Shannon - Evaluation 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback? 

Initially we agreed on a chosen plot. We then typed this up and presented it to our audience via Google docs initially which was able to be completed anonymously which included questions such as ‘what genre would put the short film under’ ‘what age rating would you give the film’ and so on. Not only did we have to decide on a plot but also we had to know the answers to the questions we were asking. We had sub-categorized our film as a thriller, which meant we had to identify our target audience to put the questions out to. Typically males enjoy thrillers more than females due to psychological side of it however we wanted to try and attract females also by giving it the 'romantic' edge. Therefore we came to the conclusion that our target audience was going to be adolescent teens and above. Below is the results we gathered via the Google questionnaire...

Another method we used as a way of gathering audience research was via video interview. We thought the ideal place to interview people would be college as that was our target audience. We asked the same questions as on the online questionnaire however i feel we got more genuine results due to the interviewee being put on the spot and unable to lie behind anonymity. Throughout this process we gave the public full permission to scrutinize any issues they thought we had with our plot. We found that most of the feedback was positive and we had little 'improvement suggestions'. Below is the results we gathered via video interview...

After receiving the feedback we took it on board and continued with the process of making our short film. Once we had completed our rough edit of our film we exported it onto YouTube and sent out another questionnaire to see if there were any minor adjustments an audience may see that we as a production team couldn't see. The results we gathered from this was that there was a small error with the audio that we wouldn't have seen other wise. Also there was a little confusion with the potential rating of the film which was expected due to there being little difference between 12 and 15. We looked at the bbfc guidelines and from here we made subtle adjustments to things such as lighting and sound which despite only being minor changes made sure that it fitted the guidelines of a 12 rather than pushing the boundaries and making it confusing for the audience. Below is the results we gathered via google docs for the second time....

Overall i feel the audience feedback was beneficial in aiding with our film making process and without it i don't think the media product we have created would be at the standard that it is at now therefore the feedback we received, although minor was crucial when reaching the quality our final product is at now. 

Shannon - Evaluation 1

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

As a group last year we were aware of all aspects what are needed to create a successful, one of those being continuity. Continuity meaning each shot follows on from one another. This rule is required for audience purposes as it allows the media product to be understood thoroughly also above all it makes the plot believable.

We achieved continuity by mainly keeping the mise en scene same throughout. We did this by ensuring if we were filming on different days we filmed at similar times to try and get the lighting as similar as possible, obviously this was something slightly out of our control however we did our best to maintain similar day light, which overall did work in our favor as shown by the images below. (the kidnap scene and fountain scene were filmed on different days). When looking back now the only issue i think was the sun, on the fountain scene it was partially sunny and on the kidnap scene it was mainly grey, however continuity was still maintained to some level as it just showed time progression and added to the story of Hollie waiting a while for Ethan.   

Another contributing factor to the continuity of our film was clothing. We ensured Hollie despite filming on different days was wearing exactly the same as she was the previous time we was filming. Also silly things such as hair styling and makeup all adds to the effect what continuity as you can see below...

The 180 degree rule also was present throughout film. We used a static camera on a tripod which meant a seamless continuous level was maintained whilst panning the camera etc. The change in equipment from last years preliminary task where we held a small Panasonic camera was vast and majorly improved continuity levels throughout our media product. 

This year i feel our media product conforms to the typical thriller conventions as an appose to challenge them. We had a typical antagonist (male) and typical protagonist (vulnerable female). We found this was a recurring theme in most thriller films similar to ours such as the call. Another contributing factor to the typical conventions was the fact that our antagonist was kept a mystery until the end of the film shown below...

The typical conventions we have stuck to i don't feel are boring i just think it will give the viewer full satisfaction in what to expect however we add a twist with the cliff-hanger at the end giving the film an edge.

The main aim of our film was to entertain the audience giving them satisfaction and pleasure in what they were seeing, to do this we used an entertaining genre which allows us to use suspense and action in our 5 minute film. The plot of the film keeps the audience intrigued throughout, right until the very end. I feel we have achieved this as our film gives a range of emotions keeping it entertaining to watch. However, although it is there to entertain we felt our film could be used in educational ways to show the dangers of the internet. We aimed to show that no one is entirely sure who they are speaking to which we took inspiration from the Catfish series, and I am very confident that we achieved this by using the most dramatic way possible of showing Hollie being kidnapped as it gives a sense of shock and highlights the dangers

Shannon - Evaluation 2

Final film

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZx6dDGneaQ

Evaluation 4

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

Throughout research, planning and evaluation stages we have used Google blogger to record our journey from planning our 5 minute film to the end product. Having the blog allowed us to keep all our research in one place making it easier to create our plot as all the information like what makes a movie in the thriller genre and what makes it a age 12A certificate was very accessible. On this blog we were able to record what we were doing weekly and what we still needed to do helping us stay on track to meet our deadline.



The internet played a huge part in being able to make our film as all the information we found was from the internet without it, the process of research would have taken longer meaning less time to create the actual film. Without YouTube we would not have been able to put our film on view to the public so we are thankful for a free video upload service allowing our film to be watched. YouTube also allowed us to research into other thriller films by watching clips of conventions used in those type of films which helped us get an idea of what our film needed to be put in the thriller genre.

When we had gathered all the research we needed, we made a detailed plotline and used Google Docs to create a questionnaire. Having access to this type of technology made it easier to get feedback on whether our story would do well. In order to get our questionnaire to as many people as possible in as little time we used Facebook to send the questionnaire around, allowing us to get a rough idea of whether our target audience would like it.

Once we had finished research we used Celtx to create our script. Celtx is easy to use and has all the things needed to create a script. Although making the script wasn't a fast process using this application made it a little easier as if we had used something like Microsoft Word we would have had to do the layout of the script our self, whereas Celtx does it for you.

When we came to creating the film we needed a number of technologies to help us. One of the main technologies needed was a camera. We used a Sony HD 1000 camera to film all of our shots. The use of advanced equipment allowed us to do more tricky shots which would increase the quality of our finished film. We were able to adjust focus manually and zoom in closer giving us better shots to work with. One slight difficulty we found when first using the Sony camera was that after filming a scene we decided to watch it to see how the shots were but we made a mistake in carrying on filming without rewinding the tape back to where we finished so we had to reshoot the scenes again, which delayed the process by a day or two.

We found it a smart option to film for a day then bring the camera back in and upload our footage onto Final Cut Express to ensure we wouldn't do the mistake of filming over our existing shots. This made the process a lot easier as we would know what still had to be filmed. When we began editing on this software, we were already used to using it from our AS year so the process ran smoothly. Having the chance to use Final Cut Express allows us to ensure our film is continuous and ran smoothly without any glitches. Final Cut Express gave us the chance to edit our film with tricky shots like the passing of time scene where we sped up the shot making it look like Hollie had been watching the world go creating a sad feeling for Hollie.

When we had finished editing shots and began looking at the sound and adding music on the internet we used a Zoom Recorder for Hollie when talking on the phone as the sound on the footage was hard to hear because of the wind, using this equipment made it easier to understand our film. We also used the Zoom Recorder when creating our radio trailer, we were able to do a few takes on the recorder giving us options of which one to choose.

 We also used Photoshop elements to create our film poster, as we hadn't had much experience with this, we had a workshop with our teacher which showed us how to Photoshop things together allowing us to create a realistic poster.

Having this type of technology available to us allowed us to speed up the process ensuring we met the deadline. The use of advanced equipment like the cameras and Final Cut Express allowed us to create our film to the best it could be as we were able to edit our film just like the main stream companies do. The fact we could edit a little then take a break and do blog work but still be able to go back to edit allowed us more freedom as we didn't need to sit editing all day to finish it. We were able to go back and edit whenever we wanted, which allowed us to spot mistakes that we may have not seen straight away like the sound for instance. On some cases we found the technology to hinder our process as some days the internet wouldn't work so we were unable to research or blog where we were at. Final Cut Express was relatively reliable but on the odd occasion would freeze meaning we would have to turn the computer on and off losing our work if we hadn't saved it.



Evaluation 3

https://www.examtime.com/p/809774-What-have-you-learned-from-your-audience-feedback--mind_mapsby megannewton27

Evaluation 2

Evaluation 1

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

 

As we planned our film, Low Profile we knew continuity would be needed in order to allow our film to be understood by our audience, giving a sense of believability. In order to keep continuity, when we filmed scenes on different days we made sure mise en scene never changed so once we filmed a scene in one location like the fountain scene, we took note of Hollies outfit making sure she wore the exact same thing the following day for the kidnap seen. 

 

These two shots were taken on different days at different times but you can't tell as we made sure the weather and outfit was the same.

As most of our scenes were indoor we did not have to worry about the time of filming, however for our kidnap and fountain scene we had to plan ahead what time of day we would film and decide how long we needed to film each scene to make sure the lighting did not get too dark. Throughout our film we have kept to the 180 degree rule, making sure that even when re filming or editing we did not change the 180 degree shot. During filming when using the large camera and tripod we found it hard to do shot reverse shots as we found the laptop scenes tricky to shoot when trying to get close enough to the laptop on the bed to allow us to see the writing however it made filming establishing shots at the start of new scenes easier allowing the audience to know what’s happening in the film. We also knew during editing that we would have to change the sound levels so that the changes in scenery weren't too obvious, so by adding music to our film it makes continuity better.

Our A2 5 minute film sticks to the conventions of thriller films rather than challenging typical conventions. In order to understand what our film needed to be classed in the thriller genre, we researched and looked in to other films. During research we found inspiration from a number of films like The Call where the villain is never seen until the end which we incorporated into our film to keep the audience intrigued to find out who it is. We also stuck to the typical convention of the protagonist being a young girl who finds herself in trouble which sticks to Strauss’ theory of binary opposition where there is evil vs good and men vs women where the man overpowers the woman. Using these conventions we knew it would give the audience what they expected. There are no elements within our film that uses parody or deliberate pastiche, as we were aiming for our film to be a serious thriller and comedic in no way.

The villains face is never seen until the very end in the kidnap film.

The main aim of our film was to entertain the audience giving them satisfaction and pleasure in what they were seeing, to do this we used an entertaining genre which allows us to use suspense and action in our 5 minute film. The plot of the film keeps the audience intrigued throughout, right until the very end. I feel we have achieved this as our film gives a range of emotions keeping it entertaining to watch. However, although it is there to entertain we felt our film could be used in educational ways to show the dangers of the internet. We aimed to show that no one is entirely sure who they are speaking to which we took inspiration from the Catfish series, and I am very confident that we achieved this by using the most dramatic way possible of showing Hollie being kidnapped as it gives a sense of shock and highlights the dangers.

3 - What have you learned from your audience feedback? - Ellie Lovatt

When we first agreed on the chosen plot we were going to go with, we wrote it down and created a questionnaire to which we presented to various members of the public. We did this questionnaire in two ways. The first was an online questionnaire we created on Google Docs of which various members of the public answered the questions themed around our plot. These were the results.



Another way of discovering audience feedback on our first draft of out plot was doing a face to face interview and recording our findings. We asked the same questions, yet found we got more genuine results when the audience were put on the spot. These are the results.

Throughout this initial research it gave us the opportunity to let the public scrutinize any problems they may have had with the plot and helped us develop and better our original plot into one we were happy with and one we knew our audience would like.



After clearing up any problems and changing anything that wouldn't have worked with the audience, we managed to create and export a final film we were happy with. We then created another questionnaire for the audience to complete on our film to see what they liked and disliked, which again gave us another opportunity to fine tune any other problems that may have been found. One problem was the sound at the beginning that without audience feedback us as a group wouldn't have picked up on. We feel as though the audience feedback has helped us make our film reach a higher standard and achieve a better quality.

Using digital technology made obtaining audience feedback a lot easier than doing it manually. It was much less time consuming and allowed us to get more feedback than we would have done originally.

2- How effective is the combination of your main product and the ancillary texts? - Ellie Lovatt

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

Link to prezi - http://prezi.com/m_xd4_qufrbg/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

1 - In what ways does the media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? - Ellie Lovatt

We were aware as a group that in order to create a successful film we had to make sure we sustained a level of continuity that worked. A main aspect of filming that helped us achieve continuity was managing our mise en scene correctly. We filmed all of our scenes at similar times of the day if the scene was a carry on from the scene before. We did this to make sure the lighting in the scene kept the same throughout to make it flow and to ensure continuity. We also made sure if we were filming different parts of the same scene on different days that we stuck to the same clothing and makeup used on the actor/actress again to make sure we stuck to an acceptable level of continuity. We found some difficulty in making sure these issues of continuity were kept perfect, as we found that some scenes were unintentionally shot with different clothing etc and so we had to reshoot in order to make sure they were right.

While we were using a larger static camera on a tripod whilst filming, it made it a lot easier to maintain an acceptable level of continuity in comparison to using a handheld camera in exercises such as our preliminary exercise. This change of equipment made sure we were able to ensure certain filming rules were kept. This included making sure we stuck to the 180 degree rule which made continuity flow better and also establishing shots at the beginning of new scenes, as it was easy to place the camera in a suitable place in order to get the shot we wanted, both seen in the stills below.

The aim of our film was to make sure in included certain conventions of thriller films to enable us to make our film effective as a whole. We stick to these typical conventions rather than challenging them. To do this we researched other thriller films and looked at what conventions they included, and by looking at successful films we realised which conventions work better than others e.g the typical convention of using binary opposites like evil vs good and men vs women when the man overpowers the woman, a common convention in thriller and horror films. The conventions we’ve included will fulfil expectations of the viewer as they won’t be conventions they’re not expecting.   There are no elements within our film that play of the pastiche of the genre we were aiming at as we stuck to the typical conventions and didn’t stray from them.

The main kinds of audience pleasure we’re trying to provide is the simple means of entertainment. By doing this we’ve created suspense and action in our short film, making the film gripping and keeping the audience on the edge of their seats. I’m confident we’ve achieved this as our film is interesting and entertaining to watch. Another aspect of audience pleasure we’re trying to provide is a message we’re sending across about social networking and how it can be dangerous if you’re not careful. Again, I feel as though this message was conveyed properly as certain aspects of the film such as Hollie getting bundled into the back of a car can be quite frightening, and portrays the dangers of talking to strangers online and meeting them in real life.