Evalution Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

When I created my poster and magazine cover I researched other examples. I followed the conventions of the 'Letters to Juliet' and 'Atonement' posters as well as looking into 'Empire' and 'Total Film' for my magazine.

Magazine: I have followed the conventions of a film magazine by using the same layout: a bold magazine title, only a few headlines, a barcode down one side, a price, website, date and issue number at the top, a box of features at the bottom of the cover and a large image as the focus. I have challenged conventions by using an image which would not usually be featured on a film magazine, but as the target audience for our trailer are different to most who would buy film magazines I think that it would appeal to them. I have also included features about films which my target audience would be interested in such as 'Letters to Juliet', 'Wuthering Heights' and 'The Notebook.'

Poster: I have followed the conventions of a promotional poster by including institutional information, using bold fonts for the release date and 'Total Film' rating, by making it so that the title links to the genre and storyline and by using images which would give a clear indication of the type of film that the person would be going to see. I have developed my ideas by thinking about the connotations which the aspects featured on my poster give. For instance, the fire and the burnt letters coincide well but they also have the same connotations and link into how Sarah's character is so shocked by her past; she finds her discoveries confusing and disorientating- which is what I have tried to show in my poster. I have challenged conventions of a real promotional poster by using two images which are very different, but I think that as the storyline is set in two time periods this needed to be expressed in my poster, so that the target audience get an idea of what the film would be about.

With my trailer I looked into many other teaser trailers/theatrical trailers such as 'Emma', 'The Piano' and 'The Woman in Black.'

Teaser Trailer: After we had done research and discussed the importance of features like the institutional information, voiceover and how to get across to the viewer what is happening in the storyline we put this into our trailer. We developed our ideas by making changes as we went along, filming new footage and altering the storyline where appropriate. We challenged conventions by creating a film trailer which is very different from any other; it uses a balance of both the modern day and the 19th century to create a storyline where the girl looks back over her life. There are films where the character's life changes, but this would not usually be based on her past and how she decides to research it, and is then affected by the outcome. In a similar way to other films we have created verisimilitude by choosing a believable location and costumes, so I think that we have achieved the look of the 1800's time period well.