Evaluation question 4 – evaluation
07 Apr 2011 Leave a Comment
I used a variety of different technologies to present my evaluation with as i wanted to make sure that the person looking at my blog was interested and didn’t want them to have to read streams of writing, there fore i used powerpoints, polls and video recordings.
I stuck to three main ways of doing this. I used powerpoints for most of the questions as i felt that this way i could use images and text to explain my work in a ordered and neat way. I uploaded my powerpoints through slide share so that they were visable on my blog rather than having to click on a link to access them.
I published some of my work in a word document and copied them on to my blog. I answered these questions in more of an essay format as i felt that it was approapriate for the questions being asked.
I also recorded myself answering some questions as i wanted to use different technologies and got my friend to interview whilst doing this. This helped me to cover the points I need to.
For my feedback, I used polls to get an overal view on my three constructions and asked people to vote on them. I also did video recordings of my friends and asked them several questions on what they felt of my three constructions, so that i had a good idea of what they felt worked and didnt. I was slightly dissapointed that i didn’t get a great amount of feedback from my polls from people other than my friends. I also could have shared my work on social network sights, this could of got me a wider range of feedback from a much bigger audience.
Evaluation question 4 – construction
07 Apr 2011 Leave a Comment
Through the construction stages of my work I got people to watch my trailer and give me feedback on what they thought worked and what didn’t. This helped me decide what steps to take. I didn’t publicize my work on social networking sites but I think this could have benefited me more in getting my work to the best I could.
I made polls which helped me through the construction processes, which helped me in making decisions. I think polls were a good way of doing this, as it was easy to get people to vote without taking them much time so it helped me come to quick easy decisions.
Evaluation question 4 – Research and Planning
07 Apr 2011 1 Comment
- Discuss the way you used your blog to organize your research and planning work and how you used it to showcase your production?
I have used Word Press throughout the 2 years that I have done media as it has been a useful way to store all of my work in a chronological and neat way. I have organized my blog into different categories as I found that it was the easiest way to keep my work in order and by doing this it enabled me to access what I needed quickly and without any difficulty. By my blog having dates for each post it was easy for me to find the correct post that I wanted to look back at and showed how my work progressed.
I made a category especially for all of my research and planning. This helped me during the construction stages as it was able to find the posts that I was looking for easily to relate to them to gain ideas and different techniques. I posted regular updates of my trailer so that you could see the progression and so that I could look back and see if there was anything that I wanted to revert back to or change.
The blog was also very handy as I was able to use different technologies on it. I was able to create polls, which helped me make decisions from other peoples feedback. I was also able to upload photographs and videos which gives much more detail that standard word documents. It also made my blog much more interesting to look at and for others to develop a better understanding of the work I was going to be producing. By being able to upload images and videos it enabled me to show the stages and progression of my trailer, magazine cover and poster.
Having a place where people can post comments was also very handing when using the blogs. By this being there I was able to gain feedback and be able to develop what other people thought to make my work the best that I can.
I found the blog very useful as it helped me in all areas. It allowed me to put information and research into separate posts, which kept my blog organized. As Word Press was very easy to use and understand I was able to post blogs regularly without any trouble. It has also helped me manage with time deadlines etc. as I have been able to look at my blog quick and identify what I have done and what I need to do.
Discuss your use of the internet to research into trailers and their conventions.
I used google to research most of my work as I am familiar with this search engine and am always able to find the correct information that I am looking for. I found many websites which helped me into my research of all three constructions. I also went on websites, which had film reviews on the trailers in which I analyzed, as I was able to get more information on the films that I have not watched.
As all of my work was presented on my blog I often used the internet as to be able to access my blog I had to go onto the internet. I also went on the medi@chs blog as it helped me in my research and planning to look at useful links that were posted on there and also other peoples archives from previous years. This helped me develop my work considerably as I was able to compare my work and get an idea of how much was needed.
I used you tube frequently to watch different horror trailers and analysed them by watching them over and over again to identify the different techniques that were used and to help me get ideas on what to include in my own trailer. You tube was also useful to find soundtracks for my trailer as I was able to type in the type of thing that I was looking for and I was provided with a variety of sounds.
I created a few polls in order to help me make the correct decisions and to get feedback from others on my trailer. I made a poll to see what target audience they thought that I should set my trailer around so that I could make sure it was appropriate and would attract the correct group of people.
Evaluation Question 3 – what have you learnt from the audience feedback you recieved
06 Apr 2011 Leave a Comment
Evaluation question 2
03 Apr 2011 Leave a Comment
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
It was important in the planning stages of my three constructions that they all had some sort of relation to each other. This was because all three were based on the film in which I invented. http://fchamberlainchs.wordpress.com/category/final-construction-a2/ (this link shows my three final constructions)
I chose the genre of horror for my trailer so for each construction I planned to make them look quite scary and stick to a specific theme to follow throughout. I also tried to make my poster, magazine and trailer attract the target audience which I chose to base it around. It was quite difficult, especially for the magazine cover to have some relation with the others as I wanted to fit the conventions of a film magazine cover, http://www.whosdatedwho.com/tpx_2789123/total-film-magazine-united-kingdom-february-2004/ (this link shows a total film magazine cover) which involve having text about other films and including details of things that aren’t related to the film. Because of this it distracted the main focus of my film being advertised on it. I felt that that there was little relation between this and the other two constructions but I managed to use some techniques and effects to achieve this as much as I could.
Throughout the three constructions I used the same fonts, especially for the title. I thought this was relevant as it allows the viewer to recognize this and when seeing each thing relate it to the film. On the magazine cover I used many different fonts for other information but stuck to the same ones for when I was advertising ‘Footsteps’.
The images all relate well together especially on the poster and trailer, as I have used the same characters and taken shots from parts of my trailer and added them on to my poster. For my magazine cover I took a photo of the two girls outside, I wanted this to relate to the part in my trailer where they were being watched through the bushes, but from the feedback I got on my magazine cover I know think that this image wasn’t that relevant and have thought of better ideas in which I could have done this. Saying that, I do feel that because, I have used the same characters and the setting in which I took the photo in that it has some relevance to the trailer and poster.
Another feature that all three of my constructions have is the slogan ‘heading your way’. I feel this is a main aspect which connects them all together. I changed it slightly on the magazine cover to ‘are they heading your way?’ I did this as I felt it is more personal to the person reading the magazine, and this would perhaps attract them more to read the magazine and article to do with the film. I added a tagline to my projects as from my research I noticed that many films have a slogan which links other advertisments with that. For example, ‘the hills have eyes’ have a tagline saying ‘the lucky ones die first’
The colours themes in which I used throughout don’t always stay the same. I feel that if I had done this it would have linked them better. For my trailer I used quite dull colours and simple colours for the headings and titles but in my poster I moved to a red / white and black colour scheme. I felt that my poster worked well with these colours and think that I should have added some red into my trailer. For my magazine cover I tried to stick to red/ black and white as much as I could but due to my photo background it was difficult to make them colours stand out, therefore I had to add a brighter colour for different texts etc.
For the ordering in which the three constructions would be shown I would like the teaser trailer to be advertised first and then for the poster to be put up around the cinemas. I do feel that I could have designed different types of posters for bill boards and buses etc. as the poster I designed only fits one purpose. Nearer to the time in which the film was going to come out I would want the magazine cover to be published as people will be aware of the film from watching the trailer and poster but will also be able to read more about it before deciding whether to see it or not.
Evaluation Question 1
02 Apr 2011 1 Comment
Theory of trailers
Tzvetan Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages:
1. a state of equilibrium at the outset;
2. a disruption of the equilibrium by some action;
3. a recognition that there has been a disruption;
4. an attempt to repair the disruption;
5. a reinstatement of the equilibrium
This type of narrative structure is very familiar to us and can be applied to many
‘mainstream’ film narratives.
For my trailer I feel that the first few stages relate well as it starts with an opening where the stalker walks towards the camera which relates well to the title of the film. This quickly revolves into some action of the shots where you can see that the stalker is following and watching two girls. Their is then recognition of the event as I have added some short snaps of the girls and included voice overs which allow the viewer to identify that the stalker has begun an attack. Due to my work only being a trailer it doesnt follow the next few stages of Todorovs theory as the story is not resolved as the point of it is to attract viewers to watch the whole film.
Propp’s theory suggested that there are “Eight categories of elements that define not only the construction of a tale, but the tale as a whole.”:
The 8 character roles are
1. The villain(s)
2. The hero
3. The donor – who provides an object with some magic property.
4. The helper who aids the hero.
5. The princess (the sought for person) – reward for the hero and object of the
villain’s schemes.
6. Her father – who rewards the hero.
7. The dispatcher – who sends the hero on his way.
8. The false hero
I feel that my trailer does not follow this theory as by it being a teaser trailer and only having a limited amount of time, it is not possible to introduce eight characters. I was only filmed three characters as I felt that these were the main characters and I was able to produce the trailer how I wanted by using a limited amount of characters. This meant that the audience were aware of what the film was about without to much detail and confussion over characters. I first introduced the ‘villian’ who was the stalker, and this was easy to be identified from the beginning of my trailer. I then introduced the two victims who were the two girls being stalked.
Rule of thirds
Trailer Feedback
01 Apr 2011 1 Comment
I asked a group of friends to give me feedback on my trailer so that i could identify both the strengths and weaknesses of my trailer to help me evaluate my work. Two of the friends were from my media class so they were aware what was expected of the trailer and whether it was at an approapriate standard and the other friend was able to give me feedback on the trailer with out knowing what it needed to include. I found this helped as it gave me mixed views on it and they were all able to pick out what worked well and what didnt from their own perspectives.
