Final Magazine Cover

Final Trailer

Below is the link to watch the trailer on youtube if it doesn't work on my blog:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFMmg74KhQM

Final Poster

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

Above is a video that I have created documenting the technologies that i have used in the; construct, research, planning and evaluation stages.

Evaluation Question 3 - What have you learned from your audience feedback? Film Poster

Here is the original film poster:

Here is the audience feedback that I received on the original film poster:

From my audience feedback I have learnt that the background of the poster needs to have lees on it because it takes the impact away from the rest of the poster. Also there were some complaints that people weren't able to see the characters face, however this is an element of the poster that I would keep because it adds a sense of obscurity  and mystery to the poster and the main character.

Here is the  film poster based on my audience feedback:

With the film poster above, I have taken the audience feedback into account. I have done this by creating a whole new poster all together, because I thought it would be easier to instigate the suggested changes:

• I have retaken the main image so that the shirt of the main character (Dr Jason Foster, as played by myself) doesn't go into the background, as this makes the main figure in the poster easier to see. Also the main image is of a better quality and therefore isn't blurred anymore.
• I have made the background simpler and tried to imitate splotches of blood with red dots around the main figure. I changed the background because, there were some complaints that the background took too much away from the main image and the text on the poster.
• I have included a range of texts with the only text that is the same being "Ripper's Replica" and "Coming Soon" as it was noticed that my text was too similar to each other and also by having three different fonts I am adhering to the rule of thirds.

However, after making the "Ripper's Replica" film poster that was created based on the audience feedback that I received, I decided to revert back to my original film poster.

Original Film Poster                        Film Poster that was influenced by my Audience Feedback

The reason that I have decided to ignore my audience feedback is because I believe that the original film poster portrays the genre more and includes more conventions and technical ability. This is because the original film poster doesn't abuse the the organised layout of the poster as it sticks to the Rule of Thirds. The original poster sticks to the Rule of thirds unlike the new poster because; the hash-tag, billing block, and the age rating are aligned into their respective thirds. This is unlike the new poster as the billing block takes up the whole of the bottom third of the poster cover. 

Furthermore, despite the audience being able to see the face of the sole figure on the poster I believe that the obscurity of the character in the poster adds a sense of mystery to the poster. This is because the character doesn't know who he is and has 'lost' his identity and thus by covering his face he is taking away any emotional connection with the audience with the removal of any means to identify him. However, I believe that this probably disadvantaged me in the audience feedback due to the lack of emotional connection between the main character and the audience, yet I also believe that it is vital for the story. This is a stark contrast to that of the new poster as in the new poster, even though the audience can make that connection with the main character the poster doesn't convey the story of the film in the way that it should. Also the picture on the original poster is blurred to a certain extent, as this was a feature that I wanted to add to the poster due to the character's blurred personality. But it looks scruffy according to my audience feedback and retook the picture and didn't blur it in the editing software. It works to an extent as the audience is able to see the main character, but to reiterate the point that it doesn't convey the story in the way that I wanted it to as the character doesn't know who he is anymore and therefore has a blurred sense of reality.

Additionally, the text that I've used on the original poster looks a lot more professional and genre specific then that of the new poster. This is because, the main font on the original poster looks like its drooping down with blood. This is important as the genre in psychological thriller and the main character's paranoia has turned him into a murderer obsessed with being the best. Also with the text on the original poster I have used a range of colours as well as fonts. The text on the original poster was credited by my audience feedback as being a highlight of my film poster, because it is clear and easy to read, yet keeping genre specific. This was one of my reasons for choosing the original poster as my main poster for my film Ripper's Replica.

Despite learning from my audience feedback and taking the advice into creating a new film poster I decided to keep with the original poster due to the uses of conventions and how it conveys the poster to the audience. This opposes the audience feedback that I received, but I believe that the way the poster uses and challenges conventions and the way it conveys the story over to the audience is vital for the promotion of my film through cross-media convergence.

Evaluation Question 3 - What have you learned from your audience feedback? - Magazine

Here is the completed version of my magazine:

Below is a video that I made about the audience feedback of my magazine:

I would like to thank (in order of appearance); Daniel Greyson, Sarah Adams, Karl Trotter, Daniel Harris, Marnie Senior, and Mr Skipp for giving up their time to give me some feedback on my magazine cover.

From the audience feedback on my trailer I have learnt that the magazine that I have created looks professional, due to the different conventions that I have used on my product. The conventions that I have included in my magazine are the typical conventions that are used on a magazine cover. 

However, from my audience feedback I have learnt that the convention that I have displayed to the highest amount of skill is the rule of thirds. Despite the rule of thirds, being an easy convention to master I believe that it is vital for the overall look of the magazine cover. This is because the rule of thirds organises the way that your magazine cover is going to and makes it understandable for the audience and easy to look at. the rule of thirds also makes it easier to set out the page as it allows the producer of the product to plan their magazine cover and decide where everything should go.

Despite this, I have learnt that some people have problem reading where it says Ripper's Replica on the magazine cover, due to the font. This highlights my failed attempt to highlight the historic aspect of the film with the Victorian style writing. This means that if I had the chance to I would go back and edit the font so the it either stood out more, or so it was clearer to read by changing the font to a simpler one.

Furthermore, I have learnt that there are problems with main image, such as it's quality due to lighting and blurriness. This was an issue that I tried to solve by trying different; cameras, camera lenses, and locations, but ultimately that was the best quality picture I could come out with. I need try to improve the picture using adobe photo shop but ultimately ended up making it worse so I kept it the same, barring the background. However, there was some criticism of the black background, in the manner that it was too dark. This is something that I have taken on board and if I was to red the magazine cover I would pick a different background, but I chose black so that I didn't break the rule of thirds (that applies to all conventions of the magazine) as I chose to use the colours; white, red, and black to add a sense of continuity between the; magazine cover, film poster, and the trailer.

Evaluation Question 3 - What have you learnt from your audience feedback? - Trailer

Here is my original trailer for "Rippers Replica"

Here is a video that I have made containing some audience feedback:

I would like to thank (in order of appearance); my media class (Sarah Adams, Marnie Senior, and Curtis West), Daniel Greyson, and Daniel Harris for taking time to allow me to film their feedback for the purpose of my evaluation.

Below is the audience feedback on my trailer that I received after I posted my trailer on Facebook:

“But seriously, the sound from the video camera could be clearer and the place of filming (under a sink) should be changed. Other than that, I like the start and the end as they seem realistic”

“I like it as its sort of like the blurb on the back of a book as it tells you part of the story but not the whole thing, which would mean that if you were to make a film it's not ruined by the advert unlike what some films are and I agree with ash, as I don't like the location of under the sink either and one of you supposed enemies is smiling which suggests he's happy to see you but other than that it's good”

“Very well read but think could have made back round more sinister? To match what was being read”

“I think it looks very professional and the music is great at building up tension! The dialogue content is good; however I think it should be a little clearer because there were points when I couldn't quite grasp what was said. I think the atmosphere would be tenser if you were filmed in a different place too but other than that, great trailer! Should do very well”

“Enjoyed it your eyes were very scarey! Just wondered why you were under the sink??? Liked the music also the camera angle when the beating was happening was it supposed to represent CCTV as I thought it did?”

“Good effort, but as above dialogue could have been clearer, not sure about under the sink though, perhaps a different place like a dimly lit corridor. Liked all of the other aspects of the trailer.Some very good camera angles and locations.”

“Great effort. Well done when is the film out.”

“The video is great! Music syncing is excellent, my only grip would be some of your cut aways seem a tad fast, and I have to say, the security camera scene was awesome!”

“The trailer is really good the scene under the sink seemed like the location was odd id picture it being better in like his office at night and instead of reaching for the door handle maybe reaching for a knife, the security camera bit was amazing however the bit where you are on the floor getting beaten I felt it was abit too long for the trailer, but that's just my opinion”

“Message and acting great. Sink and blurred camera were off putting.”

“Like the concept well thought out story- as a production there's a few small things id change such as having the writing on the screen for a tad longer at points, making the edit snappier so cut to the point and up the tempo a bit- and maybe try experimenting with the colours so if you can bring the Sats down and make it black and white & see what it looks like, if not complete black and white just make it a bit darker”

“I thought it was professionally edited and very realistic, liked the idea of the security camera images. The biggest negative for me was the sound quality and the film backdrop which I felt didn't quite match the genre but overall very good.”

“I thought it was professionally edited and very realistic, liked the idea of the security camera images. The biggest negative for me was the sound quality and the film backdrop which I felt didn't quite match the genre but overall very good.”

“I am obviously no expert but I thought it was well put together and as a trailer gave you enough of an idea to stimulate your curiosity of what is to come in the full picture. Like a lot of the above I thought perhaps the sound quality could be improved, I did like the use of the security camera footage also. Overall in my humble opinion I thought it was good”

“That was really good trotter. The only thing I would suggest is to make the cuts to words captions a bit longer, but other than that I thought that was really impressive.”

“Other than a change of location and a few other minor tweeks I think you have made a good trailer. Your intro is too quiet and I’m left not knowing what I’m watching, as well as your speech in the loo - its unclear. Please change your location - under the sink…wouldn`t a dark alley or in a dark wood be better? - Also the music at the end just cuts off - can you re edit it to a slow fade? I love the CCTV image of the school, perhaps more like that. But, all in all Graham well done a great effort and the sound track really works well too.”

What I have learnt from my audience feedback is that if I was going to go back and film my trailer again, I should rethink a couple of locations, with the location being mentioned the most being under the sink during the monologue. I chose to film under a sink as I wanted a tight and obscure location to help define the main character's paranoia and blatant distress. However, from my audience feedback it is clear that it didn't work and as advised by a couple of people, down a dark alley way or in a dark office would've been better for the scene. The location of the monologue is something that I would definitely change if I was to go back and film it all again.

Despite this I have learnt from my audience feedback that the majority of my editing was good. A scene that has been highlighted several times for my editing, is the scene where my main character is being beaten up due to the CCTV effect and how it's in slow motion. However the audience feedback has told me that the length of shots of the text were too short for some people as they had trouble reading what was on the screen. This is something that I would change and make the sections of text longer so that it gives people enough time to read what's on the screen.

However, from my audience feedback I have learnt the importance of music in trailers as multiple people have documented that the music added tension and drama to the trailer and that it was the perfect choice.

Here is the improved trailer of 'Ripper's Replica':

My trailer was improved on the advice of the audience feedback that I received. The most notably cited disadvantage to the original clip was the scene and length of the monologue and the scene of the attack scene. To counteract this I have re-filmed the monologue scene it several some clips and in an office (not under a sink) and I have also cut down the length of the attack scene.