Wordpress allowed the student to analyze existing trailers, publish their work for feedback, and showcase their final trailer. Photoshop was used to create text, images, and credits for the trailer. Premier Elements combined the various components like text, footage, and sounds into the final trailer. YouTube provided existing trailers for research and was used to distribute and get feedback on the student's trailer.

1. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

2. The Trailer

3. Wordpress Wordpress helped me in a lot of ways, during the process of making my trailer. It allowed me to analyse existing trailers along with posting the video onto my blog, by being able to publish this allowed me to keep returning to the analysis in order to see the conventions of a rom- com trailer and to see what worked and how I could improve my own trailer. Another benefit of Wordpress, was that I was able to publish the stages of my work, in order to hopefully show progress, as I had to get used to a new technology (premiere elements). I was also able to view other media student’s work in order to gain ideas but to also check I was along the right lines. In the making of my titles for my trailer, by having them presented on the blog, I wanted to gain feedback from other students as to which they preferred and how they could be improved. I wanted to introduce my characters, the blog allowed me to do this as I inserted a picture and then a profile. This was because it may help viewers understand my trailer more. Finally Wordpress enabled me to showcase my final piece, I could show my work publically and then analyse it.

4. Adobe Photoshop In my trailer I used Adobe Photoshop in order to create certain images and texts. I chose to use this software as I feel that it is quite advanced and accurate. The first thing I used it for in my trailer was for my production logo. It introduced me to a wide range of texts and effects. In my trailer I used moving titles, in order to create the text I had to first of all develop the title using Photoshop. I wanted it to look simple yet effective, therefore I used a crisp bold font, in order to make it clear and have an impact. I was able to use layers to allow me to position the text on top of eachother in exactly the right places. I wanted to make the ‘MAN’ look masculine so I added a stroke to the text to make it look stronger. It is an important convention within a trailer to include the release date of the film, I therefore used Photoshop to create this slide. I wanted it to look in keeping with the rest of the trailer, so I made sure I used the same fonts and colour so it didn’t look displaced. I added a couple of details at the bottom, such as the ‘production company’ logo and the films website, in order to make it look more authentic. I have also used Photoshop when evaluating my trailer, for instance I found it useful when I wanted to use screen shots from my blog to demonstrate what I was talking about, so therefore the software enabled me to crop and resize the images.

5. Adobe Premier Elements Premier Elements was the key ingredient when making my trailer. This is because it is the software which combines all of the other components, such as the text, the footage and the sounds. I was able to add in sounds in order to help gain a comical reaction, an example of this is where the female character falls off her chair. I added a disc scratch into the clip, I feel that this helps to emphasise the awkward moment as the music is cut out and leaves time for the audience to realise what has happened. It also helps to isolate the male character to shame him even more. I wanted to use a moving title, as I felt that this would make it look more professional and interesting. So I achieved this by separating the texts in Photoshop and then using the scrolling and crawling text tool in Premier Elements. I used a computer recorded voiceover, using the software I was able to insert it over the video footage and change the volume of the soundtrack in order for the voiceover to be clear. The voiceover was used to speak to the audience and tell them information, enabling the trailer to be more clear. Disadvantages: When using Premier Elements I found that I was unable to change my footage into widescreen, as when I did so it distorted the footage and made it jumpy and therefore bad quality. I was disappointed with this as I feel that having it in widescreen would help to make it look more professional.

6. Youtube Not only did I use Youtube while creating my trailer I also found it very useful for the research and planning stage of my construction. This is because the site gave me the chance to look at a wide range of existing trailers. This allowed me to see what worked well, what the conventions of Rom-Com trailers are and to see the soundtracks used. I needed to make sure that I had a good soundtrack to my trailer, Youtube allowed me to browse and listen to songs and decide whether they would be suitable. Then using audacity I was able to record some of the tracks I wanted and trial them in my trailer. Youtube was very important to the distribution of my trailer, this is because I was able to upload my videos onto the site and then insert them to my blog. By doing this enabled me to receive important feedback and constructive criticism as to how they could be improved. In the evaluation stage of my trailer I used Youtube in order to show my audience feedback, I wanted to do this at it is something different and is direct feedback. Showing exactly what the person thinks.

7. The Magazine

8. The Internet The internet allowed me to research existing magazines on the market. This was a vital part of the process as it allowed me to get a good idea a to what works well. I was able to find covers for a wide range of genres so I could use different ideas. By looking at these magazines I was able to decide what kind of layout I wanted for my own cover. I looked at covers from different companies, the internet allowed me to retrieve covers that were published quite a while ago. This therefore allowed me to see how things have changed and again increased the amount of ideas for my cover. By using the internet I was able to research typical conventions of film magazines and what people expect and want from the media. I found that the magazines: -Always have a cover star of whom features in the main film. Often involve competitions Have bold titles Include interviews & reviews Contain the release date & the price Use a variety of texts and colours.

9. Adobe Photoshop Photoshop was the main software in which I created my magazine cover, by using Photoshop I was able to edit my main cover image in order for him to suit the colour scheme of the page. I did this by changing the saturation, this is because the background colours and texts are all quite monochrome, so I wanted the image to be in keeping in order to make it look sleeker. This can sometimes subvert to the conventions of existing covers. For example the cover to the right features the star Jonny Depp From Pirates Of The Caribbean. The character is dressed in very rough clothes that are dull in colour, whereas the texts and background are don’t using bright colours making it look modern. I had seen that some covers featured other images of films, I therefore wanted to take forward this idea as I think it helps to add variety to the cover as opposed to a lot of text, which may put some potential buyers off. Using Photoshop I was able to create a row of images in the form of a film reel. This is not only relevant to the theme but it helps to break up the page. From the cover above I also liked how there was a glow surrounding the character, this suggests he is powerful and superior, I therefore wanted to try something like this on my cover. By using Photoshop I was able to add a stroke to the image and soften the line in order for it to look like a glow.

10. Microsoft Publisher & Wordpress I found Microsoft Publisher very useful when analysing existing magazine covers. This is because I felt that it was a clear way in which to lay out the text and images. I could point to specific parts of the magazine in order to show exactly what I was talking about. I was then able to save the document as an image, which enabled me to publish it onto my blog. In the construction of my product I did find it hard to focus on updating my blog. This sometimes made it harder for me to see the stages in which I have been through. This is because I was unable to look back and reflect on what it was that I needed to do to improve. If I had focused on this I feel that I would have been a lot more organised. Wordpress enabled me to upload a variety of different medias and files. These included images, videos, links and PowerPoint presentations. I could therefore make my blog look more interesting and it allowed me to show my work through different methods to the reader.

11. The Poster

12. Digital Camera I needed to ensure that the images on my poster were the main feature. This is because you can tell a lot from the characters facial expressions and poses. Therefore I used a digital camera in order to take pictures of my actors. I placed them against a plain white background just so that it would be easy to crop them as I always knew they would be placed on top of a coloured background. I had some difficulties with the use of the digital camera, this was due to the fact that it was handheld and didn’t have a tripod so sometimes proved difficult to create crisp shots. I had to make sure that I had similar lighting for each of the images as I needed them to have the same effect. The quality of the camera wasn’t spectacular therefore using Photoshop I had to change the brightness and contrast of the images in order for them to look more uniform. This is because existing posters had very airbrushed images.

13. Adobe Photoshop Like my magazine cover, I created my poster using Photoshop, one of the conventions I noticed on existing covers was that it contained small print at the bottom which stated all that were involved. This included the actors and production companies. I wanted to use this in my magazine as I feel that it would help to achieve a professional look. Other things that I had noticed were that they all contained the cinema release date, this is obviously important as it is informing the audience. I also included the recommended age certificate and production company logos. Other conventions I found that regularly occurred, were that the posters contain short review comments from well known media. This is done to create a positive effect on the audience as the good reviews will encourage them to go and see the film. I used this on my poster to create the same effect. Another thing that if the film contains famous actors the poster will help to advertise this. So I wanted to do this also to make the poster look more effective. As the trailer has elements of comedy it was important that I portrayed this in my poster. Using Photoshop I was able to add a stroke around them which I feel makes them look as if they are in a bubble. It also lifts the images from the page so is more eye-catching.