1. Evaluation Question 1
In what ways does your media product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions for real media products?
2. My trailer adheres to many conventions of a romantic comedy. One
of these conventions is writing being a key aspect of the film, an
example of this being in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, where
the main character’s letter is read out as a voiceover to give the
audience a brief idea of the storyline before continuing to watch the
trailer. This inspired the title of my film as the narrative follows the
protagonist Danielle’s letters to her deceased best friend Ella. This
also appeals to a more literate audience who may have read
coming of age books before their film adaptations, which is
common for this genre.
3. My trailer has also conformed to a typical coming of age film as I
have filmed a party scene, as has been done in The Spectacular
Now. I used a mid shot to show the mise en scene and props that
made the setting obvious, for example cans and glasses of
alcohol, but also capture their expressions. The use of a party
highlights the contrast of the characters’ personalities as well, as
Danielle is awkward and at loss as what do in this social situation,
Charlie guiding her through it. While analysing existing media texts
I found that this binary opposition propels the narrative and
therefore engages the audience.
4. My trailer has another conventional scene, this time in a car. This
showed the age of the characters (17-18) as they are able to drive
but still in school, therefore appealing to the target audience of
teenage-young adult females. While analysing trailers in
preparation for making mine I found that they are often
emotionally intense due to the intimacy of the scenes, for
instance, in Love Rosie.
5. My trailer develops the convention of coming of age film trailers
as it features a mix of emotions. This gives the audience a
sample of what is to come in the film and they therefore
become emotionally invested in it. A film trailer that did this to
the furthest extent was The Way Way Back, not showing the
trailer in a chronological order but contrasting the moods that
are typical of films that orientate around adolescence. Likewise
to my trailer, it would show scenes of the main character having
fun and laughing, followed by one of him clearly upset.
6. Moreover, my trailer adheres to the convention of death being a
theme of the film. Similar to Charlie St. Cloud, someone close to
the protagonist has passed away, determining the course of the
film. However, my trailer defies the convention of the dead
character featuring in it, as I wanted all attention to be on the
relationship that is the primary focus of the film.
7. In addition, my trailer conventionally uses the location of school
for a portion of its scenes. This is to make it clear to the audience
that this is a coming of age film that is about teenagers and gives
them an outline of the issues that the characters will face. Mean
Girls is a prime example of this convention, the majority of the
film, therefore trailer, being set in their high school. I did use other
locations, however, so that the trailer would not appear boring and
repetitive.
8. My trailer adheres to the convention of having a unique font
for the title, as Paper Towns has done. I used a font that
mimics handwriting as the title is inspired by the
protagonist’s letter writing. The font is bold so stands out well
on the, also conventional, black background. Most products
that I researched had a recognisable trademark font used
throughout their advertising campaigns, so I made sure mine
had this.
9. My ancillary task develops the conventions of a
coming of age film poster by featuring the main
characters against a blank background in order
to draw attention to them. My poster also uses
the film’s recognisable bold font in a colour that
stands out from the background. A gradient on
this is conventional so that the poster does not
look boring. Another convention I have adhered
to is featuring reviews and star ratings from
magazines as this shows that the film is
commendable and will draw in audiences. The
love interest in my film is obvious due to the
physical contact and facial expressions of the
featuring characters, as done in the poster that
was my predominant inspiration, for The Perks
of Being a Wallflower. Furthermore, my poster
has a release date at the bottom, as this makes
the film look professional and informs the
audience of important information.
10. My product adheres to the conventions of a
magazine front cover that features an article about
a coming of age film in many ways. First of all, it
has a single cover star who has an enthusiastic
expression on her face, which will engage
audiences that are not necessarily familiar with the
film. I also made the title of the film the heading of
the magazine cover, in the largest font of all the
text to highlight its importance. I inserted a
subheading in yellow as this bright colour would
stand out against the photograph and
conventionally tinted background. I colour
coordinated the masthead and actor’s clothes, as
done on the cover reporting on the film coming of
age film Pitch Perfect. I included a sticker like
circle having been inspired by this cover that
presented a quote from the cover star.
