Faulkner's Blog

When creating my final products I wanted to ensure they all fitted in together and linked in some way. To make them link I have tried to use a typical convention to a romantic film. I have found out by researching into different trailers, magazine cover and posters that one of the main conventions to all three is the way the characters are portrayed in the images. The images in all three clearly state the genre of the product. I have created my products based on a romantic genre which has a stereotypical image of a boy and a girl. I have used pictures and images of a girl and boy looking as though they are in love to help link the three products in together and to help show the genre of the film. I have thought carefully about the costumes which they are wearing when taking the photographs and images as I didn’t want them to be seen as friends. When I positioned my characters I had to make sure they always had some kind of connection between them. If they were just stood around and not connected to each other in some way then you wouldn’t have realised as well that the products were advertising a romantic genre.

            When creating my film I have ensured that the shots are off the two main characters in the film. I found out that by only using the two main characters, Boy and girl, the focus was on a romantic film rather then a rom-com or family film which would have been portrayed if there was more then two characters involved.  When addressing the audience I have used the titles in-between the different shots to show help explain the narrative better and give the audience more information. By stating in my trailer that the film was from ‘The makers of the Notebook’ more people could be inclined to go and watch the film. If people have enjoyed the film ‘The Notebook’ then they are likely to watch a film which is created by the same people. When filming the shot I wanted to show the connection between the two characters therefore I have shown them connected in a romantic way, holding hands, hugging and arm in arm. After deciding I wanted to address my products to people of my age, making my target audience teenagers, I have asked for some audience feedback. I was able to comment on the trailers which I have researched in the romantic genre as my target audience was my age. If I wanted to advertise the products to an older audience then I could have used older characters and possibly more exaggerated shots. On the other hand if I wanted my film to appeal to a younger audience I would have possibly used a different genre as I have found a romantic film doesn’t appeal to people aged 10 and under.

            My magazine front cover is made up from one main image of the couple stood looking at each other. When researching into existing magazine covers I found out the majority of the photos which were used addressed the audience by facing forward. I wanted my picture to look as though it has been taken out of the film to draw the reader’s attention ‘into the film’. To do this I have taken a photograph of the characters in the same clothes and environment of which is shown within the film. This has linked in the magazine front cover and trailer together as you can see the same two characters in both.  I have used calligraphy font on the trailer which helps to show the genre. I have used Calligraphy font on my poster to link the two together. I have decided to use another photograph of the two main characters in the main picture of my poster. I have taken a photograph of the characters in a different position to the one before as I didn’t want the images to be too similar. I have decided to change everything in my poster to black and white to help show off the romantic side to my genre. Once again I have linked the poster to the magazine and trailer through the use of the images. I have chosen to use another image like the one I have used on my magazine front cover, where the image seems to be from within a film. I wanted to use an image from within the film rather then an image where the characters where looking at the audience. My reasons for this were because I wanted the audience to feel as though they were being drawn into the film and not just looking at it.  The photograph I have used once again is a photograph where you can clearly see the connection between the two characters showing it a romantic film.

            When releasing my products I would want to release my poster first. I feel this has a strong image to show the genre of the film, it doesn’t give too much away and all you know is that the film is about a girl and a boy. The photograph has been desaturated therefore this could symbolize the problems that may occur although they look happy with each other. The title is clear on this poster as it has been written in bigger letters compared to the rest of the poster. The four stars which I have added on the right hand side underneath the photo suggest this is a good film, receiving four stars instead of one. The names of the actors have been clearly shown on the top of the poster which could draw the attention of people. My poster would be shown within magazines, on the sides of bus stops, on billboards and various other places where the general public would see them. There would be posters put up in town to advertise as this is the place where you would mostly find my target audience.  I would want to release my trailer next. After giving the audience a poster they would want to know what the film actually contains as you cannot tell by the poster. The trailer would be shown on TV channels such as channel 4, E4 and Itv as these are the channels my target audience watch the most. My trailer would also be shown at the start of other films in the similar genres such as other romantic films, romantic comedies and family films. You would see this trailer when you buy a film or go and watch a different film at the cinema. My magazine would be the last to be released as people will now recognize where the photo has come from and would know straight away the film of which these characters are out off.  I think this would work best otherwise people are unlikely to buy the magazine If they do not know where the photo has come from or who the people are. The magazines would be sold in shops where teenagers and older generations would see it such as the coop and supermarkets along with a few of the smaller shops.  When distributing my magazine cover I would have to negotiate with the magazine company to fit in with their distribution. I would have the front cover on the front of a magazine which a teenager is likely to pick up and read.

            Overall I feel that my trailer, poster and magazine front cover work well together in order to advertise my products to my target audience. I have done some surveys on all three of my product using people of my target audience to answer them and have been able to receive some positive feedback from them saying they would want to go and watch the film and would be attracted to my poster and magazine front cover.

-Trailer

– Poster

-Magazine

Here i have uploaded three individual videos of someone answering questions about all three of my products, Trailer, poster and magazine front cover. I have asked one of my peers to answer some questions about my production and give me feedback about what they think. I have decided to ask one of my peers as this is in the range of my target audience. I have decided to film her response to show her reactions to each product.

By asking one of my peers I was able to identify the areas which they liked best and the areas which maybe weren’t as good as they could have been. I have found out from my audience feedback that my trailer overall works well as a trailer, the actors used and the different shots which have been used work well. I have found out that the romantic feel has been clearly established in the shots which i have decided to use in my trailer. The mise-en-scene in some of the shots could have been better, for example the shot with the roadwork’s visible, however my audience feedback said this helped to mix reality and films making it seem more realistic and less ‘staged’. My audience appeared to like the different editing techniques which i have used throughout y trailer, focusing on the shot where i have faded out and in to merge two shots into one. My audience feedback helped me to establish the areas which worked well and the areas which didn’t work as well. I felt personally my titles were possibly a little bit too fast therefore given the chance to re-create the film trailer i would have possibly spent more time on the titles. My target audience appear to like my trailer and everyone who i asked said they would want to go and watch it in the cinema. Throughout the process of creating my trailer i gained some audience feedback verbally and through comments on my posts. This helped me along the way whilst creating my trailer making sure it wasn’t too long or too short. Part of my trailer was changed in order to make it better. I had previsously filmed a shot with my two characters having a picnic in the garden, however this was clearly a shot in the garden and through the feedback which was given to me i realised the weather wasn’t right for the shot, it was too dull therefore it was too unrealistic. If i hadn’t of received the feedback which i did i wouldn’t not have spotted this and left it in, resulting in my trailer not being the best it could have been.

Both my poster and magazine front covers seem to receive good feedback from my audience. My main aim was to make them realistic and after asking some questions to my target audience they seemed to like the pictures which were chosen the different font and colours which i have used. The one thing that possibly was a slight problem was the background in my magazine front cover. This was commented on as being ‘Busy’ therefore by possibly changing the background this would have restored this problem. Throughout the creation of both my film poster and magazine front cover i received once again a variety of verbal and comment feedback. I have set up polls on my blog which has helped me to pick the best suitable photograph to use on my poster and magazine front cover. I was constantly asking my peers on their opinions on both of my productions to try and create a suitable poster and magazine front cover for my target audience.