Post 24: Evaluation Questions & Tasks Question 4

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Below is the link to my answer which I answered using prezi as it shows the use of a different kind of media technology. It also makes it easier to understand and see what I'm talking about.

 

Post 24: Evaluation Questions & Tasks Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I carried out some audience questionnaires. I first showed members of our target audience (of various ages) the finished film then asked them a variety of questions.

1. What was your initial reaction to the film?
2. What do you think of the use of music?
          - Montages
          - Background noise
          - Opening sequence
3. What did you think about the use of montages?
4. How did you react to this topic?
5. Did you find the characters believable?
         - Did you believe the twist at the end?
6. How effective do you think the ending is?
7. Who do you think the target audience would be?
8. What improvements would you like to see?

Feedback 1
Feedback 2

As well as getting people to watch the film and then answer the questions there and then we decided to put what we had half way through the editing stage on to YouTube and then put a link on Facebook. this would mean that we could get more people to see it and feedback from different kinds of audiences. Unfortunately because we put it on to Katie's Facebook and she isn't 18 yet the link to her wall wont work so I have print screened the post and comments.

 Here is a close up of the comments:

After hearing the feedback of the audience’s views after watching our opening sequence we now have a better understanding of what they thought and ideas on how we could improve it if we were to do it again. I think that asking for feedback (especially from Dudi Appleton)throughout the process  of making producing the film helped us focus on what the target audience would want. I think that our end storyline and characters are believable and will make audiences think about the issues raised in the film and how easily grooming can go unnoticed. If I was going to make the film again I would make sure more attention was paid to the lighting and sound because in certain scenes the lack of attention has caused some continuity problems. Another point that was brought up by the audience feedback was the quality of the shots, such as the mobile and email montage. I agree with the feedback and would have liked them to be more focused and steady so they were easier to read. Overall the majority of the feedback from all the clips was positive with only a few points about the sound lighting that could be improved upon.

Post 24: Evaluation Questions & Tasks Question 2

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

 

These screen shots from our film show both of the main characters by themselves. think that this is an important point as we produced a poster featuring a face made up of a man and woman that was based around the looks of both Sammie and Connor. By having both sexes merging together to make once face in the poster suggests that both the male and female- both Alan and Sophie-are of equal importance in the film.  

 

I find the poster to work effectively with the film as it entices the audience to come and find out more about the main characters, it also hints at the importance of both characters within the film.

The photo is the dominate feature of the review and because it features both main characters (like the poster featured both sexes) and because it takes up such a large amount of space in the review- it is the first thing our audience see- I think that the review suggests that not only does something happen between the characters but that they are, once again, of equal importance.

Overall I believe the combination of our main product, the film and ancillary texts were very effective and would grab an audience’s interest and attention. Behind Blue Eyes - which the audience would recognise and remember due to the title appearing in large and bold text throughout every piece of work, I think has been advertised well through the use of different media which has been created to suit our target audience. If I was to make any changes it would be to incorporate our actors into the poster, however I believe the rest of the information and projects work well together.

Post 24: Evaluation Questions & Tasks Question 1

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

 

Short film

1. The production companies name is featured in the opening credits, this is conventional as in real media products they often have the production companies name at the beginning of the film.
2. This shot shows the main character, Sophie, interacting with her best friend; this is conventional as it shows the audience the main character, their importance and also how they act towards others.
3. This shot shows an example of one of the many fades within our short film; this is conventional in short films as fades are used to help move from one scene to the other.
4. This shot shows the main character interacting with the antagonist, this is conventional as in real media products they establish the bad guy and how the protagonist interacts with them.
5. This shot shows the relationship between the protagonist and antagonist develop during a montage, this allows the audience to see the time scale of the grooming. This is not conventional in most films as you don't often have such a strong storyline with the main character being seduced by the villain.
6. Shows the same as number 5.
7. This shot shows how close Sophie and Alan's relationship is through the use of body language. This is conventional as body language helps to make the dialogue more realistic as well as suggest something because of how close they are.
8. This shot shows a close up of the characters movements, this is conventional in films as they often have cutaways to point out key points within the film.

9. Once again a close up showing the characters movements suggesting the relationship between the main actors. As well as pointing out the key points within the film.
10. This shot features the main character Alan, it is a medium close up to show his facial expression. This is conventional as medium close ups are often used in films for the audience to see the characters reaction.
11. A calm quiet medium shot that gets interrupted by a critical turning point in the film. Alan proceeds to get arrested which is the build-up to the end scene. This is conventional as there are usually large build ups in real media products to create tension for the audience.
12. Shows the same as number 11 however is a closer shot.

13. This shot reveals the policeman waiting for Alan outside his door. This shot is conventional as films often introduce new characters to the audience through a different shot not always including the main character.
14. A close up of Alan being handcuffed, this is a key shot to the audience as it shows the use of an important prop. This is conventional as real media products cut away to a close up of an important subject matter.
15. Medium close up of Alan being put into the police car and being escorted to the station, this is conventional as the police car helps make the police more realistic for the audience which often happens in films as dramas often try to stay as true to the truth as possible.
16. The final shot is of Alan being interviewed; this is where we leave the film on a cliff hanger which is conventional in real media products as it leaves the audience confused, interested and wanting more.

Poster

1.   This shows a bold, dominating title of the film. This is a convention seen in many other real media products as when advertising one of the first things distributors want the audience to see is the name of what they are trying to promote.

2.   This slogan is enticing and makes the audience think about the film a lot more. Again this is a convention of real media products as many films have small slogans on their posters.
3.   This is the additional information such as the production company and who else is involved. For the third time this is another real media product convention as it is nearly always seen at the bottom of most film posters.

Review

1. Bold, eye catching title of the film.

2. Large pictures taken from the film of the main characters.

3. Tag line to entice the reader and make them wonder what the film is about.

4. Basic information about the film.

5. An overall verdict on whether the film is worth seeing or not.

6. Description of what is happening in the picture.

7. The production company which is unconventional to have in a review unless it with the information about the film.

Post 23: Final Products

In this post is my groups final short film, the postcard we created and the film review of our film that I created.

Here is the link to our film Behind Blue Eyes:

 

 

 

Here is the poster for our film.

 Here is my film review in the style of Empire Magazine:

 

 

The review says:

'This unexpected film about friendship and the mistrust of those closest to you, demonstrates just how easily a child can fall through the cracks.

Capturing the audience’s attention from the opening titles it tells the story of Sophie, played by up and coming British talent Sammie Lovell, and her struggle to improve her maths. With twist and turns delicately placed throughout the plot you are always left guessing.

Similarly to the American movie ‘Trust’ the film circulates around the issues of sexual abuse and the mistrust of those closest to the main protagonist.  Trust’s writers Rob Festinger rgand Andy Bellin however steered their film down the more commercial  route of meeting someone online whereas Behind Blue Eyes uses a lesser talked about way of meeting an abuser by him already being situated in the girls life.

Told from the point of view of the assumed abuser Alan Thorne, played by another new British talent Connor Janes, the writer takes you on an emotional rollercoaster, with the audience never quite sure if he’s done what he’s being accused of. Sarah Roberts, although new to our screens, doesn’t let her co-stars talents overshadow her own with her outstanding portrayal of a fierce friend, loving daughter and helpless victim.'

Post 22: Post-Production Report

After we had finished filming our next step was to capture all of our footage onto the editing suite and start creating a rough cut of our film. The editing software that we used was Adobe Premiere Pro as that’s the only one available at school. Although we worked as a team to do the editing Katie-Mai took control and was the main person in charge of getting the editing done.

By creating a rough cut we were able to get a first look at what our film would end up like. To do this we had to go through all the shots and footage we had and chose which shots worked best and which angles gave the best view of the action.

 

Once we had a rough cut we then went back over the footage and cut out and errors and deleted a few shots that didn’t work or didn’t look right. We tried to make sure there were no continuity errors but as you can see from the pictures below some continuity errors were impossible to fix so late in the production of our film.

 

After we were sure we had created the desired footage we went through and checked the sound levels to make sure the footage ran smoothly. Once we were satisfied with what we had we added music and the voice over to help create the atmosphere and to give our film a more professional finish, this was mainly over the montages and in the background of the office scene.

Once this was complete we focused on the transition of the shots and proceeded to add in fades where we thought would help the pace of the film , this can be seen in the photo below. Once we had added effects and backing tracks our short film was complete, my group and I are happy with the outcome, however, I wish we had spotted certain continuity errors whilst we were originally filming and had the chance to fix the error - Alan and Sophie in the living room. 

Post 21: Production Report

Whilst filming my group and I kept a record the filming process and any alterations made.