Monday 28 April 2014

Approaching evaluation question 4

Evaluation question four asks how I used new media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation strategies. Before I answered the question I looked at the key words within it, this will help me structure my response.


Evaluation question 3: What have I learned from my audience feedback?

After looking through my audience feedback I looked at frequent comments and what I have learned from them. I looked at comments that appeared frequently as they were more likely to be factual than based on personal opinion. I then looked at what those comments have taught me about my trailer and how I could improve if I were to make another trailer in the future. I created this video presentation using the Powtoon software that discusses exactly what I have learnt from individual comments.
 

Evaluation question 3

Evaluation question 3 is as follows:
What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Before I can determine what I have learnt I will have to look at the feedback itself to then decide what it has actually told me about my production and what I could do to improve it. The presentation below shows some of the feedback I got over the social networking site Facebook as well as by talking directly to my audience after showing them my trailer.


Friday 25 April 2014

Evaluation question 2

I created this video to discuss my four points of focus. These points aim to determine how effective the combination of the ancillary texts with the trailer are in achieving their purpose.


Approaching evaluation question 2

I broke down the question into the key words to determine exactly what was meant by it. I then looked at how I could answer the question, producing four key focus points covering conventions, features that advertise and how well linked the pieces are.


Evaluation question 1: Conclusion

Evaluation question 1: Cinematography

I did an in-depth cinematography analysis to determine whether my media product uses, develops or challenges forms and conventions of real media products. The images below discuss how I have used, developed or challenged the forms and conventions of real media products.

Firstly I have used a range of shot types which is something I determined as essential in creating a visually appealing piece. It could be argued that the shots used are conforming and developing conventions as they are used to portray the same ideas as similar shot types of other trailers. For example, high angle shots are used to establish vulnerability of a character whilst slow tracking shots are used to create suspense.










Evaluation question 1: Editing

I looked at some of the most significant editing techniques used throughout my trailer to understand whether my trailer conformed to or challenged the conventions of real media products.

 
I concluded that many of the editing techniques that I have used comply to the conventions of real media products. I chose to use many of these techniques as I identified them as common features in real trailers and chose to employ their use in my own media product.
 
During my extensive research process I identified that crossing over the audio from one shot to another creates a sound bridge helping the piece to flow better. I then used this technique as evidenced in the explanation in the image above.
 
I use a fade to black to help the transition to a new location. A fade to black is commonly used to show the passing of time and this is what I am trying to portray; again making my media product comply to the conventions of real media products.
 
I cross faded the titles over certain shots to link their meaning to the scene. This was a technique that I observed in my research process in trailers such as Belle and Little Birds. This, again, makes my trailer coventional. 


Sunday 20 April 2014

Evaluation question 1: Mise En Scene

As discussed earlier I will be looking at a range of the microsaspects of my trailer to determine whether it challenges or conforms to the conventions of real media products. One of the things I am looking at is mise en scene which is a term used to describe what is in the scene and covers everything from lighting to the positioning of the characters. I have looked at whether the mise en scene corresponds with the fantasy genre as well as other trailers. This will help me answer question one. The presentation below examines aspects of the mise en scene and offers explanations into how the features discussed are either conventional or not.

Evaluation question 1 :Locations

Evaluation question one discusses conventions and whether my final media product conforms to or challenges them. Now that I have determined that my film poster and magazine cover both conform to conventions I am now trying to discover whether my actual trailer does, or not. In order for me to be able to find this out I will have to look at a range of features and microaspects of my trailer and compare them to the findings of my research. The first thing I am looking at is that of locations and whether they are conventional. Obviously there are no locations typical of a trailer itself but there are of the fantasy and drama genres. This is what I will look at to determine whether my locations are conventional. The picture below shows a few of the locations in my trailer.


1) The road and home
This location could immediately be recognised as conforming to conventions. During my research process I discovered that in the beginning of most trailer the beginning state of equilibrium is introduced. This can be seen where the protagonist Alice is walking home from school.

2) Woodland
A lot of the trailer has that of a woodland location and this again is typical of the fantasy genre. This could be due to the mysterious and somewhat spooky nature of the location.

3) The tunnel
The lighting in this shot is exceptionally magical looking and the fact that they are in a passage/on a journey makes it stereotypical of the fantasy genre.

4)Railway bridge
The stone bridge is somewhat picturesque and this is key in fantasy films where what you see is often old, beautiful or magical to look at.

5)Shed
Although filmed in a shed this location is meant to be a wooden hut in the woods. This looks like the scene out of a horror film but it could be said that fantasy and horror films can cross over quite a lot. It could be argued, however, that this location is more 'horror' and therefore my trailer could challenge conventions in terms of location- supported by the horror quality to the woodland location also. The hut in the woods could link to stories like Snow White , however and hence argued as conventionally fantasy.

Evaluation question 1: Poster

I created this Prezi presentation to evaluate my film poster and whether it challenged or conformed the conventions of real media products. I looked at several features of the poster and concluded my findings and looked at how I got this result.

Evaluation question 1: Magazine cover

As mentioned earlier I will be evaluating all of my final coursework pieces against evaluation question 1. This presentation goes through my steps to determine whether my magazine cover conforms to or challenges the conventions of real media products.

 

Approaching evaluation question 1

Evaluation question 1 is as follows: In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? I have 3 final products being my theatrical trailer, my poster and magazine cover. I will now need to evaluate all of these according to this question. I created this mindmap using the bubbl.us software to help me structure my response.




My theatrical trailer

This is my final product; a full theatrical trailer for a film I created 'Alice'. I have had to convert it into a video file that is of poor quality to enable upload, this, however, an issue I hope to resolve. The trailer can be viewed below.