Evaluation - Question 7

Evaluation Question 7

In the progression from the Preliminary Task to the full product we have learned:

•        Working outdoors, with natural light opposed to prosthetic light made the colouring of the clips harder as it meant we had to adjust each and every clip depending on different levels of lighting.

•       The difficulty of shooting match-on-action shots on location. Here we have two match-on-action shots from the task, difference being the time taken between shots and distance travelled to film each shot Here in the preliminary task it took us a matter of seconds to relocate the camera and get the angle we wanted. Whereas in the final product below, the time taken to relocate the camera for a different angle and shot took much longer. 

Overall the greatest thing we believe we have learnt is that time management is very important to creating a successful product. We also found that the process of filming and editing takes considerably longer than, we may first have, anticipated.

Evaluation - Question 6

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation - Question 5

In relation to the playability of our product, we believe that is attracts and addresses our target audience in a number of ways.
Firstly, our product is centred around teenage ways of life, and explores the taboo subject of teenage suicide. This would draw in our audience because this subject matter is often potrayed in the media as a teenage trait, and many young people would relate to how our female protagonist is feeling.
The gender or our target audience is female, and to rienforce this we made sure that the first character you see is a girl, that fits the criteria of being vulnerable, depressed and in love. By shooting a couple of college scenes, it also rienforces the idea that our target audience are students, that are well educated and perhaps in the middle class social status bracket. Furthermore, the male protagonist voice over is distinctively a British accent, which also emphasises the more educated side to teenage life, and how our film represents real characters with real emotion.
In many coming of age films, and teenage films in general there is a stereotypical 'cool guy' male that girls have a crush on. We have made Alex (the male protagonist) to fit that stereotype, and has two females that want him throughout the film. This would draw in female attraction as we try to make the viewers want him to be with the female protagonist, and leave behind his 'cool' group that bully her.
We believe that our media product also has an educational aspect to it, and that it could teach young people about morals and anti-bullying. This would attract a younger audience that are on a learning curve, and are perhaps stuck in the same situation through school/college.
The feedback from peers we recieved indicated that they felt that our opening sequence attracted their attention, and that they wanted to watch the full film! I think we have succesfully addressed our target audience, and that all of our research and understanding about how we are going to address them definitely paid off.

Evaluation - Question 4

After doing some research into audiences and demographic profiles, we decided that the target audience for our product would be of the younger variety, more specifically in their teenage years. Being in this age category ourselves, this proved to be a straight forward task, as we were creating material that would potentially be viewed by ourselves.
 In the early stages of our project, we did a section on the blog that shows the ideal demographic profile of a member of our target audience. This is what we came up with:

Age: 16-25

Gender: Female

Social status: Comes from a working class back round, aims to achieve highly through education and better own situation.

Ethnic back round: Mainly white, british, but may appeal to other ethnic groups.

Education: A full time student at college/university.

Subjects likely to be taking: Psychology, media, sociology, art. A mixture of academic and creative subjects.

Occupation: Part time work in a retail store.

General interests: Being with friends, concerts, being with the boyfriend, engaging in many media products such as face book and twitter, reading books centred around romance/thrillers. Likes to be different and not follow a crowd.
Musical taste: Non mainstream, quirky style of rock/acoustic based music.
Movies likely to have seen: This is England, Fish Tank, Submarine, Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging, Harry Potter franchise.
Relationship status: In a steady relationship, likely to take her boyfriend/partner along with her to see the movie.
Reasons for consumption: To explore certain ideas that they haven't experienced before, and to form on screen relationships with characters. They consume media in a light hearted way, for entertainment purposes and to be sociable, and up to date with media.

 The genre of our media product is coming of age, romance and drama. The storyline involves a teenage boy discovering himself and the world around him, and falling in love with a girl who doesnt 'fit in' with the crowd. His goal is to stop her from ending her life come the end of the film. The interest of this kind of media product would be with teenagers that perhaps haven't found themselves yet, but just go along with a crowd to feel that they fit in.

Evaluation - Question 3

Instutions for Distribution on Prezi

Evaluation - Question 2

    Our central protagonist, a typical teenage female, is victimised throughout the opening sequence by a group of individuals. This act alone proves her lowly respected status and position within their ‘popular’ society. Portraying a young female as the main character appears to be rather popular within this particular industry and enabled us to reinforce vulnerability upon her. We also emphasised isolation and independence within youth culture and explored various emotions.  

     Teenagers are the main focus of our media product. We hope that the main character will be an individual in which the target audience can relate to and construct emotion for. This particular female is defenceless, fragile and inferior which is in contrast to the general perception the public already have of teenagers. However, this prejudiced image is represented by the other characters that victimise and torment the vulnerable female lead.

      We decided that using costumes that reflect the average teenager; such as leggings, a jumper and ‘gilet’ would be more effective and realistic than designing specific outfits. All of the characters included in our footage are filmed wearing average, casual clothing in which they would on a daily basis. This concept also reinforces the realism of our media product and ensures that our target audience feels a close relation to the characters.

  ‘Fish Tank’ portrays the main character, Mia, in a completely different way to that of our film. This aggressive teenage girl has been thrown out of school and finds it difficult to engage in any sophisticated conversation. Her clothes are stereotypically ‘chavy’ and her language is extremely poor. The female in our film is vulnerable and reserved. She is repeatedly victimised and has the ability to win over the viewer’s hearts.

  Despite the clear differences between the two characters, they are both alienated from society and engage in threatening conflict with peers. Each of the protagonists show clear connections between their relationships and how their home-lives have affected them and display both physical and emotional aspects of growth. They portray two opposite stereotypes and help to reinforce absolute realism into each film.

Evaluation - Question 1

Media evaluation question one

Construction - Final

Preliminary - Continuity Exercise By Laura Bebber And Alex Smith

This is the prelimiary sequence in which Alex and I created to show aspects of continuity and various shot types. I feel that the match-on-action flows extremely well and that we learnt a lot from the process. The shot-reverse-shots during the exchange of dialogue are effective and help to improve the overall professionalism.
In order to improve on the overall construction, I feel that we could have cropped the scene at 0:21 as you can hear laughing in the background. Despite this, the effort we put into the filming shows as we achieved good match on action fluency. We also incorporated plenty of dialogue and a brief story line into the task. We thought carefully about each small aspect such as which foot Alex was stepping onto to increase the validity. The editing went well as we filmed each stage in chronological order. This made the process easier and allowed us to finish the project within a short space of time.

Diary Entry For Filming - Alex Smith

DAY THREE


Bright and early! Me and Sabrina met in town to film the bench shots, this proved somewhat difficult. We couldn't use a tripod, as it would draw too much attention to the general public being some of the shot. We also needed to film long enough so that when the film was sped up there was enough material, this meant waiting around for a long time when filming hoping we were filming some good quality shots!
We tried balancing the camera in a handbag, but ended up shooting the floor and in the end resulted in Sabrina holding the camera by her side and filming without the use of the digital viewfinder. In the end we just had to go with what we had filmed and edit accordingly and as professionally as possible.

Today we also requested the help of our fellow peers, who we used to act some extra characters. After college we headed to an alleyway close by and filmed:

1) Mid Shot – Bullies ‘high fiving’.

2)   Mid Shot – Bullies tormenting Female character.

3)   Close Up – Female character’s emotions.

4)    POV/Establishing Shot – Alleyway, where bullying is taking place.

5)   Wide Shot – Male character walking past alleyway.

6)   Mid Shot – Bullies tormenting Female character.7)   Over-the-shoulder-shot – Shows relapse of time in alleyway.

8)   Mid Shot – Female character leaving alleyway.

        Hardly any problems when filming just difficult providing a clear flow of what is going on, although Laura and Emily's laughing did slow the process of filming.

Diary Entry For Filming - Alex Smith

DAY TWO
Today we got on the bus to the town centre and walked to a remote seaside location. Due to the fact it was getting increasingly dark, again speed was of the essence. Shots required were:

1)   Wide Shot – Female Character Walking to suicide location. Provides a sense of texture and context.

2)   Mid Shot – Female character approaching sea wall stairs.

3)   Very Wide Shot – Female character walking up to the sea wall.

4)    Mid Shot – Female Character looking over sea wall.

5)   POV Shot – Female looking over sea wall edge.

6)   Over-the-shoulder-shot – Looking over the female characters shoulder at the landscape.

7)   POV Shot – Female character acknowledging the landscape.

8)   Low Angle Mid Close Up – Female character’s emotion.

9)   Wide Shot – Female character climbs up onto the sea wall. And jumps off.

10)   Wide Shot – Male character climbs up onto the wall (To be reversed)

11)  Mid Shot – Male character climbs down from sea wall.

12)  POV Shot – Male looking over sea wall edge. (To be reversed)

13)  Very Wide Shot – Male character walking up to the sea wall. (To be reversed)

14)  Mid Shot – Male character approaching sea wall stairs. (To be reversed)Wide Shot – Male Character Walking to suicide location. Provides a sense of texture and context. (To be reversed)

In the best interest of the technology and its value we made a make shift, neck strap for the camera so when filming the over the edge shots we didn't drop it! We managed to film all of the shots required and it took us about an hour and a half, Sabrina when filming for a shot, fell awkwardly on her ankle and she may have to go to A&E to get it checked out, but all in all a successful trip.

Diary Entry For Filming - Alex Smith

DAY ONE
Today we ventured out from college, got on the bus and travelled to a local housing estate. Here we had pre arranged the use of a relative's house to film some of the shots for our opening. Due to not wanting to outstay our welcome we had to be efficient in filming the necessary shots needed for our film these were:

   

1)   Establishing Shot – Housing Estate.

2)   Close Up – Match on action for Male character carrying bin and reaction shot to thinking about girl.

3)   Low Angle Shot - Male character carrying bin.

4) Mid Shot – Female character walking out of the house and slamming door. (To be reversed)   

Laura did most of the filming for the shots I was in and we all took the role of directing each other. Due to unfamiliarity with the location it took a while to get some of the angles for filming just right.

Later on in the afternoon we set about filming the college corridor scenes, requesting the help of our peers for extra characters. The shots included:

1) Mid Shot – College corridor, Female character gets up from the floor crying.

2)   Close Up – Male character reaction shot.

3)   Mid Shot – Bully character trips up Female character.

4)   Close Up – Bully character’s emotion/reaction.

5)   Mid Shot – Approach of Female character.

6)   Mid Shot – College conversation between Bully and Male character.

Hardly any technical hitches or problems , all in all a good day.

Rough Cut - Small Voice

Here is our rough cut opening, which we aim to improve by recieving and acting upon consumer feedback.





“I think the silence at the beginning lasts too long and the start of the music seems random. Otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed watching your film opening”

“Excellent effort, great use of camera angles and an interesting storyline. I want to watch more!”

“The sound needs to be muted in the scene where you are in the alley way as you can hear the wind and someone shouting”

“Sometimes the voice over and music overpowers one another so it’s difficult to hear what is being said, but the editing was very effective and had a great storyline too”

“I really like your opening, it looks very professional. Now all you need is to add titles and an ident” 


" I can tell you have put in a lot of effort. The only improvement I can think of is that you could start the music at the beginning of the sequence"

StoryBoard - Edited By Alex Smith, drawn and labelled by Sabrina Bell

Shot List - Alex Smith

1)   Wide Shot – Female Character Walking to suicide location. Provides a sense of texture and context.

2)   Mid Shot – Female character approaching sea wall stairs.

3)   Very Wide Shot – Female character walking up to the sea wall.

4)    Mid Shot – Female Character looking over sea wall.

5)   POV Shot – Female looking over sea wall edge.

6)   Over-the-shoulder-shot – Looking over the female characters shoulder at the landscape.

7)   POV Shot – Female character acknowledging the landscape.

8)   Low Angle Mid Close Up – Female character’s emotion.

9)   Wide Shot – Female character climbs up onto the sea wall. And jumps off.

10)   Wide Shot – Male character climbs up onto the wall (To be reversed)

11)  Mid Shot – Male character climbs down from sea wall.

12)  POV Shot – Male looking over sea wall edge. (To be reversed)

13)  Very Wide Shot – Male character walking up to the sea wall. (To be reversed)

14)  Mid Shot – Male character approaching sea wall stairs. (To be reversed)

15)  Wide Shot – Male Character Walking to suicide location. Provides a sense of texture and context. (To be reversed)

16)  Wide Shot – Male character sat on a bench in the town center, watching the world pass by.

17)  Mid Shot – Bullies ‘high fiving’.

18)  Mid Shot – Bullies tormenting Female character.

19)  Close Up – Female character’s emotions.

20)   POV/Establishing Shot – Alleyway, where bullying is taking place.

21)  Wide Shot – Male character walking past alleyway.

22)  Mid Shot – Bullies tormenting Female character.

23)  Over-the-shoulder-shot – Shows relapse of time in alleyway.

24)  Mid Shot – Female character leaving alleyway.

25)   Mid Shot – College corridor, Female character gets up from the floor crying.

26)  Close Up – Male character reaction shot.

27)  Mid Shot – Bully character trips up Female character.

28)  Close Up – Bully character’s emotion/reaction.

29)  Mid Shot – Approach of Female character.

30)  Mid Shot – College conversation between Bully and Male character.

31)  Establishing Shot – Housing Estate.

32)  Close Up – Match on action for Male character carrying bin and reaction shot to thinking about girl.

33)  Low Angle Shot - Male character carrying bin.

34)   Mid Shot – Female character walking out of the house and slamming door. (To be reversed)

35)  Close Up – Alarm clock ringing/flashing.

36)  Mid Shot – Male character wakes up and looks at alarm clock, realizes what may unfold through the day.

The Treatment For Our Film Opening - Alex Smith, Sabrina Bell, Laura Bebber

Treatment

Audience research - Alex Smith (Images) Laura Bebber & Sabrina Bell (Research)

Our stereotypical audience profile

Age: 16-25

Gender: Female

Social status: Comes from a working class back round, aims to achieve highly through education and better own situation.

Ethnic back round: Mainly white, british, but may appeal to other ethnic groups.

Education: A full time student at college/university.

Subjects likely to be taking: Psychology, media, sociology, art. A mixture of academic and creative subjects.

Occupation: Part time work in a retail store.

General interests: Being with friends, concerts, being with the boyfriend, engaging in many media products such as face book and twitter, reading books centred around romance/thrillers. Likes to be different and not follow a crowd.

Musical taste: Non mainstream, quirky style of rock/acoustic based music.

Movies likely to have seen: This is England, Fish Tank, Submarine, Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging, Harry Potter franchise.

Relationship status: In a steady relationship, likely to take her boyfriend/partner along with her to see the movie.

Reasons for consumption: To explore certain ideas that they haven't experienced before, and to form on screen relationships with characters. They consume media in a light hearted way, for entertainment purposes and to be sociable, and up to date with media.

By using a variety of elements from many diverse images of a character whom we assume to be the audience for our film , we have created the perfect demographic.

Research Into An Iconic Director - Alex Smith

Richard Ayoade on Prezi

Frame By Frame Opening Analysis (Alex Smith)

Frame by Frame Analysis - Dark Knight

The History of Our 'British/Coming of Age' Genre - Sabrina Bell & Alex Smith

British Golden Age

The British film industry had a golden age in the 1940s, led by the studios of j.Arther.Rank and Alexander korda. Many British actors such as: Kate Winslet,Julie walters and Sean Connery have achieved highly in the film industry.

There is often a debate on whether a film can be classed as being 'British', or not. Many films that include British actors, and British settings are often distributed by American Producers I.e The Harry Potter, and James Bond franchise. 

The British New Age

British films are often refered to as 'kitchen sink realism'. This extended from british films portraying a sense of realism, and gritty lives of working class citizens. This genre of film was introduces in the 1950's and early 1960's. Normally, kitchen sink films are based in working class suburbs of england, such as council estates. This genre became popular with other forms of media also such as plays, novels and art. Television soap operas such as Eastenders and Coronation street became very popular in portraying the raw lives of everyday people living in english towns. The term 'kitchen sink' became apparent after an expressionist artist John Bratby painted a picture of a kitchen sink. This sparked influence from other artists, that wanted to portray the banality of life through artistic means.

Coming of Age Films

The term coming of age refers to films that involve normally(but not necessarily) a male lead, that embarks on a life changing journey. They are usually a teenager that becomes more wise and mature towards the end, after going through self discovery, and learning about the world. Here are a few we've researched:

STAND BY ME (1986)

This film was released in 1986, and is about four boys that embark on a physical and emotional journey of discovery. Even though we are going to make a British based film, i believe that Stand By Me is an inspirational coming of age film that has been held as inspiration for other films.

FISH TANK (2009)

This film follows a working class teenage girl. It is a British film, set in the east london council estates. it relates to the British 'kitchen sink' genre because it is a raw,gritty story line that explores sad themes and ideas.

ANGUS THONGS AND PERFECT SNOGGING(2008)

This is another film that is under the 'coming of age' genre. This film explores a teenage girls discovery of herself, and demonstrates a typical girls life. Romance is very much a big part of this genre, and the protagonist female embarks on a quest to get the boy she likes.