In what ways does your media product use, develop, or

challenge forms and conventions of real life media

products?Shivani Mohan

POSTER

Conventions of a posterThe main image must be eye catching, engaging and captivating to the audience. It must

be the focal point on the poster.There is usually an indication for when the film will be released. It will have either have an

exact date for example 15/7/15 or something less specific for example ‘Coming Soon’ or ‘This Summer’.

The film genre can be clearly seen.The title of the film must be clearly seen so the audience knows what the film is called and

what to look out for in the future near the release date e.g. trailer previews.Information at the bottom of the poster usually in small writing which gives information

about the directors, producers, cast etc. who produced the film. Also known as credits usually in a billing block.

The title of the film should be displayed in a big, eye catching font.

Poster AnalysisI did an analysis of three film posters that were similar genres to the genre we had chosen. This was to give us a rough idea of the typical code and conventions used in our poster and how our poster for our film should look like and similarly follow as they are real life media products.

Poster ComparisonWe decided that we couldn’t just use 3 posters similar to our genre to design our film poster, so we used other film posters that were similar to our genre as templates as well to design our film poster keeping an open mind.

Poster conventions we used, challenged or developed

The main image used on the left hand side is the main image from a real life media product - ‘The Vow’ film poster and the main image on the right is the shot we took to go on our film poster. We used and followed this convention as we thought that is image would best represent our film genre. We decided to take a shot like this as it represents and gives an insight to the love and relationship between the two characters which is what we want the audience to know. The real life media product main image has the background blurred to show definition of the colours and bring attention to the main image to make it the focal point which is exactly what we also did the background of our main image to make the image catch the audiences attention.

Billing box – at the bottom of posters and is a convention most posters use as its where the credits of actors, producers and directors etc. of the film go to show who took part in the making of the film. This adds an edge to our poster as it doesn’t look plain and bare but professional as all posters will have this at the bottoms of them. At the end of the credits, in the middle of the production logos, there is a date of the films release right in the middle in big letters. This is so the audience knows the release date of the film if they are interested in it and most real life products follows this. We also followed this convention as we found that this posters and the majority of real life posters have the films release date in the middle of the credits. So we put the release date of the ‘The Old Generation’ in the middle of the credits in a bigger font size.

We followed the convention of naming the companies who helped make the film as this is a convention seen in many real life products such as the poster on the left of ‘Yeh Jawanni Hai Dewanni’ at the top of the poster. This is to inform the audience on what companies took part in the making of the film as this can lead to whether the target audience will watch it or not. If it’s made by a world famous brand, the audience are more likely to watch the film, if it’s made by a small production company, the audience are less likely to watch it. Therefore, we thought this is a vital convention we need on our film poster as seen on the right. We also added an age rating to the film, so the audience are aware of the content that will be in film and what age group and over this film is suitable for. We did this all at the bottom of the poster.

Most film posters will have a tag line on the poster of there film that will relate to the film for example a real life poster that has done this is the film poster for the film ‘The other end of the line’ on the left hand side. We have done a similar tag line on the right hand side so it captures the audiences attention. It gives out a very subtle idea of what the film may be about and will entice the audience into finding out more about the film and developing an interest in it so they will want to watch the film. We did this near the bottom of the poster, just above the credits, in a medium sized font so it can be seen clearly.

The title of the film is another convention we followed as it’s the most important convention to have when creating a film poster. The image on the left is the title of a real film on the poster called ‘The Last Song’. We followed this convention as seen on the right hand side. We like the way how the ‘The’ is small’ then is says in much bigger writing the title of the film, it creates more emphasis on the film title and because of this we have decided to follow it on our film poster. The writing we have done as don’t type ‘Andalus’ and the colour is white as it can be seen clearly. We made sure the size of the writing was quite big so it can be seen clearly and the audience can see what the name of the film is. This is a convention ‘The Last Song’ also used as its very bold, white and stands out against the background which created more emphasis on the film title. This is the feeling we were going for our film title on our film poster.

MAGAZINE

Conventions of a magazineMasthead – Usually the title block and is boldest and most eye catching piece of text on a magazine.

Has to be distinct and catch the attention of the audience.Main Image – There is always one main image on the front cover of a magazine that is the main focal

point and brings in the audiences attention.Issue Date – which shows the date that the magazine was published and what issue is it for.Price – the price is usually near the bottom of the page so the audience/customer know how much the

magazine costs.Barcode – at the bottom of the page, near price. Usually in either the right or left hand side of the

page.Headline – usually a couple of words that are in bold big letters that describe the main story.Strapline – a subheading, below the main heading that engages the audience into buying a magazine

and finding more about it. (Developing an interest).By-line – The name of the reporter.

Magazine AnalysisI did an analysis of three magazine covers that were similar to our genre. This was to inform us on the layout, codes and conventions used in magazines similar to our chosen genre.

Magazine ComparisonWe decided that we couldn’t just use three magazine covers to help us design our magazine cover. So we also compared a variety of different film magazine covers.

Magazine conventions we used, challenged and developed

When designing my magazine I decided to keep the masthead the same as seen on the real life product on the left and my magazine on the right. I decided this as ‘Film Fare’ is a very big well known magazine company. The masthead is also in big bold letters and stands out against the background which captures the eye of the audience. That is what a masthead look like, so I decided to follow this convention as it look professional. It also fits it well the genre as they’re safe colours.

When designing my magazine, I had to think about where the issue date was going to go. I followed the convention of having the issue date typically under the mast head on the right hand side as its easier to see and is read chronologically. However, I challenged the convention of having the price next to the issue date and have put this by the barcode at the bottom of the magazine as I felt as if it looked more in place there and looked odd by the issue date. I have followed the convention of placing the web address of the magazine under the issue date as it looks more professional and flows with the layout.

In the real life product, there are 2 different small headers on the right hand side. I was unsure whether to do this or not as it looked odd and the rest of the text aligned on that same line does not stand out. After looking at other magazines, I developed from this that it’s best to have one header for any text going into the header which is what I did on my magazine (left hand side). I have put an orange header across all the red text in that top section as it makes the magazine stand out but also captures the audience’s attention and makes the magazine look more professional and eye catching.

The title of the film on the magazine cover as seen on the left hand side with the real life media product, is in big bold gold letters which is clearly seen so the audience know what the film is called and what to look out for in the future if they are interest in the film. We have followed this convention as well and have put the title of the film in big letters so the audience can tell what film it is straight away however, I did not decide to have it in bold as it looked unprofessional. That’s why he left it in big letters.

To fill up the magazine with text about the film, I decided to also follow this convention of having a quotation from what someone has said about someone else who has taken part in this film as an actor in speech marks as seen on the real life media product on the left. I followed this as it draws in the interest of the audience and they become keen and want to know more about the film or this quote and how it relates to the film as seen on my magazine cover on the right. The speech marks opacity has also been reduced to show more emphasis on the quote.

The label on the left hand side is form a real life product and make the magazine look different and stand out. I decided to use this convention as well as it gives the magazine a different and edgy look that makes it look more professional. We used this convention this to prevent the magazine text looking in ‘boxes shapes’ and to change up the dynamics of the magazine We also looked at other magazines and saw that they also had labels on but not with information text that states what is in the magazine as seen on the left but they had the price of the magazine on to inform how much the magazine costs in a good size font. I decided to do the same and have a label saying the issue of the magazine and the price of the magazine.

I also included a barcode on the magazine cover as despite the genre of the a magazine. All magazines will include a barcode in them as seen on the image on the left hand side. From looking at a variety of different film magazine, the barcode on a magazine are usually on the bottom left hand side of the magazine cover as it’s put of the way and can be seen vividly. We also put the barcode of our magazine in the bottom left hand corner as seen on the right hand side image as it is the most appropriate and typical place to find a barcode on a magazine.

TRAILER

Conventions of a trailerThere are usually production logos at the start of a film trailer to show the target audience the production

company who has made the film. This will determine whether they will want to go see the film or not. If it’s a good well known production company, then they well. If it’s a small local production company, then it’s unlikely that a lot of people will go see it. The audience think of it as the bigger the production company, the better the quality of the film.

BBFC age certificate – usually after the production logo and just before the film starts to let the audience know what age group this film is suitable for.

The title of the film is usually presented at the end of trailer – suspense built up to the end to find out the name. The title is usually presented in a sense that’s similar to the genres.

Music and Voice overs to keep the narrative interesting and keep the audiences attention.Intertitle – briefly tell the story via small hints leading to a suspense, resulting into the target audience watching

it.Short time length – usually running for about 1 min 30 sec – 2 min 30 sec.Release date – usually near the end of the trailer, near where the title of the film comes up.

Trailer AnalysisI did an analysis of film trailers that were similar to our film genre to find out the: similarities between them, content in trailers and conventions followed. I did this to give me a better understanding of what I need to do to create an effective trailer.

Trailer ComparisonIn order to create the best possible trailer, we decided that we had to look at variety of different film trailers similar to our genre so we can compare the similarities and differences but to also find out what we need to make our film trailer good.

Trailer conventions we used, challenged and developed

In the real life trailer on the left hand side for ‘Bride and Prejudice’ there is a green screen film rating screen which appears to let he audience know who this film is suitable is for and it has been approved. Almost every film trailer that been produced has this certificate at the start before the trailer begins and a typical convention found. I have followed this convention and used it my trailer on the left hand side.

In the real life trailer on the left hand side for ‘Yeh Jawanni Hai Dewanni’. The production logo is seen at the start of the trailer to inform the audience on the production company that has made the film. This will determine whether the audience will watch it or not if the production company is known world wide then the audience know the film produced will be of a bigger budget and better. Whereas, if its produced by a small company, the budget will be small and the audience will think the film made will be bad. This is a typical convention that all trailers will have at the start of the film and I have decided to follow this convention.

In the real life trailer on the left hand side for ‘Yeh Jawanni Hai Dewanni’ there are many intertitles that tell the story very briefly or give hints about what’s going to happen in the film. This is a trailer convention found in many trailers and I have decided to follow and use it in my trailer as seen on the right hand side as I feel as if it breaks down the trailer more and keeps the audiences attention by showing text that hints what the film is about. I tried to use the same text colours in my trailer as what the real life product has used. I have done this as both trailers are of a similar genre and these colours link into and fit with the genre very well.

In the real life trailer on the left hand side for ‘Bend it Like Beckham’ the title of the film is shows once the whole trailer is shown to create suspense to the end and the audience see the whole trailer before seeing the name of the film. The title of the film is in white bold writing against a black background which makes the title stand out so it can be clearly seen by the audience and captures there attention. I have followed this convention and have decided to put the title of the film at the end of the trailer so it creates a suspense throughout the trailer. I have also followed the white writing against the black background as they go very well together and the white title of the film can be clearly read by the audience.

MISE-EN-SCENE

CostumeThe generic costumes seen in our genre which includes Bollywood are usually eastern clothes as seen in the bottom left corner . We found through research that we must include some form of Bollywood into our trailer and we did this via the costumes. We made our actors as seen in the bottom right corner, wear eastern style clothes as in both scenes of real life media product and our trailer there is a bridal shower going on and this links in well with wearing eastern styles clothes so we followed this convention seen in the real life media product as it conveys the type of genre clearly to the audience.

We also followed this convention as we found from research that film trailers with the similar genre or story line to us such as: Bend it like Beckham and Bride and Prejudice, include aspects of the eastern side into it by making some of the costumers eastern style like saris as or suits as seen below.

LightingAfter our research telling us that natural lighting is the best to use for our type of genre, we decided the follow this convention as seen on the bottom right image. The bottom left hand image is from a real life media product and the lighting is pitch black which is completely opposite to the convention. We were going to follow this convention of the real life product however, we decided to go against as we think the lighting we’ve used gives it more of a natural and personal experience so the audience can understand that this is what the main actor goes through and he goes through this traditional family pressure all day every day.

Make UpThe makeup from research I found that can either be done really light or heavy. We decided to stick with light as we found that most film trailers we analysis went for the natural look as seen in the bottom left hand side which is from the trailer ‘Yeh Jawanni Hai Dewanni’. We did this as it represents the innocence of the main character Kiran from our film ‘The Old Generation’ and shows that she also has a story behind her.

PropsWe used many props in our trailer to represent the story line in our genre such as:BasketballTVWedding MagazineTV remoteBooksGlassesPens

These props are specifically linked to our genre and the story line of our film and we feel as if they convey our genre and story line better as well which is why we used them.

SettingThe settings we used were mainly indoors. However, we did use some setting outdoors as well. An example of an indoor setting is when we have Kiran and Aaron (brother and sister) sitting at home and talking. We wanted to convey they were brother and sister clearly and from audience feedback we learnt that we need to do this in a homey setting similar to how ‘Bend it like Beckham’ did it.