Q1: In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use Develop Or Challenge Forms And Conventions Of Media Products?

This was our main focus and inspiration for our trailer. Catfish the movie has a great back story that is not uplifting which breaks the stereotypes of most modern day films, and personally I loved this aspect of the film. I have used a couple of aspects of catfish in the way that i use social networking and a girl 'Catfishing'/tricking me. 

In the film 'The Hangover' i have used the scene of them preparing to go out and then the scene afterwards of waking up in the bedroom hungover and confused about what happened the night before. This adds an element of mystery and confuses the audience, i can say this from first hand experience. The only problem we had was that we did not have sufficient funds to rent a tiger and use costume/ make-up to our advantage. Therefore we could not give this scene justice as we would of like to have done.

Narrative and Genre

Micro Aspects & Conventions

Q3

Film Teaser

Q2: How Effective Is The Combination Of Your Main Product An Ancillary Text

I will conduct an interview to answer this question as I feel this is a very creative way to do it and it will be good to get some audience feedback.

The questions I will be asking this random interviewee will be:

Explain to the interviewee the main question i will be answering and the that he is key to what we are doing because we need audience feedback.

1. What did you think about our film trailer and did you like it or not?

2. Our poster is actually part of our ancillary texts. So what did you think about our film poster?

3. What did you think about our magazine poster?

4. How do you think that the ancillary text and the trailer intwine together and the poster and covers?

We are now going to ask you some questions about our products.

5. Do you have any suggestions for improvements that can be made for our Film Trailer?

6. Do you have any suggestions for improvements that can be made for our Film Poster?

7. Do you have any suggestions for improvements that can be made for our Magazine Cover?

8. Finally what would you rate our Trailer out of 5 Stars?

Thank the interviewee for his time and his patience!

Final Film Poster

Props

 

Props





iPhone 5s (Joey)

Film Poster

Final Trailer

Audience Research

Audience Research

The audience research played a massive part in the genre of which our film fell under. It also had a massive impact on the advertising of our film, allowing us to work with the best advertising techniques in order to broaden our target audience and appeal to a wide catagorie.

The way in which we worked this was to look at various different age groups, then find out various different aspects which draw/attract them towards a certain film. For example when we looked at the target audience for children, we found that animated films which include loveable characters of which the children were able to relate to and understand. This is steroetypical for children as through the use of pyscology we understand that children are naturally attracted to bright colourful themes due to their age restrictions. Another target audience we looked at was older men as we feel that this is a very wide range to appeal to, and if targeted well can also appeal to other older age groups. When researching this age group we found that steroetypically they enjoy films of which include their hobbies, this means things such as sports, women and cars. Films such as 'Gone In 60 Seconds'and 'The Damned United' fall under stereotypical ma films, as they both include aspect of which would want the man to watch on and would keep him interested throughout.

When we was deciding of which target audience to appeal to we had to evaluate our film and look at the various different aspects within to allow us to decide which audience our film would be best suited too. By breaking down our film it became obvious that the older generation were best suited towards our film, from ages 15 and over would be able to allow a better understanding of the twisted but funny storyline. We feel that our film is best suited to both genres as it includes situations, emotions and props of which both genres would be attracted towards allowing them to stay interested towards our film. This is key for the release window allowing excitement and interest in between the time of release of advertising and trailer to the release of the blockbuster. This is a very important time for the production company as it will either broaden or slim the targeted audience.

Genre Research

Genre Research

Comedy

Over the past few days I have been researching the various different genres of films of which we can use to create the trailers. I carried out this research by watching various different trailers of different genres, to see the difference between them and what they include. By doing this, then gives me a good insight into what needs to be placed into the trailer which is categorized under a certain genre of the film. The various different genres I have researched are Horror, Comedy, Drama and RomCom. This is what I have found.

Drama
When researching the genre drama there was wide range of film trailers of which to chose from and study, which made the genre choice a good one to choose. When researching the genre it gave me a good insight into the characters being used within the trailers. I found that most of the characters used were older due to the level of dramatic input the story line of the film would entail. This then gave us a problem, as due to our budget we could not afford older actors, and instead would have to use actors more of our own age. This then lead me onto researching some teen drama movies. Films such as Juno were included in my trailer research, as it gave me a good insight into what should be included in the trailer. Drama is a very specific genre of which a trailer can be produced within, although various different story lines can arise, meaning it gives us a producers flexibility and room to be creative.

Horror

Horror is a very specific genre of which movies fall under as it only appeals to a very specific target audience. Horror films are all about the buzz of which you receive from being put out of your comfort zone through the use of film. When we researched horror movie trailers we found that it takes a lot of time and special equipment in certain films to create the effect needed in which to place the audience outside of their comfort zone. This then became a massive problem to our production team, although we did find some blockbuster horror movies of which didn't use this technology. Hollywood blockbuster horrors such as 'Paranormal Activity' was one of these films as has reached a large audience through the use of fakery ghosts and  the element of surprise, of which our production team could create. There were various different elements within the horror genre of which we had to look at such as slasher, ghost and monster. 

Comedy was a genre of which we enjoyed researching as there are many different films of which fall under this category. There are so many comedy blockbuster films out there making it very tough completion for new ones. Films such as 'The Hangover' has appealed to a worldwide audience and has raked in over £3,193,806 in its first weekend of viewings here in the UK. The advantages of producing a comedy movie is that it has a very large target audience and will appeal to a wide audience of people. The disadvantages of producing a comedy movie is that the competition is very high, with blockbuster comedies being released on a daily basis. Another disadvantage is within these blockbuster comedies is high name actors who are recognized for being funny. This means with our low budget it is impossible for us to get one of these actors, meaning we have to use unknown actors of which creates a risk element to whether the film will e funny or not.

RomCom
Romantic comedies was a good genre to research as we found it covered a lot of ground within films of which comedies or romantics miss out. This then plays to an advantage of a whole new target audience while also appealing to audiences who enjoy romantic and comedy films. There are various different blockbuster romantic comedies out there who have made millions through the use of that new angle of which they can play on. Films such as 'Bridget Jones' Diary' is one of them and has been proven to be a smash hit within the UK making millions through the use of DVD sales and cinema showings. We found that a romantic comedy would be a good genre of film to allow our production team to work with as it allows us to express our creative side but also have a comedy spin off on the storyline. We felt that Romantic Comedy was the best choice for us as it would allow us to use unknown actors and the genre of the film would work and fit nicely with our allocated small budget.

Props Moodboard

Props Moodboard

Character Profile-Joey

Character Profile-Joey

This post is explaining the characteristics and features of each role within our film. Meet Joey, the lovable lad who is desperately trying to find the balance between his boy mates and his girlfriend. Joey loves to party, go out and play rugby with his mates but most importantly Joey is a technological freak. Joey loves all the new software and will spend hour on end queuing for the latest iPhone, tablet or laptop, in which lays in with the story line. Joey was brought up from a stable middle class home in the south east of london, of which he lived the life any young boy would. Joeys mum has been a massive influence on his life with him being the only child, constantly making a fuss and pulling him through various different troubles as the boy grew older. This then links in with his partner Sophie, of whom he has been with for nearly 3 years. Sophie has almost taken over the mother role within Joeys life, by running the relationship smoothly through things such as financial issues and arguments. Joey works as a club promoter in central London, working with big name clubs such as Ministry, Pacha and Fabric. This shows how the couple are financially stable with Joey working at a high level within the city. But the money doesn't smooth Sophie over as she understands the caliber of the field in which Joey works in and what his job really initials. Joey loves his occupation as it allows him to live the life he has always dreamed about. Joey enjoys the finer things in life, things such as watches, cars, houses and designer clothes has always caught Joeys eye as he feels he is allowed to express his expensive lifestyle to people who don't know Joey.
Here is some basic information on Joey in which i have missed, to give a more in-depth basic view on Joey...

Age: 20
Gender: Male
Height: 5'10
Eye Color: Blue
Hobbies: Rugby, Partying, Music, Technology,Designer Clothes
Occupation: Party Promoter

Casting Profile-Danny

Casting Profile-Danny

This post is explaining the characteristics and features of each role within our film. Meet danny, the cheeky chappy who somehow manages to get away with everything, as he is able to palm it off to his right hand man and best friend Joey. Danny hates the fact that Joey is all tied up in his 'cute relationship' with sophie, as he reminisces the times of which they used to be able to promote nights freely and cause havoc in the city of London. Danny also feels he lives the lifestyle he has always dreamed about, with the fast cars, expensive watches and large house in the Chelsea area. Joey knows that Danny is the most anti-relationship person he knows, and Danny will be seen with various different girls every night out, of whom he somehow manages to take back to his mansion despite of his reputation he has built up in the London clubbing scene. Danny came from a very similar background as Joey, boyhood pals in fact, as they both grew up together in the south east of London, both trying to peruse the same dream. Joey and Danny know each other like the back of their hands, and have gone through many ups and downs as they grew into the men they are now. With Danny being the same age, he feels that joey is wasting his prime years with Sophie, as he misses the nights out they used to share with many other of their close boy mates. Danny knows its Joeys 21st birthday fast approaching, as he deviously plans to have a night they used to have, one of which neither of them will never forget. Danny organizes this 'spectacular night' of which ties into the story line of Sophie being paranoid about leaving Danny and Joey alone as the embark on one last cheeky journey.
Here is some basic information on Danny in which i have missed, to give a more in-depth basic view on Danny...

Age: 20
Gender: Male
Height: 5'9
Eye Color: Blue
Hobbies:Partying, Girls, Football
Occupation:Party Promoters

Q4

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Remake Of A Trailer

We had made a remake of 'The History Boys' but due to camera malfunctions, this footage has been lost and non-findable. Therefore we as a group are gutted to say that will will not have enough time to create another trailer remake! We apologise profusely to our audience...

Film Influences

Film Influences

The hit MTV show Catfish originally started with started with a small home made documentary which was filmed in America by two bet friends Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. It all starts with one man named Nev, talking to a complete stranger who he had never met through the use of social networking site 'FaceBook'. As the conversations flow over a vast period of time, his two best friends decide to film the whole journey Nev explores, as he strangely falls in love with this girl of whom he feels he knows but he's never met. As the boys go to meet this so called 'Megan' Nev is shocked to find she is not who she says she is! We felt that this storyline could relate to ours so we decided to do a little background research into this documentary of which hit cinemas back in September 2010. Back in 2010 the documentary entered a bidding war for the release and production of the film. This included two productions companies Relativity Media and Paramount Pictures. These are two very different production companies as Relativity Media, is a smaller independent companies producing things such as limitless and 21 and over. Paramount Pictures on the other hand is one of the largest subsidiary production teams within Hollywood, producing Blockbusters such as Mission Impossible starring Tom Cruise and Paranormal Activity. Paramount is a subsidary production company of large media conglomerate Viacom, of whom also owns Walt Disney and 21st Century Fox.

 This means will be studying and breaking down things such as Catfish posters, trailers and teasers to figure out the success behind these real life stories and why it is so big across the world now.

Catfish Poster Conventions&Influences

Catfish Poster Conventions&Influences

As you can see from the previous post, our production team will be breaking down and analysing the success behind the hit MTV show catfish. The first thing we will be analysing is the film poster, which was released before the film, to excite potential viewers and attract more customers towards the film.

This is the poster which was released by Relavitiy Media production team, advertising the documentary which hit the silver screen on the 17th September 2010. There are various different messages and connotations that this poster gives off to the viewer. The first most noticeable thing is the link to the social networking site and the link back to the computing technological side of the story line. This is shown through the two images placed at the top and bottom of the page. These pictures are pixel issued as if they were zoomed in or can be shown as if it was on a computer screen. This gives off connotations of Nevs journey within the social networking site and to able to instantly give this connotation to the viewer, allowing them slither insights into the storyline exciting them for the release of the film.

The next connotation is the link back to the largest social networking sight Facebook of which plays a huge role within both our storyline Behind the screen, and the Catfish storyline. The link within the poster is fairly obvious due to the large banner placed across the middle of the poster. The banner is a very similar shade to the blue used within the social networking site and allows the viewer to use recognizable shade to give them a better understanding. This is a technique to allow the viewer to use recognizable things they've seen an a daily basis to give them an initial reaction into what they know, of which the poster has also done with the font of the title. The font title is the same or very similar to the one use on Facebook. This is then gives off an initial idea of the story line and clearly allows the viewer a recognizable understanding that the famous social networking site plays a large part within the storyline of this documentary.

The final aspect that our production company broke down was the tag line, of which we found was a recurring aspect which can be found on most of if not all posters released. Tag lines are used to allow the target audience a smaller insight into the storyline of the film using catchy phrases and words in a small sentence. For example, think before you click is the clear tag line for the Catfish poster. By jumbling these 4 words into a small sentence immediately becomes catchy and memorable. When viewers read this it then gives them a small insight into the networking side of the storyline, but also intrigues them of who or what might they be clicking on within the film.

Overall there is various techniques and tips we have learnt from breaking down this Catfish poster of which we can now apply to our posters. By doing this it will allow us to broaden our targeted audience and excite for the release of the film.

Tag Line Ideas

Tag Line Ideas

When we studied various different films we found that it would usualy come with a tag line. A tag line is a small sentence which gives the viewer a smaller insight into what the film is about and excite the viewer for the release of the film. The tag line would be a very small sentence, Ranging from 4-8 words. A tag line is a good technique to use when advertising a film as it forces the reader to remember the advertisement. This is because tag lines are normally catchy or sometimes can even rhyme. Tag lines are another good effective way of advertising as these short sentences can become famous and be associated with the film. For example In a galaxy, far far away, was a very famous tag line from the hit sci-fi Star Wars. We thought it would be a good idea to create our own tag line for our film to allow it to become more memorable, this is what we came up with! 

.Are you sure you know her?

.twisting networking relationship

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Poster Draft 1

Poster Draft 1

This is the first draft of the poster which was created by the production team to broaden the target audience. We created various different posters in order to see which one was best suited towards our film and which poster would attract the most potential viewers towards our film. The poster consists of a draft tag line do you really know?, intriguing the viewers into what may be 'Behind the screen'. We also felt that this poster left the genre wide open, also adding confusion to the viewer intruiging them into the film.

Poster Draft 2

Poster Draft 2

 

This is our second poster of which we created to allow us to broaden our target audience. We chose to star main character Joey, of whom is played by Joseph Garratt in the photo with a women. We used this technique to allow our targeted audience to become clearer. We have also placed the production companies at the bottom of the poster, and specific text font was used of which will be explained in our poster breakdown posts.

Poster Draft 3

Poster Draft 3

 

This is our third and final draft poster, of which allows the viewer a better insight into the storyline of our film. The poster leaves troadens our targeted genre of our film still un-identified, forcing the targeted audience to be intruigued into our film allowing them to want to watvh our film. This then broadens our audience through poster advertising and viral communication.

25 Word Pitch Draft 1

25 Word Pitch Draft 1

As Danny is separated, Joey grows up into his melodramatic relationship with child hood sweetheart Sophie as romance and comedy tears them mysteriously apart.

Casting Profile-James Penn

Casting Profile-James Penn

James is 9 years old, and plays the role of Danny within the montage showing the two boys, Joey and Danny, when they were young them selfs. James doesn't play a major role in the making of the trailer although still has the ability to have an impact on the audience due to him being able to express how close the boys really used to be. This is shown through a quick 10 second montage of what the boys used to get up to, as they roam the streets and each others houses with minimal worries. James is a young bubbly lad as he enjoys to play football, read books and play computer games. 

Casting Profiles-George Penn

Casting Profiles-George Penn

George is James' brother, of whom plays the miniature Joey within the short montage at the start of the trailer. George is 8 years old and is a very loud character of which allows us to express the major differences in Joeys personality from when he was young and free with Danny to now, when he is more mature and in a relationship. Similar to James, George doesn't play a major part in the filming of the trailer. Although both the boys had fun, there impact was bigger on the audience than on the length and film of the trailer. Interviews from both young actors will be posted shortly. 

Treatment

Treatment

A young man named Joey has been dating his girlfriend for over 3 years now since the young age of just 17. As Joeys 21st birthday is fast approaching, the couple are portrayed to be as happy as ever as Joey can slightly hear wedding bells ringing in the back of his ears. Joey is completely oblivious to Sophie's feelings towards Joey growing up and enjoying his life before marriage with his best mate Danny. The boys are famously known around the local area for causing trouble growing up throughout school and with the ladies, until Joey met Sophie. Sophie understands that Joey gets fed a lot of attention for girls around him, with his best mate Danny never helping the situations. Sophie's thoughts are eating her away inside day by day as the morning after Joeys 21rst 'Lads Night Out' she decides to act on it. Sophie has an ingenious idea of pretending to be a local good looking girl through the use of social networking sites to use temptation as a weapon against Joey to see if he would give in or stay faithful to his long term girlfriend. Sophie would then be glued to every laptop, smart phone and tablet she can find to allow her to access more of Joeys private life, of which him and Danny have kept under wraps for the duration of the relationship. As the film goes on Joey becomes more and more attached to this mystery women of which he has never met before and starts to have doubts within his own personal relationship. As the lie gets deeper and deeper Sophie finds it harder to reveal to him that she is the women hiding behind the technology as she starts to feel as if her own relationship is falling to pieces as she understand Joey now has other interests. The situation is resolved in a big reveal as joey decides to organize a meet with this 'Facebook Stalker' of whom he is initially attracted to and feels that he is starting to have feelings for. Sophie feels as if the time is right to tell the truth as she decides to go and meet her boyfriend on their 3 year anniversary with a different girls identity. The eagerly awaited moment for the reveal in a small coffee shop, of which him and sophie go every morning before work, is fast approaching as Joey awaits at a table nervously but also intrigued to learn more about this mystery girl. Various different comical twists are also thrown in through the use of main character Danny, creating the film into a romcom allowing a different view on the relationship.

Main Characters

Joey- Loveable character who endures long relationships with both main characters.

Danny- Joeys wingman, recently left single by Joey now causing havoc on his ones.

Sophie- Sweet innocent character who wouldn't hurt a fly, intruded by twisted thoughts on her personal relationship.

The film starts with what seems to be the sweet and perfect relationship between not just Joey and Sophie, but Joey and Danny. These two loveable characters are shown growing up together as they cause cheeky havoc across the town. Small details from their childhood are included from playing street football to kiss chase in the play ground back at school. Joey and Danny are 8 years old at this starting point in the film, as it allows us to experience them grow and flement with graciousness and standards as the years go. This will be on the screen for roughly the first 5 minutes of the film, as it needs some significance towards the storyline showing emotion between the two boys, but doesn't interfere too much with the main plot. This is where also a few laughs can be thrown into the film, allowing the film to start at a very easy flow with comical situations of which the young lads find themselves in. The start of the film then carries on  with the boys in their teens, of which see's the arrival of sophie early on in the film. The boys are still up to their usual tricks causing havoc around the local area, but in more adult situations such as nights out and at college. Joey and Sophie arent officially friends yet, as we see a juxtoposition in lifestyles, showing various different clips from eachothers daily lifestyle. Sophie is introduced as a sweet teenager who couldnt do no harm, as she is seen in the same college as Joey. We can clearly see from this shot the difference in personalities, of which leads into them initi0ally crossing paths. As Joey stumbles late into a lesson he is strictly ordered by the teacher to sit next to Sophie, of which shows her blushing at the thought. The strart of the film carries on showing how Joey and Sophies relationship flements, with Danny being a pest through comical situations.

The middle part of the film is where the build up begins towards the big reveal of the mystery identity behind the social networking girl. At first we see the initial party of which tips Sophie over the edge. We see a montage of the night which was famously planed by well known promoter and best mate danny, of which is made out to be this crazy and wild boys night. This leaves sophie alone with her thoughts, of which becomes twisted and over powering by doubt and nervousness which is funneled  through the sense of knowing it is Danny who has the power over Joey. This is when she has the ingenious idea of creating a fake account within another females identity. This would then allow her a broadened insight into Joeys life, allowing her to access various different areas of Joeys life him and Dany keep quiet. She decides to carry this idea through after consulting best mate Jessica over a coffee the next day, keeping in check her sanity. We then see interaction between the mystery facebook girl, who is named Lucy Watson, as they start to build relationships between eachother. This is where the main storyline starts to kick in, as the story starts to unveil itself, although this is still not clear to the viewers or characters Joey and Danny. As Joey is completely oblivious to this he starts to spend more time on his phone, which is becoming recognizable to real life girlfriend Sophie. This forces them to drift apart over the duration of the film of which becomes recognizable to the viewers. This all adds to the build up of tension between the viewers due to the build up of tension between the characters.

The film finshes with the release of tension and the reveal of the mystery girl to the audience. This is revealed due to sophies concious caving in forcing her to reveal her own identity to Joey, of whom he thinks shes someone else. The twisted tale finnaly resolves ass confusion is settled while shock occurs to the audience. 

Costume/Clothing

Costume/Clothing

There will be various different costumes and clothing used throughout the film, due to the different character personalities of which run through our film. The clothes used will not be over the top, and will just consist of basic fashionable clothes mixed in with the personality of the character wearing them. This then allows us to enhance the characters personalities through the use of costume and clothing. For example, Sophie comes across as a very delicate and soft girl meaning things such as flowers, pink and pretty things would come into her clothing. We have included various different items of clothing into each characters mood boards along with other influences. We have broken down each characters influential clothing's and divided them under each 3 main characters.

Sophie

Sophie's clothing is very stereotypical girly girl. This then connotes her sweet and innocent personality, allowing her to come across as soft and sensitive. Clothing and accessories play a huge part within trailers as it allows you to get first impressions throughout a small amount of time. This means the colors and clothing used connotes various different imitations to the viewer. This means Sophie is wearing various different pinks, purples in order to connote a very soft characteristic. We also see Sophie wearing various smart clothes in order to give her a sense of independence. This then allows us to play on the story line of her being a mature women in order to juxtaposition against Joey and Danny personalities.

Joey 

Within joeys clothing you can clearly denote how Joey is trying to be as independent and mature as possible, but when with danny he is allowed to express himself through things such as snap backs and t shirts.  Through clothing we can clearly see the juxtaposition of personalities when with the two different characters. This is why we feel clothing's and accessories are a good way in which to express various different characters personalities.

Danny

Danny is dressed as how joey wants to be. With young styles and cool clothing, Danny is allowed to be the biggest kid he wants to be, with him constantly in things such as tracksuits, football gear and cool jackets. Danny has carried on from his childhood roots from when they was kids with loud t shirts and the latest trainers. There is a scene in our trailer in which Joey and Danny are getting ready for the 21st, Joey is putting on his shirt, blazer and checking his hair in the mirror, meanwhile danny is laid on the sofa behind in a tracksuit throwing a mini rugby ball around. We feel this is a good example of the juxtaposition within the two main characters clothing.

Filming with Young Actors

Filming with Young Actors

Filming with the young actors was a very funny and pleasant experience. Although it consisted of various different bloopers and poor acting, the experience allowed us to express that we could work with various different age ranges allowing the story plot of our film to become more real. Finding the actors was easy, as we also feel that the actor on the left ,George Penn, has characteristics of Joey and the actor on the right ,James Penn, has characteristics of Danny. The interview of how the young actors found the experience is shorty following.