A2- Evaluation Question 1 – In what ways does your

media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

Robbie Dale

Use –Poster My poster uses a conventional layout with a large central image, with the title and release date below.

The credits used Steel Tongs which is a conventional style font .

I have the ident and web addresses of the company at the bottom in the middle and the two corners respectively.

The largest piece of text is the title of the film followed by the release date. This is a very conventional – and logical – style, which provides potential audiences with the most important information required.

I followed conventions by having a small font size for the credits, as my director had not made any Bafta/Oscar winning films.

Use – Magazine My magazine uses a conventional layout with a main image and secondary

supporting images. This is a conventional layout for a film magazine.

The use of colours is conventional with red being used for the title as it is eye catching, and black and white are easily distinguishable on the cover.

The Plus section is a conventional method of highlighting other articles. On my magazine cover, this is also positioned following the codes of a film magazine.

The barcode and web address are conventional (and vital commercial) elements that add professionalism. They are normally placed out of the way so as not to distract the reader from the main image.

The use of a bar to highlight text is conventional and is often used to emphasise a main story.

Use – TrailerMy trailer follows many of the conventions of a thriller/horror trailer

; just like the opening of the Woman in Black trailer (link in description below) I use a fog effect across the ident at the start to immerse the audience within the mysterious world of my film immediately.

My use of transitions is conventional to a thriller trailer as I use many fades and flashes to emphasise terror and fear.

I paid close attention to framing, which is very important in any film; the correct mise en scene is necessary to the suspension of disbelief (as the many ‘bloopers’ programmes indicate, these can introduce inappropriate humour into a scene). Any unwanted or unrelated prop/background would detract from the viewer’s experience.

My trailer runs for about 1.40 min, a conventional length for a trailer.

Develop- PosterWhile I have a strong central image, it is not

of an actor or character. So although my poster still has a conventional layout, it does not use a standard image.

The solid black background is relatively unusual for a poster. However, as part of a monochrome colour scheme, it helps the image and title stand out.

Develop- Magazine Front Cover My magazine develops upon the conventions, as while

the cover still has a main image, it is positioned towards the right-hand side. While this is not unheard of, it is not a common layout.

My cover also develops conventions by adopting another uncommon layout in which the main film title is positioned towards the bottom, relying primarily upon the main image to catch the potential reader’s attention. This layout may be used for films with easily recognisable characters or a unique design - such as my danse macabre styled image.

My cover is not as busy as others but follows a more simple and structured design.

Develop- TrailerMy trailer develops conventions through the

use of dark scenes in which the characters are barely visible. I felt that ‘dark’ scenes with clearly lit characters detracted from the atmosphere and wanted to create a more realistic scene.

My trailer breaks conventions by not using either a voice-over or dialogue clips to outline the story. This was partly because I lacked access to strong or experienced actors, but also because I wanted to create a sense of intrigue and mystery.

Challenge – PosterMy poster challenged conventions by not

having an image or name of my actor on the poster as some films with unknown actors do not show their names as it would add nothing to the poster.

My poster also challenges conventions by only using black and white, as most poster which are mainly black and white have a splash of red to give them life. However, as a previous slide show described, I felt that the any added colour on my poster was ineffective.

Challenge - MagazineMy cover does not have an image of the actor

on it, which is unconventional but I used this to carry over the skull motif and design a danse macabre inspired image.

Challenge – TrailerMy trailer did not challenge conventions as I

felt that my trailer had to meet audience expectations.

ConclusionI mostly followed conventions in layout and design as

it allowed my audiences’/readers’ to familiarise themselves with the product quickly.

I developed upon conventions as it would still follow the codes of related media products but would adapt them to suit my stylised products.

I challenged conventions by not including colour on my poster as it detracted from the overall effect or an image of an actor in either of my ancillary tasks as they were following a danse macabre styled image.