Question 1A - Individual
Question 1B - Group Based
Question 2 - Group Based
Question 2 Continued:
For Martha's magazine front cover, she asked a female aged 18. She liked the use of the font as it is very unique, especially the masthead. She liked the fuzzy effect of the baseball bat weapon as it doesn't draw attention away from the female model. She asked a male and he said that the position of the main character brings focus and status to her role in the film. The brother faded in the background adds suspense as the audience wonder why he is being overlayed in the background. Why isn't he the centre of attention? The dark colour scheme also links well with the genre as gangster films are often linked with death, so the colour scheme conforms to the conventions of the genre. Another male asked, thought that the fading of the brother gives the notion that something bad/mysterious has happened to his character. The placement of the female character in front of the male adds power to her character. The mise-en-scene aslo links well to the genre, it connotes to her hidden, dark side. The side that will come out in the film during her carrying out her vendetta.
KMJE's Group Discussion: {Sound for the original video came out extremely noisy so dialogue between KMJE was typed up. In addition to this, the filmed video was too long.}
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Promotional Packaging:
We discussed our promtional packaging. Firstly, we all felt that our film posters go with the film genre because all KMJE productions' covers feature the girls in their gang associated mise-en-scene. They're all wearing hoodies, no one's wearing their school uniform, their rough clothing shows their involvement in a gang. They all have serious facial expressions, potraying them to be quite intimidating young females. Also the models all have weapons (i.e. a baseball bat) showing their dangerous and fightful nature. All the clothing we used was quite dark suggesting the girls have an evil side hidden deep within them. The colour red was used as the film title. Red symbolises blood, the blood that is shed in the film. There's a murder featured in the trailer and the red symbolises the love that the girls have for Chance. The reason they are seeking revenge is because of the love they have for him. We all include the slogan on our products "Mess with our family, mess with yours" - it fits the genre well because gangs are stereotypically known to be united, one big family and community. So our slogan brings this convention to life and shows the girls are one unit. The colours purple and pink were used on our media products because it shows the feminine nature of our main female characters. Our entire products are effective especially because we directly place the main female characters from the trailer on our front covers. Some of us (Martha & Elizabeth) included all the female characters on our film posters whereas one of us (Josephine) only included the main female character. Martha's film poster had a very obvious difference to the rest of ours because of the cartoon effect she decided to use for the characters' face. By using a cartoon effect, Martha has toned down the tension but still managed to present the aggressive nature of the female gang. For Elizabeth's front magazine cover, she decided to not have the main female gang leader as the cover. She used one of the other gang members because she remembered from her research and planning, Suicide Squad's Empire film magazine covers had one introducing each character. So she had the phrase "Meet Michelle" on the cover to show the introduction to her character and market each of the gang members individually on each magazine front cover. This enables the characters to be introduced well to the target audience and shows that they each have a purpose to the film. Josephine's film magazine included a banner as she wanted to market other films whilst marketing her own. Consumers need to be kept interested and by displaying other films that they can read about, does this. It reaches to a larger demographic because they might not be into the urban gangster genre but seeing other films would make them feel comfortable in wanting to purchase the magazine. Martha included a faded effect of Chance (the leader's murdered brother) in the background because she wanted the target audience to wonder about Chance, his role in the film and his relationship with the female character. The fade filter gives a mysterious atmosphere and further intrigues the target audience. The female character is in the front which goes with our USP of female dominance, so she's in the forefront and in control. All our media products work well together, they are all unique but they all come together.
Testing Our Work On Our Target Audience:
Film Poster:
Elizabeth asked a female aged 17. She liked the font of the film title on her film magazine and the position of the actresses' names on the top of the poster. She said the position of the four girls shows that they're united and she's attracted to them due to the fact that they are the same gender as her. It shows female empowerment. She also asked a boy in the his late teens, because even though males are not our main demographic, he is someone very likely to go watch the film. He said that the female characters on the film poster look like they're going to do something crazy and something that could change the course of their lives forever. They look very dominating and scary. Finally, she asked another young female teenager. She said that looking at the film poster, Vendetta is a film that she would watch. The females look like a real life gang and banded together as a family.
Josephine asked a young adult male and he said he liked how gritty it looks. It caught his eye straight away, simply by the title his is already aware of what sort of plot the film is: A young girl out for revenge perhaps gang related due to the death of a close friend or family member. The background is very artistic & urban and the poster is attractive to him because of his younger age and an older person may not be able to relate to the film and the characters the way he would. He would be intrigued to watch the film and see why the main girl on the cover (who he assumed correctly is the main character) was motivated to go out for revenge. Josephine also asked a female - twenty years old - who said that the film poster is good as it is extremely eye catching. Immediately we get the impression of danger and violence as there is a baseball bat involved. Seeing my main female character on the cover with a serious, firm facial expression makes her want to know more in terms of what the film is about and what is going on. The final female asked said that she liked the font of the front cover as it is really clear and unique. She thought that the image could've been better selected as at first glance she couldn't tell that the main model was carrying a baseball bat, which is a key feature for the audience to guess what the movie is about - overall she thought it was a really good poster.
Martha asked a female for her opinions on her film poster and she generally liked the film poster. The iconography of the baseball bat fits the genre well including the hoodies worn and the pointing of the finger (showing a gang sign). The girl did note that Martha could have included a bit more information because it's a new magazine brand and people wouldn't automatically want to purchase it. A male also voiced that the cartoon looks different as it is a unique way of presenting film characters, it reminds him of the suicide squad film poster. The slogan is very catchy as it gives the audience an idea of what the film is about. The font of the film title is graffiti so it gives us a sense of the urban atmosphere the film is set in. A negative criticism she received for her film poster was that the placement of the credits was a bit squashed and off putting, as it diverts the attention away from the main characters. Also the actresses' names should be equally spaced out and lined up properly. The name sizes are also too small so they should be increased in size slightly so it can be read more clearly.
Josephine asked a young adult male and he said he liked how gritty it looks. It caught his eye straight away, simply by the title his is already aware of what sort of plot the film is: A young girl out for revenge perhaps gang related due to the death of a close friend or family member. The background is very artistic & urban and the poster is attractive to him because of his younger age and an older person may not be able to relate to the film and the characters the way he would. He would be intrigued to watch the film and see why the main girl on the cover (who he assumed correctly is the main character) was motivated to go out for revenge. Josephine also asked a female - twenty years old - who said that the film poster is good as it is extremely eye catching. Immediately we get the impression of danger and violence as there is a baseball bat involved. Seeing my main female character on the cover with a serious, firm facial expression makes her want to know more in terms of what the film is about and what is going on. The final female asked said that she liked the font of the front cover as it is really clear and unique. She thought that the image could've been better selected as at first glance she couldn't tell that the main model was carrying a baseball bat, which is a key feature for the audience to guess what the movie is about - overall she thought it was a really good poster.
Martha asked a female for her opinions on her film poster and she generally liked the film poster. The iconography of the baseball bat fits the genre well including the hoodies worn and the pointing of the finger (showing a gang sign). The girl did note that Martha could have included a bit more information because it's a new magazine brand and people wouldn't automatically want to purchase it. A male also voiced that the cartoon looks different as it is a unique way of presenting film characters, it reminds him of the suicide squad film poster. The slogan is very catchy as it gives the audience an idea of what the film is about. The font of the film title is graffiti so it gives us a sense of the urban atmosphere the film is set in. A negative criticism she received for her film poster was that the placement of the credits was a bit squashed and off putting, as it diverts the attention away from the main characters. Also the actresses' names should be equally spaced out and lined up properly. The name sizes are also too small so they should be increased in size slightly so it can be read more clearly.
Film Magazine:
The first female Elizabeth asked about her film magazine said that she found the magazine interesting and she finds it more interesting than the film poster. However, she wouldn't purchase the magazine because she isn't really into gangster crime films. The male she asked said he would read the film magazine because the female appears to be quite masculine through her mise-en-scene of a hoodie. This makes him want to find out more about her and why she has subverted from steretypical female clothing i.e. shirts, skirts, dresses. The final female asked about Elizabeth's film magazine said that overall the magazine had a very interesting appeal, although she found that the barcode was quite oddly placed and that it was too large in size. It took away from the overall look of the film magazine and should be made smaller.
Josephine's first respondent said that from the front cover we see the leader of an infamous gang, so she would definitely buy this magazine to be able to get more information about the infamous leader as she is quite intrigued and would like to know more. The male asked, said that there was quite a lot going on and obviously his main attention is on the main model and the film title Vendetta. He liked it, because it is being sold at a reasonable price, includes free posters which again show it's good value for money. He would purchase this magazine because he would like to know what Vendetta is about, and by the appearance of the cover it shows that it would relate to his age group. The final girl questioned said she completely loved the film magazine front cover. The birds eye view angle is different and makes her think society is looking down upon her and gangs as they're considered to be deviant individuals. She said she would have liked the Vendetta to be written in the same font as the film poster. She also stated that small details like the recommendations of movies that "you need to see" compliment the caption of "meeting the leader."
Josephine's first respondent said that from the front cover we see the leader of an infamous gang, so she would definitely buy this magazine to be able to get more information about the infamous leader as she is quite intrigued and would like to know more. The male asked, said that there was quite a lot going on and obviously his main attention is on the main model and the film title Vendetta. He liked it, because it is being sold at a reasonable price, includes free posters which again show it's good value for money. He would purchase this magazine because he would like to know what Vendetta is about, and by the appearance of the cover it shows that it would relate to his age group. The final girl questioned said she completely loved the film magazine front cover. The birds eye view angle is different and makes her think society is looking down upon her and gangs as they're considered to be deviant individuals. She said she would have liked the Vendetta to be written in the same font as the film poster. She also stated that small details like the recommendations of movies that "you need to see" compliment the caption of "meeting the leader."
For Martha's magazine front cover, she asked a female aged 18. She liked the use of the font as it is very unique, especially the masthead. She liked the fuzzy effect of the baseball bat weapon as it doesn't draw attention away from the female model. She asked a male and he said that the position of the main character brings focus and status to her role in the film. The brother faded in the background adds suspense as the audience wonder why he is being overlayed in the background. Why isn't he the centre of attention? The dark colour scheme also links well with the genre as gangster films are often linked with death, so the colour scheme conforms to the conventions of the genre. Another male asked, thought that the fading of the brother gives the notion that something bad/mysterious has happened to his character. The placement of the female character in front of the male adds power to her character. The mise-en-scene aslo links well to the genre, it connotes to her hidden, dark side. The side that will come out in the film during her carrying out her vendetta.
Unique Selling Point:
The dominating female gang that we included in our film trailer was a unique selling point. This is because we wanted to display female empowerment and we wanted females to be portrayed in a different light. Usually in gangster crime films, females are submissive and inferior, so we wanted to change the narrative. The female character is the damsel in distress, a gang tend to be trying to save her or provide her with protection. However, instead of a female character being saved we have a male character murder being avenged. Another USP was the use of the black on black crime. Especially with what's going on in America, the #blacklivesmatter movement, the crimes in the media tend to be about the murders of black people committed by those of white ethnicity. We wanted to show the dark side of the black community where black lives are taken by other black people. We still stuck with the idea of police brutality and the challenges that normal citizens (especially people of ehtnic minorities) face with the police force in modern day society. People from ethnic minorities are able to sympathise with the issues of prejudice raised in our film. Our unique selling points allow our media products to stand out against other films in the market today. Females are usually presented in an objectified way but we subvert this by placing our females as the important ones throughout the film.
Advertisement/Film Marketing:
An example of a real film package marketing to different audience through different posters and magazines:
Having looked at the way the Suicide Squad movie franchise marketed their film to the general public, KMJE products were inspired to follow suit and create our own unique campaign. Elizabeth's film magazine is one of many others, her plan is to have a front cover product for each female member of the gang.
Having looked at the way the Suicide Squad movie franchise marketed their film to the general public, KMJE products were inspired to follow suit and create our own unique campaign. Elizabeth's film magazine is one of many others, her plan is to have a front cover product for each female member of the gang.
Martha's film poster follows Suicide Squad's poster of having all the main characters on the front cover at the same time and the cartoon animated effect that Suicide Squad used. It gives off a playful theme but still maintains its point of introducting domineering characters.
Josephine decided to adopt Suicide Squad's use of having a single main character introduced to the target audience on the front cover. This makes the target audience wonder about the lone character's role and their impact in the film.
We also decided to market our film through social media networks such as twitter, instagram and facebook. By creating social media pages, this gives our film great exposure and means that people all over the world can find out about our film and not just people in the UK. Our target audience can be kept updated on information to do with our film, i.e. the release date. We also want to market our film posters on public transport such as buses and billboards. This is so that people come into contact with our film at anytime of the day and won't have to stop what they're doing in their day to see it, it'll be a part of their day when they see it during the duration of their days.
Example of our Twitter page:
Question 3 - Group Based
Question 4 - Group Based
0 comments: