A2 Media Studies Coursework Evaluation

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A2 Media Studies Coursework Evaluation Fern Brooks - 8003

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Fern Brooks - 8003. A2 Media Studies Coursework Evaluation. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Transcript of A2 Media Studies Coursework Evaluation

Page 1: A2 Media Studies  Coursework Evaluation

A2 Media Studies Coursework Evaluation

Fern Brooks - 8003

Page 2: A2 Media Studies  Coursework Evaluation

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

There are many ways in which my media product (horror/thriller film trailer) uses and develops forms and conventions of real media products. When producing my media product, I tried to incorporate some of the forms and conventions I observed in the three existing texts, which I analysed in the research stage of my A2 production.

The reasons for using the forms & conventions of these existing media products were to create a product which was successful and was suitable for our audience. The conventions used included the use of suspense building music, as seen in most horror/thriller film trailers to build tension to dramatic climax. Also the use of surreal sounds effects/music as seen in the film trailer for the film ‘Saw’ and ‘The Ring’, was another convention used to create the appropriate effect for our media product.

Also by using a variety of shots, and quick cuts are conventions I tried to incorporate into my production, with the use of close ups, and extreme close ups to create a dramatic & frightening mood. Furthermore, the setting for the opening scenes of the trailer, are very similar to those of the film ‘Saw’ & this a convention, of creepy, mysterious locations used which I have successfully incorporated into my media product. Also the flickering of lights in the opening sequence is another convention of this genre of film trailers, to give the sense of confusion and anxiety.

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

Continued...

The ways in which I attempted to challenge some forms & conventions, was simply to try and not create a clichéd trailer - the type many people have seen before. However, this was quite difficult, as it is easy to simply follow the cliché route with the audience having ideas of what will happen, what will come next etc. When discussing the initial brief with my partner, we discussed the idea of producing a parody or ‘spoof horror’ trailer with over-exaggerated forms & conventions, similar in the style of the popular parody film series ‘ Scary Movie’, because we thought trying to create a serious and scary film trailer would be difficult and we possibly would not be able to create a successful one. However, even with our doubts will still set out to make a serious horror/thriller film trailer, which follows the codes and conventions of existing media texts, but we feel is not a clichéd media product. This because our trailer does not follow the clichéd trailer where too much of the story is given away, and the audience has a feeling of what to expect. My partner and I have hoped that we have successfully created a type of horror/thriller trailer, which is different from the standard clichéd ones that we see too often. ??

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How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

I feel that the combination of my main product (film trailer) and ancillary texts (film poster and magazine cover) are extremely effective together. By using a powerful/memorable image from the film trailer on both the magazine cover and film poster, shows the synergy between these three different platforms/media products.

The magazine cover is part of a ‘Summer Special’, which is an important factor, as the trailer states that the film will be released in the summer. We also used the codes and conventions of other film magazine covers to create a professional looking product.

The film poster is simply an image, very similar to the one used for the magazine cover, of our main character featured in the trailer, with some effects used on Adobe Photoshop, such as the addition of dark clouds, chains and adjusting the brightness, and creating a ‘grungy’ coloured look. Also, for the film poster we used the same text of the main title of the film –‘Stolen’ – to keep the consistency, and to ensure the combination of the trailer and film poster was a success, and would appeal to our audience. And most importantly, ensure that it looked like a real media product.

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To carry out audience feedback, we set up a viewing of all the different films made by students in my class. Students, teachers and other people from outside of school came to view all the films and give their feedback. We used Edward de Bono’s PMI method of gaining feedback. PMI (Plus/Minus/Interesting) is a lateral and creative thinking strategy used to make the audience make informed decisions, and to give both the positive and negative aspects of each production.

We gave each audience member a handout with a PMI table, to ensure the audience was looking at all aspects of the trailer, and not simply saying “It’s good”, or “It’s bad”. Giving different aspects of what was positive, negative and interesting meant that we received high quality feedback from our audience.

I was very pleased with the audience feedback, with the positive and interesting feedback giving me a great sense of pride for my production. Here are some of the positivepositive feedback comments that my production received (with my comments in the box on the right) :

‘Good mise-en-scène’ ‘Makes us want to see what’s next’ ‘Good sound effects ‘Builds suspense up really well through music and shots’ ‘Great location’ ‘Outstanding sound effects’ ‘Created suspense’ ‘Very dramatic echo - good effect’ ‘Shocking, effective shots’ ‘Fits conventions of this film genre’ ‘Good length for film trailer’ ‘Really good thriller conventions’ ‘Good fonts’ ‘Breathing sound effect has a really good impact’ . ’It was so good - it gave me goose bumps!’

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

From the positive feedback, I have learned that the areas I focused on such as sound effects, a variety of shots and a great location – were recognised as being the positive aspects of the production, and have been recognised by the people who viewed the trailer.

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Some of the minusminus points I received included:

‘A bit short’ ‘Exaggerated, seemed liked a parody’ ‘Texts needs to be clearer’ ‘Kind of copying’ ‘ Text not so clear’ ‘Maybe more dialogue needed’ ‘Maybe lighting could have been darker to create effect’

What have you learned from your audience feedback?Continued...

I feel some of these minus points are not fully justified. Such as ‘a bit short’ – as the length of our trailer was a conventional teaser trailer length. Also, the comment about the production being exaggerated is slightly unjustified, as we followed codes and conventions, and also only one person thought this. And the comment ‘kind of copying’ – is not really valid, as we simply followed the conventions of this genre of film trailer.

What I have learned from this negative feedback was that maybe edited text (titles) may not so clear, and could have been bigger and clearer, suitable for the big screen. Also, the feedback about more dialogue being including is definitely a valid point, as I feel that the trailer would have been better more speech/dialogue to make the trailer more interesting, but I do feel however that the trailer does work with little dialogue, in building suspense and tension, and making it more dramatic.

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Here are some of the interestinginteresting points I received:

‘Titles between were effective’ ‘Setting, cuts, close ups’ ‘Good use of codes and conventions’ ‘Good location’ ‘Flickering lights effects’ ‘Breathing sounds’ ‘Suspense’ ‘Car scene’ ‘Suspense, very good location’ ‘Use of music and mise-en-scène – really good’ ‘Made me want to see the film’ ‘Great location’

Some of the interesting comments were very similar or the same as the positive comments, and what I have learned from them, is that the audience liked the suspense building, shocking scenes (i.e.-car scene), and some people had different opinions on our titles, some people thought the titles were clear and effective, while others did not (see negative points).

Overall, the PMI strategy on collecting feedback proved to be very effective, and I feel I have learned many things from it, such as the variation in opinions, due to people’s different personal opinions, and also some opinions not being justified as they do not fully understand the codes and conventions of this genre of film trailers, but I have taken on board both the negative and positive aspects of the feedback, and if I were to attempt this media product again, I would know what to improve and how to improve it (i.e.- more dialogue, clearer titles etc).

What have you learned from your audience feedback?Continued...

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During each stage of creating my media product, I used new media technologies to make my product the best it could be. In the research stage of the Advanced Portfolio, I used the internet (Web 2.0) to research three existing horror/thriller film trailers using the website YouTube (www.youtube.com), to analyse the codes and conventions of each film trailer. Also during the research stage I used another website called Survey Monkey (www.surveymonkey.com) to send out our Audience Survey Questionnaires, to students and staff, to receive information from our audience about what they expect to see in a film trailer.

Also in the research stage, I created a practice film, which involved me using the camera for the first time, experimenting with different types of shots (e.g. close-up, long shot etc). During this stage, I became increasingly confident with the camera, and I learnt how to use it correctly and all its different functions. I also used an editing software programme called Adobe Premier Pro, which I found relatively easy to use, as we used this programme last year to create our AS Media Studies radio production. But I learnt new skills, for example how to change the colour pallet of the film and how to use different video transitions and when and when not to use them, which were useful skills I used when I created my final production.

In the planning stage of the production, the media technology I used was Microsoft Word, to word process the screenplay, using a film screenplay format that real film screenplay writers use, to ensure the that the planning of my production was the most professional and successful it could be.

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

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During the construction stage of my media product, the new media technology that I mostly used was the editing programme software Adobe Premier Pro. This programme was used to edit video and sound files, add extra sound effects and music, add titles, effects, transitions etc - all of which played a key role in my final media product. The use of Adobe Premier Pro was the most important new media technology in the production of my film trailer.

For the construction of the ancillary tasks (magazine cover and film poster), I used the Photoshop software programme Adobe Photoshop to manipulate images, add text, effects and adjust the colour and brightness of the images. The film poster used different layers of images to create a successful final image, which has created a successful and conventional-looking film poster.

For the evaluation stage, I used the programme Microsoft PowerPoint, to create a presentation to show my conclusions, and my evaluations of the different aspects and stages of my production.

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Continued...