In what ways does your media product use, develop

or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

AimIt is very important that the narrative within the trailer and that the ancillary tasks consciously developed, challenged or used conventions of real media products.

This is important as the extent to how well this has been done allows us to see whether our film would be successful in today’s media industry.

NarrativeMany people have looking into narrative and what the conventions of one typically are. One of these people is Todorov, who suggested a basic structure of narratives via looking at fairytales.

Todorov’s 3 stages:• The equilibrium• Disequilibrium• New equilibrium

Two of these stages are very evident within our trailer these can be displayed in this way: The equilibrium is shown whereby the Nerds have been the underdogs within their school for many years.

The second stage the disequilibrium can be displayed whereby they begin to try and gain power and control.

However, as this is a trailer typically the resolution is not shown therefore we have ensured that the third stage is not clear to the viewer. This allows the audience to question whether they succeed or fail in becoming the ‘top dogs’. Which will entice them into watching our film.

Revenge of the nerds Our trailer character American Splendor

CharactersThe characters within our trailer and sartorial codes tend to contain the conventions of a nerd comedy. The main characters are presented as a very stereotypical ‘nerd’, we see them wearing big glasses (suggests strong prescription), high waisted trousers, plus shirts which have been buttoned to the top. These characters we have created can be compared to those below which have been shown in other movies of the same genre.

We chose to adhere to this archetype as it allows the audience to identify with their previous ideas of what and how a nerd should act or look. Therefore confirms their stereotype.

The music that we have created I believe partially challenges the music that we may hear in a conventional comedy trailer. Halfway through the beat changed tempo this was done in concordance with the scene presented in the trailer.

The change in music highlights the scene which can be deemed as a parody clip of the famous walk on scene of the crime thriller ‘Reservoir Dogs’. As this scene is extremely popular and also very well-known we therefore believed it would be a good idea to reenact it.

By doing this we hope to achieve audience engagement. Plus in terms of meaning there is a opposite effect than that of in the original walk on scene. In the walk on scene they are represented as ‘cool’, however we have used this to our advantage in order to make the characters seem more nerdy.

Binary OppositionsClaude Levi Strauss discussed the idea of binary opposites in the mid-20th Century and that we need opposites in order to help us understand certain situations e.g. good to expose the evil.

In our trailer the idea of binary opposites have been developed. This has been developed as the main characters within our trailer are the nerds, then become the chavs, rather than them being separate actors and actresses. Therefore the binary opposites exist, however in a different to form to that of a conventional comedy film.

This idea was used to promote the comedy so that the audience was able to follow the character’s journey and transformation fully within the film itself. This opens up many pathways in terms of humor. This transformation would involve many event to occur such as the change from their language into slang words, plus other aspects as in attempting to fit in with the other people within their school…which is demonstrated in our trailer.

MagazineWhen creating the magazine, we decided that the audience for the magazine should also be mainstream rather than a niche audience, this was so that the theme of mainstream would continue throughout each part of the media package.In order to ensure there was a comedy theme throughout it was important to contain cover lines and stories that would appeal to the audience of our film ‘Who let the nerds out?’

The magazine therefore has all the conventions of any other mainstream magazine, but also had the theme of our genre – comedy.

This theme was applied by using certain colors e.g. yellow and reds so that it appeared light-hearted.Plus there is a humorous main image and stills for the audience to engage with.

The next two slides will show a mainstream film magazine (Empire) and our own (The Reelview) plus annotations explaining the choices made.

Selling line, yellow highlights key words – draws attention.

Masthead/title:Head over title suggests well-known and identifiable film magazine branding

Wordplay: Essential highlights importance of issue.

Gimmick to persuade the consumer

Main image shows Johnny Depp in character rather than as himself.

List of other popular film titles, these cover lines help the audience know what is inside.Famous actor’s

names shown to encourage their fan base.

Barcode to finalise purchase

Conventions of a magazine

Selling line, gives the impression it is a must-read edition

Masthead: the name is relating to the film industry, so it’s clear it is a film magazine.

Web address, links to the internet therefore more detail online and media links.

Issue date release and also the price of the magazine, the price is average for a mainstream film magazine.

Gimmick in order to encourage consumers.

Main cover line and inside story presented in bold font, which will engage the audience.

Screenshots so that the characters can be easily identified

Cover lines associated with the comedy genre, shows that there is a consistent theme throughout

Humorous main image, shows actors in character rather than as themselves

Barcode presented on the right hand side of the magazine, used when purchasing.

PosterOur poster is also mainstream, we have the title once again presented in the same way as our other products. The title has nerds presented in bold, red font which gives a stamp-like appearance, this give the effect that the characters have been labeled as nerds and they are attempting to remove this stamp.

The bottom of the poster shows the certificate of 12A, this is to ensure a large majority of the population can view the film , therefore it is not too limited an audience. This is an age that will allow family viewing as the mise-en-scene is based in a school therefore teens can also relate to our film.

The distribution brands are at the bottom which ensures the viewers can acknowledge the brand, plus they may be fans of that particular brand, therefore it may encourage them to also view our film, it is also a form of promotion for the distribution brand.

Names of famous movies, in order to encourage Freak in space fan base

Main image highlights conflict between the male and female character, dress codes also shown.Bold title, takes

center frame, therefore draws attention as a poster

Catchy expression and gives a hint into narrative of storyline.

Credits for acknowledgement of cast

Facebook and Twitter links so the audience can actively contribute opinions and reviews.

Distribution logo

Age rating/certificateDemonstrates audience

Release date