Evaluation Task 4: How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?

Evaluation Task 3: What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Evaluation Task 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and main ancillary texts?

For my trailer, poster and magazine cover, I wanted to create each product to link with each other in order for the audience to acknowledge the connection which is an indication that all products have been created for the film itself. However, despite the similarities created, not all of the products completely link into one another and this is because I wanted to add a twist onto each of them so they differed slightly.

The obvious indication that all three products link to each other is from the constant introduction of my main character Callie Shepherd (played by Poppy McNulty-Ho), she appears in all of the campaigns for the film as she plays the lead. Therefore, to follow with the typical narrative conventions, I did attempt to include other characters but kept it simple by ensuring that the main character has the most screen-time, as well as only including her in the poster and magazine. The character itself also helps with the romance drama convention for the products as I created a character that conveyed independence and mystery. This is shown through the trailer as in many of the locations she visits, she is alone and I used this as an advantage to capture an image of the actress at one of the scenes to use for the poster. Therefore, I was able to easily make the link between the two products as the scene is included in the trailer, not only this but within my poster, I have included screenshots from the trailer itself. I included the screenshots to create enigma codes on my character as from the poster, not a lot is revealed about the film or the female character. Moreover, I wanted to include the mystery so it became a part of my character’s persona as she is presented to be independent and not a stereotypical character that would be seen in the genre as the main lead. As for the magazine, nothing is revealed about the storyline although the film is featured and the main character takes the focus as she is presented in a more feminine way unlike her representation in the trailer. The only difference as mentioned previously is from the magazine cover and this is because I wanted the audience to see the character in a different light which is why I intentionally altered her style for the central image. It allows the audience to draw attention to the different side of the character that they are being introduced to, this is because throughout the trailer, Callie is dressed in darker clothing with a minimal amount of makeup. Therefore, I wanted to contrast that image with the magazine cover as it enables the audience to feel that they apart of the development of Callie.

As you can see, the intertitles and fonts on all of my ancillary tasks are similar to one another despite the different colour palettes chosen. I decided to follow the conventions of the romance drama genre when it came to the fonts as the majority of films from the genre keep them very simplistic, this is in order for the main focus to be set on the images/trailer. The font I chose is plain yet sophisticated, both tasks follow the same black font as I thought it was fitting and allowed the audience to acknowledge the tasks but also to focus on what is being shown. The colour black connotes power and elegance which is a part of the characterisation that I have tried to develop through Callie, therefore I wanted to include subtle hints that she is unlike other characters seen in romance drama genres. Therefore, once again the magazine is differed in comparison as I had to follow the conventions of the ‘The Filmmaker’ magazine. I also created the colour palette of the cover to be connected with the appearance of the character from the image, therefore the titles are co-ordinated between a red berry shade and white. This aspect follows the genre conventions of the film as the shade of red connotes femininity and romance, however the twist is that there is no romance aspect within my own film. Furthermore, in all three products, I wanted to create a reflective atmosphere which is what I achieved through the serious toned images and videos. Within my trailer, I wanted to make the conflict a significant role which is why it is situated in the traditional chronological order at the beginning in order for the audience to develop a clear and coherent understanding of what is going on. Then, for the poster I wanted to include aspects of fun through the screenshots however the whole scene with the character on the beach in the trailer is deemed to be reflective and thoughtful as she reminisces. The magazine cover could be argued to be the liveliest out of the three as it includes the most colour but despite this, the seriousness is still conveyed through the close up shot of the female character. The central image is conventional to the magazine cover as they feature close up shots of the actress/actor for that particular issue. Therefore I wanted to recreate the same atmosphere and tone that the ‘Filmmaker’ does in order for the audience to acknowledge the sophistication and professionalism which may attract them to discover more about the film.

As a whole, all three of my products have been created as a part of the marketing process for the film itself. The order for release I would put them as would be the film poster, trailer and then magazine cover. This is because I ultimately want the audience to be engaged through these three different platforms in order for them to be more motivated to watch the film. 

Evaluation Task 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My film is called ‘One Life’, it is chosen from the inspiration of the films that were associated with self-discovery as that is the main topic of my film. I decided to choose these issues as I wanted to create a plot that is relatable for those between teenagers and young adults who are struggling with their own lives. I followed the typical conventions of a theatrical trailer by including the basic features such as institution and production companies, inter-titles, character introduction etc. I followed the conventions in order to achieve the trailer that I wanted to create; moreover I also had to include features of the romance drama genre to ensure that the trailer linked with the plot. My main inspiration for my trailer was from the existing film ‘Eat, Pray, Love.’ The film is based around a middle aged woman who wishes to discover herself through travelling to different countries and attempting to do activities and events she has never done before. The types of conventions that I followed from the romance drama genre, specifically from ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ was the linear narrative itself as my trailer is based around a young female character who wants to discover herself after struggling with her mental issues. The narrative for many romance dramas follow Todorov’s theory of equilibrium and disequilibrium, this is because the film always begins with the original state (equilibrium), discovers a disruption and then continues the rest of the film trying to resolve the problem. I was also inspired through the locations that the genre includes, it is mainly varied and especially with the plot of my film, I travelled to different locations in and around of London to capture different shots. Furthermore, with the use of the inter-titles in my trailer, I was inspired by a range of different films such as ‘Safe Haven’ and ‘The Light Between Oceans.’ I was mainly attracted to the fonts from these films as they all follow the conventions of a typical romance drama and have simple titles. This is as the main focus set on the trailers and even film posters is based around the scenes and images that are being presented to the audience. Therefore, by including such a simple font, it allows the attention to be drawn towards what is being show yet it still ensures that the audience acknowledge the inter-titles.

As mentioned previously, the main inspiration from the narrative came from ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ as I created my trailer to be based around self-discovery which was similar to the film. However, as the ages of the target audience were different, I also was inspired by another existing film ‘Blue is The Warmest Color.’ This is as despite the difference of the discovery that the female character wants to make in this film is based around her sexuality. However, the actresses were young and the issues mentioned are relevant in society for the future generation which is what I wanted to portray through my plot and trailer. The main characters in the film are also very alternative and do not conform to the stereotypes of typical teenage girls which is why I wanted to mirror their personalities into my character. This is achieved through the mise en scene as I purposely made my character be shown dressed in darker colours and the main aim was not to sexually objectify her as I didn’t want to draw away any attention from the plot. My aim was to create a complex character that would allow the audience to question her motives throughout the trailer so that they would become intrigued enough to want to continue watching. Furthermore, as touched upon, location was very important for my film especially from the inspiration I was taking from previous films. I attempted to try and film in different locations in and out of London as I wanted a selection of different shots from a variety of places, although not all of the footage I gathered was used, it was a fun experience for me to experiment with shots in different places.

All of the camerawork, editing, pace and sound for my trailer was influenced by the genre conventions, this is because it allowed me to have a reference when working. These aspects were the hardest for me as I wasn’t used to working individually when it came to filming however with the examples I was able to achieve the look for my trailer that I wanted. The pace is very short and snappy especially through the montage shots as they were showing the various locations, such as the point of view shots in Camden. The pace was so fast in order for the audience to acknowledge what they had seen so far and what was yet to come. This also relates to the sound, I wanted the whole trailer to be in line with the scenes and sound therefore I aligned them so they synced with one another. The sound was created by myself through the software GarageBand, it was a first experience but extremely fun, it allowed me to be in control of the music and how I introduced the different sounds to the audience. I previously had the sound throughout the entire trailer but after experimenting, I decided to incorporate parts of the diegetic sound from the shots. The sounds of the track and the diegetic sound adds emphasis onto what is going on in the scene which is why I thought it was a good effect to include. It was inspired by the film trailer ‘The Shallows’ which is a completely different genre to mine but in the trailer, the sound is emphasised and sharpened to increase tension. I then gained inspiration from this technique and recreated within my trailer so that the effect was to add importance on the scenes that were unfolding.

I had touched upon briefly on the ancillary tasks which were the film poster and the magazine cover, both link into my trailer as they all include my main character and I have kept all of my final products as simplistic as possible. Therefore, the products fit into the conventions of their media forms as I used examples from other posters and magazines in order to help me make a decision for my own. For the poster, I immediately drew inspiration from ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ but the image was very simple and I didn’t want to recreate just one image. Thus, resulting in why I decided to edit screenshots from the trailer onto my poster in order to attract the audience and ensure that the poster isn’t as plain as it was prior to editing it. Although, I did continue to take parts of it to help me structure my poster as I was uncertain on the placement of the title, taglines and social media information etc. So, I used the ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ poster as an outline for my own, this was also done for the magazine cover. I researched into different magazine companies and decided that ‘The Filmmaker’ was the best fit for my film although I did have uncertainties and attempted different covers such as ‘Sight & Sound’ but in the end I decided on the original company. The specific issue that I was heavily influenced by was the Summer 2012. Volume 4 #4 issue, it is the central image that caught my attention due to the close up of the woman. The majority of romance drama film magazines consist of the main character positioned directly in front of the camera and looking glamorous to indicate the sophistication of the company. Moreover, the main aim is to make the appearance of the actress seem a lot more different than it is presented in the trailer so it allows the audience to feel an intimacy with the actress as they seem her in a different setting. The magazine also has a fair ratio of photography to text as despite the fact that the central image takes up the majority of the cover, they have still included taglines and pugs to go around it. I decided to do the same for my cover and followed their colour palette as they fit the central image with the typography that they had included which is what I also did, the overall effect was that two synced with one another so the cover looked more professional. 

Final: Film Poster

Final: Trailer

Final: Magazine cover

Here is my improved version of my magazine cover as I had received feedback from the previous one that suggested I change some of the taglines as they weren't fitting to the magazine cover. Therefore, I altered the taglines so they were more suitable and relevant as mentioned before to link to the cover and also to connect within my productions.