My media product uses, develops and challenge forms and conventions of real media products in different ways. One way it develops the conventions of a real media product is through the use of mise-en-scene, my genre of film is horror with the sub-genre of zombies. In which I used the convention of the stereotypical mise-en-scene to create a ‘realistic’ and conventional look of zombies in which I used fake blood and make-up to create the look of them being flesh eating monsters which were previously human, so I kept the makeup to a minimum in a way to let the audience know they are clearly zombies but at the same time keep them slightly human which in a way challenges the form of real media products in that most zombies in films are shown to be so un-human yet I have kept my zombies slightly human for the simple fact that I didn’t want to fully follow the convention of the media product as I wanted to make the product unique to me as I am classed as the auteur of this product. A way my product develops the conventions of a real media product is the editing, it is the fact that it is filmed in black and white, most modern day films and trailers, with exceptions such as ‘The Artist’ 2011, it is very rare to in this postmodern society find a black and white horror film, which demonstrates how I am challenging the forms of real media products. It challenges the conventions of real media products by the lack of dialogue. This lack of dialogue was a conscious choice made and replaced by a soundtrack by the pop artist Lorde, I did this to not only challenge the conventions of real media products which normally include dialogue in trailers to in a way not only explain the plot but to give the audience a hint of what is to come within the film, adding to the effect of the trailer but I think my lack of sound works due to the fact that the actions, mise-en-scene and editing within the trailer tell the audience everything they would possibly need to know without hearing any form of dialogue which challenges the convention of real media products. I did this to create something more unique and different to other existing media products because I think the media is always changing and old fashions are re-appearing in modern day society so I feel that eventually silent black and white movies will come back into fashion, causing a new post-modern trend of recycling existing conventions to make new ones. My editing techniques such as the slow motion and rewind feature challenges the conventions of real media products in the fact that most media products, trailers, use fragmented narrative but don’t use slow motion or the rewind feature. The only trailer I am aware of which uses slow motion and the rewind feature is the ‘Dead Island’ trailer for the game, in which it is fully animated but uses the slow motion and rewind feature which is very unconventional for trailers, as it challenges the conventions of existing media products. I used this feature to follow the convention of a fragmented narrative which is used in film trailers, I chose the slow motion and rewind to give it more of a fragmented narrative and to confuse the audience in a way to make them feel slightly disorientated putting them in the characters shoes which uses the convention from existing media products.
I feel the combination between my main product and ancillary texts is very effective due to the fact that both of my products give the same information but don’t tell too much or too little. They link as they are both black and white keeping the colour scheme which works because it would look stupid if the two products were completely different colours which demonstrates how they link together well complimenting one and other in colour and information. The ancillary texts give extra information to the trailer but doesn’t give away everything which I like because they complement each other in the fact that each give out a bit of information but not too much. The way I edited the ancillary text of the film poster was done in a way to add more to the main product. I used Photoshop to make the characters into silhouettes which creates and adds to the mystery which is what effect I wanted to create within the combination of the two. The blacked out silhouettes have a background of blood splatter adding to the effect and genre of a horror in which it follows conventions of real media products, film posters, in the nature of it being like previous film posters for horror films with the mise-en-scene of blood which is also in the film trailer linking the two products together through the use of mise-en-scene. The products also work very well together due to the silhouettes beings blacked out but still clear on who the characters are, which I think is effective due to the audience being able to relate the two easily knowing they belong together in a way, knowing like that without a doubt that poster is for that trailer without having to take a moment of thought to figure it out. The magazine front cover and the film poster are effective together as I consciously chose to use the same sort of font and lay out of the products to make them similar but as different mediums. I used the same font for both name titles within the ancillary texts to link them together.
From my audience feedback I have learnt many things such as;
that my target audience of fifteen to twenty five year olds of both genders was
a perfect age range as from my feedback the participants stated that the
narrative, which they got from my media product in which there is a fragmented
narrative, would be appealing to them but they agreed with how graphic horror
films, specifically zombie films are anyone under fifteen it would not be
acceptable for. The participants of my audience feedback questioners said that
they thought the music used fitted well with the trailer although they would
have liked some sound effect such as zombie groans and screams ect, which fit
more with the genre of horror films than just a song although I did this to challenge
the conventions of existing media products, so if I were to do it again I would
include sound effects such as zombie groans and screaming people over the music
at appropriate times to add to the effect of the film trailer following the
conventions of existing products. The feedback also included comments of how
the audience used liked the way it was in black and white because it was
different from current existing products which they said worked well in
standing out from other existing products, so if I was to re-do my product I would
keep the element of black and white within the trailer as the audience thought
it worked well within the product. From the audience feedback I have learnt
that the target audience which I was correct about age range, enjoyed the
difference of it being in black and white instead of colour but the sound could
have been better done with the use of dialogue or sound effects.
I used media technologies in the construction and research
stage by using web 2.0 to research existing media products on youtube to get
inspiration of what existing products are out there, I then used the existing
products I found and embedded them into my blog to evaluate them to see how the
existing products have used the micro-technical elements to create the genre in
which the trailers fitted into. I used media technologies such as web 2.0
programs such as prezi and go animate during my planning stages to create mind
maps of all my ideas making them more visual and easier for me to work out what
ideas would and wouldn’t be possible to do in the trailer.
