The masthead I had created myself was completed on Adobe Photoshop Extended and the font that was used to create the stripy effectwas 'Maximus BT' The reason this font was chosen, was because it was dramatic and it is important that a masthead is original so that it can be recognised as a certain brand by consumers. Although my masthead was original, this still means it followed the conventions of a real media product. I have also followed the forms of a real media product because the masthead has been positioned directly at the top of the cover with every other peice of text and images falling beneath it, and it is the largest piece of text on the cover, this shows clearly what the magazine title is called and can be recognised and remembered by customers.
When creating the magazine cover it was important that i was going to maintain a running colour scheme throughout the media product to ensure that it fits together and links with our target audience. The final colours that we had decided on were blue red black and white and these were chosen so that we could appeal to both male and female teenagers as the colours are neutral and are not biased towards a gender in a way that the colour pink would be for example. Overall, the colours that were used make the magazine cover bright and colourful as the main shades that were used were blue and red, the bright colours will help appeal to our gender and they also follow the conventions of a real media product as bright colours are used on them to attract audiences into purchasing products. The red in the magazine cover
represents the films theme, as red has connotations of love and passion.
The image that was chosen on the magazine front cover uses conventions of real media products. It is a medium shot of our main actress in the film and she is smiling directly into the camera. She was intentionally smiling as this is a convention that real media products use and it is unusual to see cover stars doing something other than smiling unless they are in a character role. The image has been cut on Adobe Photoshop and placed on a plain white background. It is not unusual for this to be done in some genres of magazines, however, movie magazines tend to have a background placed behind the image that indicates the location of where the film is set. So my choice to have the actress on a plain white background challenges the conventions of real media products because I am not revealing anything about the plot of the film by using a background. Although i have not followed the conventions of a real media productin this instance i do think it works well because it would not fit in correctly with the colour scheme that i have chosen and often fussy backgrounds tend to over-complicate magazines making it difficult for readers to see text or important information. By keeping my background plain, readers can see all text and the image clearly.
A number of things appear on the cover that is a convention for all magazine whether it is film-based like mine or any other genre. These include a date, which has been included at the top of the cover clearly so audiences know exactly what issue they will be purchasing. The positioning of the date changes for each magazine however it is usually placed by the barcode or by the masthead, this is so not to confuse readers by placing it in an illogical place such as between texts on a lefthand third for example. The date on real media products is never a large size, it is kept reasonably small so that it does not distract from key articles, text or the image on the cover. By including a date and positioning it next to the masthead at the scale it is, I have followed regular conventions of a magazine.
A barcode is an essential convention of every magazine and without it being included, a media product cannot be sold. They are usually placed at the very corners of a magazine cover and tend to be reasonably small as they are not a vital piece of information for a customer, only for those who are retailing the product. I have followed the conventions of a real media product with regards to the barcode because i have included it in the bottom-right hand corner of the front cover. I have chosen to place it here as it is not overlapping anything else on the cover and it is far enough away and small enough not to distract from the cover text or the main image.
The pricing of the media product on real media products is usually next to the barcode or close to the masthead. I have chosen to place it underneath my date which is next to my masthead. This was done so it is clearly visible to potential buyers but it is small enough not to distract from other pieces of information on the page. It is vital that a price is included on a magazine cover so that it is clear how much it can be purchased for, therefore by including one i am following conventions of a real media product.
PosterThe final poster that was chosen by our group used and challenged a variety of different conventions of a romantic comedy movie advertisement. It is clearly noticable that our final movie poster contains the conventions that any other would such as images, billing block, appropriate colours, important dates, actors names, and main title.
The images that were used on the poster are of the two main characters of the film, Aliessha Saye and Sean Finn. There names are placed directly above their images so that audiences will be able to associate the actors names with cast members. The size of the names are reasonably large in comparison to other text on the poster and this is because it can help promote the film more if audiences recognise actors names. The main characters are both of equal size and the shot that is used is a long shot. This shot was used so that we can clearly see the costumes they are wearing as this gives us an insight into what the characters personalities are like. Aliessha is wearing a top and jeans, the top however is tied at the bottom which reveals part of her stomach, she is flashing skin and by doing so she is being suggestive in a provocative way. We have chosen not too show too much skin as it is a film targeted at young teenagers and it is our intention to keep the film trailer, poster and magazine innocent. Sean's character in the film is described as a 'geek' and this is represented through the clothing and prop choice within the images. He is wearing glasses which are stereotypical of a 'nerd' and he is also carrying a stack which insinuates that he is very academic and could be a teachers pet as he spends his time studying. These all follow conventions of a real media product because of the image shots, costumes and props all conform to stereotypes and are soon regularly on movie posters.
The grey text at the bottom of the movie poster is a convention included on film advertisements. It is known as a billing block and it outlines the main credits of the film. It is not relevant as such for consumers but is included for movie company reasons and the size of a billing block is usually pretty small for the very reason that it is not incredibly important to audiences. This billing block makes the movie poster authentic and follow the conventions of a romantic comedy well because it has been included and been done at a appropriate size.
Pink is the main colour that has been used on the movie poster and this is done to attract audiences and represent the genre of the film. The plot of the film is based around love and the colour-scheme allows viewers to understand this as pink has connotations of love. The colour-scheme also shows people subtly what the target audience of the film is. In most romantic comedy posters the main colour-scheme involves red and this is because it is deep and insinuates the plot is based on love, these films are usuall targeted towards older teenagers and upwards. We are challenging conventions of a film poster here because pink is seen as a childish colour and instead appeals directly to younger female teens but still manages to maintain the theme and genre.
Included on the movie poster are relevant dates regarding the films release. Our movie is due for release in 'May 2012' and this is clearly visible at the bottom of the poster in a pink font, it stands out from the other text around it because it is in a brighter colour so a readers attention is strategically automatically drawn towards the release date. This poster follows the conventions to a real media product because it contains a release date which is important to include so that audiences are away of when it comes out and it is nessercary for promotional reasons.
The main title is the largest piece of text that is included on the poster and is so because it is the most important piece of text. It is in proportion with the main images of the characters and does not dwarf them as they are of both equal importance on the movie poster. The font that is used is simple and is not fussy which makes it easier for audiences to read, and it follows the colour-scheme of the movie poster as its font is in hot pink. This follows conventions of a real media product because it is large enough for people to be aware that it is the title of the film and it is placed at an appropriate place on the movie poster.
TrailerAs a group we watched trailers before deciding on how we were going to exceute ours to gain inspiration. We focused mainly on the John Tucker must die trailer as it was the one closely matched to our film that had a similar target audience, this trailer has been posted below.
+ A fun, girly song that relates to the movie
+ Bright colours that attract the female audience
+ A voice over and a minimal script
+ A collage/montage of short clips to quickly explain the plot
+ A clear lead female and male character
+ Contains transitions and clips that have a text overlay
We attempted to incorporate as many of these conventions as possible into our movie trailer in order for it to follow and develop the conventions of a real media product.
The trailer begins with a collage/montage of short clips where the lead female character is seen with 3 different boys. Although the main focus of this collage is Aliessha, the female lead, Sean who plays the male lead is seen in each clip and the focus of the clip is quickly drawn to him. Unlike most movie trailers where the male and female lead are seen to be communicating in some way, we challenge the conventions in this instance as for the first minute of our trailer the lead characters do not communicate at all, only through shots of eyecontact. Although we have challenged a convention, it works well for us because it fits within the plot of our film and represents the personalities of each of the leading cast members.
There is a score being played throughout the trailer and it is quitened when key speech is being said. This is so that the conversation between the two characters can be heard and the audience knows that the change in volumes between the speech and score indicates that the conversation holds great importance. The song that was chosen relates to the film as it is a love song and the words represent what is going on throughout the scenes of the trailer. This follows conventions of a romantic comedy media product as the song relates to the trailer and there is only a small amount of text whichcan be heard, this is common in a lot of trailers.
We have used several slide transitions in order to make our movie trailer follow the conventions of a real media product. The slide transitions used are mainly a fade in, which is a simple transition that prevents thechange in video clips from being to choppy. The montage at the beginning has a slide-in transition which adds a fun element to the trailer which will attract younger audiences. Some of these transitions contain text in order to update audiences on what is happening without the need to show all the scenes in between and reveal the entire plot.
The colour in the clips and the costumes that characters are wearing are true to their personalities. We intended to make the trailer as bright as possible containing a variety of different colours as we believed it would make a bigger impact and have a larger influence on our audience than using dark colours as this would not appeal to younger teenagers. We have followed the conventions of a real media product by choosing colours that will intentionally appeal to our audience.
We have challenged the conventions of a real trailer by ordering the video clips chronologically. This was done as it is aimed at younger audiences and it could confuse the storyline if it is not set out clearly enough. We also challenged this convention because we felt that the montage at the beginning and the running theme of the trailer of it being set on a different day of the week seemed more effective than creating it in unchronoglogical order.
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Firstly, our main product and ancillary texts all contain the same actors. By doing this we have created a link between each three that will be recognisable by audiences. The reason we choose Aliessha on the front cover of the magazine instead of Sean is because it is more likely to be read by our audience which is female if they can see somebody they aspire to be on the cover. If the male lead was seen as an icon amongst the younger teenage girls we would have chosen to put him on the front, but as his reputation in the film does not view him as a stereotypical popular male, we felt it would not link in will with the main product and the movie poster. The costumes and props are similar in each product particularly the ancillary texts and this makes the combanations of our main product and ancillary texts effective as they all contain consistency when promoting the products.
In all of our media products, the actors names are repeated throughout them in order to make sure that the main product and ancillary texts can be linked. By doing this, audiences will be able to recognise the connection between products if the names of the cast playing the charactersin the film are reffered to numerously.
The title of the film 'The Cover-Up' is included in all three products and this is done so that audiences can relate the actors names and their pictures that they see to a particular project. The title is also reffered to numerously throughout the main product and ancilalry text to remind others about what the project is about.
The fonts used throughout our the groups final choices of products differs because they were chosen from different individuals projects but in reference to my own project the same fonts were used repetedly especially througout ancillary texts were National First Font and National First Font Dotted was used in both, it creates a strong connection between the products and makes the combonation of the trailer, movie poster and movie magazine front cover more effective.
The tagline 'Secrets don't last forever' is repeated through our main product and ancillary text. Using this exact same tagline for all of our products contributes to the continuity of our project and shows the connection between them all. By changing taglines for each product, we could lose the engagement of the reader and confuse them.
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
To gain audience feedback we had researched considered using a variety of different methods to discover how well our media products were interpreted with the general public. We decided on two different ways of researching this and they were:
+ Questionnaire
+ Group interview
The reason we had chosen these methods were so that we could gain a variety of different feedback as they weren't similar types of research and could each provide is with accurate results.
QuestionnaireThe questionnaire we had compiled contained 6 questions and were handed out to 10 females and 10 males, the questions were:
Are you female or male?
Is the movie trailer an effective way of advertising our film and why?
Is the movie poster an effective way of advertising our film and why?
Is the movie magazine an effective way of advertising our film and why?
If you had viewed these seperately would you have seen the connection between the products?
What is your overall feedback on the quality of the products?
The feedback from the questions regarding the effectiveness of the products seemed to all be similar. 18 out of 20 respondants had said that the way in which each of the products had been made had shown the plot, genre and characters clearly enough for audiences to understand. Respondants had noted that although the teaser trailer did not follow a chronological order, in our instance it workedin our favour because the plot was not entirely given away and it still left a lot to the imagination.
The question that asks "If you had viewed these seperately would you have seen the connection between the products?" recieved a positive response.
Most respondants commented on the repeating of actors images, names and the movie title.
They noted that the numerous acknowledgment of the characters in costume was enough for them to make the connection between the products and were aware that they were related to the same project.
The overall feedback of the quality of the products recieved good feedback too. Questionnaire respondants said that the precision of cutting out around products was a good use of Photoshop software and that the trailer was edited in a way that was easy to follow but was still complex enough to show the skills that each individual in the group will have had to complete a project like the one that had been produced.
Group InterviewThe group interview had no set questions. Instead a member of our group each held up a copy of our magazine and poster, then our final trailer was played. Whilst each product was being shown the group was given a chance to comment on them and what they believe to be the best points about them.
Regarding the magazine, the respondants commented on the striking masthead. They said they liked that it was original and the name related to the genre that it was in. They added that the font styles on the magazine were simple enough to be read clearly and understood but not boring. Respondants applauded the use of the pug and the arrow and stated that it was very relevant to our target audience. The image caught their attention aswell, with the soft blur and glow around the image making it more striking and shows a lot about the character within the film.
The poster was shown next and respondants commented on the use of colour to attract audiences. They noted that the pink really appealed to our target audience and that they felt that although the colours are bright it was not over powering and childish it still fit in with the genre of romantic comedy but was more mature than a childrens film by maintaing the right balance of use of colours.
After the movie trailer was played the discussion quickly drew to the montage at the beginning. Respondants felt that they understood the films plot without the whole storyline being revealed which was our overall intention. They also commented on the good choice of location, saying that it was easy to understand where the film is set and the genre was very clear throughout the teaser trailer because of the good use of music and speech.
Overall, from our group interview and our questionnaire we have gained excellent feedback regarding the 3 products we had produced as a group. We have learnt that although we had chosen products from different peoples projects within the group using our good photoshop skills we were able to still make them relate and connect.
How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and
evaluation stages?
I had used a variety of different new media technologies during the process of completing my project, that helped through the construction, planning and evaluation stages of my main product and ancillary texts.
PhotoshopAfter using building basic knowledge of Photoshop through AS media, I felt more at ease using it for this project as i felt i already had nessercary skills in order to complete a product that resembled a real media product. Photoshop was mainly used throughout the construction stage of my project and was used to work on my movie poster and movie magazine. it was used to cut out images for my products and no other software would have been precise enough for me to have done so. I also used Photoshop to manipulate my images, editing the contrast of them, the brightness and the hue in order to make all of my images the same.
iMovieThis software was used to complete the first draft of our movie trailer. I had not used iMovie before beginning this project but i found it easy to pick-up and began editing on tutorial videos before starting our trailer. After gaining some knowledge and skill of the program, we began editing our teaser trailer footage. We had decided not to cut any footage or clips whilst using iMovie but we had added sound effects to the clip and experimented with slowmotion to emphasise certain parts of the footage that we felt were relevant.
Final CutThis is a more advanced video editing software than iMovie and consequently i found it difficult at first to find my way around it because of its more complex set-up. After finding out how to use it properly it became easier to cut videos and manipulate footage to how i wanted it to look. We used Final Cut to edit our final teaser trailer for 'The Cover-up.' We had spent a large amount of time cutting clips up for the video collage at the beginning of the trailer and then began to manipulate the footage adding special affects and video transitions.
BloggerI had been introduced to blogspot.com in my AS media class but it was only when beginning this project at A2 that i began to use it more frequently. I had used blogger to log any research or planning that was done and to use as a diary when uploading any meeting minutes that had happened during group discussions. I also used blogger to upload any updates on the work i was completing on Photoshop so that it was easier to view the improvements that had been made.
We had compiled a list of important conventions that must be included the list was as follows:
