Questionnaire 2

We handed out a questionnaire to 30 people to find out what we should and shouldn't have in our film trailer.







How often do you watch horror films?
1. Everyday
2. Once a week
3. Once a month
4. Occasionally
5. Never

2 people picked everyday
8 people picked once a week
12 people picked once a month
7 people picked occasionally
1 person picked never

What do you think are the main conventions of a horror film?
1. Monsters
2. Blood
3. Death
4. Suspense
5. Ghosts

1 people picked monsters
7 people picked bloods
11 people picked death
7 people picked suspense
4 people picked ghosts

What do you think makes a good location for a horror film?
1. Beach
2. Forest
3. Graveyard
4. School
5. House

2 people picked beach
11 people picked forest
6 people picked graveyard
2 people picked school
9 people picked house

Who do you prefer to be a victim in a horror film?
1. Male
2. Female

12 people picked school
18 people picked house

What name sounds suitable for a horror film?
1. Sweetdreams
2. Midnight
3. Nightmare
4. Party House

12 people picked sweetdreams
5 people picked midnight
7 people picked nightmare
6 people picked party house

Should the trailer be in chronological order?
1. Yes
2. No

9 people picked yes
21 people picked no

What time period do you like a horror film to be in?
1. Olden days
2. Future
3. Present

6 people picked olden days
5 people picked future
19 people picked present

What makes you scared? (Pick 3)
1. Gore
2. Storms
3. Chase sequences
4. Screams
5. Ghosts
6. Blood
7. Weapons

Gore 19 points
Storms 3 points
Chase sequences 25 points
Screams 23 points
Ghosts 10 poins
Blood 5 poins
Weapons 5 points

Who do you like to see the most of?
1. The Hero
2. The Villain
3. The Helper
4. The Victim

9 people picked the hero
12 people picked the villan
1 people picked the helper
8 people picked the victim

What camera angles do you think are most effective in a horror film? (Pick 2)
1. Close up
2. Extreme close up
3. long shot
4. tilt
5. medium shot

close up 24 points
extreme close up 9 points
long shot 12 points
tilt 5 points
medium shot 10 points

What sound effects help to add tension to the film? (Pick 2)
1. Explosions
2. Wind
3. creaking
4. Bangs
5. Screams
6. whispering

Explosions 5 points
wind 9 points
creaking 12 points
bangs 12 points
screams 12 points
whispering 10 points

What is your favourite horror film?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We got a range of answer but 'the grudge' 'the ring' and 'hostel' were noted a few times.

'Get Carter'

In school we were shown a scene from the film 'Get Carter' where we were then giving a script and we had to annotate it with as much information as possible. Things like camera angles, movement, sound, mise-en-scene. Then we were giving a tripod and a camera and in a group we had to remake the scene. This was to help practice our filming. As we were in school we had a limited choice of locations so we had to plan what would be best to do first.
I worked with Rachel Talbot, Rachel Allan, Sophie Liddle, Steph Ingram and Nicolle Kelly, where we each took it in turns recording. I played Jack, while Rachel Talbot played Albert.

Review on 'your film'

Our media class was lucky enough to get two film makers who set up their own film production company to give us a lecture on tips and tricks on producing a film. They were very helpfull and i will keep in mind all the things they were saying.

Pre-Production
(ideas, concepts, scripts, storyboards, planning, permissions, budgets, casting, crew-up, pre-interviews, research,define roles and responsibilities, location scouting.)

We need to plan well, set realistic goals, map out a schedule, allow for set backs, be bold and aim high. we must be creative with our ideas, storyboards aren't the most important thing but planning is very important. When picking the cast make sure the people are reliable and will turn up to all the filming when needed.


Production
(filming, sound recording)
Make sure you stick to the plan. Take more then one take just in case.


Post-Production
(video capture, logging, video editing, sound design, music, graphics, design, effect, titles, animations, voice over, sound effects, foley)

Make sure the music goes with the scene.

Stick to your plans all along, and use common conventions.


Things To Remember
Tape, disks, memory card, charged battery, tripod and tripod plate
Turn of the record light!

A2 Proposal

For my practical production I am working in a group with Rachel Allan and Rachel Talbot. Together we are going to produce a horror film trailer, a magazine cover and a poster. We chose horror as the genre as we all enjoy watching horror films and the questionnaire we gave out showed that horror film was the favourite genre so we thought it would be a good experience putting our ideas together to produce a horror film that will be able to compete with other films such as, The Grudge, The Ring and Orphan.








Together we have brainstormed a range of different ideas for our storyline. Here are scans of our notes.






We are going to use actors that we know will be reliable as we don't want to be let down and set our work back. We have decided that we will go out looking for a range of locations to shoot our film as we want a lot of different locations. To make our trailer look like a real product i will look at different trailers and take note of the common conventions. I will also look at camera angles, editing, mise-en-scene and sound to give me a feel into what i should be working towards.

Questionnaire 1

First of all we wanted to find out what genre of film we were wanting to do a trailer for. We gave out a a question to 30 people to find out what we should produce.

What is your favourite genre of film?
1. Horror
2. Comedy
3. Thriller
4. Romance
5. Adventure

12 people picked horror
5 people picked comedy
2 people picked thriller
9 people picked romance
2 people picked adventure

Summary of year 12

In year twelve I believe I got a great AS result although i do believe with a little bit of extra work i could have boosted my mark up a little bit more. I think that if i had of gave my self more revision time for the text it would have boosted up my marks.
On the positive side i think my practical work was produced very well. Again i worked with a partner and together we produced a good collection of practical work. Working in a group helped me to co-ordinate my tasks better. I had to make sure we both had equal amounts of work to do. We also had to make sure we both liked the work we produced and that we had done it to our best standard.
From last year i learnt a lot in photography skills, framing the camera and the angles, and editing pictures. I also learnt how to research different products that you will have to compete with.
If I had the chance to do this again I would probably create more time for planning as i noticed that for a project like this it needs a lot of planning to run smoothly.

Evaluation

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

My production work consists of six pages, which are a front cover, a contents page, and an article consisting of two double-paged spreads. I worked with Rachel Talbot so together we produced twelve pieces of work, two front covers two contents pages, and two sets of a four-page spread but I produced an article and Rachel produced an interview. Together we came up with a house style that would be repeated which follows ‘Blender’ magazine conventions as each issue is similar but the colours used are different.

We decided to keep black and grey as our base colours and have another colour each to go with them. I chose orange and Rachel chose blue, as these were the favourite colours of the participants that took our questionnaire. Our contents pages follows some of ‘Mojo’ magazine conventions as it is similar; for example, the block of colour with all the cover stories in is the same and so is the colours used the same along with the fonts. Our contents pages follows some of ‘Mojo’ magazine conventions as it is similar; for example, the block of colour with all the cover stories in is the same and so is the colours used the same along with the fonts. But the position of the other pictures and the other page numbers and stories are different. This does break some magazine conventions but it makes our magazine original and different to others. Our four-page spread was the same in style so that it was consistent throughout the magazine. It also helps to make it obvious where the article came from. We have stuck to the same colours on our front cover through out the rest of the pages to make it consistent.
My front cover follows forms and conventions of real media products in many ways. There are common music magazine cover conventions; one main image, masthead, strapline, hooks for stories inside, limited number of fonts and colours, date, barcode, price, text justified down left and right and usually one picture that is usually taken between medium long and medium close up. To start with I have a medium close up of my model that is staring straight into the camera; this draws attention to my front cover and is common in magazine styles. My model is attractive which as Naomi Wolf (1991) says it will help gain more readers of both sexes as erotic images of models are used. Marjorie Ferguson (1980) identifies four different facial expression that occur in most magazines which are;

Super smile this is of a full face with a wide open smile with teeth visible. The Head is forward and the chin is back. Hair is often wind blown and suggests 'Look at me' approach.

Invitational on this pose the emphasis is on the eyes. The mouth is shut with only a hint of a smile, head to one side slightly. The mood is suggestive of mischief or mystery, the hint of contact potential rather than sexual promise.

Romantic or sexual Dreamy, heavy-lidded and unsmiling. Overtly sensual or sexual.

The projected moods are possibly 'available' and definitely 'available'.

Chocolate box Half or full smile, lips together or slightly parted and teeth barely visible. Full or three-quarter face to camera. Projected mood is blandly pleasing, warm bath warmth, where uniformity of features in their smooth perfection is devoid of uniqueness or of individuality.

My model would come under the ‘Chocolate box’ facial expression. My models head goes over my magazine name ‘Upbeat’ but it is still easy to read. I decided to call my magazine ‘upbeat’ as it has connotations of r&b/pop style music and this is what type of genre my magazine is. Also in my questionnaire my participants preferred this to the other options.

The mast head on my magazine is largely recognisable and so is my slogan this is a general principle in the style of magazines. Above the mast head I have a menu bar with a competition that is inside the magazine this encourages people to buy my magazine to take part in the competition. Looking at a range of different magazines I have noticed that there is frequent wins and give aways in magazines which will attract more readers if they like the prize or give aways. Like most magazines my text on my front cover is largely justified to both the right and left hand sides of the page, which makes it look neat and tidy. Along with many other magazine covers I have put the bar code, price and date together at one side so it doesn’t detract attention from the rest of the cover. I have hooks for stories on my front cover to help catch the attention of other readers. The stories are all based on my research on what my target audience would like to see in a magazine. I have written ‘plus’ and ‘and more’ to create the impression that the magazine is full with big names and gossip which my target audience will want to know about. I have also included lots of well-known bands and artists to attract their fans. My main story is a total different font to all the rest on my front page and it is also much larger to help it stand out from the rest as it is my main story. I have also put an effect on ‘Brooke Sawyer’, which is bevel and emboss and a drop shadow, to make it stand out even more. This is common in magazines as they like to draw attention to their main story.

My contents page follows forms and conventions of a real magazine contents page in many ways. I have my magazine name largely at the top to make it clear what magazine you are looking at. I also have inserted the date of the issue so you know what issue it is. In a block of orange colour I have the page numbers of the cover stories as some readers might immediately want to be directed to some thing they have seen on the front cover. I also have a short description of what is going to be in that story to attract the readers. This is commonly seen in music magazines of this genre. I have my page numbers in chronological order so that it is easy to use and doesn’t confuse my readers. This is often the case in music magazines. Again I have stuck to the same colours and fonts to keep my work consistent. I have linked my magazine to the next issue by showing who is going to be seen in the next issue, this is because I realised a lot of music magazines do this to attract readers to keep buying the magazine.

My four page article follows many forms and conventions of a real magazine article. The colour scheme and fonts are again the same to keep my work consistent. I have my magazine name in the top corner to show where it is from and I have also written ‘exclusive’ to make it recognisable that you can only find this story in this magazine and to make readers feel they are getting something the can not get from anywhere else. I have a large quote from my article as my title ‘I hit rock bottom but now I am back!’ to attract the readers into reading the story as they will want to find out what happened. This is often the case in many magazines. I have used a much larger picture of my model with the background to fill most the page as this is a common convention to articles. On my photos I have put in small writing the clothes she is wearing. This isn’t common in music magazines but as she is the same age as our target audience they might be interested in the clothes she is wearing also. This goes against some conventions, but it makes my work original. My font is a simple font so it is easy to read and my text is justified to both sides of the column to make it look neat. On the left hand side I have a short paragraph to also explain what is in the article; this could attract readers who are just flicking through to read the full article. My text starts with a bigger sized orange ‘B’ which is very common in magazine articles so I decided to follow the trend.

My second page follows a similar style apart from I have smaller pictures and much more text which are in columns as this is a common convention in magazines. I have quotes form the text in a larger orange font and my columns wrap around them. This is commonly seen in magazine articles, these quotes can help to attract more readers as they act as hooks to get the reader into the story. I also have a quick check question box which will be in every issue and will be the same questions asked to every musician or band. This helps connect the magazines together.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My star in my music magazine is a young artist who girls that read our magazine could relate too. She has had a bad past but has managed to turn it around which could be an inspiration to the readers it shows that difficulties can be overcome. The story shows that life in the spotlight can be negative and it isn’t always a ‘dream life’. This can change the perception of the Hollywood stars that look like they have the best life in the world. It represents young girls that have dreams that they want to achieve, like the main story in the magazine, this can link to the social group of teenage/young adults who have dreams and goals.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?

I think that ‘musicmags’ would be a good company to distribute my magazine as even though it specialises in instrument magazines my magazine would bring a new genre to its company and target a total different type of audience. The company’s products will be really aimed and older men who take interest in instruments; therefore my magazine will attract young females and create a whole new target audience for the company.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I have aimed it at fifteen – twenty-five year olds as in our questionnaire this was the most popular age range. Our magazine genre is R&B but we have a sub genre, which is pop as this was close second favourite.

I have priced my magazine at £2.50 which I believe to be a reasonable price. This is cheaper than most music magazines but not by a lot. I think it should do well at this price as it appears to be full with gossip and information that readers will want to know so at a lower price more people will buy it. I targeted 15-20 year olds which will be largely female. They would most likely be upper working class or lower middle class who are reasonably well off. Most likely they will be living of parents’ money or have jobs so they will have enough disposable income to buy magazines, go to music concerts etc.

How did you attract/ address your audience?

I attracted my audience by finding out what they were looking for in a magazine first by giving out a questionnaire then producing my magazine accordingly. I have used people in my magazine who are roughly the same age as my target audience, but they are famous which will help attract readers who can compare them self to them and aspire to be like them, for example my cover girl has over come problems which can be seen as inspirational. The photo of my model can come into Marjorie Ferguson (1980) facial expression recognition as my model will come under the ‘chocolate box’ expression. I used a sexually attractive woman on the front as Naomi Wolf (1991) recognised the ‘Beauty Myth’ which is that by using a sexually attractive woman to sell products to women is successful as they want to look like the models. I am exploiting the Bulmler and Katz' theory of uses and gratifications as throughout my magazine I have put in photographs of people who are roughly around the age of my target audience. This gives a sense of identity; the readers can compare them selves to the people in the magazine and aspire to be like them. The readers can also relate to the stories in my magazine as the promblems could reflect on their lives in some ways. This is very common in magazines.

I also put in hooks for stories of bands and artists, as people will buy the magazine to read about their favourite bands and artists. I have also used language that will suit my reader’s idiolect. ‘OMG’ which stands for ‘oh my god’ would only be recognised by younger people like my target audience. This helps the audience relate to the media product. The older generation are much likely not to understand words like that.

By putting what my models are wearing this is heading towards a lifestyle kind of magazine. This is because most women aged 15+ seem to be less interested in magazines for hobbies such as music, and more interested in lifestyle. Another magazine that is doing this is ‘Q’ magazine and it is also working well for them.

After my magazine pages were complete i decided to hand them out out to 20 people that fit into my target audience. This is so i could see if my magazine would be capable to compete with existing music magazines. I recieved comments of almost all participents here are some examples of them;

'I think your magazine will be able to compete with other magazines as it looks full with good information that people my age would want to know'

'Your magazine looks different from other magazines which is a good thing because as it is different it wont be like any other repeated music magazine that have the same things in every issue'

'It looks really good, I love the bright colour contrasting on the simple black grey and white. It is very eye catching i think it will easily be able to compete with existing products.'

'The pages are great how you know what magazine they come from as it keeps the same house style, for example the fonts and colours are the same, this makes it look neat and tidy.'

'I really enjoyed reading the story. It is more lifestyle instead of being a boring story about how good a gig was. I like stories where you get to know more about the person.'

What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I firstly have learned a lot of skills on using Adobe photoshop, for example this picture of my model on the front cover. I changed her eyes and lip colours on Adobe Photoshop to make them stand out and draw the readers into my magazine. I have also learned how to make text stand out so that it draws attention to it by using drop shadows, strokes, bevel and emboss. Evidence of this is on the front cover of my magazine I put ‘Brooke Sawyer’ in a bevel and emboss to make it stand out from the rest of the text. I have also learnt how to pick from different photographs I have taken; evidence of this is in picking pictures for my work.

I am not using this mid shot of my model. I think she looks in an awkward position.

I will use this picture on my article as i like the pose my model is doing. I also like the background.

I would like to use this picture it looks very homely. But i think it will be hard to use as her head goes right to the end of the photo and so does her legs.

I was also able to use a camera to a high standard whilst taking my photos and also made sure that the lighting was correct so I gained successful pictures

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?

Looking back at my preliminary work I have learned an awful lot in producing a magazine. This is mainly because I had much more time to produce it. Giving me time to research into what my target audience want in a new magazine. I also analysed existing products as my work had to match those standards as it was going to be competing with them. I have also learned a lot of image manipulating skills throughout my practical work. I have been able to make my layout skills more professional to make sure it will be able to compete with existing products.

Overall I am pleased with my product and believe that is has been created with a lot of thought and effort to make it eligible to compete with existing music magazines.

Final article pages

This is my first double page that I have finished. There is another double page going to follow after this.

For my first double page i have used a much larger picture of my model with a quote from her article as the title. I have an introduction to the left on the column to explain what my article is going to be about. I also have who it is written by and who took the photos on the page as it is a common convention in magazines. I have used another totally different picture of my model in the bottom corner. My font for my main text is size 9 and century gothic which makes it easy to read. I have the text justified to both sides of the column to make it look neater. I have the text 'Upbeat exclusive' at the top of the page to make it appeal to the audience that this is the first time you will hear anything like the story told in my article. At the beginning of the column I have the 'B' much larger and in Orange to make it stand out. This is common in the layout of other magazine articles. I have a little arrow at the end of the text to show it goes on to the next page. In white on the pictures I have some text showing what she is wearing, this is regularly seen in other magazines.

This is my second double page spread.

For this second double page I have put the upbeat exclusive and the page numbers in the same place so it is consistent throughout the magazine. I have put my text in five columns of the same size to make it look neat and easy to read the text. Again the font is size 9 century gothic which is a plain font that makes it easy to read at a small size. I have a large picture of my model at the bottom of the page and i have cut out the background and wrapped my text around the picture. This is a common convention in magazines. I have also put quotes from the text in a much larger orange font so it stands out from the rest. These bits of text cant tell you the full story but it does give little bits so it makes the reader want to read the rest of the article to find out what exactly happened. I have wrapped my main text around these, as this is common in many other magazines. I have another picture at the top where I haven't cut out the background. I have put an orange background around it, which separates it from the text. I have added a description of what my model is wearing as I saw this in another magazine and thought it was a good idea if you liked the clothing. I have put an orange large full stop at the end to show that the article has come to the end. Rachel and I decided that we would have a 'best things in life' column, which consists of eight 'bests' where the person our article or interview is based on adds in their own information. We thought this would be a good idea to link our magazines together as it is the same magazine just different issues.

Final contents page

This is my finished contents page. I have kept the same fonts and colours to make sure my magazine is consistent in style. Overall i believe it has been successful.

This is my contents page. I decided to put an orange strip down one side to separate the cover stories from the other stories. This is because I wanted readers to easily be able to find the correct page for the cover stories as that is what has attracted them to the magazine in the first place. I put the title of my magazine in the same style so it would stand out. I also tilted it so it was different from the over text. As my cover stories are most important I wrote extra about them underneath, as this is a common convention in music magazines. I have put them in chronological order so it isn't confusing. All the other pictures have been put on an orange background so it fits in with the colour scheme and makes it look tidier.

Final front cover

This is my finished front cover. Overall i am very pleased of how it has turned out. I think it fits my criteria perfectly and will attract my target audiences attention.

My models head goes over the title but it is still easy to read and this is often the case in many music magazines. There is a slogan 'find your beat' which is directed to the audience. I have put the bar code, price and issue number all together out the way so it doesn't detract attention away from the rest of the page. The main story is highlighted by being much larger and also a totally different font which draws attention to it almost instantly. My text on both sides are justified which makes it look much neater. The 'plus' and 'and more' helps the reader to believe that it is full of music gossip and entertainment that they wont want to miss out from. The arrow like shape with 'Top 10 forgotten bands' helps to separate the text and make sure it gets read and doesn't just blend in. The same for the shapes around '128 songs that should be on your play list' it helps to ensure it gets read. The tag box across the top has 'win VIP tickets to see PINK in concert' this helps attract more people if they know they could win things. Especially fans of pink. I have stuck to three colours (black, orange and grey) so it matches well and looks tidy. I have also stuck to 4 fonts again so it looks tidy.

Flat plans

This is a flat plan of my front page. This is how i am wanting to set it out. I have added in the fonts that i am wanting to use and also the sizes of the texts.

This is a flat plan of my contents page. This is how i am wanting to set it out. I have added in the fonts that i am wanting to use and also the sizes of the texts.

This is a flat plan of my first double spread of my article. This is how i am wanting to set it out. I have added in the fonts that i am wanting to use and also the sizes of the texts.

This is a flat plan of my first double spread of my article. This is how i am wanting to set it out. I have added in the fonts that i am wanting to use and also the sizes of the texts.

Images i could use for my article

These are some photographs of my model and reasons why i am going to use them and why i am not going to use them.


I am not going to use this image as i think it looks blurry. I also don't think my model takes up enough space on the photo as she is side on.

I don't think i will use this image as i don't like the background. It doesn't look very nice. Also my models face has went light off the flash.







I will use this picture in my article. I like the background and my model takes up a lot of space in the picture.







I like the background on this picture but i don't think i will use it as i don't like my models facial expression.






I will use this picture on my article as i like the pose my model is doing.

I like this photo it is a close mid shot which i think will look attractive on the front of my magazine.

I will use this picture in my article as i said that she has a new puppy. it will also be a change to my other photos.

I would like to use this picture it looks very homely. But i think it will be hard to use as her head goes right to the end of the photo and so does her legs.







I like this picture. I will use this in my article and it wont be hard to use as her head doesn't come right to the end of the page.

I am not using this mid shot of my model. I think she looks in an awkward position.

Front cover image

For my front cover i have decided to use this picture of my model. She is staring straight out too the camera which will catch the readers attention. I did alter it a bit. i cut out some of the outside as i wanted her face to be as big as possible on the cover. I edited the colour of her evey and lips to draw attention to her. I also got rid of a few blemishes. This is the picture i used before and after.

anaylisis of an article

This shows the common conventions of an article. It has a title which is a quote from the text which is in a much larger font to make sure it catches the readers attention. It then has a little introduction in a smaller font but bigger than the main text to explain more on what the article is about. the "w" at the start is a much larger font and a different colour which is common in magazines. The text is in three colunms which makes it look neat and eays to read. The font is clear and small so it can fit alot of text on with out it being hard to read. There is a quote from the text inbetween the main text. This is a common convention in magazines. It is a different colour and a different size font to make it eyecatching. There is pictures also to show what the text is about .

Preliminary Work

At the beginning of this year we had the chance to produce two bits of practice work. We had to create a front cover and a contents page for a school magazine. As we only had 2 hours to produce this i don't believe that it is to my best standards, but as we didn't have long i think that it was created well.

This is my front cover. I used the colours yellow and royal blue as those were the schools colours. My model on the front is the main story which is why her name 'Rachel Talbot' is in a larger font. I have used stories which attract people into reading the magazine such as 'record breaking results' etc. My other pictures are in yellow boxes and are tilted which breaks conventions of other magazines but it helps the stories stand out. I have a tag line on the bottom as this is a common convention in a magazine. I also have the title with a drop shadow which helps it too stand out and the logo of the school is used to show familiarity.

This is my contents page. It has the magazine name in the corner as this is a contents page common convention. In the top corner i have put a little more information about the magazine and have also put an image of the front cover and numbers to show where the cover stories are in the magazine. Again i used the house style colours of Blue and Yellow to keep my magazine consistent. On the left hand side i have a column with a list of things that feature in the magazine. The numbers are in consecutive order so it flows and whenever there is a story which i have put on the front cover i have made it clear that it is a cover story in case people were really interested on what was on the cover and want to read that straight away. On the right hand side i have wrote about another story in more detail to get readers interested and want to skip forward and read more on that subject. I have also put contact details of the school on the magazine as i feel a school magazine would do this for the parents and pupils benefits.