Q1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Q4: How do you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?

Q2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

My Target Audience. 

The target audience for my products for my products are for 15+ year olds. This is because my trailer is aimed mainly at teenagers and it is suited for them and also there is no content that would require the viewer to be older, for example; Nudity or bad language and there is no shocking violence in the trailer that could potentially cause psychological harm to the viewer. 

Attracting my target audience.

I tried to think of different ways to try and attract the target audience that I wanted. I thought that the colours that I used were very important in this step because they would represent what type of trailer it is, for example; Slasher, Psychological, J-Horror. I also think that the characters would be a key factor because it would give the audience something to relate to if I was to add a character in my trailer that looks roughly around their age.  

Horror Poster.

• The tagline of this poster is located on the top of the title and it isnt very big so it doesn't take attention from the title itself. 

• The poster has a gloomy blue background and we can see it is a forest. This gives the poster a really dark, creepy feel towards it and it hint to us what type of sub genre the film is. 

• The title of the poster goes with the colour scheme of the eerie blue and we can see a woman, assuming she is a victim, in the title screaming and she is faded into the colour scheme also. 

• The Rating of the film can help the film to get higher views. We can see that on the poster that it was said to be "The best scary movie since the sixth sense." This would make viewers more interested in what the film has to offer. 

•  We can see that there is information of the film being on DVD and video, this is a good way to promote the film and for more people to watch it and know about it.

•  Towards the bottom of the poster there are credits to show who made the film and the actors who are involved. This would tell the audience who played the characters in the film and they might be interested in watching the film because of the interest in in seeing the actors. 

• The title itself is bold and it stands out also because of the way that it is scratched.

• The background of the poster is an eerie colour of a light blue and white, with trees. This can be used to indicate where the film where the film is mainly set and also what the sub genre of the film is. 

• Above the title we can see the names of the actors who were in the film, this would help the audience see who is acting in it.

• The main image is the antagonist of the film and she is blended with the background of the poster, this is effective because it shows that she is a ghost as she blends with the background. 

• The poster has an age rating telling the viewers that the film is for ages '15' and over.

• There are ratings on the poster helping the film to get more views. There are quotes and star ratings. 

• This poster has credits on it showing who produced the film and directed it and other important information that the makers may want people to know about the film and the making.

• The Tagline of the film is also on this poster and it is placed below the title and just before the credits. It pops out because of the fact it is bold and white and the font is a bit scratched suiting the theme of the poster. 

Horror Magazine. 

• The masthead of this magazine is placed behind the main image's head, which is 'Batman'. 

• Above the masthead there is a strapline informing the audience that it is an exclusive magazine. 

• The title of the film immediately pops out at you because it is bold and white and huge. This helps to advertise the movie and for them to get more viewers. 

• The main image which is 'Batman' has been placed in a way in which it is the main eye catching thing that is on the magazine hence it was placed in front of the title. He is placed in the left third. 

• In the left here we can see that there is a list of what the magazine has inside of it and it is small enough to see and doesn't take away the attention from the main focus of the magazine which is the film, 'The Dark Knight Rises'. 

• The title stands out with the colour and the type of font that is used is unique. The colour of the font is red and it immediately can signify that this magazine is a horror magazine. 

• The date and magazine and website for the magazine is located under the title. 

• The main image of this magazine is the antagonist. She is the first thing that immediately pops out at us with her 'Black' eye and the way that she is posed, because she is hiding some of her face there is a bit of mystery behind her character. 

• The strapline above the title informs the audience that there is a giant poster available inside the magazine. 

• The cover lines are all placed in red fonts that are easy to see, they pop out to the audience but it doesn't distract the attention from the main. 

• The barcode and QR code placed in the bottom right hand corner and also how much magazine costs. 

• The title of the film that is being 'promoted' also catches the eye of the audience because it pops out with the type of font that has been used with it. 

• The film reek at the bottom of the page features backstage moments of the trailer. 

Horror Trailer.

• The film title for this trailer was shown right at the very end after all the intense scenes. Also the font of the trailer is not the same that was used as the inspiration poster, we can tell that a child is involved in this film because the font is written the way a child writes. 

• The colour scheme of the trailer matches the colour scheme throughout the whole thing with an eerie blue to let the audience know what kind of sub genre the film is.

• This trailer uses a mix of dialogue and non - dialogue with voice overs in it. Not that much speech is used, only a few words are spoken which helps build the suspense for the true terror of what is happening in the trailer. 

• The location where this film has been filmed is effective because it is a secluded area that looks like the middle of nowhere and the trees add to the effect because they look dark as they forge a shadow over the house in this first shot. 

• Throughout the trailer there are various camera shots that are used in different ways to create suspense. For example; close ups were used and it captures the actors facial expressions very clearly, a long shot of the creepy woods that shows us that it is secluded from any civilisation and various close ups when the 'Victim' puts the tape in the vcr. 

• The production company that made the films logo flashed onto the screen after a few shots. 

• We don't see the full antagonist until the end of the trailer when she climbs out the TV. This is effective because we don't see her kill anyone but it brings fear that she out there and there's no stopping her.

• Just like 'The Ring' trailer, our title of our film also previewed at the end and the font doesn't match the font that we have on the poster or magazine. 

•  The first shot of our trailer was the house in which we filmed our trailer in. The colour scheme is continuous throughout the trailer, with an eerie look of greyish blue.

• In our trailer nobody speaks at all but when the texts come on there is a bit of sound to help build the suspense of what is happening in the trailer itself, it was effective because not much of the storyline is given away by the speech. This means that the audience would watch it to find out the storyline and what is going on. Also when the antagonist appears the music speeds up to show that she is trouble.

• We see in this trailer that there is various scenes in a house and also in a forest location. The woods look secluded and away from civilisation and also the house there is no sign that there is a village or anything around it.

• The logo of the company that produced this film placed the logo right at the beginning of the trailer indicating that it is copyright.

• In this trailer we don't see the antagonist until near the middle of the trailer, this is effective because it shows that there is an evil spirit lurking around in the woods. 

• There are various effective camera shots used in this trailer, for example; the long shot of the antagonist sitting in the bushes, this gives the audience the creepy feel as though she's always watching, there was also a close up of one of the actors when they started to cry, this is powerful because it can make the audience feel sorry for her as her emotions are reflected clearly from the close up. 

Themes 

The theme of the products are: A cold blue and white to represent a ghost. 

The magazine has a blended cold background with white writing.

The poster carries a cold blue background with a bit of white and the antagonist blended in with the background. 

The antagonists of the poster and the magazine cover both have coloured eyes to show that she is possessed and her head is always half hidden either by her hand or the way it is positioned downward. 

The trailer throughout demonstrates a whole colour scheme of eerie cold blue within the pictures and the antagonist wears a really white gown.  

Benefits Street

This essay is about a TV show that aired in 2014 called Benefits Street. It is a documentary about people who live in Britain and they live off benefits. The regulator for this Case study is OFCOM and it was on broadcast TV. The programme was aired after the watershed, so children couldn’t watch it, OFCOM had received 1,800 complaints after it aired.

A few social and political factors of this Case Study is that the show has crime and drugs, in one episode there was a man who was teaching the viewers how to shoplift. He was explaining how to dodge security cameras and take off security tags without doing any damage to the items. Also there as example of class divide because the participants in the show are also known as ‘Underclass’ or ‘Poor people’. The people in the show are being marginalised as they are treated insignificant because they don’t have jobs and they don’t do anything to contribute to society.

One debate this show brought up was that children under 18 were unprotected after the show aired and because of this they didn’t go to school and the adults didn’t leave their houses. So the school had to come and pick them up to ensure their safety, the community school then demanded that Channel 4 write them an apology for this but Channel said they hadn’t received a request for an apology. Also the public took to twitter to express their anger at the show, there were loads of death threats for example people posted “#benefitsstreet is annoying me massively. Go down with a gun and kill them.” The death threats were noticed eventually and a police investigation was launched.

Even though the public had complained about the show, OFCOM didn’t do anything about it, they go with the Anti-Discrimination act but class discrimination isn’t part of the protected discriminations so they didn’t feel the need to follow up the complaints. Some people were even tricked into taking part in the show which is unfair to them because they didn’t know what was happening.

An effect theory that could apply to this case study is the scape goat theory because the public expressed that they blame the people on benefits for the reason why the government were going to cut benefits. Also hegemony because we watch this show and have the dominant idea that because they don’t work then that it’s a bad thing. There is also Moral panic as well through twitter because it’s unregulated the public can speak freely and spread fear through their own words.

To conclude, I would use this case study because in this case study we see that OFCOM look as though they don’t really care about the fact that there is discrimination against class and they allowed the show to continue air anyway even though there were major issues in it. Also they didn’t protect children and vulnerable adults like they said they would. 

Woolwich Terrorist

This essay is about the attack in Woolwich that happened in 2013, which was when a dead British soldier was found beheaded and a black British man was holding a bloody meat cleaver and he had blood on his hands, it was evident that he had killed the man. The regulator for this Case Study was OFCOM and the event was sensationalised on broadcast TV. This was shown on Channel 4 before watershed, which means that children were able to see the footage being shot, it also had received 700-800 complaints because people found it was too graphic for children to view with the blood, the weapon and a dead body. The most that companies get for not following the regulations is a fine and sometimes their licence is revoked.

Some Social and political factors of this case study are, the footage was shot on a mobile phone, making it easier to upload to the internet straight away. This is an issue because that meant that anyone could view the footage. OFCOM couldn’t really regulate this because it was uploaded straight away and also they only protect what comes on the TV but not the web. Also the people who was involved in the terrorist attack was British born citizens which is worrying for the people who live in Britain as it shows that anyone could be potentially be a terrorist.

There are some arguments and debates about this case study. Even though the public complained about the footage being shown before the watershed, OFCOM had justified the brutality and said it was public interest, it was said that the content was editorially justified.

This event was sensationalised and thus created a stir in the public, which lead to moral panic, this is because the terrorist was from the British society originally and that made people aware that anyone among them could potentially be a danger to their daily lives. This spread fear throughout society because the public were scared that anyone that they knew could possibly harm or be a danger to them and their families. In a way some people have become desensitized because they weren’t shocked that another terrorist attack happened because they are used to seeing it in the news all the time.

The regulator in this Case study I don’t think was effective because they couldn’t really do anything as the footage was already uploaded on the internet, on YouTube making it easier for people including children to find it. When people did complain as it was shown on the TV the complaints were upheld and they supported it being shown on TV before the watershed.

In conclusion I would use this case study because it is an example of how OFCOM can’t always regulate certain things and also how they didn’t do their job to protect children and any vulnerable adults that may have been watching the incident also because they supported what was shown by justifying the brutality. 

Regulations Essay

How well does contemporary media regulation protect the public?

In this essay I will be comparing and analysing the BBFC, OFCOM and PEGI. I will be also looking to see if they do what they are meant to do, which is to protect the public from certain things that may be shown on TV, shown in film or content in games. I will also be using case studies in order to show how well they follow through on their claims. The BBFC regulates for films and they decide how each film is to rated. PEGI regulates games and they decide how the games should be rated. OFCOM regulates TV and Radio and they decide on the content that goes on TV and who sees it.

The BBFC stands for British Board of Film Classification, they were originally known as British Board of Film Censors. They were set up in 1912 in order to protect the audience from any unsuitable content that may be available for young viewers to watch. They use a set of guidelines they have in order to determine how they should rate the film, they have at least two examiners who use published guidelines. They want to gain higher standards of customer service by promising that they will give films age ratings appropriate for the film. The BBFC make sure to make their ratings clear in order to make sure that the parent or guardian can know what their child is looking at and if needed for them to restrict or cut any unsuitable content that their child may be able to view, this means that it is mainly the parents who decide what they want their child to watch.

The Human Centipede – This film contains nudity, bad language, some very graphic violence and even torture therefore the BBFC decided to rate it an 18. In order for this film to be shown in the UK some scenes had to be cut, but it was banned at first, the BBFC allowed the cut version only to be shown however in other countries they were able to see the whole film.

When young children are involved it is important that the BBFC is very strict in their ratings and age certificates. The James Bulger case in 1993 was basically when James Bulger was abducted, tortured and murdered when he was only 2 years of age it was said that the two boys who tortured the little boy had been influenced by what they watched in Child Play 3. 

OFCOM stands for Office of Communications and they were founded on 23^rd December 2003. Ofcom is a government- approved regulator for TV and Radio. Their main duties are to ensure that people who watch television and listen to the radio are protected from harmful or offensive material.

Hollyoaks – There was a scene in one of the episodes that aired in which a lead character was pushed under a train and got ran over by the train, this episode had been shown before the 9pm watershed on Channel 4 and so people had complained about this. Viewers were concerned that the theme of death through such violent means were inappropriate in a drama which appeals to children. Channel 4 would have been fined by worst.

PEGI stands for Pan European Game Information and they were founded in 2003 when they took over from the BBFC on rating games. They regulate video games and the whole company decides what is suitable for viewers. The viewers trust the company to make sure that they are rating the games correctly for the suitable ages and it won’t cause anyone any harm.

Grand Theft Auto 5 – This game has very realistic gameplay thus the reason it is an 18 and it is a very violent game with sexual content and children should not be playing it because they might copy what they see in the game and add it to real life so really it is the parents’ choice to decide if the game is suitable for their child to play it.

To conclude, I think that media regulations are very important and that they help to protect the public because they are still putting age ratings on games and giving films certificates for films. Although it is getting harder to protect children and vulnerable adults from certain things because now everyone has a technological device and anything that they may film they can upload it straight onto YouTube or Google, making it easier for children to find it. 

Essay of creativity

By Jada Ramsammy

In AS all the work was done individually and I had to do everything by myself and I found that easier. This is different in A2 because in A2 we have to work in groups and depend on each other in order to create our final product which is a horror trailer. This helped with my creativity because when I was by myself it was easier to work but the ideas I had were limited, whereas if you are in a group everyone can pitch an idea and have more ideas and you can build up the ideas and add more ideas to the project that you are working on. 

During my time in media I have managed to improve certain skills from when I transferred from AS to A2.

One example of this is in AS I did a magazine cover and I had to sort out the costume and props for my model to pose with for my magazine. Whilst being in AS I didn’t really have an idea of what costume my model should wear for my cover so I let her wear anything which didn’t really go with my theme of the magazine I was working with which was music. In A2 though I got an idea of how to direct the models and actors for my film and told them what to wear. From the experience I got from AS I knew how to suggest poses and direct my models so that they looked as though they fit the theme for my trailer, poster and magazine, which was horror.

Another example is working with a camera and doing certain angles. In AS I managed to learn about different camera angles for still images, his was so that I could use this knowledge for the types of shots I would use for my models in my magazine. I was able to learn about these quickly and maser them even quicker. In A2 my skills behind the camera were put to the test because I had to learn the different shots that there were whilst filming and try to mimic some of them. Using knowledge I had already gained from AS I managed to improve those skills and quickly picked up the skills of mastering the different shots for my horror trailer.

The genre dramatically changed whilst transferring from AS to A2. In AS I did a music magazine and I chose the type of genre of music, I did Pop, which was all about fun, vibrancy and it was very upbeat. I had neon colours for my magazine which suggests it was to attract the audience to make them feel happy and upbeat. However in A2 I did a horror trailer and that included dull colours which was all about feeling gloomy and creeped out. I used darker shades of blue, white and black which helped to add to the gloomy feeling of the magazine, poster and trailer.