Introduction

Introduction

My information

Name: Anna-Louise Bradford

Candidate no: 5180

Centre number: 16607

Hi, welcome to my blog. Here, you will find all the varying processes I went in order to research, construct and evaluate a promotional film package for the documentary 'The Damnation'. My chosen pieces were a trailer, poster and magazine cover. To the side of my blog, you will be able to find links to my blog from the previous year, along with my teacher's 'hub' for Media Studies at Southend High School for Girls.

Final Products

Finished Products

Trailer
(Please turn annotations off for first viewing)

Poster

Magazine Cover

Evaluation

Q4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?


Below, I have produced a Prezi presentation to answer this question. Please view in full screen (hover over 'more' > full screen) to really appreciate it! All you have to do is press play once you have read a piece, then it should move on to the next piece of text.

Evaluation

Q3 What have you learned from your audience feedback?

For this question, I have produced a presentation to show you my results from my audience feedback. You will find it below.

Below, I have put together a collage of words which people said my trailer made them feel. I thought this was a great idea to see what kind of words people said. This also reinforces the idea that my trailer is a negotiated reading as people bring their own ideas and experiences to it, and all have different feelings when they watch it.

Evaluation

Q2 How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

My focus group was very important for me through construction stages of my products as they were able to give me constructive criticism to improve them. Audience feedback was invaluable in the end as it gave me the satisfaction that I couldn't perform more to it unless I had more-professional equipment.
I had to choose a variety of different ages when getting audience feedback so it represented a wider spectrum of my target audience.

A YOUNGER AUDIENCE INTERVIEW

AN OLDER AUDIENCE INTERVIEW
Here, I have interviewed my mother who was around the era that I have done my documentary on. She would be one of the prime demographics that I was aiming my documentary for, so I thought it would be important to ask her some questions about it. The first rough 10 seconds are silence, please carry on listening until you hear our voices.

From this I have learned..

• Yes, good summary of what's to come and what the documentary is about
• Can be used on television as an advert
• The poster, magazine and trailer connect together - same fonts, same colour scheme
• Reminds people about the punk age
• Those people that were punks would be interested - nostalgia-building and also people from that time to be reminded of what it was like
• Also interest younger people that are influenced by them
• Associate a documentary with television but could be used in cinema
• Magazine looks realistic - can be aligned with Mojo and NME
• Portrays the punk genre perfectly
• Three products have to come out at the same time 

Things I could improve on..

• Didn't know who the person was in the trailer, maybe some indication at the beginning

Please press here to be taken to my questionnaire

Evaluation

Q1 In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real

media products? 


You can read below whilst you listen. It includes links to trailers that I have similar conventions to.

In order for my trailer to portray itself as being realistic and true, I set out to find typical codes and conventions of similar media products which i could then relate to my own. The obvious convention that is shown typically in any trailer is text, anchoring what is said or to try and engage the audience more. You will be able to see this as a predominant feature in many trailers, not just music ones. Examples for my benefit were Talihina Sky, The Rise and Fall of The Clash and Filth & The Fury. (links)  I used this throughout my trailer, for example to anchor what my protagonist is saying when he is describing the punk scene in the particular time period. I also used it to reinforce what the trailer is about and to try and attract my target audience more, by using sentences and words like 'experience it again' and 'nostalgia coming your way'. 

Another way i developed the same forms and conventions of a real media product was the variety of footage put in, with voiceovers and real time music. Similar to The Clash documentary above, I used many different shots of old footage from the era I was doing it on. I didn't just stick to a shot of my protagonist talking then go on to footage of something, but actually intertwined all of them together so it flowed more and looked more realistic, alike many of the other trailers above. 
At the start of The Clash documentary, there was a shot I was influenced by when filming my own. I thought the beginning was really effective of a person graffiti'ing on a wall the name of the band: The Clash. The exert I cut out can be found here and I have put this earlier in my blog. As you will be able to see by my trailer I produced, I used this idea near the end of it as a background to reviews of the documentary. I thought this was effective because it symbolises the characteristics of a punk eg rebellious.


On another note, i also combined different shot types within the trailer to provide variety - this included high shots, mid shots, head shots etc with a use of the rule of thirds which i found a predominate feature in most documentary trailers with interviews. Many of the trailers I watched used the rule of thirds when performing an interview. If we look at Talihina Sky by itself for a minute, you will be able to see that when interviewing the members of the band, and family members, the camera puts them in a '1/3' of the shot. This makes it more aesthetically pleasing on the eye.

Lastly, a big feature which I played on was the use of stereotypes and props. In The Filth and Fury, you will get a feel for the genre of the film. This is done subconsciously by the mis en scene used for example of props, camera shots, language and lighting. Throughout my  trailer, i attempted to portray the typical '80s punk' by using darker lighting, reinforcing his tone of voice, cigarette smoking and the rough, rebellious concert footage found. I feel this is an important convention of the trailer as it reinforces and tells the audience that the genre of the film is music punk history and would also draw in my target audience. 

*PLEASE VIEW MY TRAILER AGAIN AND PRESS THE ANNOTATIONS ON AS I HAVE ADDED THEM TO EVALUATE IT COMPARED TO OTHER MEDIA PRODUCTS*

Article

I found this interesting...


"Music documentaries a tough sell"
In this article I came across, it talks about how 'filmmakers struggles to find a niche that works'. Filmmakers have found it hard to distribute films if there is not a superstar artist and/or a big name director's name attached. 


This made me think of my film and whether or not it would be a big enough sell to be shown in the cinema. It also made me think of my target audience, and the demographics of the population. Was there enough people that would see this in the cinema? Would people be interested in watching it? Even better, would people PAY to see it?


To conclude, I have realised that my documentary would be probably best to be shown on the television rather than the cinema, then be available to purchase online/as a dvd. This gives people the opportunity to watch it first, and then choose to buy it if they liked it. This would mean a lot of advertising would have to be done, to ensure people knew that this was going to be shown. I don't think this would be a profit-maximiser, but I think it will go down well with a good proportion of the public. I will look into this more in my evaluation when I get audience feedback.

Link: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002637?refCatId=3601