Project Brief

For my advanced production project I have decided to do the following:

2. A promotion package for a new film, to include a trailer, together with the following options: 

• a film magazine front cover, featuring the film;

• a poster for the film.

Final 'Nerds' Trailer

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwY-mIfvXJllcFZYSnRYNWlNZGc/view?usp=sharing

Final Poster Design

Final Magazine Cover Design

EVALUATION - Question 1 - In what ways does your product use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Transcript:

One example of how I followed the conventions real media texts is by the way in which I displayed my genre. I portrayed the elements of comedy through certain characters and their mise-en-scenes. I created three stereo-typical 'nerd' characters to use as my comedy elements. I dressed them in three different over-exaggerated, stereotypical nerds styles, to maximize the humour of their scenes. The same technique is used in the Juno trailer, where the comedy comes from the 'geeky' character of Bleaker and his over, exaggerated, stereotypical mise-en-scene.

My trailer also followed conventions in terms of narrative. I followed Todorov's 5 step theory of equilibrium - which is followed in many real media trailers. I briefly showed the first step of 'the state of equilibrium' when I show the protagonist walking down a hallway and there is a close up shot of her stomach with no bump. However this is only very quick as straight after the 'disruption stage' starts as she picks up the pregnancy test. Here I challenged convention by making the first stage so quick, it almost wasn't there, however I did this in order to throw my audience straight into the climax  of the trailer and allow them to engage with my protagonist straight away. The third stage of 'recognition' begins when the audience see my protagonist talk to her parents about her pregnancy - as she is seen facing her consequences. The fourth stage of 'repairing the damage' is hinted when the 'nerds' ask her to prom and when they help her as she goes into labour - because this starts portraying to audiences that she is going to be alright. The fifth and final stage of 'a new equilibrium' is not shown in my trailer. This is conventional of trailers as it means not too much information about the film is given away and leaves the audience intrigued enough to watch the full movie.

At the beginning of my trailer I used continuity editing to help the audience quickly understand the storyline and get the idea of what the narrative is about and how it develops. I first showed a shot of my protagonists house - to give the audience an idea of her social class, followed by a shot of her slamming her front door, to show the audience her bold personality. This was followed by a close up shot of her feet walking along - which introduced the audience to her unique style and finally I followed this by a close up of her stomach to show her situation. By using this continuity editing I was able to portray all this information within the first few seconds of my trailer. A similar editing technique is used at the beginning of the Juno trailer and it allowed us to see her situation clearly in a short amount of time by editing a variety of shots together (for example a long-shot to show the audience her physicality - you can see she's pregnant and a close-up shot so you can see her attitude to this) into one smooth sequence.

I used multiple sound bridges throughout my trailer. I carried through from scenes over to different scenes which related to what the character in the previous scene is talking about. For example the line of dialogue by the dad which reads "you've got to find people, who love you for exactly who you are" carries on from the scene with the protagonist and her day and the speech goes on top a montage of shots of the 'nerds' making Nessa smile. I got this idea from Juno where her dad gives similar advice and the dialogue is heard over shots of her doing the things she loves with Bleaker, for example playing guitar. However I also used an unconventional sound bridge, as I juxtaposed what was being said with what shots were being shown. For example my protagonists dialogue from a previous scene when she was arguing with the 'nerds' is heard as she states 'you're just childish, you're just pathetic, you're just nerds' however as this is heard, shots of the boys helping and supporting her whilst she's in labour are shown. I did this in order to highlight their relationship to the audience - although they might annoy her at times - they're always there supporting her. By placing these lines over shots the characters voice acts as diegetic voice-over which is conventional of a trailer.

At the end of the trailer there is montage editing. The shorter shots allow the audience to have a brief overall picture of the film itself and sums up a lot of the trailer. I personally used the montage editing to portray all my protagonists positive moments throughout the film as my montage followed shots of my protagonist feeling down, so I used it as a contrast. Montage's are also used in many other trailers however including Forrest Gump, Juno and School of Rock. In Forrest Gump a montage is used to show the different stages of his life and everything he has achieved, this gives the audience a quick overall of the storyline of the film and allows them to decide if this is a film they would be interested in watching.

I used many shot-reverse-shots in my trailer. A specific example of a shot-reverse shot that I used is when my protagonist is having a conversation with her parents about what to do in her situation. I used a shot-reverse-shot here as it allows the audience to see how my characters react with one-another and explore their relationship. The Forrest Gump trailer uses a lot of shot-reverse-shots, the majority of which are between the characters of Forrest and Jenny. This allows the audience to see how they look at one another and react to each other so therefore we get a deeper understanding of this relationship. I therefore took this idea but used it to portray a parent-child relationship rather than a girlfriend-boyfriend relationship.

I used many close up shots which are conventional of film trailers as they allow the audience to clearly see characters facial expressions and therefore understand their emotions. For example I used a close up shot after my protagonists waters broke so the audience could see her fear of the situations. In the School of Rock trailer close-up shots are often used when the protagonist, Dewey, is playing an instrument which allows the audience to see from his face how passionate he is about music.

When watching the 'Cowboys and Aliens' trailer I noticed that the full focus was significant to the realisation of the importance of characters, their relationship and the alien device of Daniel Craig's wrist. This highlighted to me the string effect a pull focus can make on displaying important information and making a moment memorable. Therefore this influenced me to use a pull focus in my own trailer. I used the pull focus when my protagonist drops the pregnancy test box so the focus moves from her feet, to the words 'pregnancy test' on the box. This emphasised this moment - which is one of the most important moments in the trailer as it sets the storyline for the rest of the trailer.

The typography I used is quite simple and looks like it has been handwritten. Although this 'informal' font-type is quite unconventional of films in general, it is conventional to my comedy genre and is used in the Juno trailer also. I followed the typography styles and layout of the Juno trailer as I liked the way in which the information was presented. I therefore used white text on an orange and white striped background - the use of stripes symbolises my protagonists unique style, like it does for the protagonist in Juno. The use of orange makes the inter-title and title really stand out, with the intention of the audience remembering it after they've watched it.

The locations of my trailer are conventions of comedy-drama films as they are normal, day to day locations, such as a school, a park and a house. These conventions are also used in film trailers such as Forrest Gump, Juno and School of Rock - all of which taught me the conventions of mine-en-scene and influenced me to pick the locations I did.

My first shot is an establishing shot which is conventional of film trailers as they immediately set the scene for the audience. As my establishing shot is of my protagonists house it also starts to introduce her character to the audience so they find out what sort of area she lives in and her families social class. In School of Rock the establishing shot is of the protagonist, Dewey, driving a rock-and-roll van recklessly with smoke coming out of it - which immediately emphasises to the audience his rebellious attitudes.

I used natural lighting in my trailer which is conventional of a comedy-drama trailer as it creates more realistic and believable scenes. I used high-key lighting in happy and comedic scenes but darker lighting in more fearful, dramatic scenes. Due to using natural lighting to change the lighting state I had to film at different times of the day. This use of lighting was influenced by Juno where the sadder scenes, such as when Juno is crying in the car use low-key lighting but the comedic scenes, such as shots of Bleaker, use high-key lighting.

My trailer began with upbeat music as this 'positivity' immediately conveyed my comedy genre. I was influenced by a similar technique that is used in Juno. The trailer starts with the song 'All I Want is You' which immediately starts of quick and upbeat. This sets an immediate atmosphere for the trailer as well as letting the audience know that they've been thrown into the chaotic climax of the trailer. A similar technique is used in Juno, however there is a few shots of silence first to build up tension.

I used silence and diegetic sound in order to create tension and to highlight what was happening in that scene. For example I used silence as my protagonist wee'd on the pregnancy test but added foley to emphasise her 'wee' sound. This technique was inspired by Juno where the score cuts so the only sound occurring is that of her shaking her pregnancy test.

I used a voice-over in order for my audience to be able to understand the situation my protagonist is in and to be able to connect with her from the beginning of my trailer. This is conventional of a trailer as it anchors the audiences view of the situations from the specific characters perspective. I was inspired to use this idea after watching the trailer for the film 'Stay With Me' which explains the narrative from the protagonists perspective and is an effective way of managing to allow the audience to quickly understand the plot.

Magazine Cover:

My masthead is very conventional as it is a third of the page and goes across the full width of the page. It is positioned behind the head of my artist which is conventional as it shows that my magazine is well established as the readers will already know the name of my magazine, so don’t have to be able to see every single letters in the masthead to know what the name of the magazine is. This convention is also used by 'EMPIRE' magazine. The pale pink colour of my masthead sets the house style for the magazine. Above my masthead you can see my puff which is positioned conventionally as it is placed above my masthead, which is one of the first things a potential buyer will look at, so therefore they will see the puff quickly after picking up the magazine. I used a superlative for my puff in order to grasp a readers attention.

View has three sets of plugs that are flushed right, flushed left and along the bottom. The plugs along the bottom unconventional as it is rare for plugs to be central on a front cover as this means going over the feature article photo. As my strip is only thin it doesn’t block the photo too much and I also changed the opacity so the rectangle going across is transparent and therefore the photo can still be seen through the plug. The plugs at the sides are conventional as they are flushed left and right and do not obstruct the feature article photo. It is also conventional that I have used a variety of fonts and colors in my plugs, but have still managed to stick to my colour scheme of pink, yellow and white.

Poster:

From looking at the Forrest Gump poster it is clear that 'Forrest Gump' is the protagonist of the film as it is named after him and the colours around him do not suggest that he is dark or evil. He is sat on a bench with a briefcase next to him which suggests he is going on some sort of journey. His body language suggests that he is eager to see the world and the fact that his hands are placed lightly on the bench shows that he's ready to move. Therefore, being influenced from this I placed my protagonist in the centre so it is clear that she is the protagonist. I then dressed her in, and surrounded her with, bright colours so there would be no connotations that she is dark or evil. Her had positioned and eye contact suggest she is is a tricky situation and is in need of some help.

The layout is quite complex due to the variety go images - which symbolises the mind of the protagonist.  The orientation used in this poster is conventionally portrait and the image, made up of many photos, takes the main focal point. This technique was influenced by the Forrest Gump poster where the layout is simple, with a single image of the protagonist, to again symbolise the mind of the protagonist.

A lot go the Forrest Gump poster very bare but in this case, unusually, it works in the films favour. Forrest is seen looking up towards some of the empty space in the poster. It allows the target audience to imagine what Forrest is thinking about and try seeing the world in his eyes - which as you can tell from the tagline, is how they want you to interpret it. This is likely to increase their desire to want to see the film. In my poster my protagonist is seen looking into the camera (at the audience) which connotes that she is asking the audience to help her. My protagonist making eye-contact to the camera is conventional as it allows them to connect with the character.

EVALUATION - Question 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary?

EVALUATION - Question 3 - What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Script (incase any sound is unclear):

Question 1:

1.     Person 1: I understand the plot of the trailer really well – the use of the voice-over really helped me to understand what was going on and the protagonist’s emotions.

Person 2: I think the plot is shown really well through the trailer, there is a very clear storyline throughout.

Person 3: There is a clear narrative through the use of the shots and the dialogue all the way through the trailer.

Question 2: 

2.     Person 1: I think you can identify that it is a comedy-drama because the use of the text and the font that has been used – it’s very childlike and informal and conventional of the comedy genre. I think the captions themselves also work really well and the editing of them so the words move up and down is really suitable for your genre.

Person 2: I think the colours used also help to identify the comedy genre, the bright and vibrant colours allow for an upbeat and energetic tone – which is perfect for the comedy genre. It also follows the convention that it ends on a cliff-hanger – so you don’t really know what’s going to happen next.

Person 3: I think the mise-en-scene of the ‘nerd’ characters make the genre immediately clear as they’re very over-exaggerated in the nerd-iness of their clothing and facial expressions – which creates a very comedic effect. Also the fact that she is pregnant and has and over exaggerate bump clearly portrays the drama element of the genre.

Question 3:

3.     Person 1: I like the fact that in your editing you have used quick comic-book like transitions which emphasises the genre of comedy and the child-like behaviour of the ‘nerd’ characters.

Person 2: I think the narration really helped to give us an understanding of what the film is going to be about and gives the audience a personal insight to the protagonist’s mind – so we can learn her thoughts and connect more to her character.

Person 3: I think the use of montage editing helped me understand the overall plot and allowed me to learn about all the characters in a quick space of time, it showed me enough to learn the plot, but not too much so that I was left intrigued and wanting to see the film – it was done very cleverly.

Question 4:

4.     Person 1: I would be willing to watch the whole film as the trailer ends on the cliff-hanger and I would like to find out more such as who the father of the baby is and if the baby was born healthily. I believe if fulfils its purpose of being a comedy-drama because it actually left me laughing but also wondering if everything turns out okay for the protagonist.

Person 2: I think that the trailers really creative and it conveys the storyline well – it gives you the information that you need to know without giving you all the information, so it gives you bits and pieces which makes you want to watch the film and see what the conclusion is.

Person 3: I like how there is a female protagonist, rather than following the convention of a female being the supporting role. I like how she defies all stereotypes and is a strong lead. I also like how there is no romance element and that the female character is not relying on a boy to fight her problems – she’s facing them herself. I feel this helps me relate to her character more, as I can aspire to be like her which makes me want to see the whole film to see what happens to her.

Question 5:

5.     Person 1: Yes, as there is synergy between all three products. The same white, bold font is used for the title ‘nerds’ across all three products which immediately connects all three together.

Person 2: I think that all three products are linked together really well. The same female protagonist is clearly at the centre of all three products creating synergy between them.

Person 3: I think that all three products follow the conventions of the comedy-drama genre. I think the protagonists mise-en-scene links all three products together really well. Her baby bump and fed up and embarrassed facial expressions are exaggerated through all three products and they don’t only link all three products together, they also emphasise your comedy-drama genre.

I also collected audience feedback through a survey - as this meant I could get feedback from a wider range of my demographic (survey questions and results are shown on the next post.)

CONCLUSION

From Video:

I found out from my audience feedback that the voice-over and captions within the trailer were the best ways to explain the plot of the film to my audience whilst also conveying the genre. As there is more narrative that audience get a greater understanding of the characters personalities and their personal view on the situation they're in. This allows the audience to understand the plot without being told too much about what happens in the full length film, instead it gives a brief overview on the situation. The fact that there is no conclusion at the end left my audience intrigued to find out what happens in the full film and therefore encourages them to go and watch it. The fact that they would want to see the whole film for not only more laughs, but also to find out the end situation for my protagonists highlights both my comedy and drama genres of my combined genre trailer have been conveyed effectively.

My audience have also said that the synergy between my three media products was mainly down to the use of the same female protagonist across each product and her noticeable mise-en-scene. Although, the use of the same fonts and colour schemes throughout were also noticed by my audience as a link.

My audience all said they would watch the full length film due to the trailer allowing them to connect with the characters and leaving them intrigued to find the outcome of their situations.

From Survey:
From my feedback on my survey I found out that my trailer had a clear plot as it received a 4.75 out of 5 star average rating. According to my audience feedback my mise-en-scene and music in my trailer are both effective at portraying my chosen genre and displaying the correct tone to the film. Due to me using a voice-over I was effective in making a protagonist-audience connection right from the beginning of. my trailer.