Evaluation
In my production, I wanted to create a
sense of danger and to follow the conventions and genres of a
gangster/drama film. I carried out a variety of research to allow me to get
input towards my production. Possibly the most significant part of my research
is that I analysed three film posters which are The Schindler's List, The
Shawshank Redemption and The Godfather. The posters I have found all indicated
that film posters have a certain layout and contain a variety of conventions
such as a main protagonist (The Shawshank Redemption and The Godfather have the
main character clear and central on the film poster), a tagline, the title (The
Shawshank Redemption and The Godfather have the title underneath the main
characters also all of the posters made the title clear, bold and evident to
the audience), billing block (all of the posters I researched included a
billing block at the bottom of the theatrical film poster) a clear indication of what the film is about. Whereas
the teaser posters for these films shown very little information about the film
as a teaser poster doesn’t have billing block, a release date, the actor’s
names or the production company’s logo therefore when making my teaser poster I
made sure not to include these features but rather only use them when creating
the theatrical poster. Also I then went on to analyse the DVD covers of these
films then this helped me see the conventions of DVD covers and make it appear
as part of the industry and professional. DVD covers often have one of the
films posters, or a similar image, as the front cover but it will be altered
for a DVD cover (The Godfather and Schindler’s list used an image similar to
the one used in their respective film posters) such as it will now include any
awards the film has won and any quotes from reviews it has to portray it in a
positive light. Therefore my production was then altered to appear more
professional as it follows the conventions of the film industry. Furthermore
DVD covers often feature stills that are taken directly from the feature such
as action shots of the main characters, locations, key plot points, memorable
moments, etc, etc. For example on the Schindler’s list DVD cover there is 2 clear
images taken directly from the film also The Godfather uses stills taken from
the film and merged them into one image as a strip on the back of the DVD
cover. Furthermore The Shawshank Redemption as taken stills of the main
character in viewing the main location and it uses a key turning point in the
film as to appeal to the audience who have already seen the film.
I then later asked my target audience what
they believed film posters and DVD covers needed and how it needs to be
displayed to the rest of the target audience, whether it will appeal to the
audience or not. Furthermore this research showed that 80% of my target
audience felt that that the film posters needed to clearly show who the main
character/star of the film was therefore in my planning I felt it was necessary
that the main character/star had to have a central role on the film poster and
the DVD cover. Also 50% of my target group felt that it was a necessity for the
storyline of film to be evident in the film poster but all agreed felt that it
needed to be clear on the DVD cover. Furthermore the feedback I gained
suggested that the use of a vague title that doesn't clearly state the plotline
of a film intrigues the audience more therefore they would be more likely to
take an interest in the film and watch it. My target audience also felt that by
creating a link between the film and the text style it makes it easier to
recognise and identify the brand of the film. Also the majority of my target
audience felt that it wasn't necessary for the DVD covers/poster to have colour
therefore this information had a great influence on my production.
The target audience of my production is
18-25 year old males with the psychographic of that they enjoy action films,
they hope to have some form of excitement in their life therefore they go to
the cinema to view an action film to gain a form of excitement and experience
the thrills with the narrative and the character. The theories, which apply to
my target audience, are the Uses and Gratification Theory and the Reception
Theory. The Uses and Gratifications Theory applies to my target audience as
some of my audience members may be using it as a way of diversion and the
thought of becoming the character within the poster interests them, some may
see it as looking for a new/ develop their own personal identity and others may
be using it as a way of creating personal relationships with the characters and
escaping from reality furthermore some of the audience may simply use it as a
way of gaining information about the film or be entertained. The Reception
Theory applies as my production holds many of the conventions that are expected
of a film poster/ DVD cover therefore this positions the audience and creates a
certain amount of agreement on what the codes mean (this is known as preferred
reading) furthermore the experiences of the individuals within the target
audience alters the perception of my production for each person. So by
understanding the reception theory it meant that I was able to modify my
production to create a good mode of address and intrigue the audience as it
meant I was able to apply the reception theory and appeal to a greater number
of individuals.
My production’s key strength is that it
follows many of the codes and conventions of film posters and DVD covers. For
example, my production has a clear image of the main character at the centre of
the poster, it has the main title of the feature clear, evident and bold at the
top of the film poster, which is typical of the crime genre this typography is
also used in film such as Goodfellas, the colour scheme of my DVD cover and my
film poster are similar therefore it make the brand of the film clear and
evident when the target audience hopes to view the pieces of production.
Another strength is the creation of a brand as the production contains the same
characters/people; it has the same colour scheme which is once again used in
the film posters of Goodfellas as both my production and the example use a dark
colour scheme as to convey the genre of crime. Furthermore, it contains
features such as the billing block; the title is central on the DVD cover
whereas the film poster has the title at the top of the poster. In comparison
to my research the production I have created is similar as all pieces have a
specific colour scheme, it has the main character as the central image, it has
the key actors names furthermore it follows the conventions of DVD cover/film
posters such as the billing block, review quotes, a release date, production
logos, award/nominations, a synopsis, etc, etc therefore my production becomes
conventional due to these features and becomes stereotypical of film
posters/DVD covers. Another strength is that I was able to create a mode of
address that intrigues my target audience and engage the experiences of
individuals also to interest them in my production and create a clear message
similar those of the existing media products and making it appear professional
and stereotypical of the media products. Also another strength is that my
production shares the conventions of other media products such as Lock, Stock
and Two Smoking Barrels and Citizen Gangster, which has the main character
present, the title is clear and bold, the billing block is located at the
bottom and the main actors are present at the top of the poster. Another
example is Goodfellas which has a similar layout, a similar plain black colour
scheme, the main characters are present and other conventions such as the title
being bold and the main actor being clear and distinct.
However there are some weaknesses such as
that the storyline of the feature may not be clear as it may be misconstrued,
it may be thought that the feature may be seen as a potential comedy/ drama
rather than an action film. Another
weakness of my production is that it may not be as clear and professional the
existing pieces of media such as the ones I viewed in my research therefore the
typography of my production could be seen as a weakness as it doesn't appear to
be as professional as the existing media that I analysed in my research. Also
the representation of the feature could be thought to be weak as it may not be
as clear and professional such as other film posters/DVD cover like the
Godfather, Schindler's List and The Shawshank Redemption. Furthermore existing
media products appear to have a clearer layout than my production therefore it
could be improved by making parts of my production smaller rather than it
appear cramped and cluttered. Also DVD covers/posters often feature a greater
number of symbols such as the production company however it could be argued
that there needs to be the inclusion of these symbols to become more
conventional and stereotypical of the already existing media texts.
If I were to do my production again I
would look into further detail of what symbols/logos do DVD covers feature and
then add similar ones to my production to make it appear more professional.
Also to make my production to appear more professional I would include more
action shots from the film to follow the convention of DVD covers. Also I would
make a greater effort to make a clear layout of my production therefore the
narrative of the film is clear and make it appear more professional. And
finally I would carry out further research into the typography used on DVD
covers/film poster such as the one used in billing block to follow the
convention of the already existing media texts.
In my production, I wanted to create a
sense of danger and to follow the conventions and genres of a
gangster/drama film. I carried out a variety of research to allow me to get
input towards my production. Possibly the most significant part of my research
is that I analysed three film posters which are The Schindler's List, The
Shawshank Redemption and The Godfather. The posters I have found all indicated
that film posters have a certain layout and contain a variety of conventions
such as a main protagonist (The Shawshank Redemption and The Godfather have the
main character clear and central on the film poster), a tagline, the title (The
Shawshank Redemption and The Godfather have the title underneath the main
characters also all of the posters made the title clear, bold and evident to
the audience), billing block (all of the posters I researched included a
billing block at the bottom of the theatrical film poster) a clear indication of what the film is about. Whereas
the teaser posters for these films shown very little information about the film
as a teaser poster doesn’t have billing block, a release date, the actor’s
names or the production company’s logo therefore when making my teaser poster I
made sure not to include these features but rather only use them when creating
the theatrical poster. Also I then went on to analyse the DVD covers of these
films then this helped me see the conventions of DVD covers and make it appear
as part of the industry and professional. DVD covers often have one of the
films posters, or a similar image, as the front cover but it will be altered
for a DVD cover (The Godfather and Schindler’s list used an image similar to
the one used in their respective film posters) such as it will now include any
awards the film has won and any quotes from reviews it has to portray it in a
positive light. Therefore my production was then altered to appear more
professional as it follows the conventions of the film industry. Furthermore
DVD covers often feature stills that are taken directly from the feature such
as action shots of the main characters, locations, key plot points, memorable
moments, etc, etc. For example on the Schindler’s list DVD cover there is 2 clear
images taken directly from the film also The Godfather uses stills taken from
the film and merged them into one image as a strip on the back of the DVD
cover. Furthermore The Shawshank Redemption as taken stills of the main
character in viewing the main location and it uses a key turning point in the
film as to appeal to the audience who have already seen the film.
Also my production helped me by showing a
clear distinction between a teaser poster and a theatrical poster as my
examples had teaser posters which had minimal information and mainly had one
image in a simple layout whereas the theatrical posters had a billing block, a
release date, the actor’s names and the production company’s logo.
I then later asked my target audience what
they believed film posters and DVD covers needed and how it needs to be
displayed to the rest of the target audience, whether it will appeal to the
audience or not. Furthermore this research showed that 80% of my target
audience felt that that the film posters needed to clearly show who the main
character/star of the film was therefore in my planning I felt it was necessary
that the main character/star had to have a central role on the film poster and
the DVD cover. Also 50% of my target group felt that it was a necessity for the
storyline of film to be evident in the film poster but all agreed felt that it
needed to be clear on the DVD cover. Furthermore the feedback I gained
suggested that the use of a vague title that doesn't clearly state the plotline
of a film intrigues the audience more therefore they would be more likely to
take an interest in the film and watch it. My target audience also felt that by
creating a link between the film and the text style it makes it easier to
recognise and identify the brand of the film. Also the majority of my target
audience felt that it wasn't necessary for the DVD covers/poster to have colour
therefore this information had a great influence on my production.
The target audience of my production is
18-25 year old males with the psychographic of that they enjoy action films,
they hope to have some form of excitement in their life therefore they go to
the cinema to view an action film to gain a form of excitement and experience
the thrills with the narrative and the character. The theories, which apply to
my target audience, are the Uses and Gratification Theory and the Reception
Theory. The Uses and Gratifications Theory applies to my target audience as
some of my audience members may be using it as a way of diversion and the
thought of becoming the character within the poster interests them, some may
see it as looking for a new/ develop their own personal identity and others may
be using it as a way of creating personal relationships with the characters and
escaping from reality furthermore some of the audience may simply use it as a
way of gaining information about the film or be entertained. The Reception
Theory applies as my production holds many of the conventions that are expected
of a film poster/ DVD cover therefore this positions the audience and creates a
certain amount of agreement on what the codes mean (this is known as preferred
reading) furthermore the experiences of the individuals within the target
audience alters the perception of my production for each person. So by
understanding the reception theory it meant that I was able to modify my
production to create a good mode of address and intrigue the audience as it
meant I was able to apply the reception theory and appeal to a greater number
of individuals.
My production’s key strength is that it
follows many of the codes and conventions of film posters and DVD covers. For
example, my production has a clear image of the main character at the centre of
the poster, it has the main title of the feature clear, evident and bold at the
top of the film poster, which is typical of the crime genre this typography is
also used in film such as Goodfellas, the colour scheme of my DVD cover and my
film poster are similar therefore it make the brand of the film clear and
evident when the target audience hopes to view the pieces of production.
Another strength is the creation of a brand as the production contains the same
characters/people; it has the same colour scheme which is once again used in
the film posters of Goodfellas as both my production and the example use a dark
colour scheme as to convey the genre of crime. Furthermore, it contains
features such as the billing block; the title is central on the DVD cover
whereas the film poster has the title at the top of the poster. In comparison
to my research the production I have created is similar as all pieces have a
specific colour scheme, it has the main character as the central image, it has
the key actors names furthermore it follows the conventions of DVD cover/film
posters such as the billing block, review quotes, a release date, production
logos, award/nominations, a synopsis, etc, etc therefore my production becomes
conventional due to these features and becomes stereotypical of film
posters/DVD covers. Another strength is that I was able to create a mode of
address that intrigues my target audience and engage the experiences of
individuals also to interest them in my production and create a clear message
similar those of the existing media products and making it appear professional
and stereotypical of the media products. Also another strength is that my
production shares the conventions of other media products such as Lock, Stock
and Two Smoking Barrels and Citizen Gangster, which has the main character
present, the title is clear and bold, the billing block is located at the
bottom and the main actors are present at the top of the poster. Another
example is Goodfellas which has a similar layout, a similar plain black colour
scheme, the main characters are present and other conventions such as the title
being bold and the main actor being clear and distinct.
However there are some weaknesses such as
that the storyline of the feature may not be clear as it may be misconstrued,
it may be thought that the feature may be seen as a potential comedy/ drama
rather than an action film. Another
weakness of my production is that it may not be as clear and professional the
existing pieces of media such as the ones I viewed in my research therefore the
typography of my production could be seen as a weakness as it doesn't appear to
be as professional as the existing media that I analysed in my research. Also
the representation of the feature could be thought to be weak as it may not be
as clear and professional such as other film posters/DVD cover like the
Godfather, Schindler's List and The Shawshank Redemption. Furthermore existing
media products appear to have a clearer layout than my production therefore it
could be improved by making parts of my production smaller rather than it
appear cramped and cluttered. Also DVD covers/posters often feature a greater
number of symbols such as the production company however it could be argued
that there needs to be the inclusion of these symbols to become more
conventional and stereotypical of the already existing media texts.
If I were to do my production again I
would look into further detail of what symbols/logos do DVD covers feature and
then add similar ones to my production to make it appear more professional.
Also to make my production to appear more professional I would include more
action shots from the film to follow the convention of DVD covers. Also I would
make a greater effort to make a clear layout of my production therefore the
narrative of the film is clear and make it appear more professional. And
finally I would carry out further research into the typography used on DVD
covers/film poster such as the one used in billing block to follow the
convention of the already existing media texts.
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