E VALUATION Q UESTION 1 I N WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS ?

P ROMOTING OUR F ILM To promote out film for ‘Lights Out’ we have created: A ‘trailer’ to give the audience a sneak preview of the plot and some of the characters, a ‘film poster’ that tells the audience about the film and where/ when they can see it, and lastly a ‘film magazine cover’ to entice film fans and a wide audience of reader to watch the film. Our Film is a postmodern style film as it challenges the conventions of a Dystopia film. Unlike main stream films they are strong main characters that must rise up to overcome the problem/ threat; for example in ‘I am legend’ or ‘Hunger Games’ where the hero has to fight for their survival and rely on themselves. However our film and trailer shows how we have not focused on one main group but choose to show how different groups and families have to cope. Through the trailer they is shots of different types of people who are going through the power cut and this ‘wider perspective’ gives the film an interesting edge, and is one of the films USP (unique selling point). All of our promotional products highlight where our film has challenged it genre by using a very basic and very every day occurrence that turning it into a life or death situation.

F ILM T RAILER 1.Camerawork & Editing. In our film we have used a lot of handheld camera work as we wanted to create a realistic feeling of actually being there in the story instead of wide shots over the scenes and actions. The handheld and amateur cinematography makes the film feel more personal as the action is following the characters and what they do, so the audience can be feed the information as the characters discovery it. We found influence to use extreme close up and shaky camerawork from ‘Cloverfield’ and ‘Blackout’ as these films keep all their shots as first person angles making the action seem very real and we only find out more about the story as they characters explore and located the problem/ threat. The editing we used was very simple with the character but we use fast editing and effects to hint at action and possible reactions. We found a short Channel 4 film called ‘Blackout’ that used similar themes and found small clips of riot scenes and police fights the heighten the trailer. This gave us the idea to use archive footage in small parts to show how people were reacting and reveal fast it was escalating. As well as this we also used strong captions and a quote that all related to the film and asked the audience how they would react and was a way of engaging them from the start.

F ILM T RAILER 2.Mise en scene. In our trailer and film we used different locations around ‘Brighton’ as we wanted to show how the whole city is affected and how serious the disaster is. When we went out shooting we choose to go around in the evening when the majorities of the lights were off. This then allowed us to shoot in Brighton and show a power cut as the pier also turns off in the evening; so we could use it as a icon for Brighton. The characters clothes were very basic and causal to create the idea that the power cut is very sudden and the characters were just doing their normal activities before. 3.Genre Conventions & Narrative. The genre of our film is ‘Dystopia’ as there is a threat that the human race must over come and work towards a better world. We challenge the convection of this genre by creating a modern day problem which the film then shows how people have to cope without, even though many people had to a few decades ago. 4.Sound & Titles. In out trailer we used lots of different audio, non-diegetic and diegetic to create drive and a tempo to the visuals. We used lots of different heighten diegetic sounds like dialogue and also buzzing from lights that complement but didn’t originate from the shots. The soundtrack to the trailer was made up of multiple songs collected from ‘incompetech’ and a cover on YouTube. We choose to use different and contrasting soundtrack as it create more drive then one song would.

F ILM P OSTER AND M AGAZINE. The film poster and film magazine will be supporting promotion for are trailers. These two ancillary products will help draw in wide audience and start to create a buzz and interest to the film. The poster will be mainly a way of catching the publics eye and giving them a very brief idea of the film with the images and poster style. On the other hand the film magazine cover will give a more detailed picture of the film and what's its about. The magazine cover will allows film fans to other similar films, to see what out film is going to be about and how it differs and stands out. We have picked out key images and the slogan ‘the blackout is coming’ that immediately create questions and ideas to the audience; as to most people a blackout is very common but for this film people are struggling and society is falling apart. Overall the film poster and film magazine cover will be extra promotion to support the trailer and create an audience to come and what the film when it is released.