1. A2 MEDIA STUDIES
ADVANCED PORTFOLIO
RESEARCH & PLANNING
CENTRE NO: 11049
ST FRANCIS XAVIER COLLEGE

2. My name is: Michael Makinde
Candidate No:1413

3. My main portfolio project is:
A Film Trailer
with 2 ancillary projects:
Film Magazine Cover
Film Poster

4. The genre(s) of my main project is:
• Urban Horror
• The title is ‘Retribution’
• The target audience are Teenagers 18 -19 from
the urban background

5. So I have researched as follows:
• Model 1 • Model 2

6. What I learned from this was…..
• I learnt about the speed of • On this one I learnt more about
trailers especially of this genre the mise en scene of films from
(horror)as it would need to have the genre of horror and what
an effect on the audience. I also iconic elements can represent
learnt about the narrative story’s the genre, especially things that
or plots that these films have and go on at night time. What I also
how it is used to persuade the gained from this was the sounds
target audience in a film trailer. used in this and how selective
The trailer also follows a sounds are often used to
narrative structure. This film reinforce the feelings onto the
taught me about the villains audience such as crashes and
which are used in this genre and bangs. Also common conventions
how they have an effect on the of horror movies which I found
rest of the characters in the film out through research such as
as well as the audience doors opening supernaturally or
people appearing from nowhere
etc.

7. For my main project….
• the target audience are teenagers 18-19:
• I believe that teenagers are a main audience for horror films
as they are the most likeliest generation to be attracted to
the fright and excitement of horror films and as they are the
most social they can watch it with many others because
people don’t really watch horror films by themselves. I also
chose this because this is the age where people would go to
the cinema with their girlfriend or partner and use the film
as a way of getting closer to their partner. Also I used the
sub genre of urban horror as a way of appealing to my
audience even more.

8. Target Audience
• Their characteristics
are:
• Young
• Rebels
• Sociable
• Excited
• Friendly
• Rude

9. What I learned from audience feedback about planning
my main task
From audience feedback about planning my main task I learnt a lot. One thing
I learnt was that in a trailer people want to see something that makes them
jump out a chair or something that will leave a memory in their head. So
basically they said that even if I follow all the common conventions of a horror
movie with some elements of urban in it, it wouldn’t mean a thing if I didn’t
make it as effective unto the audience by changing their mood or making
them feel a certain way. Also audience feedback said that my sound shouldn’t
be secondary when making the final product but I should treat them all as if
they were on the same level because sound could have a bigger effect or
even same effect on the audience rather than just imagery.

10. Here are 4 original photographs for the
newspaper or storyboard……

11. I modified each photograph; here is the
original next to the final version:
• Raw 1 • Final 1
• I changed the photograph by adding a more tint
affect to it and a more darker mood so I was able to
have a more effect on my audience due to the genre
of it

12. And the second one:
• Raw 2 • Final 2
• Like the previous picture I tinted it again so I would
be able to have more of an effect on the target
audience through my genre

13. And the third one:
• Raw 3 • Final 3
• Like the previous images I tinted this picture again so
I would be able to have a more effective horror film
trailer

14. And the last one:
• Raw 4 • Final 4
• I again tinted the image to darken the mood of the
scenery in order to have an effect on my audience

15. What I learned from audience feedback
about my main task
For my main task I learnt from audience feedback about things such as the
speed of my trailer which I was already aware of but for some reason I did not
incorporate it into my trailer. I also learnt that the narrative storyline was not clear
to everybody as some people would get it but it probably takes more than
common sense to get it or you would probably have to watch it more than once
or twice to get the storyline which is not good for a film trailer as the audience
should want to watch it from the get –go but if they don’t get it they wont be
attracted. Another thing I learnt from audience feedback is that even though I’ve
got a variety of shots and shot sizes it is sometimes better to keep the cats to a
minimum as the audience can easily get very confused as they are seeing so
many people within a minute.

16. Professional Model 1 for Ancillary 1
From this model I have learnt about
how the mise en scene of a magazine
cover is important as it suggests the
scenery of the film even though it
might not feature in the film. For
example the mise en scene of this
magazine cover just represents the
storyline and will suggest that film
may not be set in the dark but has a
darkened mood to it or a cold mood
which is represented by the snow. I
have also learnt that if the main image
contains something then we can easily
identify what type of person or
character they are

17. Professional Model 2 for Ancillary 1
In this model I have learnt about the
main images or should I say
characters. The main images have
an effect on the actual magazine as
they can tell the audience a little bit
about what will go on in the film.
For example in the model on the
left you can tell there is conflict
between some of the characters
without even having to watch the
trailer or anything so I learnt that
even from a still image you can tell
a lot about a film.

18. This is my ancillary task 1
This appeals to my target audience
through the use of the images used
as the characters in the images can
be identified with the audience and
therefore appeal to them more.
What can also appeal to my target
audience is the fact that there is
something free inside and this is
used as an incentive for my
audience to read the magazine. A
lot of young people or teenagers
nowadays like doing things or
getting things that are free as a lot
of things nowadays you have to pay
for.

19. This is how key concepts link main task and
ancillary task 1
• Narrative: The revenge narrative is visible throughout my products as the
facial expressions of characters who appear in my products show the
anger within them like they are after someone.
• Genre: Being able to identify my genre in all 3 products is easy as all
contain props or images which are heavily related to the genre such as a
knife, a mask, a killing etc.

20. What I learned from audience feedback
about ancillary task 1
From audience feedback from my magazine I learnt that images and text have a
huge impact on the target audience. Also that a full or packed magazine cover
is better than none.

21. Professional Model 1 for Ancillary 2
Here in this model I learnt about the
mise en scene of the film poster and
how there doesn’t need to be a huge
amount of pictures to attract the
audience depending on the
audience. It seems as though this
poster used the genre to attract the
audience as seeing the main image
on the poster is enough to enforce
the horror genre. Also the mise en
scene suggests that the location is
going to appear in the film and is
going to be a central point which is
why the main figure is stood in the
middle.

22. Professional Model 2 for Ancillary 2
• I have learnt that institutions or films
would try to represent their target
audience as much as possible on a
film poster through the use of
costume, props, facial expressions.
They also try to represent the genre
by colours used and the mise en
scene of the poster also.

23. This is my ancillary project 2
This film poster appeals to my target audience through the use of the images as
they would be able to identify with them. Also the mise en scene of the poster
where you can see a block behind suggests the urban part of my sub genre.

24. This is how key concepts link main task,
ancillary tasks 1 and 2
• Narrative: The revenge narrative is visible throughout my products as the
facial expressions of characters who appear in my products show the
anger within them like they are after someone.
• Genre: Being able to identify my genre in all 3 products is easy as all
contain props or images which are heavily related to the genre such as a
knife, a mask, a killing etc.

25. What I learned from audience feedback
about ancillary task 2
From the audience feedback of this part of the ancillary product I learnt that
colours contributes a lot more to a product as it gives the audience a sense of
what it represents. For example a red background with the appropriate images
will give the audience a sense of danger.

26. Changes made in the re-draft of main task
Change I made when redrafting my main task were things such as the
title sequence. Audience feedback caused me to change the title
sequences as they were not as effective as they could have been. I did
this by making my title sequence more animated and representing my
genre more through it.
I also sped up the shots by shortening the clips even though it was still
not as fast enough as professional trailers.

27. Changes made in the re-draft of ancillary
task 1
In the magazine I changed the background colour of the magazine as I
wanted to represent my genre more. I changed it from orange to blue to
black which I thought was a good colour as it can connote darkness or
evilness.
I also changed my main image as my first brief audience feedback said
that the original image which I had originally didn’t represent my genre as
much as it could have. It also wasn’t as effective as it wouldn’t draw my
target audience’s attention to the front cover whereas the second image
had more effect.
The name of the magazine was also
something that I had changed but this was
due to the fact that someone else had
already named the magazine the same as
mine therefore due to copyright issues I
changed it

28. Changes made in the re-draft of ancillary
task 2
I changed the colour of the background of my poster from pink to blue. I
originally chose the colour pink as a way of following the stereotype of
women being weak and allowing pink to be a connotation of this.
However I used blue to be able to represent the horror of my film. As
someone being blue in the face is associated with death so I wanted to
relate this.
I also changed most of the images as the images I originally used didn’t
work as much in targeting my audience. So I decided to use more
images which could add more horror and more enigma to the promotion
of the film.
I changed the institution which stated the positive quote about my film so
that it could relate more to my target audience.

29. How my 3 products work together to
appeal to target audience
• Target audience:
My three products work together to appeal to my target audience as they all use
representations of my target audience in order to appeal to them more. As it was
an urban horror I tried to make my audience respond in away that interests them
but also shocks them at the same time. I targeted the audience of 18-19 from the
urban background as their reception to media text’s would be similar.
• Generic characteristics:
All my three products show weapons which is often used in the urban films and
horror films, a knife is an important pro that is used and links all 3 of my products
together. Also there are images of females being victimised which follows the
conventions of women being weak.
• Representational issues (gender, age, etc):
My three products all represent the audience of 18-19 teenagers in a way that
allows them to identify themselves within the text.

30. Links back to evaluation and blog
• http://a2dapz.blogspot.co.uk/