Evaluation

Through the duration of pre production, planning and creating the media pieces it has been important to concerntrate on rule number 1, The Media is a business. This has been crucial when producing the film trailer, website,magazine cover and radio advertisment to appeal to the target audience and signify key features about the genre of the film which they can understand through common representations repeatidly used by the media. This includes colour codes, for example For my website I used black and red to convey the film noir influences within the film. All three of my media products, the trailer, website and magazine cover all link and convey the same information about the contents of the film. The same colour schemes, red, white and black and similar font styles are used so that the audience can clearly

identify those with the film itself this synergystically helps the audience remember the trailer for the film and the actors.

I used the exact same image of the actor on both the website and the magazine cover which will make the audience identify with the main protagonist as a familiar face. The website includes background information about the film, the main protagonist and other actors within the film so that the audience could become interested in the plot and watch the trailer via the website to grab their attention into going and watching the whole film.

My Website ^

Whilst planning the trailer as a group I decided that a flashing memoir of images from the main protagonists past would help to narrate the past events to the audience so that they can watch the film and understand why the main protagonists character is portrayed in a certain way for example Charlie Oak, the main protagonist is a complicated character emotionally, his self destructive nature is portrayed through the main image of him through his blank and disatisfied facial expression which is reflective of alot of the covers of sight and sound magazine, here are some similar examples.

A prime example, inspiration and style model for my magazine cover was the Clint Eastwood cover because i felt it portrayed a sense of severity and unknowing and ironicy through the seriousness of the image used.

I based my Sight and Sound cover on the Clint Eastwood cover because I felt it would portray the film in a mysterious and eye-catching way to the audience through simplicity. I wanted to create my cover for sight and sound portraying Driftwood as a dark but ironic film about a boy who has a complex personality, My aim was to create this through dark colours on a bright background almost a prison shot, which is why I included the number across the image to create suspicion and wonder in the audiences minds.

Whilst planning the trailer as a group we used web 2.0 for exmaple websites like youtube and the IMDB (internet movie data base) to analyse style models for our film and watch them on youtube which was good at pausing the films at certain places where we liked a feature or edit from it. we looked at small "indie" films for example 500 days of summer. We looked at the types of shots and editing they used for example alot of use of hand-camera shots and less effects than the mainstream, blockbuster "Hollywood" type films. Through watching various trailers and film clips the group and I were able to look and build upon our own plans and ideas through looking at mise en scene and how the characters were represented through the audience in this way and how the audience identified with the characters.

During the pre- production planning of the trailer it was important to look at the codes and conventions and sign systems which create a genre and setting to the audience to create a diegesis in which they can identify with in order to relate to the characters portrayed. In our trailer "Driftwood" it was important the audience connected with the lost and ironically distant protagonist "Charlie Oak" We dressed Charlie in typical teenager clothing for a person of his age which we felt would link our target audience for the film - audiences of around the age range of 16-25 years. We tackled issues often related with young people, for example: relationships, family, the future and careers, which we felt the audience could defiantly relate to and put it in perspective with their own lives.

Whilst producing my magazine cover and website I had the chance to use my photoshop skills, for example editing images and using different layers which I had gained through a workshop lesson which I found really beneficial using my learnt skills whilst creating both pieces in a straightforward way.

Our final media pieces conform to the conventions of small, budgeted, indie style films through the narrative, example: neo noir and ironic stylised around "everyday" types of characters living normal lives with an ironic twist.

The group radio advert also followed the specific codes and conventions of the trailer through using a blue colour scheme and the same fonts, again so the audience remember these features and link them to the film. The trailer and the radio advert both have laid back indie -band style music playing the background which is another key feature signifying the genre and style of the film to the audiences.

As I have stated in previous blogs, it was really helpful to look back at the AS coursework preliminary tasks and analyse what needed improving, it was interesting to see how we could improve on our own AS work and look at others for aspects they got right and how and also, aspects to improve on for the A2 work, for example looking back at "Roadkill" from the AS work it was clear the camera angles and shots needed to be improved, positioning of camera and clearer shots which we all tried to look out for whilst filming the Driftwood trailer. The construction and editing process was more time consuming and complex than any previous editing work because we used adobe premiere to edit rather than movie maker in the AS coursework. The film was split up into different sections for the flashbacks of our main protagonist which took alot of time deciding what to cut out of each one so that they linked to eachother fluidly. I feel our final media trailer links in appropriately to my two other media texts, website and magazine cover, I chose sight and sound magazine to model my cover on because it is a magazine which is selective about what music, artists, and topics it covers, it is indie in its style which is the same type of audience that Driftwood was targeted at.

(Radio Advertisement)

Through the whole process of pre production and production of my A2 coursework I feel I have progressed and learnt alot about how the media works and the practical and technical side of media, for example I have used programmes like photoshop and blogger through web 2.0 use and watched the editing process closely. I have found "blogging" a good and interesting way to keep updating the process of the coursework as I can look back and easily edit and change parts, as the trailer and other media pieces progressed. I have found it useful to be able to post videos on blogger (here) and compare and contrast them, it is important to see progress and show examples of this through videos and images. Overall, I feel the trailer does portray to the audience an accurate taster of the type of film We set out to create, although some aspects of the film have changed through the developing process from our initial ideas I think the group trailer and my magazine cover and website represent the film appropriately, in a querky yet underlining the dark aspects of the protagonist and narrative to the audience in terms of genre, setting and content.

The response from others surrounding our radio advertisement, trailer and my magazine cover have been positive or constructively criticised. I feel my front cover portrays a more darker side to the protagonist than the trailer and radio advertisement which may affect the continuity issues of the content of the film, however I feel this can be justified through the planning of the trailer and proposed content and genre of the film which was previously constructed as a darker character than is represented currently.

The Driftwood trailer soundtrack is "Sympathy for the devil" by The Rolling Stones. It is an iconic song and we chose to use it especially because it really captured the essense of the film through its upbeat tempo and common type of song used in indie type films portraying similar meanings to ours. We used the song under the "1988 copyright designs and patents act" The trailers purpose is not to make any profit so the use of the song is not being exploited for financial gain.

Our projected film would be most likely to receive a ‘15’ certification from the BBFC.Drug UseIt would feature examples of recreational drug use, but the context and consequences of these events will not encourage or promote such actions within the audience of the production.HorrorMild elements of peril would also be present, though these would be a reflection of the effects of excessive intoxication and would not be intense or prolonged.Imitable BehaviourWith the exception of the heavy partying the protagonist and his best friend is seen engaging in, Driftwood would contain no dangerous behaviour which could be imitated and no glamorisation of easily accessible weapons.LanguageModerate language would be present throughout the film, while strong language would also feature infrequently throughout the course of the film, especially during the scenes in which Charlie believes he has hit rock bottom.NudityThis would not feature in Driftwood and as such would not be an issue during the classification of the piece.SexAny sexual activity present in Driftwood will rely instead upon heavy implication rather than explicit detail. As such, this should not be an issue during the classification.ThemeThe themes of the film, namely the conflict between wanting a fresh start and being attached to the old, should not prove to be a controversial issue during the classification. If the film was to be rated a 15, no theme would be prohibited as long as it was covered in a manner appropriate for 15 year olds.ViolenceThere would be a very limited amount of violence in Driftwood and the violence that was present should be covered by its context as surreal comedy, meaning it would be acceptable even at lower classifications.