Final Magazine Cover

This is the final magazine cover we created. Like the poster, we made a few changes at the end of production as all three of our products came together. We changed the font to synchronise with the poster. The blue tone of the photograph looks unusual and effective, and overall i think the magazine cover turned out fantastically, and compares well with existing film magazines in the market.

Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
For the trailer, magazine cover and film poster, we researched into existing products in similar genres to analyse conventions throughout, as well as what is more effective than others in terms of technique. conventions are extremely important as they are an immediate code to the audience and signal to them using image, colour etc. that become regular and therefore familiar to the audience.

However as well as keeping to conventions, they can also be broken to make the plot more exciting or unique. Although it is best not to break too many convnetions in one piece of media. We have used forms and convention throughout our media through the use of colours as we have kept to the obvious thriller colours such as black and red, as well as through font. With our film trailer, we used many close up shots which portrays intensity and is also mysterious. The most common thriller convention used in our trailer is probably the fast paced editing at the end, as well as the dramatic music, which we edited alongside to match the pace. We used a split screen technique in the improved version of our trailer, which can also been seen in the Taken trailer as it is again, a thriller convention.

Our group decided from the very start that we wanted to challenge a major thriller convention in order to give our product a unique selling point. We evaulated how we could challenge a range of different forms, such as time period and location. We settled on challenging the concept of gender in a trailer as the commom plot is for the male to play the hero, whilst the female character portrays someone weak and in need of help. Therefore the reversal of these roles would be extremely interesting and also something unique for the audience. Propp has a theory of there only being 8 characters in any one media text. Although the genders are reversed, the explanations and motivations of each character still fits into his character theory as shown below;
The female protagonist is the hero, whilst the male is the "damsel in distress" as well as the typical bad guy, and the helper - Elana.

We used 2 very conventional pieces of non-diegetic music to enchanse firstly "dragster wave" the regular scene of Mia's everyday routine at work in her office, and then the action packed thriller mood which is suddenly introduced - "code breakers". Using 2 pieces of music made the trailer a lot more interesting as the calm music being overshadowed by the panicked and quick paced track symbolises distruption, and it is very conventional to change the music during a trailer. The other non-diegetic sounds we used were the thunder sound effects, the phone ringing, the dial tone at the end and the heavy breathing.

Tzvetan Todorov has a theory of disrupted equilibrium, which our plot follows, alike many Hollywood Blockbusters do also.
1) State of Equilibrium in the beggining – Brett proposes to Mia at a restaurant. Romantic and happy occasion with friends. Everyone is having a good time which - relaxed atmosphere.
2) Disruption of the Equilibrium by some action – Brett is missing for a couple of days, Mia currently unaware and is carrying on with her everyday routine, but is concerned that something is not right
3) Recognition that there has been a disruption – Mia receives a phone call from a mysterious caller informing her that Brett has been kidnapped.
4) Attempt to repair the disruption – Mia goes in search of her boyfriend and has to go through clues and obstacles in order to find him.
5) Restoring the Equilibrium – When Brett is saved, happy ending.


After watching 'Film Noir' in class, i discovered and learned about chiaroscuro - the contrast of light e.g. this portrait is chiaroscuro


We used chiaroscuro in the phone call scene on Deans character, which is fitting to his characters dark and mysterious personality. You can see in this screencap how we used the chiaroscuro effect, which was acheived by turning out the lights & holding up a lamp on one side of deans face whilst filming. I think this is extremely effective, especially for the plot situation as our main protagonist dosnt know who is calling her.



We mainly stuck with the forms and conventions for both the magazine and poster, such as colour scheme and font.

How efective is the combination of your main product and arcilliary texts?
The way we worked throughout the entire process was by constantly contributing ideas and working on the trailer, movie poster and magazine cover simultaneously. We flicked back and fourth between the three different projects, keeping each one fresh & meaning we didnt get a chance to get fed up with any of them, which was a great technique and far better than if we had worked constantly on the trailer, then moved onto the poster then magazine etc. We made sure that small details, like the same font being used throughout, because this leaves a strong impression on the audience and it is a sign that the particular font is linked to our movie franchise. Also, having the female actors face on both the poster and magazine will get her popular with the audience is another image they can relate to. and on Therefore i believe our group successfully produced a synergetic campaign.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?
During our planning process, each member of our group created an online poll on our blogs, each concerning a different matter about either the trailer, magazine or poster. The poll i created was regarding the movie slogan; i came up with 4 potential sloagans, all in realtion to the plot, and asked the audience which they prefered. However, 2 of the slogans got a tie on the votes, so i therefore combined them both, coming up with 'An epic tale about a girls fight for true love' The poll was a really good idea to get our audience involved with the planning process, as well as get some outside ideas and opinions.

We have shown the final pieces to our target audience (people aged 15-30) and they enjoyed the trailer, and think the magazine and poster looks proffesional. Through all the feedback, the one consistant opinion that most seemed to agree on is that the trailer was repetitive. Therefore our feedback for our improved trailer recieved far more positive feedback, as we managed to correct any of the negative feedback from the first time around, which is exactly what we were aiming for when improving.

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
During the project i have gotten the chance to use a wide range of different media technologies to help contribute to to the construction of our final products, as well as throgh the planning stages. During filming, we used a sony handycam, which was fun to use, as well as a tripod in certain shots. We also used lighting equipment, for example for Nicks phone call scene, we shot in the dark and used a handheld light to shine on Nicks face, giving the chiaroscuro effect.
Obviously to record all of the obstacles and decisions I have used Blogspot. Not only was using an online blog easier than creating a portfolio/foolder, but it was also quicker, leaving more time to spend on our actual product.
I used the schools Apple Mac Computers as these have photoshop installed, to create my film poster and film magazine, which i really enjoyed doing and found far more easy than last year when i was using photoshop for the first time. As well as photoshop, our group used a software called 'Premier Pro' on which we edited our trailer, I enjoyed experimenting on premier pro, and although it is more advanced than any editing software i have used previously, the general layout and controls are similar.
Alex used garageband to edit some sound effects that were used in the trailer, as well as a green screen for the commentary. Of course i also used internet explorer to research on exisitng trailers, posters and magazine covers.
Youtube helping considerably as it contains hundreds upon hundreds of trailers to reference to throughout. As well as the social newworking website 'Facebook' which was a great way to acheive some client feedback from our target audience
In my second year of taking media, i know i feel far more comfortable using the technologies and understanding the process of reseach, planning and evaluation stages and what needs to be done.

Film Poster Development

We decided this photograph to be the one featured on our poster because the stance that Steph is in shows vulnerability and synchronizes with the plot extremely well, giving the audience a correct idea of the tone of the film. There is also alot of background space, big enough to fit all the text a poster would need on. The background also demonstrates that the plot is set in a city location, which is in keeping with other thriller films, as well as informing the viewer even further. We chose a bold and powerful font for the title, as it is the most important part of the poster. It is in white to contrast against the black background, making it eeyevatching to the public.


Next we added the cast members names along the top of the poster. Red symbolises love and danger, as well as being a typical colour associated with thrillers. We experimented with an image of Nick in his character pose of being dominant. Making the image a little trasparant, giving the effect of Nick being the 'ghost of the past' in terms of the plot storyline. We used the magnetic lasso tool on photoshop and cut around the sillohette of Steph, and layered it over Nick, to demonstrate her importance of character in the film.



Using the results from the online poll i created, we added underneath the movie title the official slogan. It is in red text to keep to the simplistic colour scheme and match the actors names which are placed at the top. After analysing existing posters, we found many of them contained credits situated at the bottom in a white font. It looks extremely professional and we therefore decided to add this feature to our poster. The white shows up clearly on the black coat Steph is wearing. As well as this production information, we included a website especially for the film, making it easier for the audience to access further film details, as well as being another promotional element.



In the next stage, we experimented with adding our third main character, Eugene, onto the poster. In this photo he is happy and smiling, as this represents him as being innocent, especially contrasted with the stern expression Nick is giving. However, we all decided that the image was unconvention for a thriller poster and distrupted the heavy mood.



After removing the Eugene image from the bottom right hand corner, we then placed the film production credits in the middle of the page, to make it more central and balanced.I think it looks far more professional in this position. We also added a release date as this is a vital piece of information for the audience, once again in red text, tieing in with our colour palette. As well as the release date, an age certificate was added into the bottom left corner to make the audience aware of how violent some scenes may be, which once again enforces the thriller genre, as they conventionally contain disturbing scenes.

Final Film Poster

This is the final film poster we created to go as part of a set along with the trailer and magazine cover. As you can see, we changed a few more things at the end, such as the title font. Not all of us were satisfied with the block font, and prefered someting more original. Together we searched www.dafont.com and after experimenting with a range of different fonts, decided on this one. It is unique, yet slides perfectly into the thriller genre thanks to the shaky looking letters and white 'scratches' around the edge. Originally it was a black font with a white forground, we therefore had to invert the colours so that it would stand out. We therefore changed the font on the magazine cover also, as this synchronizes the image, sending a stronger message out to the audience. We added a rating of 4 stars as this makes it look even more proffesional, and 4 stars is more realistic than 5. The credits at the bottom are stretched across more as this looks more appealing to the eye. After many weeks of research, consideration and experimention, we have conculded on this being the final draft of our film poster. It is conventional to the typical thriller poster and was inspired from the research we each carried out.

Planning for our promotional poster

Shanyse came up with these plans in preparation for when we begin to make our poster. This gives us a chance to experiment with different potential layouts and decide which is best both for our audience and a selling point of view, as well as fitting with our thriller theme. Each draft is different, and there is a selection of both close ups and long shots. As well as the movie title being placed in a range of positions. Comparing all four together will help for us to decide which looks best and which is most effective. My favourite is the first one as the close up shot showing only parts of the face is intriguing and perfect for a thriller. I think having the movie title spelt down the side like how it is in number 4 is not such a great idea as it makes it harder for the audience to read and therefore is not an effective selling technique.

Photoshoot

We arranged a photoshoot with our main female protagnist Steph as she is a vital character, and having a female on the poster and magazine cover continues our tradition of breaking the gender conventions. Nick took these photos on his proffesional camera, and i think they turned out amazingly well thanks to the high quality. As well as the emotion expressed by Steph through her eyes and body language.

Film Poster Comparison Analysis Table

Film Poster Analysis

Movie Poster Analysis

I chose to analyse this poster for 'New Moon' because i have watched the movie, and as well as partly being a thriller, the love triangle sitaution is also present. This is represented through the stance of the three characters on this movie poster. The current boyfriend is positioned on the far left, with the jelous character in the middle attempting to seperate him from the female character. From this image alone, the audience can guess there is some sort of love triangle happening in the plot. Therefore, if we position our characters well enough, like the way we practised in the mock photos, we can portray an extremely strong message to our audience.



I chose to analyse this 'Panic Room' poster as i also analysed the film trailer, and therefore as a pair it is helpful to see how corresponding they are of one another. There is little image on the poster, as either side is taken up in a black block. This makes the main image, even more concentrated and important. The eyes stand out the most, as they are alert and full of emotion and apprehension. The black figure walking in the background is also a vital point on the poster, as it defines the thriller genre. The fact that the female character cannot see the figure builds the suspense even further.

Costume Designs

As I also take Textiles for A Level, I volunteered to brainstorm what costume our characters should be wearing to fit their character. Costume plays an important part in the appearance as it helps for the audience to easily identify each character due to conventions across all movies.

Our Cast

Stephanie Ashley plays the main female character 'Mia' and we chose steph because she looks the the stereotypical college student & down to earth girl. She is also confident and was excited to take on the role, which is exactly what we needed as she carries the story. This breaks regular thriller film conventions, and therefore by having a female as the lead and responsible for saving the situation, it becomes our unique selling point to the audience.



This is Eugene McIntyre, who we have selected for the part of the new fiance 'Brett'. Once again, his appearence is stereotypical of the male student. He appears to be a strong character and in control in the relationship, which is shown through his proposal to Mia. However, this image is shattered when he is kidnapped, and the role reversal of Mia, then trying to save him.



Nick Jackman is playing the role of the 'bad guy' Dean. He was a part of our media group last year and therefore has experience infront of the camera, and also understands all of the techniques etc. we have to consider when filming, which made him a great cast member.

Script

We spent a lesson working on the initial outline of what the script for our trailer should be. We decided as a group what dialogue was vital, as thriller trailers typically do not give a vast amount of the plot away, in order to sustain mystery and suspense. The majority will likely be voiceovers, as these are once again typical of the thriller genre, so as to not give away exactly what character is saying what.

Photoshoot Ideas

Last Week we had a session of composing mock photos, playing around with interesting compositions, ready to take our real photos with the cast. The characters we focused on were Brett and Dean. Therefore the actions and emotions between them needed to look terrorising, and Dean must look especially powerful over Brett. We used a chair as a prop, so that Brett could sit down, making him appear shorter contrasted to Dean, who would be standing over him. These mannerisms will send a clear message to the audience, about who is the conventional bad guy, and who is the weak victim. This is a photo of myself, instructing Alex and Leyla, who were acting as Dean and Brett, how to position themselves infront of the camera as i was taking the photo.

My Poster

I made my own draft of the reprisal poster, once again experimenting and practising on photoshop. The photos Nick took of our main female character Stephanie turned out amazingly well. I chose my favourite which was one of her with her hood up and with tears in her eyes where she had been crying. I then cut the photo in a lightening bolt shape, which i chose the signify the anger within the film of the characters, making sure to include her eyes in the shape as they are the most effective part of the photo and show alot of emotion. I wanted the overall poster to look simplistic and placid as this would fit with the thriller/mystery feel. I chose black to be the background colour as this is a typical colour for this genre, and it is very contrasting against the white. All of the text is in the same font, emphasizing furthermore the simplistic theme. The movie title is placed at the top and in the largest font because it is the most important piece of information on the poster. I rotated the tagline, making it fit along the lines of the lightening bolt, adding some intersting composition and angles. The actors names are fit into the other side of the lighening bolt, as well as some vital production information at the bottom of the poster in the smallest font.

This is the magazine cover i created on photoshop, it was before we had taken any photos, therefore i drafted it simply to experiment with fonts and the layout, as well as making up some interesting and eye-catching phrases to be put on the cover of the magazine. Originally we had planned for the magazine name to be 'FR Extreme' with the FR standing for film review. However we later concluded that the audience would not understand this abbreviation and settled on calling the magazine, simply 'Extreme' However whilst i was playing around on photoshop, i realized there was enough room to fit 'Film Review' in the top in-between the letters of 'Extreme' This turned out looking really professional and my favourite part of the magazine cover.
I created a banner along the bottom of the magazine as this is a typical convention of magazines

Storyboard

This is the storyboard for our trailer and the general idea for the shots in our trailer and in which order they are going to be in. Alex put this storyboard together from our groups imaginations and perceptions of what the final trailer should look like.

We plan for the trailer to open with an establishing shot of the party scene to give the impression of a relaxed, happy and completely normal environment. The next shot will be the proposal between Mia and Brett and then back to a shot of the crowd cheering and clapping, keeping up the positive and light atmosphere. Then a series of close ups are used to portray the realisation of Mia spotting her ex-boyfriend moving through the crowd, and her shock, before having to compose herself as she realises all eyes are still on her and comes to the conclusion that she was most likely seeing things. Mia and Brett then leave the party and head to their car to drive home. They stop at a petrol station on the way home, by this time it is fairly late and the dark skies set a pathetic fallacy of being in the dark and apprehensive.

Filming Location Shots

On Tuesday 10th November, our entire group as well as Steph, our female lead playing the part of Mia, travelled to London. We made our way to Tower Hill as there are many backstreets with lots of brickwork which gives an effective background. We firstly got a selection of different angles of Steph running up and down the streets looking apprehensive and worried. We also done a really interesting shot of Steph running down a sloped alley whilst we jogged backwards with the camera infront of her. The shaky effect gave a contrast compared to the steady shots. There was a garage which looked abandoned and the atmosphere fit perfectly with the thriller theme, and so we had Steph run to the garage in a panic, as if she is searching for her kidnapped fiance. We made our way to London Bridge to get some establishing shots of the city. We panned across the River Thames from where we stood on the bridge.

Cold Christmas

I came up with a location i have heard about called cold christmas which i believe is extremely relevant to our thriller genre and will look effective enough to set a moody, apprehensive atmosphere, typical to that of a thriller.
We decided that for the scenes for when the boyfriend is being tortured, this cold christmas location would be ideal as it is a rural area, compared to London where the characters originally are in their state of equilibrium before the trouble starts, this completely different setting will show that the boyfriend has been kidnapped & taken a fair distance away, making the challenge even harder for the female, and all the more thrilling. It is also a contrast from the original busy city and also it sticks to the conventions of these dark, unusual events taking place in a secluded place where there are not many people around.

Our plot follows the theory of Tzvetan Todorov about disrupted equilibrium, which is a typically popular convention of many Hollywood Blockbusters. Our plot follows the rules of a disrupted equilibrium as it starts out with the characters in harmony, in a happy situation as the boyfriend proposes to the female lead. Then the atmosphere dramatically changes and the boyfriend is kidnapped, causing a state of destruction and complete disequilibrium. The motivation for the female during the remainder of the movie is to acheive the original state of equilibrium and save her boyfriend However obviously this is not the order in which our plot will describe the events as we must highlight only the most exciting and action packed moments in our trailer in a mixed up order in order to make the trailer as thrilling as possible and engage the audience and persuade them to want to see the movie.

Which slogan is most catchy?

In class we decided we would each create a poll to put on our blogs in order to receive feedback from outsiders as well as get some insight into what attracts our target audience.
These are the slogan ideas i came up with. Please Vote for the slogan you think is most relevant as well as eye catching and easy to remember.

getting started on filming

In one of out double lessons, nick, alex, leyla, shanyse & I started "practise filming" to get an idea of the camera angles we wanted to acheiive. We made mock scenes & experimented with the camera as we had not used it since our chase scene project last summer. It was a relief to finally film something & see our plot idea come to life on camera. We also drove to the petrol station where we plan to film part of our trailer to take some photos there to get a sense of the environment there. It was a really productive lesson & has gotten us all in the mood to get started properly on our trailer!

Theories

In class we have been studying 'German Expressionism' which consequently bought on 'Distortion' which is angles and shadows being distorted to make them larger and more scary:- GEOMETRIC PATTERN. This is a theory we should consider as it would fit perfectly in with our thriller genre. We should plan out in consideration where the camera needs to be placed so that interesting angles are created on screen. Distortion is also a clever way of making objects appear larger than they truly are.


Levi Strauss was most noted for his theory of binary oppositions; a pair of theoretical opposites. In a thriller genre this could be the ugly vs. the beautiful or the smart vs. the scruffy.

A fabula is the whole story before, during and after what we see or hear.
Whereas for our trailer we will only get the chance to demonstrate the 'syuzhet' which is only the events we see or hear within the field of vision.

A Thriller Is...

“Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film, television, and gaming that includes numerous and often overlapping sub-genres. Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more-powerful and better-equipped villains.” (Wikipedia)

First Plot Draft

Our First plot Draft

In a the busy centre of London, 2 ordinary teenagers were going about there everyday lives. school, homework and tests were all a chore, everything was completely normal, but when one of them is invited to a party and over hears a conversation between some shady characters everything changed!
Natalie an ordinary schoolgirl finds herself fighting for her boyfriends life. The police won't help her because his existence has been wiped! all she has is word of mouth and having to overcome many obstacles means every step that she takes, is another step towards never seeing him again.
An epic love tale about a girls fight for true love!


This is the first overall outline of our plot that we have decided on so far. It fits into the thriller genre well and the kidnapping theme was influenced by Nick and Leylas analysis of the thriller 'Taken' which is based on a ransom. However, in order to give our plot a unique selling point, we needed to come up with an interesting twist. I wanted to break some conventions in the form of mixing time periods e.g. having a character from the future in the present day in a thriller situation as it would be interesting to see how someone with a maybe more advanced knowledge would tackle the stressful situation and cope in the world. However this may be too complicated and therefore we decided instead to break the gender conventions by having the female as the hero saving the male, which is completely opposite and breaks all regular gender conventions of the huge, muscular, fearless male rescuing the damsel in distress, and the fact that the main character is female is unstereotypical and therefore, our unique selling point.

Our Second Plot draft

Holly was an ordinary 20 year old, fresh out of the University of Greenwich. Holly's life was great she had a much desired job with times magazine and a handsome boyfriend who she adored. On the night of her 21st birthday she celebrated with all of her friends at a club, the night was young but mike holly's boyfriend could not contain himself, in the middle of this packed party he got onto one knee and proposed to his darling holly. The happy couple headed home but mike needed to fill the car with petrol, they stopped off at the nearest petrol station and filled up, she went in to pay. That was when holly's great night turned bad. She turned with a smile to her boyfriend but he didn't smile back. He was being dragged into a blacked out Mercedes and all holly could do was scream. Trying to find him brings up many obstacles which mean every step that she takes, is another step towards never seeing him again. An epic love tale about a girls fight for true love!

This is the second draft we came up with. However i want to change the main female characters name to something other than Holly as it will get confusing having the same name as me. Also we have since decided a scene in an abandoned petrol station late at night would be an amazing scene to set some shots in as it has the thriller, creepy vibe.

Trailer Analysis: Panic Room and The Dark Knight

As research for our project, each one in our group is analysing an existing thriller genre film to achieve some ideas and find out what the typical conventions a thriller genre holds. We can see what works well, & what we like & dislike about the movie. I decided to watch a film called Panic Room. It stars Jodie Foster & Kristen Stewart and was made in 2002. The plot revolves around a recently divorced middle ages woman and her daughter who have just moved into their New York apartment & it is their first night. When burglars break late that night looking for money, the woman & her daughter hide in the panic room upstairs, however money they want is in the panic room.

This film really builds the tension. The entire movie happens one evening in one location.


I also analyzed the trailer. The opening shot is an establishing shot, panning across New York City, which is obviously an extremely busy city and typical for the thriller genre because anything can happen there. Also, the fact that this storyline is set in such a popular & normal place like New York is even more terrifying for the audience because these terrible events can happen anywhere to anyone. At the start there are many fades to black in between each scene which is suitable for the genre. The inside of the New York apartment is introduced to us & we see that it is old fashioned & very large with several floors & almost completely empty as they have just moved in. The emptiness gives the audience an Erie feel & makes the two women in the apartment seem very vulnerable and unprotected. There are lots of stair bannister's in each shot, which symbolise entrapment, which is obviously the major theme in this movie. It also shows irony as the woman says 'its just the two of us' which makes us suspicious and we find out, it is untrue as they are soon joined by 'bad guys.' There is a really interesting camera shot half way through the trailer where the camera zooms out the bedroom door and backwards through the gaps in the bannister's. It ducks and flies down two levels to reveal the silhouette of a masculine character peering through the window. This camera shot demonstrates how far away the characters are from where the 'bad guys' are entering and therefore, how unaware they are. This is a typical thriller convention as we want to know if & when the character will realise they are in danger and if it will be too late. The overall colour palette of the trailer is extremely dreary, many blacks, blues & greys. This is something we must consider in our trailer as it sets the mood very easily. 1 minute into the trailer, slow music starts to play, building the tension that implies something exciting is about to be shown. The exciting bit is played in slow motion, which helps us to gather what exactly is happening, especially in a trailer because it is so short. Suddenly the music gets louder and faster and builds to a climax then abruptly goes silent. This is a typical technique for thriller genres. It ends with diagetic sound of a voice being played over a black & the movie title showing. Narrative structure, iconography and characterisation have been usesd in Panic Room as the narrative structure is organized in the typical way, it starts at the start and takes place over one night. The character conventions are broken because its the woman and the daughter vs. the three guys, but in the end the woman and the daughter win. Also, they are represented as very smart because she works out ways to defeat the men. Similarly, the daughter is not represented as weak, she too atempts at defeating the men.

I really love the way this trailer starts, with each 'boom' of music, a image is shown in time with the sound. This builds suspense, which is released when you see the man jump off the building. This gets off to a quick start and lets you know straight away that it is going to be an exciting thriller. The production company logos etc. are displayed here. The camera angles sweeping the city at the beggining are amazing and set the location perfectly. It then slightly tones down, some more characters being introduced sitting in an office and getting more in depth into plot, next a car is shown crashing through a wall, then the shot goes back to the people in the office. These changes of atmosphere make the exciting scenes appear even more exciting and significant, as they are in short bursts between the less exciting but vital scenes. The appearence of the character 'The Joker' is striking as he looks so unlike anything else, drawing the attention of the audience as they are interested to know more about this unusual creature. The huge explosions demonstrate what is to come in the film, as they are so extreme, and demonstrate that a large budget has been used to fund as well as special effects. The contrast between scenes that show reality and an everyday life such as the people in the restaurant and at a party, and the extreme shots of unrealistic circumstances are interesting, and indicates that these events are occuring in the real world to normal people, which makes the plot easier for the audience to relate to. The music really gets going around halfway through which is when the majority of the exciting thriller scenes are shown, edited in a fairly fast pace for anticipation. Overall this trailer is great at capturing the attention of the audience due to each snippet of an important and shocking scene.

We Have Decided!

Year 13, A2 Level Media ... Here We Go!
I am in a group of 5 alongside Alex Whittall, Nick Reilly, Leyla Ahmet & Shanyse Johnson. We have decided out of music video or film trailer, to go with the film trailer. Personally i would have preferred to go with the music video but got outvoted by the other members of the group. However we know that with a film trailer, we can include dialogue which makes the plot easier for the audience to follow. We have also decided that we want to make a trailer for a thriller genre & over the next week need to decided on a plot so we can get started :)

Walk Chase Sequence Preliminary Task

In class we were asked to do a walk chase sequence through the school. We planned out the plot of the sequence, & where exactly we wanted to film. Nick & Alex were the actors in the scene, & luckily were already wearing suits as this is the sixth form uniform, so they already looked the part of the stereotypical character involved in a chase scene. However this caused a problem as the next day we filmed, some of their clothes were different, causing continuity issues. But this will remind us in future to make sure of our outfits being consistent throughout the shoot. It was really fun filming around the school & it is surprising how using the right camera angles can make it not look like a school at all. As well as in the school, we also shot accross the road in the park, the change of location making the entire scene more interesting. We had a selection of music tracks suitable & it took us a while to decide on one, as they were all quite different & gave the chase a completely different vibe. The one we decided sets an extremely serious mood & builds the tension.

8 Second Music Video Preliminary Task

We were asked to make a music video for the song 'harder better faster stronger' by daft punk, but for only 8 seconds of the song & it had to be completed in one lesson. We wanted to portray stereotypes & therefore each of us had a character role. The two typical stereotypes; the popular guy playing basketball & the typical girl skipping. Contrasted to the unstereotypical; the girly popular girl playing rugby & the geeky boy playing football. Both totally out of their comfort zones. The editing is really fast & matches the song really well. It was a lot of fun to film because as it was simply a task in lesson, we were not under pressure to film perfectly. A fun fact to know is that when Nick is playing basketball & shoots the ball into the hoop, that was not in fact achieved by him. He spent ages trying to shoot the ball but it refused to go in the hoop. We all ended up having a try & failed every time until luckily Alex finally gets it in. Then after wards we filmed Nick throwing the ball & edited it so that it appears it really IS him shooting the hoop!

Laughley 2007

"Media theory can be defined as a systematic way of thinking about means of commiunication"
"Theory is really nothiing more than a way of thinking what is more systematic & sophisticated than thinking in an everyday sense"

my first blog ... :D

so this is basically a test. i have set up this blog for my media coursework. sooo here we go (: