Evaluation

Inspiration

After researching thriller films, I decided to implement elements of a hybrid genre into my teaser trailer.

The two thriller sub-genres I chose to blend together are Psychological thriller and Espionage thriller,

these I found tended to work well.

I focused on elements such as the codes and conventions of a thriller and espionage film, such as

binary oppositions, re-ordered equilibrium and enigma codes.

Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece “North By Northwest” in which I was greatly influenced by is a

prime example of an espionage thriller conveying these codes.

This film enticed the audience through the use of fast paced editing, essential sound and emphasis on

spectator involvement. Hitchcock wanted the audience to grow an attachment to the character to

experience a real cinema viewing.

 

My media product challenges the typical conventions of the "Conspiracy" theme because on most

occasions the main protagonist is male such as Roger O.Thornhill (“North By Northwest”) and Jason

Bourne ("Bourne Ultimatum”) but in my teaser trailer the main protagonist is female and expresses

masculine traits for instance mental strength to overcome her opponents.

My teaser trailer also adapts to the conventions of intensity and suspense by including a “chase

scene” and “interrogation scene” which is relative to the psychological and espionage thriller genres.

Digital Technology

Through the use of digital technology I was able to enhance my ability to construct a media

product marketable for a global audience.

Digital technology has evolved over the past few years and during the process consumers have become

prosumers with the help of web 2.0.

As a consumer we have more control and power over what we watch and where we watch it.

(e.g. i-pad and i-phone)

Media platforms such as social networking sites, Facebook and film campaigns for instance

YouTube helped me to understand what was required for a professional viral campaign.

IMDB allowed me to compare and view films’ box office success their film synopsis and taglines this

in which helped me in the process of creating my own film synopsis appropriate for my target audience

and catchy taglines.

I was intrigued as to how film industries marketed their upcoming releases to the public, by

conducting extensive research into production, distribution and exhibition of major film companies

Including Universal, Paramount Pictures, Warner Brothers and Disney I had a clear insight into how I

would construct my own successful viral campaign to appeal for my specific demographic.

Teaser Trailer

Final cut pro:

This effective editing tool enhanced my ability to convey meaning and protagonist characterisation by

using 3-way colour corrector to change the hues and saturation of a clip to give it a more appealing

“cinematic” appearance and by creating fast pace edited clips for intensive scenes in which the audience

could derive pleasure from for example the “Interrogation scene” and “chase scene”.

Motion:

I experimented with motion to extract unnecessary mise en scene elements which I realised were of

no relevance to the particular “office” scenes.

Garageband:

This particular software encouraged me to develop my creativity even further by the creation of an original

soundtrack thus allowing my teaser trailer to feel more realistic. The influence of the theme music came

from trailers such as “Inception” and “Salt”.

Livetype:

This software contributed to branding as I could use the same typography for my teaser trailer as well as

my ancillary texts therefore creating a recognisable brand for the audience.

Media programmes have been vital for me to project my product as a teaser trailer.

Ancillary Texts

Photoshop is a practical picture editing software that allowed me to create visually exciting film posters

to promote my teaser trailer. To show a level of consistency and help the audience recognise my

particular branding, I organised my actors and actress to wear their costumes for photographs in which

I used for both the posters and magazine front cover.

Poster 1 images: Poster 2 images:

Posters:The inspiration for the colours derived from Mexican film posters including “Y tu mama tambien”, thevariety of greens, yellows and oranges immediately attracted my attention so I incorporated this themeinto my own posters thus displaying authenticity and is visually thought-provoking for the viewer. My background images consist of primary photographs of iconic London city buildings that are of similar symbolism to the posters used to promote the Harry Potter 7 film.

Magazine:

I drew influence of how to construct a professional film magazine from successful magazines such as Empire and Sight and Sound, these encouraged me to create an appealing front cover.

The focus image is of my two male actors posing “out of character” thus displaying a light-hearted nature juxtaposed by their on-screen characters’ roles.

The foreground image is a street view of buildings in Bank.To conform to the conventions of a magazine front cover I advertised other film posters, a competition and included a bar code, price, date and header on the front cover.

Audience Response

Audience feedback was very crucial during my planning, pre-production and distribution stages as it

enabled me to outline and define expectations of my specific demographic.

After finalising my initial ideas of a film synopsis, poster and magazine mock ups I prompted

audience feedback questionnaires and received tangible results which I have used to make

Improvements.

In particular the Facebook fan page for my campaign was very proficient in gaining critical audience

feedback on my content. Fans posted comments and suggestions on how to improve the current

product giving me the opportunity to make my teaser trailer more marketable for the target audience.