Evaluation #4

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evalutaion stages?

In the creation of our trailer, we used many new technologies in order to increase the quality of the final product. We used things such as iMovie, Garage band, YouTube, twitter and a HD camera. Here are a few of the things we used in a visual format......

For the planning section of our trailer, we created a hand done animatic; we then took pictures of it and imported it to iMovie where we were able to make it a picture video. We used sites such as Youtube and IMDB to research and give ideas for our planning of our trailers; we watched multiple different genres and were able to see which conventions were used for the different genres. For the research and planning of our poster and magazine cover, we used Google images and real media pieces to gain an insight of what the typical conventions were, although we had an idea and knew about magazine covers due to having produced them at GCSE level.

We used iMovie frequently in all stages of the production. For research we created a voxpop with it in order to gain an understanding of what our audience expected within the genre that we were going to do, this involved cutting together different parts of people’s sentences together emphasising on the separate words that they felt described it best. We also used iMovie to create our trailer, it enabled us to add effects either to the actual shots, such as black and white effect or to the transitions such as fades or cross dissolves. This enhanced the viewing for the audience as it made it a lot more interesting and more realistic to watch.

The technologies used, such as; an HD Camera, a Mac book computer - with the programmes iMovie and Garageband, Photoshop, Microsoft word. These media technologies were the base of our coursework tasks, we wouldn’t have been able to make them without it. We were able to use the creative effects on iMovie, such as cutting clips, using transitions, colour correction/adjustments, picture effects, and more, these were the things that helped make our trailer look more professional and realistic. Without the use of this new media advanced technology we would have come to problems such as; not having any effects on the shots, there would be no text over the frames – a typical convention for trailers, there wouldn’t have been any transitions which would have made our trailer jumpy therefore it wouldn’t run smoothly throughout.

We also used garage band to create our music. This allowed us to find ready-made tunes and adapt and combine them to fit to specific parts of our trailer. Because our plot includes three different stories, change of music had to be clear to show a change of storyline in the plot. To combine the music we played around with the tempos (let’s look at proper terms.)

Using the HD camera in the construction of our trailer was far more beneficial than say a DV camera, they produce far higher quality in the picture, therefore adding to the professional quality we were hoping for. We were able to easily use the manual setting in order to get the background blurred so all of the focus was on one spot, in our case, the women.

Another problem we would have had without new media software, would have been the advertising section for the trailer. Without sites such as Youtube and Twitter (the online software we used to promote our trailer) the word wouldn’t have got out and we would have had to promote the trailer using things such as posters and in cinema, and although these are both beneficial as it reaches out to different audiences, they are expensive and using Youtube to broadcast our trailer is completely free and essentially would be able to make a profit. Using websites such as Twitter and Youtube gives the opportunity to broadcast the trailer to an enormous, worldwide audience, instead of doing a screening to a local audience, it immediately brings more attention to it. YouTube and Twitter are sites which are visited by people all over the world on a daily basis and are the best way to reach an audience. Having around 360 million sign-ups and according to Twitter, there are around 460,000 sign-ups per day worldwide, the evidence is clear that the word would get out. Even though we created a poster as well as a magazine covers both advertising the trailer, the internet provides an immediate and free viewing. Also, it is possible to have direct feedback on Youtube, consumers can ‘like’ the video or comment on it giving an opinion etc, this shows how far new media technology has progressed through time, this method of commenting online is far quicker, easier and effective than say a written questionnaire.

Evaluation #3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

We were pleased that the majority of the audience had answered yes to this as obviously we tried to complete our trailer to a realistic, professional standard. A few people had said it was a "good combination of stories" and that it was an "effective social realism trailer". Clearly aimed at a prdominantly female audience, this came across to the audience as they commented on this being a positive thing.

The feedback that we have recieved for whether the plot was easy to follow or not was fairly positive. We were pleased with this due to one of our worries that it may be confusing due to having the three different storylines. The few people that did not understand or find it easy to follow had stated things such as "the 2nd character not being as clear as the 1st and 3rd" and "I don't know if the three characters have anything is common with an other" After reading through each questionnaire we came to the conclusion that it wasn't a worry as there was only a couple that didn't understand - also it is quite common for people to not understand trailers on the first viewing.

The result of this question, was the camera work being the most effective technique in our trailer, followed by the music and sound. We were happy with this outcome due to our effort in using interesting shots such as the overhead spinning shot, also because we tried to match the type of shots to the persona of each character. We noted that mise en scene recieved the lowest percentage, this could be due to part of the audience haven't studied media therfore might not understand the term fully, also that we focused more so on the camerwork and sound.

The outcome of this was mainly positive, we had feedback such as "the sequence of shots engaged interest and the music fitted well." Other A few members of the audience stated that the editing was simple and didn't distract from the main purpose, and that it enhanced their viewing as it drew them in more so.  We learnt from this feedback that short and simple editing is more effective and appealing to an audience, as it fits to the conventions of a trailer.

This was quite a wide ranged question however we think the feedback was fairly good, although not evenly spread throughout the range, we were happy with the last woman so expected this to be in the high percentages. Obviously each person in an audience would have a different opinion and different favourites so it this question proved how each person would react differently.

This is clearly an important question, our genre is social realism and in order for it to be as realistic as possible we needed it to fit to the conventions of the genre. Consequently, we were pleased that the vast majority of the audience had agreed with yes, stating that "they are real life problems/scenarios" some suggested "there should be more narrative". The couple of people that didn't think it fitted to the genre did not make any suggestions or give reason for this, we were disappointed at this because we would have liked to know why, in order to make any necessary adjustments.

Narrative is one of the main conventions in a film trailer, either from the characters or a voiceover. Therefore 'yes' being the highest percentage was a positive result. 6 people from the audience suggested to change the voiceover - "perphaps a female narrative, to fit with the storyline of 3 women" taking this into account we thought this would work better, due to our film being predomenently female targeted. Another suggested was that individual character voices "don't specify what happens", however we didn't necessarily think this was a negative thing as the aim for a trailer is to keep the audience left hanging/not knowing the full story. We edited the male voiceover to a female voice and think this fits far better to our trailer. 

The music was something we started when parts of the film weren't finished editing however we took time trying to precisly tune the volume into the voiceovers throughout. Getting the right music for each chracter was our main focus, and judging by these results, this had worked well. The couple of people from our audience that answered the music needed adjusting had commented on both the uneven volume levels of the middle girl, however this was something we were aware of (question 10). The third girls music was commentde on being "a bit weird" however others disagreed and though "the last music was the best". Overall the audience liked the way it "changed to fit each character".

We wanted to include this specific question because we weren't pleased with how this music sounded when doing the viewing and wanted the feedback from the audience. People said that is was "quite loud", this was easily adjustable, yet a helpful comment. Another member of the audience said that it "enhances the character" this was a shock answer as we didn't think it fitted well. A couple of people suggested it be "more upbeat possibly", after listening through the music of the entire trailer we felt that the middle girl needed to have more unbeat music in order to flow from the first and into the second with a noticable yet smooth difference. We achieved this so were really pleased with the feedback from this question as was probably the most important because it was something we definitely did need to adjust.

We included this in case any member of the audience had idea of changing anything within the trailer. The largest percentage was the voiceover - we knew this was something that needed adjusting based on the question involving the voiceover, so we expected this to be something the audience would suggest to be changed. This also goes for the music. A few members of the audience suggested the storyline needed improving - things such as giving more of an insight on what happens next, and they weren't clear if the characters knew each other etc and suggested a shot of the women together, however we liked the idea of having 3 seperate storylines so we kept it how it was.

Evaluation #2

How effective is the combination of your main product (film trailer) and ancillary texts (poster and film magazine cover)?

This is mine and my partners directors commentary involving our trailer with our ancillary tasks, a poster and a magazine cover. We have commented on how effective what we have done to each is in relation to our task. Here is the script....

 Poster

For our ancillary tasks we did a poster and a magazine cover. On our poster we chose to have a brick wall in the background, as through research run down brick walls were a typical convention for the social realism genre. This image is also a connotation of each woman hitting a brick wall in their lives. In the foreground we have a photo of the three protagonists in our trailer. Our aim was to show each woman’s character (problems) through body language – left is the alcoholic, middle is the grieving woman and the right is the get around. We thought conveying their characteristics were important in order for the audience to get an insight on the characters. We used a cold effect on the photo of the women; we think it made it look more edgy, which is what we wanted. We played around with different compositions of the poster to get the most realistic outcome – these are available on our blogs.

Camerawork

First woman – The first woman, we used a range of camera shots to try and focus on her emotion, as this is essentially the most moving storyline of the three. The camera shot of the graveyard; we have used a slow zoom to fit with the soft mood. We used a medium close up shot with a shallow depth of field her, this brings all of the focus to the character in the foreground. We chose not to use any close up shots in order to keep the camera and audience distant – mirroring the character herself.

Second woman – We started the second characters section with her coming out of different doors, resembling the fact that she sleeps around. Then we did a point of view shot of children playing in the park, which shows what she could be thinking about and what her future could hold. The shot of the girl in the mirror was a common shot when doing research and so we felt it was an effective shot to include. The mirror could also present that idea of her being trapped in a frame, which is metaphorical of her being trapped in her life. Because the room in which we filmed this scene in was very bright so we blocked off a couple so that we had a more professional looking set.

Third girl – We used a medium close ups from the side of the character as she was doing shots, it was effective because of her costume changed; showing that its something which happens daily. From our audience research that fact that her hair was different each proved to be reflective. We did an overhead spinning shot that mirrors her spinning out of control, which is then reflected by s party scene. The mise-en-scene here was lots of colourful strobe lights and people partying, making this seem more realistic.

Editing

For the first grieving women, we used four dissolves transitions to convey that the images of her husband are a past thought, this also fits with the soft slow mood. The frame of the women in the grave yard is in black and white to emphasise the mourning atmosphere/

The second girl, the inter titles was included in order to fit into the typical conventions of a trailer, the black frame then smoothly goes into the dark mise en scene of the first shot. The slow motion added onto the point of view shot of the children conveys the women confused state of mind. Each story line ends with a black or clear frame showing it is the end of each story.

For the final girls editing we used slow motion on two shots; the first being overhead spinning shot and the party scene. This was to show her puzzled, out of control state of mind. We also used cross dissolves to show it is a reoccurring situation/

Magazine Cover

Our second ancillary task was the magazine cover, we wanted to emphasise that women are the target audience; therefore, we used flowers as a prop in the shoot which are connotations of beauty and peace. The puffs around the frame all link to the world of media and our film. We took out the background leaving a blank canvas and put a soft touch on the edit. The title ‘Crosscut’ is a media jargon and sounds catchy as a magazine name, also it would feature multiple films therefore crosscutting between different genres. We included a date and barcode to fit to standard conventions. Changing the font colour made the magazine look artier, making it fit into the creative media world.

Evaluation #1

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

Our first shot in the trailer is a medium shot with a blurred background clearly identifying and focussing on the character. Taking into consideration the theme of the first part being grieving, this shot portrays the characters emotions.  The colouring is all linked to autumn which also depicts a sad atmosphere. 

Comparing to this shot from our trailer, we can see the emotion in the characters face, with the background blurred the focus is also concentrated on this. Another similarity is the rural backgrounds in each of the shots, this could be interpreted as the characters being alone and isolated, mirrored in the plain background.

This screen grab from our trailer shows a girl identifying that she is pregnant. We thought that a common shot from films was a point of view shot of looking in the mirror. We used natural lighting to fit to the conventions of a social realist film.

Although not the same camera angle/shot, this screen grab from Kidulthood sends the same message of a woman finding out she has fallen pregnant. We chose this screen grab from Kidulthood because of its natural lighting and the message being given.

We chose this shot to be in black and white to fit the mood of death, we didn’t want bright colours conveying a different mood. The actual shot of this zooms in whilst the woman kneels down to her husband’s grave bringing the emotion of her face clearer to the audience.

This screen grab is from Skins, there is a similarity on the colour, although it is not in black and white the colours are slightly saturated to fit the mood of bereavement. The mise-en-scene is also similar with the trees, a sign of the natural world, death being a part of that.

From our trailer within the story of the pregnant woman, we thought being in a children’s play park would fit this storyline. We chose to have no one else in the shot, or in the mise-en-scene to show how isolated and alone the character feels. Daylight as opposed to night to steer away from what could be seen as a thriller scene.

From one of the Skins trailers, we chose this due to the fact that the woman is also on a swing, although it is not the same storyline, a sense of deep emotion or thinking is in her face, similar to ours.

An inter-title  from our trailer, fitting with the conventions of a real trailer. Having a quote  from a film critic or magazine will prompt the audience watching to see the actual film. Research showed us that a lot of inter-titles use triadic structure – “Moving, realistic and relatable”.

A screen grab from This is England trailer. The use of triadic structure was the main reason we chose this shot. Also that the writing is in the middle of the screen, white and easy to read, mirroring our work.

 

From our trailer, with the woman who lost control. We thought of shot of her actually losing control was needed. A hand held camera mirror the girl falling about. Dark lighting and people dancing in the mise en scene showing the party is genuine and realistic.

From the Misfits trailer. A girl appearing to have lost control, all focus on her, similar to ours. Also the lighting and the people dancing showing the party/club is realistic.

A shot from our trailer, showing the emotion of the woman, sitting on a bench by a park watching the people go by. Again a sense of isolation. Natural lighting. Dark clothes to mirror her mood, and sunglasses perhaps to hide tears?

We chose this because it mirrors our woman sitting on the bench. Showing the emotion in her face, also her body language by being tight to her. Similar dark jacket to convey the mood maybe.

Editing During the Making of Trailer

There are various things we did in our trailer in order to essentially, make it better, doing things to fit to the conventions of a trailer, or of a social realist trailer, fitting shots to the storyline, etc. Here are a few things we did...
This shot of the roundaboat, is a point of view shot, we portrayed this by using a hand held camera. When editing the trailer we wanted the shot to be in slow motion to convey the characters mood

Ancillary Task #2 - Magazine Cover

This is our final magazine cover, having made adjustments while we were making it

Magazine film cover research and planning

 

Ancillary Task - Final Poster

This is our final poster, having made the right changes we are really pleased with the outcome. We think it depicts a typical social reasist film poster which is the main thing.