IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE,

DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS

OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

BY JORDAN LAKE

During the research and planning stage, I made sure that I knew of many different codes and conventions of film trailers. First of all I started by watching action film trailers, for example Gangster Squad, I did this with many trailers while taking notes. Looking to see what they all had in common and what makes them successful. As well as this, I watch other previous A level media students trailers. I also looked at theories so I could use these theories in my trailer but first I had to choose which one best fit the idea I had, and after a while I found Vladimir Propp to be the most interesting and best fit for my trailer idea.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING STAGE

IMAGES OF RESEARCH

Here is

an image of t

he

rese

arch th

at I ca

rried out

for the differe

nt theorie

s.

Here is an image of

the research of the

MUSICThroughout my trailer, I used forms and conventions with music from real media products. Firstly the start scene has non diegetic music playing in the background, this music is intriguing but it also give the hit to the audience that something major is about to happen which will encourage them to keep watching the trailer. It is important for the audience to be hooked within the first few seconds of a trailer as that way they will keep watching it. This is a form and convention because most other successful trailers will try to give hits, and incise the audience to watch the rest of the trailer.

MUSICFurthermore it came apparent to me that trailers sometimes have words in the trailers which go with the song. Therefore I included this in my own trailer at the “TERRORISM” and “RACISM”. This matched the song so it looked and sounded effective as well as linking in well with what was happening in the trailer. I also did this with “ANYTHING” at 1:29 in my trailer. From my research little things like this makes the trailer look more professional and interesting. Almost like the music was made specially for the trailer although it wasn’t.

As well as this, I only have 3 main pieces of music played throughout the scenes of the trailer; excluding the last one which was to show the audience the trailer had finished. This is very common for trailers, having 3 different types of music which all fit trailer make it able to flow better as what you can hear matches what you are watching.

MUSIC Lastly ensuring that the music matched what the was happening in the trailer was a vital convention I wanted to follow. For example I kept the rapping music for when the gang was killing the girl because that’s the sort of music people associate with gangs and violence. It fitted well because it was fast paced and aggressive music which matched the aggressiveness that was happening in the trailer at that time. As well as this, every time a big changed happened in the trailer, a new piece of music would start playing to fit this change. For example when the brothers are seen together for the first time at 0:57, the new music starting playing which was upbeat and from this the audience could tell these were the good guys trying to do something good. We see this at the end too where the brothers change their plan and use more aggressive tactics, hence the music change which turns to base fast pace music to show their anger and hate towards the masked man. This is following the conventions of music in trailers as this is what many editors set out to achieve in order to create an effective trailer as possible.

MISE EN SCENE From looking at other film trailers with the same genre as mine, it became clear to me that gang members wore similar outfits to show that they are part of a gang. Therefore when creating characters I ensured that I followed this convention, however I didn’t have the correct clothing I wanted to have my characters in, therefore I had to improvise by using animal masks instead which I believe became very effective. This was to show that they are part of the gang and they work together. As well as this, I wanted the audience to recognise who else was working together, the main two characters so I had them always wear suits and smart clothing to show their seriousness but also give clues to what type of people they are. This shows I have thought out the mise en scene and we stereotype people and I have used that for my advantage so the audience could easy identify the good from the bad characters.

GENDERS & CHARACTERSIt is very typical for trailers with the same genre as mine, to have many more males characters than female. Usually female characters have a big role in films although they might not be on the screen as much as the other characters. I chose to have the female to get killed to make it more meaningful for the brothers to get their vengeance as the audience unintentionally feel more sad when a female character dies over a male one and this is what I wanted. As well as this, females are generally weaker than males and her gender makes her look more innocent. Whereas the male characters look scarier and stronger. Which concluded me to use this stereotype for my advantage.As well as this, I made the gang members look scarier and more tough than the brothers. To counteract this I made sure that the brothers looked smarter than the gang members, so they were coming up with better ideas on how to track down the killers.

GENDERS & CHARACTERS

CAMERA SHOTS AND ANGLES

When constructing my trailer I ensured that I used a wide range of camera shots. I wanted to ensure

that my trailer express a variety. This makes it more exciting and interesting for the audience to watch. I used long shots, medium shots, panning

shots, tilting shots, low angle shot, hand held shots, over the shoulder, zooming, close up and point of view shot. By using these I felt that it

connoted efficiency and skill.

Camera shots and angles

LENGTH OF TRAILERMaking sure the audience watches enough parts of the film in the trailer is important, I wanted to ensure that I made them excited about the film and wanting to watch more and I felt the more I showed them the more they would be eager to watch the film. Therefore I challenge the form and convention of the time length of a normal trailer, usually they are around 1:20 minutes – 2minutes long however mine was 2:55 minutes. I believe showing more parts of the film encourages them to talk about it more therefore promoting the product. I made an effective always interesting trailer to watch, it wasn’t ever boring or dull therefore I believe I successfully challenge forms and conventions in the making of my trailer.

CHALLENGING FORMS AND CONVENTIONS

As well as that, I wanted to have something which most trailers don’t which for me was showing three scenes at the same time, in my opinion it looked very effective and original as all of the scenes link together. This new type of editing will make the audience more interest in the trailer as well as being more enjoyable.

POSTERWhen creating my poster I included my recognisable forms and conventions. Firstly I made sure I had the release date at the top of the poster because this is a vital part of information and people automatically look at the top of the poster for this information. I have it big and bold so it’s easily visible. However it isn’t too big, I would say I have made it best size possible where it stands out but it doesn’t take any of the attention away from the main image.

The main image and title is in the middle of the poster, this is the biggest part of the poster and this is the same as most other film posters so I used this convection. I used the main characters to be the image of the poster because it will make the audience automatically think about the trailer as they are the most recognisable characters.

The background of the poster looks very effective and I have made sure that the colours states that the film is an action based film. These colours give information for the audience without them realising it and they will straight away think action film. This is following forms and conventions because other posters used colour to tell the audience what genre the film is.

Another convention I have used when creating my poster is having the featuring names on the poster so the audience can know who exactly is staring in the film. As sometimes depending on who the actors/actress are it can encourage people to watch the film. As well as that I made sure to include it because makes the poster look more professional.

Having ratings on a poster makes the poster look a lot more professional and if these businesses have given the film a 5 star rating, people will realise the film is good and is going to be a hit so this will encourage the people to watch the film.

Having “OUT IN CINEMAS NEAR YOU SOON” was important convention for me because every poster has it and I wanted to make sure mine looked as professional and real as possible.

POSTER

When constructing the poster I did ensure that I challenge some forms and conventions because I wanted me poster to stand out and look original. First of all I wanted to put my name on the poster just under the title so show the audience who produced the film, I believe this looks good and effective. If I was to produce more films and posters I would do this with all of them as my sign, that way people would get to recognise it.

Another convention that I have made was putting the Vengeance definition in the background in big text above the main image, I believe this looks very professional and interesting. It makes the poster more exciting. Therefore I feel I have successfully challenge the normal conventions of film posters.

POSTER

POSTERORIGINAL POSTER FINISHED POSTER

MAGAZINEWhen making my magazine front cover for vengeance I followed many conventions of a film magazine. First of all I ensured that the main image and title was big and easy to read for the audience. I made the magazine to show off the Vengeance film.

I have included the sweet spot where the majority of information can be found such as what articles are inside and that the magazine includes a giveaway. I have used this convention because I believe it works well and why change something it’s already working.

I have also place the date, price and website on the magazine to give the audience more information, this is a form of conventions because this is usually found on magazines and I wanted to make sure that I didn’t leave out any vital information. Another convention I used was the bar code at on the magazine, this makes the magazine look more real and professional.

I had to make sure that when I was constructing the magazine that It would be recognisable but stand out from the others of the shelves therefore I challenged some forms and conventions.

I did this by using the same image and text front as I did on the poster to ensure that the audience knew that they were linked together. I feel that this has been successful because it was be recognised easily and it always makes the audience think about the trailer.

Another convention that I have challenge is using the red, orange and dark colours to make the magazine stand out from the others because you don’t often see these colours used on a magazine front cover, therefore mine stands out and catches the eye of the audience.

MAGAZINE

MAGAZINE FRONT COVER