EVALUATION: 4. How Did You Use Media Technologies in the Construction and Research, Planning and Evaluation Stages?

EVALUATION: Textual Analysis Of My Products

My Trailer



My Poster

My Magazine Front Cover

RESEARCH AND AUDIENCE: Why I Chose To Use Film4

Film4 is a free digital television channel, which is available in the UK, the Republic of Ireland and Switzerland. It was launched on the 1st Novemeber 1998 and is owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. Its purpose is to produce and broadcast alternative films. Film4 is committed to enhancing the British Film making industry by nuturing and funding new talent. It offers a distinctive range of mainstream and independent films.

The History of Film4

• It originated in 1982 as Film4 Productions, as it was firstly a film production company and is responsible for backing a large number of films in the UK and around the world.
• In 1998 the company re-branded Film4 Productions to becomne just FilmFour. It became Channel 4's second channel and was a susbscription only service, which was available on satellite television. It cost £5.99 a month, eventually rising to up to £7. Channel4 cut its budget from £30 to £10million and 50 staff in 2002.  The cuts were caused when FilmFour's attempts to compete with Hollywood.
•  FilmFour Weekly ceased broadcasting on 19 July 2006 when the subscription service ended. The subscription service ended on 19 July 2006 and the channel re-launched  as a free-to-air service a few days later on 23 July. When the channel became free, it also returned to digital as part of the Freeview brand, and became completely free-to-air on satellite television. Commercial breaks were included during films for the first time. Film4 remains the only free film channel available on digital terrestrial television.
• Film4 frequently has themed nights or seasons in which a number of films centered around one genre or director are shown. Due to verticle integration it also shows in-house productions.

Why I Chose To Use Film4

I chose to use Film4 as my production company as I felt that after researching the institution that it was best suited to my style of film. I have produced an independent film that is targeted at a niche market, therefore my film will not be shown in the cinema. As a result of this Film4 is a great institution for my film, as it allows my target audience to watch my alternative film in the comfort of their own home.

EDITING: Producing My Film Magazine Front Cover

I started by positioning my protagonist in the center of the page and then I added the name of the film magazine, which I placed behind Darcey. My next step was to rub out parts of the letters which cover my talent's head. This is often a conventional feature of a magazine front cover as the magazine expects the audience to be able to instantly identify which magazine it is from there brand image rather then seeing the full name.

I then added a barcode along with the price and the issue number to the bottom right hand corner. This features on any magazine but its position on the page often varies.

I added the date and the web address underneath the name of the magazine, as the is a conventional feature for film magazines. The use of the web address also promotes viral marketing for the magazine company.

I then add Twitter and Facebook to the magazine front cover. Social networking sites have recently become a prominent way to promote new films or events, as social media is used globally. This also  makes the magazine interactive as the audience can go online and get involved in discussions.

I then added my anchorage text to the top third of the magazine I used the same font for the name of the film as I did in the trailer and on my poster. This gives the film a brand image and acts as a logo. My USP was to entice the audience by allowing them access to behind the scenes of the up and coming film if they brought the magazine.

Another USP that my magazine had was an up close and personal interview with the main talent in  the film. This enables the audiences to get to know the main actress before they see the film. I made the Darcey's name bigger and bolder than the rest of the font in order for it to stand out. This also tells the audience who the girl in the image is.

I then added a cover article called 'top 10 films you need to see!' I did this in order to tell the audience what other articles were in the magazine without them having to open it. It also entices the audience to see what is on the list. By putting the words 'need' and 'see' in bold it makes them stand out and catches the audience's eye. After I had finished I noticed a shadow down the left hand side of Darcey so to remove this I used the eraser tool.

Changing Aspects Of My Front Cover

After receiving feedback from my focus group I decided to change some aspects of my magazine front cover and also add more colour to the cover.

I decided to make my anchorage text shorter and straight to the point, as this enables the reader to quickly establish what the article is about. After researching other films magazines I found that their tag lines were quite punchy and there was not a lot of writing on the cover.

I then decided to add a circle to the front cover of my magazine as this made it more colourful. In the circle I included the tag line that related to my main image, as this enabled the reader to learn who my main protagonist is. This also attracted the reader's attention as the use of the drop shadow makes it stand out on the page. 

I created a bold strip at the bottom of my front cover as this makes the article about 'top 10 films' stand out. I also changed the black text to white so that it can be read. I made the decision to keep the words 'need' and 'see' in red as the contrasting colours made these words stand out. Film magazines often have a strip at the bottom as this usually contains text that will attract the reader to buy the magazine.

I also noticed that the image that I had chosen to use had red eye so I corrected this in Iphoto in order to give the image a professional finish.

My Finished Film Magazine Front Cover

EDITING: Correcting Red Eye

Whilst making the front cover of my film magazine I discovered that the image that I had chosen to use was affected by red eye.

I corrected this defect using a software called Iphoto, as it was quick and easy to do.

In order to correct the red eye in the image I clicked on the edit button.

After clicking on the edit button I then clicked on the red-eye tool and zoomed in on the image that I wanted to correct. I then clicked on the center of each of my talent's eyes and the software automatically corrected the red eye for me.

Before                                                                                  

 

 After 

RESEARCH: Analysing the Front Cover of a Film Magazine

RESEARCH: Audience Feedback

I asked a range of people to complete my Questionnaire, that I made on Google Docs, in order to find out what they thought of my promotion package and how it could be improved.

Here are the results:

The majority of people found my trailer interesting and were very positive about it. However, the odd person said that they did not find it interesting to watch. Nevertheless this response may be due to the fact that the genre of dance is not suited to them.

Everybody that I asked agreed that my trailer fitted in with the the codes and conventions of a stereotypical dance trailer.

The people that answered my questionnaire were also uanimous that my chioce of music for my trailer fitted in with the my genre.

The majority of people answered this question with independent cinema being the best type of distribution for my trailer, as it is a documentary style of trailer. However a few went with mainstream distribution. this will ultimately result in who my production comapny is.

I asked this question in order to find out what certificate they thought the overal film should have just from watching the trailer. Over half voted for a U certificate but a similar number picked PG. This means that my traget audience feels that my film is suitable for families or younger children as well as the older generation.

Everybody that completed my questionnaire agreed that my poster connoted the ballet genre, which is excellent as it means that my target audience can easily establish the genre on my film even if they have not seen the trailer.

General Comments

When reviewing my products again I should take into consideration these comments in order to improve my trailer, poster and magazine.