FINAL PRODUCTS

MOVIE POSTER

MOVIE MAGAZINE COVER



MOVIE TEASER TRAILER

LOVE NEVER LEAVES - Cleo Higgins A2 Trailer from edmundsmedia on Vimeo.

4. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Here you can see all of the different technologies that I have used.

1. The first image is of the tripod that I used. I found this incredibly helpful in taking shots that do not look like a home-movie. They came out smooth and clear with the help from this, also the panning shot of the army officials taking away the male protagonist looked effortless with the help of the tripod. 

2. The next image is of the computer I used. For my media publications I decided to use, as mentioned before, a mac book. This was because these computers have the technology on them, e.g iMovie, that enable you to easily and quickly edit movies to create an end product that is of the highest possible quality. Without the use of this computer I would not have been able to complete any of the research planning or evaluation parts of the end product. I may have had to hand write the information that I needed to keep, which would have also meant that I would not have been able to use any of the other technologies listed, blogger, google, photo shop, video studio, iMovie, and also the digital camera. The whole process would have been far more time consuming and would have most probably that I would end up with an end product that isn't of a very high quality.

3. The next image is the Blogger sign. From using Blogger I have been able to document my progress, the troubles and changes I have needed to make, and the entire process of creating a promotional package for a film. I have also learnt that looking at other peoples problems, through their blogs has helped me with my own project. In the same way I have also been able to gain inspiration from others blogs for example embedding YouTube clips. When I began using blogger I did not even know this was possible, but from looking at other blogs I found that this was a useful tool and made the entire project more animated and therefore more user friendly. Without Blogger I would have had to either hand write each post which would have meant that if I wanted to edit a post I would have had to re-do the entire text. Alternatively I would have had to type each one as a word document. This would have also been more time consuming as each post would have to be saved individually and also printed out which would have been wasteful and time consuming. It probably would have also meant that I would not be able to do as many posts and show my research, planning and evaluation stages as thoroughly as I have.

4. The next image is the 'Google' sign. I have used google from the beginning of my project. I used this to research my genre, and find websites e.g imbd.com, which are incredibly helpful in aiding the research and planning process. Google is a search engine which enables you to type in key words that you type in to find out about a certain subject. Google then takes less than a second to go through every page available on the website and prioritises each website according to relevance to the key words I typed in. This was incredibly useful in the research stage as I was able to find out a lot about the conventions of romantic movies, I was able to google reviews for movies of similar genre's which gave me far more information that I needed for my research section. Without the help of google I would have had to use books and search for references in individual books which would have been time consuming and could be completely un-useful. Google enables you to search through millions of pages that have the similar relevance as what you are looking for which ultimately leads to a better quality production and a better understanding of your target audience and the genre you are looking for.

5. The next image is of the still camera I used. This is a Nikon D50 SLR. This camera is incredibly useful, it takes high quality shots and is easy to use. From using this I was able to learn the extent of the effects of different lighting's which was very important for the end product in creating an image that suited the rest of the project. I was also able to quickly take pictures and view them on a computer. The use of a digital camera was very important when taking the pictures for my poster and magazine cover. It enabled you to instantly view the picture and know whether or not you needed to take more pictures or not. The use of the camera also does not need to develop each picture. If a different camera was used I may have had to use a dark room and develop each picture individually only to find the two shots that I really wanted to use. This would have been terribly time consuming and would have also meant that I would not know until all the developing was done whether I had the required picture or not.

6. The next image is of Corel Video Studio pro 12. This is the program that my school has on all of the computers, so I used this program to edit the interview recordings. This enabled me to cut the shots to edit any un-useful parts and to change the sequence in order for the audience watching the interviews not to get bored of watching the same person for a long period of time. Through the use of this technology I was able to quickly cut frames out of the interviews and move them around (cut and paste) which would have other wise been very difficult without another movie program. I was also able to edit the sound quality to make it louder or more clear in order for the end user to understand the speaker more easily.

7. The next image is of iMovie. Deciding to use iMovie instead of Corel Video Studio was a very good decision for me. I found iMovie so easy to use and so easy to add in effects that you never even knew were possible. I was able to learn how to change the brightness and hue of all of the shots, I was able to change sound levels to enable gun shooting sounds to be heard in the shots of the male protagonist on the front line, and I was also able to quickly and easily edit my sound track to fit with the background music, but also so that it ran smoothly. Just through playing around with the different features that iMovie comes with you learn so much and the ease of use that it has makes it incredibly easy to go back and change or to do again to other shots. All in all I learnt a lot from iMovie and I think using this programme benefited the end product of the film teaser trailer. Without the use of the iMovie programme I would not have been able to edit the film trailer as easily as I was able to do. Otherwise I would have had to use a film reel which would have had to be hand cut and pasted together, this would have been incredibly time consuming and would have required a skill which I would have had to learn before beginning the editing of the trailer.

8. The final image is of the Panasonic SDR S50 that I used to shoot the clips that make up the trailer. I found this very easy to use and was very helpful in reviewing clips before actually putting them onto the computer to edit. The flip out screen is very clear and I also found that you could take stills with the camera. Although I did not actually use any in the end product I did find that this was very useful to look back at the different sections of filming. I have found the use of the digital camcorder very useful in being able to look back at the scenes just filmed and being able to analyse whether a second third or even fouth take needs to be done immediatly. Without this the filming process may have been extended and it could have resulted in filming the same scene repeatedly on different occassions which would have caused tension among the people involved.

Another programme I used, which isnt featured in the collage above was Photoshop. I used photoshop to edit and improve the images used on the Movie Poster and Movie magazine. With photoshop I was able to learn how to improve the colourings of the picture, make it clearer, brighter, and more appealing to the eye. I learnt how to use the background eraser to move them to different landscapes or other backgrounds. Without the use of tools like this I would have strugggled to create the finish that I have now. I would not have been able to edit any of the pictures used which would have meant I would have had to take pictures which were perfect all over, which would have ben very time consuming and difficult to achieve.

3. What Have You Learnt From Your Audience Feedback?

As well as this, as you may have already read, I have also asked different people for their comments and suggestions to see what is good and bad about the different aspects of the promotional package.

After looking at this interview and the comments I have received back, I have found that as a promotional package, the film trailer, Magazine Cover and Poster all work really well together. They create an identity and a branding that would set the film apart and recognisable. I have also found that this 'branding' attracts people to the film, it makes the audience recognise what is unique about your film, or your 'USP', and it is this identifiable aspect which attratcs audiences and allows them to notice the film much better. As I went through the filming process also, I found that it is important to listen to everyone's opinions as although it may be difficult to change a fixed idea, sometimes their ideas may be better, and will add to the end product. You may have seen this from the video I have posted earlier.

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

As you can see all of these shots proove that the main product and ancillary texts are all linked and all create one promotional package. I have repeated the style, font and colours of the text throughout the productions, and I think that this has wroked really well in creating a proffessional looking end product, and creates an identifiable film that my target audience will be able to recognise. The text on the film trailer is identicle to that on the movie poster, which I think has worked really well, and when I was looking at other movie magazines, I found that the magazines would not use the text that would have been used on the trialer, film or movie poster. Instead that I have found that by staggering the text in the same way, I made the text the focus on the page, and also tried to make it identifiable to the rest of the promotional package, I think it is fair to say that I have manged to do this successfully. Also the images I have used on the movie poster and on the magazine you can see are similar to shots taken from the film teaser trailer. This again creates a package that audiences can realte to and without knowing the name of the trailer they should be able to suggest that this trailer is related to the poster and the article in the magazine. All in all I think it is fair to say that the combination of products I have produced are all combined and related making the promotional package as a whole very effective.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e of film trailers)

Picture 1. This is for costumes. This is very conventional of films to do with war, to have characters in army costumes. For example, in the film Dear John, the male protagonist is also pictured in army costume as he leaves his loved one when he had to go to the army. I chose this as an example of how the costumes I used was representative of the conventions of a romantic movie trailer as it is an image in both American and English movies which is very emotional to a wide range of audiences. Throughout my movie i also used the female protagonist in a simple dress and black cardigan and the boy also just in jeans and a smart shirt, I chose these as the outfits they were is supposed to make them closer to the audience making them more like you or I. This is also another convention of a romantic film.  



As you can see from this shot from the notebook, the characters are not wearing anything that is exaggerated, they are both wearing plain colours, with minimal detail. I have shown this in my trailer when they wear the un-formal clothes.

Picture 2. This image represents the title, fonts and styles I have used. As you will see from my poster, I have used the same colours and style throughout the trailer too. This creates a kind of identity and brand for the film. This is something which is seen across all kinds of films, it allows the audience to be able to identify a film, and even in some circumstances its genre just through the style of the titles.

As you can see from this poster, the titles are very similar to the trailer. This brings the two together and makes it have one identity or one branding that is easily recognisable from other films of the same genre. I think I have managed to do this very successfully, and in the end I have been able to create a brand through my media products which will be far more of a successful promotional campaign compared to if I had not have done this.

If you compare the title on my poster, to the screenshot of the title in my film which is shown above you see that the two styles are similar which makes it clear that the two projects are joined or are about the same end product.

Picture 3 & picture 4. These images represent the story that the trailer sets up for us, which makes us want to watch the end product. The first of these images, picture 3, shows how the trailer informs the audience that it is a love story, which will be the main focus of the end product. The second picture of the two, picture 4 represents the military side to the plot. This is another main focus but the two story lines in the trailer are both un finished and to a certain extent untold, this makes us want to watch the film as we don't know what happens or how it ends. When I carried out some audience feedback I found that a lot of people said that they would go and watch the film on the basis that they don't know what happens and they don't know how it ends. This means that the trailer does its job very well. The poster, I think does this very well also. It shows that the two are clearly together, but the man is in military clothing, which, as a result, puts a lot of questions in the audiences head. These questions will encourage the audience then to go ahead and look at the end product.

Picture 5. This image shows the Title of the film, 'Love Never Leaves'. You can see how I have created a parallel between the text in the trailer, and the text on the movie poster. This is conventional of most films as it enables the promotional package to be identifiable by their target audience. I used the black and pink colours as they stood out from the shot and from the page, but also still reflected the mood and image of the trailer and the film.

Picture 6 & picture 7. These images represent the location used for the filming of the trailer. The house i used for the outside house shots and the inside shots was a barn, as I wanted the film to be set in the country side, in a rural area and I think that this kind of barn I used represents this well. Other movies of this genre do not necessarily have to be set in a rural area, in fact many are set in towns or busy areas, but for my film a rural area seemed to be more suitable. I think also this would make my end product stand out from other romantic movies as this may not necessarily be typical of others of this genre. The second location shot was of the field we used for the army shots. This was a plain field which is used to reflect an army situation. There are no real conventions for an army scene, some will be full of explosions gun shots and dead bodies laying around, and others could be sitting in a trench or cave waiting for the next push.

Picture 8. This image represents the Genre. It is a tale of two people in love. I think I have been able to clearly signify this through all of the media products I have produced. Throughout the trailer I used images of them in an embrace, I also tried to get shots of the sadness that was evoked when the central male protagonist had to leave, and I think I managed to convey the message of romance very well. Other romantic films like Dear John and the Last Song have other moments like this:

From these shots you can see how the close shots really make it clear what genre you are trying to create, and as you can see I have followed the conventions of this genre in this case.

Picture 9 & picture 10. These shots represent the Introduction of the characters. In my trailer I only really introduce the two central protagonists, Georgia Higgins and Max Nordigian. In many films I have looked at the introduction to the actors which will be in the film comes towards the ends of the trailer, in order to allow the audience to see what the film is about firstly and then secondly entice them further with the acknowledgement of the characters used in the film. In my trailer however I introduce the characters pretty early on. I done this in order to entice the audience into watching the film straight away as they recognise the characters in the film and therefore want to see that film because they are fans of their films. I first of all took a shot of the characters name, e.g Georgia Higgins, and then used a shot of the actor. As you can see from the trailer.

Picture 11. This image represents the editing I used. In the editing process I kept the effects I used minimal in order to create a simple trailer, that wasn't over complicated and yet still enables the audience to understand what the kind of film this was going to be. For some of the transitions from shot to shot, I used fade in / fade out. This creates a smooth transition rather than a solid harsh one where it just jumps to the next frame. I have noticed that this is quite conventional of other romantic movie trailers, but not necessarily other genre trailers like horror trailers.

These shots from The last song and the Notebook, show how they too use fade transitions.