Evaluation Pt. 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My media product doesn’t really challenge forms and conventions of film trailers. It simply develops them in the sense that it follows most of the conventions. I will be comparing my product with a real media product. The product I will be comparing mine to is the trailer for the film “RocknRolla”. I will be using this because this trailer follows the conventions of a film trailer in the same as mine does.

In the trailer for ‘RocknRolla’ it shows key events in the trailer with captions such as this one to reveal crucial details for the film for example this image tells us that “The Painting” is important in some way. This is shown with the way that the only thing with enough lighting for you to be able to tell what it is the painting and the two characters looking at the painting. The character further away from the painting shows to have a look of possession over the painting and the character closest looks like he is admiring the painting. The painting is in the foreground and the characters in the background showing that the painting is the important thing here and the characters have something to do with it also. In the actual film the painting is a catalyst for a lot of the misadventures that happen throughout the film.

In my trailer I used a crucial point in the ‘film’ which was the part where the main character had a gun held to his head. I used this as the opening scene to the trailer to try and make the audience wonder what is going to happen next or wonder how the character got in that situations or just plain and simply wonder what is going on. The lighting of the room and the props used imply death for one character and supremacy for the other. The lighting behind the character sitting down is very dark and continues to get darker implying that the future for the character is about to come to an end. However, the lighting behind the character that is standing up with the gun is very bright almost to say that he has the power and along with the white top he is wearing gives him an almost transcendent look to him as if he is the harbinger of the other characters death.

The next convention followed my trailer and the trailer for “RocknRolla” is the convention that the film title is not shown until the end and this is followed by a release date. For example in the RocknRolla trailer;

And in my film trailer I used the same typical convention;

I used this convention because it’s a typical convention used a lot because if the name of the film was shown at the beginning of the trailer, then the audience might forget it but if it’s the last thing they see then it is much more likely to stay in their mind that is why typically the name of the film is show later in the trailer or just simply at the end of the trailer.  

Trailers usually show you the location where the film will mainly take place.
The trailer for “RocknRolla” shows a scene shot in London which is a shot of a London skyline taken from the Thames. This representation of how the film focuses on the wealth and luxury some of the characters experience. Also at other part the locations chosen for this film show the complete opposite such as the home for one of the main characters. It looks tattered, torn and destroyed. This represents a direct reflection from this character’s personality as he is a drug addict and doesn’t care where he is as long as he gets his fix.

This is the scene taken from the Thames of the London skyline from the film trailer ‘RocknRolla’

This is the opposing scene taken from the ‘RocknRolla’ film trailer of the homes of one of the main characters.

I incorporated the use of locations to describe the background of my main character. The areas he’s mainly seen in are sketchy looking areas. This represents the characters less privileged upbringing. This also explains his desperate bid to make money at any costs to get out of that environment. For example in this scene he is seen exchanging drugs for money as he continues to accumulate wealth to pay back his debts.

In my media product I used props and costume to emphasize points throughout my trailer. For example in regards to costume in the scene where the ‘crime bosses’ entered the poker room they were all wearing suits and expensive looking clothing however the main character was not, he was simply wearing a t-shirt and a hoodie. This represents just how out of place he is and how really doesn’t belong with those types of characters. Also this was to make him feel isolated and segregated.
The props used were to emphasize luxury and danger for example the gun. This gun used a lot in the trailer because of its silver metallic appearance it looks expensive but this fact doesn’t distract from the truth being that it still is a gun which is a weapon used to kill people. The fact that it is just left idly on the side is to represent how little the characters in this are concerned with human life and to also emphasize just how dangerous they are.