Wednesday, 29 April 2015
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Being a teaser trailer, we had to closely use the
conventions of a real trailer format seen in real life media products. Our
piece fits into the conventional time frame for a teaser trailer at 68 seconds
in length. Teaser trailers in general tend to use non-diegetic sound dominantly
to help set the genre, we have conformed to this partially. We used a
non-copyright rap/grime track which is very appropriate to highlighting the
urban drama genre. In addition to this, using Final Cut Pro, we introduced our trailer using a
classical string piece which subverts the idea of using sound fitting with the
genre. This shows us developing, using and experimenting with the concept and
convention of using non-diegetic sound against the trailer shots further than demonstrated in real media products.
It was effective in creating more of a contrast between the two sounds and therefore enhancing the tension being built.
Our use of titles conforms to real media texts. After researching into the appropriate type of credits within trailers, we used credits to express information such as the release date, leading actors involved and relevant reviews. We created our credits using a font which we found after extensively searching on-line for templates, we made sure that we used this font consistently throughout as to conform to the conventions of real teaser trailers. They also conform to the typography of products within the urban drama genre, which is plain and blocked, this was successful in making the genre clear to the audience right from the outset.
Our trailer also conforms in terms of editing, the narrative
is hinted at but not clearly revealed which is an important part of the trailer
format. The disruption of the equilibrium is the most important element to be
shown in a teaser trailer and remains a key convention of real life media products.
This is reflected in the pace of editing we have created, which increases
throughout the trailer to create the panicked and tense tone. We wanted the narrative to be very clear in terms of themes within it, but we were also inspired by trailers such as 'Under the skin' which keeps a large sense of mystery and tend to give a little less away than in other trailers, which is not something that you see in most urban drama trailers. This was our way of challenging and developing trailer features within our chosen genre. This is shown through us briefly introducing characters and not being consistent in showing these characters through our footage for example the low angle close up of a female character.
Our A2 trailer
also conforms to the camera work of real media trailers by instating the
setting through multiple establishing shots of the urban city of London, this is an important feature in trailers as it informs the audience of the general setting of the plot and gives key clues towards the genre. So after research into trailers of our chosen genre we decided to use establishing shots of London's Canary Wharf at the beginning of our trailer.
It conformed very closely to the conventions of our genre by using a London based location, We used various greater London locations, which were concrete based to reinforce the idea of a concrete jungle and to be reminiscent of the poverty of council estates. After researching into the kinds of locations that were generally used in films like 'Fish Tank' and 'Ill Manors' we then scouted for settings and places that fitted this such as the concrete underpass in Greenwhich and the multi storey car park in Bexleyheath.
In terms of conforming to real urban drama trailer texts, we have tightly conformed to the main conventions, this is
demonstrated through our use of mise en scene, the London based setting is
extremely appropriate to our urban genre. As well as this the costumes used
consist of tracksuit garments and designer trainers, which fits well with real
product customs. We found that more often than not urban drama material included characters which had worn designer tracksuit clothing. This also fits appropriately to real life stereotypes which are presented within the genre.
The mise en scene also indicates conformity, through excesses of empty alcohol bottles, rubbish, lighters and baggies distributed through one of the rooms to suggest some of the themes associated with urban drama such as alcoholism and drug use. These hard hitting issues are often explored as part of the social realist approach to the genre, so to us it was essential to express some elements of this in our trailer, we used this kind of mise en scene to do so.
We conformed and developed camera work in urban texts by using a combinations of both hand held documentary styled shots to reinforce the socially real aspects of the piece and make it seem more natural when for the audience for example in the point of view shot, running through the car park.
We also wanted to use more stable styled shots, to make the piece more diverse and to seem choppy so that it created a contrast and un-smooth feel to the flow of the trailer as a whole, to help mirror the disruption of the narrative equilibrium for example some of the shots showing artistic angles.
We challenged and developed the conventions of real media pieces through our research through exploring other kinds of texts aside from trailers. We looked outside of the teaser format at American TV drama for example we looked into the Wire, which is a crime drama often following drug trafficking related issues. We were inspired by the opening sequence of the shows first series, and took influence from this in our drug related shots by using flash zoom effects in our post production development.
The mise en scene also indicates conformity, through excesses of empty alcohol bottles, rubbish, lighters and baggies distributed through one of the rooms to suggest some of the themes associated with urban drama such as alcoholism and drug use. These hard hitting issues are often explored as part of the social realist approach to the genre, so to us it was essential to express some elements of this in our trailer, we used this kind of mise en scene to do so.
We challenged and developed the conventions of real media pieces through our research through exploring other kinds of texts aside from trailers. We looked outside of the teaser format at American TV drama for example we looked into the Wire, which is a crime drama often following drug trafficking related issues. We were inspired by the opening sequence of the shows first series, and took influence from this in our drug related shots by using flash zoom effects in our post production development.
We also looked into actual urban drama films, to help find conventions more relative to the genre, this made sure that it was completely clear to the audience. We looked at films such as Kidulthood and were influenced by this to experiment with the concept of social realism, through using hand held documentary styled shots. British urban drama films also gave us insight into key atmospheric aspects such as the use of grime/rap tracks in non-diegetic sound and the kinds of tracksuit based costumes which would be appropriate to the genre.
Other research we engaged in was that of the working class youth stereotype. We did this by extensively looking through newspaper articles on British youth violent crime and the concept of ASBO culture and using the internet to search for related posts on the main features of such stereotype. This help us a lot when beginning to develop our main characters including the protagonist. Surprisingly, despite some of the research content it really helped us to sympathise with some of the kind of personae we started to establish. This also helped us to create initial costume ideas.
Theories
We thought it was important to compare our piece against film theories as a successful film related text should follow and develop appropriately in accordance to appropriate theories.
Todorov's genre theory claims that 'a new genre is always the transformation of one or several old genres'. Our A2 piece conforms to this as, being an urban drama piece, it takes elements from the gangster genre such as violent aspects shown though the point of view shot of our antagonist laying on the floor in a pool of blood reaching for a bat. The urban locations we have used are something which has been heavily influenced by gangster films. We also take aspects of the action and drama genre such as fast pace and the building of tension which is clear in our A2 teaser trailer in the documentary styled hand held shot running through a car park and the breaking of the fourth wall through direct address with the camera on multiple occasions.
Cameron's narrative theory explains how modular narratives 'articulate a sense of time as divisible and subject to manipulation'. Our piece partially conforms to this. Our piece fits into this with an anachronic modular narrative as we involve the concept of flashbacks and repetition. This can be seen indicated through the use of black and white filter over the shots we present as being from the past. This highlights elements of the plot. Our teaser trailer doesn't follow any of the other types of modular narrative meaning that it does not fully use the conventions of this theory.
It is evident that we have used various methods of challenging, developing and conforming to the conventions of urban drama and the teaser trailer format, Our feedback found that the genre of the piece was clear and easily identified by our target audience and that the convention which we used were successful in conveying this. [click here].
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
As a group, it was deemed important that our teaser trailer, poster and website all successfully represented the urban drama genre as well as that they all generated excitement and interest for our target audience of 15+. It was also important that we remained aware of the social issues our texts represent, which in our case were drug abuse and gang violence.
Typography
We used the same font and typeface across our promotional package. After looking at a selection of fonts on online font provider dafont.com, we chose one which we felt conformed to the modern, simple and bold conventions of typography used in existing films of the urban drama genre. Using the same typography throughout our three texts meant that the promotional package for our film was effectively tied together through clear visual branding. This means the audience is able draw similarities between the texts and view them as a single promotional package.
Imagery
Throughout our promotional package, we ensured to use typical urban locations for mise-en-scene in order to fully conform to the conventions of the urban drama genre. We consistently used urban locations such as an underpass and cityscapes. The Greenwich underpass features heavily in our three texts, especially within our trailer, as the concrete imagery is typically representative of urban environments. The continual use of these types of locations and images throughout our teaser trailer and ancillary texts made it clear to the audience that urban themes feature heavily within our film. Our continual use of imagery also created a sense of homogeny between our three texts which helped the audience associate our three texts together.
Throughout our promotional package, we made sure to use a colour scheme which reflects the urban drama genre as well as the narrative of our film. The majority of the photos and shots used in our promotional package include concrete and artificial materials which conform to the urban drama genre.
Character
From our research into exisiting films and promotional packages of the urban drama genre, we noted that a clear convention was to make the main character of the narrative the audience's focal point. This can be seen throughout our promotional package through the use of our protagonist's face being the focal point and main feature of our texts, most notably in our poster and website. Again, homogeny was created between our three texts through our continual use of our protagonist being the common feature of our three texts. This helps our audience to closely identify each of our texts with one another, making our promotional package whole.
From our research into existing urban drama promotional packages, we also found that different texts are usually more focused on character, mostly the main character of the narrative rather than the plot itself.
Audience feedback
We decided that the best way to retrieve feedback would be through other Media students, who knew what kind of features to look out for in determining the success of our teaser trailer. We came up with some simple questions to distribute amongst the year twelve students and students from other classes in our year. We asked these students to view the trailer once before completing the questionnaire. We chose seven questions to find out which area's we excelled in and which area's were less impressive;
1) Were you able to easily identify the genre of the trailer?
2)Were there enough clues indicating the plot?
3)Was the typography effective?
4) Does the trailer sell the film? Would you like to see it?
5)What was the best feature?
6) other comments?
1)"Good use of shots, location, camera, characters and editing"
2)Really liked this trailer"
3)"Really interesting and unique"
4)"loved the smoke shots"
5)"tracking shots for typography were good"
6)"professional looking"
7)"Well done, especially the mise en scene"
8)"Mise en scene was very good...fitted the genre"
9)"Excellent mise en scene and music"
10)"Good costumes"
11)"Original"
12)"Was everything you would expect as an audience"
13)"Would have loved to watch actual film"
14)"Amazing"
7) What would have improved this piece?
1) N/A "Perfect"
2) N/A
3) N/A "Really good"
4) N/A
5) "If the story line was clearer"
6) " Mum receiving money was odd"
7) "More low key lighting"
8) "Sound could have been changed towards the end"
9) N/A
10) "More clues about narrative"
11) N/A
12) "Sound could have been more tense at certain points"
13) N/A
14) "If music ended clearly"
1) Were you able to easily identify the genre of the trailer?
2)Were there enough clues indicating the plot?
3)Was the typography effective?
4) Does the trailer sell the film? Would you like to see it?
5)What was the best feature?
6) other comments?
1)"Good use of shots, location, camera, characters and editing"
2)Really liked this trailer"
3)"Really interesting and unique"
4)"loved the smoke shots"
5)"tracking shots for typography were good"
6)"professional looking"
7)"Well done, especially the mise en scene"
8)"Mise en scene was very good...fitted the genre"
9)"Excellent mise en scene and music"
10)"Good costumes"
11)"Original"
12)"Was everything you would expect as an audience"
13)"Would have loved to watch actual film"
14)"Amazing"
7) What would have improved this piece?
1) N/A "Perfect"
2) N/A
3) N/A "Really good"
4) N/A
5) "If the story line was clearer"
6) " Mum receiving money was odd"
7) "More low key lighting"
8) "Sound could have been changed towards the end"
9) N/A
10) "More clues about narrative"
11) N/A
12) "Sound could have been more tense at certain points"
13) N/A
14) "If music ended clearly"
What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
When creating a media product it is essential to consider the piece from the audiences view, making feedback a crucial part of the process. It tells us a lot about the audiences perspective on the piece. We gathered this information in various ways, using verbal feedback, youtube comments and a survey given to other media students in our school. This gives us both an idea of the perspective of the general public and also from students who are aware of the kinds of features and conventions to look out for in successful media products. We discovered the worth of audience feedback in our AS coursework, when we used surveying to find out information such as what the title should be and to explore the most appealing plot elements, we used surveymonkey.com to engage with people over the internet.
We decided that we should involve the target audience (15+) from the outset of the drafting process, using a verbal focus group to ask about what they elements they enjoyed most about teaser trailers. We found on a large scale that fast paced trailers were most popular It was also clear that despite the audience wanting to understand what genre they were watching and a general idea of what it entailed, it was vital to not give away the whole plot. We asked the focus group what kind of themes they thought made for an exciting and appealing plot and we learnt that the majority of answers included violence, money, sex and drugs. So this was definitely something we carefully considered when storyboarding initially for our piece and consolidating the plot. By asking the group for examples of their favourite urban drama films and trailers, we were then able to de-construct them and find the reoccurring components, which made them successful, this aided us in our research. We found films such as adulthood and 4.3.2.1 to have the most popular trailers. Through our further research we found that what people found so exciting about modern urban drama, was the sense of 'survival of the fittest' which was often portrayed through the media texts. This influenced us in the plot content and character development for our piece greatly.
Our questionnaire was given to media students completing their AS level Media, although this isn't an appropriate representation of all the people who will see the film, it gave us a more informed idea of what could be improved from a source which could identify the right kind of key aspects which could help us to achieve a higher quality in our product. We asked them to watch the trailer twice through before answering each question, we did this after we had finished creating the piece so that we were able to make informed changes before submission.
The results from this questionnaire found that the genre was very clear to the audience, signifying that the conventions closely follows those appropriate to the urban drama genre. Comments made by the participants such as "Due to location and non-diegetic sound" suggested that we had conformed closely enough to the kinds of features which clearly signify the genre. It was helpful to know that the genre came across effectively.
(click here for survey monkey)
We decided that we should involve the target audience (15+) from the outset of the drafting process, using a verbal focus group to ask about what they elements they enjoyed most about teaser trailers. We found on a large scale that fast paced trailers were most popular It was also clear that despite the audience wanting to understand what genre they were watching and a general idea of what it entailed, it was vital to not give away the whole plot. We asked the focus group what kind of themes they thought made for an exciting and appealing plot and we learnt that the majority of answers included violence, money, sex and drugs. So this was definitely something we carefully considered when storyboarding initially for our piece and consolidating the plot. By asking the group for examples of their favourite urban drama films and trailers, we were then able to de-construct them and find the reoccurring components, which made them successful, this aided us in our research. We found films such as adulthood and 4.3.2.1 to have the most popular trailers. Through our further research we found that what people found so exciting about modern urban drama, was the sense of 'survival of the fittest' which was often portrayed through the media texts. This influenced us in the plot content and character development for our piece greatly.
Our questionnaire was given to media students completing their AS level Media, although this isn't an appropriate representation of all the people who will see the film, it gave us a more informed idea of what could be improved from a source which could identify the right kind of key aspects which could help us to achieve a higher quality in our product. We asked them to watch the trailer twice through before answering each question, we did this after we had finished creating the piece so that we were able to make informed changes before submission.
The results from this questionnaire found that the genre was very clear to the audience, signifying that the conventions closely follows those appropriate to the urban drama genre. Comments made by the participants such as "Due to location and non-diegetic sound" suggested that we had conformed closely enough to the kinds of features which clearly signify the genre. It was helpful to know that the genre came across effectively.
The results told us that although the tracks we used were fitting to our genre and created the right atmosphere, at certain points the sound could have reached more of a climax to help build necessary tension in order for the plot to be effectively presented.
To respond to this feedback, we made a lot of changes concerning the order of shots against the non-diegetic sound. Making sound improvements was challenging as the footage was edited against the sound previously, so it proved difficult to move pieces of sound around without obstructing the footage order.
Another problem we had with sound was that the audience sample reported that the diegetic sound often sounded muffled against the non-diegetic rap music. This was easily improved using final cut pro features to differentiate between the sounds.
The survey result also encouraged us to use more post production effects, as these were popular with the audience sample and by putting more in we would be more consistent in the conventions we were creating for ourselves. We decided after seeing this that we could use more black and white shots and more flash/zoom effects within the piece. (click here to see how we did this).
We had to consider all of the feedback carefully as we knew that it would vary greatly between different groups of people, this was especially clear in the answers to one of the questions asking them to state which feature of the film was. The answers given were spread across all of the options.
This highlighted the importance of meeting all of their needs in terms of genre clarity and structure with hints of the plot but also to show variety and surprises throughout to reach all kinds of people as part of an audience.
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
It is important when creating any media piece to use media technologies to their full potential in order to make sure the final product is the best it can be. There are many different platforms readily available on both the internet and Apple Mac software including; YouTube, SurveyMonkey.com, DaFont.com, Wix.com, Final Cut Pro and Photoshop. This is something which- as a group- we utilised throughout the process of making our teaser trailer. By categorising the stages in three sections: research and planning (analysis and deconstruction of existing products), construction (filming, editing), and evaluation (audience feedback)- we were able to strategically use the technology available to us to create a successful outcome.
Research and Planning
The first thing to consider when planning our piece was carrying out a thorough investigation into the conventions of narrative within the genre we had chosen. This would allow us to have an insightful understanding as to what we needed to include to meet the standard of trailer we were aiming for. To do so we used YouTube as a main media platform in which to watch existing urban drama teaser trailers, and music videos and then deconstructed different elements of these (click here to see deconstruction). From doing this we were able to construct a storyboard which gave us a clear plan for filming and the post production stages.
After doing an explicit investigation into many aspects of the existing urban drama genre we began to plan more specific parts of our trailer. We obtained primary research through the use of website Survey Monkey, allowing us to ask the general public questions which would help us make vital decisions during the planning stage. For example, we produced a survey which asked various questions relating back to the title of our piece. As this image suggests, this process had a significant effect on our decisions, as we took the results into consideration and named our teaser trailer 'Straits'. We promoted our survey on social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter. Aiming the surveys at 15+ year olds meant we were able to get opinions from actual members of our target audience. (click here for survey results)
Furthermore, we looked into new post-production media technologies which are used in production of film websites and posters. This gave us ideas on what we could do to suit a modern day audience and conform to conventions, using the technologies available to the best of our ability. Google Images allowed us to browse through multiple images of existing film posters and analyse these in depth before beginning the process of creating our own. (click here to see poster deconstruction)
Construction
The media platform in which we created our piece on was Final Cut Pro, software which proved useful and effective in many ways during the post-production stages. Once we had cropped and ordered our footage we were able to manipulate it in certain ways to appeal to trailer conventions and our target audience. This included adding black and white filters, effects including 'intro flashes', reversing, and increasing the speed of shots. These were all effects which had been inspired by conventions found in our research stage. One of the most useful technologies that was available on Final Cut Pro was the stabilising tool; it was this that allowed for the smooth and professional tracking shot of the underpass which appears at many points in our teaser trailer.
Final Cut Pro also proved useful when applying the sound to our trailer. We were able to create multiple layers in order to smoothly mix the two songs we had chosen and taken from un-copyrighted distributors on YouTube. Furthermore, we could create sound bridges in which to include diegetic sounds of the characters speaking which was something we found was often seen in the urban drama genre.
Typography played an important part in our teaser trailer. As we learnt from AS, it can help define a genre and develop the professional quality of a piece. In the process of creating a unique typography for our end titles we found a suitable font on online service DaFont. We downloaded this font and then manipulated it to have the blue and red 3D effect using Photoshop. (click here for typography editing) These media technologies were also used in the construction of our film poster.
We used the internet to search and analyse many existing film websites, giving us an insight into what was generally included within these. We used the website creating service Wix, to design and construct our film website which would be a distributor of our trailer. This media technology made the task fairly easy and allowed us to achieve a professional looking film website. (click here to see website production)
Evaluation
After posting our first draft onto YouTube, we arranged a focus group in which we showed a number of people the trailer and asked for constructive feedback. We also used this media platform as a way of self- evaluating; comparing our product to existing professional trailers and other A2 media pieces. From this we found that a number of things required a certain level of improvement. The general consensus that we got from this was that we needed to improve the tension and build up the pace slower and to fade out the music more subtly at the end.
We took all the comments into consideration and used Final Cut Pro to improve on all the areas that had been raised. We then reposted our trailer onto YouTube and received comments which met the level that we had hoped for.
We revisited our first draft video on YouTube and compared it to our final piece and from doing this were able to check that we had included all of the necessary improvements suggested in our audience feedback.
(click here to see full comparison)
(click here for improvement)
Research and Planning
The first thing to consider when planning our piece was carrying out a thorough investigation into the conventions of narrative within the genre we had chosen. This would allow us to have an insightful understanding as to what we needed to include to meet the standard of trailer we were aiming for. To do so we used YouTube as a main media platform in which to watch existing urban drama teaser trailers, and music videos and then deconstructed different elements of these (click here to see deconstruction). From doing this we were able to construct a storyboard which gave us a clear plan for filming and the post production stages. After doing an explicit investigation into many aspects of the existing urban drama genre we began to plan more specific parts of our trailer. We obtained primary research through the use of website Survey Monkey, allowing us to ask the general public questions which would help us make vital decisions during the planning stage. For example, we produced a survey which asked various questions relating back to the title of our piece. As this image suggests, this process had a significant effect on our decisions, as we took the results into consideration and named our teaser trailer 'Straits'. We promoted our survey on social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter. Aiming the surveys at 15+ year olds meant we were able to get opinions from actual members of our target audience. (click here for survey results)
Furthermore, we looked into new post-production media technologies which are used in production of film websites and posters. This gave us ideas on what we could do to suit a modern day audience and conform to conventions, using the technologies available to the best of our ability. Google Images allowed us to browse through multiple images of existing film posters and analyse these in depth before beginning the process of creating our own. (click here to see poster deconstruction)
Construction
The media platform in which we created our piece on was Final Cut Pro, software which proved useful and effective in many ways during the post-production stages. Once we had cropped and ordered our footage we were able to manipulate it in certain ways to appeal to trailer conventions and our target audience. This included adding black and white filters, effects including 'intro flashes', reversing, and increasing the speed of shots. These were all effects which had been inspired by conventions found in our research stage. One of the most useful technologies that was available on Final Cut Pro was the stabilising tool; it was this that allowed for the smooth and professional tracking shot of the underpass which appears at many points in our teaser trailer. Final Cut Pro also proved useful when applying the sound to our trailer. We were able to create multiple layers in order to smoothly mix the two songs we had chosen and taken from un-copyrighted distributors on YouTube. Furthermore, we could create sound bridges in which to include diegetic sounds of the characters speaking which was something we found was often seen in the urban drama genre.
Typography played an important part in our teaser trailer. As we learnt from AS, it can help define a genre and develop the professional quality of a piece. In the process of creating a unique typography for our end titles we found a suitable font on online service DaFont. We downloaded this font and then manipulated it to have the blue and red 3D effect using Photoshop. (click here for typography editing) These media technologies were also used in the construction of our film poster.
We used the internet to search and analyse many existing film websites, giving us an insight into what was generally included within these. We used the website creating service Wix, to design and construct our film website which would be a distributor of our trailer. This media technology made the task fairly easy and allowed us to achieve a professional looking film website. (click here to see website production)
Evaluation
After posting our first draft onto YouTube, we arranged a focus group in which we showed a number of people the trailer and asked for constructive feedback. We also used this media platform as a way of self- evaluating; comparing our product to existing professional trailers and other A2 media pieces. From this we found that a number of things required a certain level of improvement. The general consensus that we got from this was that we needed to improve the tension and build up the pace slower and to fade out the music more subtly at the end.
We took all the comments into consideration and used Final Cut Pro to improve on all the areas that had been raised. We then reposted our trailer onto YouTube and received comments which met the level that we had hoped for.
We revisited our first draft video on YouTube and compared it to our final piece and from doing this were able to check that we had included all of the necessary improvements suggested in our audience feedback.
(click here to see full comparison)
(click here for improvement)
Tuesday, 28 April 2015
Mise en scene (Party room/ drug den)
I put a sleeping bad and a portable heater inside to make it have a sort of squat feel to it, suggesting that the protagonist had a difficult home/ work life which meant that sometimes he had to sleep on the sofa with a sleeping bag. This highlights the kind of poverty some working class live in which works well with the key themes which are often explored in the genre.
The walls are all bare, so that it is clear this isn't a family home and doesn't have any positive or friendly feeling elements.
The white powder substance is a cocaine placebo, the baggy reinforces this drug use and the lighter indicates smoking alongside a large amount of empty alcoholic containers which again is suggestive of some of the key themes and concepts explored within similar media products such as alcoholism and drug abuse.
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