What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Audience feedback is the most important part of the entire project from the moment we started. We took all of their opinions and suggestions forward at each stage.

At the beginning of the project Mel and I created several surveys which we set out to our school and the public which then helped us gain information such as their age, gender, occupation and film interests. This here helped us gain a rough target audience both gender 13-19 who are still in full time education mainly enjoy action films. This showed us where to start and allowed us to then choose what sort of action film we wanted to create. We chose superhero as our main theme and then put the idea to our target audience. It was always helpful to put our results into a table which was easy to read and gain a better view of what our target audience wanted. We saw how it's important to keep them interested in our product to ensure that it's going to sell.

As we progressed along our development we started showing our draft trailers and soundtracks to a select focuse group. We felt it important to build up a strong trusting relationship with this group as they stayed with us throughout giving us feedback on drafts and different ideas we had and how they felt it could be improved to make it more successful. We soon saw that the audience’s ideas we're extremely beneficial as we're producing the film for them we wanted it to be something they would enjoy and were happy to watch and to pay for the experience.

Having our audience at a teenage target was a slight benefit for us as we also both fall into the target audience range we we're able to relate to what we were doing and judge what works and what would sell for ourselves also.

This also worked in our favour with ancillary tasks allowing us to price the magazine slightly higher as it is statistics prove that teenagers are the generation who have the most disposable income. Most with Saturday jobs which the pay doesn’t have to be taxed and living for free under their parents roofs.

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

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

Research and Planning


Using all the different media technologies during the research stages was a really interesting section. As well as using those which were expected such as the https://www.google.co.uk/ search engine to find different things we needed extra research into we were also able to view images over the internet of which we could take inspiration from. We soon became aware of separate websites specialised to superhero films e.g. http://marvel.com/ which have already been released to gain a strong boundary of appropriate and specialised research to our precise genre. This really helped us understand the profession quality we must work to and attempt to include within our project and understand the type of film trailer we were about to attempt to create.
One of my favourite websites we found which came to be a great success and gained up honest and appropriate findings was http://www.surveymonkey.com. This website allowed Mel and I to create a survey to our own specification with our own style of answering weather it was tick box or the audience writing an opinion. We then sent out the survey as a mass link to all areas of our school and other people we could get to answer, this gave us strong honest results we then converted into easy to read tables and graphs through spread sheets on the Excel Microsoft office program. All these came into a positive use helping to create our plan for our final project.
We could have extended our research be creating more questionnaires which specifies the type of film and how the trailer should be made more detailed however I feel we managed to create an amazing product and did collect enough information to understand exactly how our range of target audience could appreciate and enjoy our complete film trailer.
The planning was managed using a calendar which I created using a template I created within the Microsoft Office program, we then entered different times during the day we would complete our work and colour coded the different tasks so that it was easy to see and understand what we were doing when.
We also used Power Point from the Microsoft Office package to present our work and create slide shows which were then uploaded onto http://www.slideshare.net/ which allowed us to then copy the embed code onto our blog. This kept our blog neat and tidy and also extremely easy to understand.

Construction

This as guessed was the most exciting and fun part of the project using all the new types of technologies and learning how to work everything to our best ability to create the most successful products we can. At the beginning of the project once we had chosen our superhero theme Mel and I started looking into different action effect we could create to make our trailer exciting and interesting, this also allowed us to experiment with new forms of media to create something impressive. From this Mel and I both started work on Adobe after effects I managed to create two separate 3 second cartoons which we ended up including into the final product. These cartoons are something I was really proud of as I researched into how to use this program and taught myself how to make these from scratch, I feel they're really impressive and are portrayed with a professional style. We also created our title sequence and the final section of our trailer using this which is the explosive text advertising the launch date and the title. We did also attempt to create an explosion which we wanted to include within our trailer to add to the genre and to make an impressive impact however we both agreed that the explosion we created although was impressive for our own creation which we taught ourselves to make wasn't up to the professional standard we wanted and would have bought the trailer down to a lower grade so we felt it best to leave it out. After effects were also what we used to create our impressive invisible shot we created. This was made by creating a mask and combining two separate shots. We did try several other ideas by blurring the character out and also by pulling the character out of the image.
The actual filming wouldn't have been achievable without our high-tech high definition video camera we used throughout the entire project for images as well as film apart from the shot taken on the rope swing we did on a HD phone camera this was for the protection of the camera as we didn't want the possibility of it being dropped and broken due to its vast expense. As we used one camera for the entire shooting we had to repeat the same action several times so that we could capture all the action from different angles which we could then edit appropriately to make the trailer interesting.
When I created the cartoon I used a program called Adobe Photoshop which helped me cut the character out of the still image and also filter it into a posturized form which supported the superhero comic strip theme we were attempting to create.
We did start to create our trailer on Windows Movie Maker which is a lower basic video editing software until we gained access to an Apple Mac. As of then all of our major editing was done on iMovie which is where we also created out production logo and the credits slide. I'm pleased with our work on these programs as all of them were reasonably new to us and we managed to achieve a real understanding of how to use it and achieve the best out of it.
Fades were the main transition we used throughout the trailer especially at the beginning to complement to mellow music it all moved smoothly and slowly, later on towards the end when the tempo picks up we switched to using fast cuts which fitted to shots and music. This effect help build up the dramatic tension and encouraged the action to the point of the suspension climax.
Creating the soundtrack was all done using a YouTube converter to gain the music we wanted and then chopping and changing it into our own creation that fitted precisely to the action we had created in the trailer. This was created using the Apple Mac Book program called Garage Band which took us a little while to understand but soon we found how to link that and iMovie together making the construction much easier and successful.

Evaluation

The evaluation of all our filming weather it was the individual shots, cartoons, After Effects text creation, draft trailers and the complete trailer were all uploaded to http://www.youtube.com/ so that we could evaluate the sequence down to individual time’s seconds you would be able to see immediately. We also used images of our focus group to identify who they are which were taken on the same high definition camera we used for filming, here we asked them what they thought of our draft and complete trailers to get an accurate audience evaluation. This also benefits towards our audience research and feedback.

Ancillary Tasks

Both of the ancillary tasks were created on Adobe Photoshop. This allowed us to work happily in layers which can be individually edited and moved without the possibility of affecting the rest of the product which was already in place. This is a professional program which is used in the industry today which meant that our product was created to a professional stranded. Mel and I are also both well trained in using this program with our photography skills we learnt.

I'm pleased with the professional standard of equipment used and work produced. I'm also impressed and proud of the skills I have learnt and used throughout the production.

How effective is the combination of your main product and your ancillary tasks?

How effective is the combination of your main product and your ancillary tasks?

Our main task (the film trailer) and the two ancillary tasks (magazine front cover and film poster) all have two obvious links in common; the main super hero character Topaz Spectre with the logo we created for her and the colour scheme we decided on at the beginning of the project.

The trailer works in clever ways to include the colour scheme throughout the piece in costume as the superhero and the ordinary girl also in mis en scene. In several of the shots we see various sections of the surrounding in blue whether this is the carpet or painted wood work this creates a running theme though the task. The film trailer works independently to keep the audience engaged. This is achieved with the snappy editing and flowing plot. We jam-packed the trailer with interesting locations, costumes and action to make it gripping on a whole new level, rather than just watching action they feel a part of it with its explosive content. All information of dates and titles are shown as interactive, explosive text which allows the audience to understand the genre for themselves immediately. However the only problem with the text within this section of the trailer is the purple which should have been portrayed in yellow to support the colour scheme however as we created this on a trial adobe after-effects program we downloaded before deciding on the final colour schemes we were then unable to go back and change this. We still included it however as it created the right effect for our trailer.

You will be able to see that the character (or aspects of the character) sticks with the ancillary tasks throughout the project. I'm pleased we decided to this as it creates a strong connection which our target audience. They will be able to notice the character and following the colour scheme through the products will help he audience to understand the advertising connection. This also makes it much more assessable, understandable and encouraging to go and view as its obvious publication will be an obvious domination in the media at the time of release.

To create a difference within the Magazine and the poster we chose different aspects of the character to work with on each, this made each task appropriate and similar with the promotion of the same product however making each equally different and interesting to view in their individual way. With the magazine we continued with the superhero's colour scheme (Blue and Yellow) with all the text which was appropriate to our advertised product and chose an image of our main antagonist which was actually featured within the film trailer as the main focus. Using the same image creates a strong connection between the two, this will create good advertising.

The logo featured as the main section of the film poster is also featured within the film trailer we created on the cape of our main character as the superheroes personal logo. This seemed an interesting and successful part of the character to use to promote the film and character on an independent level while keeping them linked. We also decided that it would be appropriate to involve both of the production logos we created for ourselves onto the poster, this is because we used both at separate times as Mel and I worked as a team we created our own production logos which we combined together to create the film this way it allowed us to each have our own independent ownership over the products; Dino Productions and Why Fronts productions. These created a link between the trailer and the poster which was easily visible. We did also include the age rating onto the poster as by law it must be stated. We could have however also included that as part of the magazine information although it wouldn't necessarily be front page information and we could have included it into the film trailer maybe on the credits section.

I feel our products are linked together appropriately to create a strong advertising market however it focuses much more on the character as the superhero rather than the name of the film and the plot. This may jeopardise the advertisement slightly however the trailer does explain the plot quite clearly without giving away any major details. We plan on selling our product with the exploitation of our lead character and the impression she makes on the audience.

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

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

Trailer

At the very beginning of the project I researched into the standard conventions of a film trailer and what was needed to make it successful. This alerted me to make different shots and different editing styles which were necessary to include, any copyright publication and crediting which must be involved and how to set out the narrative so that the product will become a success.

Following the research gathered from other trailers in the genre of what I am attempting to create (Action Adventure) I noticed how the plot reveals it's self slowly and packs the action in towards the end to create a stimulating climax adding suspense. This is exactly what to achieve within a trailer to entice the audience to view the full film. Because of this our trailer starts of slowly with longer shots with wider angles to lengthen the suspense and the action taking place. This was done using a wide establishing shot for the opening and moving to wider angles of hallways and long shots of our Protagonist able to capture the entire mis en scene. Some of these shots were taken at head level and others angling down this puts a slower negative light on the action happening, this was decided to decrease the excitement so that when the pacey ending comes nearer it seems more intense and exciting. The ending includes sharp fast cuts; busy action shots, low angled to represent authority within characters, shot revers shot to create suspense and sequence of close up shots to finish creating a dramatic ending.

Our chosen soundtrack is something we created ourselves using appropriate genres and melodies and merging them together. This included stereotypical action music for the sharp pace ending which syncs nicely with the appropriate action creating a strength together and also slower music which builds up to this at the beginning of the piece. This is all non-diegetic sound added for motivation of the action and suspense. We also found that several of the trailers we analysed included a voice over presented I a deep authortive voice as it hold authority over the trailer being the dominating voice and including this helped move the action in the trailer along in a swift motion.

This convention seemed appropriate to add as we haven't included any diagetic sound at all within our trailer, we did intend on including some to increase urgency during the lead up to the climax none the less time ran short and to achieve the most professional approach we could with the time limit left a voice over seemed to be the next best thing. I'm pleased with the outcome and feel that it really helps the narrative of the trailer develop flow fluently also adding in an equal amount of professionalism to our overall finished product.

We took allot of time editing moving around the shots and sound to make a sequence which flowed appropriately and successfully. This was done with several draft attempts and a check list of all codes and conventions we discussed must be included such as the strong establishing shot, powerful music, appropriate mis en scene, swift cuts and a flowing order portraying the action.

Following the codes and conventions it was necessary to we included a promotional logo for the production company we have created these are normally placed at the begging. most trailers include one of these a few seconds in so we decided it will help it flow by including one of the main production company logo at the begging to start off the trailer and another a small while in for reinforcement.
I'm pleased that our trailer follows the convention of suspense. We have created the trailer with enough of the plot that it is an understandable theme and nothing major is given away about the ending however it should intrigue the viewer to find out more.
We challenged the codes and conventions by extending our trailer by about 30 seconds longer than an ordinary teaser trailer would be. I'm not worried about this challenge as I feel it works in our favour. Although it is longer it is now able to include more vital information about the plot to make it understandable and also allowed us to show off extra technical and editing skills we included with cartoon ad-in's created on after effects our editing skills and also our impressive soundtrack construction.
The final convention we followed down to a tee with our trailer was the crediting screen. We constructed this in a copycat style which most if not all trailers have in a box of text featuring smaller and larger fonts for the major credits such as the stars and director and smaller for those such as costume and set. We followed the stereotype colours and followed the trend of a two to three second screen time cut at the very end of the trailer.


Magazine


Our magazine codes and conventions are extremely stereotypical. We felt it best to stick with what we knew works from our studies and finding from our magazine constructions last year.
Creating a catchy and appropriate Masthead :FLIX. We placed this in a bold font large at the top of the magazine to make it eye catching and also so that when it sits stacked in the shelves in it’s distributes in news agents it will be clearly visible above the rest of the magazines. We chose a vibrant red to symbolise power and also to give the magazine which is only featuring our film its own independent colour scheme and style. The remainder of the magazine is now themes around the colour scheme and genre of our move; yellow and blue for the Action Adventure genre film.
Looking at other film review magazines we see an action shot or a still of the lead characters in costume as the centre focus on the front cover, because of this Mel and I decided to use the still in the cartoon creation we made of our leading character as a main focus. To create an interactive 3D effect we placed out character over the Masthead, this symbolised importance of the film and also the authority and strength the character of the film holds.
The background also compliments our 3D effect with an subtle merge of colours, blue to stick to the colour scheme then allowing important text related to the film to be in a bold yellow. We found soon on that all our text looked better outlined in thick black. This effect was done to put a slight comic strip feel to the magazine which complements our superhero theme.
We felt it important to fill the sweet-spot with a eye-catching freebie which is still related to the film we are promoting so we took an iconic item from our character which can be manufactured cheap to then include as a free supplement inside the issue: the mask. This follows two conventions of a film magazine cover by placing the free mask advertisement in the second most popular subconscious eye catching section of the magazine after the masthead.
We included all the vital information which is needed such as a bar-code, date and issue number. Most importantly the price which is the most vital piece of information to the buyer, we chose an appropriate price which complimented the quality of the information the reader will gain and also affordable to the film viewing market which is commonly the BC1 British social grading scale, working class and teenagers. This meant we could give it a price slightly above average as teenagers are the population which own the most amount of disposable income and will be able to afford this magazine. We also compared our pricing to other magazines of the same concept and found that ours was priced 10p-£1 less than them on some levels which means ours is good value for money.
Lastly we included a film strip at the bottom of the page once again behind our over powering character which we placed other film advertisements and page numbers of which the reader can find information on to make it look like a believable film review magazine which includes other film reviews while mainly featuring our film.


Poster


We challenged the conventions of the film poster by making it extremely subtle. Instead of doing the standard main characters as the main feature we decided to differ away. Looking into other superhero posters most had the superhero characters on their however their personal logo is the main feature. From this information we gathered we decided that using the logo we created for our character will be a wise position. This supports the colour scheme and automatically tells the audience what this film is about as superhero logos are a commonly known symbol as general knowledge to the public.
We wrote the title in clock capitals sticking with the theme of outlining all text in a bold black supporting the comic strip superhero theme.
Following conventions we included the release date, age rating and production company logos for advertisement. This shows professionalism and gives the suppliers and viewers will all the important information available. We also decided our two main actors should gain a noticeable place on the poster to get there name heard for their acting skill and also their own promotion, for this we placed their names at the top of the poster to make them noticeable to the audience the moment they view the poster.
Finally like at the end of the film trailer where we included a block of credits to all the different teams, people and production company's involved with the making of the film we also included a smaller scale on of these at the bottom of the poster to show appreciation and also for customer information.