Final Products

This is the final Romance Trailer 'Across the Miles'.

This it the final magazine cover we decided that we would make it for Empire Magazine and go against the normal conventions of Empire as it normally targets a male audience. However we decided that we would create a romantic girly magazine cover.

This is the final magazine cover and I think it portrays the romance genre well and it representative of our trailer as a whole.

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

When completing the trailer, film poster and magazine cover we had to use a range of different technology to help ensure that it was of high quality. We used this technology specifically in the ares of construction and research, planning and evaluation.

The construction stage was the most reliant on technology as we had to film for our trailer and then edit it, take pictures and design our film poster and magazine. The first most essential piece of technology we had to use was a video camera to shoot the footage that we would be using to create our trailer. We also had to use a still camera to take the pictures for our film poster and magazine.

When it came to editing the footage for the trailer we used a new programme called 'Power Director 9' and this is something which we hadn't used before as when completing our AS work we used 'Pinnacle studio 12'.

Although the layout of these two programmes are quite similar it appeared that 'Power Director' was a lot more successful in creating our trailer. We used it to cut down our clips, add in transitions and effects, add in titles and overlay sound. Overall I think we were a lot more happier with the new programme as it created a very professional final product and was easy to use it also enabled us to and the voice over and the music together something which proved difficult so it appears that this technology helped us a lot.

When it came to creating our film poster and magazine we used 'Photoshop' and this allowed us to design our own layouts. We were able to erase the background of images which left us with just the two people from the pictures which meant we could add our own background and this was important for us to do. Another thing that Photoshop offers is layering images over each other which helped when it came to the magazine as wanted to add in new images and different shapes and text so this enabled us to do this. We were also able to crop, re size and change the colour of the images and overall it helped us to create extremely high standard product which we were very pleased with.

The research part of this product was helped greatly by YouTube as it was all based around film case studies and looking in to trailers something in which YouTube allows you to view. So when looking in to the different elements that make up romance trailers YouTube played a huge role as I was able to watch and analyse them through this site. The Internet also helped out a lot when it came to researching film posters and magazines as I was able to look at them using site such as 'Google Images' and again analyse them. So this helped a lot in my research and meant I could create effective case studies on my chosen genre.

When it came to planning the use of technology was extremely important in helping us to organise the filming and ensuring that everything had been thought about. We were able to use Microsoft word to create script and prop lists but we were also able to use it to create shooting schedules and call sheets so that everyone knew when they were needed and where. Mobile phones also played an important role in helping to improve group communication and also so that we could contact our actors and keep them up to date. The Internet was also extremely helpful as we were able to use this to find the correct music for our trailer.

The evaluation was helped a lot by technology as we were able to post our trailer on to Web 2.0 to get audience feedback. I posted the trailer on to FaceBook and also YouTube to see what people thought of the final product and this proved extremely helpful. We have also been able to use Web 2.0 when looking in to other trailers.

Evaluation: What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Audience feedback is important for us to include as we must ensure that we are appealing to our correct target audience. The trailer is mainly targeted at a female audience however we do want to try and interest some males if they go to watch it as part of a group for example. So we asked a few females and a couple of males to watch the trailer and look at our poster and magazine cover to see if they could suggest any changes that should be made to help make it more appealing for them.

Version 1- Trailer When our audience watched this first edit they say that parts of it were slightly mixed up and it didn't run as smoothly as it could do and maybe some of the clips could be rearranged. They also said that the Universal Studios titles shouldn't be in the middle of the trailer and should be shown at the start as an introduction. We also didn't have any music in this edit as we found it hard to find a song so we asked the audience what they thought would be appropriate for this trailer and they said they would like some soft romantic music which compliments the story. So that is why we chose to use parallel music.

Version 2- Trailer In this version we had made the previous changes but we still wanted to double check it interested them and wanted to see if there were perhaps any other changes we could make. The audience suggested that maybe the titles colours were inappropriate for this genre as they were red and black and a lot of them thought these colours were more suited to the horror genre. So we asked them which colours they thought would be more appropriate and they said grey and pink as this is more symbolic of the romance genre.

Version 3- Trailer When the audience watched version 3 they found it a lot more enjoyable and they said that the changes we had made ensured that it looked professional and was finished off well. So this helped us a lot as it now meant that we were appealing well to the target audience and we knew that they would want to go and watch this film. So the purpose of the trailer was fulfilled which was what we wanted to achieve.

We also asked this group to look at our film poster and magazine cover and see whether there was any improvements that could be made to these.

Poster They said that the film poster was very effective with the use of the background and that the sign post used helped to reinforce the question of happiness and this is something that we wanted to achieve. They also said that we should move the actors name up to the top of the page to help interest the audience as opposed to having them at the bottom and to also put the title of the film up there in bold writing as well. These are all things that we took on board and we made all of these changes and this ensured that our poster was targeting our audience.

Magazine With the magazine cover when they first looked at it they said that it wasn't eye catching enough and there was too many blocks of texts. They said that this should be broken up and more variety of shapes should be used to make it eye catching for the readers. They also suggested that we should include another article not relating to our film to show a more varied magazine cover. Again we made all of these changes and we were a lot more pleased with the final result as it made the magazine more interesting when looking at it.

The Audience feedback helped out a lot as it meant that we were making our target audience happy and appealing to them so I think it helped us learn a lot about our products and the ways in which we could make them better.

Evaluation: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

I believe that all three of the products we have produced work together extremely well and they portray the true meaning of our film and show the romance genre. However I also think that each product would work well on their own which is also important but together they are a lot stronger. Something that helped these elements to work well together I believe was creating the trailer first as it enabled us to develop a common theme that would run through all three products and help show a connection between them. I think this link was the colours of the text as we initially used black and red in the trailer but after feedback we were advised to change this to white and pink and we were then able to carry this them on and we used a lot of white and pink in our magazine cover. It was hard to carry this theme on to the poster as we used a picture of a road to show the decision within the trailer however we did manage to carry it on as we used white text and kept the light colours in. So I think in that sense the three different products all work extremely well together. As aforementioned there is an element of 'who will end up together in the end' and will this be the right decision and this is something which is shown in the trailer when both of the male protagonists are running to find the main female protagonist. We have carried this theme on it to the film poster as we have used an image of a road with a sign post saying 'Happy' so this again will leave the audience to wonder will she be happy in the end, so we have linked these question between both the trailer and the poster and this would intrigue and audience and make them want to see the film so this is an effective link. A similar link that we have created again between the film poster and the trailer is the use of a 'tag line' which says 'How far would you travel to find the one?' and this is again creating a question for the audience to find the answer to which would require them watching the film. So these elements work well together as its leaving the audience wondering and wanting to find out. However I do feel that I should of maybe included this 'tag line' on the film magazine as a slogan for the film and this would of helped to bring the three elements together even more so this is something I should of included. The trailer, film poster and magazine cover all work together really well and help to show the same themes throughout leaving the audience wondering what will happen and this is something I felt was important for us to achieve so the combination has worked extremely well.

Evaluation: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our media trailer does comply to the normal conventions of a romance film in a variety of ways but it could also be said the we have developed these conventions as well. Our romance trailer doesn't contain a lot of speech and the speech that is shown normally consists of short sentences, one or two lines. I feel that this is a common convention of romance trailers as only small parts of the story should be shown so nothing major is given away. We have also used narration in the form of a letter and this is shown in romance trailers as letters are extremely symbolic and can show a lot of emotion.

This is the trailer for the film 'Dear John' a letter is used within this trailer as narration and is mixed in with speech from the film. This is the same as our trailer and it helps to show emotion, so this is an area in which we have complied with the normal conventions of romance trailers and I feel is strength in our trailer.

The location of our trailer also complies with the normal conventions of a romance film. When researching romance trailers it was clear that the location played a huge role and was symbolic of romance. Within the film 'Dear John' you can see that it is filmed on the beach and this helps to the genre. So we decided that we would also use these picturesque locations and we chose to set some of our trailer on the beach and conform to the conventions of the romance genre. This helped us greatly as it enables the audience to see clearly the genre. We also chose other romantic locations such as by the canals and in a country park and these are things that comply with romance conventions because they all add to the romantic element.

The storyline of the trailer does develop upon the normal conventions of a romance film as i feel we had added a few twists to the story. A lot of romance films show the males to be the ones who don't always want to be in the relationship whereas we had gone against this convention and shown the female to be the one who doesn't believe in love and this is something we thought we would make the film more interesting. However it does follow Todrov's equilibrium theory as at the start of the trailer is shows the characters to be happy but then the equilibrium is disrupted in the middle of the trailer leading in to fast paced editing towards the end of the trailer, through the use of fast cuts, content of the clips and the music and all of this helps to leave the audience wanting more. Within the trailer you do not see the equilibrium being restored as this would ruin the film so and prevent people from going to see it so leaving a sense of a cliff hanger is something which happens within in a vast majority of trailers, so this in an area in which we have complied to the conventions of a romance trailer.

The music is a strong part of the trailer and I feel it shows the romance extremely well, we decided that we would use parallel music to add to the romance, however at certain parts it could be seen as contrapuntal for example when she says she doesn't believe in love the soft romantic music is still playing. So this is an area where we have both conformed and gone against the normal conventions.

Click on this link 'A2 Trailer' to view the trailer with the romantic soft music;

A2 Trailer

In the Magazine cover I believe we moved away from the normal conventions of the romance genre through both the magazine company we chose and the layout of the cover. We decided we would chose Empire magazine which normally has a niche market of males and make a female cover. So we are going against the normal convention here as we are opening up to a male market and trying to bring in female readers. Also the colours we used were quite plain as we chose a white background to help ensure that the main image stood out, we did however use very feminine and romantic colours for the text as we used a lot of red, pink and purple something which will help to show the romantic element. This is something which is shown fequently for magazine covers for example the sex and the city magazine cover is very plain and doesnt show any romance iconography. So I think throughout we have both managed to convey and go against the normal conventions of a romance film and these elements work well together and help to portray both romance and the storyline of the film.

Ancilliary Task, Film Poster

This is the final film poster to accompany our trailer, we have made the previously mentioned changes and we now feel that it shows the romance genre well. It shows that the main female protagonist is staring at the male protagonist and touching his shoulder. It again reinforces the question will they be happy? Laura completed most of the poster as I was doing the magazine cover however we did get together and share ideas and ensure that we were both happy with the poster.

Planning: Ancillary Task, Film Poster first draft

This was the first draft of our poster and we decided that we would ask a small group of people from our target audience what they thought of it and ask them to give us some feedback. They told us that they like the bold title at the top of the page and the tag line is effective and creates a question for the audience. However they said that they think the actors name should be at the top of the page and that we should only show the two actors that are on the front cover because it seems that there is too much writing. So we will now make these improvements to make the poster better for out target audience.

Planning: Ancilliary Task, Film Poster plan

This is the plan for our film poster, we decided that we would use the image of the road as this helps to reflect the title of the film 'Across the Miles.' It also helps to reflect the theme within in the film which is a lot about decisions and which road she will choose.

We will only have the two main characters on the cover as these are relevant to the story and this leads back to whether the female will be happy.

I will ensure that there is a bold title at the top with the film name as this is extremely important and there will also be the actors names at the bottom to show who's staring in the film and this will attract an audience.

We will be conforming to the normal romance conventions with this poster through the positioning of the actors and the use of bright colours. 

Planning: Ancillary Task, Poster

Again when planning the Poster the research that I did came in useful in helping me to understand what i needed to include in the poster. The most important thing that I found from the research was that a tag line is important as this helps to draw the audience in and also gives them a little idea about the films storyline. It was also clear that the names of the actors should be shown at the top of the poster. We decided that we would put the name of the film at the top of the poster to draw the audience in and show straight away what the film will be about.

Ancillary Task, Magazine Cover

This is our final magazine cover we made all of the suggested changes from the audience feeback and i now feel that this is alot better and more eye catching. The use of shapes is effective and helps to draw the reader in. Also the use of different articles will help to attrack the 'Pick and Mix' reader. I worked on this whilst Laura was doing the film poster however we did share a lot or ideas and both discussed whether we were happy with it and if anything needed to be changed. I think this shows the romance genre well as you can see the colours used are very feminine and romantic and there has been a lot of hearts used.

Planning: Ancillary Task, Magazine cover first draft

This is the first draft of our magazine cover and we want to make sure it will interest our target audience so we will ask a group of people what they like/dislike and any improvements we could make.

When we received the feedback they said that they liked the bold purple block and text and the top as its eye catching but that the rest isn't very interesting. They said that the 2011 film bonanza is irrelevant and not needed and also that the swirly text is hard to read.

They suggested that we should introduce some more shapes to break up the blocks of text and add colour to make it interesting. They did say that they likes the interview with the main actress and that we could maybe include an article not to do with our trailer. These are all things that we will do and was really helpful feedback as it will ensure we are appealing to our target audience.

Planning: Ancillary Task, Magazine cover plan

This is our design for the magazine cover, we decided that we would try and appeal to 'The Pick and Mix' reader as a lot of females pick out the most interesting, eye catching articles to read. So we ensured that we made it as eye catching as possible and showed a few articles on the cover so that they can pick out the most interesting to read.
It will have the bold title at the top showing the magazines name and then all around the main image there will be various text showing the articles from the magazine and helping to make it interesting.
This will be conforming to the romance characteristics with the use of hearts, bright colours and the fact that the actor will be blowing a kiss and this will help to portray the genre to the audience.

Planning: Ancillary task, Magazine

When thinking about the magazine cover the research that I conducted came in very useful it enabled me to understand the different conventions of a magazine and what makes them eye catching. Myself and Laura decided that we would create a magazine cover for the company EMPIRE magazine. However we will be going against the normal conventions of an Empire magazine cover in that we will be making it very feminine as opposed to the normally masculine magazine covers. The Genre of our trailer is romance so would usually target a female audience however a lot of males go to watch these films with there girlfriends and we therefore thought it would be good to use Empire to help attract in both genders.

Planning: Prop List

These are the props we will be using for our filming and they are all essential items to help us with our filming and the establish the romance genre. The props that we will be using all help to add to the action and show different elements of the storyline for example we use a suitcase which helps to show that the female protagonist has moved away a key part in the storyline. We will need all of these props when filming however certain props aren't needed in all of the locations we are going to, so by using this prop list we can organise what props we need where and this will mean we don't have to carry items with us when they are not needed.

Planning: Costumes

This is my costume for the trailer. We decided we would use normal every day clothing for my character as she is just a normal teenager. We thought we would use bright colours for the character to show the romance element of the trailer. This is the costume for the 1st male protagonist. We decided that he would also be wearing everyday clothing. But because we need to show the romance element he has a few bright colours on so that it show more happiness. I also feel these costumes compliment each other well and look good together. This is the final costume for the 2nd male protagonist and he is again wearing normal everyday clothing, however his is slightly darker and this shows the more negative side of the romance. All of the costumes are different for most of the shots to show that the trailer was filmed over a series of different days and represents the film as a whole. So the pictures we have shown above will be varied when filming and tops are changed and jackets. But all the costumes are focused around these outfits.

Planning: Location

This shows the location in which we will be filming some of the romance trailer, we decided we would film on the beach in Barry Island, Wales. We chose to film on a beach as it shows the romance element well and is something which symbolises romance and love. So we thought this would be appropriate for our romance trailer. We chose Barry Island because it wasn't too far away and means we can get to it easily. We also knew that it was picturesque and it will mean we will be able to get some good shots and the location will show the romance element and will show a good location for the trailer.

This is the second location we will use for our romance trailer, we decided we would go by the canals in Birmingham. We chose this location because it will be easy for us to get there and also because it is a very nice area for us to film. There are a lot of canals around Birmingham and they are all located in nice areas so this means we will be able to get a lot of nice shots when we go there, both by the cannals and the area around it.

Location shots

This is the location in which we will film some of our trailer, Barry island in Wales. This is the perfect landscape for our filming as there is a nice beach and nice green grass around too. So this is a nice location to show the romance element of the trailer. We will be able to use the beach, area surrounding the grass and also the rock that is shown in the distance as these are all things that help to show the romance.

We will also film some of the trailer around the canals in Birmingham another picturesque location and again helps to show the romance, this shows the contrast in the romance story as one is story is shown in Wales by the beach and the other is in Birmingham by the Canals.

Other locations we will use

Planning: Shot List

We have used this shot list to help us organise the range of shots we will be using. We have also wrote down when these shots will be used so when filming we can ensure we use these shots and this will mean that we include a variety of different shots. By using the shot list when we film it will help us to organise are filming and will mean we have something to follow when we film and wont forget to use certain angles and movements.

We have tried to use a range of different shots and movements in our filming to ensure that we show all of the action well and by using a variety of shots it keeps the audience interested and shows things from different perspectives.

Planning: Shooting Schedule

The shooting schedule works well alongside the call sheets however this goes in to more detail. The shooting schedule allows us to plan out each days filming in detail including what happens in each scene, who is in this scene, the camera techniques we will use and where its set. So by using this shooting schedule it will ensure we are organised with our filming and we will know exactly who is needed. This are all important preperation when filming as it means we are fully prepared and organised so we can take this shooting script on set with us and ensure we complete everything that needed to be done on that day. We are aiming to do around 2/3 scenes a day and we have planned them all out on our shooting schedule.

Planning: Call Sheets

These are the call sheets for our filming these will be used to show who we will need on set for the filming. We have a variety of different cast needed for different locations, for example when we go to Barry we need Adrian and Grace and Myself on set at all times but no other characters and then when we are back in Birmingham we need a variety of characters. By using these Call sheets it will mean that we can keep track of who we need and when so it will mean we don't have unnecessary people on set when we are filming. So these call sheets will help us a lot with our organisation.

Planning: Script

This is the script for the Romance trailer, the trailer doesn't contain very much speech as the scenes are quite short so we are able to represent a majority of the story. We ensured we have kept speech to a minimum so that we are not giving away to much of the story and so that it follows the normal conventions of a trailer. The speech we have used is appropriate for establishing the story and showing the characters and the relationships within the trailer. We feel that we have used the right speech for our trailer and it shows the story of the trailer well.

We also decided that we should use a letter to help show the narrative of the story and we will do this as a voice over something which we ill add in when editing. This is what will be said in the letter.

Planning: Story Board

This is the storyboard for our romance trailer, it shows what will be happening in each clip and the camera angles we will be using. It also shows what scenes will be filmed were for example you can see the parts that will be filmed at the beach. The trailer will be spread out equally with around half it being set at the beach and the other half in Birmingham. This Story board will help us when it comes to filming as we will be able to see what camera angles we have decided on for each part.

Planning: Mind Map

This is our mind map for our Romance trailer, this was our first our ideas for the trailer. By using the mind map it allowed us to write down all of our basic initial ideas and explore the different ways in which this trailer could go. It meant that we could look in to the different ways the story could go and we were able to choose the best idea from this and ensure that we have looked in to all of the elements of the story. We were also able to use this to decide on the best locations for the romance genre. Myself and Laura worked on this together to ensure that we both gave ideas towards the trailer and it means that we will both be happy with the final product. So i feel this is a key part for our planning as it allows us to work together and think about ideas.

Planning: Complete Cast

Protagonist- Charlotte Savage

The main female protagonist will be played by myself; Charlotte Savage, we decided that I would play the main role as I am in the group with Laura so i will always be there when filming the scenes and this means we have a reliable main character. Also because I do BTEC Performing Arts I have had experience with acting and this means that I should hopefully be able to perform well for the trailer and make the trailer effective.

1st male Protagonist- Adam Williams

The first male protagonist in the trailer will be played by Adam Williams. We decided that we would ask Adam to play this part because he is also a BTEC Performing Arts student and has had a lot of experiece with acting so we know he will be able to perform well in front of the camera. Also because he has worked with us before on our media projects we know that he is extremely reliable and when we need him to film he will be there and it's important for us to use reliable actors.

2nd Male Protagonist- Adrian Palmer

For the second male protagonist we decided to use an older actor as this is more appropriate for our film. So I asked a family friend Adrian Palmer to play the role as I felt that he would play the part well and be able to portray the character to a high standard. I also knew that he was reliable to play the part and would be able to travel to the further location in Whales which means we could use this location as we were able to get all of our actors there.

Protagonist's friend- Grace Jenkins

Grace Jenkins played the female protagonists friend as she was important to fill in parts of the story. We have used Grace in previous films so we know that she is a good actress and is able to perform in front of a camera. We also know that she i reliable and was able to travel down to Whales with us which was what we needed for this part.

Extras- Jessica Bird, Amy Haines, Jonathan Adams and Laura Ticer

We used some of our friends to play a small role in the trailer as we needed to show the protagonist telling them she was leaving. We decided that we would ask a few of our friends Jessica Bird, Amy Haines and Jonathan Adams, Laura Ticer also acted in it and had some speech. We thought that by using our friends we could show the relationship well between them as it's already there. Also because we had used these people in a previous film we knew that they were relieable and good on camera.

Planning: Group and Job Roles

Group members: Charlotte Savage and Laura Ticer

Producer/Director- Within the group we decided that we would both direct the trailer and make decisions on the shots and locations etc. This was because together we work really well together and will be able to produce a good trailer with both our ideas and directions. We decided laura would use the camera mainly but I would help her out with some of the shots and choosing the best angles etc.

Script Writing- Myself and Laura decided we would work together on the script and share all of our ideas so that we are both happy with what is said and this will help us to ensure that the script is appropriate for the trailer.

Editing- Both Laura and myself will work on the editing process and this will help us to ensure the overall trailer is proffesional and looks effective. We feel that becuase we can work so well together we will be able to make the right decisions and help to make the final product good.

Actors- For the trailer we both decided that I would play the main protagonist this is because i do BTEC Performing Arts and I have had more experience with acting. However because there is only two of us within the group and Laura is using the camera we will have to ask other people from outside of our group to act in the trailer and we will ask people that are in my BTEC Performing Arts class.

Brief

For our A2 coursework we are creating a film trailer and along with the trailer we must make our own poster and film magazine cover. We have chosen to make a romance trailer as we feel we will be able to make this effective through the use of shots and location. I will be working with Laura Ticer for this task as we worked together on our AS coursework and we know that we can work well in a team and share the jobs out equally. Also because I take performing arts I will be able to act in the film. Then we will both be able to direct and film. As preperation for this task I will look in to different film trailers, magazine covers and posters. I will also look in to the genre characteristics and ask my target audience what they like within film trailers.

Research: Questionnaire results

For our questionnaire we asked 18 people, 10 females and 8 males. We asked people between the ages of 17 and 20 as we feel this will be the best target audience for us so we feel their views will be most helpful.

We started of by asking if they like film trailers and a larger percentage of people did, with 15 out of 18 people saying yes. We then went on to ask which genre they preferred to ensure that we were targeting our trailer at the right audience.

As shown from this chart we can see that the larger percentage of people do prefer Romance so we know now that we are going to be creating the trailer for the correct genre and it will be something that our audience will enjoy.

We also asked them what it was in particular they enjoyed about film trailers was it; The sense of a cliff hanger, The pace, The Editing or Finding out what characters are in the film.

From these results you can see that more people prefer there to be a cliff hanger included in the trailer so this is something we will make sure we include at the end of our trailer

67% of the people that filled in the questionnaire said that they preferred the trailers to be fast paced so this is something that we can think about when creating our trailer. Along with this 10 out of 18 people said they prefer the music to be parallel so if the film is going to be fast paced then we must ensure that the music is in keeping with this.

We also found out that the larger number of people view trailers on the television so we will ensure that our trailer is appropriate for television which is the way in which most of our target audience view trailers. So by doing this we will ensure to target our audience.

All of these things that we have found out will help us a lot when creating our products so we will ensure that we use this research well and keep our audience happy.