1. A2 Media Evaluation
Name: Oliver Mansfield
Centre Number: 15147
Candidate Number:

2. Question 1: In what ways does your
media products use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of
real media products

3. How my products uses, challenges or
develops forms and conventions of real
media.
I feel that my media products, a teaser trailer, poster and magazine front cover uses forms and conventions of real
media products in a lot of ways through conventions like:
• Setting/Location
• Camera shots/angles
• Music/ Sound FX
• Length
• Colour
• Lighting
• Mis en scene
• Actors
• Editing
• Etc

4. Trailer:

5. Camera shots/angles
I feel that the use of my camera shots and angles I had used in my trailer created
a range of good techniques for my trailer to make it seem very professional. I
have used multiple shots and angles as shown on this page. The image on
the left is a low angle shot looking up, this screen shot was taken from a clip I
have used in my trailer showing the boy walking closer towards the camera,
looking into the distance. The image on the right shows another low angle
shot looking straight ahead showing a pair of dangling legs with no clothes
on, this is appealing for the audience to wonder who it is and why this is
happening. The image at the bottom is a screen shot I have taken from a clip
showing a mid shot which turns into a close up shot. I feel that I have learnt
a lot through this convention and I have used it similar to other real media
products to make it more professional. I feel that I have learnt a lot from this
aspect of my production stage and has made me understand a lot more
about different shots, angles and when to use them.

6. Music/ Sound FX
The music and sounds I have used for my teaser trailer were by far the most key element for
my trailer to set the mood of what genre the film is. The most useful part of my trailer was to
make sure this convention related to other real media products, this is done by making sure
the music/sound FX worked well and blended in correctly with the clips in the trailer to
create good video effects. I feel that my trailer uses this convention well through timing and
the type of sounds. For example in my trailer I have used sounds such as heartbeats when
text/copy is introduced to add an effect on the text to make it stand out. I had researched
into different sounds online on different website by using search engines like
‘www.google.com’ and ‘YouTube.com’ to find a variety of different sounds which I could use
on certain parts of my trailer.

7. Length
My media product uses this convention in my construction of my
trailer very well as I have relating my planning of my trailer through
the process of my research, analysing different teaser trailer has
given me a good idea of how long to structure my own trailer. I had
then made a decision and planned to base my trailer around the
length of the trailers I had researched. I had planned to make it
around 1 minute long exactly. This way I could realise how many
clips to use in my trailer and how long they can be. I feel as if I used
this convention well to construct a well made media product
through using forms and conventions from the real media based on
the research I have made.

8. Lighting
I feel that my teaser trailer uses the lighting convention like other real
media products to add a lot of effects and realistic prospects of a trailer.
Throughout the production of my trailer I had used a variety of different
times to use lighting to add an effect on a specific clip to either make
something stand out better than something else or to just make a good
light to see something better. As a horror genre film/trailer to set the
scene my scary features will appear at night time, due to this it can be very
hard to see certain things, throughout my night time filming I created
lighting through flash lights or camera lights to create lighting for certain
objects/people. I feel that this convention worked well in my work and
created good forms and conventions which are shown in real media
products.

9. Mise en scene
The mise en scene is a very important convention to consider in any
media product. This is important so that you can create and set the
theme/genre of the film or trailer. Without this the trailer can fall
apart and may not set the scene or plot of the story very well. Due
to my film being about teenagers in the present tense I was able to
film teenagers my age wearing average/casual clothes in my filming
which was correct for my plot and story. Other aspects of real
media which I have used in my work includes of different props
such as hats, fires, weapons etc. Images below show examples of a
few props or mise en scene (clothes) which has been used in the
production of my work.

10. Actors
Actors in my trailer was a very aspect of conventions in my work to ensure that
they are the correct types of gender and age to relate for my film, this way I
was able to gather actors of the teenage age and both genders, 2 boys and 2
girls. The use of real media products must have correct actors to portray the
message sent through the plot. I feel that I have chosen the correct actors to
relate to the target audience of both genders and the correct age to relate to
many audiences. The image below shows a few of my actors prepare for
filming with make up and correct clothes etc. I feel I definitely use forms and
convention of real media products in this aspect of my filming which relates
well to my target audience and genre.

11. Editing
Below shows my video trailer for my horror films. As you can see through the
trailer especially as it develops, certain aspects of my editing increase through
realistic and professional ways. This aspect/convention makes the trailer very
successful. For example towards the end I have created quick cuts and edits to add
the effect of suspense which works well with the sound in the background of my
trailer. I have also used a variety of transitions to relate to certain parts of the
trailer for example blurred transitions of clips which have slow cuts. I have also
used different types of transitions at the beginning of the trailer which introduces
the distribution companies.

12. Setting/Location
My media product uses the convention location/setting very well in
my construction stage of my work. The setting is important so that
you can relate the film and genre well with where the film is set and
filmed. Without a suitable setting for the correct type of film and
genre the flow and mixture of the film will not work well at all,
especially when trying to fit the plot in with the film it needs to
have a correct location. For example my film is about teenagers
who go camping, this means the location of filming my teaser
trailer would have to be in a field/camping atmosphere. I feel that
this convention works well and is developed in a way when shown
with a tent and fire at night to show the scar aspect of a horror film
not knowing who might turn up or what might happen at night. This
convention has helped me to understand how to relate the setting
with the plot and film genre.

13. Poster:

14. How my poster uses, challenges or develops forms and conventions of the
real media, shown below:
Images:
The image used here works well with the genre and theme of my trailer due to way the image is
constructed. It is a medium/close up shot of a boy who seems to loo evil/demented. The image
works well with the poster due to the darkest of it (black and white) and the red streak of blood
relating to the fonts in the poster. I feel that the image creates a good convention of real media
as it looks realistic for a poster.
Layout:
The layout of this poster also looks appealing and I feel uses and maybe even challenges real
media with this convention. I feel that this poster looks effective, realistic and professional
comparing to other previous real media products. The poster starts with text to grab out
attention, followed by the image, followed by the title of the film and date and finally showing
the information of the film.
Colour scheme:
The colour scheme shown here in my poster is mostly dark colours (black and red) also showing
use of white on the image and other copy (text) information. I feel that my chosen colour
scheme uses conventions of real media because of the colours relating to the genre horror,
mostly being dark and scary colours, as you can see the red copy (text) relates to the blood on
my image creating effect.
Copy/Text and font:
The copy/text used in my poster is used well for a good appeal for people to be attractive to the
poster and to also promote the film ‘Darkest Night’. The fonts used develops forms of real
media due too the creativity of the title and information shown at the bottom of the page, it
looks appealing and works well with the image and colours on the page
Lighting:
The lighting used here creates good effect onto the image by using good use of real media, the
image is glow so that you can see it well and focus on the ‘strange’ face of the boy whilst noticing
the blood stain/dripping on his face. I feel that I have used a good amount of the lighting in this
poster so show the parts which need to be shown the most, leaving the rest of the background
dark so that the text/copy can be shown easily through its use of red and white colours. I feel that
this product works very well to create good form and conventions of the real media.

15. Magazine Front Cover

16. How my magazine front cover product uses, challenges or develops forms and
conventions of the real media, shown below:
Image:
The image used in this magazine front over uses a lot of forms and conventions of the real media.
The image shown is close up shot of a boy covered in blood, this image is shown in the middle of the
page so that text/copy can be displayed around it. I feel that this image works well and represents a
lot of the real media as it blends well with the background for example his hair fades into the black
background.
Layout:
The layout used in this magazine front cover allows text to display around the image whilst still
being appealing through the creative magazine masthead at the top of the page ‘Take Two’ and
additional text/copy to grab the attention of the viewers at the bottom of the page and the ‘sweet
spot’ which has a circle with freebies inside, this uses up the space of the sweet spot very well in
order to grab the attention of the viewer quickly to this part of the page.
Colour Scheme:
The colour scheme shown here shows a great use of comparison to the theme of the magazine and
the main film it is portraying (Darkest Night – horror genre). I feel that the colours used on the
image allow great appeal to relate to the blood stain on the left and right side of the page whilst
having the sweet spot circle the same colour. The used of the blue around the eyes relates well to
the text/copy at the bottom of the page to make the page more interesting g rather than keeping it
black red and white.
Copy/Text and font:
The copy used in this magazine front cover is used to appeal and grab the attention of the audience
in order for them to buy the magazine. The sweet spot is used well to create a freebie to appeal the
audiences even more. I feel that the fonts/text types used are created well through the boldness
and variety of red and white colours to appeal with the rest of the colour schemes. I feel that these
conventions add a good effect to this page.
Lighting:
The lighting used on this page is mainly shown through the image grabbing the appeal for these
wondering what is this picture about. The lighting brightens up the image whilst mixing well with
the mast head of the magazine. This in my opinion uses and develops forms and conventions in the
real media to add more effect of magazine to make them seem more realistic.
Mast Head: The mast head used here a great convention of real media and I feel develops well due to its use of style. The style is shown as good
alliteration in the mast head whilst having the letters shaped as film strips to relate to the fact that this magazine is for films – this edition
relating to the horror genre.

17. Poster:
Voice over
here

18. Magazine Front Cover:
Voice over
here

19. Trailer:
Voice over
here

20. Question 2: How effective is the
combination of your main products
and ancillary tasks?

21. Conventions
There are many conventions which relate to the combination of my
main task and ancillary tasks. For example the main conventions
which relate to all 3 products are fonts, colour schemes, images etc.
The main reason for this is because of the genre and audience of
the horror genre. All products still have to relate to the same type
of audience by using similar types of conventions making them the
same theme and genre. Due to the different types of conventions
this makes a very effective combination of the 3 products. This is
effective because of similar styles and conventions being used. The
use of having an effective combination of all 3 products is that they
can all relate for audiences and can be noticed as a similar product
because of the colours and ways conventions are displayed to
promote the same film through a poster, magazine front cover and
trailer. Because of these conventions I feel that they create a very
effective combination for these 3 products.

22. Relation of main product and ancillary
tasks:

23. Different aspects of my 3 tasks
I feel that due to the similar precautions and conventions used my products work very
effectively to send the same type of message to the audiences and through the similar colour
schemes, phrases and titles of the film the message is conveyed well through very effective
media products. Here shows different parts of my ancillary tasks and how similar the
construction methods are in comparison to my main task (teaser trailer).
As you can see here a similarity occurs when
you can see the relation between two
different promotion schemes using the
same companies name in there
advertisement showing comparison and
combination between different media
products.

24. What I have done and Why?
I feel that the combination of my main product and the ancillary tasks are very
effective. They all promote my film through different formats professional and
create good aspects of its genre (horror) by still relating well to its target audiences
to make sure the correct effects are used to attract the viewers.
I have done a lot of things to adapt to the combination of all of these 3 products. I
feel that the main aspect was the conventions used through the layout of the
products making them appeal well to the viewers. They also all promote the film
very well by using similar types of words and phrases to draw the audience into
the text for example ‘THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE SAFE. THEY THOUGHT WRONG’
and ‘IT WILL FIND YOU’. All of these make the audience wonder why it is said and
want to find out why.
I have done most things to relate to my genre and target audience but making
sure that my tasks all relate together so that once seen in a combination they are
all very effective to create great advertising purposes and similarly relate due to
the colours and relation for its genre of horror.

25. Why I didn't do certain things
I have tried to keep the conventions and ways I have constructed my products to a
very similar way so that they can all be seen as different promotion parts for my
film in different ways but keeping them ‘scary’ to relate to my genre. Due to this I
had to make sure I created them in the correct way appealing for my audiences.
There are certain reasons why I didn't not construct my work in way because of
various reasons.
First of all my research was helpful so that it could help me plan my work well to
make sure I have constructed it well by looking at previous trailer, posters and
magazine front covers. As I then had a better way of how to construct my work I
was able to plan my products well and by using audience feedback I could include
the most important aspects of my genre which can also relate to my target
audiences well.
For example I had worked out that I wasn't going to use bright colourful colours
for my poster of my horror film as it would not relate to being scary of to my genre
of horror. I had to be reasonable about what to use and what not to use.

26. Promotion
I feel that the promotion side of my main and ancillary
tasks was a good way to effectiveness of my products. I
feel that the promotion side allowed the combination
of my products very effective because they were all
products advertising the same thing (my film). This way
the promotion products were able to use the same
types of aspects including the same plot, images and
clips in the trailer to show images from the poster and
magazine front cover on the trailer to show a good
combination so that people may see something on a
poster and then the again on the trailer to maybe find
out more or to add suspense to the scene to make
them want to find out more.

27. Question 3: What have you learned
from audience feedback?

28. Questionnaire
Voice over

29. Questionnaire Evaluation: What have
I learnt
Throughout the course of my questionnaire I had handed out to find out
information about the horror genre and what my audience feels about it.
The use of doing questionnaire is a good way of getting information of
your choice back from a specific audience which can relate to what type of
questionnaire you are evaluating. I have learnt a lot about the audience of
horror films, there opinions and what they prefer from other types of
horror conventions. I was able to find out a lot from the people I had
asked which had allowed me to construct my data into my planning
changes of my teaser trailer knowing more information form my audience
of what they feel are the best aspects of my trailer to allow me to create a
more professional and appealing trailer relating more towards its target
genre and audience.

30. Graphs
What is the best aspect of a horror film?
Voice over
Music/sound
Setting
Evil characters
Types of filming

31. Graph Evaluation: What have I learnt
The graph on the previous slide shows data from a question I had asked 10
people in a similar audience frame. The question asked them what they
felt was the best aspect of a horror film. This is a useful question as the
answers will allow me to find out what the majority of people feel about
different aspects of the horror genre and this could help me to find out if
it can relate to my trailer. The results I obtained from this data shown
through my graph tells that 40% thinks music/sound is the best aspect of a
horror film, 10% of people thought the setting was the best aspect of a
horror film, 30% of people thought the ‘evil’ characters was the most
important aspect of a horror film and finally 20% of people thought that
the types of filming was the best aspect of a horror film. This data I have
recorded into a graph tells me that the majority of people (40%) prefer
music/sound over other aspects of a horror films, this can help me to
decide on certain parts to focus on more for my trailer which in the end
worked out well.

32. Graphs
Voice over
Which edit of my magazine front cover do you feel is the
best?
Yes
No

33. Graph Evaluation: What have I learnt
Throughout the course of editing my magazine front cover I was
unable to decide which edit of my cover I should use as my final
edit. I decided to ask to audience of people who like horror films (
boys and girls). The use of audience feedback through this testing
technique was very good as it showed that a high majority of
people (80%) preferred one edit to the other. This shows that by a
high margin there was a preferred edit which I then went on to
change a couple of bits to have an outcome of a final magazine
front cover which hopefully relates well to a variety of audiences.
Audience feedback was very important here as it helped me to
decide on a very important part of one of my media products (front
cover). Without audience feedback I could have decided to pick a
front cover edit which a lot of people may not have been too
attracted too once compared to other edits I have created. This
feedback allowed me to complete a professional magazine front
cover which includes the most appropriate conventions.

34. Video Testing Products –Audience
Feedback

35. Video Testing Products –Audience
Feedback
What have I learnt
Audience feedback was very helpful and useful through testing my
final media product (teaser trailer) for ‘Darkest Night’. Once I had
finished my teaser trailer I was able to get something in the target
audience to watch the trailer and give me feedback of what she
liked. If there was anything she didn't like she would mention so
that I could go back and change to make my trailer better. Due to
my audience feedback I was able to find out that this person told
me good things about my trailer and had nothing she thought I
should change. Audience feedback was good here as it made sure
that I was on the right road of constructing my teaser trailer and
making sure people were interested in it making sure not too much
of the plot was given away whilst also getting feedback on the
conventions I have used such as editing techniques etc. This
feedback allowed me to proceed with confidence in my work
knowing what someone in my target audience thought of my teaser
trailer.

36. Question 4: How did you use media
technologies in the construction,
research, planning and evaluation
stages?

37. What have I learnt?
I have also learnt a lot more from technology as I have had to
use websites to edit and upgrade my images to make them
look and appeal better for my final pieces and to make them
looks very professional. I have used Microsoft word, paint, a
website called ‘Picnik’ and the website blogger for my blog to
include my work on. All of these pieces are mainly used in my
work to edit my images/photographs so that I can edit them
to make them seem more professional for my final ancillary
tasks as a poster and magazine front cover, also helping me
edit videos into a creative teaser trailer in editing software's
such as ‘Power Director’.

38. Research and Planning - Blogger
Blogger was a very important part of my research and planning as it was my
website which obtained all of my work for this project. Whilst using this
site I had learnt a lot about how to use the site and how it works.
This shows a piece of technology I have used on the internet which is known
as a blog. I have learnt a lot from this for example how to use it and how
to import images and text and post them so that they can be seen online.
This is good as it shows how much information is on my blog and has
different tabs at the top to include certain bits of work so that it can be
divided and not confused as a different part of my work.

39. Research and Planning - Internet
Online websites are a very good aspect of research and planning as
it allowed me to research different pieces of information through
different websites on a search engine like ‘www.google.com’. This
was helpful for my research so I could gain more knowledge about
horror and its genre etc. This was important to me and helped me
learn a lot about searching different websites and realising which
sites were more important to learn from. Also Google images was a
good part of the Google website to allow me to look at different
posters and magazines to help my research for these ancillary tasks.

40. Research and Planning - Magazines
Magazines was a very useful part of my research and planning as I was
able to look at different magazine to read about different horror films,
realise why they are successful and look into the details of the films. Also
whilst researching about horror through different magazines also allowed
to me to obtain knowledge about different magazines through the layout,
colours used, images etc to help my research of magazine front covers
and also help me plan my own one successfully, this allowed me to learn a
lot about its layout and colours used.

41. Aspects of research and planning
(Genre)
Genre screen shots are shown here, on the left a screen shot is shown which
shows the research I have obtained in white and then my analysis of what I have
found. On the right hand side I have a screen shot which shows some parts of my
planning I have created for my genre, here shows the generic conventions I am
planning to use for my genre of my teaser trailer.

42. Aspects of research and planning
(Audience)
Screen shots are shown here from my audience section of my
blog, on the left a screen shot is shown which shows the research I
have obtained in white and then my analysis of what I have found.
On the right hand side I have a screen shot which shows some parts
of my planning I have created for my audience, here shows an
audience profile (primary) which I am planning to use for my teaser
trailer.

43. Construction of Trailer product –
Cyber Link Power Director10
Cyber Link Power Director was a very important part of my
work. By using this piece of editing software for the first time I
had learnt a lot about it and also I had learnt a lot about
editing different videos through a variety of transitions, video
effects and inserting texts etc. This has helped me to create a
more professional teaser trailer in my work, I feel that this
piece of software was a very key part of my work to make sure
all aspects of my work were created well relating my target
audience and genre. This was one of the most useful parts of
the construction of my trailer as it allowed me to do so much
from editing videos to producing a final copy which
created a smooth video trailer.

44. Construction of Trailer product – Voice
recorder
Using a voice recorder was a very interesting aspect of the
construction of my trailer. I feel that it helped to add a realistic
concept to the trailer to make people think these are real life
situation. I used a voice recorder in my trailer of a girls voice saying
‘help me, help me, please’ and then screams. This worked well as I
learnt it could be constructed in certain ways to fit in with the
timing of the music/sounds and videos in the trailer to make sure it
is all added in the correct time space. I learnt by using a voice
recorder it can be used in a variety of places for a variety of
reasons. I have also used a voice recorder in this presentation for
my evaluation to add a voice over so a voice can explain certain
parts of my evaluation. The voice recorder was a very effective part
of my construction for my trailer and evaluation.

45. Construction of Trailer product –
Phone Camera/Video Cameras
I used video cameras throughout the production of my filming for
my teaser trailer. This was by far one of the most important parts of
my construction and helped me to learn how to use cameras
through different angles and creative shots. Shown in my blog
different camera angles and shots are visible to show which types
of shots and angles I have considered when filming different clips.
Phone cameras was also used for this but mainly for taking pictures
for different aspects of my project.

46. Construction of Trailer product –
YouTube to upload Trailer
Other types of technology was used such as the website ‘YouTube’. I needed
this website in order to upload to a public site so that anyone can go and
see/watch it so that I can get positive feedback or to record the amount of hits
I was receiving on the video to see how popular it was getting. Throughout the
construction of my trailer I had learnt a lot about how to produce and upload
my trailer into a site which allows anyone to see it, this was useful so that the
trailer can be put forward in one of its main advertising places. I have also
learnt a great deal on promoting my trailer and how this piece of technology
can help me in the future for constructing and getting audience feedback for
other videos.

47. Construction of Poster and Magazine
Front Cover - Picnik
I have learnt a lot from this internet website
‘www.picnik.com’, website, it allows you to upload photos in order
to edit them in size, contrast, brightness, add text, crop, rotate and
many more offers for your photos. I never used this website before
so I have learnt a lot about editing websites and generally editing
photos due to my media coursework. Through picnik I edited nearly
all of my photos in order to create a better appeal for my images so
that it suits better for my genre and audience. This was the main
reason for editing my images and works well as I mostly changed
the brightness and contrast in my photos so they seemed more
darker or lighter depending of the colours and images on the page.

48. Construction of Poster and Magazine
Front Cover – Microsoft Word
This is a screen shot I have taken of me using Microsoft Word which is a
piece of software used to insert pictures and text to and to edit them to
make them different if you want to. This is also good as Microsoft Word
can also be used to edit photos in brightness, contrast, colours, and edit
background of images. This is good as it helped me edit my images to
make them look more professional and to suit better with my type of
genre for my magazine to suit for its audience and colour scheme. I did not
know how to use this before my course of media project and so I have
learnt a lot from Microsoft word when it comes to editing images.

49. Construction of Poster and Magazine
Front Cover - Paint
I learnt a lot from paint and found out it was very useful as I can add and
edit as many photos as I like on it and I can use paint to
crop, resize, rotate, and add text to my images. Paint is also useful as it has
helped me to learn how to print screen and edit the screen shots into
paint so I can crop the shots to show examples of my work in my blog and
this evaluation presentation. Paint has also helped me to insert
transparent text so that I can add text into a background and the text lays
on top of the image and blends with the background.

50. Construction of Poster and Magazine
Front Cover – ‘Dafont’
Dafont is a website used to create different styles of font for a specific
need, I researched into this and found certain types of fonts I liked to use
for the construction of my poster and magazine front cover so that I can
appeal my genre of horror. I found a variety of fonts and tested them to
decide which ones to use. I found this very important to create a
professional aspect of a poster and front cover. I learnt a lot from this
website as it meant for me to choose wisely about which types of fonts to
pick to have as a mast head etc to make sure it suits well. I learnt a lot
about fonts in through this website to construct an effective poster and
magazine front cover to suit the specific needs.