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

Web Technologies

In terms of aiding our project and understanding the true meaning and characteristics of the film noir genre, we used IMDB in order to create further research into both modern and classic film noir films. IMDB (The Internet Movie Database) is a website that provides information about more or less every movie ever made; therefore we were able to use this to our advantage. By using IMDB, we were able to look into typical storylines of the neo-noir genre, with help from the plot

synopsis section on the page of the specific film. IMDB also includes different versions of the trailers in promotion for the film, so we were able to analyse these and what worked well in order to replicate this or use these ideas in our own production. The website also allowed us to look at stills taken on set of the films, as well as promotional posters. In result of this, we were able to understand an overall vibe and what kind of image we wanted to aim for photographing for our promotional poster.

YouTube played a massive role in our overall construction, research and planning into our production. With having the advantage of YouTube, it enabled us to watch our chosen film trailers to study and analyse in order to gain inspiration for our own piece. By using YouTube and watching a specific genre for a film trailer, it also creates a suggestion to other videos you may be interested in to watch. This worked to our advantage, as more film noir trailers were suggested to us so we

therefore watched them in order to gain more understanding into the genre itself and how it has been interpreted in different films and their trailers.

As well as YouTube and IMDB aiding our research and planning, we also used Google as our search engine in order to formulate and discover our chosen items to research and analyse. Without Google, we would have been unable to explore various magazine covers out of the chosen magazine we decided to adhere to, which was W magazine. Through the advantage of having Google Images, thousands of magazine front covers were available just through searching “W Magazine”, and this helped us to understand the extent of the adherence we would have liked to have gone to for our own magazine cover.

Google also helped us to decide on a specific typography for our trailer and promotional poster. We has decided we did not want a typical, classical and sophisticated font to reflect our film, as we felt the themes included in our storyline would not have met the true

justification if a simple typography was used. By searching into Google, we found a Hitchcock style typography that we felt would work well with our piece. This would not have been possible without Google acting as our search engine, as endless results were accessible to us in order for us to find the perfect font in the style we wished for our film.

Survey Monkey was an important aspect to our final evaluation of our finished pieces. Survey Monkey is a website that allows you to create a survey on whatever you wish, and analyses your results in order to receive the general feedback and understand the correlation between variables. So that we could receive audience feedback to a decent standard, we created a

survey of 15 questions that asked the audience about the trailer, poster and magazine cover. Due to the questionnaire being an online survey, this saved us a lot of time as we did not have to print off multiple pages of questionnaires and distribute them. By having the survey online, the feedback was quicker to receive and more people would be willing to fill it out. Survey Monkey has worked in our favour as with the results we have got from each individual who has completed the survey, the site has analysed the results for us and we have been able to see the common trends in answers and truly seen whether we have successfully achieved what we wanted to.

Software

Final Cut Express

Final Cut Express was the software we used in order to create our trailer. Overall, we were pleased with the outcome of the piece, as Final Cut enabled us to do many things iMovie would not. Firstly, it is evident in the trailer that there are short and jump cuts near the end of the trailer between the two characters John and Vera. This was done by using the cutting clip tool, and we did this in order to heighten the tension in the piece and make aware to the audience that the trailer is reaching its anti-climax. It was also done to imply that the character of Vera was an illusion in a subtle form. Also by cutting clips we were able to create precision and cut the shots to the beat of the music, creating a much bolder atmosphere to watch and suspension was emphasised.

There is one scene we used in the trailer that involves the two characters kissing. When first watching it, it felt like something was missing. With the help of Final Cut, we were able to discover a dial that enabled us to slow down the shot, and this was done by turning the dial down. By doing this, an emphasis on the relationship between the two characters was implied, and created a sense of professionalism to our piece.

For our trailer, we felt it was important that we had a good soundtrack in order to complement the trailer overall. For this reason we used three songs, and consequently it enabled the trailer to appear in the form of a beginning, middle and end. The first music we used was a light and ongoing tune, and created an unusual theme. This is something we wanted to achieve at the beginning of the trailer when John is introduced, as it is not evident that he has schizophrenia but through the music it can be argued that this is a motif for the mental illness. The second soundtrack allowed the music to develop, and subtly touched upon the upcoming disruption to the equilibrium. The final music is where the storyline unfolds and enables the audience to understand that the trailer is reaching its end, as well as maintaining and also building the suspense. Through Final Cut we were able to duck the music at certain points in order for the three soundtracks to blend together and follow on from each other perfectly.

Adobe Photoshop Elements - Poster

Adobe Photoshop Elements is a software that enables you to create an image with graphics and text in a professional format. With the help of Photoshop we were able to create a successful promotional poster for our film, “The Last Drink”. Firstly, we were happy with the image we had photographed, but had agreed that there was something missing. We uploaded the image in Adobe Photoshop and explored the different filters that could potentially enhance the image. We decided to use the mosaic filter that made the image appear like a mosaic, as it made the image appear in multiple small tiles. Through this filter we felt it successfully depicted the idea of illusion and intrigue, as you cannot clearly see John.

In Adobe Photoshop Elements we also were able to experiment with colours for the overall poster. The image we used for the image was quite dark, so we wanted to use the mustard yellow we used in the trailer and replicate this in the poster. We were unsure if we would be able to get the exact same colour, but with Adobe there is a pick up tool, that allows you to touch a colour on the palette and use it from then on. By doing this we were able to use the same colour as we did in the trailer and further create a cohesive brand image through the use of colours.

In order to make the poster look official and professional, we were able to use logos from Facebook and Twitter and incorporate them into our piece. After copying the images from Google Images, we only had to paste them into Adobe Photoshop in

order to use them. From there, we cropped them and used them at the bottom of our poster. We felt by using the logos we would be appealing to a wider demographic, and more specifically young people who are aware of social networking sites.

Adobe Photoshop Elements – Magazine Cover

We again used Photoshop Elements in order to create our magazine cover. Firstly, we decided to take inspiration from W Magazine, so in order to replicate this we copied an image of one of their magazines and pasted it into Photoshop. After this, we used the magic lasso tool to work around the W and crop it, so that we were left with the real and professional W to use on our magazine.

In result, we were able to create a sense of professionalism as with Adobe we were able to use the exact same W as the original magazine itself.

After managing to get the original W from the magazine, we then took photographs of our female character Vera. We chose the female character because W is a female magazine, so we would be appealing to a wider female audience. After choosing from a selection of photographs that we had taken, we chose the best one and put it on a new layer, underneath the W we had cut. In order to make the image perfect, we took inspiration from the W Magazine edition with Kristen Stewart on the front, and decided to zoom more in on our image in order to make it appear more like a magazine. After looking at the filters on Photoshop, we actually decided that none of them made the image look the way we had imagined. In result of this, we used the website Pixlr, that acts as a form of Instagram in the way that there are many forms of filters that can enhance an image. We chose a filter on Pixlr that brought out the blue in Vera’s eyes, and also the red in the dress she was wearing.

So that our image looked pristine in comparison to the Kristen Stewart issue, we used the smudge tool on Photoshop to blend “Vera’s” hair in more, to create a lighter hearted and fresh look.

Once we had used the smudge tool on her hair, we decided that we could also enhance her face in order to make her look more fresh faced and pristine. To do this, we used the blur tool that enabled us to get rid of any shadows on her face, as well as enhance her face and defeat any blemishes. In result of this, we produce a much bolder piece.