EVALUATION QUESTION 1
IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR
MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP
OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA
PRODUCTS?
PROMOTING OUR FILM
To promote out film for ‘Lights Out’ we have created: A ‘trailer’ to give the
audience a sneak preview of the plot and some of the characters, a ‘film
poster’ that tells the audience about the film and where/ when they can see it,
and lastly a ‘film magazine cover’ to entice film fans and a wide audience of
reader to watch the film. Our Film is a postmodern style film as it challenges
the conventions of a Dystopia film. Unlike main stream films they are strong
main characters that must rise up to overcome the problem/ threat; for
example in ‘I am legend’ or ‘Hunger Games’ where the hero has to fight for
their survival and rely on themselves. However our film and trailer shows how
we have not focused on one main group but choose to show how different
groups and families have to cope. Through the trailer they is shots of different
types of people who are going through the power cut and this ‘wider
perspective’ gives the film an interesting edge, and is one of the films USP
(unique selling point). All of our promotional products highlight where our film
has challenged it genre by using a very basic and very every day occurrence
that turning it into a life or death situation.
FILM TRAILER
1. Camerawork & Editing.
In our film we have used a lot of handheld camera work as
we wanted to create a realistic feeling of actually being there
in the story instead of wide shots over the scenes and
actions. The handheld and amateur cinematography makes
the film feel more personal as the action is following the
characters and what they do, so the audience can be feed the
information as the characters discovery it. We found
influence to use extreme close up and shaky camerawork
from ‘Cloverfield’ and ‘Blackout’ as these films keep all their
shots as first person angles making the action seem very
real and we only find out more about the story as they
characters explore and located the problem/ threat.
The editing we used was very simple with the character but
we use fast editing and effects to hint at action and possible
reactions. We found a short Channel 4 film called ‘Blackout’
that used similar themes and found small clips of riot scenes
and police fights the heighten the trailer. This gave us the
idea to use archive footage in small parts to show how
people were reacting and reveal fast it was escalating. As
well as this we also used strong captions and a quote that all
related to the film and asked the audience how they would
react and was a way of engaging them from the start.
FILM TRAILER
2. Mise en scene.
In our trailer and film we used different locations around ‘Brighton’
as we wanted to show how the whole city is affected and how serious
the disaster is. When we went out shooting we choose to go around
in the evening when the majorities of the lights were off. This then
allowed us to shoot in Brighton and show a power cut as the pier
also turns off in the evening; so we could use it as a icon for
Brighton. The characters clothes were very basic and causal to
create the idea that the power cut is very sudden and the characters
were just doing their normal activities before.
3. Genre Conventions & Narrative.
The genre of our film is ‘Dystopia’ as there is a threat that the
human race must over come and work towards a better world. We
challenge the convection of this genre by creating a modern day
problem which the film then shows how people have to cope without,
even though many people had to a few decades ago.
4. Sound & Titles.
In out trailer we used lots of different audio, non-diegetic and
diegetic to create drive and a tempo to the visuals. We used lots of
different heighten diegetic sounds like dialogue and also buzzing
from lights that complement but didn’t originate from the shots. The
soundtrack to the trailer was made up of multiple songs collected
from ‘incompetech’ and a cover on YouTube. We choose to use
different and contrasting soundtrack as it create more drive then
one song would.
FILM POSTER AND MAGAZINE.
The film poster and film magazine will be supporting promotion for are
trailers. These two ancillary products will help draw in wide audience and
start to create a buzz and interest to the film. The poster will be mainly a
way of catching the publics eye and giving them a very brief idea of the
film with the images and poster style. On the other hand the film
magazine cover will give a more detailed picture of the film and what's its
about. The magazine cover will allows film fans to other similar films, to
see what out film is going to be about and how it differs and stands out.
We have picked out key images and the slogan ‘the blackout is coming’
that immediately create questions and ideas to the audience; as to most
people a blackout is very common but for this film people are struggling
and society is falling apart. Overall the film poster and film magazine
cover will be extra promotion to support the trailer and create an audience
to come and what the film when it is released.