Media Evaluation Question 1 IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

Firstly I look at the ways in which the trailer follows conventions of a movie trailer

In the beginning of the trailer we used the screen to say it was appropriate for some audiences, this follows conventions of a movie trailer and makes it look more professional.

The clip then goes straight to our production logo, it is often conventional to show the logos of the film companies or majors which provided funding so by following this our trailer appeared more professional.

The first scene starts out with the main detectives talking about attacks. Introducing the main characters in the first scene and starting with dialogue is common in trailers. This also works well to set the mood of the film and comes in well with the soundtrack. In the next scene we show the attacks previously spoken about taking place.

Throughout the whole trailer the identity of the main antagonist is barely shown. Not showing the face of the villain is another convention we followed and by doing so we create a sense of mystery over his identity which we believed would be a good way to arouse the interests of viewers.

A hidden face also connotes danger because unknown things are generally feared.

The trailers pace begins to increase and shots get more dramatic. This is helped a lot with the buildup non diegetic sound used with the soundtrack which creates a lot of tension. The trailer finally ends of after a chase scene with the main protagonist and one of the main antagonists. With the last scene showing the camera looking through up at the barrel of the gun and the screen changing to a coming soon title block. Ending the trailer on a cliffhanger is a convention which we followed as we thought it was very important to end with high amounts of suspense.

Finishing on the release date was also a convention we used to not only make it look more professional but also this is some of the most important information about the film, therefore putting it in the place where the viewer’s emotional arousal would be at its highest would make it more memorable for anybody watching the trailer.

Typically, the conventions of a crime thriller film are; police, thugs, violence, guns, drugs and gangs. We decided to use all of these conventions to make sure the genre stood out and was clear as we wanted our trailer to look as professional and realistic as we could make it. This also allows our trailer to follow Steve Neal’s theory of repetition and difference by following all these conventions we made a movie which is typical of the genre giving the audience a preconception of what the movie is going to be about.

Lastly we followed some of the conventions in the characters by having a main protagonist fighting against a main antagonist this can be linked to Vladimir prop’s theory of characters as we have the idea of good fighting against evil. The hero and the villain are both clear, we also have some helpers in the form as secondary detectives and the prize which is the warrant the police are trying to get in order to catch the villain.

Our final trailer also breaks some conventions

When it came to the characters although we followed some of the ideas in Vladimir props theory there was also many that we didn’t follow. Firstly our movie does not contain any female characters which breaks a convention. Although we had the opportunity to add a female character we believed that we did not need to include a woman as our trailer mainly focused on the action where we followed the stereotype of men being stronger, more aggressive and therefore better suited for a thriller.

Another convention we decided to break was by using the soundtrack throughout the trailer without breaking it up. Most trailers would use part of an original soundtrack and stop it in parts of dialogue or use more than one song in the soundtrack however we used one song throughout. Despite the fact the non-diegetic music used is a shortened version of the soundtrack there are no breaks for dialogue which is not common in trailers. This is a convention we chose to break because we thought it would help to make the tension to increase as more layers are added throughout the song and it becomes heavier making a build-up which we believed worked better with the whole soundtrack.

Conventions of the magazine cover

When creating the magazine cover we also followed conventions. The magazine features a picture of the main actor whilst he is in character which follows a convention. The actor is also not looking at the camera which is makes the audience wonder what he is looking at. The actor is also in the costume which he wears in the trailer, we thought it was important to follow the code of a consistent costume as it makes it easier for the audience to recognise the characters and helps to brand them as well as the costume representing their personalities. The smartly dressed character connotes intelligence and sophistication that allows the audience to already make a preconception of him as the good guy in this movie.

The text used also follows the conventions of a typical magazine front cover. The largest font is the masthead which is of a major film magazine company, and the second largest is of the name of the movie. This is effective because it makes the movie name stand out, making it easy to see for people in the shops to notice the movie from further away.

As well as this we added some other movies in text around the side. Following this convention our cover look a lot more professional and would fit the typical look of a magazine front cover.

Conventions we didn’t follow

We mostly decided to follow conventions when creating our magazine, although it is good to break conventions we didn’t feel as though we needed to and by breaking them may make our magazine look unprofessional. However there were a few things we didn’t include which a normal magazine would have.

In order to make our magazine stand out we had to be different by breaking some conventions, we did this by not including a background to the picture. Most magazines would use a location from the movie in the background but we believed that using no background would draw more attention to the character which will make it more memorable for people view.

We also believe that having only a white background will make the character seem innocent which is then nicely contrasted by the gun he is holding. This contrast will let people know that this character is good but also dangerous and this is something we wanted to bring across in the magazine cover.

Conventions of the poster When making the poster there were also conventions which we followed. We

wrote reviews given by newspapers. Following this convention will encourage people to watch the movie as when they see that it has been rated highly by existing newspapers they will be more inclined to watch the movie. When people see an expert opinion of something according to the Hovland-Yale theory it makes them more likely to watch the movie, as we aim to attract the largest audience we possibly can it is important that we follow this theory.

Another convention that we decided to follow was the picture of the main actor who is holding a gun pointing towards the camera. This connoted that he is ready to kill so the people who see it will know the movie contains action. This works well as it will help us to attract the target audience we are aiming at.

We also followed the convention of writing the actors name at the top. Adding known celebrities in advertising is also stated in the Hovland-Yale theory which states that advertising known names and celebrities will draw more attention to the product.

Adding the release date was another convention followed as it important to be consistent with synergy so we added the same release date of ‘June 15’ which we also used in the trailer.

Lastly we added a website for more information about the movie that people who see the poster and trailer and become interested. This was an important thing to do as it is a great way to sell the product even more and with lots of things done online nowadays it is curtail that we keep up wit trends

Adding the credits at the bottom in small writing also gave the poster a professional look. When people see credits have been added they will be able to defer that a lot of work has gone into making the movie by lots of different organisations and people which will make the movie seem better.

Conventions we broke When making the poster we decided to use only one character,

this broke the conventions because the trailer focuses on both the antagonist and the protagonist fairly equally, however we wanted the main character to stand out the most as we believed having one person would create more of an impact as there is less to look at.

We also added a picture of smoke beside the main actor, although this can sometimes be seen in movie posters is it not a usual convention, adding this represents a lot of things to the audience. The smoke is white which could connote the innocence of the main character which is then countered by him holding weapon. The smoke could also represent danger which is always present with him in the movie while the police are on the case.

The use of the smokes connotations give the audience the impression that the movie is a crime thriller as danger and weapons are both typically found in that genre.