The document discusses the aims and conventions used in the creation of a film poster, magazine cover, and teaser trailer for a media evaluation assignment. For the poster, the aims were to catch attention and intrigue audiences about the film. Dim colors and a focus on the character's eyes were used to set a dark tone. The magazine cover was meant to promote the film and entice people to learn more inside. Realistic plugs and a coordinated design followed industry conventions. The teaser trailer aimed to tease the plot just enough to interest viewers without giving too much away. Lighting and location were used to convey mood and leave audiences wanting more.

1. Media Evaluation Lois Hill

2. What is the aim of my poster? The first aim of my film poster was to catch the eye of the audience, to make them go for a second look after a quick glance. After catching the attention of the audience, the aim of my poster was to persuade them to go and watch the film or at least leaving them curious to go and research the film to find out more about it.

3. In what ways does my media product use, develop or challenge forms or conventions of real media products? While analysing other movie posters for movies of similar genres to my own, I found that very dim colours were used as colour is very important in creating the atmosphere and feel of the movie. Therefore, I too chose to use no colour, just black and white, therefore setting a dark mood about my film. I felt this was an important convention to use as if I were to have used bright colours, it would have sent across the wrong message about my movie, therefore I wouldn’t have been advertising it in the right way. I chose to split my poster up into three sections, with black thirds at the top and bottom, and the girl’s eyes in the middle. None of the posters I analysed did this, and all filled up the whole page with picture, or something going on in it from corner to corner. However, I wanted my main focus to be on the eyes, as I wanted the audience to get the correct feel about the movie from this poster, therefore I made sure nothing busy was going on around the eyes so no attention could be taken away from them, apart from the title of the movie which is also very important to be on the poster. In 2 out of 5 posters that I analysed, they included the names of the starring actors. I find this a good convention to use, as it could draw in audiences who are fans of these certain actors, however I chose not to do this, as my ‘actors’ are not well-known, therefore for the majority of audiences, the name will mean nothing to them. In the majority of posters, the movie title can be found along the top of the poster, however there are also many which have the titles positioned in all different places. However, I chose to place mine at the top, as I wanted the main concentration to be on the eyes, therefore I didn’t want the title to get in the way, and by positioning it at the top means that the audiences can clearly see that that’s the title if they then want to go and find out more about it. In 4 out of the 5 posters I analysed, the characters are looking at the camera, therefore creating this intimacy between them and the audience. However, in the one that the character is not looking at the camera, he is an evil character in the film, therefore the audience are not supposed to connect with them. Although the character on my poster is the evil one, I still wanted them to be looking at the camera, not however for the intimacy, but more so the audience feel like they are being watched, so they can then relate to the other character in the movie, if they choose to go and watch it, as my aim is for the audience to remember the eyes from the poster.

4. What was the aim of my magazine front cover? The aim of my magazine front cover was to promote the film to persuade people to go and buy it, but would also have to draw attention to the magazine in order for people to want to buy it.

5. In what ways does my media product use, develop or challenge forms or conventions of real media products? I decided to use a full picture on the front cover of my magazine, instead of just a character cut out of a picture and photo shopped on to the magazine like most magazines decide to do. I chose to do this as it looks like the magazine has stepped into the movie, so the audience get the impression that this is the magazine to get filled in from. Looking at other movie magazines, many of them use plugs to tell the audience about what’s inside, without having to get them to read too much text. I thought this was a good convention to use, as it’s eye-catching and if the magazine has something great to offer, then it’s another reason for the audience to want to buy it. Like the magazines I analysed, I chose to use a dark picture to match the genre of the film. I think that to make the front cover of the magazine fit in with the film its featuring is important as it shows the magazine offers variety every issue and also shows dedication to the movie it’s featuring. Following the conventions of most movie magazines, I also made sure there was a colour scheme, so the magazine didn’t look messy, but co-ordinated. I also placed the date and issue number small underneath the name of the magazine. It is therefore easy for new audiences to find, but not taking any attention away from the features of the magazine.

6. What was the aim of my teaser trailer? The aim of my teaser trailer was to let the audiences know about this new movie. It was to ‘tease’ them with the story line but without giving too much away. It was also to show the highlights, but at the same time letting audiences know that there’s more to see, persuading them to go and watch the movie.

7. In what ways does my media product use, develop or challenge forms or conventions of real media products? When analysing trailers, what I found in all of them, was that the lighting or the weather sets the mood of the film. I feel this is a big influence on the audience’s decision on whether or not to go and see the movie, as without realising, it gives away pieces of the story line, the genre, and the movie’s atmosphere as a whole. I decided to use bright lights inside and then shoot outside at night time to show the contrast of the character’s status before and after her experience. The bright lights inside her home represented being warm and safe, and at her home is also where she is shown with her husband, therefore showing another sign of security. I chose to shoot the girl’s appearance outside in the dark. Being out in the open makes you more vulnerable to anything out there, and night time is always presented as more frightening than daylight. I thought it was important for me to think about what time of day and what lighting different parts of the trailer would be shot in as I wanted the trailer to portray a frightening image of the movie. I found that in a lot of the horror teaser trailers I looked at, not many of them had voice-overs. I decided against using one as well, as it would make the audience feel like someone was guiding them through the story, where I would want them to feel more alone, as it creates a scarier effect.

8. What have you learned from your audience feedback? From my audience feedback I learned that the points I could have improved on were the following: I could have directed the acting better, as the woman character receives bad news, to act more devastated, to make it more realistic. I also could have perfected the shots, so there was less movement of the camera, as it could be off-putting. The magazine could have featured more, as the front cover seemed a bit empty I also learnt from my audience feeback that my strongest points were the poster, splitting it into three, so the main focus was on the eyes, which was my original aim. Also, the music for my trailer went well with the timing of what was on the screen, however I wish I could have perfected the music more so there were less jumps in the track, although some audiences said they didn’t notice it.

9. How did you use new media technologies in the constructions and research, planning and evaluation stages? Photoshop I had recently been familiar with as I had to use it to complete my AS coursework. However, I didn’t have to create a poster last year therefore, had to try out different tools and go through the trial and error process before being able to decide exactly what my poster would look like. I had to edit many of my photos, as there was a certain look I was trying to create, which was abnormal, therefore couldn’t just use a normal photo. I decided for my poster to put the girl’s eyes in black and white, and also to have glows either side of her picture to create the sense of supernatural. Adobe Premier Elements was completely new to me when first carrying out the task of constructing a teaser trailer. The closest technology to the program I had used was Windows Movie Maker, however Adobe Premier has many more technical aspects and is far more advanced, therefore I also had to go through the trial and error process, before deciding what would go best with the image I was trying to create. For the coursework, we also had to upload all of our work, including our planning on to a networking website called Blogger. I had never heard of Blogger before, however am familiar with networking sites so it was fairly straight forward to be up and running with it. We had to collect teaser trailers off other sites and upload them on to a bloggers so we could present out analysis, which was different, but worked well and was challenging, yet simple once you got the hang of it.