Media evaluation Question 1By Amber Bell

Question 1 In what ways does your media product

use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Using conventions To use existing conventions I made sure

that I conducted a lot of research into existing trailers, websites and posters so that I knew the sorts of things that must be included within my own product to make them fit in with the codes and conventions that we expect from media products.

Using conventions – trailer I made sure that the main character had

the most screen time; this is common within trailers at it means the audience can tell who is the main character easily.

Using conventions – trailer Teaser trailers are usually between 30-

60 seconds as this means that they ‘tease’ the audience only giving them a small insight into the film. Our trailer is 55 seconds long so falls into the teaser trailer category.

Using conventions – trailer The pace usually starts slow and then

picks up pace; this works for our trailer because the editing starts of with fades and then moves to fast pace cuts.

Using conventions – trailer There is usually a voice over or text on

the screen to ask the audience questions; or to give them an insight to what is going on; we used snippets of text to get the audience involved within the trailer.

Using conventions – trailer We also made sure that the music

helped create suspense. This is used within trailer because when used alongside the fast pace edits it helps to create suspense or an emotion for the audience to feel. For example in James Bond the music is iconic for the actions that the male protagonist completes.

Using conventions – trailer We also made sure that we included the

film name at the end of the trailer so that they can research more into the film; this is something that our audience noticed within the trailer feedback

Using conventions – trailer We made sure we had our production

name at the start of the film; this is something we noticed within our research so we made sure we followed this convention.

Using conventions – trailer We also made sure that we included the

release date at the end of the trailer; however it usually states coming soon or summer (2011) as a teaser trailer is played at least a year before the film is released.

Using conventions – trailer I also included the website for the film

as this is usually shown at the end of trailers so that the audience can find out more about the film.

Using conventions – trailer We also included the institutional

information at the end of the trailer; this happens in all trailer as it gives the audience the opportunity to find out who was involved within the film.

Using conventions – poster I made sure that both of the main

characters were included on the poster so that the audience can recognise them

Using conventions – poster I made sure that the release date was

on the poster so that it advertised the film.

Using conventions – poster I included the actor’s and actress’s

name of the front of the poster. This is because if there are fans of that particular actor this will advertise the film.

Using conventions – poster I made sure that the names of the film

was included; I also made sure that the font had been kept the same from the trailer so that the products linked

Using conventions – poster I made sure that the tagline had been

included on the poster.

Using conventions – poster An object of significance or a location of

significance is usually shown within the poster; I chose the poloroids as this is a significant prop within the film. I also made sure that the bike was included as this is also a prime focus within the film

Using conventions – poster The institutional information is of a

smaller font than the rest of the text on the poster.

Using conventions - website The trailer usually appears on the

homepage of the website; as this is a form of advertising than can merge other within it.

Using conventions - website I have included navigation to help the

user locate other pages within the website.

Using conventions - website Either the production company’s name

is included or the main actor/director on the homepage as this advertises the company or the actor.

Using conventions - trailer The name of the film is included in large

font; and a prime focus within the page. It is also the same font as the poster and the trailer to help the products link.

Using conventions - website The main actor usually appears on the

website; as this is a promotions method within itself

Using conventions - website An object or location of significance is

usually shown within the website and/or links to the poster image

Developing conventions I feel that in a few cases I have

managed to develop existing conventions from existing products and change them (without loosing the concept) so that the trailer become more individual.

Developing conventions - trailer I feel I was able to develop conventions

of a trailer as we added in the rewind part at the beginning of the film. I have never seen this done before within a teaser trailer so it is original for our film

Developing conventions - trailer We also made sure that the music

helped build suspense as in other existing trailers; However we were able to develop this by cutting the sound off completely at the end and starting it late.

Developing conventions – poster I used a style model for my poster. By

basing the poster on Memento I was able to create a poster that fit in well with the storyline. However I changed it by removing some of the layers to make sure it was original

Developing conventions – poster I also added in a background of smaller

poloroids as I felt this would make it so that the posters differed in look and layout.

Developing conventions – poster I made sure that all of the text was included

within the main polaroid because I felt as though this is the main focus on the screen and keeps the audiences eye on the more important parts of the poster. This wasn’t something that my style model did however I felt that it worked for my poster.

Developing conventions – website A few websites have a actor profile

however I developed it by changing the layout and presenting it in a different way

Developing conventions – website Even though I included images of the

main actor I went against having the same image as the poster as I didn’t want them to mirror each other but still link.

Challenging conventions I also went against some of the

conventions. When creating the products I went against typical ideas that would have been expected as I wanted to bring a new twist on the original ideas.

Challenging conventions – trailer Firstly we decided to switch the roles

that would have been expected within the trailer. The stereotype of masculinity would automatically put the male in the dominant role but in our case it is the male that ends up getting terrorised and captured by the female which goes against the ideas that the audience would expect

Challenging conventions – trailer We also decided to have the stalker

(female antagonist) have a very feminine twist on the way she messed with the male protagonist. We added the kiss mark so it made it that the stalker worked with here femininity rather than a hypermasculine or have control through strength

Challenging conventions – poster I added the certification of the film on

the poster; this isn’t that common however I felt it is necessary because it made it so that the audience would know if the film they are choosing to watch would be suitable for them or not.

Challenging conventions – poster

I also made it so that the female was dominant. Even though the male had more screen time; The female is more powerful than the male within the film so it was necessary to switch the roles that the audience would expect.

Challenging conventions - website

I decided to add in a coverflow containing the ‘off-camera’ pictures on the first page this isn’t usually put on the first page however I felt as though it worked well because it was an interactive feature that the user would be interested in using

Challenging conventions - website

I also went against using the main image as the background of the website; this is because I wanted to keep the black and white theme from the poster but I also didn’t want the background to distract away from the extra features.

conclusion I was able to create 3 products that

were able to fit into the current market by using the typical conventions, I also developed them and challenged them completely to create three products that were individual and had the twists needed for them to be exciting.