What have you learned from your audience feedback?

From my audience feedback I picked up on many elements that worked and what could be improved.

Point: “to include the female characters shown on the poster” – I agree with this point, as I think that by using the other females in the trailer would have helped me to add variety and to also support the idea of not making the ending clear, as this would have made the audience wonder as to who he ends up with.

Point: “could have emphasised the character’s reactions when dropping the coat”- This is also another good point as I could have used this as a chance to add another comedy moment, as the female character could have looked more disgraced at his actions.

Point: “the music should have continued after the title credit”- In a way I both agree and disagree with this comment, as I did this in order to help isolate the character which helps to increase his embarrassing moment, however I understand the point made, this is because it could be seen as displaced where the music just cuts out then back in.

Point: “there should be a variation in the shots used in the date scene”- I totally agree with this point as I think that the female character could have played a larger part in the trailer. By including different points of view shots would have enabled more variety in the trailer to help sustain the audience’s attention.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I looked at existing magazines, but found that there were very little existing covers for the genre of my film,  this therefore made it harder for me to pick up on conventions of magazine covers. However I was still able to see the main features used. I wanted to think of my own title just to add more of an edge to the cover. I made the title using Adobe Photoshop, this enabled me to add different layers and effects to my title. From looking at other covers the titles are always very large and bold in order to immediately attract attention, so I wanted to achieve the same with my cover. The other main feature of existing covers were to have a cover star, therefore I used the main character from my trailer. This is to also help draw attention to the cover and gain audience reaction, this is because they are supposed to recognise the star and people who may be fans of their work will therefore be more likely to buy the magazine. I wanted the magazine cover to look different to my other products such as my poster and trailer, this is because a convention of other films is that the trailer and ancillary texts are usually all based on the same theme. I subverted to this convention by making my magazine cover different to my other texts, this is because the trailer and poster are both very lively and colourful, whereas my cover is more  simplistic and classy. I wasn’t sure whether this would work at first as it sort of diffuses the cover from the other products, however this is done in order to create a comedic effect for the audience. This is hopefully achieved by the audience seeing in the trailer a character suffering with bad luck and being a bit of a clown, whereas the magazine cover shows the character as a very sophisticated business man, this is therefore mocking the character as he is trying to be something which we have seen that he quite clearly isn’t. From looking at other existing magazines I noticed that they feature alot of other films, these are usually of the same genre, I wanted to include a variety of films in order to allow it to appeal to a wider target market.

I looked at existing posters in order to ensure that I would be working along the right lines. Nearly all posters no matter what the genre, tend to follow certain conventions, this include reviews about the film, a feature title, along with images of the main characters. However the colours and layouts used are dependent on the genre. I looked at Rom-Com posters to find that they are usually quite plain, but are reliant on the images used. A factor that also determines the genre of the film is the background used; first of all I trialed just a plain background, but felt that it didn’t look very professional. I then used a light blue background, but found that it clashed with both the font and one of the images used. I then used a orange colour and felt that it worked well, this is because bright colours are normally associated with happiness and so therefore I feel it helps to represent the Rom-Com idea of the trailer well. I wanted to ensure that the images stood out from the poster so that it made it more eye catching, so I therefore added an outer glow to achieve this. As mentioned before it is usually the images used that are the main feature of the poster, the expressions on the character’s faces are usually a key element in order to represent the idea of the film. With my poster I had the male actor in the centre, surrounded by females. The expression on the male character’s face is that of confusion, therefore this may encourage viewers to want to go and see the film to find out the outcome. The expressions of the surrounding girls I feel help to show their personalities. Three of the girls are looking in other directions which may suggest that they aren’t interested, whereas one of them is looking at the male character which could suggest that she is the one ? Another main feature of a film poster is the title, this is because it is usually something which is catchy in order for viewers to remember it and therefore then talk about it. I chose the title of my film for a number of reasons; one being that each word is only one syllable therefore short and snappy. Another reason was that it was able to be used in order to create irony.

The genre of my trailer is a romantic comedy; ‘Rom-Coms’ are a hybrid genre which brings two different styles together. They are usually renouned for being about two people who fall in love, but encounter problems along the way, most of the time the purpose of this is to add a comedic effect. A Rom-Com trailer contains many conventions, one being the use of a voiceover. A voiceover is used in order to tell the audience some of the story, therefore I used this  to reveal to the audience information about the character. It tells of how he is missing a woman in his life, which from just watching the trailer might not have been clear. I feel that by using a voiceover it is making the trailer more personal to the audience, this is because it is addressing the audience directly, allowing them to feel involved. In my trailer the voiceover asks “but will he succeed in his quest to find love?”  This question is asked in order for  the viewer to want to go and see the film,  to allow themselves to find out what actually happens to the character. Another convention of a Rom-Com trailer is that they contain very upbeat soundtracks, this is used in order to create a feel good factor for the audience. The soundtrack is often used in sync with the trailer , for instance in the trailer for the film ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary’ one of the songs featured is ‘Chaka Khan- I’m Everywoman’ this is used as the character is trying to change herself into a presentable woman, she also is trying to be very powerful within herslef, so therefore the song helps to reflect this. Therefore in my trailer I had to use songs which were relevant to the theme and storyline. So I used ‘Justin Timberlake-Sexyback’ this is used as the male character has a high opinion of himself, therefore the lyrics are relevant; however it is also used to add a comedy effect whereby it is used to mock the character. The track then changes to ‘Barry White- My first My last ..’ this is used as it is played at a time where the character is finally having some luck with a lady. We see him leading her to the dining table, the uplifting music is used in order to show a bit of hope. It is a love song so yet again is used to ridicule the sitution. Comedy trailers do not usually expose the ending or climax of the film, therefore I decided not to do this either as I feel that it helps to allow the viewer to want to go and view the full movie in order to find out the ending. I used a series of short clips in order to hopefully grab the attention of the audience more, as opposed to them losing interest.

 Overall I am very pleased with how my magazine turned out, I feel that it looks professional but yet has elements of fun.

During the making of the magazine cover I encountered a number of changes, this is because I wanted to trial different ideas. To the right is a picture of my first title that I made, it was bold and black so I felt it would grab the attention of potential customers, however upon reflection I realised that I could make it look more interesting, so I added an effect which made the text look grainy, which I feel makes it look like a fuzzy cinema screen so therefore is relevant to movies and I think it makes the title look more interesting. Another thing I did with the title was to add a lens flare behind the word lights in order to make it stand out and look like a camera flash as if to be on the red carpet. Other features of the magazine so far is a banner along the bottom of the cover, I have seen this used in existing magazines so therefore i thought it would help to make my magazine look more authentic. In the next stage of my magazine I added the main feature image, this is conventional of existing magazines as it is usually the point that draws the audience to the magazine. I used a photo of the main character from my trailer as ‘He’s The Man’ is the feature of my magazine. I changed the saturation of the image in order for it to be in keeping with the colour scheme already in place on the cover. The character is holding a serious pose, this was used as the title of the film suggests that he is superior, however those who have seen the trailer would realise that this is just using irony, as in fact the character is quit the opposite. He is a rather unfortunate character as he is forever embarrassing himself.

 After applying my image to the cover, I added an outer glow this is because it not only lifts the image, it has connotations of being holy and greater, which again supports the idea of irony used to create a comedic effect. Other things i added to my cover at this stage were alot more sub headings, these tell the reader what is inside the magazine in a bid to encourage them to buy it. By using words such as ‘exclusive’ and ‘must see’ tries to make the magazine seem like a must have item.