The A2 Media Project Evaluation

The Specification
The specification for the A2 media project/coursework is as follows: To design and create a publicity package for a new film to include a poster, a magazine cover and a trailer.

Time Management
I feel I managed my time well during this project and my trailer ideas and research were completed early in the term. I was initially panicked a month or two before the deadline because my trailer was yet to be edited and put together despite having the footage ready at hand but once I had set my mind to getting my trailer finished, I had it done within three days after about 16 hours of work on Adobe Premier Pro. My poster was completed before my editing took place and the last thing to be finished was my magazine cover. Despite my overall workload of all my A2 courses, I feel I managed to stay on top of all of my media coursework and complete it to a high standard in a timely manner.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for my media product would be movie-goers aged 15 and over as my trailer and subsequent film contains suggestions of violence and brutality and images of blood and gore that may upset or traumatise persons under the age of 15. My trailer contains a BBFC classification screen stating that the trailer is a 15 and should not be viewed by anyone younger than this. Because of this classification, this trailer would have to appear on television after the watershed and only be shown before films in cinemas that also have a 15 certificate or a certificate of a higher, not lower, age.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
During the construction of my poster and magazine cover, I spent a lot of time on Adobe Photoshop both at home and at college. I have used this software before many times and so it wasn't particularly new to me although through this project, I feel I have developed my skills with this software greatly. I can now cut out such things as signatures with precision (as I did for my BBFC classification screen) for use in other images and am now able to make smoke text and writing (as I did for my poster, magazine cover and titles in my trailer). Before this project I had never used Adobe Premier Pro but after spending hours and hours of my life using this software, I feel I am now very capable of using this program and can edit video to a good standard. Various internet forums and YouTube tutorials helped me with the trickier parts of this software but the rest of it I figured out on my own or with help from members of my college's media team. Because of the compatibility of Adobe products I was able to import Photoshop images for use in my trailer and my smoky text screens were inserted this way.

Poster
I used the standard conventions on my poster such as the credits along the bottom, the title, release date and studio name. I also used something I have only seen a few times on film posters the QR code. Media convergence means that this code can be scanned with a smart phone and this will take the person straight to the website on their phone. This makes it very easy for the person to track down relevant information about the film. My poster is quite bare so that attention is attracted only to the important things the release date and the title. The title is written in smoke because at the end of the film, the villain burns the photo and this produces smoke. Smoke also connotes destruction such as house fires and the burning of bodies to cover up crimes. The fonts are kept pale and similar in colour to promote the film identity and also to blend in better with the image itself. Black would look too bold whereas grey is paler, coordinates better and is also the colour of smoke. The font used for the credits is the same font usually used for credits on film posters and my poster conforms in this manner. The font used for the studio name is the one I picked out during my search for a unique font that would be recognised quickly as ScarlettRoomStudios' font.

Poster Construction
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The first stage of my poster construction was deciding which image I wished to use and manipulate. I took this picture in my bedroom in average lighting conditions using the college's Nikon CoolPix S3000.

I then sliced the image in half using the crop tool as my poster was to contain only half of the villain's face.

Next I turned this segment black and white using the channel mixer monochrome options to tweak the shadow and light to reach the desired effect.

Poster Construction
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_igyUabvBI

Stage 4 was the removal of the background using the eraser tools in Photoshop.

I then opened a new project and, using the YouTube tutorial linked above, created the smoke text that you see above.

Poster Construction
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Once the text was constructed, I pulled the villain's face from the other piece of work and placed it on the very far left of the page beside the smoke text.

The next stage was to insert my chosen text release date, studio name and credits along the bottom of the page. The fonts I used for the credits and the studio name were downloaded from the internet and loaded into Photoshop.

Stage 8 was the insertion of a QR code that I used a website to generate. I included this to aid the audience's hunt for information about the film as, due to media convergence, you can now use smart phones to scan these codes and go directly to the website on your phone thus finding relevant information quickly.

Poster Mock-up

I created a poster mock-up in Photoshop using an image of a bus stop that I got from a Google search. I used an image of a bus stop because films are very often advertised at bus stops with large posters. This is how my poster would look in practice.

Magazine
My magazine cover, like my poster, is very plain and bare and draws attention to the big exclusive Exact. As it is an exclusive peek at 'The most anticipated film of the year' and a special issue it gets the most publicity on the cover with only a few other plugs on the cover at the bottom and side. Like all magazines, mine has a bar code, a price, a date and an issue number and also a masthead that sits behind the head of the image's subject. The subject of the image appears to be looking directly at the viewer and the rhetorical interrogative located beneath the subject brings a feel of inclusion to the viewer of the cover they are being asked a direct question but what the question is, they won't know unless they have seen the trailer or unless they buy the magazine and read the feature. Again the fonts have been kept pale but obvious and the use of a gothic font for the text helps reinforce the idea of a horror film. The magazine cover is very similar to my poster to reinforce the film identity and to make it easily recognisable and associable with the poster and the film. Whereas most magazine covers are very crowded and full of plugs and cover lines my magazine cover is very minimalistic. But despite this, feedback from peers has been very positive and lacking in criticism.

Magazine Construction
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I used the YouTube tutorial again to create the smoke text box seen above in a new Photoshop project.

I then used the same image I used for my poster but I cut out all of the villain using the various eraser tools in Photoshop.

I inserted this cut out into the new Photoshop project I began with the turoial, typed in the film title and changed the hue and saturation to alter the brightness of the word exact.

Magazine Construction
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I inserted a barcode that I generated on the internet along with the issue number, date and price.

Then I created the masthead using Copperplate Gothic Bold to keep with the theme of my film and set it behind the subject's head by adjusting the layer order.

I then inserted the sell lines for the exclusive Exact article in the same font as the masthead and the film title.

Magazine Construction
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The final stage saw the completion of my magazine cover with the insertion of other small plugs below the film exclusive. These were put in the same font and colour as other text on the page to keep it all coordinated. They are purposely put towards the bottom in a smaller font so as not to draw attention away from the exclusive feature.

Trailer
My film trailer contains scenes of blood but no scenes of violence in practice as an exorbitant amount of gore in trailers can overwhelm audiences and sometimes put them off wanting to see the actual film. The beginning cork board shot helps to reveal some of the pot and the reasoning behind the villain's murderous plans. Although my trailer does reveal a lot about plot etc. it is left open ended when one of the girls decides to stand and fight the villain. However, the scream at the end leaves it even more ambiguous the audience knows the girl was going to fight but the scream makes it seem as though she has also been gotten by the villain despite never seeing concrete evidence of this. To find out whether both girls meet their maker, the viewer of the trailer must watch the actual film it is left on a cliffhanger. Much like my poster and magazine, my trailer is simplistic with very few scene transitions used and only a few title screens being inserted. These screens were created in Photoshop and imported so that the smoke text could be used for the film title title screens. The music for my trailer was custom made and mixed to fit my trailer as using already made music can cause problems with copyright and music suited to the footage being used can be extremely difficult to find. Though simplistic, my trailer has also received positive feedback from peers although some criticisms about the length of my shots have been voiced.

Trailer Construction

Trailer Construction
The construction of my trailer took the longest to do as I was new to the software and was using a computer that was below the software's specifications it ran very slowly and playback was jumpy. The majority of trailer construction was done at home and I had to import the footage one clip at a time to keep my computer happy. Once the clips were in order and cut to the correct length according to my storyboard, I removed all of the audio by unlinking the audio and visual and deleting the audio. I then inserted the titles and imported the Photoshop-ed title screens. The transitions were added on the college Macs and the timings adjusted so they fitted properly. I inserted the black and white effect on two shots on the Mac as well and also inserted the CCTV title screen over the top of these shots. The audio track was also inserted on the Mac and adjusted to line up properly.

BBFC Screen Construction

The BBFC screen shown at the beginning of my trailer was created in Photoshop using a Google image of a BBFC classification screen as a model. The 'BBFC' logo was cut from the image and inserted into mine and the 15 certificate logo was taken from Google, cleaned up and inserted. I cut out the BBFC's president's signature for use on my home made classification screen and cut my signature from a scanned actor agreement that I had signed.

Hardware Used
I used my netbook at home and at college as I was able to download Adobe Photoshop CS5 and college only has CS4. It ran the software really well and I spent hours working on it.

I used the college's Nikon Coolpix S3000 camera to take To film, I used the college's HDC the image for HS80. It's a lightweight, easy to use my poster and camera and I was able to use it with magazine cover. great ease to get the footage I It takes very needed. I could also play back my shots instantly so I was able to check good pictures that the shots I had got were all right and is very easy to use. to use and if they weren't, I was able
to instantly re-film the botched shot.

Storyboarding
Before starting to edit my footage, I put together a storyboard so I knew what I wanted where.

I drew stickmen versions of each shot and cut them out so I could arrange and rearrange my shots as I wanted them.

I got the shots into the order I wanted and began laying them out in my sketchbook.

Once my shots were glued in in order, I wrote the length of each shot, the shot transitions etc. in underneath and beside each shot so I knew what was meant to be happening where and when.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My media products do conform to real media conventions in a number of ways. Possibly the greatest conforming is seen on the magazine cover and the poster. Th magazine has a barcode, price, date and issue number as well as a big bold masthead like all the magazine covers I have researched. However, unlike most magazine covers mine is very minimalistic and bare so the main attention is drawn only to the exclusive feature. Most magazines also utilise bright, bold colours to attract the attention of consumers, however mine is very dark and monochrome to fit with the mood of the film/trailer. This was also done so that the poster and magazine cover match this helps consumers to associate these separate things to the film itself as they are so similar in style and colour. The poster also conforms to certain conventions is the sense of it including the film title, release date and credits along the bottom. Many film posters are quite minimalistic such as the Paranormal Activity franchise of films so as not to overwhelm consumers and also not to give too many hints about the plot of the film. I feel my poster has an air of mystery and foreboding about it and this helps to intrigue the consumer and make them want to learn more. The inclusion of the QR code a convention of some but not all film posters makes it easy for consumers to locate relevant information about the film should the poster pique their curiosity. My film trailer also conforms in certain ways to real film trailers. It contains a soundtrack and also title screens that inform the viewer of the film title, release date and also the names of the main characters. These are regular conventions of real film trailers. Horror film trailers always show scenes of some sort of violence or gore and mine is no different as it shows a bloody knife and blood on the victims. Of all my media products, my trailer conforms most to real media product conventions as it is modelled on other horror film trailers to make it more authentic. My trailer uses suspense and tension to hook the consumer much like other trailers do. This is an effective way of grabbing attention and piquing interest in a short amount of time.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
After the construction of my poster, I was told that it looked as though it had been modelled on the poster for the film Unbreakable and after some research, I found that there are a few similarities in colour, theme and style and so I used this poster to compare mine to to show how my product uses media forms and conventions. Similarities: Credits Film title Subject's face in shadow Title in an unconventional style Blue glow around the title

Differences: QR code Release date Studio name at the top of my poster Direct interrogative on the real poster

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

Similarities: Masthead behind the subject's head Film title given pride of place Eyeline of subject Barcode Text accompanying the film title Other sell lines

Differences: My cover is very bare and dark Fewer sell lines on mine

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
One of the greatest things I learnt during the progression from the preliminary task to the final full product was the importance of planning and time management. My time got away from me very quickly and it wasn't long before I was panicking about not having a preliminary idea for my trailer. But again, once I had set my mind to it, my idea came to me very quickly. Continuity was another important lesson learnt during the progression as my character's had to be wearing the same clothing throughout filming or there would be errors in my trailer that could confuse the audience.

Skills I have learnt during this progression include Photoshop skills, which I feel have thoroughly improved since the beginning of my project, and Premiere Pro skills of which I had none to begin with. I feel I am now fully capable of using both of these softwares to produce work of a high quality and standard. I can now also use the college video camera to record high quality footage without breaking anything I'd never used a video camera before commencing this project.

Feedback - Positive
Poster
The minimalist approach means the reader is not overwhelmed by information and finds the important copy quickly and easily. Colours are well coordinated and keep with the dark theme of the trailer. Eye-catching.

Magazine
The minimalist approach again means consumers are not overwhelmed by a crowded, disorganised cover.

Trailer
Titles in the trailer associate back to the poster and magazine. Doesn't contain too much blood and gore but enough to give the consumer an idea of the violent imagery of the film.

The QR code recognises the convergence of media and also means consumers can find relevant information easily.

Colours and fonts are coordinated and match the poster this Music is well suited. reinforces the film identity and associates Trailer reveals some but not all the two pieces of of the plot. publicity with each other. Challenges stereotypes by Barcode etc. are small suggesting the helpless victims and hidden away but still are the original villains. easy to find. Effects are applied and timed well.

Feedback - Negative
Poster
Very plain and basic. Very dark and colourless doesn't 'jump' out at the consumer.

Magazine
Again, quite plain and colourless although clear and concise. Fonts give the film very gothic connotations. The barcode stands out very starkly on such a dark background and is an unfortunate focus pull.

Trailer
Gives away a lot of the film's back story cork board shot. Some shots look almost connected whereas others appear very disjointed. Some camera work is quite shaky and certain shots are too long to fit the quick pace of the trailer.

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