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

To answer the evaluation question, I used 'Prezi' to present my work in a different and fun way. Prezi allows me to present my work as an interactive spider-diagram It is easy to use and I hope you enjoy my presentation.

Here is a screenshot of my finished Prezi:

In addition, here is a link for Prezi:

http://prezi.com/nnszbbztlcdl/media-coursework-evaluation-question-4/

Production of Movie Poster

After taking note of the feedbacks from my 1st draft, I made some necessary changes with my poster. In addition, I will be presenting how I made these changes along with presenting screenshot of how I produced a movie poster. The whole process was completed within the software Microsoft Powerpoint.

Firstly, I decided to tweak the background picture, because it doesn't seem to show a shadow/person in front of a TV. During the photoshoot, because there was no TV available, I had to capture this effect by placing the actor in front of a reflector, which shone a light to give the effect of the person standing infront of a TV.

I cropped the image which I customized in photoshop after changing the colour to a dark red-ish colour to show it's violent aspect.

After cropping an image to make the edges sharper and straighter, I placed an enlarged, cropped  image on top of a similar image.

Here is a finished picture, after all the changes I made were finished:

As you can see, the image on the right is much better compared to the one on the left. The shadow is clearer and the light infront seems more like a TV than before. In addition, by changing the overall colour of the picture, it is giving a better feel of darkness and horror to the audience.

After, I've finished making the changes with the background image, I used tools within Powerpoint to begin creating my movie poster. To create the title, I used Wordart:

Wordart is a tool which provided me with different ways of creating a title. There different styles which I could use and different colours which I could then customise further as I am able to chose them myself.

After the title, I added the production credits which was below the title. The font was an important factor when adding the credits because the credits at most posters seems to be very similar. I decided to use the font "Impact" and made the sizes of each font vary. In addition, a presented the credits to be very tightly close to each other, as seen in typical movie posters.

Here is a completed copy of my movie poster. After completing the title and credits, I added small bits such as release date, website link, age rating, production logo and a slogan. I believed that by adding these small information, my products looks legit and realistic as these are typical conventions which the audience would expect to see on a movie poster.

Production of Magazine Cover

For my Magazine cover, I used Microsoft Powerpoint to create a portrait slide as a canvas for my product. After completing my photoshoot and choosing my background image, I was able to begin to look at how I can make the image effective and eye-catching making it stand out for the public. In addition, I also had to keep in mind that the background image is an important way of presenting my 'films' genre.

I decided to choose this photo as it very eye-catching and engaging towards the viewer as it gives the effects as if he is looking directly at 'you'. In addition, a tool within Microsoft Powerpoint is that I am able to change the colour of the image. In this screenshot, it shows various options of what effects I can do, all of which, are giving different types of feeling.




I decided to choose the colour effect which turned the original image to a black and white picture. I decided to pick this effect because it suggest the dark and scary aspect of the film thus slightly revealing it's genre.

I really liked this image as it provides me with the spaces needed for the title and slogan at the top of the photo. In addition, the picture is mostly central which allows me to surround it with cover-lines that will attract readers.

Another, reason I used Powerpoint is that it contains many features which will allow me to create a realistic magazine cover. As for my main cover line, I will be focusing on the 'film' which I have created. To maximise it's exposure, I used wordart which is a tool in Powerpoint that allows me to create a legit main cover line.

Wordart contains many different ways of presenting a certain text. Each design can be defined further as the font type and size can be changed along with its colour design. For my main cover line, the wordart I have chosen is very simple and the font is clear. I have chosen the font "Bernard MT Condensed" at the size of 96 thus making it clear and bold. Along with making the size of the main cover line big, I also chose the colour specifically to make it stand out. For the outline of the text, I used a white outer layer and the text itself to be read behind a dark black background. The design of the main cover line will be iconic to the audience because I will also use it for the movie poster as the title, thus making it recognizable to the public.




After finishing my main cover line, I used the text box to add in other cover lines to fill the surroundings of my magazine front cover, to make it seems as if it has many contents within it.

When I was creating other cover lines, I had to be careful with the contents I included with the magazine cover because it has to be related to the horror genre as the magazine is a horror movie magazine. This clearly showed the genre which I have chosen as the audience are able to relate with the genre of the films which I have included. For the setting of my magazine, I decided to use only 3 main colours, which is black, white and red. This creates a house style for all of the products as I will make sure that I use a similar house style in those. To maximise the exposure of these keywords, size and colour was an important factor. I decided to have names of films or actors in a bigger font to make them standout along with have words such as "new" or "world exclusive" in a different colour thus making it eye-catching for the audience. This should make audience feel like they are getting the most out of their money as they will be receiving alot within this magazine.

To finalise my magazine cover, I created a masthead which is big, bold and clear for the readers to see. I decided that normal fonts within Powerpoint were too basic and so I went online to find free downloadable titles which I can try out. I found a website "www.dafont.com" which shared free fonts that is easy to download and install.

I found this font very interesting and related to my genre as it gives a 'bloody' effect which can symbolise violence and horror. I decided to download it and install it so that I am able to use it in programs such as Powerpoint.

The installing process of the font is very easy and there are even samples of what it will look like before you install the font itself.

After installing the font, I am able to find it within Powerpoint and use it.

Here is an image of my first draft of magazine cover:

Photos

Movie Poster Photos

As part of my planning, I created many sketches for my movie poster and magazine front cover. This preparation made me decisive on the kind of picture I want and this showed on my photoshoot as most of the photos were fairly similar.

For my poster, I  have chosen 3 pictures to show the problems I came across with before I had attained the picture I was looking for.

This picture was one of the early pictures taken during the photoshoot. I cannot use this for my final piece because the image reveals some information about the character. I adjusted the lighting after this shot so that his clothes or chain is unidentifiable.

Here is another shot after the lighting was darkened. This shows the improvement in the change as viewers aren't able to see his clothing and portrays him as a shadow. 

Although this show is better than the previous photo, a disadvantage with this photo is its composition and frame. I decided that I will take a photo which can fit into a poster structure, so instead of taking a landscape photo, I decided to take a portrait shot, with the image being in the centre. It will also have space at the lower part for the title and production credits and at the top for the 'movie slogan'.

After making various changes, I was able to take my final photo which I will use for my poster. The changes improved both the effects and structure of the photo which made it easier for me to edit it. With the final photo, I am able to just add in the title, production credits and the slogan without editing the photo itself.

Magazine Photos


Similarly, I had a vague idea of what kind of photo I wanted for my movie poster which made the photoshoot process easier. I have selected 3 photos, 2 of which have some faults and the last photo being the one I will use for my final product.

A fault with this photo is the lighting. Although I wanted the photo to disguise the actors face, the lighting in this photo is too dark. The eyes of the actor cannot be seen so the effect of him looking "directly at you" cannot be seen from this photo. This was one of my early photos, so an improvement or a change which I can make is to change the lighting.

After making the changes with the lighting, there is a clear improvement with the picture. This photo shows his face clearly and his eyes can be clearly seen by the audience. I really like this photo as his face is 'half' by the lighting effect. One half of his face is lighter, whereas the other is darker. This can be interpreted to be showing the contrast between good and evil in the film. Although this photo has potential to be the background image for my magazine, I decide to take the same photo but, instead in a landscape format so that it mirrors a photo fitted for a magazine cover.

For my final photo, I made all the changes which I wanted to make so that I had the perfect picture which I would use for my magazine cover. Here is the final image which I would use for my magazine cover:

1st Draft

Here is an early draft of my trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qh8-KNJYKE

I posted my trailer in various social sharing network in order to gain feedbacks on my current work such as Facebook, Twitter, along with showing the video directly to fellow students from my school. Through this exposure, my work can be viewed by what I would define as the target audience (teenagers/young adults) and their feedback can show can allow me to make products which they would like.

In addition, here is a draft of my horror magazine front cover:

Finally, here is a draft of my horror movie poster:

Age Certificate

Choosing an appropriate age certificate for a film is an important aspect/process which I will need to consider. Although I am only creating a trailer, this feature will make my media product seem more legit. The main purpose of an age rating for any films is that it informs viewers of what age is suitable for watching a specific film. This is very important as it restricts children or young people from viewing a film which they may not be ready for (e.g. traumatized at brutal/gory scenes or sexual scenes). In order to help me decide on the age rating for my trailer, I decided to refer to the 'British Board of Film Classification' (www.bbfc.co.uk) and their guidelines on different age certificates:

I have chosen this age certificate for my 'film' and film trailer because the film consists of many violent scenes such as some scenes of a brutal fist fight, along with a dangerous accident involving a car crash and a pedestrian. Although the trailer itself does not consist of any offensive language, I have considered the fact that   the supposed 'film' may contain such language which has only embedded my decision to chose an age rating of 15.

Consent Forms

Having already posted these document forms, I will also post the documents in here. I decided to make consent forms for the actors and the owners of propertys which will be involved in the filming process of my coursework. The consent form states how the actors have agreed to feature in my trailer and have agreed to being part of the trailer and finishing the complete process. In addition, there are some consent forms regarding the property owners and those who may concern regarding the filming of the trailer such as a house and a nearby alley besides there property. Their consent form states that they are willing to allow any disruption caused by the filming process and that they are willing to co-operate. Here are the documents:

Flickr!

As a new way of presenting my work, I created a Flickr account so that I am able to upload photos and documents and present them as slideshow. Flickr allows us to develop a new technique to display our work for our overall coursework project. Flickr is a great way of displaying these documents and this shows how we used Flickr and what documents we have uploaded:

 

 Letter to House/Property Owner - http://www.flickr.com/photos/74987763@N02/6942167174/in/photostream

Actor Consent Form - http://www.flickr.com/photos/74987763@N02/7088237767/in/photostream/

Letter to House Owner - http://www.flickr.com/photos/74987763@N02/6942167108/in/photostream/