Sophie's Advanced Portfolio.

Evaluation Qu 1

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

Teen Comedy Genre: ..........................Teaser Trailer Conventions:
Cliques................................................................Soundtrack
Evil vs Good ......................................................Slower paced
Friendships/relationships...............................Voice over
Secrets ..............................................................Light background
Rumours............................................................Slow motion shots of popular characters
School setting....................................................Institution information

Poster Conventions:............................. Magazine cover Conventions:
Light background colour ..................................Light background colour
Release date........................................................Price
Actors and Actresses names.............................Plug
Image of character.............................................Name of film
Tagline.................................................................Image
Certificate.............................................................Masthead
Institution information.......................................Coverline
Name of film........................................................Puff
Barcode................................................................Date

When producing my media products, I decided to use the basic conventions of a teen comedy, which my product research suggested was such things as, using lighter colours on posters, voice overs and longer shots in the teaser trailers opposed to shorter cuts if I was producing a horror or thriller.

I wanted to produce a teaser trailer like She's the man's trailer which used the conventions of a typical American teen comedy (introducing the characters and the narrative of the film using, 3 different types of music). However, when looking at such films as Juno and 500 hundred days of summer , the soundtrack and editing makes the mainstream films incorporate a new indie feel which is what I aimed to achieve through my music.

Also, using a slow motion tracking shot of the typically 'popular' characters is stereotypical of teen comedies (for example Mean Girls) which makes it easier for the audience to follow the narrative and stereotype characters quickly.

In order to conform to teen comedy conventions I have used an image of the main character on both my poster and magazine cover, which incorporates the genres of the film. The tagline, Coming soon, the barcode and the price is what would normally be on a magazine cover and so I have included them in my poster and magazine cover (in similar places as they would appear in other magazines like, Empire and Total Film and posters in other mainstream films such as, placing the certificate in the bottom right hand corner of the poster) therefore, this makes it appear more realistic.

Challenging conventions:

There was difficultly in subverting the conventions too much, due to the budget, location and lack of equipment. Also, a big thing in 2010 was the outbreak of 3D films this is hard to compete with and so, the black background on my Magazine cover was used to give a 3D effect. However, due to my film genre being teen comedy the 3D outbreak isn't inclusive of this genre, which makes it easier to compete with other mainstream teen comedies.

One of my main challenges in the narrative of my film was the main character Joan ends up with no friends, this leaves it open to whether there would be a sequel.

Normally with a mainstream film magazine cover the middle of the masthead with their model (actor/actress), which suggest the magazine is well known. However, with my mainstream film magazine, due to it being a newly published product I decided to not overlap my actress over the masthead (InQuire), in order for it to become well known and respected.

Evaluation Qu 2

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

Including the main character Joan in all three products gives a clear indication of the identity of the film. All three products promote the film Joan Franberg, and would intrigue the audience.
Also the poster background being white and the magazine cover background being black links the two products together creating a yin yang effect, the good vs the bad side of growing up.

My film being mainstream means it would have a higher budget when it comes to distribution, allowing it to be displayed in a bigger capacity which would reach my target audience of 13-17 year old. My poster would be distributed on billboards, buses, and on the Internet (social network sites) which fits the lifestyle demographics of my target audience. Distributing them there would target my target audience but also, expand out into a wider audience.

My magazine cover, would sell in all big superstores in the prime area shelves next to Empire and Total Films. This displays InQuire is a high market and trustworthy product which it is able to compete with other mainstream film magazines.

My Teaser Trailer is distributed by 'Fox Searchlight' a mainstream production and distribution company, which when researching institutions . It promotes teen comedies and so with the recognition of a well known and trusted distribution company this would enable my film to be promoted in that way.

Evaluation Qu3

What have you learnt from audience feedback?

The audience feedback has been useful as it has presented flaws and highlighted strengths within the three products.

From the audience feedback, my strongest products appear to be the poster and teaser trailer, the magazine cover needs smaller changes to make it more appealing towards my target audience.

To improve this product I would keep the image the same but change the black background into a lighter grey colour to make the information clearer for the audience and the image stand out. However, the black background gives a 3D effect which the audience liked therefore, choosing a colour similar to black (such as grey) would still maintain a 3D effect whilst not being too dark so that the information can been seen.

The attention to detail within my poster could of been better, by exploring all fonts in order for this then to reinforce my teen comedy genre. Also, by making a actual newspaper would have made the poster more realistic and thus, more appealing to my audience.

The teaser trailer was approved of by my audience, and people mostly commented on the how the music suited the genre. However, the response was that my title slates could of looked more professional, in the style of the credits in the film 27 dresses. This is something I researched to construct when in the production stages however, due to lack of equipment and technology it wasn't possible and therefore, I decided to produce title slates as if the main character Joan had written them which I hoped who appeal to the target audience.

The audience feedback was mostly positive (regarding the soundtrack in the teaser trailer) with a few changes, concerning the background colour of my magazine cover being to dark.

Overall, everyone from my audience research would see the film, therefore, the products are a success and is aimed towards the right target audience.

Evaluation Qu 4

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

During the planning stages of my products I used blogger, in order to record my progress and research. When researching I used social Internet sites such as, facebook and hotmail in order to get audience research, as it is easy to gain representative results as it is accessible to my target audience and it also gave a more in depth and personal answers giving both quantitative and qualitative data making my research more valid.

Also, Youtube and Myspace were useful sites to use when researching soundtracks and teaser trailers seeing as, they gave examples of the genre and conventions used within them. Yet also allowed for downloading songs onto Itunes, making it easy to access and edit on Imovie.

When actually constructing my teaser trailer I used equipment such as, cameras and tracks in order to conform to the stereotypical teen comedy scenes. Having not used the tracks last year, it was a new experience and it added to the range of shots used in my teaser trailer. After the filming, I edited on Imovie, having used this software last year it was useful to carry on with. Editing in the sound was a challenge due to lack of time (3 people using Imovie on one computer (IMac) and so trying to schedule around each other.

Again with blogger having used it last year, it was simple to use and better this year seeing as, it was a our own project and so we had more control over the products produced. Blogger is also easy to access from home or from school, which allows for regularly updating our blogs.

When constructing my poster and magazine cover, I used my Nikon DSLR to give a greater quality of image also, this made it easier to photograph Joan and it was also quick and simple to upload onto my laptop and edit on photoshop either at home or at school which made it more accessible. It allows for more control over the type of image produced. However, I did not use my DSLR to the fullest, by not using a focus pull, I purposely did this in order for Joan to be fully in focus as she is the main character and I wanted that to be clear for the audience.

Photoshop allowed a range of tools (such as, the dodge and burn tool - to make parts of the image lighter or darker) in which to edit my poster and magazine images in order to conform to certain conventions of posters and magazine covers including, editing the writing (masthead) with the image of Joan. However, finding a background colour was difficult as I wanted to keep to the conventions of both the magazine cover, poster and the genre.