effect
using the paint brush in Photoshop, representing the use of cannabis
– the main drug throughout ‘Green Culture’ - giving the cover a
menacing look.
19. Overall, I feel that the process of constructing professional media
products throughout my AS/A2 year has allowed me to develop
further skills and adapt to a range of software.
As a result, I am satisfied with my final products and look forward to
enhancing what I have learnt when creating a professional product
in the near future.
