Technologies used
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Tuesday 10 May 2011
GROUP EVALUATION: How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our production represents the people at the lowest level of income in that the main male and female characters are unemployed drug takers. The audience can tell they are unemployed because of the rundown location we have chosen to film suggesting they may be homeless, and the ragged clothing they wear. However, even though the drug dealer we have featured in our production chooses to work in an illegal business, he is clearly wealthier than the other two and may be seen as having management skills and therefore of a higher social class than the other two characters.
INDIVIDUAL EVALUATION
For the film opening which I made for my final AS media project, I worked in a group with two other people; Ryan Connor and Emma Coman. During the project we all had different jobs to focus on. Although we all had our own jobs we all contributed to every step in making the film opening. My main role was to be head of cinematography, focusing on all aspects of cinematography, for example I concentrated on the costume, location and the different shots used during filming. Ryan Connor was the Producer and Director, and Emma Coman was the Editing Director.
The actors in this production were I, Charlotte Constance, who was the female character, the femme fatale; Ryan Connor was the wealthy drug dealer and Jamie Partridge was the main male character who gets himself into trouble.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In the film opening we used many flashbacks to tell the story, this is a technique often used in film Noir. This makes the audience stay focused as sometimes the story is difficult to follow, so it can help draw them in and keep them interested. Before making our own film openings we watched a few film noirs and neo noirs first, for example Double indemnity and Brick. We used some elements that these films used, like flashbacks and voiceovers. Our film opening is similar to Double Indemnity as the style with the flashbacks is the same; short flashbacks, slowly explaining the storyline.
In most film Noirs it is the femme fatale who gets into trouble and often dies. In this opening this happens, although in a slightly different way as both the female and male character gets into trouble, but through this the female dies. Also in Film Noirs it is usually the femme fatale character that gets the male character in to trouble, although in our film it is the other way around; it is the femme fatale who is innocent at the beginning and the male gets her into trouble. We tried to follow a Noir narrative by; having a femme fatale who dies, the main male character getting into trouble which he cannot handle and by telling the story in flashbacks.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The Audience that we were aiming for was aged 15-30; this is because it would outline drug issues which are more likely to appeal to that age group. This film would probably be seen as similar to a thriller, involving fights and chases which would attract a male audience, also romance, which should attract the female audience as well. The majority of the film would be action with a dark narrative and twists.
When thinking of the target audience we had to consider the BBFC (The British Board of Film Classification). They are responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom. It has to follow certain requirements to fit into the age certificates. We had to consider this, as our target audience is 15-30; if the film had an 18 certificate then we would be cutting off some of the target audience. So we had to think about the amount of drugs, swearing, fighting scenes etc that we used in the film opening and would have used in the film. By keeping these scenes to a minimum, the target audience would be able to watch it.
How did you attract/address your audience?
When showing the film opening to our AS media class we received feedback; the overall impression was that the colour effects that we used worked well, as it helped to distinguish between the flashbacks and the current time. The voiceover helped explain the story slowly, bit by bit, and they thought it worked well when two voiceovers overlap.
The audience enjoyed the awkward shots when the camera cuts around the body, this made the scene and the audience feel awkward and on edge. They also liked the beginning and end shot as it shows a different side to the character and who she used to be, so they like getting to know the character; also that it is shot in a different way; as a home video. However the audience thought that the weaker elements of the opening scene was that one of the flashbacks, the ‘fight’ scene between the main male character and the female character, did not look very realistic and could have been stronger. They also said that they wanted to see more close-up shots of the main characters face, to see more of his emotion, and of the female character when she was dead.
When asked if the film opening feels like an interpretation of a film Noir, the audience had mixed views as they commented that the tone, music and the flashbacks represented film Noir well although they didn’t think it was as dark as an original Noir film. They thought that
there were some aspects which interpreted a thriller more than a Noir.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
During this project I used many different technologies for different reasons, for example research, planning and filming/editing the final piece. The technologies I have used to complete the research stage of this project are; the internet to research information about various definitions and Noir films; also I have learnt how to use blog, so I can update it with all the work I carried out. I have used YouTube to watch and research film openings and to upload my preliminary task and final task.
In the planning stage the technologies I have used are; again I updated my blog with the plan of what I intended to do for my final task. To communicate with the members of my group we used msn and email. In the filming and editing stages of the process, I used Photoshop to edit the images for the title sequence at the beginning of our film opening.
The technologies I used in the production stage of my project are; mainly just the camera, as we did not use a microphone at the time of filming, but later used a recording booth to record our voice over which meant I had to use recording software which I was new to.
When editing our opening we mainly used Final Cut Pro which was also quite new to me. We brought the video, sound and titles together and finalised the film opening in this editing software.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Since completing my preliminary exercise I have becoming more confident with the filming and editing equipment as I have had more practise and experience using it now. Also I have realised how important all the preproduction work is, as it plans everything you need to do and how you need to do it; it makes the task easier and quicker to complete. I think I have improved on working in a group and having group discussions since I started, also as I have now had practice, I think that I have improved my skills in filming and editing.
If I was to repeat this project, I would focus on certain scenes, mainly the ‘fight’ scene. I would try to improve it as this was a big weakness of ours, so I would try to make it more realistic and look more professional. I would also film more close ups so that the viewer can feel more involved and feel part of the film, as they can see exactly what is happening and they can see it as if they were experiencing it themselves.
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