New Print Products

Improved final trailer

Improvements list

To do list:

1. Alternative ending to trailer
2. Take photographs with other characters and more variety with Ihsaan (hitman)
3. Editing in trailer - shorten briefcase part, less chronological, more close-ups
4. Add more text to DVD cover
5. Add a completed 'location release' form

Trailer shots needed:

1. Gun behind hitman's head - pan around the back to see the person holding the gun
2. Kick/stamp - high angle shot
3. The hitman sitting on a chair inbetween the gang members - establishing shot
4. Cloth bag over hitman's head - close up of it being pulled off 
5. Hitman being on other assignments 

Completed

Almost completed

Needs to be completed 

Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Created with Padlet

http://padlet.com/clairehlewis10/cf44g18xh7vp

My directors commentary

Question 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Script for video

I have created a theatrical and teaser trailer of the film ‘Infraction’ which is a hitman movie and follows the crime thriller genre conventions. A brief overview of the film is that a woman is assaulted in her home by a burglar, unknown at this point the woman’s wife is a boss in charge of a hitman business. So the boss arranges a young male, who seems like an ordinary school boy, to track down the attacker and kill them. However trouble arises when the burglar seems to be part of a gang and the members hunt down the hitman in revenge.

It is important that my theatrical and teaser trailer portray this narrative in a clear way so the audience doesn’t find it confusing. I have also created print products, which consist of a billboard; poster, movie magazine cover and DVD cover which should all link together so the audience can associate each product with one another.

I have purposely used the same three house colours in each product of black, white and red which ties them together in a simple but obvious way so that the same theme runs through them all rather than them being disconnected by using a range of different colours. This gives the ancillary and trailers some continuity which is important for their identification and promotion.

In this part of the trailer, the hitman looks through the briefcase and finds a gun and a target sheet. This is a vital scene because it is the first appearance of the gun which is then evident in all of the ancillary products. This is the object of significance therefore it must have attention brought to it in the trailer as it’s the main focus in the print products as seen in this billboard. There is also a red display behind the hitman in this scene which matches with the house colour; red tends to represent blood, anger and anguish. The hitman is wearing a dark costume which is the same in the ancillary products because he is shown to be mysterious and dangerous, this similar in each product to maintain his ‘bad’ persona and so he is recognisable to the audience.

The very ending of the trailer is the hitman in a low key lighted room, with someone pointing a gun at his head, he says ‘I will never die’ which creates a cliff hanger  as the audience do not know whether he is killed or whether he escapes. This is a medium close up shot which I use in my poster because it allows the audience to see the hitman’s facial expressions and can connect with him. This means that the trailer and poster link as the audience can identify this shot in two products; they can become familiar with the character. The gun is used as a prop again in the poster because it is the weapon that is used to cause the disequilibrium therefore it becomes distinguishable and associated with the film. It also portrays the genre visually and the audience can make assumptions about the narrative and they can assume the film will be action-packed and thrilling.

There are a few parts in the trailer where the hitman has his hood up which is a negative representation typical of teenagers often suggesting that they are troublesome. This has become a stereotype in TV and films therefore I have decided to use this in my film to follow Stanley Cohen’s idea of ‘demonised’ and ‘marginalised’ groups in society which have these negative representations that cause moral panic meaning they are feared. This links to the magazine cover as the main character has his hood up making him intimidating and threatening. He is holding the gun next to his face showing that he is dangerous and fearless of a challenge, he is resting his finger on the trigger showing that he is used to killing and ready for his next target. His facial expressions on the front cover of the magazine are slightly different to the other products as his face isn’t as serious, he is smirking slightly which is quite menacing.  

In this intense part of the trailer, the hitman draws the gun from his pocket while he is running up to his target. This suggests that he tried to be discrete until he reached the alleyway, showing that he is sly but uses his expertise and skill to complete the assignment. This part of the trailer links to the DVD cover as on the front the hitman is shown to be putting his hand in his pocket and only part of the gun can be seen. This suggests that the hitman is always alert and guarded because of the risk of his job. Also the part of the trailer where the gang members appear behind the hitman builds up the tension and links to the DVD cover again as there is a gang member with his back to the hitman but looking over his shoulder. His body language suggests he is angry and devious; this gives the audience the impression that he could be a threat to the hitman; this is confirmed in the trailer as they begin to attack the hitman. 

Question 3 - What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

I have had positive responses from my audience regarding how my products link with each other due to the house colours of red, white and black which is the style carried on throughout my poster, billboard, magazine front cover, DVD cover and inter-titles in my trailer. I have been able to determine what the strong points of my products from my audience feedback and also the weaknesses that could be improved upon. This will allow me to make adjustments where necessary so that the editing is faultless and so my audience feels even more intrigued and excited about it.

What sort of positive feedback did you receive? 

The positive feedback has enabled me to see what stands out the most to my audience as whether I intentionally added a particular feature so that it would be noticed. For example, I added an effect onto the main photographs of my poster and billboard so they were unique, I then maintained this theme throughout my other products by using the reflective, shadow effect on an inter-title in the trailer and on the DVD cover to draw an outline around the main character.  The audience picked up on this which suggests that linking the products together has been quite successful and they recognise that they are all advertising the same film. 

What sort of negative feedback did you receive?

The negative feedback has acted as constructive criticism as it is important that I take into account features that didn't work out as well, this could differ between audience members as everyone has their own opinion. Age and gender may also be large factors in this because a teenager may like something that an adult doesn't, or a male may like something that a female doesn't. Therefore I will make changes as I see fit by using audience feedback. I need to alter a few parts of editing as one criticism was 'where the girl gets shot, there's a pause in the middle where he doesn't run past, didn't flow as well' this can be changed easily by cutting one clip shorter so that continuity editing is maintained.

How did your feedback change the work you were doing? 
The feedback I received changed the work I was doing because I kept gaining regular feedback from my target audience throughout the planning and production stages. I asked which production company and film name they preferred and used an online survey so my audience could decide which designs and logos they liked, I went with the majority vote as they were the most popular. If I did not consider my target audience opinions then the final products may not appeal to them, this could result in negative feedback. By getting their input they are offering me advice on how to make my products better, people of their age range are likely to agree and suggest similar things.

What would you change if you could do this project again now that you have this feedback?

If I were to do this project again now that I have this feedback, I would add more reviews and quotes onto each of my products as I only included this on my DVD cover. This may attract more people because they would be encouraged by positive star ratings or quotations from popular newspapers, magazines or websites. I would also make the magazine cover more exclusive to the leading film 'Infraction' by having more cover lines and information about how it's a brand new film. If I had more time I might have re-filmed specific parts so that the dialogue was completely clear and found or bought imovie effects, especially for the gun shot to create a sense of realism. 

Significance of audience feedback 

• Gives the production direction
• Enables the audience to have input 
• Makes it appealing to the targeted age range 
• Gave regular feedback throughout the construction
• The audience can say what they like and dislike
• The audience will have certain expectations 
• They will be encouraged to watch it if it intends to meet their needs
• Real media productions will have test screenings to gain input from the audience
• Helps to fill a gap in the market
• Helps to focus on particular aspects which are attractive to the audience
• If the majority of the target audience disapprove of certain elements, they should be taken out
• If reoccurring recommendations are made by the audience, they should be incorporated 
• The audience determines whether it will be successful or not

Question 4 - How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Media Technologies