Evaluation

In this section, I am going to be writing about the evaluation of the three pieces of my work; the trailer, poster and magazine. I will write about the good points about my work and also why and how I did them. As well as this, I will be talking about where I could have improved.

Question 1

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our trailer generally followed the conventions of a real film trailer of our genre. This is because after we conducted our research into our selected target audience we found that people generally like to see the usual formulaic set out that most horror films follow with standard iconography that would be expected to be seen in a film of our genre.

For this question, I have selected to do 7 screen shots of my trailer and analyse them to show how we followed these conventions and why. 

The first screen shot that I have selected is the one of the ball slowly rolling out of Alex's hand. This is because it is the first turning point in the trailer. We wanted to make the whole scene to seem like it was in the past, to achieve this, we put a darker glow around the edge of the shot. This gives the impression that the audience is looking at the shot through the memory of someone else. In the draft trailer, we initially had the shot of the ball rolling out of Alex's hand on for longer, we then realised that it wasn't necessary and still had the same impact and got across the same message it would do if it was on for longer.

This is one of the few dialogue shots that we decided to have in the trailer. This is because we selected to do a teaser trailer and during the research section of the coursework, we established that there was only a select few scenes containing dialogue, however the dialogue that was in it often established the story line and gave a bit of guidance in the short trailer. That was our intention with this particular scene as we decided to follow that convention. This showed the audience that the focus of the trailer isn't to scare them but there is also a story line. It also creates the atmosphere that Hannah is concerned yet Chris seems calmer, this could be seen as to why Hannah becomes the victim and the focus is less on Chris. The trailer is in chronological order up until this point. This shows how the dialogue is crucial in anchoring the narrative 

This shot is where Alex is first introduced as the antagonist. We used two separate layers on Adobe Premier Pro to create this effect, it shows a blur of both Alex and Hannah's faces; this could be seen to represent the relationship between the two. With Hannah waking up so suddenly it creates the sense of panic and urgency that she knows something isn't right, this could be seen as the transition point in the trailer where things start to get scary. 

 This shot was shot by using the camera handheld from a low angle, this gives the impression that it is a point of view shot from a low angle of someone walking towards the mirror. This helps to create the atmosphere that we wanted to achieve from this trailer of mystery and a sinister feeling. The text on the mirror reading "You Will Pay" shows the audience how the antagonist, Alex, is seeking revenge and seems determined to get it. The dust that had naturally collected on the mirror helped us in being able to write on it and created a spooky feel to the shot because it makes it seem like it has been there a while, as if it was waiting for someone to read it. 

This is the first shot in the trailer that shows Hannah in discomfort and shows that the situation is really getting to her. It shows her hunched over in a corner crying under the stairs, this body language suggests that she is terrified and feels defenseless against the antagonist. She shouts to Alex telling her to "Leave her alone" and that shes "sorry", this would imply that Alex has started to effect her mentally is beginning to wear her down.

At this point in the trailer, Hannah has been "possessed" by Alex. We tried to show this by having Alex stood in the foreground and Hannah in the back with Alex lit up and Hannah in her shadow. This shows that she is now inferior to Alex. As well as the lighting, the body language also suggests that Hannah is possessed. This is because she is looking down and seems calm as a comparison to how disturbed and stressed she looked in previous shots. 

This is the penultimate shot in the trailer, it shows the title of the film. This was so that it has a lasting effect on the audience and they could remember it as a pose to having it at the beginning before they saw anything of the trailer. This title was made on software called Adobe Aftereffects by using separate layers again and a motion tool to make it seem like it was blurry and moving.

These are both my poster and film magazine that have been analysed by me.

Question 2

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

How effective is the combination of your main from bir

Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

From my audience feedback, I learnt that to have an effective story line, your film needs to have a USP which means unique selling point, something to make it different from other films such as a twist, famous actors or a unique genre. I got this information from conducting audience research on my target market by using a website called Wall Wisher. This is the wall wisher with our initial idea for a film.

As well as this, we also conducted research into our target market by using questionnaires allowing us to find out what type of film they wanted to watch and also if we had selected the correct target market. It is important to have a target audience that you can ask so that the information we got from the questionnaire is relevant and useful. We found out that we had chosen the right audience and also that they would be interested in our genre of film. This was useful because it allowed me an incite into which conventions for both my ancillary texts and the trailer its self. We also found evidence that films of the horror genre seem to be formulaic in the way that people want to see stereotypical features that appear in horror films and they want to be scared otherwise they wouldn't go and watch a horror film. These are the results of the questionnaire.

This is something that I wrote on the Research section of my blog about these results -

"These results showed us that the majority of our target audience want the antagonist to be mysterious, this allows us to have an incite into where about in the trailer were should introduce the antagonist. It also showed us that a famous actor has an effect on almost everyone, this allowed us to choose if the actors should be the main focus of the magazine or poster because it is what attracts people to see a film.as well as this, the results showed us that people prefer a Gothic type of horror mixed with a bit of paranormal. This gives us a better idea of how to show our trailer and the impression we wish to give off."

This is my draft trailer.

Question 4

How I'd you use new media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?

For this question, I decided it would be beneficial to not do the conventional thing and make a video of myself talking and to do something a little different. For this, I chose to use a website called Go Animate and made a series of videos explaining how I used new media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages of my coursework.

Research section of my blog by daniel.hughan on GoAnimate

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Planning section by daniel.hughan on GoAnimate

Animated Presentations - Powered by GoAnimate.


Construction stage by daniel.hughan on GoAnimate

Animation Software - Powered by GoAnimate.


Evaluation stage by daniel.hughan on GoAnimate

Video Maker - Powered by GoAnimate.