In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Poster
Whilst conducting my research I discovered that there were only a few conventions as they all varied from being very busy and full to being very simplistic. As a minimum requirement there should be a limited amount text, an image relating to the film itself and a title. As I didn’t want to give lots of detail about the film away, I thought that by sticking with this minimalistic approach I could produce a successful and intriguing poster.
As I have shown in my mind map I thought of what images I could include in my poster that related to the theme of the film. I chose a teddy bear as it links in with the theme of babies and provides very little insight into the film itself.
I added small print information as is seen on the vast majority of posters which details the production team for the film. Once I had added the title ‘Instinct’, I felt that my poster was a little too minimalistic and so carried out more research and looked at other pieces of text that might appear on it. I was very conscious about the amount of text as the purpose of a poster is to draw a passer-by in, and lots of unnecessary text can be off-putting. I created a tagline for the film title which I later used in my magazine front cover, and also included a release date along with the names of actors that would appear in the film. I spread the text out, again to avoid the appearance of too much text. I only used two fonts so the final piece looked more professional and was easier on the eye.
At the bottom of the poster I used a film certificate logo which doesn’t always appear on posters however I had noted that it should be included in at least one of my products.
I think that on the whole the development of my poster has followed the majority of the conventions of a good poster however I know that in some cases the lack of information given out may prove misleading for a viewer as opposed to captivating.
Teaser Trailer
When looking at other teaser trailers for the genre of horror, I managed to draw lots of ideas and inspiration from them. Teaser trailers should be between 30 and 90 seconds long and not give too much away about the film itself. My teaser trailer is 77 seconds long, and through the use of quick editing I feel it gives just enough information to an audience. As is seen in many teaser trailers of this genre, the purpose of such little information is to build suspense and allow the audience to become drawn in and want to watch the film. In my trailer I created a tense and mysterious atmosphere by using a shot which got closer and closer to a door with the final shot being the silhouette of an arm reaching for the door handle. This leaves an audience questioning who or what is behind the door, prompting them to watch the film to find out.
I discovered that teaser trailers are usually fast-paced yet my product isn’t. I challenged this convention as the music I had chosen was slow and I felt that it wasn’t befitting for such editing. I still think that my teaser trailer works as the slower music builds the tension and forms and eerie atmosphere.
Stereotypical trailers for horror films are gory and contain lots of running or screaming. I wanted my product to get away from this and not appear to be clichéd. My teaser trailer relies purely on the unknown, and the ‘scare factor’ comes from the main character being an ordinary mother in a homely setting - something an audience can relate to.
Many trailers have small pieces of text embedded between camera footage. I liked this idea and decided to incorporate it into my own trailer. I chose my words carefully to enhance the suspense whilst making sure that it didn’t detract from the scenes.
Overall I feel that my product complies with most of the conventions of a successful teaser trailer and despite me challenging them slightly I still think it is an effective piece.
Magazine Front Cover
The front cover of a magazine has several features and conventions which I stuck to as I found that there were rarely any exceptions to these rules whilst conducting my research. A left-third of a magazine is perhaps the most important as it is predominantly what is first seen by a viewer when in stores. I made sure that the left third on my magazine front cover was insightful and featured the most important parts of the magazine. These included part of the masthead which would be instantly recognisable to a reader; buzz words such as ‘free’, ‘plus’ and ‘world exclusive’ which entice the reader; coverlines with larger bright headings that look attractive and instantly give snippets of information about the content of the magazine; part of the skyline; and the dateline so it is instantly obvious that they are reading the most up-to-date issue.
I wanted to include as many other features of a magazine front cover as I possibly could and so I used a skyline to further advertise and promote the magazine and its contents; a large main image using a mid-shot with eye contact to involve the reader; a large main coverline to accompany the image; a bright button to give a little more information about the magazine and its highlights; a website for the magazine to invite more interaction and feedback from the readers; a review quote to encourage the reader to investigate further; and a barcode.
In my first draft of the magazine front cover I attempted to challenge a convention by using a black background as I did in the poster. However I found that a white background made the main image stand out much more and could see how much more effective it was. I kept with a set colour scheme and allowed the main image to stand out even more by adding a red shadow behind it.
The main image was airbrushed as it would be for any other magazine front cover, however despite my I.T skills developing substantially since the beginning of the project, I still find that the image could be perfected even more with other software.
Conclusion
To conclude I am happy that each of my tasks successfully meet with many of the forms and conventions I discovered during my research. I believe that where I have challenged or developed them, I have done so effectively and with sufficient justification.
I worry slightly that my poster may be a little vague but I feel that the symbolism of the teddy bear and the logo that accompanies it is effectual and links in well with the theme and plot of the story as well as the other two tasks.
Thanks for watching
