Evaluation Question 1

In what ways does your media product develop or challenge forms and

conventions of real media products?

Picture 1 - • This is a screen shot of our company ident which we created on Final cut

pro. We wanted our ident to be simple and stand out. So we selected a white background with black text as they contrast each other and so the writing would stand out. We selected a basic font type as we wanted to keep it simple and so it stood out. The ident rotates round changing the words from “Starmix” to “Productions” to “Presents”.

• We decided to put our ident at the beginning of our teaser trailer as our influences such as “home alone” have the company ident of “20th Century Fox” at the beginning of the trailer.

• We followed the conventions of a teaser trailer as in all the trailers which we looked at the company ident is the first thing which appears and so that’s why it is the first thing which appears in ours.

Picture 2 - • This is one of the many text pop ups which appear through out our teaser trailer.

We decided to use these to break up our footage and so it explains what is happening to the audience and it helps to introduce the characters and explain the plot etc. We decided to use a black background with white text as these colours contrast each other and we wanted it to be different to our company ident. We again chose a simple font type so we did not over complicate things.

• In the trailer for “home alone” which is one of our influences they have used one of these which introduces the name of the film half way through. One of our other influences which is “Sean of the dead” which is also a comedy horror film also uses these text pop ups to break up the video footage. They also use a voice over but we decided that it would be better if the audience could read it instead of doing a voice over as if we felt that it would help to create suspense and tension if a few sentences popped up through out the trailer.

• We followed the conventions as all the trailers which we looked at have these text pop ups explaining what is happening or giving a synopsis of the film etc.

Picture 3 - • This comes up at the start of the trailer and introduces the characters. We decided

to have shots of them in the car and at home playing the games console to show the audience that they are two typical teenage boys. As you can see the costumes which they are wearing are what a typical teenage boy of todays era would wear. So skinny jeans and a shirt. The boys are presented in a fun way as they are in a car singing and dancing and then playing the games console. The audience can also see that the setting is in an ordinary basic house. For this scene we decided to use wii remotes so it looked real and we believed it would be a lot more interesting than the characters just sitting down playing. We thought this would add some comedy.

• In “Sean of the dead” it was also set in the modern era, so as you can see they are wearing the clothes which todays teenagers and adults would wear. So we decided to do the same and set ours in todays era as it would be more relatable to the audience who are watching it.

• We followed the conventions of a teaser trailer as in all the trailers we looked at, at the start they introduce the main characters so the audience can get to know them and see what they are like.

Picture 4 - • This is a close up of the masked killer who is trying to murder the boys. This

appears after the doorbell goes and signals that events are going to take a turn for the worse. We selected a white mask which was smiling as we felt it was creepy and scary. As we didn’t have a door bell we add special effects and added the doorbell sound which was pre installed on “Garage band”.

• For this we used the film the “Purge” as our inspiration as they also use the noise of a doorbell and then the close up of a man in a mask to signal that the events are taking a turn for the worse. We felt that the masks which they used were creepy and scary as they were smiling and you could not see there eyes or anything etc. So we did the same, to create the same effect, which was tension and that something is about to happen.

• We followed the conventions of a teaser trailer as this point in our trailer is also the turning point like it is in “The Purge” and from this point things take a turn for the worse.

Picture 5 - • This is an over the shoulder shot of the killers looking in through the

window at the two boys. We decided to do this shot as it shows that the killers are stalking the boys, and it shows what the killers can see. We decided to change the lens to a greenish colour so it is in night vision, as we believed that this would give the effect that they are being watched all day and at night.

• We got our inspiration from the film home alone where the two villains are looking in the window at the boy. So we thought it would look good in ours as in home alone the villains have been stalking the boy and so have they in ours.

• We followed the conventions as in most films which are the same as ours and have the same genre, the villains stalk the characters and then watch them through windows etc.

Picture 6 -• In this screen shot it shows the comedy part of the film as the boys have

been tied up and are trying to escape. It shows that the killers have clearly got to them and tied them up in there house, but have not done it very well as they are escaping. We decided to use a long shot for this so the audience could see everything that was happening and that the characters are struggling to escape.

• We then added special effects as we put it in slow motion when the characters finally get the rope off, as it was like the characters were finally free from the masked killers.

• We got our inspiration for this from the film “Pineapple express” as the two characters get tied up and it is made funny when they’re trying to untie the ropes.

• We followed the conventions of our genre, as we added them tied up to show the horror part and then as they escape it shows the comedy aspect.

Picture 7 - • We followed the conventions of a teaser trailer, and added this scene in to

create more of a horror effect to our film. We darkened the lens and footage when we edited this clip so it would like like it was in the evening/night. We made sure our characters kept the same clothes on so it looked like it was in the same day/night that all the events were happening. We then wanted to add some comedy so we made the character Melvin fall over and we then put his fall in slow motion when we edited it, to make it funnier.

• We got our inspiration from the film “Home alone 2” where the little boy is running away through the woods from the villains. We decided to do this as well as we thought it was effective and made the audience feel sympathy for the characters, as they could see how scared they were.

Picture 8 - • We followed the conventions by using a variety of camera shots and

angles, so we did a close up of the character crying for help so the audience could see his desperation and fear. We also wanted to show that we could use a range of different camera shots and angles in our trailer.

• To film this we laid the camera on the floor so it was level with the character. We did this so the audience were level with the character and so they could see how scared he was. We remembered the rule of thirds and we wanted his hand and head to be in the center of the screen so he was the main focus point for the audience.

• We decided to also use this shot as in many trailers which we have looked at, such as “Home alone” there are close ups of the characters as it introduces the audience to the character, and the audience can tell what type of person he is.

Picture 9 - • We followed the conventions to put this in at the end of our trailer as we

wanted it to be the last thing the audience see’s so they will remember the name of the film. We selected a childish font type so it would create a sinister feeling.

• We also decided to put the text over the footage of the masked killer walking towards the camera as it creates the effect that the killer is walking towards the audience.

• We looked at other trailers such as “Sean of the dead” and they also have there title of the film at the end, so we followed this convention of a teaser, except we developed it by changing it so it would be different from other trailers. We did this by putting the text over the footage, so it matched our genre of comedy horror, as it looks like the masked killer is coming towards the audience.