To show how my media product is linked to real media products, I have taken nine different aspects of forms and conventions and captured 9 different framesof my trailer to demonstrate each one.
1) The title of the film: This frame is situated in the last few seconds of the trailer. I did this to keep the sunspense about the name of the film, and to make the viewer wonder and ask questions about the plot but also the title.
2) Setting & location: I used the outside of Wollaton Hall as a seeting as it is an old yet mice looking building. As my trailer is set around 1912, I needed to find a location that seemed plausible and where there was little risk of anachronisms, which are elements that weren't present at the time the film is set in, for example a car or plane. Wollaton Hall is also the kind of place where two high ranking members of the White Star Line Company could be expected to meet.
3) Costumes & props: Just like the setting and location, the costumes worn by the actors also had to be in accord with the times the trailer is set in, to increase the verisimilitude. I asked the 2 friends to wear suits, which they seemed comfortable enough doing and could provide their own.
4) Camerawork and editing: I used captions at regular intervals in the trailer to show or explain what I coudn't through standard video. My camerawork mainly involved mid to close up shots of the actors, to show their expressions, the setting, and their costumes.
5) Title font and style: For the captions I put in the trailer, and for the title on the poster for the film, I used a special font I found online which has a steel, nuts and bolts type design. I though this was appropriate for a film about the Titianic, as it was a huge construction. I put the font in a light blue colour to represent cold and ice, linking it to the Titanic's demise, but laos to show that truth can be a cold, scary hing.
6) Story and how the trailer is set up: My trailer opens with a figure, which those that know a bit about the Titanic may be familiar with: 2201 people on board. This is my state of equilibrium. I then throw the trailer into a state of disequilibrium by questioning wherever or not it was an accident. As this is a trailer for a thriller, I decided to not restore the state of equilibrium.
7) Genre and how the trailer suggests it: The genre of the film shown in my teaser trailer is the thriller genre. Such as shown in picture 7, I respect the thriller genre by asking the viewer questions. I also have a deep, quick soundtrack, and quick edits and close camera shots, all of which were elements that I found in the trailers I researched and analysed.
8) How characters are introduced: There are 2 characters in this trailer: the CEO of White Star Line, in the grey hat, played by James Cooper, and a high rankign employee in the black hat, played by George Palmer. The CEO is shown as unforgiving and a businessman with no morals or limits, whereas the empoyee is seen as more merciful and humane, trying to stop the plan of his boss, as shown in image 8.
9) Special Effects: I mainly used edits and photo effects as special effects. Both of these can be seen in shot 2. Here I bring an old looking family photo in. I took this photo at a family gathering, then gave it an old fashion effect during the editing stage of the trailer. This is to represent the passengers and to also furthermore give the impression of a film set in the past. The photo is introduced and removed with a wave like transition to link it to water, as the Titanic is a ship that sunk, so it is likely that some photos ended up, and were lost, in the water.
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
The film magazine cover and film poster both compliment my main product, the film trailer, by reflecting the dark atmoshpere of the film, with the lack of bright colours on the spoter. It also gives very little information away about the film, just as the trailer does.
I found that other thriller posters were also quite dark and mysterious, all lacking information about the film's narrative.
3. What have you learned from audience feedback?
To receive audience feedback I linked the blog to my personal Facebook Wall, and asked people to leave their feedback and opinions in the comments section.
From this first set of feedback, I realised that I had a good base but certain things needed improving, such as spelling, syntax and certain colour schemes
The things about my trailer that remind me of other trailers, such as the ones that I've researched and analysed, are the captions, the quick scenes and the fast paced music.
The strenghts of my trailer are that it follows conventions of standard trailers. Also, to my knowledge, this subject has nver been used for an A2 Media Studies coursework project, or even a full production real film. It is therefore unique, and more interesting. The idea came from a book I was reading in the summer, and I already knew I didn't just want to film teenagers running round the woods and call it a horror film, as I knew this had been done many times before and there was no real challenge in it.
I would say that the weaknesses of the trailer are the captions. Most traiers would have them more animated and better quality. Then again, I could only work with the programs I had at my disposal, which are nowhere near the quality of those used by professional video editors.
4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
The big new technology that I used for all stages of this project is the one you're using right now: Blogger. I had heard of blogs before, but never visited or used one regularly. Everything I have done whcih is linked to the trailer is on this blog.
I also needed to use a video editing program for the construction stage. I used one which I woned personally and had used several times before, Adobe Premier Elements 7. Although it isnt' the best program on the market or the most recent version, I found it was good enough to make my trailer. Other than that I mainly used the same programs I used for AS level. Word, Google Images, Excel and YouTube were used for the research and planning stages. I brought in PhotoShop and Publisher ofr th creation stages i.e the film magazine cover and the film poster. All pictures and videos were captured using my own Nikon Coolpix camera, and most of the work was done on my own Acer laptop.
Conclusion
All in all, this project has been an enriching experience. Despite the technical difficulties, it has allowed me to leanr how to use new programs, whic I will definitly use for non educational purposes in the future, but it has also allowed me to look more into a subject I'm interested in, and to share it with others. I would like to thank my friends James Cooper and George Palmer for helping out and agreeing to play a role in the trailer, and all those who have encouraged me to do this project, but also all those who tried and failed to make me do a simpler trailer. It is my conviction to prove them wrong that partly drove me to complete this project to the best of my abilities.
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