Evaluation Question 1

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

Whilst planning my media products, I decided to directly address the conventions of real psychological horror/crime products by both subverting and adhering to these stereotypical features.

Conventional

Horror films generally portray a fight between ‘good’ and ‘evil,’ the outcome usually being that the victim of the film survives, such as in horror hits such as 'Blue Velvet' and 'The Shining'. The reason for this is because films generally have a moral narrative, i.e. a story of good overriding evil, so that society has a better perception of themselves. Moreover, films are extremely influential to their consumers, so the producers probably did not want the products to be too violent. This may also be because of the desensitisation theory, which states that the audience is exposed to such a large amount of violence in the media, that it no longer has strong emotional effects on the individuals involved.

'Evil'

'Good'

Following on from this, I believe I have used conventional props and sartorial codes so as to distinguish between the 'good' and 'evil' characters to my advantage, so that the audience can follow the story easily: whilst 'Claudia,' the mentally ill teacher, is wearing a black cloak - a stereotypical symbol of evil, especially the colour - 'Ellie,' the abused school student is wearing a red uniform, symbolising innocence. Although red is generally used to symbolise danger or passion, in this case, I decided to use it as in Little Red Riding Hood, i.e. as a child-like figure, who is unaware of any dangers she may encounter in school. I also wished to use this colour because, in the earlier versions of Little Red Riding Hood, the girl escapes without any help from a male figure (or any figure, for that matter).

Challenge

Teaser trailers generally use either a direct mode of address or an indirect mode of address. However, I decided to use both forms in my main product in order to interact and captivate the audience.

Newsreader - direct mode of address

   In order to create a sense of realism and urgency, I decided to include a newsreader scene whereby the actor looks directly into the camera. I believe it also gave the newsreader an air of authority which further made the teaser trailer more realistic. This adhered to the conventions of a real media teaser trailer because it grabs the audience's attention by adding a 'serious' element to the storyline, as in 'Quarantine'.

'Claudia' - direct mode of address

I also used direct mode of address at the end of the teaser trailer in the main character's laughing scene (as pictured). I believe this was effective in that it made the audience feel on edge and victimised, thus creating a further sense of empathy towards 'Ellie,' whilst 'teasing' the onlookers so they are more inclined to watch the film. Moreover, I used a low angle shot so that 'Claudia' would appear powerful and in control, whilst the audience feel uncomfortable and belittled.
In addition to this, whilst I the majority of my scenes would have appeared in the film, 'Aberration,' I wished to use one which would not feature in the end product. The reason for this was because most films such as 'The Da Vinci Code', 'Trainspotting' and 'The Shining' utilise this technique.

Through the portrayal of my victim, 'Ellie,' I was able to subvert the stereotypically 'dumb' and 'ditzy' woman who generally plays the roles of the innocent (as in The Human Centipede, pictured right) by creating a character who appears studious and focused on her studies ('I have to see Miss about the work, I don't understand what we have to do'), in comparison to one who leads a glamorous lifestyle. I also chose a young, black actress so as to break free of conventions. In the media, it is said that "'blacks' or other ethnic minorities are the 'natural' cause of problems in race relations," therefore would generally be portrayed as either the 'slave figure,' 'native figure' or 'clown or entertainer.' Through my portrayal of 'Ellie,' I wished to subvert these views, so as to shock the audience, whilst attempting to change the views of the audience with regards to the 'correct' way of viewing particular members of society.

Rather than my main character being the 'hero' of the plot (in 'Aberration,' it would be 'Ellie'), I decided to instead make the protagonist the 'villain' or 'anti-hero.' (i.e. 'Claudia'). I did this by using point of view shots from 'Claudia's perspective as she abused 'Ellie,' which also meant that I gave the audience a larger chance of seeing 'Ellie's scared, distraught reactions in the teaser trailer. Personally, I believe this was a much better, more interesting, approach because the repercussions of 'Claudia's actions were more powerful with close ups of the 'victim' character. I also think the fact that 'Ellie' looks directly into the camera with these point of view shots means that there is more interaction between the audience and the film's characters.


Developed

Another way in which I was able to use codes and conventions to my advantage was through the title of my production. I believe that in this instance, I have developed the typical horror film's title: movies like A Tale of Two Sisters and Mirrors utilise extremely simple fonts, perhaps so that the attention of the audience is directed towards the main picture of the poster. However, in both my poster and teaser trailer, I used a font which appeared to have some parts of the letters covered in blood, so as to create a blood spattered effect similar to Saw's. I also decided to substitute the 't' in 'Aberration' for an upside down cross, which has become a sign for the devil and hell, thus telling the audience almost immediately that the film is of the horror genre. So, whilst I have used symbols which are typical of the horror genre, I decided to also use fonts which are generally not seen on posters, yet tell the audience more about the type of film which is being advertised.

In 'Aberration's teaser trailer, I wished to create a dark, horrifying atmosphere so that it would be more gripping for the audience, which would probably lead to a larger amount of people watching the film. I feel that I succeeded in doing so by using little to no lighting, especially in the scenes with 'Ellie' in the office. Although I had the option to use the night vision capability on the Sony HDR camera I was using, I instead opted for a more realistic approach of using natural lighting for my production. I feel that this would scare my audience more effectively, because it was playing on a very common fear (i.e. Nyctophobia). In addition to this, when I was unable to adapt the lighting of the setting in which I was filming, I edited the clips I wished to darken by using Premiere Pro, so that overall, a darker, more mysterious effect was created. Similar to Buried, I wanted to accentuate the absence of light by using none of the camera's additional features, whilst still being able to present to the audience the victim's terror.

Overall, I believe that, for the vast majority of the time, I adhered to the codes and conventions of real media products. However, in order to make my own text stand out, I attempted to both develop and challenge the audience's expectations. I feel that I have succeeded in doing so.

Evaluation Question 2

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

For the most part, I feel that I have effectively combined my main product and ancillary texts.

Main character in teaser trailer

Main character in poster

Main character on magazine cover

 I was able to do this by using the same main character across all three tasks, which meant that I suitably established this character, giving the audience foreknowledge. This meant that they were more likely to watch 'Aberration' because they were aware of the type of character they would follow throughout the film. Moreover, across all three texts, I used shots of 'Claudia' in character and with the same sartorial codes, so as to reduce any confusion. Although 'Aberration' was an independent film due to its low budget credentials, I decided to create a mainstream magazine which would be released roughly around the same date as the film 'Aberration.' I wished to portray a film with limited funding which rises to fame, akin to The Blair Witch Project. This meant that all three products were more adaptable, in that I wished to create a production which would be suitable to both a mainstream and independent audience. So, whilst mainstream magazines usually sell their issues through famous actresses on the front cover, I decided to create a magazine which revolved around the basis of a low-budget film becoming popular, such as Reservoir Dogs.

Red 'danger' sign

Another way in which I linked my ancillary tasks to my teaser trailer was that I used school symbols throughout, such as the red lockers on the poster, linked with the red jumpers of 'Ellie' and her friends, as well as the school building. Whilst the preferred reading is that the lockers tell the audience where 'Aberration' is set, an alternative reading is that the colour red is usually a sign for danger, or anger, therefore presenting my product's genre. Moreover, red is usually the colour used for depictions of the devil, which therefore tells the audience that the school may not be as peaceful as it should.

On the other hand, in some ways, the links I have drawn between all three products may be considered weaker than they could be. Although in the poster and teaser trailer, I included the film's title, on the magazine cover, I decided not to include this. The reason for this was because, based on my product research, I noticed that some magazines only include the actor/actresses name (see below for a comparison between Total Film and Pioneer). I therefore decided to use the - in my opinion - more subtle approach of using my main character's name with the upside-down cross which I incorporated into all three texts as a substitute of the letter 'T.' I believed using this sort of symbol would mean that potential consumers would subconsciously come to associate it with 'Aberration.' I also thought that it would target my intended audience, i.e. people aged 16-25 who enjoy watching horror films. This, after all, is one of the objectives to creating promotional campaigns for a particular film/text.

In addition to this, most magazines do not use the same font style as the film's title, because they are simply promoting the film through wishing to promote and sell their own magazine.

So, overall, I believe that, for these reasons, my main product and ancillary tasks compliment each other well, creating an effective promotional campaign.

Evaluation Question 3

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback? on Prezi

Evaluation Question 4

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

Through the proliferation of Web 2.0, I have been able to research, plan and evaluate effectively via social networking mediums such as YouTube and Facebook.

Planning, researching and evaluating

YouTube provided me with a vast source of teaser trailers which I needed for my product research. This gave me the ability to understand conventions of trailers more thoroughly, so that I could either subvert or adhere to them whilst creating my own product. Whilst official teaser trailers were occasionally difficult to find (due to the growing convergence of producers and audiences through Web 2.0, in that individuals now have the ability to create their own unofficial products), I believe that being able to draw comparisons between different trailers throughout the years would have been much more difficult had YouTube been unavailable.

For my audience research and feedback, I used both Facebook and Yahoo! Answers. This gave me the ability to target a large audience quickly and easily, rather than the slower way of distributing questionnaires by hand. Moreover, because the World Wide Web has become so integrated into our lives, I knew that many individuals could be online at once, therefore researching and feedback would be much less time costly. I also think that the majority of people who spend time on social networking sites are either trying to avoid work, or else whiling away the time, therefore by filling out my questionnaires, they'd feel more productive, increasing the likelihood of gaining answers quickly. However, I asked several people who didn't end up filling in my audience research why they couldn't and the majority said that they found it difficult to motivate themselves into doing anything worthwhile when they were online. This raised the issue of whether or not I got a wide range of feedback from my audience members.

I used the 'weblog publishing tool from Google' "Blogger" to record my findings. I thought this was an effective way of noting down any ideas or nuisances that I had throughout my Advanced Portfolio journey. This proved useful as a reference tool for when I needed to check any of my research or progress. However, Blogger perhaps was not the best social networking site to choose, because it was fairly limited in terms of uploading audio clips, something that its competitors (e.g. Tumblr and Wordpress) are capable of doing. Thankfully, I was able to work my way around this by either posting a hyperlink to the audio clip I wished to use, or else I created a YouTube video only using audio (with a blank screen) and this worked just as effectively.

I used Google's calendar function to plan the day-to-day work I had to put into my production. This enabled me to organise both my thoughts and actions so I was able to complete the tasks I'd set much more easily. Although for the most part of my production, Google calendar was useful, I feel that I perhaps would have benefitted more from a calendar which notified me (via email or SMS, for example) whenever I had a deadline approaching. The Hotmail calendar may have been a better option, because I would have been able to change the settings so that it would alert me had I needed it. However, overall I think that the contribution of Google calendar in my Advanced Portfolio has been extremely helpful.





I used Prezi, a tool which allows people to create 'zooming' presentations that can be embed on blogs, etc. online. This was useful because it allowed me to concisely deliver my evaluative answers in a different form. Whilst it was useful, it perhaps was not the most user-friendly interface and took a little time to get used to.

I used Vimeo, a video sharing website, to upload my teaser trailer. I felt that this would be a better website to use rather than YouTube because Vimeo are seen as an organisation for "creative people who are passionate about sharing the videos they make." This fitted in with my ethos because I wished my teaser trailer to be seen by likeminded individuals, as opposed to other people who may not be particularly interested in my product. In addition to this, vimeo allowed me to upload at a better resolution, as well as a more suitable size for 'Aberration': when I tried uploading it to YouTube, for the most part, the picture was generally either too dark or too pixelated.

Constructing

I decided to use Premiere Pro CS3 for my main product, the reason being that I wanted more control over my final cut. For my AS psychological thriller opening sequence, I used iMovie HD because it was one of the easiest packages to learn, however, I realised that the cuts were not as ‘clean’ as if I were to use a more professional product. I believe that this was important to take into account, seeing as I needed as much control over the software as possible whilst making a teaser trailer, which conventionally consists of fast action shots. Moreover, because my teaser trailer’s main auditory sequence was a newsreader, I needed to have the ability of overlapping layers of both film and sound, rather than only sound..

Overall, I believe that this decision was effective, in that I was able to explore a new software, thus strengthening my ability to use a variety of media technologies. However, a negative aspect of using this software was that I had to learn a complicated programme in a short space of time, meaning that I perhaps was not able to spend the optimum amount of time I needed to on both the planning and execution of my final product.

Although I have never used Photoshop before, I found that Photoshop gave me the capacity to manipulate different layers in order to create a more finished product. This was invaluable whilst creating both the poster and magazine, in that they both generally have a mixture of both text and images (especially mainstream magazines, which I was aiming to recreate). On the other hand, as with Premiere Pro CS3, I had to learn to use an unfamiliar software. This meant that, whilst I was attempting to edit some of my images, I spent far longer on it than if I were to use a programme I was already accustomed to. However, on hindsight, I believe that it was necessary to invest time into learning how to use this product, so that I could control the finished product more thoroughly.

Web 2.0 is generally classed as being any application which allows its users to participate in the making or sharing of information. This is what dafont allows its viewers to do: a hyperlink named 'Submit a font' allows anyone to post fonts which they have made themselves, so that anyone online can use it at their own leisure. This was a huge asset to me because I was able to search fonts by type (e.g. horror) and choose according to my preferences. However, as with most user-generated sites, the amount of content is not limitless, so I found it difficult to find the font I wanted and occasionally had to settle for second best. Without websites such as dafont and fontspace, it would have been extremely difficult to produce a creative or 'individual' product.

Another media technology I used in the construction of my production is different free sound websites. I needed to utilise these because I did not get permission from any famous, published songs. This meant that I had to find audio files which were royalty free and could be used by the public (sometimes a 'shoutout' on the product created was necessary, but that did not cause any real hardship). The easiest way to do this is to search online, because there is a large amount of choice from user-generated websites such as freesound. However, again, the content is limited and may take a few different websites to find a suitable audio clip to use. I found this whilst I was searching for an audio file of birds chirping, the reason being that most recordings were of non-native birds (mainly from the USA), therefore the realism of my final product would not be as true to real life.

The main camera I used was a Sony HDR-FX1. I feel that this was a good camera to use whilst taking footage for my teaser trailer because it was able to shoot in high definition (HD), which would overall create a much better image for the audience. However, I feel that there were a few restrictions for using a Sony camera such as this one. For example, there were no independent audio controls which would have allowed me to perhaps get rid of most of the background noise which can be heard in the newsreader's script. This would have therefore created a much more professional product, which could lead to the audience enjoying the finished product a great deal more than now.

For most of the shots (with the exception of the ones in which 'Ellie' was trapped in the teacher's office), I used a tripod. This helped improve the quality of my teaser trailer, because if I had not used it, shots would probably be either wonky or shaky. Whilst this is a major benefit, I feel that there are some negative aspects of using a tripod. For example, because of their size, they are extremely inconvenient, so therefore, for the shots which had to be taken at a height, I found it difficult to walk up and down the stairs with. Overall, I believe that my end product would look very unfinished had I not used a tripod, so it was worth the inconvenience.

 I used a Sony DSLR camera for the pictures which went on both my poster and magazine cover. I chose this over a point and shoot camera because it generally creates less digital noise. I tried to avoid this as much as possible because I knew that I may need to resize/zoom into my photos, which would cause the overall quality to disintegrate whilst any digital noise worsened. On the other hand, DSLR cameras are generally larger and more bulty than their point and shoot alternatives, which sometimes made it difficult to carry around. I believe, however, that this issue was far outweighed by the quality and speed of the DSLR.

Audience Feedback Questionnaire

I decided to distribute the following questions on Facebook to 15-24 year olds.