A2 Media Studies Evaluation

Liam Pryor

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms of conventions of the real media products?

In my opinion my media products all follow conventions which makes them seem realistic and professional. My film trailer starts with an audiences green screen certification, followed by my production logo which also follows suit of others with the fact it has a central picture and the production name surrounding it.

My film trailer structure does not suit that of Todorov’s narrative structure, as my film trailer starts and ends with main character ‘Baz’ look distressed and in trouble unlike Todorov’s structure, where equilibrium is at the start and end with a good balance. Although it doesn’t follow the structure exactly, I don’t think a trailer should as it should ask the audience questions and leave them thinking what will happen. I also tried to follow conventions of that of other crime films which will hopefully make it look more authentic and professional. My magazine cover however is very conventional as I have used many common techniques used in the making of magazines.

Conventions

Like seen in Total Film, I have upcoming big film titles across the header of the cover showing the audience what they can expect in the magazine.

I have used the main star’s name bold on the page which is also seen on Empire Magazine.

Also adding the name of the main film in the magazine boldly on the front, follows the conventions of this Total Film magazine.Also adding the website

and issue number of the magazine makes it look professional and follow conventions further.

Conventions

From the 2 film posters you can see that mine does follow suit with other films. It has the main character at the centre of the poster in both with the film title centred boldly underneath them. Similarly to the Gladiator poster, I have added websites and movie titles of who was involved with the making of the film. This makes the overall image of the poster look a lot more professional. However I have used the words ‘COMING SOON’ in bold red to make the poster stand out further which the other has not.

Todorov’s Theory of Narrative

Todorov’s theory of narrative is made up of 5 stages which suggests the conventional way of which a story is structurally built. These stages are Equilibrium, Disruption, Recognition of Disruption, Attempt to repair disruption and a new return of equilibrium.

My film trailer may not have the starting equilibrium, but certainly has the disruption with main character ‘Baz’ looking sad and distressed to begin with. Then the recognition of disruption starts when Baz’s friends realise he is in trouble and in need of help. The attempt to repair disruption starts when Baz is in a robbery to get money to solve his problems. The final return of restoration or new equilibrium is not shown as it is a trailer and made to keep the audience wanting to know what happens. This part also relates to the mystery/ enigma code which controls how much information the audience gets to keep them wanting to know more.

Propp’s Theory of Narrative

Another theory of Narrative comes from Russian Vladimir Propp. His theory consists of 6 stages, different to that of Todorov’s 5. They are:

Preparation Complication Transference Struggle Return Recognition

This theory is what many conventional films are made up in to in stages, and only unconventional films generally don’t fit with this. Unconventional films that wouldn’t fall into this theory of narrative would be Memento, as it flashes back into time, and Time Code which is an extreme in unconventional films.

In the completion of my main media product, I have had to use different features to make my product finished and complete. I have used different fonts in the trailer including a simple yet effective one for the quote ‘Best British Film of the Year’ and a font called SF Movie for the text on the image shown to the right.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary text?

The name of my film (Decision) and the way the main image on my poster is took relates with which code my film comes under, which is the mystery/ enigma code. This is because the title suggests something needs to be decided, especially important as it’s the main name of the film. Also because my actor is facing away from the screen with a weapon in hand, it makes the audience ask questions, wonder what he has done and who it is.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary text?

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary text?

Throughout the making of my products I have used the same font for the title so the audience can link the products together. This is shown below with a print screened image of my trailer and images of my poster and magazine cover.

When making my poster and magazine, I have made sure to take unique pictures to make the products stand out to the audience. The images of media products, in my opinion will stand out more than a slogan, which is the reason I went for this approach.

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

I have used many media technologies in the making of my products throughout the construction, research planning and now evaluation stages of my work. I have used the video making technology Pinnacle all the way through the making of my trailer to edit my work and make it look professional. I have also used Macromedia Fireworks in the creation of my film poster and magazine cover. With my experience of using fireworks in AS Media Studies, I was able to use this with ease and produce good quality products. Also a big help in the making of my products and research especially was Blogger. I have used this to post all my construction stages along with research and planning posts.

Construction of the Poster and Magazine Cover

For my poster and magazine cover I have used font website Dafont to download certain fonts so that they match the film trailer and go well with the genre.

Also to get inspiration for the creation of my products I used Google Images to search for different film posters and magazines which helped me greatly with my final finish of my products.

I used a digital camera to take several of my own images for the use in the products and I then chose which I thought looked best and most professional.

The biggest help in the making of my poster and magazine cover was the software which is Macromedia Fireworks.

What have you learned from audience feedback?

Whilst creating all my media products, I have created polls to help me make my products the best they can possibly be. I used 20 people in each poll from my media studies class and asked them to vote for the best choice in their own opinion, which would then hopefully leave me with the favourite choice from my 20 voters. I then used these choices in my products which has definitely helped me to make my products professional and unique.

What have you learned from audience feedback?Feedback:

What have you learned from audience feedback?Feedback: