Evaluation of how our media product uses, develops or challenges forms and conventions of real media products

Evaluation of how our media product uses, develops or challenges forms and conventions of real media products

Media in general relies on conventions in order to standardise multimedia products so that audiences can identify and analyse key points. The stereotypes which the media produce help individuals to distinguish between genres, character types and the medium itself.

Whilst developing ideas for our three media products we had to adopt and challenge forms and conventions used in real media products, in order to produce and make our ideas materialise.

Magazine

Within our magazine we used a variety of forms and conventions in order to make it look like the work of a professional. Following are the points which show how we adhered to other real media products.

At the beginning of making our product we initiated research into the mass market film magazine companies and the niche magazine titles such as Sight and Sound. The reasons for choosing Total Film were because it has a very specific layout which not only works but looks effective. By going with Total Film we were able to have the image covering part of the title, due to its worldwide reception.

Key conventions which needed to be included were the barcode, price, website, date and issue number. We followed this not only by incorporating these aspects but also by positioning this information to the top and bottom right hand corner of the magazine cover.

Another main feature that is displayed on the front of any film magazine is that the individuals are posing in character and looking directly down the lens of the camera, however are not in action. On our Total Film cover each of the characters are in costume whilst maintaining an expression of helplessness. This links in well with our other two media products as they are also displaying the air of vulnerability. This is one aspect which makes our promotional package sucessful.

Within the magazine product another convention which has been used is gripping phrases such as “mind blowing” and “starring” which capture the audience’s attention whilst glancing at the magazine. Phrases such as these are put into a large font in order to stand out from other text on the page. Without phrases the cover could just be consumed by text which does not excite the audience.

A characteristic of film magazines are that the cover shows what the main articles are enclosed inside. With our magazine we have done just that, as it states “Iron Man 3 full cast interview”. In addition, there is an article for Stoker the new film which has been released.

There were times during the constructing of Total Film in which we felt compelled to challenge the magazine’s normalities. The incidences in which we challenged the conventional form are when we applied the background and number of characters which featured on the front.

Firstly when we gathered audience feedback it was mentioned to us that our use of background was not a common attribute for any film magazine. Simultaneously after this piece of information we launched an enquiry and discovered in actual fact some covers do involve a background, for instance, in the Total Film repertoire there is a cover advertising Sherlock Holmes and just behind in the blue mist you can just about visualise Big Ben. After having looked into examples which display the main setting of the film on the forefront of the magazine, we felt at ease to not alter our rendition of Total Film. The dark green metal container which the girls are standing in front of was chosen in our planning stage as it symbolised the clash of the urban and countryside elements which intertwined in Queensdown Warren. Furthermore, as a group we talked of going onto feature a shed of some description in our film at some point if we were to shoot the rest of the film.
Instantly we thought the bakground didnt work as it challegnes conventions, however we can justify the reason for this background. The reason is this; the cravings in the container highlight to the audience that the container is not only old but abandoned. This ties in with the concept of our film: the girls getting taken and no one being there to save them as they area is diserted.

The second convention that we challenged is the image; a general aspect of a film magazine is that there is only the main character on the cover. However we are able to justify the decision for this because there are occasional incidents where there is more than one character advertised. Examples of this are the Twilight and The Lord of the Rings issues. We as a group decided to use three characters also; and the reasons for this are the strong bond and the experience in which the three girls shared. This works because one of the major themes within our trailer was isolation and we thought it would best be reinforced in our other media products by displaying them together.

When comparing to other magazines from the same company (Total Film) it was clear to see that we had been successful,because not only did they look similar in the layout, but text and font, and styles were similar also. One key element was making sure the title, slogans features and postioning of the image was inkeeping with professional ones. This was achieved when visually see ours and a professional one.
    
                                                      

                                                     
 Trailer

As a trailer has to be able to successfully captivate an audience there has to be a wide variety of shots which either demonstrate the people’s perception, location, status and reactions amongst many other things. In films such as Quarantine and Sorority Row there is the conventional ‘girl being dragged away’ shots and this demonstrates the element of surprise and how they are not in control of their own lives. The last shot in which you see the antagonist of our film: she is being pulled away into the darkness. This was used in order to grip the audience and give them a sense of irritation that the boys are manipulating innocent lives. This was an effective shot as it allowed our story line to develop while still giving the feeling of intrigue to our audience. This shot is effective because it left the feeling of unknown to the audience as the victim was never shown in a shot with the perpetrators until this point, causing the audience to wonder what they will do or if she will ever get back to her friends. This gave mysterous and suspense which is justifiably used because they are conventions of thrillers.

A large number of close up shots were used between the victim and perpetrators which is an aspect of thriller trailer conventions. The reason for this is to show the contrast between the feelings of both characters to show how good and evil are represented. The victim will portray fear and anxiety on her face whereas the perpetrator will show aggression. In addition showing the two facial expressions with a close up shot highlights to the audience just how severe the situation is because of the detail on their faces. An example of this in our trailer is when the girl is hiding behind a tree in fear, with the next close up shot of the perpetrators coming towards the girl with a threatening look upon both their faces. This works well because in the same or following shots we can see how differently two people act and respond in the same situation: one being the victim who is under threat and the perpreprator who is hunting.

After having sent out a Thriller Questionnaire to 15+ year olds, we received information that 12 out of 30 participants favoured to watch Thrillers set in the City. Upon acknowledging these results, we decided on capturing the beginning of the storyline in the City and then moving the plot into the suburban area that is Queensdown Warren. The effectiveness of showing the girls in both of these surroundings was helpful in demonstrating binary opposites. “Shark Night”, “Wrong Turn” and a film called “The Ruins” are all examples which also put their characters at a different place when the main event occurs. Location is one way in which we managed to develop our own storyline and adhere to a convention.

In addition, to the list of comparison points between our media and real media products, we also employed text shots and this acted as a foreshadowing technique so that our audience could anticipate what our film entails.  We used our text shots to tell the audience the following statement – “What started as a camping trip... ended as... a fight for survival”. While we were researching and before we had chose upon a genre we appreciated that these types of shots were a conventional aspect to a trailer and acted as a statement in itself.

Poster

In this next section we will be highlighting the conventions that we implemented on our poster which can be seen of those of real media products. When producing this element of our promotional package, we had to take into consideration characteristics such as lighting, costume, props, text and the general overview.  

Lighting was one of the first things on our agenda to assess as with a thriller genre light is a focal point on generating emotions. The way which we applied light to our poster was by employing a spotlight effect on the girl. “Awake” featuring Jessica Alba is one instance in which they have utilized a focused light onto the victim. This is sucessful because it provokes the feeling of pity amongst an audience as it reinforces the antagonist’s angelic-like disposition. Furthermore, the bright light is very effective as it connotes that the victim is going to be immersed into a chaotic circumstance which will change their perception of life.

In conclusion, we stuck to the conventional look of the costumes for our trailer as they show the two villains in dark clothing covering their faces and the victims will be in lighter clothing which is fitting for the situation in which they think they are going to be placed in to. The girls head for a camping trip so they will be shown in wellies, and camping gear such as tracksuits and waterproofs. This is effective because we are keeping to the conventions as villains want to hide their identity which will be done with the dark clothing to help disguise them as the setting is dark. The victims are fitting in the clothing they are wearing because like other images shown they are suitably dressed for the situation they think they are in or going too. In addition this is effective because we are clearly displaying to the audience who is who and what they represent. This has been presented to the view, to help them understand the parts before any action which displays the roles has taken place.

Text was conventionally used on our poster to display our title, tagline and billing block. The billing block is generally used to credit all of the cast and crew which participate in a film. We browsed at a number of thriller posters and found a common colour scheme for their billing block was white, black, red or grey. We went with a grey billing block in order for it not to be too prominent on the poster. The reason for this is because we did not want to distract from image. The is effective because the grey is not distracting yet this visable to give over key information and inkeeping with conventions.

‘Queensdown Warren’ title was decided upon however the font did not help to portray the genre in which we had chosen. However after a lot of research we developed our poster and font style so that the audience could work out the genre just by looking at the title. Moreover, we analysed the significance of thrillers adopting the colour red and felt like by applying said colour to our poster it would look extremely effective in getting our audience to immediately associate the film with the feelings of fear and danger. This is effective and sucessful as it draws the viewer in to the bold red writting. It makes it memorable which is key in a trailer as we want to audience to then see the film.

Some may say that the font in which we have used to display our title is not conventional of a thriller genre as it does not have any resemblance of special effects which are generally used on a title, for example, blood droplets or a clever image that forms one of the letters in the film name. Despite this point, as a group we believed that our end product did not require any animated effects due to the lack of room and the fact that the trees and leaves make our design look full enough. The font is effective for our type of trailer because the writing is very clear making it easy for the view to read and inkeeping with trailer conventions becasue; all thrillers use a bold font in order to look invasive and overwhleming.

When comparing to other posters of the thriller genre it was apparent that we had been successful, because not only did they look similar in the layout, but text and font, lighting and information was similar. One key element was making the positioning and light surronding the image was inkeeping with professional ones. This was achieved when visually see ours and a professional one.

 

 

 

  By Katie and Grace