Evaluation - Ben Baranski

Evaluation

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

In our film we tried to keep in continuity as much as possible an example would be the shots of the characters entering the area in which during shooting we marked the floor so that we had exact positions of where the first shot would have ended and the second began so that between shots our bodies weren’t positioned noticeably different. Another example would be that there was a scene in which a character attempts a trick on the skateboard and since the actor playing the character couldn’t skate we had someone else perform it and we dressed him up in the characters clothes to make audiences believe it was the same character.

In terms of content in our film it reflects the genre well as we stuck to stereotypical characters and locations for a film involving drugs we had longer hair and clothes perhaps found to be worn by skaters for the skater characters a older rough looking actor played the drug dealer so that he would fit with the tough intimidating look of a drug dealer who also wore a hood to keep his face from view and the second drug dealer was given similar clothes to keep his face hidden. The location was also stereotypical as a abandoned warehouse area would make a perfect location to sell or hide drugs without being noticed.

The audience pleasure that we are trying to provide is simply an enjoyable film in which the target audience was able to relate to which was why the actors were older teenagers aged 17-18 as most audiences do find a film more enjoyable when they can relate to a character in some way. I am pretty confident that we managed to make our film enjoyable to watch as before and during the film we took audience advice / feedback into account to what I think bettered our film.

Our film can be compared to trainspotting in the way that towards the end of the film it is all about having a large amount of drugs and having to deal with the drug dealer even if both films deal with it differently.

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

What we were trying to achieve in our main production was a dark serious feel towards the film which both the film and radio advert reflected the poster shows a main character with a blurred effect on the poster the background on which he is on is black and white while he is in colour showing that the world of drugs is a dark place and that it is no place for the innocent. The radio trailer shows it in that the background music playing throughout is dark and eerie and the voice speaking is deep and echoing while he speaks of violence and greed.

I believe that our poster and radio advert were very effective in selling our production as they both give a taste of what the film is without giving it away making the audience want to go and see the whole film for example the radio trailer immediately says that it is based upon a true story which might entice audiences to discover what might have happened and it goes on to speak about violence and drugs which have become popular themes in films these days(the trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRxlqBoSN9w&f ). The poster sells it well as immediately anyone that sees it is drawn in by the bright character surrounded by dark colours and once they begin to examine the poster in greater detail they will make the connections between the title the crack den and the bag in the characters hand as he is running away which will make the audiences curious as to why they would be running with the presumed drugs and make the audiences want to watch the film.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Before we began filming for our film we already had a audience in mind and so we had many ideas for what may be enjoyable for the audience so we created a questionnaire which would put forward these ideas to our target audience and then they would be able to tell us which of these would be good ideas and which would fail once we had gained the results we put them into pie charts so that they would be easy to analyse and compare.

In filming and editing we used common shots / editing techniques that the audience would be familiar with so that they would recognise them and the meaning of our film would be easier to grasp (180 degree rule and match on action).

During filming and editing we previewed a unfinished version of the film on youtube ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCbiqogN41M )so that the audience would be able to give feedback and we would be able to make changes that we felt would be beneficial to our film.

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

In the entirety of our project we used many different technologies to aid us in many aspects of it. We used the internet for many different roles throughout such as collecting research on the bbfc rating guidelines research on different genres audience feedback and the website blogger to post our work collectively. Other technologies used were the cameras throughout filming the Hd 3000 cameras which allowed a clear high definition film and the Mac’s which we used due to the programmes available on them. The programmes used were photoshop to create the film posters both draft and final as using it allowed us to go into great detail in creating the posters due to the many tools available on it also used was final cut express which we used to edit the film as it had multiple tools to create effects edit efficiently and cut in sounds clips that we previously had.

Evaluation

Josh Powers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCbiqogN41M

In our short film, The Crack Den, we observed the conventions of continuity to try and produce a more professional looking final product. We did this using match on action for most of the cuts using Final Cut Express as oppose to iMovie HD; A more professional product with a better final outcome.

We also featured very stereotypical characters, i.e. skaters; long hair baggy clothes and drug dealers; stronger built rough looking characters always trying to hide their identity with hoods etc, to convey our conventions; youth life and drugs and the consequences of them.

Also, to convey to the conventions further, the locations we chose for filming included a disused warehouse covered in graffiti.

We try to relate to our proposed audience, late teens, by featuring characters in that age group; therefore the audience can liken themselves, or others, to them. A film usually pleases the viewer more if they can relate to it in everyday life.

A film I can compare our film to is Shifty. The use of young men, drugs and the situations the characters find themselves can all be seen in our short film. Shifty, being a low budget British film with these conventions was predominantly what inspired our storylines and character traits.

The two ancillary texts we used to sell our production were a radio trailer and a poster.

This poster, made using photoshop elements, shows a photograph of the main character, which is actually a still image from our film, against a dark background which makes him stand out more. Also the title, quotes and actors names were written in white and red to make them stand out.

We chose, as our final idea, a poster which features very little textual information, similar to The Dark Knight poster rather than the poster for "I'm Not There." We decided that the conventions of our film were displayed in the poster and didn't want to overload it with information.

The radio advertisement uses the same soundtrack as our short film and a man saying the essential information for our film, speaking in a deep low voice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRxlqBoSN9w&feature=related - Radio advertisement

Firstly we designed and made a questionairre which was completed by members of our target audience. Constructive comments were made and created our film appropriately. Our film was also uploaded to youtube and we requested that feedback be made in the form of comments. We then looked at the comments and improved what needed to be improved and changed what needed to be changed.

During editing we uploaded our film, in stages, to youtube, to see where improvements could be made. We used recognizable editing, e.g. 180 degree rule and match on action cuts.

In the making of our short film we used JVC HD3000 cameras and boom microphones. Once filming was complete we then transferred our shots to a computer and edited them together using Final Cut Express.

Adobe Photoshop was used to create our poster. These computer programmes helped us develop our creative skills as they allowed us to do much more with what was avaliable. For example Photoshop was much better than Paint as we could blend colours together, smudge parts of our poster and add other things to make it look more professional.

To ensure we go the most out of Adobe Photoshop, as none of our group had used it before, we used a tutorial video, found on youtube, to help us.

Charater traits and photgraphs - revised

Josh Powers

Character Traits - revised

Character list

Name: Tom Vagen,
Age: 17,
Appearance: Scruffy and funky, short dark hair. He usually wears shorts and a T shirt, Traits: A biker, whose family, is originally from Germany, he has a rough background related through family members to drugs including dealing and use. Though he is quiet by nature he has the ability to lash out at others when trying to make a point on a view he feels strongly about.

Name: Scott Bobbins,
Age: 16,
Appearance: Neatly Dressed, medium length hair (straightened) and always wears jeans, Traits: A Skateboarder who is outgoing and fun loving, he is from a more well off family background than his friends, so he feels that when it comes to opinions he has more of a say. He is the person that discovers the drugs while attempting to show Scott how to do a trick on his skateboard.

Name: Josh Flowers
Age: 19
Appearance: Average dress, jeans and a jacket, short hair. Traits: Grumpy and obnoxious, Josh often sits aside and lets things pass unless a financial opportunity arises in which case he jumps at the chance.

Name: Phil Wilcox
Age: 29
Appearance: Stereotypical Drug dealer, with a baggy hood covering his face from the CCTV cameras and dark clothing. Traits: Drug dealer, sleazy and quick witted often hides the stash for later in the Crack Den.

Name: Drug Dealer 2
Age: 21
Appearance: “ This character only appears for a brief few seconds in our film. He is the one who hides the drugs. Tall, skinny, dark coloured jeans, hoody, and beanie hat. He is also shown wearing old trainers; basically a dodgy scruffy guy.

Evaluation

Andrew Hoang

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

In our short film, we observed the conventions of continuity well. An example of this is when we had one of the characters pick up the bag of drugs, we used match on action to give the scene a smoother pace. Our film reflects the conventions of the genre we're working in by utilizing common stereotypes (drug dealer, rough looking).

The audience pleasure we try to provide is entertainment in a sense that they watch the film to relate to the characters and to see what happens next in the story. I am pretty confident we managed to achieve this as our film went through many changes during production and I feel that we have done sufficient work on it.

Other films that may have a similar feel to ours Adulthood, due to the use of teenagers and drugs in the particular film.

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

In our main production we tried to give off the feeling that the film will be serious, and the story will be intriguing to our target audience. Our poster reflects what we try to achieve in our film, due to the use of colours and fonts. The poster is also eye catching, due to the dark colours and the brightness of the main character in the centre. Our radio trailer manages to provide insight to the story, without giving it away, which may entice audiences to watch our film.

The radio trailer contained elements used in other radio trailers. The low pitched man describing the film and the music used to represent the film.



What have you learned from your audience feedback?

We used questionnaires to help us with our audience feedback. We gave our questionnaire to people so they could fill them out and give it to us and we also used the internet to help get people to fill in our questionnaires. We used pie charts which make our results clearer to understand. We used common editing techniques that are familiar to our target audience (match on action, 180 rule) so the meaning got across to them easier.

We also let the audience watch the unfinished version of our film
and let them leave anonymous comments on youtube telling us what they think and if there is anything we could improve on. We took their ideas onboard and added music during one of our scenes, which will help grip the audiences attention.


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

We managed to utilize many new media technologies during our production of our short film. We used the internet to help with our audience research, giving us more diverse answers. We also used the internet for other kinds of research like how films are rated, Channel 4's Statement of Promises, short films on Youtube and websites which have various information ranging from editing techniques to what a short film contains.

The equipment we had included HD3000 video camera, which enabled us to have our film at high quality. We also used Macs to edit our film and poster. Final Cut Express was used to edit our film and Adobe Photoshop was used to create our poster. Due to the versatility of these programs, it allowed to be more creative, allowing us to change colours, help us easily find mistakes and edit them out and also allowed to finish our film and poster more efficiently than using outdates programs.

These programs are also quite complicated, therefore we used Youtube to help us find tutorials which helped us advance our knowledge and skills with the software.

Evaluation - Ben Parr

Black Button Short Film Reveiw

Reposted from 12/11/2009

By Ben Parr


Short film Review – Black Button by Dark Hearts Productions

Black Button is a 2007 award winning short film written by Lucas Crandles and Hayden Grubb. It is a 7 minute long film based on morality and how mankind has developed money lust to the extent that it must be morally governed before a soul can pass into heaven or hell after the person has died.

The film begins with a segment from the bible: “I Corinthians 10:13”. This underlying message gives people the basic outlook of the film and allows the viewer some understanding of the storyline and how theology and morality later become entwined with one another to form the basis of this often replicated but seemingly timeless story.

After the basic introduction the title Black Button turns over on the screen revealing a stereotypical font and written in black on a white background to ensure clarity but if analysed the meaning allows the viewer to look into the darkness always visible even among the light, or to be less profound, evil even in good people.

The ambient music fades in as the titles fade out, allowing the ambience to build up an assumed scenario in the viewers mind before anything proceeds. The music is in C minor and played on a keyboard/computer synth with violin among other string instruments emulated to form the ensemble that is often found in horror and thriller films. This produces a tense mood for the viewer to begin the film on and sets the scene perfectly with regards of a film in the genre of horror.

The first shot is of a man who appears to be in his late 50’s sat with a forthcoming posture behind a grand desk. He is wearing a suit and tie with no obvious imperfections about his person, or his environment. The lack of imperfection symbolises power as does his appearance. It is perfectly believable that he could be a wealthy entrepreneur or someone of high status in his field of work, and the expensively furnished room provides further hints that the man behind the desk is a very prominent character.

His power is further enhanced by camera position as the camera is set low and facing more towards his chest than his head; which is towards the top of the screen. This provides a brilliant angle for when he speaks, as he looks down his nose at the camera, showing the person he is addressing in his upper class; more P.C. accent, (Mr Roberts) is of lower power than he is.

The surrounding area is pure white which gives a feeling of infinite space within his room, which can be achieved by reflecting light upon a high gloss surface but not one with an actual metallic sheen so the light isn’t reflected, instead it provides a warming ambient glow. This is often used in photo galleries such as venture for taking photos of families for home use but at a professional quality. This would suggest that the film crew are possibly photographers, and the set is their workplace.

Mr Roberts is sat opposite him, slouched with bad posture, arms hanging scraggily from his shoulders, wearing a shirt and tie but badly worn and dishevelled. His words are spoken in a more harsh accent and the words he chooses “who the hell are you?” are more that of a lower class than a mindful and powerful individual. The camera angles used on Mr Roberts are all high angled shots, looking down on him as if he is a lesser person than you and the man sat at the table.

It may also be relevant to remark that Mr Roberts’ shirt is white enough that the lighting allows him to blend into the backdrop and make him become part of the infinity, suggesting he is just one of an infinite group of people, and that he is just a regular person.

When dialogue exchange is occurring there is a pattern following the characters. Mr Roberts starts with a question and then the second man replies with an answer or a statement allowing Mr Roberts to draw upon his own conclusions. This discourse pattern is a reinforcement our views of the characters; that the second man is powerful and all knowing and that Mr Roberts is powerless in contrast.

It soon becomes obvious that the film was low budget due to the props include the camera box which in the film is used to house the apparent $10,000,000 available to Mr Roberts upon making his decision of either to kill someone, or alternatively leave penniless but guilt free. The other props in close view of the camera are the black button itself, a simple grey box with a black rubber button slumped across the middle of its top face and a door handle attached to a white door, using the same effects, giving the infinity impression again.

At 4:53, the man at the desk has almost reached the end of his negotiations with Mr Roberts and instructs him to push the button, after a while of convincing him almost subliminally that he will be able to take all of his money as soon as he has pressed the button.

This is closely followed by the moment at 5:06 where Mr Roberts presses the button and kills someone. The music drops out as a bell tolls, which is almost a cliché in film for death, as is the colour black from the title.

The film begins to draw to a close at approximately 5:30 where Mr Roberts finds out he is already dead and that he has been tested but the second man in order for him to judge him and find out whether or not he is suitable to pass into heaven. As blood runs from his head the camera angle becomes higher still as his power is leeched and given to the second man who is now at a very low angled view.

The film ends on a bit of dark humour as when Mr Roberts says “who did I kill?” and the second man responds,
“don’t worry, I’ll be seeing them next”.
This type of humour is a typical trait of these types of films and allows the viewer to finish watching the film with contempt but realisation of the harsh realities of human morality and its lack of justice in modern society. In short, the films meaning is realised, and to mark this, as the title rolls back on screen, a scream is let out and the film ends.

Poster research - Josh Powers

Josh Powers

Posters are used in the film industry for a number of reasons; reasons include; the title of the film, advertise a new film, show the launch date, show the starring actors, give clues to what the film features, give the BBFC certificate, ratings and quotations from critics.

Trainspotting

The film poster for trainspotting is a simple but effective poster. The poster is predominantly black and white so the bright orange title and names of the characters stands out much more. It features the 5 main characters lined up; similar to an identity parade which gives clues to the films nature. Also featured is a quote and rating from empire describing the film as "toe-curlingly good."

Shifty

Similar to trainspotting, the poster for shifty is a simple poster featuring little information in the form of text. However the bright yellow background makes it very eye catching and the black title stands out very well, making the poster more effective. The quote "24 hours to deal yourself out" gives clues to the films nature.