Evaluation: Question 2

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and the ancillary texts?

In our main production we wanted to create an in depth understanding of the ‘true colours’/ reality of the dangers that come with working within the fire service industry. In recent months prior to our film, there was a lot of negative media towards the fire service due to the pays cuts, which resulted in the famous fire strikes. This then negative press lead to the general public have harsh and negative feelings/ emotions toward their local fire service. If our film were to be shown on Channel 4 as it was intended, it would raise the awareness of the job role of the fire fighter and the expectations of not only their seniors, but of themselves and their public. It would’ve also explained to the public the reasons as to why they initiated the strike, we found out in depth detail about the fire service while filming and wanted to express this to the public. The role of a fire fighter is not what the media anticipate it as (sitting around ‘wasting’ taxpayers money), but consists of high risks, danger and high levels of training, all on a day to day basis. I feel that our aims are reflected in both my own and the group’s media products: posters and radio trailer.
My poster reflects this as it is a simple shot of the fire engines lined up with a dark tint to reflect the dark side to the job role; towards the right hand of the page, there are 3 simple words ‘Find out more’, this indicated to the public that they don’t know much, if not anything at all about their local fire service and what they actually do for them and their community. I believe that the poster would be an effect advertising technique for our film as it highlights to the public that they actually don’t know much about their fire service; all they know is that they are there in case of a fire or the occasional car crash, and they are unaware of the lengths (constant training, community service, school tours ect) they, the fire fighters, go through to ensure that the public they are protecting are as safe as can be and that they are aware of the dangers and risks within their home.
The radio trailer we produced is also a sample of our creativity and would also be an effective selling point towards the advertising and intrigue of our film. By contrasting different sounds beneath the voices of the narrator and the fire fighters we were able to create a sense of tension within the radio trailer, to excite and intrigue the audience. This would then create curiosity within the audience and intrigue them into watching it as they would get the impression from the radio trailer that they need to find out. We also added a quote in from an interview with Nigel Bailey (Crew Manager), when he started in the force, on the job, a few week into it and he had to and his crew had to rescue dead bodies from a collapsed building, how he felt ect, this would help the audience empathise and connect with characters, realising that their job is difficult, especially when dealing with death and destruction like they do on a day to day basis.
In comparison to real advertising products, such as radio advertisement for the 5th series of Doctor Who on BBC channels, which also use a variety of sound that intrigue and excite the audience. From the beginning of the trailer, it engages the audience and captures their attention with the backing track of the trailer, while playing extracts from the included episodes to offer the audience a ‘taster’ of what is to come, if they were to tune into the programme. It is effective as it gives a snippet of the series and leaves the rest up to the audiences imagination for them to ‘fill in the blanks’ and conjure up some wild and whacky stories, making them tune in to see if their predictions are correct, this is evidence and backs up Richard Dyers theory of entertainment and the hypodermic theory by injecting an idea into the audience. The use of the different sounds within the trailer effects the audience due to the tension created from collaborating certain sounds and tones, create an uneasy atmosphere as well as empathy with the characters involved in the sequence/ trailer that the audience can relate to in one way or another. We tried to recreate this effect in our trailer: we tried allow the audience to empathise with the characters while at the same time a feeling of uneasiness due to their lack of knowledge and understanding of the subject in question, in this case the fire service.
Although, unlike the Doctor Who trailer, we have not included background music in our radio trailer. It would have been applicable or beneficial for our production/ radio trailer as it would have over ridden the sound of the characters voices within the trailer, therefore completely defacing the point as to which we were trying to get across to our listening audience.
The documentary poster about Michael Jackson’s last tour is quite truly, in my opinion, iconic. I believe this because in the centre of it is Michael in one of his iconic, signature poses, bursting with colour and light. This reflects Michael and his life within the music business. Like my poster, this also is very simple with 3 large words, in the complete focus of the poster ‘This is it’, referring to his death and the enjoyment he got out of everything he involved during his life. This relates to our film because, on some level they are both about death: the death of Michael, and the death of the victims the fire fighters attempt to rescue, although they are neither centred on the subject. They are both upbeat and enlightening but with an undercut of a dark side within.