Sunday, 14 April 2013
Tuesday, 9 April 2013
3.What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
Throughout my the making and production of my trailer and ancillary tasks, I constantly asked many people for audience feedback so I was able to make products that would best suit my target audience, and would appeal to them the most. Because my target audience is mature at the age of 17/18+ which is my age i was able to ask my friends and people in my year what they thought.
At the beginning of my coursework I decided to do psychological horror and so I did a questionnaire and put together a focus group to find out what my target audience liked about them and what they found appealing in the trailer to make them want to watch it. Doing this meant i was able to analyse the data i found and gain genre feedback, which in turn enabled me to get ideas of what i needed my trailer to look like and what i needed to included in order for it to appeal to my target audience ad what would gratify them. The main reason for psychological horrors and horrors in general is to scare people and people watch them because they want to be scared, gain this audience feedback meant i was able to discover a range of techniques an ideas that would intensify tension when watching the trailer.
Another time i got audience feedback was when i was making my poster, i had to make the decision on what picture to use, this enabled me to find out what my target audience would appeal to and what could be improved. I was able to get tips and suggestions on different editing techniques to make the best poster i could for my trailer by taking their opinions on board and incorporating them within my ancillary tasks. Knowing what the best bits of my poster were i was then able to develop them and focus on them even more. When it comes to pictures for both my poster and magazine cover i had many drafts and examples of them in order to give the audience as many options as possible to choose from, that is one factor i have learnt is that it is important to have many drafts, so you can get as much information and feedback on as many pictures as possible.
Editing techniques i used:
"I really like the fast pace nature of it because it really gets your heart racing"
"I absolutely love the heartbeat just before the big clips happen because it really creates suspense and tension which is a main apart of horror and is a massive part of why i like them"
" Its dark, fast, got the eerie music and is simply scary and jumpy, which are all main aspects of horror and psychological horror. It really appealed to me and now i want to watch the film"
Audience feedback has played a massive role in the production of all my media text products. if i had not asked my target audience opinion then the quality may have been the same but it may not have appealed to my target audience the way it should have. Other people have also noticed mistakes in previous drafts which i myself had not noticed, so asking for feedback allows someone else to evaluate your work and see things you may not have seen because of the length of time you have been working on it. Audience feedback has allowed me to make successful media tasks that have meet my expectations and make something that my target audience would watch or read.
One main question i asked my peers was if they understood the storyline to which they answered yes, this shows that i have made my trailer clear and able to interpret.
I gained audience feedback through a number of ways such as face to face, questionnaires, interviews and social networking sites such as facebook and tumblr. Dong this has allowed me to understand further the importance of audience feedback and how it can influence the level of its success. With out my peer group my trailer, poster and magazine front cover may not have turned out the way they did and essentially not be as appealing to my target audience as it is now. The people is asked for feedback can be seen as a 'production team' as there opinions influenced greatly on the result of my media texts.
At the beginning of my coursework I decided to do psychological horror and so I did a questionnaire and put together a focus group to find out what my target audience liked about them and what they found appealing in the trailer to make them want to watch it. Doing this meant i was able to analyse the data i found and gain genre feedback, which in turn enabled me to get ideas of what i needed my trailer to look like and what i needed to included in order for it to appeal to my target audience ad what would gratify them. The main reason for psychological horrors and horrors in general is to scare people and people watch them because they want to be scared, gain this audience feedback meant i was able to discover a range of techniques an ideas that would intensify tension when watching the trailer.
Another time i got audience feedback was when i was making my poster, i had to make the decision on what picture to use, this enabled me to find out what my target audience would appeal to and what could be improved. I was able to get tips and suggestions on different editing techniques to make the best poster i could for my trailer by taking their opinions on board and incorporating them within my ancillary tasks. Knowing what the best bits of my poster were i was then able to develop them and focus on them even more. When it comes to pictures for both my poster and magazine cover i had many drafts and examples of them in order to give the audience as many options as possible to choose from, that is one factor i have learnt is that it is important to have many drafts, so you can get as much information and feedback on as many pictures as possible.
Editing techniques i used:
- Back and white
- Different saturation levels
- Brightening up certain parts to make them stand out.
- Only using colour on certain parts to draw attention
"I really like the fast pace nature of it because it really gets your heart racing"
"I absolutely love the heartbeat just before the big clips happen because it really creates suspense and tension which is a main apart of horror and is a massive part of why i like them"
" Its dark, fast, got the eerie music and is simply scary and jumpy, which are all main aspects of horror and psychological horror. It really appealed to me and now i want to watch the film"
Audience feedback has played a massive role in the production of all my media text products. if i had not asked my target audience opinion then the quality may have been the same but it may not have appealed to my target audience the way it should have. Other people have also noticed mistakes in previous drafts which i myself had not noticed, so asking for feedback allows someone else to evaluate your work and see things you may not have seen because of the length of time you have been working on it. Audience feedback has allowed me to make successful media tasks that have meet my expectations and make something that my target audience would watch or read.
One main question i asked my peers was if they understood the storyline to which they answered yes, this shows that i have made my trailer clear and able to interpret.
I gained audience feedback through a number of ways such as face to face, questionnaires, interviews and social networking sites such as facebook and tumblr. Dong this has allowed me to understand further the importance of audience feedback and how it can influence the level of its success. With out my peer group my trailer, poster and magazine front cover may not have turned out the way they did and essentially not be as appealing to my target audience as it is now. The people is asked for feedback can be seen as a 'production team' as there opinions influenced greatly on the result of my media texts.
2.How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
When creating my media products, i was always making sure that they link and ensure continuity was visible throughout the trailer, poster ad magazine cover. To do this I took a scene from the trailer that held significance and included it within my ancillary tasks. The scene in question is the candle clip at the end of my trailer the spirit is seen surrounded by candle saying a mantra, which happens to be the title of the film.
Because of the pictures i used for my poster and magazine cover were so different i was worried that people may not be able to recognise that they are for the same trailer, so to cement that idea i used the picture used on the poster and incorporated in the magazine cover by putting it in the circular 'sticker' part of the magazine.
Usually the fours F's should be considered when linking products of the same task together and they say that to show flow the same fonts and colour schemes are used but i decided to go against this and use different fonts and colours for my tasks, so for my trailer i used just white writing, for my poster i used, red, white and grey and for my magazine cover i used blue and white. But i did research and movie posters and magazine covers do not always use the same colour scheme and instead combined the two elements through pictures and words. this way there was variation in the two products i made and the didn't look too similar. The fonts i used are also different because a posters function is to promote and is all about the film so everything font colour and format is made the reflect that film, whereas the magazine is made to promote the film but also the magazine itself and other media texts within it, its not all about the film. So to make my magazine look like a magazine promoting a film i wanted to use font that re conventional fonts which you usually associate with magazine covers.
Because of the pictures i used for my poster and magazine cover were so different i was worried that people may not be able to recognise that they are for the same trailer, so to cement that idea i used the picture used on the poster and incorporated in the magazine cover by putting it in the circular 'sticker' part of the magazine.
Usually the fours F's should be considered when linking products of the same task together and they say that to show flow the same fonts and colour schemes are used but i decided to go against this and use different fonts and colours for my tasks, so for my trailer i used just white writing, for my poster i used, red, white and grey and for my magazine cover i used blue and white. But i did research and movie posters and magazine covers do not always use the same colour scheme and instead combined the two elements through pictures and words. this way there was variation in the two products i made and the didn't look too similar. The fonts i used are also different because a posters function is to promote and is all about the film so everything font colour and format is made the reflect that film, whereas the magazine is made to promote the film but also the magazine itself and other media texts within it, its not all about the film. So to make my magazine look like a magazine promoting a film i wanted to use font that re conventional fonts which you usually associate with magazine covers.
Sunday, 17 February 2013
Monday, 11 February 2013
Evaluation
Nowthat i have finally finshed all of my tasks i can now start my evaluation which has the main focus on the following questions:
- In which ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
- How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
- What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
- How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation?
Sunday, 10 February 2013
Questions
1. In which area have you seen an improvement
from foundation to advanced portfolio?
Looking back at my portfolios I can see many improvements such as creativity, in the foundation portfolio I was more focused on sticking to conventions whereas in the advanced I have broken some tropes and been more creative when making my media products to make them more interesting and bold. When making my media product in the advanced portfolio I had access to better digital technology which enabled me use it to my advantage, and because I had already used most technology within the first portfolio I was already more experienced with it and knew what to do. There are clear and positive improvements from the foundation to the advanced portfolio, as I have gained more experience and knowledge within the media field which I have been able to use to my advantage and make my media products in the advanced portfolio much more professional.
Looking back at my portfolios I can see many improvements such as creativity, in the foundation portfolio I was more focused on sticking to conventions whereas in the advanced I have broken some tropes and been more creative when making my media products to make them more interesting and bold. When making my media product in the advanced portfolio I had access to better digital technology which enabled me use it to my advantage, and because I had already used most technology within the first portfolio I was already more experienced with it and knew what to do. There are clear and positive improvements from the foundation to the advanced portfolio, as I have gained more experience and knowledge within the media field which I have been able to use to my advantage and make my media products in the advanced portfolio much more professional.
2. What challenges did you face in each portfolio?
(Explain how you resolved challenges or if as a result, you approached your
advanced portfolio differently)
In the advanced portfolio, a problem I found was that when I uploaded some
of my clips onto Final cut pro the saturation of it would become darker and as
my scenes were already set in a low-lighting place some clips were not visible
so to resolve that problem I firstly tried adjusting the saturation on final
cut pro, if that did not work then I simply reshot the clips at a later date.
Another challenge I came across in this portfolio was finding actors in my
trailer, originally I had 4 people interested in doing it however during the
end of my research stage where I was about to write the script and storyline
the actors had found that they would be unavailable because of work they had to
be doing themselves and so did not have the time, it was a challenge to find
other people, I eventually found Pebz, Neha and Adam who had certain days off
and were interested in shooting the trailer, I then rewrote my draft of the
storyline because they were the only three I could find and so I had to edit
the characters slightly to make it fit with three people not four.
3. Which area is your strength? (Please give
examples and consider if this strength has developed in the advanced portfolio)
I think my main strength in both portfolios is the research; I make sure my
research is always in depth and has covered many topics to do with my media
text. However I can also see an improvement from my foundation to my advanced
portfolio, I have not only done more research but I have also expanded the
range of it. Not just researching horror itself but also researching directors,
the different sub genres, the history of horror, urban legends and various theory’s
and theorists. Whereas in my foundation I tend to stick to researching factors
close to the main topic and not broadening the subject into different areas.
4. What would you do differently (is there an
area of weakness still)
I would start producing my media product sooner, especially the filming on
the advanced portfolio, mainly because I did not know when before I started to
film that the days to film would be limited and so I wish I had more had
started earlier so I could have had more days to film. However saying this I
did manage to get most of the clips done within that time frame, but I did feel
slightly rushed and nervous that I would not get it done on time. I think my
weakness would still have to be time management even though I got my product
finished I did not leave that much time to do my evaluation, this has happened
in both my foundation and advanced portfolio.
5. What advice would you impart to prospective
media student?
Make sure you have a timetable not only for what days you’re going to film
but for everything such as editing, ancillary tasks and doing the evaluation.
Also make sure you do a wide range of in depth research on your media text this
way you can reference back to it and get inspiration from it to create a
professional media product.
Friday, 8 February 2013
My Final Magazine Cover
The title of my magazine is called 'BOOM' because of a piece of film equipment called a boom mic, it is also an onomatopoeia of the sound boom, to scare you and make you jump. My colour scheme is blue grey and white, i choose this scheme because of its cold nature, the colour blue itself is associated with the cold, winter, water, ice which gives the impression of the two characters being in a cold, damp scary place environment like a cellar or attic. Even though red is the usual colour for horror because it connotes blood and danger, my trailer is a psychological horror which does not involve a lot of blood and is mainly focused on scaring someone by using peoples fears and beliefs which build tension and send chills up your spine, so i thought blue would be best to use for my cover.
I have used a candle to illuminate the actors because of two reasons, one because a candle plays a significant part in my trailer at the end and so their is a visible link between my cover and my trailer. The second reason i used a candle was because i wanted a shadow effect, where half the faces are less visible and descending in to the darkness behind them. My actors are looking in different directions because i wanted to give the impression that their is an eerie atmosphere all around them, so i looks as though they are looking around, scared and wary of what might be lurking in the darkness.
Even though this links to the trailer, i had to link this to my poster as well, to do this i used the flame from the poster that i put on the certificate and put it on my magazine bar code, i then took the poster and cut out just her head so it was able to fit in the circle in the background.
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