Saturday 4 December 2010
Evaluation - questions
Evaluation:
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our film is mainly based on the Think! Adverts; the message, consequence, has the same effect on the audience as the Think! adverts leaving them with the same thoughts and reactions. The genre of our film is; documentary, drama, informative. This genre has a wide target audience, ranging from children to adults, of both sexes and all social classes. We have developed our film from the original Think! adverts by going more in depth to the story and the characters lives, making it more personal and therefore increasing the effect it will have on the audience by aiming certain aspects, i.e. sound, at their feelings and emotions. This makes the distinction clear between an advert and a short film. The magazine review mirrors the focus of the short film; this was achieved by selecting specific and vital moments in the film to give a brief insight into what the film entails. The poster again shows two important images from the film showing two different outcomes in the parallel worlds at the same stage of the story. We continued to show the parallel structure through reflecting the image, the colour theme and the writing.
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Our film follows the path of two parallel worlds, showing the consequences of different decisions. We portray this narrative in our ancillary poster by mirroring similar images showing each consequence. This idea was inspired by the poster of the film ‘Sliding Doors’ which has a similar narrative of parallel worlds and we have developed a similar structure for our own poster. For our magazine review we have included screen shots from our film to show the viewer a bit more about our film. We chose shots of important parts of the film rather than irrelevant scenes to give them a good understanding of the film. Both the poster and the magazine review combine together to present our film and represent the message we are trying to achieve. We tried to achieve this by linking them all together; i.e. keeping the title font and style the same in all 3 tasks. We also chose to stick to a specific font for the writing on the poster and again for the statistics at the end of the film – the font we chose has documentary feel to it as it is very formal and informative.
3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
We showed our film to the class and had a discussion about the good and bad aspects of the film and then got them to write down their main opinions on a post-it note for us to have and learn from. A common theme was about the steadiness of the shots, we did actually use a tripod for the majority of the shots however we struggled when it came to the movement for example in the dolly shot. We think that if we were better equipped, then the shots may be smoother and of better quality. An aspect we were expecting to receive some criticism of was the reflections in the window of the police officers and the movement in the unit glass; however no one picked up on it until we drew their attention to it. From our audience feedback, the importance of attention to the steadiness of a shot has been reinforced and will make sure in the future that we gather all the appropriate equipment to make our desired quality of shot achievable.
We showed our film to the class and had a discussion about the good and bad aspects of the film and then got them to write down their main opinions on a post-it note for us to have and learn from. A common theme was about the steadiness of the shots, we did actually use a tripod for the majority of the shots however we struggled when it came to the movement for example in the dolly shot. We think that if we were better equipped, then the shots may be smoother and of better quality. An aspect we were expecting to receive some criticism of was the reflections in the window of the police officers and the movement in the unit glass; however no one picked up on it until we drew their attention to it. From our audience feedback, the importance of attention to the steadiness of a shot has been reinforced and will make sure in the future that we gather all the appropriate equipment to make our desired quality of shot achievable.
4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
For our research, we used powerpoint presentations to present our short film analyses, this allowed this to present it clearly in an organised and simple way. We then made a poster by hand to show our analysis of magazine reviews and then took a picture of it using a digital camera to upload to our blog. This is another use of media and allowed us to be more creative in presenting our work. For the poster analysis we searched on the www.google.com for an image of the poster we were analysing and then dissected it on Microsoft Word using text boxes and arrows to show what we were referring to. This was a clear and organised way of presenting and made it easy to show our development of thought. For the audience research we used a variety of methods to gather the relevant information, such as; filmed interviews, audio interviews, and electronic questionnaires. This used a variety of media methods and also allowed us to cover a wider audience by using different techniques. It also meant that we would gather different types of feedback in regards to detail, formality and depth of answer.
For the planning, we used Microsoft Word for things such as the shot lists, shooting scripts, short story, etc. The storyboard was hand-drawn and then each section was photographed using a digital camera and then uploaded on to Microsoft Powerpoint to make it easier and clearer to present and use. All the files we had created for research and planning were then uploaded electronically to our blog, first uploading it to www.slideshare.net and then embedding it onto our blog using www.blogger.com. We found that slideshare was a really slow way of uploading work and sometimes caused problems; i.e. not successfully uploading a document, this took up a lot of our time and caused a lot of stress. Blogger was an interesting and fun way of presenting work as it allowed you to personalise your page, however we found it very difficult to organise as you had to put your work in order as you upload it, meaning that if one bit of work wasn’t yet completed, nothing further could be uploaded until this was done. This again took up a lot of time and caused stress.
For the construction, we used a hand-held video camera, as well as a Phantom HD slow motion camera for the collision. We then loaded our rushes onto the computer and edited the footage using Final Cut Pro, the final outcome was then put on to a DVD and also on to www.youtube.com
For our research, we used powerpoint presentations to present our short film analyses, this allowed this to present it clearly in an organised and simple way. We then made a poster by hand to show our analysis of magazine reviews and then took a picture of it using a digital camera to upload to our blog. This is another use of media and allowed us to be more creative in presenting our work. For the poster analysis we searched on the www.google.com for an image of the poster we were analysing and then dissected it on Microsoft Word using text boxes and arrows to show what we were referring to. This was a clear and organised way of presenting and made it easy to show our development of thought. For the audience research we used a variety of methods to gather the relevant information, such as; filmed interviews, audio interviews, and electronic questionnaires. This used a variety of media methods and also allowed us to cover a wider audience by using different techniques. It also meant that we would gather different types of feedback in regards to detail, formality and depth of answer.
For the planning, we used Microsoft Word for things such as the shot lists, shooting scripts, short story, etc. The storyboard was hand-drawn and then each section was photographed using a digital camera and then uploaded on to Microsoft Powerpoint to make it easier and clearer to present and use. All the files we had created for research and planning were then uploaded electronically to our blog, first uploading it to www.slideshare.net and then embedding it onto our blog using www.blogger.com. We found that slideshare was a really slow way of uploading work and sometimes caused problems; i.e. not successfully uploading a document, this took up a lot of our time and caused a lot of stress. Blogger was an interesting and fun way of presenting work as it allowed you to personalise your page, however we found it very difficult to organise as you had to put your work in order as you upload it, meaning that if one bit of work wasn’t yet completed, nothing further could be uploaded until this was done. This again took up a lot of time and caused stress.
For the construction, we used a hand-held video camera, as well as a Phantom HD slow motion camera for the collision. We then loaded our rushes onto the computer and edited the footage using Final Cut Pro, the final outcome was then put on to a DVD and also on to www.youtube.com
Communication was a very important part of the success of our film; we used mobile phones to arrange times and dates and to contact each other and our actors to make sure we are all informed on the latest plans. We also used www.hotmail.com and www.gmail.com to keep in touch and send work from one person to the other. Any problems and queries were resolved via email which was a very helpful and convenient form of communication.
Friday 3 December 2010
Behind the scenes
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We used a Phantom HD camera to film the collision in slow motion to add a special effect and a bit more variety and technique to our film.
Thursday 2 December 2010
Behind the scenes
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| Sarra and I film Ben stepping off the curb from a low angle. This shot was more suitable to show Ben crossing the road as we didn't have to struggle so much with trying to achieve such a steady shot. It also adds another technique to our list of shots used. |
Behind the scenes
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| Sarra and I position the camera on the tripod, by doing this, we managed to keep a steady shot of Ben walking towards the camera which we then used again for the similar shot in the other parallel world. |
Behind the scenes
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| Sarra is positioning the camera on the tripod at the angle required to fit all the character into the shot and is filming the scene. |
Behind the scenes
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| Here we are filming Ben returning home. By using the tripod at a low angle, we were able to capture Ben knocking on the door from his point of view. This again kept it steady and professional looking. |
Behind the scenes
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| Here we are setting up the tripod, ready to film Ben knocking on the door and entering the house. |
Behind the scenes
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| Here we were filming Ben's feet as he is walking, we use the car to gain a steady, accurate shot. Kieran drove the car as I operated the camera. |
Statistics
- Road deaths and serious accidents have increased by 12% in 1 year!
- Young drivers represent only 6.6% of the nation’s licensed driver, however were involved in 14.8% of fatal crashes.
- Traffic crashes are the number one cause of death among children and young adults.
- Young drivers are involved in fatal traffic crashes at over twice the rate as the rest of the population.
- The number one cause of death for 15-20 year olds is car collisions.
- 2003 stats show that more than 65 percent or almost two-thirds of all teen fatalities are males
Tuesday 30 November 2010
Equipment list
- · Video Camera
- · Tripod
- · Digital Camera (for behind the scenes shots)
- · Car
- · Costumes/props
Synopsis - Consequence
The film starts with James driving along a quiet road as he receives a text. He has two options, pull over and read the text safely, or risk it and carry on driving. The film takes the audience in two different directions from this point, showing what the result of both decisions would be and the consequences that would coincide. The first, and happier side of the parallel story line shows James pulling over to read his text and shows the younger boy, Ben, make a safe journey home and him enjoying his newly decorated room. The second direction of the story shows what happens when James doesn’t pull over and reads his text whilst driving. The consequence of this is much darker, as he crashed the car into Ben as he crosses the road. The thunderous sound of the crash alerts neighbours and on goers, some cover Ben in covers and call the police, while others just walk on. James brakes down on the side of the road, thinking to himself; no text is worth this. The Police have the devastating job of announcing the death of 10 year old Ben to his parents.
Short story - Consequence
As James pulled out of his drive and began driving down the empty road, he received a text. In that split second, he had to decide whether he was going to risk it and read the text whilst driving, or to pull over at the side of the road and read it safely.
James didn’t even consider it for a moment; he pulled over to the side of the road and read the text he had received. As he did so, he was unaware of Ben standing at the side of the road waiting for the car to pass, quickly he noticed the indicator on James’ car and so crossed the road and set on his way home.
It wasn’t a long journey home from the park, but to Ben it seemed to take forever – he was so excited to start decorating his new room. He had already chosen the colour he wanted and picked out his new bed and wardrobe and today was the day that he and his Dad were going to spend putting all his plans into action.
As he rushed home and banged on the door, his Mum, Carol, answered and gave him a huge hug – Ben brushed her aside and ran to his Dad, dragging him up the stairs to his room.
Ben took a step back and looked at his new room, he was overjoyed, he couldn’t wait to go to sleep that night, just so he could wake up and see it all over again the next morning.
As Ben left the pavement and placed his foot down onto the side of the road, a look of horror crossed his face. Seconds before, he saw a car speeding down the quiet road in the distance but judged that he had time to cross. The rest of what happened that day was out of his hands.
At the point of impact, James was thrown forwards against the windscreen, his face parallel to Ben’s, only separated by the shattering windscreen. A neighbour, hearing the crash, rushed out of her house to see what had happened, she put her hands up to her face and screamed. More onlookers started to emerge, each shouting for one another to call an ambulance. When the ambulance and the police arrived, some of the onlookers had gone back to their business, whereas others had stayed and put blankets over Ben’s unconscious body and pillows under his bleeding head. James remained shell-shocked, in tears, at the side of the road – no text was worth this.
The police then had the dreaded job. They headed over to Ben’s house to inform his parents that their 10 year old son had been involved in a road accident, and that he had been pronounced dead at the scene. As Ben’s parents broke down in tears at the life changing information, they clutched at a photo of him, the last image of their only child. Their distraught feelings then turned into anger, they couldn’t understand why their innocent child had been taken from them as a result of someone else’s stupid, careless actions.
After the police had left, Ben’s parents sat in silence as the rest of their family and friends fussed around them, offering support and comfort – but nothing could comfort them at this time, they were victims of someone else’s split second of disastrous stupidity, just like Ben was, and their lives would never be the same.
Carol slept in Ben’s bed that night trying to stay close to him, but it wasn’t the same, not even Ben had had the chance to sleep in his new bed.
Planning introduction
TH!NK adverts:
The ‘Think’ television adverts in particular helped us develop our idea for our own film by emphasising the message of ‘consequence’ and relating to every day events.
‘The Black Hole’, ‘Graffiti’ and ‘Mankind is no Island ’ do not include any dialogue – this is something which we thought was very effective as it makes the actions and footage seems so much more powerful. We thought this would pay off for our film idea because the actions are what lead to the consequence and this is the most important/powerful part of our film.
This also allows for the use of non-diegetic sound i.e. music – we can choose the most effective and fitting music for the tone of our film.
From the ‘Think’ adverts we noticed the effect of slow motion at various points in each advert – we decided that using slow motion at the point of impact would be effective and appropriate.
The font used in the title sequence for the ‘Think’ adverts are very relevant to the topic of the adverts and also makes it apparent to the audience about the topic – we have taken this into consideration for our title sequence.
Research summary
Posters
We have gathered certain inspirational aspects from these posters that we may want to use for our film poster. We have researched all film genres and have realised that some similar genres have similar styles. For example romantic films posters such as Titanic and Pearl Harbour have images of the couples embraced together to show their connection, and the images are laid out the same, with the couple at the top and the main situation such as the ship or the war plane positioned at the bottom. The horror posters have similar colours that create depressing atmospheres, such as Saw, Vacancy and Cloverfield. Chick flicks have positive, feminine colours such as pink or blue to reflect the style of the film. We are interested in the ideas of having a quote or a simple sentence that gives the audience some insight into what the film is about, such ‘Something has found us’ in Cloverfield. We have a wide variety of layouts that will help us decide which is best to portray our film in our poster.
Magazines
Looking at our magazines we have noticed that they do not have much colour, or a wide variety of colour. We would like to use suitable colours, which we think would reflect our film. We like the idea of having the same amount of text to the image, due to the fact that we noticed that less text gives a negative view of the film already. The way some of the pages are divided into sections of different film reviews have given us inspiration to divided up the page with certain scenes to go with the text.
Films
We have selected a wide variety of different genres to help us create our own film. From watching The Black Hole we have come up with some ideas that were inspired by this film. We like the simple style of the film, ad like the idea of not having any dialogue, just diegetic sounds. The Black Hole has a message which is ‘greed’ this inspires us to also have a message in our film to target a certain audience. The film Signs has a non diegetic sound running through the whole film, and we are inspired by the way it reflects the characters mood during the film. We have gathered some ideas for narrative structure from some of the films also. Apricot includes a lot of flashbacks that interrupts the present day; we think this has a interesting flow. The narrative structure of Wrong Side of the Bed has parallel worlds, we think this is challenging and different and we would like to consider this more.
Audience research - questionnaire
Age: 42
Gender: Female
What genre of film do you prefer to watch?
Romantic Comedy, Comedy
What do you expect from this genre of film?
A story about romance with some humour so I can laugh and cry!
What do you expect from the character roles of this genre?
Funny, emotional, good looking!
Do you like and / or look for any hidden messages in films?
Yes I like thinking about what I’ve just watched
What are your favourite ways consume media?
Books, Magazines, TV
What do you rely on in films for it to seem realistic? (mise en scene)
Good acting, costumes, a good location that goes with the story
What kind of narrative structure do you prefer? (linear / complex)
Not simple but not too confusing
Do you like to relate to the characters and places in films you watch?
Yes it makes the film seem more personal
Audience research - questionnaire
Age: 21
Gender: Male
What genre of film do you prefer to watch?
Action / Thriller
What do you expect from this genre of film?
Fast paced action, explosive special effects, gripping story line
Do you like and / or look for any hidden messages in films?
Yes - They make films more interesting and make you think
What do you expect from the character roles of this genre?
To be tough, macho, exciting
What are your favourite ways consume media?
Internet, television, cinema
What do you rely on in films for it to seem realistic? (mise en scene)
Good acting
What kind of narrative structure do you prefer? (linear / complex)
Not too complicating but not to simple and boring
Do you like to relate to the characters and places in films you watch?
Yes I like a lot of films that are made in the UK
Audience research - questionnaire
Age: 17
Gender: Female
What genre of film do you prefer to watch?
Comedy
What do you expect from this genre of film?
Funny, interesting, realistic story
Do you like and / or look for any hidden messages in films?
Yes
What are your favourite ways consume media?
Television, magazines and internet
What do you expect from the character roles of this genre?
Funny and realistic
What do you rely on in films for it to seem realistic? (mise en scene)
A realistic storyline
What kind of narrative structure do you prefer? (linear / complex)
Simple
Do you like to relate to the characters and places in films you watch?
Yes, makes it more interesting and real
Audience research - questionnaire
Age: 29
Gender: Male
What genre of film do you prefer to watch?
Horror
What do you expect from this genre of film?
Lots of action, be very dark, scary, slashy
What do you expect from the character roles of this genre?
Be tough, scary
Do you like and / or look for any hidden messages in films?
Yes, but nothing too confusing
What are your favourite ways consume media?
Internet, TV
What do you rely on in films for it to seem realistic? (mise en scene)
Special effects, good acting
What kind of narrative structure do you prefer? (linear / complex)
Simple and straight forward
Do you like to relate to the characters and places in films you watch?
Depending on the character, yes
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