Bernard carlton a2_evaluation

BERNARD CARLTON1048

EVALUATION

1. How are you using media technologies in the construction, research, planning & evaluation stages?

During the construction stage of my ancillary tasks, I used Adobe PhotoShop & Adobe InDesign to design and construct my work. Adobe PhotoShop worked as the main software I would use for image manipulation, image composition and most importantly image editing as a collective such as, sharpening, colour correction, brightening & contrasting. For example, for my ancillary task 2, the films poster, I researched the way in which images were often arranged on the page and how, what to the audience is a simple piece of image composition in truth, requires an in-depth thought process and requires great consideration being taken into account of the links it has to the film to entice the audience to watching the film.

For example, for my ancillary task 2, the films poster, I researched the way in which images were often arranged on the page and how, what to the audience is a simple piece of image composition in truth, requires an in-depth thought process and requires great consideration being taken into account of the links it has to the film to entice the audience to watching the film. For example, using ‘Adulthood’ as a prime example I found that the places in which the characters were positioned on the poster had direct links to the films plot and its main messages.

Nevertheless, using InDesign I was able to experiment how I would use text to present a more professional piece of work. I also looked in greater depth at the alternative platforms the urban genre caters for, such a music blogs, publication sites and artistic production establishments. One of which was 'RWDmag' that would employ the use of simple layouts and text fonts to create their products. In reference to text fonts, I experimented on InDesign on various images and snapshots from the film to select and use as my final product. InDesign was a very straightforward programme to use, especially as it allowed you to create layers in which it became easier to manoeuvre words & titles around the page to suit the design brief I had made for my poster. I found that, in contrast to Photoshop, InDesign presented a sharper and more defined image for a poster that has to be visually pleasing for the target audience.

During the planning stage, I constructed templates for my ancillary tasks that enabled me to have a rough idea of what needed to be done in terms of image composition, text fonts and sizes to avoid making drastic changes along the way. This planning was carried out in InDesign & PhotoShop as the text pieces were a crucial part to get right so I used InDesign to create multiple templates on possible designs. This was a very important stage and process as it enabled me to familiarise myself with all the tools, effects and organisation. Initially I was using Microsoft word to experiment with text fonts before taking it into InDesign. I also made rough templates for image composition in Adobe PhotoShop.

I began by merging two images of our establishing shots, The London Eye and The Houses of Parliament together to form one image. This was a way of keeping consistency in terms of what is in the film and how it will be marketed through the poster. Nevertheless, I marked out using the ruler tool where my four action images would be placed enabling me to clearly construct the poster. I also chose to begin thinking of fonts to use for the main title simply as a reference tool that would later be finalised in InDesign.

Additionally, I searched the internet visiting various font creating sites to sample a few desired fonts I would possible integrate into my ancillary tasks.

The poster was drawing to a finish but one or two things had caught my attention and needed redefining and editing in PhotoShop. As you can see, the film strip effect placed on the images is slightly slanted towards one side and because of this I chose to change it rather that overlook it. h

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Moreover, I used Adobe Premiere to produce the film trailer Ransom. During this stage, I opted to experiment fonts for the transitions to be used in the trailer. This also led me to font creating websites and also looking at fonts employed in current real media products as a basis to my own film. This exploratory part of my research was carried out on Adobe After-effects, looking at what can be done to highlight and bring attention to the important tag lines that are to feature in my film. Additionally, Adobe After-Effects was a programme used to complete the film trailer.

Here we have the initial scenes that work to build the scene, such as the protagonist being strapped to a chair. This is an enigma code, where we are unaware of the identity of the protagonist. Additionally, I have also looked to lock particular layers in order to make the editing stage much more easier.

Here we had creatively used the police in our film. This was brought in at the very end of our film in order to add a sense of realism and present a strong element of verisimilitude. In editing I had to work between the two task bars to enable me to work more accurately between the trailers scenes.

At the bottom of the workspace was the audio bar where the sound that had been incorporated with the action was place, also any special effects we implemented in our trailer. Also, they were sequenced to run in unison with one another to keep the transitions as smooth as possible.

In this section I was using Adobe After-Effects to create the inter-titles to be implemented in our film. I clicked on workspace which then opened a new slide in which I was able to change the colour contrasts, brightness and transitions timing. In this space I aimed to designate a separate workspace to preview the transition of my inter-title. In this very space, it became possible to extend the workspace also of the drop down options which enabled me to also work much smoother and effectively.

Here I went back into Adobe premier and implemented the inter-title that I designed and added effects to in Adobe After-Effects. Although the two images are different, I used the same principles and tools to design and implement them in my work. Also, I began to fit the inter-titles into the trailer itself on the timeline.

Research into sound tracks was vitally important as we had to make sure collectively we didn't fall into a situation where we used a common ‘Grime’ or ‘Rap’ track that could affect the theme and purpose of our film. Nevertheless, the soundtrack we used as our first track was one featured in the Inception trailer. This trailer was greatly influential & enabled us to think much more broadly in terms of effects we could add.I highlighted the segment or section that was relevant to the trailer and cut it out accordingly.

Now that the desired part of the soundtrack is in place, I then needed to rename the file and place it in a specific folder in order to import it into the trailer. The file or soundtrack would now be saved as a .WAV file to produced a much sharper and clearer audio file which would prove important in the effectiveness of our trailer. Additionally, the tempo of the soundtrack had been edited slightly to increase tension and entice the audience to want much more than what they already have. This programme proved problem free and easy to use to edit audio for the trailer.

2 . In what ways will your media products use, develop or challenge forms & conventions of real media products?

My media product design was heavily influenced by current media products such as the 'Adulthood' poster. As previously identified, I acknowledged that the position of characters on the poster had a significant amount of planning and great consideration taken into how it links to the narrative of the film. For example, Robert 'Mooney' characterised by Femi Oyeniran is located at the far right of the poster signifying his position in the film. We see that 'Mooney' wants to break away from the evermore decaying region of London they live in. This is further emphasised by the central position of Sam Peel played by Noel Clarke who presents macho apparel. Additionally, props also play a significant part in the design of this poster as a bat is placed at the foot of Sam. This is to show that at the foot of the escalating problem concerning young people in London is the violent subculture that people can be socialised into. This applies significantly to the way in which my poster was designed as I aimed to present characters in such a way that it has significant links to my trailer.

Moreover, I also took into consideration the way in which the poster designed for Inception was constructed, using a specific scene of the film to create a collective image that would both give a brief summary of the narrative, but also withhold information that would entice the audience to want to watch the film. From this, I opted to present key frames from the film to allow the audience to understand and appreciate the theme of the film.

Furthermore, in reference to my magazine I aimed to use and develop upon the conventions employed by 'Empire', an established company who produce film magazines. I looked at various editions and aimed to understand how each genre determined the design and effects used. For example, the title of the film ‘Green Zone’ has a poster designed with a green surveillance effect added, to present a direct link to the narrative or a surrounding theme in the film. In this instance, I will develop my product to have direct links to the narrative to avoid producing a confusing product, achieving this by integrating things such as the establishing shots into the background of my poster. However, I will look to challenge the conventions of current real media products by opting to not use weapons such as fire arms or knives, in either of my ancillary tasks. This is because, even though action films contain the common shoot-outs and standoffs, I felt that I wanted to present the drama elements of my film in the ancillary tasks and gradually integrate and portray the action elements in the trailer.

Nevertheless, my magazine will develop on the design paths taken by ‘Empire’ & ‘Total Film’. I have opted to merge an edition from each of these magazines on separate issues and develop thoroughly on the design employed by ‘Empire’. Empire has strayed from an elaborative design to a simplistic approach, where the text font is a focal point for the magazine. This is something I will use in terms of using bold, identifiable fonts but develop on this further by adding visual effects to the images and texts to present an all round professional product. Furthermore, L.Mulvey’s (1974/5) theory on visual pleasures and narrative cinema led me to consider the impact of corresponding colour schemes employed in my ancillary tasks. From this I would alternate the colours used in both ancillary tasks. It became evident that the poster the film company’s release, are dissimilar to the design path taken by the magazine producers. This is because, the two products may cater for the target audience but the products will appear as replications if they are closely similar in terms of design.

This is my ancillary project 1, the magazine and I found that after research I needed to create a name that was appealing and had a direct link to the products I was creating. This lead me to the masthead and title ‘Legendary’. This name implies or denotes a substantial status in the industry, a magazine that has top credentials and only markets the best media products currently in the market. Nevertheless, I also looked to integrate an online website that I would act as an additional promotion device used to push the sales and audience attraction of this film. The central image is of a character in the film who is not identified to integrate an enigma, a sense of mystery that only becomes clear as your read the magazine and also watch the film, so the two products work hand in hand to create one strong collective body of work.

As a result, I opted to produce a product for ancillary task 2 that had immediate links to the film and produce a magazine that presented a subtle but effective portrayal of the film. Nevertheless, the fundamental colours such as black and white were the main colours to be employed in my ancillary tasks. Black connotes mystery, horror, darkness whiles white connotes a sterile product, one that is of cleanliness but such a juxtaposition of contrasting themes is what allows the boldness of my ancillary tasks to stand out.

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

The main thing I learned from audience feedback is that taking sole consideration into what is needed to present a professional body of work for a specific target audience is crucial. I feel that from listening to the viewpoints of classmates and various other college students, I acknowledged that being able to present the main message in a few images is important. Reason being, when a poster is seen from afar, the audience does not have a lot of time to read every line of information, the most they’ll see is the title and the main images that should be able to sell the story. In my poster, it becomes evident that array of images I opted to use perfectly sold the story and enticed the audience to want to watch this trailer/film. One thing I did to branch out or expand the responses I received was to send the poster to the actors and also display the poster on social networking platforms such as ‘BlackBerry Messenger’ to see what people thought of it. From this I found that people of varied ages were interested in seeing the finished product (trailer/film) as a result of my successful poster design.

“the magazine in contrast to the poster is not as strong in quality but is still a good piece of simplistic but effective design.”

Evu 18:

“the poster is a very strong piece of design, I feel that the way you have captured the narrative in your poster especially is very good. Also, your trailer is very good, presents a side of London that I haven't seen presented in the media today so I think you’ve done well. However, I do think the magazine could be better but overall a quality piece of work all round.”

Femi, 18:

I found this encouraging as this insightful feedback enabled me to build on the foundation I had to further improve my magazine. In reference to my poster, I found that constructive criticism enabled me to build upon the foundation already set in my design process. Additionally, I found that feedback from various people, not just media students allowed me to pinpoint ways in which I could improve my work to effectively appeal to my target audience. One of which was to make the text slightly more readable from distance. This could be achieved through the use of bolder colours and larger text fonts.

In reference to my main task, the film trailer, I was pleased with the responses and feedback I gained from it. Once again I looked at a variety of viewpoints from different people such as graphic design students, art students, history, politics and English students also. This was to make sure that I was not simply catering for media studies students who have been taught to analyse such products and take critical responses upon such products. Additionally, one other point that came of interests was that my trailer presented an issue that has not been explored by real media products currently circulating in the industry. It was acknowledged that the common responses of people to such genres of film, is one that homogenises young people into anti-social subcultures but the opposite view was taken when I received feedback. From this, I learnt that it is possible to create something that is socially desirable and can be seen to brake or stray away from the usual conventions identified in urban dramas. Nevertheless, it became evident that by collecting various perspectives on my media product enabled me to learn what can be employed to improve my work further and how much more can be added.

4. How effective is the combination of your

main product & ancillary task?

Creating an ancillary task that has no direct link to the trailer is very much a disastrous thing to do which is why I aimed to keep a level of consistency throughout the planning, construction & also the research stages. Personally, I feel that I successfully made a link between my ancillary tasks and the main task as, I extracted elements of the main task into my magazine and poster to ensure the consistency was evident in each of my projects. Additionally, I looked to transfer the fonts used in my magazine to the fonts used in my poster to certify that I consistently kept the standard of my work at a high level. Moreover, I also went one step further and included the same fonts featured in the transitions in the film to the ancillary tasks also.

DIRECT LINKS

Nevertheless, it became important for me to do this because; the text I use has a heavy influence on the ways in which the products are interpreted. The institutions I had designed and constructed also feature similar text fonts simply to present a professional piece of work and have direct links to all my pieces of work. The main aim of my poster and in essence both my ancillary tasks, was to successfully promote and market the film to reach a substantial peak in sales.

An example of a thorough marketing strategy was the integration of an enigma code. An enigma being a question that is not immediately answered and thus draws an audience to a text. In reference to my own text, this comes in the form of the identity of the protagonist being hidden for a prolonged period of time enabling the audience to become enticed into the film. This plays to the ideology of urban dramas that they in essence look to depict male strengths and present a masculine view of 21st century London. Moreover, this links to the theorist Roland Barthes, who presented the five codes. One code that perfectly summarises the way in which I have linked my products together is the proairetic code (ATC) in which tension is built through action and withholding information that proceeds ay given scene. This worked to develop the stories tension and keep the audience thoroughly interested. A progression from this proairetic code was the use of binary oppositions, this being a clear division between the protagonist and antagonist/good and evil.

Nevertheless, my products all work to build audience interest so when the trailer is released; the acknowledgement of the poster is what lures the audience to watch the film. Moreover, it is evident that every film has a marketing tool whether it is a magazine or poster it has a USP, a unique selling point that separates itself from every other product currently on the market. My USP is that such an issue has not been introduced and the way in which it is presented, with no form of weaponry involved allows this film to be considered different to that of films such as Adulthood that is of the same genre. I chose to present an archetypal character, one that could be identified by the audience to be universally accepted and recognisable. This archetype character was the protagonist, the character that found himself at the centre of controversy at no fault of their own. He is simply a humble character that is made a lucrative target by his former friends & this also presents itself as an archetypal character.