Media Coursework Evaluation
When we sat down and discussed forms and conventions during the development phase of our film trailer it was clear that we wanted to challenge many forms and conventions, which we made one of our targets of the film trailer. We deconstructed many film trailers to see what we felt we needed to keep, for example the enigma code to keep our audience intrigued about the film. The basic conventions of film trailers include establishing the plot, introducing the characters, providing a general setting and adding attention-grabbing footage. Having only one main character in our film, introducing the main character was even more important for our film, and I feel we gave him a warm personality that people would be drawn to. We didn’t provide a general setting as we wanted to give the effect that he was constantly searching for approval and had no safe place to go, not even his work place. I believe we grabbed the attention of the audience with the shots we used, and interested the audience enough to want to see the full film. Another common convention of a film trailer is using fragmented linear narrative, which we felt was imperative for the trailer to look normal and not confuse people. We didn’t want our trailer to look like a short film, especially as this was our original idea. When it came to choosing a certification for our film this was easier than we anticipated. Even though our film holds a strong message, one which is aimed at adults however perfecting acceptable and understandable for children, we felt it was a PG. Therefore, we are not restricting the size of our audience when it comes to age range, and not assuming that children would not understand complex ideas about society.
We carried out further surveys to see what genre people liked, and what content they believed we should include. Our film idea seemed to suit the opinions of those we surveyed; therefore we were confident with our idea. This was reinforced further as we had surveyed a variety of age groups, all giving back similar answers. When it came to researching similar products we soon realised that there were not many out there like ours. We did find a animation about gnomes called ‘Gnomeo & Juliet’ however this did not include the same kinds of issues we wanted to raise and the similarities seemed to end after the fact it was about gnomes. A film we did find which was similar was the US hit film ‘Elf,’ starring Will Ferrell. This film questioned the way society reacts to those who look different by using a fictional comedic character. He was then accepted into society when he showed he could contribute when he saved Christmas. We used the same idea with the gnome by him getting sacked from his job, and then being accepted back into society when people come looking for gnomes.
In my ancillary texts I have followed many conventions for example having the title at the top of the page. In my magazine front cover I used this convention however in my poster I challenged it by making the title vertical coming down the page. I felt that this would make the poster more interesting and would gain the attention of an audience more than a title at the top of the page. However, on the magazine front cover I felt that it was important to follow the convention to have the title at the top of the page so that it did not look unprofessional and out of place. I felt that the poster was the opportunity to be different and individual, representing the film itself, and the magazine should be a common front page. When I deconstructed magazine front covers I found certain information on all of them, therefore realised that this information was vital to include in my own magazine front cover, for example the date, the magazine website, the price, and the barcode.
I believe that both of my ancillary texts served the purpose which I intended, which was to promote our film successfully. I felt that both my ancillaries gave the clear message that the film was about one character, and his struggle to fit in simply due to the way he looks. I felt that it was important not to give too much away as in many of the film posters which I analysed this was one of the weaknesses I realised. I felt that I gave the vital information that was needed, for example the star actor, the date, and the production company. When deconstructing film posters and film magazine front covers I found that there were common themes in all, for example the name of the production company, when the film is coming out, star actors names, and I felt that it was important to include this kind of information as well. One decision which I had to make for both the magazine front cover and the poster was whether to use a picture of the main character, or a screen shot from the film itself. From my deconstructions I concluded that there was a mixture of both, and finally decided to use a picture as it would be of a higher quality therefore standing out and grabbing attention of those looking at it.
One possible problem I could possibly have caused was that I didn’t give much away regarding the storyline of the film, and kept a lot of information hidden from the audience. Hopefully this would increase desire to see the film, and find out what it is about, however this could also not be telling the audience enough and therefore not giving them enough evidence to want to go and see the film. Also when i deconstructed film posters and magazine front covers I found that the majority use screen shots from the film, therefore giving the viewer an idea of the plot and characters. However, I chose not to do this mainly because of the quality of the shot. In high budget films they have very high quality cameras which therefore can created high quality screen shots. Thinking back I could have used a screen shot for one of my ancillary texts to give the audience a flavour of the film.
We received audience feedback before we started filming. We conducted audience surveys to see the most popular genres, age ranges, storyline, etc. This suggested to us what kind of film we should make, and we decided to take this primary research very seriously considering all responses. We knew that we could not please everyone, however we felt it was important to try and please the majority as this is what very high budget and high profit films to, mostly by copying certain aspects from successful films in the past. Therefore, we realised the importance of deconstructing trailers and similar products.
Our audience research suggested to us that the most popular genre by a long way was comedy; therefore we felt that it was important that we included elements of comedy in our film, which actually led us to using a main character of a real life gnome. Once we conducted our first audience survey and came up with the idea of our film, we then conducted further surveys to test whether people would react well to our idea. We asked questions related to their being no speech, and it being a film about a sole main character. Some were concerned with their being no speech; however the majority felt that this difference would add to the film giving it something different. We were happy with the response that we received and felt confident with going ahead a begin filming. Once we had filmed some of the shots we created a teaser trailer to gain some feedback on YouTube and Facebook. We also created two teaser trailers with two different soundtracks to them to see which one people preferred. We were then slightly surprised with the response which we received. Many people explained to us that they would prefer the film to be a trailer rather than a short film as they believed the shots were already put together like a trailer and it would swerve any issues regarding the storyline. People were also not that excited about either of our choices of music and suggested that we used music with no lyrics. We took this criticism very seriously and had a lengthy discussion on what we should not next to improve this. We agreed that the film would be more of a success if we turned it into a trailer, and felt that with a slight alteration in editing and including a few more shots that we could produce a good film trailer. This then required us to do extensive research into film trailers and many deconstructions to make sure that we did not miss anything that is essential to a successful film trailer.
Once we completed the film trailer we put it on our YouTube channel and Facebook page and screened it to a small audience. Our audience feedback has taught us a lot about our film, what we did well as well as what we could improve for projects in the future. Firstly, some did not like the fact that there was no speech feeling that it would have helped them get to know the main character better and also help with the storyline. However, many did like the fact that there was no speech used feeling like it added to the isolation of the gnome, almost a metaphor for him having no voice in society. This proves that there was a mixed opinion on this part of our film; however we were happy with the percentage of people who did like this factor of our film and knew that it would split opinion when we came to make the decision.
Another talking point was the music which we elected to use, some feeling that it worked very well and others suggesting different types of music which we could have used. I personally feel that the music worked well however can understand how others would disagree, therefore I would take this into consideration much more in the future, possibly using different types of music and then asking a group of people to vote on which one they liked most. However music is one asset of a film which is always going to divide an audience, and not a problem which I would dwell highly on as long as the majority of the audience liked it. Many enjoyed the costume of the main character, with the very authentic gnome mask in contrast to almost normal clothes worn on the rest of the body. This was a box which we feel was ticked after audience feedback.
Firstly I used the internet to carry out research and set up my blog. I used survey monkey to make my own survey and then sent it around using e-mail to gain a response. I used Google images to find film posters and magazine front covers to deconstruct, and I set up my blog on a website called blogspot. To communicate between the group we used a social networking site where we all already had accounts, but also set up a new account for the production company as a whole, allowing us to easily transfer information by leaving messages, pictures, or links which could be seen by the other members whenever they felt like it. We also used our mobile phones to communicate for a much direct discussion.
When it came to filming, we used a digital camcorder for footage capture. This camera allowed us to view shots immediately after capture with its small screen, thus allowing us to make a very swift decision whether we needed to shoot it again. For our soundtrack we used specialised digital sound tracking equipment. This allowed us to create many different versions of soundtrack, mainly done on a keyboard, which we could then immediately analyse and change. When editing we purchased a special editing program called Final Cut Express which made editing much more quick and simple. This was a very high tech version of editing software which I believe made editing much easier, resulting in no continuity errors and a high quality film. Finally, aside to the actual film itself we created a film poster and the front page to a film magazine, on which our film headlined. This allowed us to use further editing software, for example Adobe Photoshop, to create the image that we exactly wanted.
When it came to showing our film we firstly uploaded it on to a DVD, which then became our hardcopy. However, we also uploaded it onto our group YouTube site, which then allowed the millions of people who visit that site daily to watch our film if they choose to. This also allowed them the access to leave any response to our film whether it be praise or criticism, or even ways in which we could have improved it. This gave us excellent opportunity to learn from others, which can only improve our knowledge for future projects.
Overall I believe that our film trailer was a success as it achieved many of the goals which we set ourselves at the start. We wanted to create a film with a message behind it that questions society and believe we achieved this. We also wanted to create a film which attracted many and in some respects I believe we achieved this as well, however clearly people are divided with opinion on all sorts of aspects of a film. We have learnt many things and acquired many skills in the process of this project, which leaves us in a much wiser position for any other similar project in the future.
