How did I use media technologies to help with the construction of my portfolio?

The internet mainly has been an important feature when researching and doing parts for my trailer, by using many websites and looking on YouTube I have been able to see many other film trailers, posters and magazines to see what my own products should end up looking like.


We edited our film on a school program called 'Adobe Premiere elements 10' which took a lot of time getting used to because of the detailed and complicated segments but once you got the hand of things you could tell the difference between the quality of the footage compared to movie maker for example.


Sound- We used various different things when testing out what sound to use for example I found a royalty free sound website that me and my partner took different types of sounds and music from to compare with our trailer. We couldn't find a suitable sound so I got one of my friends that took music for A level playing piano and asked him whether he would be able to play a short 2 minute tune from the piano. We booked out the recording studio in our school's music department and got hold of a high tech audio recorder. This worked well and when we transferred the tune onto the computer and then on to our film it sounded good so we decided to keep with the sound as it gave the trailer a more uplifting and energetic/comical feel.
  It was hard to keep cutting and cropping the piano in and out from when we wanted the music to start again during the trailer as we had to time everything perfectly so the sound began as soon as captions came across the screen but I think once we played around with the timeline on the program it became a lot easier!


Editing- This at first was hard and because we had to learn how to do things from scratch, it made things a lot harder but this meant that everything we did would be our work done properly and after a few tries we got the hang of the system quite well. We learned how to do things like slow motion and make certain scenes drag on for longer which is something we definitely would have struggled with before, also adding captions throughout the trailer created versilimilitude because all conventional trailer have to have captions run across the screen to give some sort of storyline.


Filming- 
  

Working with my partner when filming was a big part of the process because we had to work together to get certain camera shots and angles working correctly. We both had to decide and agree what kind of music should be considered and whether to change bits of our filming to come up with a better final outcome? so it was tricky at times but mostly all the time we gave each other help and advice on what to do next of we were stuck, this mainly happened when the program wasn't doing everything we wanted it to do so we needed to go back a few steps and be patient!


Photoshop & Publisher- I made a lot of my ancillary tasks on publisher and edited them on photoshop for extra effects and a higher quality. I found that publisher was the one where I could transfer images and texts to easily but photoshop allowed me to expand and increase the quality of some images by editing any unnecessary flaws to make it more professional. You could crop, add text, change effects and contrast images which was very helpful when  coming up with my ancillary final outcomes.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

When our trailer was completed we designed a questionnaire and asked other media classes to take time and watch our film whilst filling out the questions. Many of the students seemed honest and gave constructive critism. One thing me and my partner noticed was that a lot of the students were stating that they liked some parts of the trailer and thought that it was funny at some parts but the plot had to be established more because sometimes they were left confused as to what was going on exactly. This was a reoccurring critism so I and my partner decided to change and refilm some parts of the trailer again to change and improve scenes.

Some examples of people's advice: 

"Maybe make the plot a bit clearer, the main boy needs to be more established as a character"

"At the beginning establish the scene"

"Get the audience familiar with the school show"

Re-filming: - We had to re film certain scenes like the run up to the cast list near the end of the trailer and extend footage so that the audience gets the plot more, also we had to create a cast list that explained the school show so the audience got the idea of the setting e.t.c. This definitely improved our trailer and started to come along thanks to the constructive feedback that we gathered from other students.

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

All together I created a film poster and a front cover of a magazine and then around a 2 minute trailer that me and my partner worked on as our main product. All these products come together as a promotional package towards the actual ‘film’ which is non existence but because of everything that has been created they all look like they are trying to promote the actual film that is coming out in July.

My film poster is a good representation of my trailer because it shows all three main characters using a long shot size which is using intertextuality from the trailer and you can see how the characters on the poster entices the audience and creates enigma as in why the two girls are fighting for the boy in the middle. I thought the long shot looked good for the film poster as you can see everything from head to toe of the characters and there is nothing to hide or leave to the audience to imagine something different, it is also shows the characters full body language and actions. The poster compliments the trailer completely as it shows the three main characters and the central signifier is literally the boy in the middle so he is what the film is called, ‘Under the Spotlight’.

On my film poster ‘fight to be in the spotlight’ is the tagline because it represents a fight to get to the top, I think it is anchored and clearly represents a fight and getting the attention.

The front cover main image of the magazine is a solo image of the main boy, Greg to signify that he is literally under the spotlight with the two girls fighting to get him. His facial expression looks almost scared and uncomfortable; also he looks like he is in a trap and can’t drift the attention away from him. I used the ‘greyscale’ effect on a program I used called Photobucket which allows you to edit photos and change their colouring/ lighting. I thought the greyscale looked more enticing and effective also it was different to most of the film magazines out there so created a variety and definitely looks more polished and professional. 

 I also wanted just to use Greg by himself because it would complement the film poster showing all 3 characters but instead just focusing on him only which I personally think is very effective. 

Codes and Conventions of my Magazine!

With my film magazine front cover I wanted it to look like other film magazines out there but at the same time look like I had put my own style on it. I didn't completely stick with the typical conventions of a magazine for example the font was unique and something that had not been used before but still I think personally it looked effective.

Conventions of Film Magazine Front Covers

When researching into various film magazines I found that it was quite easy as I still remembered all the codes and conventions from my as portfolio, however when looking at movie magazines there were slight differences compared to before where I mainly researched music magazines only, so by looking at another genre it expanded my knowledge.


Total Film Magazine

What Conventions have I followed?

The green screen is normally shown at the start of any conventional trailer. It means that the film is approved for certain ages and certificates, by me using this in my trailer it will make my trailer more realistic towards the audience.

A company logo (ident) is essential to create verisimilitude towards the onlooker, they appear usually at the beginning of a trailer to get the viewer familiar with the company. Here is an example of my studio logo that we came up with and spent a lot of time creating. I think overall it looks proffessional.

This was created on a program called 'after effects' which is more advanced than movie maker and has more facilities that you can access which overall is a lot easier to use and takes less time than it would on any other to make an animation. I decided to make our studio ident on here  because I thought the overall effects would give it a professional and clear finish which I think in the end did work well!

This is the main screen of after effects from which you can upload image and add text to create your own animation.

This enables you to start creating your own animation and adding text, images and effects e.t.c

Certain fonts, captions and text often run across the screen to give away some of the plot to the viewer, they usually create some sort of enigma because the viewer is not told the whole storyline completely but some things are mentioned. The colours of the text for most romantic comedies are light and bold and the font is usually curvy and not so formal. Here is an example from my trailer.

Film titles are absolutely crucial in signifying what genre the film is about and it establishes the sense of what the movie is based on. They usually show up at the end of a trailer and are very creative and represent the film in some way this is so the audience can remember the film and will stay in their mind.

Evaluation part 2

Here you can see my film poster and other professional film posters that I researched and took inspiration from to decide on my final outcome. I decided to make the film title stand out and i used a completely different font to represent the show, the font was called ‘showbiz’ and I was drawn straight away to this as it fitted in with the genre and connotations of the film. The purple colour stands out against the dark backgrounds so draws in the audience more.

When taking the main image for the poster I wanted something that would straight away portray what the film is about and draw a certain audience to it, the whole main point of the trailer is about two girls fighting to get the main spot in the school show to star with the main boy. So this image had to show through their body language how they are fighting and pulling the boy to get in the spotlight. The iconography is clearly presented for example you can see the geeky girl (girl on the right) has more a quirky sense of style and definitely represents a school nerd for example the glasses, shoes, old jumper, curly hair and shirt collar all are denotations of how a geek is represented. The popular girl on the other hand has a more confident facial expression and with the blonde hair and her ‘pretty’ little dress you can see the big significance in style between the two. The main boy in the middle shows a confused face and literally ‘in the middle’ of a fight between the two girls.

Main conventions of a film poster is that there is some kind of release date that is noticeable so I made sure that I included the 'IN THEATRES JULY 2012'

The audience know what month it is out. I thought July during summer would be a perfect time to show the film because it’s more like a chick flick comedy that the younger female audience would find more interesting and this is the time when they would most likely watch it.        

This is my final magazine front cover:

           

Here are some magazine front covers that I looked at to give me some inspiration:

                                    

Evaluation

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

Both me and my partner decided to come up with a romantic comedy trailer as this is what we both took a high interest in and thought if we planned it correctly then it could work well, it was also the least popular genre that was chosen from peers in our class so we decided to be brave and go for that genre. Researching other romantic comedy trailers helped me a lot as I got to see the professional standard I was aiming to achieve like the camera angles, shots, mise en scene and sounds, all these conventions would apply me to create a professional trailer. Conventions of a trailer are that the plot is established throughout so it is appealing to the audience and they get a sense of what it is about which generally includes a beginning, middle and end. When creating our trailer we had to storyboard our ideas and show what direction we were going in and how we were going to get the message across. Me and my partner spent a few lessons trying to come up with a good plot and changing scenes sometimes to overall get a comical romantic comedy feel. When doing my ancillary tasks I created a film poster and a front cover of a film magazine.

                        Some Examples:

              

   

Our final trailer

This is our final trailer.

Changes to our Trailer

Feedback for Finished Trailer

Planning for Film Posters

Here is my process sofar of my film poster.

This is my final piece for my film poster after testing with different images and texts I have finally come to a conclusion. 


I think my final outcome for my film poster as a whole looks good and I am happy with the progress. 


Colours- The whole poster mainly is dark as it follows the theme of a stage with the black curtains and floor acting as a signifier to a 'show' so I tried to lighten the poster up as it is meant to be a romantic comedy. I did this by adding flowing and feminine calligraphy fonts to regain the genre, just by doing this it lifted the poster up. The colour purple is a main colour in our trailer so by using this for the 'spotlight' and the actors names it definitely brightened up the poster and made it more attractive.


Main Image- I think the main image works well in this particular task because it literally explains what the film is about and backs up the trailer and the name of the film 'Under The Spotlight'. I think the image is very central and eye catching, also it shows the comical side to it and explains itself very well almost like it's telling a story without reading anything else.


Fonts- When deciding what fonts I wanted to represent the film I looked at many film posters and saw they had bland fonts with comedies so I wanted to do something different and make it look more feminine by using an italic Calligraphy font that made the words look very soft. I also included a very detailed font for the word 'Spotlight' which I think looks very conventional and sticks to the theme of the name of the movie.


Small Fonts at the bottom- This is a main signifier and convention of all film posters, they include names of the directors, producers, film company and others in very small writing which is usually hard to read but can just about see it. I included my own written names which I think adds versilimilitude to the viewer.


Tagline- The tagline 'fight to be in the Spotlight' again is backed up by the main image as it shown the two main girls fighting over the main boy to appear in the spotlight (the school show). This is very conventional of a film poster and gives the audience something to recognise it by fitting in with the narrative of the trailer. This tagline is very literal.


Website- The website at the bottom is just something to promote the film more and gives the audience something to consider if they want to know and read more about the upcoming movie.

For the title of the film I have tried to capture a font that will have some sort of significance to the genre and storyline of the trailer so I chose a font called 'showtime' on a website I found called FontSpace.com this was extremely helpful as it gave me many options of fonts I could have used.

Above is the process I went through to find the font and to change it's colouring to suit our main title of our film.

Photography for Ancillary Tasks

     My photography represents the romantic comedy genre so I met up with the actors in our trailer and we took some images based on the storyline that the trailer represented. Here are some examples of the photography that we took.

These are some examples of some images I took for the film poster/ magazine. It was hard to position the cast to represent what the film was about and get the genre across to the audience. By looking at other film posters I got an idea of what kind I pictures I had to take. 

I needed Millie and Miranda to look opposite for example, Millie had to represent a 'geek' so the costume was more smart than stylish whereas Miranda on the other hand wore a dress with a waist belt that looks very 'in' and in style, because Miranda has blond hair I think this signifies a 'popular' girl as it is usually more stereo typical of a popular girl to have lighter hair and it fits in with the 'American' well groomed look, this is more than Millie who has short brown and curly hair which is more stereo-typical of a geek. 

I positioned them in front of a black stage curtain which fits with the title of the film 'under the spotlight' and the idea of being on stage and the star of the show, so the black background was simple but effective and ties in with the film.

Research - Film Posters and Magazines

I annotated this 'Mean Girls' film poster to show and point out what main conventions were important when creating my own, I stuck to fairly all of these and stuck to the main features to include.

Ancillary Tasks

Film Poster

I have looked and researched on the internet for film posters on romantic comedy films to try and get a sense what my film poster should look like and how professional it should be, here are some examples:

I looked at 4 main romantic comedy film posters that catched my eye and looked appealing to me. These all stood out as the main image was very catchy and therefore want to know what the film is about.
The movie 'Bridesmaids' is an American comedy film which centers the plot on Annie who suffers a series of misfortunes after being asked to serve as maid of honour for her best friend Lillian. I like the conventions of this film poster as it doesn't look like your 'typical' "bridesmaids" as they all seem slump in a way and slightly lazy maybe? this of course adds to the humour behind it and draws the audience in. The long shot captures the stance of all the main characters and their poses so we get a clear view of their 'personality' already without watching the film. We know by the poses of these characters and the colours that this is a 'girly' comedy film with the fusha pink standing out with the white to represent marriage and being a bride. By the bridemaids all wearing pink we know this is not an everyday wedding therefore it is more interesting and appealing.

Secondly the film poster for the movie 'Arthur' has a comical feel to the image to put the comedy feel across to the audience. The storyline of this film is about a drunken playboy who stands to lose a wealthy inheritance when he falls for a woman his family doesn't like.

Ancillary Tasks

Film Poster

Many film posters that I have researched

Finished trailer

Filming: Changing ideas

Throughout the process of filming we had to cut back a lot of our ideas and change some things that we thought would work better in the final trailer. Things we had to change were scenes that we plannned to do from our storyboard planning and prep but they were only minor. Everything else we kept to what we had originally had planned and thought of.

Editing

We have started editing now with all the footage we have taken over these past few weeks which we have collected and downloaded on the computer to start cutting bits of it. This is harder than we thought as some footage wobbled and sometimes there was laughing from people in the background so we have to cut the film perfectly so none of that is showing and we only show the main bits that are relevant to the trailer.

Because our trailer is based on a romantic comedy I have made sure that the text and style font fits the genre we have chosen. For example, here is a rough draft of what I have made for pauses during the trailer to give it a storyline and to keep reminding the audience of what is going on.

These will appear after a clip of the trailer to keep the audience on top of what the movie is about and keep their attention and interest on the trailer and storyline so can entice them to go to want and go and see it. They will be edited into the film for around 2 seconds which is just enough time for the viewer to get a glimpse and understanding of what is going on.