My a2 media film trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LagHbIEEHv0

3. What have you learned from audience feedback?

These are the questions I asked a few people after showing them my film trailer and the answers they gave.

The feedback has shown me that although 2/3 people were able to tell what genre it was I should try and use more codes and conventions of the genre to make it more obvious.
I can also see that the storyline was easy to follow but one of them said it was 'sort of' easy to follow. I could use the feedback from question 4 to help make the story easier to follow by putting a voice-over on or having more dialogue to help tell the story more than relying on just what you can see.
The good points in their opinion were it was easy to follow, simple editing and that the music fitted well. I watched a couple of drama films before and they all seemed to use quite simple editing and not a lot of effects because it is quite a serious genre and  most of the time are realistic, believable stories so they avoid complicated editing to not distract the audience. I chose the music after I had to change it because the first song wasn't copyright free so I spent quite a while trying to find a song that fitted well after I asked a few people and they said music can be really helpful in reflecting the mood that is trying to be conveyed.
Looking at the feedback I should have had more dialogue in the trailer. I tried a voice-over but watching it back I felt it almost ruined the serious mood I was trying to create with the music and editing. I think I could have included a wider variety of shots and angles as the feedback suggests. I wanted to try and keep the camera at eye level though for most of it to give the effect that although the character has a life threatening disease he is still equal and on the same level as us. I also at times when the mood was low had the camera slightly looking down on him to show him feeling like he has been belittled and create sympathy. I wanted to use a low angle towards the end to show that he feels bigger about himself but I struggled to make it look good which is why I only used a certain amount of angles.

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

I think the poster would attract people to see the film because it would grab their attention because of the bright colours but with the expression on the main characters face seeming upset. I think from the poster the audience would be able to tell what genre it was because of the scenery as a background and the fonts used and images. I tried to get the same effect with the magazine cover but switch it around so that the main character looks happy but the image is in black and white which can seem quite negative colours so I think the audience would be interested by both as they both contrast each other aswell. The trailer would attract people because they would want to know how it ends or will he survive and complete his list?.
I would change quite a lot of the production stage. For a start I would have liked to have been more organised with what to do, when and how but I found this difficult because I was working on my own so I only had one opinion to choose from instead of a few people contributing ideas. I would have liked to have a better image for my poster and my magazine but being a drama I wasn't sure what to have whereas I think other genres would have a more obvious picture on the front. I think the trailer should have had more varieties of camera angles.

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

In my film I have tried to follow the usual codes and conventions of a drama film. Dramas are usually realistic and beleivable compared to real life. The disruption of the equalibrium in a drama is usually the main characters life suddenly changing which is what happens in my film with my main character getting diagnosed with cancer. I have made my film different to other dramas by having the main character recieiving cancer and instead of dying from this he manages to survive which was one of the things on his bucket list. I wanted to stick as close to the usual codes and conventions as possible to make it obvious it is a drama but I wanted to change it up a little bit so that it wasn't too typical and the same as a lot of other dramas. I think my film would have a message unlike a lot of other dramas which are mainly focused on emotion, my film is about making the most of life while you can and not missing oppertunities. My film trailer doesn't have a voiceover because I didn't felt it needed one because I think it is fairly simple to follow what it happening. I have kept my film to the usual drama forms but it is less emotional and more about the story itself because a lot of dramas are full of emotions and feelings but the storylines are usually very predictable and I think people would prefer a film with more of a story and unpredicable things to keep them interested.
I think the film would appeal most to adults from about 30 upwards. I was going to try and make it appeal to a younger audience but I didn't think that there was much I could do to it whilst keeping it serious other than have younger characters.

Magazine cover

This is the magazine cover I have made. I wanted to keep it simple, like the poster was simple, so I used black and white because I thought it gave it a simple artistic feel. I have put an image from my film in the centre because that is the main focus of the magazine with the film title below it also quite big. I used a camera lens for the 'O' in the title because I thought it looked good and suited the type of magazine it is which is a film magazine. Without the camera lens as the 'O' I thought it looked to much like a normal celebrity type magazine such as 'Heat'. I also put film related articles at the right hand side of the cover to make it seem more like a genuine film magazine. I originally wanted to have the cover all in black and white with my main image being in colour to make it stand out but I personally thought it didn't look good because it looked out of place so I changed it all to black and white. I didn't want bright colours all over the magazine because my film I am making is a drama which is quite a realistic film that usually are quite serious so I have tried to make the magazine look like one that would advertise a magazine whereas an action film would have a lot of bright colours and effects.

Film Poster

This is the poster for my film.I have tried to keep it simple and make it look like the film poster for a drama film. Having the main narrative images in the middle of the poster shows they are the main focus. I made them slightly faded because in the film he has a bad illness and might die so his life is sort of fading away. I used a plain font (Myriad Pro) because again, I wanted to keep it looking simple and not use bubbly text which might be used for a comedy or a font that looks handwritten that might be on a romance film poster. I chose to use a waterfall scenery as the background because the film is about him making a bucket list and usually they consist of travelling so I thought scenery would make a good background. Even though dramas are usually quite a seriour genre of films I wanted to use bright colours to signify the happiness in the film aswell which contrasts with the facial expression of the character on the poster.

Audience

How the audience reads media text
Audiences can choose to read any form of media any way thay want to:

Preferred Reading: The people who produce media texts have a certain meaning in mind when they create it. They hope the audience will decode their text in a specific way (especially when it comes to advertisement).

Dominant Reading: The way the majority of people in society interpret a text.

Oppositional Reading: Audiences can chose to read a text in anyway that pleases them.  Frequently when an audience (for whom the text was not originally targeted. e.g. girls looking at boys magazine etc.) will interpret it in a completely different way to how the producers intended.

Audience theories

1. Hypodermic needle theory

The Hypodermic needle theory suggests that audiences passively receive the information transmitted via a media text without any attempt on their part to process or challenge the data. This theory suggests that, as an audience, we are manipulated by the creators of media texts, and that our behaviour and thinking might be easily changed by media-makers. It assumes that the audience are passive.

   2. Two step flow

This theory suggested that the information does not flow directly from the text into the minds of its audience unmediated but is filtered through "opinion leaders" who then communicate it to their less active associates, over whom they have influence. The audience then mediate the information received directly from the media with the ideas and thoughts expressed by the opinion leaders, thus being influenced not by a direct process, but by a two step flow.

   3. Uses and gratifications

Blulmer and Katz expanded this theory and published their own in 1974, stating that individuals might choose and use a text for the following purposes (ie uses and gratifications):

• Diversion - escape from everyday problems and routine.
• Personal Relationships - using the media for emotional and other interaction, e.g. substituting soap operas for family life
• Personal Identity - finding yourself reflected in texts, learning behaviour and values from texts
• Surveillance - Information which could be useful for living e.g. weather reports, financial news, holiday bargains