Assignment 3: Evaluation
1. How the aims of the production have
been met
Our target audience was young adult
males (ranging from 17-25 years old), who are generally avid enthusiasts of the
action drama genre and their demographic are over 25% of the moviegoers
globally, therefore there’s a huge market suitable for the movie. We analyzed
movies in the action drama genre such as Logan, Taken and Revenant and with our
analysis, we adopted the conventions of their trailers to make our trailer
appeal to similar target audience of young adult males.
We planned thoroughly the locations,
props and costumes of shots and scenes to be filmed. We kept our costumes and
props simple and accessible for the convenience of our actors and group members
and also so the characters and story seem more realistic and relatable to the
audience, and thus the story is made more intriguing in the trailer. We managed
to film almost every two weeks with most group members despite our other plans
in the past months, and would keep a list of shots we needed to film in order
to keep organized and swift.
In terms of filming equipment, we
always brought cameras and tripods for high quality and stable filming, and
when filming dialogue we brought sound booms for high quality sound and capture
the ambience and diegetic sound of a scene. In the rare occasions, we would use
a skateboard for tracking shots for smooth and stable movement at any speed
needed. In editing, we adopted a three shot with quick cuts and fade to black
transition similar to the trailer for Logan for a dynamic yet tense atmosphere.
We used a letterbox and tone effect to give the trailer a more cinematic and
colourful feel that would appeal to our young target audience.
2. How the product applies appropriate
codes and conventions and uses appropriate media language
We used narration overlay to explain
the story and introduce characters throughout the first half of the trailer,
and then introducing the antagonist with a mysterious change in tone of the
trailer that starts the fast paced action in the trailer. This format of
non-diegetic narration is common in action drama trailers such as Logan,
Avengers, Revenant. Throughout the trailer, we utilized conventions of the mise
en scene in action drama genre to set the dark mysterious tone that would
intrigue our target audience - dark settings with low key lighting, close
ups of serious NVC of characters, and black and grey colour scheme. Influenced
by our audience research, we followed the convention of a mysterious
cliffhanger at the end of the trailer and only revealed the protagonist backstory
and antagonist intentions to create mystery, and the antagonist prowess and
formidability to create fear - all to intrigue the target audience to watch the
film.
3. How the product represents people,
places or events
We used worn down, dirty clothes as a
costume and an actor with scruffy hair and wild facial hair to convey the
troubled and gloomy representation of an alcoholic. Our target audience of
18-25 year old men are researched to be the most popular alcohol drinkers and
are at the highest risk of alcoholism, therefore they would not only be
interested in the protagonist's story, but also sympathise and relate to
it. The common psyche of the alcoholic is expressed to attract a secondary
target audience of alcoholics of all ages who can relate to the story.
The antagonist was represented with
the stereotype of a cold-blooded businessman, with the use of formal wear, neat
appearance, and expensive accessories to convey success and class. We also
portrayed his dominance through low angle shots and protagonist’s weakness
through high angle shots to build anticipation for their clash. This stereotype
creates fear and hate for the character from the target audience, and urge them
to support the protagonist.
4. Where and when the product would be exhibited/distributed
The trailer
would be distributed with commercials in channels such as AMC, HBO ABC as these
channels produce tv shows such as Breaking Bad and Mad Men that are hugely
popular among our target audience. It would also be shown in cinemas before
current action drama movies such as Den of Thieves and Death Wish to reach
their audiences, who are similar target audiences to our film. Across social
media, we would advertise the film on social media (Snapchat, Instagram and
Twitter) that appeal to the young target audience of our film, and also on
sport websites such as ESPN and Goal that appeal to our young men target
audience. Throughout advertisement, there would be synergy in the dark
mysterious tone and black and grey colour scheme conveyed to intrigue audiences
and the representation of our characters to interest our target audience.
5. What regulations and controls might be
applied to the product and how these have been taken into consideration
Because of the
alcoholism and violence expressed in the film, our film would be 12A in order
to reach a older and more mature audience that can understand and relate to the
protagonist. Our story, while similar to other storylines in films such as
Taken and You Kill Me, is set in a
different country, with different representation of characters and stereotypes.
Because of this, it is unlikely there will be trouble with copyright laws, as
all filming done is original, and the audio is not copyright protected.
The strengths and weaknesses of the
product in terms of meeting the needs of its audience
A general consensus reached from
audience feedback is that the trailer is great at creating the dramatic and
suspenseful tone with soundtracks, colour scheme and sound effects, a tone that
intrigues the audience. A cinematic feel is given and the characters are played
convincingly, however instead of having mystery over the outcome of the film,
audiences were confused on the backstory of the protagonist and antagonist.
This is accurate, while we filmed many action shots we didn’t film many
dialogue scenes that would’ve served to explain the story. In my own opinion,
the trailer was great at looking professional and compelling, and the colour
scheme and soundtrack used created mystery and tension. I also agree we
could’ve had more dialogue that would explain the story, and been more
organized. However in the future we would look to improve on this and learn
from it, and for the first attempt at this, I believe we performed well.
