Film Magazine

This is my final film magazine cover, featuring my film. It was created using Adobe Photoshop CS5 and follows the conventions of a real film magazine, it was created using Total Film magazines a reference. I used the Black, White and Red colour scheme which is commonly used by most media magazines. For the main image i used an effect that creates a picture using text. the text used was the tagline to the film "Everyone leaves a trail"

How Did You Use Media Technologies in the Construction and Research, Planning and Evaluation Stages

Research:

The vast majority of my research was done using the internet, using a variety of programs and tools including iTunes, this was the first place i looked for music to see if there are any songs i liked that would go with an action trailer. I used websites such as Youtube, which i used to watch and analyse real film trailers.

Blogger was also a website i used heavily during the research process, as there were many model blogs that i used to gain inspiration from.

Production 

For the production stage I used one main technology which was a Canon EOS 550D camera to film all the clips in my video and to take the photos for my film poster. I needed a good quality camera that would allow me to do different shots and would create a high quality film trailer. The camera shoots in full 1080p HD which allowed me to get very good quality film. The film I took could then be uploaded easily using the SD card inside and then imported straight to either Premier or After Effects

Construction

During this stage of the process I used different programs and equipment to create my products. The first thing I used was my computer which is a Packard Bell iXtreme, as it is my home computer i am familiar with it and it also means i have all my own elements that i have created or downloaded specifically for editing. plus it is equipped with Adobe Premier Pro CS6 and Adobe After Effects CS6 which are two programs i am familiar with and so would make it easier for me to create a professional product.

The next thing I used was Adobe Premier on the computer, I decided to use this because i am familiar with it and as it is my own version i have all my personal plug-ins and presets to improve workflow. As well as Premier i used Adobe After Effects for things like text, and effects such as colour grading a widescreen bars. Finally I used Photoshop to produce the poster, I used it because i am very familiar with the program and i know that it would be easy for me to create high quality results.

Evaluation

I didn't use much technology during the evaluation process other than Youtube, to view my video and share it with people and Prezi. I used Prezi to display the feedback i gained as it is a more interesting way to display than just writing it down. There are several customisable templates that make it quick and easy to create. It also gives you the option to embed it in your blog which proved incredibally helpful

What Have You Learnt From Your Audience Feedback

Poster:

During the whole production process i have been asking classmates, friends and family to give their opinions and suggestions to help me build upon and create the best piece i can. After i finished producing the trailer and poster i asked for formal feedback which i used for evaluation.

The poster was completed before the trailer and was completed in a rather short amount of time, this meant there was no chance for feedback during the creation of it however there was plenty after it had been finished. The vast majority of which was positive, people liked the quality of the photo as well as the clean and professional look, brought about by the lay out and style of text.

The one constructive point i got was some ones opinion on the fact that the title as a little small and a large proportion is just photograph, however this was intentional as i was whoever was looking at it to focus on the photo rather than the title as i tried to symbolise the title within the photo.

overall the general feedback i got from everyone about the poster was positive.

Trailer:

The trailer had more mixed feedback than the poster however was still generally positive, people liked the use of music a lot. I was told it gave a very original feel and they like the way it challenged the conventions of action films, they said that it still managed to help capture the mood of the film rather than distract from it, which i felt a Rock song would have done.

Another positive point i received was the use of text within my trailer. People liked the fact it was consistent with my poster as well as generally professional looking and fitting in with the feel of the film. The lens flare effect attracted a lot of attention because it made it a lot more interesting than just static text.

There were a couple of points of weakness however, such as the fact the stability of the shots had been compromised due to the lack of access to good equipment, also the quality of lighting was compromised due to the fact that we couldn't get hold of any decent lights so we had to make do with what we had.

Magazine Cover:

After showing my poster to a select group of people the feedback was overall positive, they liked the use of text to build an image and the fact that the text was also relevant to the film as it is the tagline. Another aspect that received praise was the minimalistic approach to the layout of the magazine, they liked the fact it wasn't too cluttered and that made it stand out. Controversially some people thought it was a little too minimal and a bit boring so i would have to find the right balance if i were doing it again.

How Effective is the Combination of Your Main Product and Ancillary Texts

During the process of production of both the main product and ancillary texts i kept in mind that the way to make the combination effect is the keep it consistent.

A good example of this consistency is the fact that the font used for the text in the trailer is the same as that used on the poster, the font is quite distinctive and this should mean the if somebody were to see the poster with the font on they could link it with the trailer, which would improve advertising.

The font is key to the effectiveness because if the font is not recognisable then it won't matter where it's seen as people won't remember it. fonts such as Harry Potter are know globally and no matter what a piece of text could say, if it is in the font, people will relate it to Harry Potter. i tried to pick a font that wasn't similar to any fonts that are already famous or well known. this will improve the chances of somebody relating it to my film rather than anything else.

The colour scheme of the text is also consistent using the shiny metal effect, often films use the same font in different colours to colour code sequels or sagas so i wanted to make sure i kept the colour the same so it would be known that it relates to this certain film.

The font however doesn't apply to the magazine as after doing research i have found most magazines don't use the same font. however the picture is created from the text of the tagline "Everyone leaves a trail" which connects directly to the poster as well as the film trailer itself.

In What Way Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products

Trailer:

My film both conforms to and challenges traditional conventions of real media products, for example my film includes the use of text, this conforms to the conventions as it is used in many different action film trailers, it is used briefly in "The Dark Knight Rises" and more excessively in "End of Watch". The main use of it in my trailer is it takes the place of narration and includes rhetorical questions. These help involve the viewer and makes them think about the trailer so that it stays in their mind. "The Dark Knight Rises" only uses it to announce the director of the film and used speech from the film to aid the story telling. "End of Watch" however uses more of the text.

One of the most common of the conventions of  a trailer was the fact that they all have a green Motion Picture Association of America screen which informs the viewer of the age rating of the trailer. Due to the fact i was aiming for mine to be as authentic as i could possibly make it, i decided to use it at the beginning of my trailer. 

My choice of music however challenged the usual conventions of an action trailer as they usually contain Rock or Rap music in order the excite and engage the viewer in the trailer, fast upbeat songs help to enhance the action and is used in the "End of Watch" trailer. My song doesn't fit either of those genres and i decided that this would be a convention i would like to challenge, seeing as in "The Dark Knight Rises" they use a completely different style of music but it works really well so i decided to try it myself.

Poster:

I wanted my poster to be as professional as possible so i decided to conform to the majority of conventions. As the title of the film is the most important piece of text i decided to make it the largest, and placed it centrally near the bottom of the page. I wanted the title to be noticeable but wanted to majority of the attention to be focused on the photograph itself, as the title is portrayed through the picture.

I also noticed that posters include a credit block and the bottom of the poster that credits the main people involved in the production of the film, i found a template and personalized my own custom credit block for my film. After placing it at the bottom it definitely made it look more like an actual movie poster.

Magazine Cover:

I wanted my magazine cover to be as authentic as possible so i closely followed the conventions of Total Film magazine. It included a black, white and red colour scheme which is very common in media magazines, such as film and music magazines. It challenges conventions in the way that it is slightly more minimalitstic than other film magazines as i wanted it to stand out with the large amount of white.

Editing of Trailer

The majority of the editing was done in Adobe Premier Pro CS6. I used this program to import all my footage then cut it all and place it together, i chose Premier over Final Cut because i find it easier to use and i have more previous experience with it, also it's optimised for editing between itself and Adobe After Effects. The editing process took up the majority of the time, and the majority of it was deciding what clip should go where.

The first step i took was to import all my footage into Premier and from there i started cutting clips and placing them on the timeline, at first a left gaps for elements that would be added later such as the text. After i had placed all the clips in roughly the right order and synced them with the music moved to After Effects to start on the motion graphics.

In After Effects i created the text using the same effects as in photoshop for the poster: Gradient (dark to light grey) and inner shadow. I then used a plug-in called Optical Flares from Videocopilot, this allowed me to add and manipulate a lens flare onto my project, i also changed the setting so that when the light shines across the screen, it give the effect the screen is dirty.

I also used After Effect to colour grade my trailer after i had finished putting it together, and i aslo added widescreen bars in order to give it a more cinematic feel to it.

Poster Creation

The poster for the film was relatively straight forward to make, i started with the single photo below and layered the text on top using photoshop.

 Toward the bottom of the picture i also added a gradient that fades to black, this is so the credit block is easier to read and also helps the transition form just a photograph to a movie poster. I used a template for the credit block which i customised and personalised to make it relevant to my project, and then i created the text in photoshop. I used the same font as in the trailer so that it is consistent. The effects used to create the text were a gradient, that went form dark to light grey, giving the effect of shiny metal as well as an inner shadow in order the make it stand out a bit.

Filming Day Three

Day three of filming, and the final day of filming, took place on Monday 25th February. The shots were filmed later in the evening/night so that it was completelt dark outside.

There was only one location for filming on this day and that was on the drive of my house. These shots were the toughest to shoot as it's difficult to make hand to hand combat look realistic. due to this i didnt have any set shots i wanted so i just started the camera and we tried different things to see if they looked good. We were using a toy gun however the drive is away from any main roads or busy footpaths and we notified all neighbours surrounding our house. I didn't want to spend too long filming as we were using a flashing light and i was conscious of disturbing my neighbours. We managed to get all the shots relatively quickly and i was really pleased with how well the flashing light worked.

Filming Day Two

Day two of filming took place on Sunday 17th February 2013. The filming took place in the afternoon and took up quite a while as we had to drive a fair way to get to our locations

The first location was Holton Heath and here we did the outdoors action shots, mainly shots running and jumping as one of the main ideas behind the film is that the protagonist is on the run. we didnt spend much time actually filming there however it took us a while to drive there, then we had to walk through the wooded area to get to the place where i wanted to film. After we finally arrived the was a couple of shots that were took, most of them were good enough first time however i shot some extras just to be safe.

The other location was at Lytchett Minster, at a friends house. It would have been a lot easier to film it on the same day as were in Lytchett filming the car shots however due to poor organising we had to make another trip there. We didn't spend long there, not through my choice but prearranged plans of my friend so we had to get in and done as quickly as possible. despite the lack of time there was good shooting conditions in their house which it a lot easier and faster to set up and film.

Poster Evaluation

The feedback i gained from the film poster was incredibly positive and really went down well with anyone i showed.

The main feature that people liked was the image that was used, the poster was constructed from a single photograph rather than a mixture of many. The quality of the photograph was praised and so was the text and layout. the text received positive comments about the fact it looked clean and professional, and fitted with the photograph without looking obscene or out of place. If i were to do it again i would, although i like the font, perhaps choose one that was a little bit more interesting however other than that i would keep it the same.

One slightly weak aspect that was pointed out was the fact the layout could have looked a little more interesting and that the poster could have more relevance to the film. I understand this and the fact that the image is not taken from a scene in the film however the main mid-ground feature of the photograph is a set of light trails, which link in with the title "Trails"

Poster Feedback

Filming Schedule

This is the filming schedule that I'm using, its fairly basic as because i am making a trailer i only need to film various shots, not entire scenes. The filming should only take 3 days to complete and will require a minimal number of people aswell.

Trailer Evalutation

I asked 3 different people to analyse my final trailer and feedback on their thoughts and suggestions about it, there was a mixture of positive and constructive points but i felt that overall the majority were positive which definitely fills me with confidence.

Some of the most pointed out positive aspects of the trailer included the text, almost everyone I've shown including the three people that gave proper feedback and others have said that they liked the use of text and also the effects used on the text. They say that it looks professional and certainly enhances the feel of an action film rather than distract from it. This is pleasing as it was the effect i was going for, with the contrast of the clean silver text, and the dirty lens effect from the optical flare. If i was to redo it the only change i would make would be perhaps exploring moving the text in 3D space rather than just left and right.

Another positive aspect was the music used, most of the people that viewed it liked the fact that the music goes against the general conventions for action trailer music. It was different however still managed to enhance the feel rather than take from it, and made it feel more original. I'm really happy with the choice of music and probably wouldn't change it if I were doing it again.

Some of weaknesses that were pointed out included the fact that some of the footage was shakey, there was intention for the footage to have a shakey hand-held effect to it however due to lack of equipment some of it appeared more unstable than would have been preferred, the same goes for the lighting of the footage. I wanted it to have a darker feel and deliberately used lights to create high contrast, however due to the low quality of lights being used they didn't particularly give off enough light than what would have been desirable. If doing it again i would make sure to organise myself better so that i can gain access to better equipment and lighting.

Trailer Feedback

Conventions of an Action Trailer

The main conventions of an action movie trailer consist under:

1. Editing

Usually action trailers are mostly if not entirely consistent of quick editing. The shots are very short action shots from the film that are quickly pieced together almost entirely using cut transitions. The style of editing is very important to an action trailer as it conveys the feel of the film. for example a trailer which is composed entirely of quickly edited short action shots, is likely to give the feel of a film which centres more around the action and visual effects, such as The Expendables. However a trailer for a film that includes fewer action shots intertwined with shots that give away some story, is likely to be a film that only includes action to aid the story telling, rather than being just a visually exciting film.

2. Music

The choice of music used in an action trailer can definitely effect the feel of the it, the majority of action films use either rock or orchestral music in the trailer. Orchestral is often used for more epic blockbuster films, like "Transformers". Whereas standard action films such as "End Of Watch" use songs from a more Rock genre. Orchestral is mainly used to emphasise epic and dramatic films. While on the other hand as Rock is more upbeat, its usually used for the more fast pace, trigger happy, explosion riddled actions films. It makes the viewers more pumped up and excited for the film.

3. Cinematography
How the shots are captured have a large impact on the whole feel of the video, each different type of shot is used for a different purpose to give a different effect or feel to the video. Low angle shots denoting power are often used to highlight the protagonist and antagonist. A variety of shot types are used in action trailers purely becuase they often have a large number of shots in them. The camera is usually handheld to give the effect that the viewer is more involved in the film.

Finished Trailer

Questionnaire Analysis

The results of the questionnaire show that the age range that enjoyed action movies the most were between 13 and 25 but mostly between 13-17. Less people under the age of 12 enjoyed watching action films, most likely because the majority of action films have a higher age rating so they can't view them. ages between 25-50 also enjoy action films whereas ages above 50 tend to have less interest.

The majority of people that enjoyed action films tended to be male, far fewer were female. Other results from the questionnaire showed that more women prefer romantic comedy films and dramas over action films.

The results show that action films are the most popular type of film to watch out of the people i asked by some margin. The second most popular, by a considerable amount was Comedy, shortly followed by Horror and Romantic. Action and Comedy are two genres that are often found mixed together in films