Research and Planning essay.

Conventions are seen as rules to follow therefore the conventions we have learnt in as to a2 are seen as the rules to follow when making our media products. It is seen that we can either deliberately or unconsciously break these rules. In As I unconsciously broke them, this is due to the last year I had a lack of understanding on what the conventions of a rock genre was and even though I did understand why certain conventions where there I continued to ignore that and create an unrealistic rock magazine, this may also be the product of not doing enough research and planning and not understand what I did research. On the other hand due to four weeks prior to the summer before A2 I learnt about the conventions of horror in a deeper aspect and this allowed me to shape a realistic trailer that didn’t break the conventions. I found A2 easier to get the hang off because I was my own target audience. As I was fond of horrors, I knew what I liked to watch and how to make my own target audience on the edge of their seat. In my AS year, a lot of my research and planning was done from popular rock magazines like Kerrang and NME. I focused on conventions of the magazine so I knew the sort of things I needed to focus on putting in my own rock magazine. For example the dominant image of the majority of the rock magazines were a main focus of a single person as a mid-shot that show the costume and props they are wearing. This helped me identify that I needed to focus my shots as a mid-shot focus on a single person. On the other hand when it came to actually taking the shots I realised that I was swaying from the conventional shots that I was supposed to have taken and that was downfall of my magazine. My shots were not as strong as they should have been and therefore brought my final product grade down. When it came to audience research for my rock magazine I was very lazy. I understood that I needed to create a questionnaire to extend my planning before I started creating my own product. However through evaluation now I realise that I didn’t find and ask the right people in order to get valuable results to follow the correct rock conventions. In my A2 year, my research and planning has improved and developed dramatically. The fact that this year is group, it has enabled me to become more motivated and positive in order to achieve the best grade for my team. Due to the fact that we learnt about horrors a month before summer, I feel it benefited my summer trailer majorly. This is because I knew there was certain conventions that I had to follow in order to make it an affective attempt of a good summer trailer. Through this month of deep research before summer, I found out that a lot of different aspects of horror have a deeper meaning that I originally thought. Especially as a lover of horrors I found it very creative the way horrors are analysed and deeply thought about before actually being filmed. For example instead of a dagger just being a weapon against a protagonist, it is seen as a phallic object sexually abusing the protagonist, normally connoting male power domination over women. I found the research I found out so interesting, it allowed me to become more creative and clever when it came to planning my own summer trailer. I think interest was what I was missing in my AS year the most, I didn’t find myself interested in music magazines, especially rock as the genre. From my planning and research I understood fully all the different aspects and conventions of horrors and now know how I can attempt to interpret them in my own trailer. From AS to A2 I feel my research and planning has improved majorly. In A2 my research and planning has been a lot more successful, I understand the need to do all of that work before I go on and create the final product in this case a media trailer. I feel because my research and planning wasn’t done as in-depth as it should have been, it affected my first year majorly and led me to be less creative and a lower grade. On the other hand in A2 I feel research and planning has really affected my work in a positive aspect and made me more prepared for making my final product. If I was to go back into my AS year I would defiantly make sure I’m more focused on creating more reliable research and planning that I know will affect my work in a positive manner and provide me a higher grade. This year I have been able to relate a lot easier to my audience and their needs and this has made my work better. Another thing that I have developed since last year was becoming more aware of not breaking the conventions of a horror film, this helped me to remain focused and allow my work to be conventional of that type of film genre. Overall I feel I have developed as a post-modern media producer in my generation today. For example I make sure I get as creative I can with the technology that I have to use. This helps improve my work and keeps me as a post-modern media producer. In this generation pretty much anything is seen as creative however it is difficult to make it original because everything has already been done, because of this I make sure I am always as creative as I can possible think of because if I don’t try to do that then my work will be boring. In conclusion over the last two years my work has developed sufficiently and effectively with the generation we are in and my research and planning has developed alongside it. This year has really opened my eyes to how helpful research and planning is and how it helps me to become more creative then I was in AS.