Questions

1) In which area have you seen an improvement in from the foundation to your advanced portfolio?
I feel that there has been a great improvement in my creative thinking from my foundation to my advanced portfolio. During the production of my AS level magazine, I feel that I strongly stuck by the conventions of Indie Magazines. I took more time in thinking about what the audience expected rather than finding a balance between that and the audiences gratifications. I think that if I had focused on both of these, the adhering to conventions would give the audience what they expected, but if I had also considered gratifications, I could have ‘went outside the box’ and considered something that they would appreciate but would not necessarily expect. This is where my AS-Level and A2 work differ. I think that I took a lot more time and thought in more depth about what would make my more successful from my target audience’s perspective. A main convention of psychological films is that they are based around ghosts or evil spirits within the characters home. This is a convention that is rarely challenged, and so I decided to stick by it. However, after careful thought and creative insight I decided to add a twist. When considering my audiences age, I realised that they would have been in contact with an extremely famous and popular urban legend- Bloody Mary. It was after realising this that I decided to use this as a twist, to give my films story line a truthful and realistic angle, which would appeal and scare my audience. It is here that I feel I have been able to be the most creative, my creative skills have advanced so that I have been able to consider not only what my audience expects but what would pleasure them as well.
The idea of considering my audience also links to the fact that I feel that my researching abilities have advanced greatly during the creation of my advanced portfolio. I feel that during my A2 project I have been able to research my target audience to greater depths than when creating my foundation portfolio. I think that the skill of finding information has now advanced so that I now not only find the information but piece it together and draw conclusions from it. I have also been able to draw different conclusions by studying different theories, such as the cultivation culmination theories. An example of this could be if you compare my blog post on my foundation portfolio labelled ‘what I expect an indie fan to be like’ to my blog post on my advanced portfolio labelled “my target audience” or “audience theory”.

2) What challenges did you face in each portfolio? How did you resolve them? And if not, what did you do differently in advanced?
The creation of both portfolios bought new and different challenges for me to overcome. For me, I think that my main challenge has been the Technologies we have used. I’m not very skilled at using new types of computers and software. So therefore, I found it very difficult to adjust and had much to learn. Before taking A-level media, I had never had the opportunity to properly use a ‘mac’ computer, I found it extremely difficult to adapt to the software and became increasingly frustrated when what have been a simple task on my computer at home turned into an hour’s worth of lesson on the ‘mac’ computer. I tried to resolve this challenge by researching how to use different programmes and asking for help whenever I could. However, in the end I decided to use the software on my computer at home to complete some of the tasks... for example the contents page of my Indie Magazine and The Film Poster as part of my advanced portfolio. Although during my advanced portfolio the mac computer has allowed me to use prestigious pieces of software such as final cut pro to complete tasks at a high quality standard.
During my foundation portfolio, I feel that I could have examined and evaluated my work to a greater extent. This is a process that I found challenging as I had spent so much time creating my magazine that I struggled to see it from someone else’s perspective. To overcome this challenge, I made sure that I spent time away from my work before evaluating it. This enabled me to see the portfolio in a different light, and I was able to pick strong and weak points.

3) Which area is your strength? Please give examples of this within your a2 work.
Overall, I feel that the area of ‘research’ is my strong point. It is something that I enjoy as I find the background stories of different topics interesting. I feel that this is a strength because I make sure that I constantly refer back to my target audience through things like focus groups and questionnaires. This enables me to improve upon my work and focus upon the audiences gratifications. (Please see the blog post ‘focus group’). I have enjoyed researching the history of both indie magazines and psychological horrors, I have made sure that I have understood how both have developed.(please see audience theory). In addition to this, I have made sure that I have compared and contrasted a wide range of models, for example when I compared a whole page of film posters. It enables me to establish clear memes and conventions, whilst making note of what colours/ lay-outs were the most effective.

4) What would you do differently for both? Is there an area of weakness?
I think my main weakness throughout both portfolio’s has been my planning abilities. Due to the fact that my peers who had volunteered to take part in either my magazine or trailer take A-levels too, they are extremely busy. It is because of this that plans often had to be re-arranged as their own deadlines for subjects had to be met. I also struggled to ‘find a balance between tasks’, I would often find myself working on multiple things and starting tasks before I had finished others, this lead me to feel overwhelmed at times. I think if I was to do it again, I would make sure I would take time to concentrate on one task at a time and make sure that I would finish it before I started another one. This is would make me feel a lot more calm, and I would be able to focus on each task an equal amount.

5) What advice would you import to a prospective media student?
There are three main things that I would tell a prospective media student. The first is definitely that you should plan ahead and do as much work as you can at the start of the course so that you don’t end up getting stressed out and overwhelmed towards the end. Secondly, I would advise them to pick a portfolio that suits them and that they are interested in. This is because I think that if you enjoy something, you are much more likely to be willing to do the work and go ‘the extra mile’ when completing the tasks at hand. I would finally tell them to find a balance between things that are unconventional and conventional. This is because things that are unconventional often develop and become more popular and turn into tropes, memes and conventions. It is also important to stick to obvious conventions or ‘unwritten rules’ because they are popular and used most for a reason, you should show that you understand common features of the subject at hand.

Evaluation 4 - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation?

How did you use media technologies in the from 19105hj

Evaluation 3 - What have you learnt from audience feedback?

In order for my trailer and ancillary tasks to be as realistic, persuasive and effective as possible, I constantly referred to the traget audience of Psychological Horror films. Due to the fact that my target audiences age was 18-28, a similar age to my own, I was able to constantly reference and question my peers in class. Being able to easily contact members of my target audience was extremely helpful, I was able to establish a clear idea of what they expected from the media products and what would gratify them most.

Before beginning my main or ancillary tasks, I decided to compose a focus group/ questionaire aimed at a handful of members of my target audience. I asked basic questions such as; "in general, what do you find frightening?", I also asked more in depth ones such as "what type of characters do you expect to see in a psychological horror?". After analysing the results I was able to construct an idea of what was necessary for a successful psychological horror. Speaking to my tarket audience within the early stages, enabled me to learn what I needed to create in order to forfill the audiences expectations. It gave me prior knowledge on what was needed to amplify feelings of fear and tension in my trailer.

When creating my ancillary tasks, my target audience gave me constructive critisism on my work. Things said such as "the mast head looks to plain, you should change it" enabled me to access a new perspective and realise the features that were letting my work down. The target audience gave me feedback on the 3 versions I had created of my poster and magazine cover, seeing how the they have enabled my work to improve and progress has reinforced to me how important it is to refer to your audience. If I hadnt I would have just created one version and not have made the improvements at all. In addition, after further analysis of my target audience, ideas such as the 'ABC scale' enabled me to edit features of my work so that they were aimed at my audience specifically. For example, as my audience are classed as D/E on the scale I used a bright and bold colour scheme on the magazine so that connotations of youth and thrill were shown.

Throughout the creation of my trailer, I made sure that I referenced my target audience so that I could learn about what I needed to improve/ include. This meant that I was able to change even the finest details so that it improved the experience for the viewer. Contacting my target audience on a regular basis also gave me a 'fresh outlook' on my work, as I found that it was hard to judge what was good/bad after staring at it for so long!

I feel that if I did not recieve any audience feedback on my work, then it would be completely off the mark. I would risk an inaccurate interpretation of audience preference being shown in my work. Thus meaning that my products would have not been accurate, realistic or appealing. Speaking to my target audience has enabled me to learn the importance of 'the finer details', often when refering to my audience they would notice things that I had not picked up on. Using focus groups, face to face feed back, social networks and questionaires allowed me to construct products that were persuasive and gratifying for viewers.

Evaluation 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Evaluation 1 - In which ways does your media produce use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My Psychological Horror Trailer - 'Bloody Mary'

magazine cover final

This is my third and final design of my magazine cover. I ended up changing the design significantly compared to my previous two covers. In order to create my magazine I had to consider the audiences expectations and audience gratifications. I had to adhere to conventions of film magazines so that the audience could anticipate what the film would be like. I also had to consider what features would pleasure the audience and make them want to purchase the magazine. This is why I used one main image on the cover, I noticed that othe magazines would keep the design simple, so that the  audience could easily understand which would be the main characters. When considering audience gratifications, I decided to add actors names in a larger font as a means of celebrity endoursement. The audience will idolise and have interest in celebrities and so would purchase the magazine and thus find out more about the 'Bloody Mary' film.
It was important that I considered coherancy when creating both of my ansillary tasks. In order for both to look professional and for the audience to link both the poster and cover togther, I ensured that I used the same fone when writing the title of the film 'Bloody Mary'. Additionally, as I mentioned previously, I have chosen the font style of 'bloody mary' to be similar to that of the gothic horror era, this is so that it acts as a 'double mode of address', it will adress the obvious target audience but may also attract the attention of a possible older audience, who will relate the font to films they have seen in their youth. They will be attracted to buy the magazine/ watch the movie.
Due to the fact that my target audience would be classed as E & D on the ABC scale (students & working class). I ensured that I used a bright and bold colour scheme, that with held connotations of youth and fun but also connotations of horror.
I have also changed the title of the magazine to 'shock'. I feel that this name is more appropriate to a film magazine, as in my opinion the point of film is to change the audiences perspective in some way and to suprise or 'shock' them when they end up changing an opinion.
I also ensured that I used words that would inrtigue possible readers such as 'top' and 'hot', they connotate that the magazine will be the best and be interesting to read. I ensured that captions were short and snappy so that it would appeal to a youth audience. 'HOT TOPIC' sounds brief but acts as a form of colloquialism, which will appeal to my target audience.
I also structured the layout of the magazine so that it adhered to western cultural conventions and would thus uppeal to my audience. I considered how the audience would read the text (from left to right) and layed the page out so that I could fit as much information as possible in the order I wanted, without the page appearing overwhelming or 'too packed'.
After referring my second design of the cover, members of my target audience told me that the white back ground made the text appear dull, and unproffesional. So i went back to the drawing boards and chose grey. I felt a darker colour would work more effectively as it denotes connotations of horror. However, black appeared to harsh against my previous colour scheme so I chose grey.

Overall, I am pleased with my final cover. I feel that it adheres to conventions of film magazines and is tailored to my target audience. However, to improve I would have liked to perhaps simplify the colour scheme to one or two colours... I feel that four is a bit much.

Magazine cover first draft

Second Draft of my Magazine Cover

This is my second draft of my Magazine front cover. In terms of improvements, I have changed a couple of things. Firstly, I have Taken away the grey rectangular back ground that was behind the mast head and I have replaced it by putting it behind the tagline "OUR BIGGEST PREVIEW EVER" behind it. Additionally, I have added a few more features to the cover and changed the layout so that there isn't as much 'leading'. I am happy with the layout but still think that there is room for more improvement, for example changing the colour scheme and the mast head.

After asking members and teachers of my media group what I can do to improve my second draft, I found that they thought I could do the following improvements;

•  " you need to change the contrast of the main picture so that it stands out and looks brighter. It looks too dark at the minute."
• " It still looks like there is too much white space on the page."
• "I think you should change the mast head, it looks too empty and plain at the top of the page" 
• "maybe you could change the barcode so its a bit bigger"

I will take the constructive criticism I have been given and improve my final draft so that it adheres to my target audience's needs. 

First Draft of Magazine Cover

This is my first draft for my magazine cover. After analysing other magazine covers I decided to adhere to the typical conventions of covers in order for my own to look as professional as possible.
 I am extremely happy with the picture in the centre of the page, i used photo editing software in order to 'cut out' the image of Bloody Mary. I decided to use one large image on the cover rather than a couple, as i didn't want the cover too look too busy and intimidating to people who may purchase it.
 I also made sure that I included obvious features such as the barcode, date and price in order for the magazine to look realistic. (although the price had to be in dollars as the pound sign doesn't work on the key board!)
 I also made use of certain features so that the cover would appeal to the target audience of teens and young adults. I did this through making sure that the actors name was large and noticeable, making use of 'famous' actors names would attract the audience.
In addition, I adhered to a particular colour scheme.I noticed that this was used on other, professional magazines. I chose to use black red and blue, the black and red work well as there is a horror film on the cover so the colours have connotations of horror. 
In order to make the film name stand out on the cover I used a different type of font to the rest of the cover. This font is very similar to that i have used on my film poster, so that the two will tie in together. In addition I have also chosen to use a 'type writer' font, this works well and contrasts with the 'capital' font i have also chosen to use. In addition, its also ties with my trailer in that certain parts show this 'typewriter' font.
Further more I have written 'provocative' quotes from an interview on the cover, again as the audience is quite young this will entice them towards buying the magazine. Eg "I NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD END UP LIKE THIS".
In addition to this, I have also chosen to use offers of competitions for example "WIN TICKETS TO UNIVERSAL STUDIOS".

However, I think there is too much leading on the top right hand corner. In my next draft I will change the layout out and possibly add other features to fill up this space. I also want to change the banner on the top of the page and possibly the font used as the title of the magazine. I feel that they don't look as professional and cheapen the look of the cover. I may also add a fourth colour of grey to the cover, as the colour scheme may be seen as repetitive.

To ensure that the cover looks as realistic as possible, I will ask members of my target audience what makes them want to buy the cover, and what they think should be improved.

Final Draft Of The Poster

This is the final design I have created for my poster. I have made a few changes to the previous one;

1) I have changed the date. I noticed that some films chose a release date that had connotations of horror,evil and the devil. This is why i have chosen the date 'June 6' because of the superstition around the number '6' and evil.

2) I have moved the 'bloody mary' caption further down the page, I felt as though it was distracting from the image and made it lose its effect.

3) I have changed the typeface for the Times magazine reccomendation, this was so that the font was coherant in both the poster and trailer. Adding to its over all effect and making it look more professional and 'put together'.

4) Upon comparing my own poster to that of real-life posters, I realised that they often provided information about actors, copy right and the directer at the bottom of the page in an extremely small font. I have added this so that it looks as professional as possible. Also, if the film included famous actors it would then appeal more to the audience. This resulted in me having to move the '18' certificate to the top of the page.

Overall, I feel that the movie poster I have created is effective. It include generic features used to attract the audience and create the connotations of a typical horror. I have included a coherant colour scheme which features red,black and white. This is typical of a horror poster. In addition i have chosen one large image rather than 2 smaller images, I feel that this is more effective in attracting attention and making the film seem appealing. This is supported by the brief questionaire I created that asked the target audience which of the three versions they prefered. The recomendation at the top of the page, enhances the films reputation, posters will often show a recomendation from a well known source to appeal to their target audience. The dont I have used would perhaps be seen more commonly in horror films form the 70/80's. Although this font may be percieved as 'cheesy' nowadays, I used it because the links to fonts from the 70/80's will remind older viewers of their own experiences when they were younger of this urban legend. Thus making the poster appeal and relate to a wider target audience.

The Poster I have chosen..

After conducting a short questionnaire aimed at my target audience, I found that the poster they found most appealing was 'Version One' (60% agreed). I will now proceed to improve upon the poster so that it looks as realistic and effective as possible. 

Poster For My Trailer Version 3

This is my Third design for my poster. I like the idea of combining two images into one. I also like the 'grain' effect I have added on the top, it reminds me of the picture quality of older horror movie (think Psycho), I think that it adds an edge to the poster. I'm disapointed that i was unable to add the red fade on the adge of the poster to the borders at the top and bottom, I think that in order for the poster to look professional, I will have to change that. Again, I have chosen to use a generic font type with a generic choice of colour, I feel that this is an extremely common feature of horror posters and it works well. However, I feel that in this case it may cheapen the look of the poster. I have also used a recommendation at the bottom of the page, which is another common feature.

Now that I have created the three versions I will edit and improve the one that works best and use this as the final design for my poster.

Poster For My Film Trailer Version 2

This is my second version for the poster for my film trailer. I'm not sure if I like it as much as the first, this is because i feel like there's something wrong with the composition. This could be due to the fact that the title 'bloody mary' is not large enough, or because there's too much leading on the left hand side. Although, I am fond of the way i have edited the photos, I used a 'vampire' effect to whiten the victims skin and create dark circles around the eyes. It took alot of effort to put the seperate photos on one page after editing the back ground out and overall i am happy that i done so. I used black and red colour scheme to conform with other posters common features, I feel this works well as the colours have conotations of danger,evil,fear ect...

Poster For My Film Trailer Version 1

This is my first attempt at creating a poster for my trailer, as part of the ansillary task to tie in with my film trailer. The image I have chosen was taken inbetween filming, I think that now it has been edited using 'picmonkey' (an online photo-editing website) the contrast and composition works well with that of traditional horror movies. I have chosen a typical horror style font and have chosen to write it in a generic colour. I think that this works in well as the font has conotations of blood and danger, although I am concered that it may look slightly 'cheesey' and cheapen the look of the poster. In order for the poster to look realistic, I made use of a '18' certificate and also a comment from a magazine at the top of the poster. Next time, to improve it, I may use a tag line, something like the ones on 'the Orphan' posters.

Photos I am using to create my ansillary tasks.

These are a few of the photo's I have taken, in preparation for the ansillary tasks.
I tried to gather an idea of what I wanted my poster & magazine cover to look like before I took the photos. Hopefully they will look good once I have edited them and created my pieces.