Candidate Name:
ASHLEIGH CUSACK
Candidate Number:
6024
Centre Name:
WILMINGTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
Centre Number:
61119
Sunday, 7 April 2013
How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?
Throughout this project I have used multiple media technologies to produce my products. At first I used Adobe Photoshop when editing the pictures I have used in my Poster and Magazine cover. I had previously used this program in my AS work and so knew how to use it and did not come across any major issues. This made editing the photos a lot simpler and easier as I didn't need to learn how to use a new program. I also used Adobe In Design in order to make both ancillary tasks, which I had also used previously.
In my research and planing I used the web application 'Popplet' to arrange my plans and thoughts on what I would include and base my work on. This included information on clothing and makeup, props and my target audience along with other details and conventions of horror films. This can be seen in the 'Research and Planning' labels. I also used Google for researching examples of other movie posters and their fonts and background images which helped me to chose the type of poster I wanted.
To edit and put together my film trailer I used Serif Movieplus, however there was no free trial of this which would allow me to edit my film at home along with the work I was doing at school. I therefore turned to the film editing software which was already downloaded on my home computer, Corel Video Studio Pro. I actually found this program easier to use and have had no issues with it as it has a simple format and is similar to the Serif software.
For my evaluation I have used 'Voki' and 'Prezi' which are both online technologies intended to help present for either fun or work purposes. These presentation tools are easy to use once you understand them, and there are many tutorial videos online which explain how to use the programs meaning they are reasonably simple and probably the most straight forward of all the technologies I have used, with Voki being the easiest to understand and use.
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?
I feel my ancillaries support my main product due to the use of colour themes and recurring images. For example the use of black and white with barely any other colours included in both the poster and magazine cover reflect the dark tones I have used in my horror film trailer. Another obvious link is the use of the same model in both ancillaries and the film. I was originally going to use a different image in the ancillaries however I changed my mind as I felt using the same model would allow more of a flow between products and would allow the film and ancillary tasks to be recognisable as being linked.
I also tried to keep the same style of hair and makeup throughout both the film and the ancillaries to ensure the three aspects are alike and connected. The fonts used also create a link, using similar, structured style fonts on both my Poster and on my Magazine Cover. Similar fonts have also been used in the actual trailer itself to create this flow along with the actual font 'Akoom' used on the 'The Silence' logo which has been included in all of my work.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The location used is also reminiscent of many horror movie conventions used relatively recently. Dark secluded places have always been used for this type of film however in recent years the concepts of sheds or basements has been used in order to create a controlled environment of fear. This means people relate this place to being scared and not just 'the woods' or anywhere 'creepy' at night. This has been used by films such as "Disturbia"(2007), "Basement"(2010) and "The Cabin in The Woods"(2011), the last of which is even satirical over how often this type of location is used in horrors.
The killer in my horror is also a commonly used convention. This 'creepy little girl' concept has recently been taken up by many films after its success in hits such as "The Ring"(2002) and "The Grudge"(2004). The most recent and recognisable films to use this are "Mama" and "Evil Dead", both 2013. This simply entails using a young woman to act as a supernatural killer in order to twist preconceptions about vulnerability and innocence. This makes people uncomfortable as, not only do they not think of such a person to be a threat, but see them as someone to look after, an idea which is completely warped by using this convention.
Feedback
Due to the feedback I received of this cut of the film I found that the scream at the end did not suit the style of the rest of the trailer. This is due to the song used being fairly monotonous and the scream at the end distracted from the tone of the rest of the sound. I chose to remove the scream from the final cut of the video, meaning it will now fade to silence with no extra effects. I had always planned to use a scream at this point in the film in order to provide one jumpy aspect to an otherwise entirely 'creepy' feeling trailer. Changing this aspect meant I had to give up on the idea of including a classic convention which would have been in keeping with the 'Wilhelm Screams' used in many films.
Another piece of feedback I gained prompted me to change the background picture of my poster. I was told the image was way too dark and didn't have the right effect therefore I decided to change the background to give a more clean look by using more white space and placing the pictures to the side instead of taking up the whole page. I think this looks a lot less amateur than the first version and looks like a more realistic film poster.
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