After uploading the previous final piece we realised that the audio levels were too quiet so we have increased the volume levels so that the voice over can be heard more clearly.
Monday, 4 January 2010
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Evaluation - How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stage?
I have used various new media technologies throughout the whole process of my coursework. Below I will state each one and explain how I used it and for what purpose.
Scribd.com
- This is a document upload site which enables you to upload word documents and embed them onto sites such as this one.
- It's quite easy to use all you have to do is create an account on Scribd then just choose upload and select the document you want to upload.
- I've used this on my blog to break up text and make it more appealing on the eye.
- I have also used it for a genre research table that I have done as tables cannot be done on normal posts on Blogger.
- http://lornasa2bloggy.blogspot.com/2009/11/genre-research.html here's an example of the use of Scribd on my blog.
- Being able to use a new media technology on my blog like Scribd means it allows me to produce a blog that i much more appealing on the eye.
Podcasts
- We chose to try using this concept of a Podcast to speak about what we'd done so far in the week and the plans for the week ahead.
- We saw it as something a bit different to put on the blog compared to us just writing notes, it would be a more interesting way of communicating to viewers of our blog.
- This enabled us to be more interactive with our blog.
- Here is our first Podcast: http://lornasa2bloggy.blogspot.com/2009/11/podcast-51109.html
- We used Facebook to get our audience feedback.
- We uploaded our final cut teaser trailer onto the networking site and asked for comments from our 'Friends.'
- It was an affective concept to use as there is a wide audience.
- By using this networking site it meant we had a variety of feedback from different people from different backgrounds and also saved us time as if we couldn't have used Facebook we would of had to ask people personally to give us feedback.
Blogger
- I've used Blogger to keep an account of my process in my coursework and to keep a record of research as well.
- This is an easier way to process my coursework as it is all done in one place which can be accessed on any computer.
- You can also upload videos and have a much more interactive way of presenting your coursework.
- Using a blog to present my coursework rather than simply writing it up means that it is more appealing and interesting to viewers and it's also easier to keep a constant live log of everything I have done.
IMDB
- IMDB is a movie database website which has all sorts of details on a variety of films.
- There are details such as budgets, box office figures, actors etc...
- This website has been very helpful during the process of producing my coursework.
- The most helpful details I have got from the website are the budget and box office takings for films similar to mine such as Pride and Prejudice and Becoming Jane, I have used these figures in my intertextual research.
- If I didn't have access to these sort of details I would struggle to understand the genre that I have worked in (period drama) and therefore find it a struggle to produce my final piece with a detailed understanding in terms of my target audience.
Photoshop
- I have used Photoshop to produce my teaser poster, magazine front cover and film poster.
- We took pictures while we were shooting our footage then used them to make our ancillary texts.
- There are allot of different tools on Photoshop that make it possible to create a professional looking poster/magazine cover.
- This is the film poster: http://lornasa2bloggy.blogspot.com/2009/12/ancillary-text-film-poster.html
- This is the magazine front cover: http://lornasa2bloggy.blogspot.com/2009/12/ancillary-text-magazine-front-cover.html
- This is the teaser poster: http://lornasa2bloggy.blogspot.com/2009/12/teaser-poster.html
- Without using Photoshop the ancillary texts would be nowhere near the quality they are and multiple images wouldn't bee able to be used.
iMovie
- We edited and produced our whole teaser trailer on iMovie.
- Its quite simple to use and has a variety of tools such as transitions that can be very effective.
- In one of my previous posts I have gone into more detail of the positives and negatives of iMovie: http://lornasa2bloggy.blogspot.com/2009/12/software_21.html
iDVD
- Using iDVD meant we could produce a professional looking DVD.
- iDVD produces a 'start' page for your DVD so it comes up with he option 'play movie.'
- It just helps to finish off the DVD.
Audio Recorder
- We used this to record our soundtrack and our voice over.
- The recording quality is very good and is easy to use.
- Using this piece of new media technology was better than using a camcorder to recorded audio as it gives a sharper more precise finish.
Camcorder
- We used a Canon digital camcorder MD101 which we recorded onto a DV tape.
- It was easy to use and gave good results.
- I have written further information about the camcorder on a previous post: http://lornasa2bloggy.blogspot.com/2009/12/hardware_21.html
- The camcorder had a zoom, the footage filmed was clear and of good quality.
Scanner
- We used a scanner to upload our storyboard.
- Using the scanner meant that we could upload our first storyboard along with the pictures we drew to represent shots
- Here is the storyboard we scan into the computer then uploaded onto the blog: http://lornasa2bloggy.blogspot.com/2009/11/storyboard.html
YouTube
- I used YouTtube to view teaser trailers for different films but especially the genre of period drama.
- I then analysed the trailers for my genre research.
- YouTube is an easy video search engine that is quick and efficient to use.
- If I hadn't of used YouTube I would of had to have searched for teaser trailers which would have taken more time.
- Although one problem was that if I wanted to use YouTube I had to use it at home as it is blocked on the school computers.
Evaluation - How effective is the combination of your main product and the ancillary texts?
Producing a teaser trailer is in fact just another marketing strategy to make your film successful. To accompany our teaser trailer we developed a teaser poster, a main film poster and a magazine front cover.
A teaser trailer is a form of media that would typically be shown either on TV during ad breaks, in the cinema before a film (of a similar gene to that being advertised) or on websites such as YouTube. So therefore teaser trailers accommodate the interactive market.
However a film needs a presence elsewhere too. For example on Billboards and advertised in
magazines (type depends on the target audience of the film) such as Closer and Look for the genre of our film and our target audience. This is wear our main film poster would appear.
Another market that also has to be addressed is the audience with a great interest in film, those who buy specialised film magazines, our magazine front cover featuring our film addresses this audience.
It also has to be considered that a film featuring on a film magazine front cover means that the film has been publicised enough to be 'worthy' of front cover space. This means that this type of publicity confirms that your marketing strategy has been successful so far.
The teaser trailer, main film poster and magazine front cover all have the same basic aspects that will attract the target audience. They all link together as a 'brand' for the film and if put into action would hopefully attract the target audience efficiently and effectively.
A teaser trailer is a form of media that would typically be shown either on TV during ad breaks, in the cinema before a film (of a similar gene to that being advertised) or on websites such as YouTube. So therefore teaser trailers accommodate the interactive market.
However a film needs a presence elsewhere too. For example on Billboards and advertised in
magazines (type depends on the target audience of the film) such as Closer and Look for the genre of our film and our target audience. This is wear our main film poster would appear.
Another market that also has to be addressed is the audience with a great interest in film, those who buy specialised film magazines, our magazine front cover featuring our film addresses this audience.
It also has to be considered that a film featuring on a film magazine front cover means that the film has been publicised enough to be 'worthy' of front cover space. This means that this type of publicity confirms that your marketing strategy has been successful so far.
The teaser trailer, main film poster and magazine front cover all have the same basic aspects that will attract the target audience. They all link together as a 'brand' for the film and if put into action would hopefully attract the target audience efficiently and effectively.
Evaluation - What have you learned from your audience feedback?
We seeked audience feedback at different stages of putting our teaser trailer together. Once we had produced our rough cut we showed our teaser trailer to people in our class. Audience feedback is a vital process of editing and producing a film even big budget films. An example is Bridget Jones Diary. When a scene from the film was one where the male actor turns to face the camera and is wearing a stereotypical Christmas jumper was shown to a small American they didn't get the comical aspect. This made the producers realise that they would have to change aspects of the film to appeal to an American audience. Another example that is more specific to our genre is Pride and Prejudice. When producers showed the film to an American sample audience they didn't understand the ending of the film as their isn't a kiss between the main female and male protagonists. So from this feedback the producers filmed an alternative ending for the American audience which had the main male and female protagonist sharing a kiss to give clear anchorage that they were together.
This is some of the feedback we got and how we addressed the negative feedback:
Some of the shots are too dark.
Due to the problems with our location we were working to a tight time schedule. Therefore when we shot some of the footage it was darker than we would have liked. These are: the mid shot of the gentleman, the mid shot of the main female protagonist and the gentleman and finally the over the shoulder shot of the main female protagonist laughing. Again due to the time schedule we didn't have time to re-shoot these shots, we also considered starting to edit in Final Cut but after much deliberation we decided this wasn't an option due to time. Therefore we decided to use a 'wash in' transition so that the trailer fades from a white background to a dark shot. Doing this means that the viewers eye is adapted to the colour change slowly so that the content in the shot isn't as difficult to see.
More anchorage needed to show its a teaser trailer.
The rough cut doesn't have any non-diegetic music or title cards with text. As it is a rough cut we still had these to add however it made us consider that more anchorage was needed. So we added more title cards to signify the story in more detail and also to give the viewer a further insight into the main female protagonist feelings and emotions.
More anchorage needed to explain the story as there's no diegetic voice or non-diegetic voice overs.
When we began planning our teaser trailer we debated whether to have a non-diegetic voice over or not. We decided not to but agreed to consider adding a voice over if audience feedback suggested we needed one. This is what has been suggested that we need a voice over. We decided to use the main female protagonist's voice. Not particularly to tell the story but more to give the viewer an insight into her view of the story.
Final Piece
Although we've made changes to address the problems highlighted through our audience feedback there are still flaws in our final piece. Some of the shots we would have liked to have re-shot due to the lack of light. We would also of liked to have added some extra footage of the 'love triangle.' Regarding the soundtrack we would of liked to of had a piano accompany the flute as it would of added further drama to the teaser trailer.
This is some of the feedback we got and how we addressed the negative feedback:
Some of the shots are too dark.
Due to the problems with our location we were working to a tight time schedule. Therefore when we shot some of the footage it was darker than we would have liked. These are: the mid shot of the gentleman, the mid shot of the main female protagonist and the gentleman and finally the over the shoulder shot of the main female protagonist laughing. Again due to the time schedule we didn't have time to re-shoot these shots, we also considered starting to edit in Final Cut but after much deliberation we decided this wasn't an option due to time. Therefore we decided to use a 'wash in' transition so that the trailer fades from a white background to a dark shot. Doing this means that the viewers eye is adapted to the colour change slowly so that the content in the shot isn't as difficult to see.
More anchorage needed to show its a teaser trailer.
The rough cut doesn't have any non-diegetic music or title cards with text. As it is a rough cut we still had these to add however it made us consider that more anchorage was needed. So we added more title cards to signify the story in more detail and also to give the viewer a further insight into the main female protagonist feelings and emotions.
More anchorage needed to explain the story as there's no diegetic voice or non-diegetic voice overs.
When we began planning our teaser trailer we debated whether to have a non-diegetic voice over or not. We decided not to but agreed to consider adding a voice over if audience feedback suggested we needed one. This is what has been suggested that we need a voice over. We decided to use the main female protagonist's voice. Not particularly to tell the story but more to give the viewer an insight into her view of the story.
Final Piece
Although we've made changes to address the problems highlighted through our audience feedback there are still flaws in our final piece. Some of the shots we would have liked to have re-shot due to the lack of light. We would also of liked to have added some extra footage of the 'love triangle.' Regarding the soundtrack we would of liked to of had a piano accompany the flute as it would of added further drama to the teaser trailer.
Evaluation - In what way does your media product use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In the process of developing our teaser trailer I have researched many different teaser trailers from horror to romance. Then as we decided to concentrate our genre on period drama I specialized my research on this genre.
In general, a teaser trailer's main aim is to purely advertise a film and its release. It is stated that the length of a teaser trailer is approximately 30 to 60 seconds long but while looking at other teaser trailers this doesn't seem to be a fixed rule. For example The Duchess teaser trailer is 1.49 minutes long. Our teaser trailer, in total is 2.07 minutes long which is possibly a bit too long so if we were to improve our trailer this is something we could look at, shortening the length.
Another factor that I discovered after researching teaser trailers is the importance of including narrative enigma's. So therefore we included some narrative enigma's in our trailer one being: does the main female protagonist end up with the main male protagonist? We hope that a narrative enigma as influential as this to the plot of the film will attract our target audience and convince them to see the film at the cinema.
Looking at teaser trailers that were of a similar genre as our teaser trailer was the most vital piece of research I did as they had the biggest impact on our trailer.
These are aspects of our trailer that were influenced by my genre research (I will also state the influence the research had on our trailer):
Editing
After looking at a variety of period drama trailers I realised that the editing is always smooth and never too fast.
Although I did realise that as the trailers develop the speed of the clips and transitions do pick up pace and we tried to incorporate this into our trailer
Another factor that I realised was that the transitions in the trailers are always fade ins and outs we also incorporated this into ours except for the dark shots when we used wash In's but this is still a subtle transition so I believe it still fits with the conventions of a period drama teaser trailer.
After looking at the trailer for The Duchess I realised the importance of framing shots, so we concentrated on this for example using the trees in the woods to frame the main female protagonist and using the pillars at the Ball scene.
Lighting
In our teaser trailer we have scenes both at night and in the day time.
This seemed to be the case with other period drama trailers.
The lighting at night was important, so after viewing teaser trailers that featured a Ball scene (The Duchess and Pride and Prejudice) we decided that some outdoor lighting would be appropriate. However we would have to be careful due to the time setting of the early 19th Century. So we had to ensure the lighting was subtle, as though it were candlelight.
Characters
There are three characters in our teaser trailer.
Our main female protagonist is your stereotypical role, such as Keira Knightley in Pride and Prejudice. She is portrayed as a genuine character which will appeal to the target audience. But also she may appeal to the male audience due to the male gaze. This is the view the directors may have had in mind when they cast Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice.
The main male protagonist is a dominant force in the trailer who may split the audiences opinions. This is something we hope will attract our target audience as he is portrayed as mysterious, in the trailer the viewer doesn't get to find out that much about him. This is a similar to the role that Mr Darcy plays in Pride and Prejudice. You could also look at the female gaze as an attraction for a female audience.
The less influential character in the teaser trailer is the gentleman's fiancee. The preferred reading for her is that she is a shy young woman who is oblivious to the situation around her. This would hopefully create sympathy for her from the audience.
Representation
After looking at other period drama teaser trailers I've realized that they only seem to represent the upper class. This is also the case in our trailer. We show the class through costume mostly but also the mise-en-scene. For example the grand house in the mise-en-scene and the pristine countryside. The costume consists of glamorous dresses for the women and a crisp cravat for the main male protagonist.
Soundtrack
All the period drama teaser trailers have non-diegetic music which is instrumental. The music is almost always classical either piano or strings. We chose to use classical music as well however we used the flute rather than the piano or strings. Although if we were to re-do the soundtrack we'd like to have a piano accompanying the flute on the soundtrack as it would signify drama and there would be a noticeable difference in the tempo of the music as the trailer developed.
Not only have we produced a teaser trailer, we have also produced a magazine front cover and a film poster to accompany it. There are aspects of these two texts that have been influenced through research.
Film Poster: http://lornasa2bloggy.blogspot.com/2009/12/ancillary-text-film-poster.html
Magazine front cover: http://lornasa2bloggy.blogspot.com/2009/12/ancillary-text-magazine- front-cover.html
Modes of address/language choice
After looking at a variety of posters and magazines I've realized the importance of addressing your target audience correctly. Each poster and magazine adapts to its audience so it can appeal to them in every way possible. For example, for our magazine front cover we have used a lilac colour for the text, we hope stereotypically that this will attract the wondering eye of a female or even appeal to the codes of the pink pound. Other features on the magazine such as 'Hunk Pattinson speaks out' would hopefully again attract the female through the female gaze.
Our film poster is a little more understated than our magazine front cover. The images on the poster signify upper class through the clothes and the mise-en-scene. The tag line 'sometimes love can't be denied' gives anchorage of the the theme of love which again will hopefully attract our target audience.
Layout
Our magazine front cover layout is very similar to that of Empire's .
Although we have added aspects that will help to attract the female more such as the layout which we have kept simple, not cluttered so therefore more appealing on the eye. We have also kept the layout of our film poster simple even though we've used two images however we have kept one image dominant and the other blending subtly into it so its not too harsh on the eye. Like all film posters we have kept the production detail text small in white at the bottom of the poster so it doesn't intrude on the images and distract the viewer from the main area - the title and tag line.
In general, a teaser trailer's main aim is to purely advertise a film and its release. It is stated that the length of a teaser trailer is approximately 30 to 60 seconds long but while looking at other teaser trailers this doesn't seem to be a fixed rule. For example The Duchess teaser trailer is 1.49 minutes long. Our teaser trailer, in total is 2.07 minutes long which is possibly a bit too long so if we were to improve our trailer this is something we could look at, shortening the length.
Another factor that I discovered after researching teaser trailers is the importance of including narrative enigma's. So therefore we included some narrative enigma's in our trailer one being: does the main female protagonist end up with the main male protagonist? We hope that a narrative enigma as influential as this to the plot of the film will attract our target audience and convince them to see the film at the cinema.
Looking at teaser trailers that were of a similar genre as our teaser trailer was the most vital piece of research I did as they had the biggest impact on our trailer.
These are aspects of our trailer that were influenced by my genre research (I will also state the influence the research had on our trailer):
Editing
After looking at a variety of period drama trailers I realised that the editing is always smooth and never too fast.
Although I did realise that as the trailers develop the speed of the clips and transitions do pick up pace and we tried to incorporate this into our trailer
Another factor that I realised was that the transitions in the trailers are always fade ins and outs we also incorporated this into ours except for the dark shots when we used wash In's but this is still a subtle transition so I believe it still fits with the conventions of a period drama teaser trailer.
After looking at the trailer for The Duchess I realised the importance of framing shots, so we concentrated on this for example using the trees in the woods to frame the main female protagonist and using the pillars at the Ball scene.
Lighting
In our teaser trailer we have scenes both at night and in the day time.
This seemed to be the case with other period drama trailers.
The lighting at night was important, so after viewing teaser trailers that featured a Ball scene (The Duchess and Pride and Prejudice) we decided that some outdoor lighting would be appropriate. However we would have to be careful due to the time setting of the early 19th Century. So we had to ensure the lighting was subtle, as though it were candlelight.
Characters
There are three characters in our teaser trailer.
Our main female protagonist is your stereotypical role, such as Keira Knightley in Pride and Prejudice. She is portrayed as a genuine character which will appeal to the target audience. But also she may appeal to the male audience due to the male gaze. This is the view the directors may have had in mind when they cast Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice.
The main male protagonist is a dominant force in the trailer who may split the audiences opinions. This is something we hope will attract our target audience as he is portrayed as mysterious, in the trailer the viewer doesn't get to find out that much about him. This is a similar to the role that Mr Darcy plays in Pride and Prejudice. You could also look at the female gaze as an attraction for a female audience.
The less influential character in the teaser trailer is the gentleman's fiancee. The preferred reading for her is that she is a shy young woman who is oblivious to the situation around her. This would hopefully create sympathy for her from the audience.
Representation
After looking at other period drama teaser trailers I've realized that they only seem to represent the upper class. This is also the case in our trailer. We show the class through costume mostly but also the mise-en-scene. For example the grand house in the mise-en-scene and the pristine countryside. The costume consists of glamorous dresses for the women and a crisp cravat for the main male protagonist.
Soundtrack
All the period drama teaser trailers have non-diegetic music which is instrumental. The music is almost always classical either piano or strings. We chose to use classical music as well however we used the flute rather than the piano or strings. Although if we were to re-do the soundtrack we'd like to have a piano accompanying the flute on the soundtrack as it would signify drama and there would be a noticeable difference in the tempo of the music as the trailer developed.
Not only have we produced a teaser trailer, we have also produced a magazine front cover and a film poster to accompany it. There are aspects of these two texts that have been influenced through research.
Film Poster: http://lornasa2bloggy.blogspot.com/2009/12/ancillary-text-film-poster.html
Magazine front cover: http://lornasa2bloggy.blogspot.com/2009/12/ancillary-text-magazine- front-cover.html
Modes of address/language choice
After looking at a variety of posters and magazines I've realized the importance of addressing your target audience correctly. Each poster and magazine adapts to its audience so it can appeal to them in every way possible. For example, for our magazine front cover we have used a lilac colour for the text, we hope stereotypically that this will attract the wondering eye of a female or even appeal to the codes of the pink pound. Other features on the magazine such as 'Hunk Pattinson speaks out' would hopefully again attract the female through the female gaze.
Our film poster is a little more understated than our magazine front cover. The images on the poster signify upper class through the clothes and the mise-en-scene. The tag line 'sometimes love can't be denied' gives anchorage of the the theme of love which again will hopefully attract our target audience.
Layout
Our magazine front cover layout is very similar to that of Empire's .
Although we have added aspects that will help to attract the female more such as the layout which we have kept simple, not cluttered so therefore more appealing on the eye. We have also kept the layout of our film poster simple even though we've used two images however we have kept one image dominant and the other blending subtly into it so its not too harsh on the eye. Like all film posters we have kept the production detail text small in white at the bottom of the poster so it doesn't intrude on the images and distract the viewer from the main area - the title and tag line.
Monday, 21 December 2009
Software
To edit our teaser trailer we used IMovie06. There are many different transitions that can be applied to your project on IMoive. For producing and editing our trailer we found this very useful as we wanted it to be smooth and affective. We used fade in's and out's to achieve this. We also used a wash in transition for some shots as starting with a white background looked better than starting with a black background where the shots were taken in the dark.
Using IMovie06 also made it easy to upload audio recordings such as the voice over and non-diegetic music. To do this on IMovie you simply just drag it into your project and place it alongside your footage. It's also quite easy to cut audio content and to turn the volume up and down for effect, this was an important editing tool to have as sound is an important aspect of a teaser trailer.
There are some editing tools that aren't present on IMovie06 that would make a difference to our final piece. On IMovie you can't crop shots. In one of our shots there was someone in the background, it was a perfect shot but we were unable to use it as we couldn't crop the mise-en-scene. There is a cropping tool on Final Cut that we could have used if we had edited using this program. However due to our problems with locations we had a very tight time schedule, this meant we were unable to use Final Cut. Another problem we had is that some of our shots were taken at night and they are too dark in our opinion. It would be useful if IMovie had the facility to lighten a shot.
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