Thursday, 3 February 2011
Evaluation
In what ways does you media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real products?
1. This screen shot is taken from the opening credits. We are challenging normal media products conventions here by having the protagonist writing out the names of the cast and crew. We drew inspiration from the film ‘Napoleon Dynamite’, their credits were spelled out using food and different objects. Having the main character write out the credits on a dance school application audition form also relates to the narrative and draws in the audience’s attention.
2. This screen shot shows the main character approaching her friends in a street. This follows normal conventions in media products by having relaxed costume and a common location, such drama media examples like this are soap operas like ‘Eastenders’. The protagonist though is shown with her hair still in a bun focusing on how wherever she goes, she is thinking about dance. The shot is from the protagonist’s POV but also shows the distance, emotionally and physically, between her and her friends.
3. This screen shot shows the main character practising her dancing. It’s a low angle shot giving her an aura of power, many people in the audience incapable of performing this move would be impressed by this. The shot also refers back to the title of our short film. What the protagonist is performing is a jeté - a ballet leap in which the weight of the dancer is transferred from one foot to the other - We decided on this title because the meaning behind the definition shows the main characters split decision on what she wants to do with her life. We are following a dance genre convention here because many films, such as ’Billy Elliot’ use this specific ballet move.
4. The screen shot shows the protagonist’s feet spinning as she practises her dancing. This shot started off as a rehearsal shot but we then added it in post production. We included this shot because not only does it give power to the protagonist’s dancing, it shows us just how many times dancers repeat their moves until they’re perfect. We are following the conventions of a real media product here because the film ‘Black Swan’, which is also a dance genre film, uses a similar shot and gave us our inspiration.
5. This screen shot shows the protagonist falling down after pushing herself to the limit from her practising. This shot is apart of a match on action sequence showing the main character fall. A stereotypical dance genre film will include a scene where their main character falls down while dancing creating a disequilibrium which will then correct itself later. We included this fall to create a more dramatic aspect to our narrative.
6. This screen shot shows the protagonist’s dancing silhouette at her audition in between the two judges who will decide her fate. This shot follows normal dance genre conventions, where the judges seem like villains but actually end up helping the protagonist achieve their dream such as the film ‘Step Up’. We wanted Faye to appear in between the two judges so the audience can see her audition from their POV.
7. This screen shot is a close up of the protagonist during her audition. We included this shot so the audience can get a more intimate look at the character and identify with her which is important within a Drama genre. We can also see how nervous the character is.
8. This screen shot is a medium shot showing the protagonist with her mother. A main feature in the Drama genre is realism so at this part in the narrative it will be effective on a teenage audience as they can identify with the protagonist as she has difficulties agreeing with her parents. This shot enables the audience to identify with Faye. The clothes Faye wears here also comments on the narrative. With her shirt saying the word ‘FREEDOM’, it shows the audience that freedom from her parents judgement is all wants.
Evaluation
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?
The combination of the main product and the ancillary tasks are both really promotionally effective and compliment each other nicely.
- With the first draft of the double page review, we had a screenshot from the actual short film but when the image turned out too unfocused and unprofessional looking we had a mini photo shoot with Gemma in her costume. We then had a large graphic to use as a basis of the poster and review. It's simple but effective, the light isn't too harsh and you can guess the genre of the short film from how Gemma is dressed in a leotard and how her hair is pulled back into a bun. We used the poster of 'Black Swan' as our main inspiration.
- With the review, as a basis and reference point, we decided to use Empire magazine as a template as if we were writing for them. Empire magazine is a well established, well known magazine within the film industry which offers intelligent reviews and insight to newly released films. We followed the conventions of a normal magazine article and film review. We've followed the typical graphology of having a large image of the main character, including a crosshead and having quotes. In the review, we've also followed traditional guidelines of writing a review by comparing Jeté to other films in its genre, discussing the narrative and talking about cast and crew.
- The central theme of Jeté is dancing and Faye's determination to achieve her dream, I feel the review and poster show this, with the main image being a close up of Gemma with a small smile on her face, the audience can identify with her. With another theme of the Jeté being Faye’s love for dancing, we decided to use the colour red within the poster and review as the colour is a connotation of love. Not only does this catch the reader or audience’s attention but also makes them notice the five star rating which would encourage them to look up the short film.
Evaluation
How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Research and Planning
During our research and planning, access to a computer or laptop was internet
essential. To thoroughly research short films within our genre, we also needed the internet. Websites such as YouTube distribute all types of videos so it was easily accessible for us to complete our analysis. We were able to see other student films while also high budget short films which gave us much inspiration. Social network sites such as Facebook were critical for my group because it allowed us to connect and contact each other outside of college, it was simple for us to post links and information about our work to another member of the group.During all stages of production, I used many of the programmes my laptop offered such as Microsoft word, Excel and PowerPoint. I then used Slide Share to upload these so I could change the format and present them on my Blog.
Construction
When we moved onto the construction of our short film, we discovered and used more new technology than we did in our AS. To start with, we used a semi professional camera to film our short film. This enabled us to play with the focus, change the white balance and generally create a more detailed, sharper looking short film. We also used a digital camera to take pictures throughout the shoot, for behind the scene images and to maintain continuity.
When it came to editing our short film, we used Premiere Pro, an unfamiliar software to us which to begin with was hard to use. After a few lessons though, we got to grips with it, our rushes were shortened, we added a soundtrack and transitions and our short film was created.
When making ancillary tasks, we used Photoshop for our poster. To begin with, I used Microsoft word for the second ancillary task (the double page review) but after we were told it didn’t look professional enough, we recreated the review in a programmed called InDesign. Seeing as I or any of my team members had used this technology before, it was a big step up from AS.
Evaluation For our evaluation, we created a PowerPoint presentation to present to the class. I also wrote a general evaluation in Microsoft word.
To show our development from AS, instead of just having a hard copy file, we created blogs on the network site Blogger to present our coursework as it showed our ability to use new technology, we could also upload photos and videos to make it more interactive. I then used a scanner to scan any work in that I wanted on my blog. Using new technology was essential to the process of creating our short film, I feel we have developed greatly from AS.
Evaluation
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
From the questionnaire results, the target audience for our short film are females aged 12-25. This is the audience feedback I received.
1. The first audience feedback knew from the dancing based storyline and the fact that most of the characters are women that Jete was targeted towards women. She complimented the dancing and enjoyed the music but found it hard to find closure with the ending. She found the cliff-hanger to be too cheesy and wanted a structured ending but she did react positively to how well put together and edited the whole short film was.
2. The second audience feedback, from a man, found that there wasn’t enough action and that the plot didn’t live up to expectations. He felt that there was too much dancing and thought it became boring and repetitive. Due to the fact that Jete is female dominated, it may explain why the feedback is negative because he’s film tastes are more adrenaline/action packed.
3. The third audience feedback, again from a man, found that the dancing was also a bit boring and became uninterested. He liked the link throughout the music and the titles were unique. He found the ending was original and really liked that you could make up your mind about what happened to the protagonist, on whether she made it into the dance school or not.
4. The final feedback is from a female and really positive and supportive. She found that she could identify with the characters and thought the standard of dancing was really high. She didn’t like the mother though but understood that she was the disequilibrium within the narrative. She liked the storyline and thought the plot of the Jete was interesting to watch.
What have you learned from the audience feedback?
If I were to go back and make changes or to make another short film, I would make sure I have a proper ending instead of a cliff-hanger. In some short films leaving an open ending works well but from the audience feedback, I now know it didn’t work as well as we hoped.
A main positive aspect from the feedback was the music. After listening to many songs and soundtracks, we finally found a song all of us agreed to use, fitting it all together and choreograph to the music was a hard task but my group and I all put in a lot of time and hard work and throughout the editing stages, we put a lot of effort into making every second sound pitch perfect.
Using new technology in post production was fun to play with but when everything was being put together, it became difficult. Due to none of my group being trained with the software, we had to learn as we went along. Creating a voiceover was tricky but once we’d got to grips with it, everything went on fine. The transitions were limited on the software we used but we used it to the best of our ability and created realism within the short film.
Some of the dancing looked repetitive. To correct this, I would’ve expanded the range of shots we had to create a different look of the film. I wanted to try a bird’s eye view shot but without having the safe equipment to achieve this, we couldn’t complete that shot. If I were to create another short film, I’d want to branch out of the types of shots I create.
When making a short film, you cannot cater to everyone’s tastes and make everyone enjoy what you’ve created.
Keeping what you create original is important, your audience will not get bored or guess what happen in the narrative. If you follow a generic formula, add some plot twists to keep the audience guessing.
Personal response:
Overall, I believe my group and I created a great little short film. If I could go back and start over again, there are many things I would change, such as, change the ending and re-shoot the opening credits sequence to cut down the time. Throughout the process of making Jete though, I expanded my knowledge of the subject of media, not only learning about creating a short film but about the pre-production, post-production, marketing and distribution.
Creating Jete was one of the most brilliant experiences in my life. I’ve realised what career path I want to head into because I love making films and creating moving image.
From the questionnaire results, the target audience for our short film are females aged 12-25. This is the audience feedback I received.
1. The first audience feedback knew from the dancing based storyline and the fact that most of the characters are women that Jete was targeted towards women. She complimented the dancing and enjoyed the music but found it hard to find closure with the ending. She found the cliff-hanger to be too cheesy and wanted a structured ending but she did react positively to how well put together and edited the whole short film was.
2. The second audience feedback, from a man, found that there wasn’t enough action and that the plot didn’t live up to expectations. He felt that there was too much dancing and thought it became boring and repetitive. Due to the fact that Jete is female dominated, it may explain why the feedback is negative because he’s film tastes are more adrenaline/action packed.
3. The third audience feedback, again from a man, found that the dancing was also a bit boring and became uninterested. He liked the link throughout the music and the titles were unique. He found the ending was original and really liked that you could make up your mind about what happened to the protagonist, on whether she made it into the dance school or not.
4. The final feedback is from a female and really positive and supportive. She found that she could identify with the characters and thought the standard of dancing was really high. She didn’t like the mother though but understood that she was the disequilibrium within the narrative. She liked the storyline and thought the plot of the Jete was interesting to watch.
What have you learned from the audience feedback?
If I were to go back and make changes or to make another short film, I would make sure I have a proper ending instead of a cliff-hanger. In some short films leaving an open ending works well but from the audience feedback, I now know it didn’t work as well as we hoped.
A main positive aspect from the feedback was the music. After listening to many songs and soundtracks, we finally found a song all of us agreed to use, fitting it all together and choreograph to the music was a hard task but my group and I all put in a lot of time and hard work and throughout the editing stages, we put a lot of effort into making every second sound pitch perfect.
Using new technology in post production was fun to play with but when everything was being put together, it became difficult. Due to none of my group being trained with the software, we had to learn as we went along. Creating a voiceover was tricky but once we’d got to grips with it, everything went on fine. The transitions were limited on the software we used but we used it to the best of our ability and created realism within the short film.
Some of the dancing looked repetitive. To correct this, I would’ve expanded the range of shots we had to create a different look of the film. I wanted to try a bird’s eye view shot but without having the safe equipment to achieve this, we couldn’t complete that shot. If I were to create another short film, I’d want to branch out of the types of shots I create.
When making a short film, you cannot cater to everyone’s tastes and make everyone enjoy what you’ve created.
Keeping what you create original is important, your audience will not get bored or guess what happen in the narrative. If you follow a generic formula, add some plot twists to keep the audience guessing.
Personal response:
Overall, I believe my group and I created a great little short film. If I could go back and start over again, there are many things I would change, such as, change the ending and re-shoot the opening credits sequence to cut down the time. Throughout the process of making Jete though, I expanded my knowledge of the subject of media, not only learning about creating a short film but about the pre-production, post-production, marketing and distribution.
Creating Jete was one of the most brilliant experiences in my life. I’ve realised what career path I want to head into because I love making films and creating moving image.
Jeté - General written Evaluation
Jeté’ Evaluation
For my short film, the story idea that my group and I chose to use is called ‘Jeté’. The idea for ‘Jeté’ was created by our director and main actress Gemma Davey. Cinematography was then led by Sarah Freeman and Editor was Eilish Crowther. I then took on the role as producer. Our idea/product was selected after careful consideration in the group, we analysed which film would make more sense to go ahead and film considering budget and location while also picking a story with a flexible and interesting narrative.
As the producer, my role within the production of ‘Jete’ was a significant one. I organized time schedules of when our group would be filming (including booking locations), location scouted to find the right places to film, secured and took care of all technological equipment such as the camera and tripod.
After researching into articles and reviews into film magazines such as ‘Empire’ and ‘Total Film’, I created the double page review based on ‘Jeté’. I also oversaw all filming done while supervising continuity, script and storyboard. I gave advice with direction and cinematography while also making sure our cast and crew were safe in our varied locations and out of the way of the public. Due to a scheduling conflict with an actor, I also had to step in and act within our short film, I play Judge 1.
‘Jeté’ is a short film which belongs in the hybrid genre of Dance/Drama, we mainly followed the forms and conventions of a short film by following Todorov’s theory but it also challenges the theory. The narrative is left in a cliff-hanger (Obviously not following Todorov’s theory of having a conclusion) leaving the audience unknowing to whether the main character achieves her dream. We did challenge the conventions of a normal short film within our genre by doing something creative with our title’s which hasn’t been done before. We actually filmed our main actress writing the titles and making it look like she was filling in an application to a dance college. We connected the titles to the film by having the link of the dance college application form which then leads straight into the opening sequence. We examined different short films and feature length films during our research and were inspired by the film ‘Napoleon Dynamite’, the titles in ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ are written in different types of food. We then applied this theory to our short film and thought it was an interesting idea. We also followed forms and conventions of a Dance/Drama genre by including lots of dancing - so it’s fits within the genre perfectly. The drama aspect comes from the main protagonist ‘Faye’ trying to overcome the obstacles that are in the way of letting her achieve her dream.
Throughout ‘Jeté’, some social groups are represented. We have Faye and her friends representing the youth and Faye’s mother and the Judges representing authority and women. Through our research and survey’s we concluded that our target audience would be 12-30 year women so ‘Jeté’ would connect with the audience positively as the women would relate to Faye’s situation and be sympathetic.
From analysing and researching 15 short film products, we were inspired to create a short film as intense and enrapturing as the films we had researched. Many short film’s are not released like full feature length movies, but are released in short film festivals and online. YouTube is a great example of a website where you can distubute your work for free. Short film don’t rely on the budget of a big full-length film but rely more of the art of the shots and that’s what I feel we have created in ‘Jeté’.
In ‘Jeté’, although our narrative is solid, we did use other macro and micro elements to support and strengthen the theme’s and message’s of our product and also create meaning. Within framing, we used the rule of thirds, keeping Faye centred to show she is the main focal point of the product, yet we also keep her in big backgrounds showing her isolation due to nobody understanding her situation. Our camera shots are varied showing our diversity - we had to create a few montage scenes showing Faye dancing so our wide-range of shots can keep everything new and fresh, and not repetitive. The mise-en-scene was hugely important to us, we wanted everything to be subtle but enough so you could clearly understand the narrative. We considered every detail - our locations were proper dance and theatre studio’s, when Faye visit’s the physio, we used an actual nurses consultation room. The clothing Faye wears are all to do with dancing, and her room is covered with dance materials. The colours in our product are important for creating meaning - the colour of Faye’s clothes are dull and the colour of the studio when Faye auditions is black showing her sense of lost hope. Sound played a crucial part within ‘Jeté’, we took great inspiration from the music video/short film ‘Angel’ by the band Massive Attack. We edited to the ballet music to make the film more realistic and believable. Also, the lyric’s in the song Faye auditions matches her predicament.
From studying Media at AS, I do feel my skills and knowledge have progressed and it clearly shows in ‘Jeté’, my A2 short film. I learnt from AS, to be more fully prepared with all pre-production work and I researched a lot more into similar products and took careful notes. One of the most obvious changes was using a larger camera with a better microphone which created better picture and better sound. Another large skill and knowledge progression was the editing software. In AS, we used Window’s Movie Maker which was quite basic, but now we used Premiere Pro. I learnt how to razor clips and fit them how we specifically wanted them while also editing audio and cutting up voice-overs to fit the appropriate times
within our short film. We received no training on the software, so a difficulty we found was learning how to use Premiere Pro while trying to keep up to date on our production schedule.
Overall I think we created a brilliant final product that I‘m proud of, a product of high standard that can be viewed by any audience. I have learnt a great deal throughout AS and A2, the main aspect I will take away with me though is thoroughly researching and completely pre-production work efficiently.
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