Question 4: How did you use new media technology in the construction, research, planning and evaluation?

Trailer

For my media product I used Apple Mac and Final Cut Express which enabled me to edit and create transitions which I was unable to do in the previous year. The programme allowed me to edit texts, images and sound as well as use special effects on the timeline. I was also able to speed up or slow down footage which I did use to create a spookier atmosphere. In making the tone cards I used Adobe Photoshop a programme I am used to and have used in the previous year of the course it enabled me to create texts in a quick and effective way. I used YouTube through out the project this was very helpful as I was able to see other horror trailers for ideas and note the typical conventions and layout of a horror trailer and use aspects of a real media product in my own trailer.

Magazine and Poster

To produce my ancillary tasks I used Adobe Photoshop to edit my key image by using various tools to crop the image, change colour schemes, saturating the image, adding effects to texts such as drop shadows, glows etc to make both tasks as effective as possible.

I used the internet to analyse real media posters and trailers as shown in my blog and was able to pick out key aspects and use them in my own project. I also analysed many Empire magazines in college in order to stick to the codes and conventions.

I used Canon MD101 which I used to capture footage throughout the project it was easy to use and used a tripod for some scenes to capture long shots and mid – shots.

I used blogger as a diary to record all information I discovered including analysis of a multitude of media products shown in my blog also I also recorded key sequences I would use in my trailer and set out each scene and numbered them this was useful during the production of my trailer as I could easily refer back to it when needed.

Evaluation Question 3: What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

 From audience feedback I have learnt that music and special effects played a huge part in my trailer as at first I presented my trailer without music and effects to my audience and got satisfactory comments and after adding music and special effects I could instantly notice my audience becoming not just engaged with what was going on in my trailer but excited with the fast pace of the music and the tension building up in the disequilibrium followed by the period of disequilibrium. I decided to thoroughly focus the representation of my trailer on Tzvetan Todorov's conventional narrative structure. I also tried illustrating a lot of emotions through close - up of my actors as I felt it'd make it easier for the audience to understand what was going on but not just that it would also allow them to feel empathetic of the vulnerable victim aswell as create a sense of realism as the audience would bear in mind that the horrific scenes took place in the comfort of the victim's home, therefore it gives the audience a chance to relate to this and create that blood curdling effect.
I have learnt that overall my trailer fits the horror genre convention with the set up of mise-en-scene which helps transmit the right messages to the audience making it obvious that it is a horror trailer also I learnt that short sharp scenes with razor blade cuts are much more effective than dragging one scene for more than 10 secs as it questions the spectators mind on who the villain is and exactly what is going on. In addition I discovered producing a trailer is the same as narrating a short story the only difference is that you use none or limited dialogue and feature a key sequence of scenes that take place in the trailer. I decided to create a story board before producing my trailer and it helped me plan ahead and become more organised as I knew exactly what I wanted and where I wanted it rather than having to waste time separating,editing and deleting a shambolic mess of raw footage.