The student created a promotional package for a film as part of their media coursework. This included a horror film trailer, poster, and magazine cover. To evaluate their work, the student analyzed conventions of real media products to inform their own. They discuss how their trailer challenged conventions by omitting a voiceover. The student also followed conventions like an attractive vulnerable character and unsettling soundtrack. Overall, the student aimed to apply research on codes and conventions to create an authentic horror media package.

1. Evaluation
My chosen brief for my media coursework consisted of creating a promotional package for a
film.
This included a film trailer/ short film, ancillary tasks; poster for the film as well as front page of
a film magazine or review depending on whether choosing to make a trailer or short film. The
research I collected as well as the planning and production process to create this work can be
seen throughout my blog.
Before starting the production of my promotional package, I researched into different genres,
trailer and short films to enable me to begin starting the basis of A2 work.
‘ To evaluate means to measure or estimate the nature, quality, ability, extent, or significance
of The last hurdle ’
After having completed vast amounts of research and planning, and creating my three media
products I will now evaluate the outcome of my horror film trailer, poster and magazine front
cover by discussing the highs and lows that I have faced, and also, I will be explaining what my
target audience thought of the final products.
Codes and conventions are the staples of any media text. They hold everything together and
define what the text actually is. When analysing existing media texts, for magazines, posters and
trailers, I was able to pick out and recognise the codes and conventions that were attached to
each type of media. These analysis's allowed me to become familiar with the appropriate codes
and conventions and made it easier to transport them over to my own three media texts.

2. The Questions in which I will be evaluating are based around are
the following;
1. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE,DEVELOP OR
CHALLANGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA
PRODUCTS?
2. HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN
PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY TEXTS?
3. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK?
4. HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE
CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH, PLANNING AND EVALUATION
STAGES?

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

4. Challenging the conventions: The ways in which my media product perhaps challenged the typical conventions of a
horror film trailer would be by that it does not include a stereotypical ‘voice over’ to which maybe heard within well known
famous trailers within the film industry we see currently in this day and age. With having a voice over it gives the audience
an insight to what the film includes but I felt my trailer had enough things within it in order to convey the basis of the film
without giving away the plot, which I felt worked well just having non digetic and digetic sound instead of a voice over as
they can often be seen by the audience as ‘cheesy’ if not expressed the right way. I also feel within my research I found out
that not many ‘horror’ genres have voice over's within there trailers but are often more popular within action films and
rom-coms.
I know what Real conventions are and some of these real examples may have juxtaposed my own ideas and creativity.
Following conventions of real media products:
Characters in Horror Films: There’s always a lead character, like in normal films, but these are often the only remaining
survivors. Often the killer has a certain way in how they kill, like their trademark, it could either be the weapon they use or
how they kill them, such as in Jeepers Creepers, the victims eyes are normally removed. Normally the outcome/ending of
the film is where the good guy (i.e. the victim) defeats the killer, so it’s good against evil. More modern horror films tend to
graphic violence or bloody gore, while late ones were often more following the gothic/horror genre, such as Frankenstein
and old traditional vampire films.
Things you are likely to see in a horror film which follow the traditional codes and conventions:
An introduction to a typically normal day to day lifestyle.
A bizarre/unknown mysterious death.
The credits would fit into the theme of horror, by using a creepy font, and odd movement depending on the film and how
modern it is.
The majority of the characters would be quite young, most likely to be teenagers showing their vulnerability and naivety.
If there are teenagers, it’s normally an American film so there would normally be a typical American teenage couple, i.e a
‘jock’ and a head cheerleader, most likely to be blonde.
Mysterious unknown phone calls from the killer.
Attempts at heroism, often from the teenage boys would be unsuccessful.
Led to believe that the main character/victim would die, they would normally overcome the killer miraculously.
I feel I have stuck and followed the typical conventions within my film trailer especially researching into real media products
such as paranormal activity ,scream and the grudge

5. Todorov’s Theory
Looking further into forms and conventions of horror films/trailers, I found that horror trailers
don’t often follow a narrative. Although the actual film will follow a narrative, the trailer of it
doesn’t as it would give too much away. Narrative theorist Tzvetan Todorov states that most
films follow a narrative theory. However, I am able to see elements of Todorov’s theory within
my trailer such as clearly for the purpose of my media product I am not able to reveal who is
killed, therefore the possibility for new equilibrium is very short for impact.

6. Todorov’s narrative structure states that the narrative
of a film should go:
-A disruption
- A recognition
- An attempt to repair the disruption
- A return to equilibrium- New equilibrium.
My horror trailer follows: equilibrium, disruption,
recognition, disruption

7. .Before I created our horror trailer, I decided to research existing films, posters and
magazines so that I was aware of the typical conventions within real media products.
.I watched a range of trailers and analysed them these included, the grudge, scream,
paranormal activity and the unleashed. In which I uploaded them from YouTube onto
my blog. I also looked at analysed various film posters and magazine front covers. I felt
this was a necessary way to be able to help me in producing my film trailer and
ancillary tasks to the best of my ability.
.I found a range of conventions in each trailer I analysed including;
-horror trailers feature more disequilibrium than equilibrium
-an attractive vulnerable female character
-an eerie soundtrack which compliments the shots
-fast, sharp edits towards the end
-A scary cliff hanger to finish the trailer
All of which I feel within my trailer I tried my best to stick to these conventions in order to have
a successful end product.

8. Typical Horror Poster Conventions
-A member of the cast, or prop from the film on the
main central image of the poster mostly being a main
character either the victim or the villain within
horror posters.
-. A bold, prominent title.
-- Tagline from the trailer
- Special effects such as black and white image.
- Release date and website.
- red text
- Credits at the bottom
- age rating
In order for me to make my product of a horror film
poster appear professional and authentic I followed
these conventions

10. Here I looked into a real film poster ‘Mirrors’ to which helped me with ideas into
the construction of my own film poster as I feel the conventions used within this
poster would be most appropriate when using them within mine for example
these similar conventions include...
The title of the films name in a bold
font with a strong simplistic colour in
order for it to stand out and make it
known that this is the film title
The release date; this is a must when creating a
film poster as it enables the audience to see
when they can go to watch the film once its
realised in cinemas
A strong central image which is used to real catch the
audiences attention without this it would create as
much interest and wouldn't make a poster stand out as
much and with an interesting image it can create
intrigue into who the person is within the film and what
they want
With colours and font styles I feel it gives a real insight to what style the genre may
be for example the conventions within horrors tend to have a dark image with
usually the person that's perhaps haunted on the central image this is to create
mystery and suspense at who it is.
Another connotation which occurs within font the writing is usually black, white or
red these connote a sense of fear,death,blood which relates back to the horror film.

11. Here is my finished film poster to which I feel I
have followed the conventions of a horror film
poster efficiently and effectively.
Film title: I have used a ‘horror’ font from the font site
‘fontspace’ I feel I analysed various of fonts enabling me
to get the right one in the end which is most appropriate
for my film genre and style. By having my writing in the
colour white of ‘oppression’ it creates a professional yet
not a ‘cheesy’ look for example if I used a bright green
colour it wouldn't of worked as effectively
A tagline: is the one piece of written information usually
used on a film poster to give an insight into the film but not
giving to much away by just using a line to express this.
They tend to create intrigue by either asking the audience a
question to think about or making a statement about the
film. With mine ‘one friend turns terrifying’ I am giving my
target audience a fact about the film whilst still not giving
to much away because this will enable the audience to
query which friend is it and what do they do in order for
them to turn terrifying
Studio Ident: Here Is the studio ident I made to which Is a
necessary when making a film and including within the
products made. It enables the audience if its a popular
studio ident an insight into what style of film they can
expect this to be as some studio idents show similar styles
of genre

13. The conventions to which I followed when researching
real film magazines such as empire I have included
within my own in order to make it have a professional
look about it, these included...
Title of film magazine set behind the girl is a convention
typically used with popular magazines such as empire as we
as an audience should gather from the style and the main
title what it says anyway so it does not matter if the central
image is in front. I wanted to follow this typical convention to
make mine appear as ‘real’ magazine also by using the name
‘Cinematic’ in a bold black font with a white outline gives it a
profession finish and noticeable to what the magazine is.
A sticker is another typical convention that may be seen
within film magazines although this may take up space
within the front page however this usually includes
information on top which makes it stand out.
Within the strap line at the top this often with film
magazines include different films names of what is
currently in cinemas and most popular within that time.
Date of issue and the prise of the magazine is an essential
when producing a magazine at it helps the buyer to see how
much it is and by knowing the issue date they can keep up with
being in the no if its a new issue if they have previously bought
one before they can see this by the date. These two things are
usually in a smaller print unless on offer as you don't want the
buyer to be controlled into buying it just because of the price
you want them to be intrigued with everything else

16. In Conclusion to this question…
Overall, I feel in terms of both my trailer and anciallry taskes
that I have used and developed conventions of real media
products.
I also believe that my horror trailer challenged some
conventions which is always risky to do because when
following conventions you know it will always work and be as
affective when done the right way

17. Q2-How effective is the
combination of your main product
and ancillary texts?

19. As a part of my coursework I had to produce a trailer as well as two ancillary tasks. The two
ancillary tasks were created to advertise and promote the trailer and eventual film. When all
three are combined demonstrating a marketing campaign for the film itself. It is very important
for new films to have enigma and effective advertising I feel I have done this successfully.
The combination of both my main product and ancillary tasks is vital in keeping a house style
image, mixing it up confuses the consumer and doesn't maintain the genre’s aesthetics. I feel
that all three of my products follow a specific theme or have something within all three to
identify there promoting the same film for example the font of the film title.
The poster is there to grab the audiences attention and perhaps persuade them to find out
more about the film, likewise in combination with this the magazine is there to advertise the
film with more background and information about the film itself and other typical conventions
within a film magazine.
Both of the ancillary tasks drag the attention towards the trailer. The trailer presents a very
ominous view of the film which creates more tension and suspicion within the storyline, both
the magazine and poster help to create this effect

20. Within my research I noticed in the branding of different products used to promote the film they
will include something symbolic to link them together whether its the same colours and fonts or
the same title logo, this gives the audience a proper insight that they are linked together for
example below I identified that the ‘saw’ film within the poster and website they both have the
same title of the film font exactly the same to make the audience know that these belong to the
same film product. The same appears within the James Bond poster and website each identify
the actor within plus the identifier of the ‘007’ ident.

22. The Ancillary Task: Film poster and how it
promotes my film
Within my film poster I feel it is effective in the
promotion of my film combined with my trailer and film
magazine as it features the same girl throughout all
three.
My film poster is effective by creating intrigue towards
the target audience by not seeing the girls face although
with her hood up this is iconic throughout my tasks so
the audience will be able to relate to the film knowing
this is combined within my three products. As well as this
the positioning of the girl and the setting within this
poster relates to a scene within my trailer of her walking
down that corridor she is standing in. Another thing in
which is included also within my main product and the
poster is the release date of the film which is an
important feature as it enables the audience to know
when they can go and watch the film. The age rating
certificate is also essential as it allows the audience to
know what ages its appropriate for which may establish
its target audience. I have included the age rating on the
film poster as well as my trailer so combined the
audience clearly can see that this is not a film which is
aimed at young children.

23. The Ancillary Task: Film magazine and how it
promotes my film
By the main character being on the front of the
film Magazine: Her character promotes both
the film and her as an actress. My main
character features in the trailer most
predominantly, so when the audience see the
trailer, she will be the biggest signifier in
association to the film. By having her on the
front of the magazine, as you can see on the
right, when the audience see her face they will
automatically get a sense of recognition. This
character features in most scenes throughout
which is why she is used to promote the film
with appearing on the magazine front cover and
film poster.

24. Q3- What have you leaned from
your audience feedback?

25. I was able to receive feedback back
through...
.Devising a film night where my class
presented there trailers and short
films to friends, peers and teachers
.Uploading my trailer to Facebook
.Uploading to YouTube
.Being shown to a AS level class

26. Film night: Thursday 7th March
Our film night was at 3:30 in our teachers room and as some of the groups were having trouble combining there
music and film together as a whole they were unfortunately unable to show there end product. However 'the show
must go on' and the other groups including myself who had got there films and trailers sorted were able to show
them off
We all gathered together at 3:30 the end of the school day and one by one go up and get our film up for the
audience who came to watch who included several media teachers and our fellow sixth form peers. Before we
showed a film the person whose turn it was would give out there questionnaire out to the audience then once
the film or trailer had been shown everyone had a few minutes before the next film to fill them out.
I think by having the film night was a really good way for us all to see each others
trailers and films to give each other especially with our class criticism and feedback.
This film night indeed helped me know what the target audience felt about my film
with not just the questionnaire but with there initial reactions to the film when
watching it and for comments people verbally told me which was all good.

27. The questions in which were included
within my questionnaires were the
following...
1) Are you male or female?..........
2) How old are you?.............
3) What is your favourite genre of film?
.................
Why?...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
....
4) Does this trailer live up to stereotypical genre style?
Yes/No
How?...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
......
5) What would you rate the trailer out of 5?
Why?................................................................................................................................................................................
6) How could the trailer be better?
.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
7) Would you go and watch this film in the cinema after watching the trailer?
Yes/No
Why?................................................................................................................................................................................
8) What do you think of the editing?
Very good/good/satisfactory/poor
Why?................................................................................................................................................................................
9) What do you think of the sound?
Very good/good/satisfactory/poor
Why?
..........................................................................................................................................................................................
10) Does the trailer give the plot of the film away?
Yes/No
Why?.................................................

28. Questionnaire feedback

29. Here you can see that once I had uploaded my film to YouTube, I shared the link to my page on
the social networking site Facebook. I did this to get feedback from facebook friends to see what
they thought about my trailer as you can see by the comments I had some very good opinions
on how people felt about my product which I was very please to see as know that the hard work
In which I had put in had paid off with people saying they enjoyed it and want to see the film

30. Here you can see I have uploaded my finished product of a film trailer to YouTube. I did this as this is a
worldwide popular site in which people upload there videos so they can let anyone see them and see how
many hits they get an the higher the hits the more popular it is seen. For this reason I knew this was the
right site to get feedback from also by seeing how many people have viewed my trailer as you can see
below I have already had 214 people see my trailer on YouTube alone this means people have watched my
trailer which increases popularity on the film in which would happen with a real media product also

31. What I've learnt from my feedback...
Overall I feel that through showing my trailer in different ways its enabled me
to receive various feedback and criticisms mostly involving people of a late
teenage age which is the target audience for my film I knew by targeting it at
this age I would be able to convey it more as most younger generation on
people are on social networking sites where I could easily receive feedback
from.
I have leant from my feedback that what I would do differently with the
production on my film trailer would to not add a ‘cheesy’ font for ‘the
oppression’ title name however I learnt from the audience feedback that even
by working alone on this project I was able to do just as good a job of my
product as fellow pupils did when working in pairs. I also learnt from the
feedback that I know how music can carry and go along side well within my
trailer and I know the stereotypical horror style of shots, lighting and
characters. A criticism was in fact the dialogue of the accent used by the
character speaking as they are brought up in Birmingham they have the
stereotypical ‘brummy’ accent in which the audience felt this wasn't a good
side of the film however I feel that's something which made the film give a
sense of realism towards it and which my audience could relate to

32. Q4- How did you use
media technologies in the
construction and research,
planning and evaluation
stages

33. Research
When researching existing
real horror film trailer I used
YouTube to access them
The social networking site
facebook is where I uploaded my
trailer for feedback
Google is what is most used throughout everything
through my research and evaluation stages as its the
main source of information on the internet and
accesses social networking and editing sites
Microsoft Publisher is the main programme I used when
creating my film poster, film magazine front cover and
analysing different real film posters and comparing them

34. Planning
When planning the production of ‘The Oppression’ I used various
platforms of media technology...
I used this Nikon camera of my friends to take pictures of possible central
images for my film poster and film magazine as I knew with using a better
camera it would give a more professional look towards the picture.
However once capturing the shots I wanted I then uploaded them and
edited through Photoshop.
Windows movie maker: I used this to edit the sound and music and to get it
to work inconjunxion with my film as originally I had trouble saving my film
as a whole complete with the sound so had transfer it to this programme in
order to do so.
With using this site it enabled me to not just stick to simple
fonts which you may find on Microsoft programmes this
enabled me to get more creative fonts which worked my
effectively within my film poster and magazine front cover

35. Construction
HD camcorder with using this equipment it allowed me to capture the footage for the scene
within my trailer quick and effectively. Although these are not professional video camera it
does not enable me to get the best of quality like a real film trailer might have but with the
limited resource I feel I still used it to the best of its ability. Although it was a problem with
limited supply of them within the media department in my class we had to share them
equally so wouldn't always for definite get to use them on the days we wanted but this
problem I worked around. When having the tripod with it it enabled more still shots to be
in place as the stand would be able to film a scene without having to hold the camera
physically in your hand. I used the tripod within the oujie board scene within my trailer
where as I was behind the camera for the other scenes for this I was included as an actor
Adobe Premiere Elements 9, this is the software used to
edit my film trailer in enabled me to crop footage I had
right down with edits and transitions which made my
film trailer more effective. I also used this to import my
sound to and although whilst saving the film with the
sound I had trouble with as it wouldn't save as a whole
so had to do via movie maker instead.

36. Presenting research
I have used blogger throughout my coursework construction and have
continued using it to show my evaluation. With blogger its allowed me to
keep a record of all my research and the process of my trailer and
ancillary tasks.
I have used Prezi as a platform to express research within my blog
and analysing my own trailer through it. I feel with using this site to
present something is quite hard if not knowing how to work it
however as I have previously used this site within my AS foundation
blog I felt more confident with using it this year within my advanced
portfolio
Slideshare is a way in which I have used to present this evaluation as
its an effective way in order to clearly present something on and it a
quick and effective way in order for people to go through a
presentation such as this with ease.

37. As you can see I have used a variety of media technologies
throughout the entire production process and I have developed a
greater understanding of the technologies I used as time went on
and the construction took shape.
To conclude I really feel my skills within media have greatly gained throughout this years
coursework process and the work in which I have been able to produce this year in comparison
to what I have done throughout my media journey from GCSE level I can see I have come along
way with being confident in trying different sites in order to help me either edit pictures or
sound etc. This year with producing my film trailer and ancillary tasks I have learnt a lot more
than I use to know especially with the technology side which will help me in the future also.
Overall I feel I tried my almost very best and put all my effort into my film trailer which ended up
successful with the edits and sound together, also with having researched a lot into horror films
I feel this gave me knowledge then to have similar conventions within my film products in order
for them to be a success and look professional, although I would have changed a few things
within my process such as perhaps if I had got more footage to link the scenes together and flow
more I could of made my trailer into a short film but I am pleased and happy with the trailer
‘The Oppression’ and my end process with complete ancillary tasks, film poster and film
magazine front cover.