2. The production brief undertaken for my AS and A2 assignment: For the AS production brief I was required to produce: a music magazine cover a contents page a double page spread for a fictional music magazine company of my choice The A2 brief was different as we had to work as a group to create a: A film magazine cover, Film poster teaser trailer for a film we had to create. The tasks I was set for the two briefs were very different due to the different media technologies I would have to use in order to complete them successfully.
7. and ‘Shank’ These were all placed either in the social realism or teen drama genre. They all followed and subverted the conventions of both genres which made them even more interesting to look into in more detail. As well as analysing the trailers for each film, I wanted to review their posters and magazine features.
8. The 'Adulthood' trailer follows the conventions of social realism and urban dramas as if shows the difficulties and struggles of everyday people. The 'Adulthood' trailer inspired me and my group to create a trailer using the same genre as it reflects urban life and teenagers in modern day society. Usually films within the social realist canon are raw and gritty, reflecting on the struggle to survive. The generic conventions of urban dramas and social realism include realistic conflict between characters. They're usually serious, and reflect real life situations. 'Adulthood' gives incite into the grim truth of the lives some teenagers live which is used to move the audience emotionally. It shows audience their difficulties, hardships, struggles and pain, including urban battles such as illegal drugs and gang violence. The characters in the film/ trailer represent the stereotypes of teenagers in today’s society. Every character has their own story, for example 'Sam', the protagonist', has just come out of prison, however he wants to end his life of violence. He soon finds that this is more difficult than he expected when all the friends of the boy he murdered are out to kill him. There are also characters with drug issues, characters faced with difficult decisions and have responsibilities they didn't have before. The props used include guns, knives, drugs and alcohol, this says a lot about what Nowel Clark is suggesting about the teenagers today. Research into the target audience was an important part of creating my media texts as it determines the mis en sin, narrative, characters, colours used and language used in all three of my A2 media texts. My findings allowed me to discover that the genre I’d chosen is mainly aimed at teenagers. I created a survey for young people asking questions which would help me make the decisions in creating my media texts.
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10. HD Video camera: The HD video camera enabled me to create a film trailer with high quality footage instead of using a standard video camera which would not have given the same authenticity of a real film trailer.
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13. Film Poster We aimed to stay close to the generic conventions of a film poster, magazine cover and teaser trailer to fulfil the expectations of our target audience. We thought that the use of film reviews would give the poster a more realistic outcome. The graffiti on the wall behind was quite effective and contributed towards the urban culture theme. The font we used for the title looks deteriorated which reflects the lives of the young people in the film. The setting we used was underneath a subway. We liked the graffiti in the background as it’s usually associated with rebellious teenagers. This tells the audience what the film will be about The theme colours we chose for the poster were kept dark. The costume we used reflects what teenagers wear in today’s society. However we didn’t want it to look expensive, more lower class to show struggle. Small text at the bottom of the poster with the names of editors, directors and producers in order to stick to the generic conventions.
14. Magazine Cover The position of the heads over the mast head makes the magazine appear popular to consumers. The theme colours we used for the magazine reflect the colours used for the film poster. This is so that the audience can make a connection between the two. We wanted the image to let the audience grasp some of the story and what the film is about, also who would be watching it. The same font was also used on the magazine as on the poster. The camera angle we used allowed us to capture the far end of the subway. I think this is effective. The bar code gives the magazine a professional look.
15. Conventions followed on film teaser trailer Camera angles and shots I wanted the camera angles and shots to resemble ones used on existing media texts in order to produce a realistic outcome. I used a variation of shots including a combination of close ups, medium shots, long shots and establishing shots. Establishing shots are commonly used in trailers to help the audience set the scene. We used one at the beginning of our trailer to show the audience right from the that our film is based in Birmingham. The shot showed Birmingham city centre from a birds eye view at night. We then speeded it up so that the cars and people were moving at a fast pace. This suggests the busy lives of the teenagers in our trailer and the stereotype that teenagers are always out late. Close up shots are important in trailers to show the emotion behind characters. We used several close ups throughout the trailer in order to portray the raw truth behind the lives some teenagers face. I think this was an effective device to use as social realist films usually unveil the harsh realities of life through a different perspective.
16. Conventions followed on film teaser trailer Another convention of a teaser trailer is to maintain the enigma by using ‘Coming Soon’ at the end of the trailer instead of revealing the release date. This creates enigma for consumers as they’ll eagerly anticipate what will come next. This small statement creates a sense of mystery and excitement for consumers as they cant help but want more information as to when it will be released.
17. Conventions followed on film teaser trailer Music and Editing We wanted to follow the generic conventions of a trailer by using synchronous sound to accompany the visual video footage in our trailer. The song chosen was upbeat and fast tempo which went well with the editing we used. The first song we picked was about street life which reflects our trailer perfectly. We then had a change of song half way through to a slower, less upbeat song to show a contrast. We wanted the audience to clearly see the change of tone, I think this was effective as it represents how teenagers can go out and have fun, but they still have their struggles. We wanted the editing at the beginning of the trailer to be fast to portray the fast pace and busy lives of teenagers in today’s society. This is also shown through the fast music.
18. Conventions followed on film teaser trailer Narrative Our film trailer is based around teenagers from Birmingham who are faced with the daily hardships of teenage life. I think that this is portrayed through the elements of the narrative shown in the trailer. We have used the stereotypes placed on teenagers for our trailer in order to draw in a specific target audience. We wanted to use the themes of drugs, alcohol, sex, relationships and partying to attract our target audience, these themes are shown clearly throughout our trailer.
27. The type of institution that would produce myfilm trailer A feature film producer such as Damian Jones who produced Adulthood, is successful in the British film industry would produce our media text due to them being familiar and experienced in producing this particular genre. Adulthood: Producer(s): Damian Jones and George Isac Cinematographer: Brian Tufano Bac Director: noel clark Distributed by: pathe pictures international Studio: Cipher films lime light
