Dani Evaluation

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

Narrative: The short film ‘Lovefield’ follows the conventions of a thriller leading the audience to assume the narrative; Mathieu Ratthe achieves this suspense through the use of props, sound and camera work.
 

The start of the film provides location shots in order to create a sense of eeriness. The panning shots of the fields shows how vast yet empty they are, this builds up suspense due to the lack of human activity present here, anything could happen to you out there and nobody would be around to help you. This is also reinforced by the close up of the sign swaying in the wind, it aids in showing this location as desolate, the sound fx of the sign creaking adds to the eeriness. The lone black bird is used also to add to the eeriness of the location, due to the connotations that such birds posses, the sound fx of the bird is used throughout the film and is parallel to the events that are onscreen. 

The props present in the film are assumed by the audience are the remains of an attack, the contents of a woman’s purse on the floor, a bloody knife; all reinforced by the sound fx of screaming. We see a close up of certain parts of the female’s body in this case mainly just her feet, this use of restricted narrative is what makes it possible to lead the audience into an assumed narrative. We are first introduced to the male character when we presume that he has just killed the woman, the camera pans up showing us his costume and props such as his tattoo, every aspect of this character allows the audience to make assumptions about what he has just done. Also, his body language when running to the car makes it seem as if he has just murdered her and is finding something to hide the body in yet in fact it is quite the opposite. 

Due to the lack of horror onscreen, the non-diegetic sound combined with diegetic sound fx of both the bird and the female character lead the audience to assume a certain narrative when in fact it turns out to be quite the opposite, representing how crucial the sound is in order to mislead the audience in such a way.

LOVEFIELD- Short film by Mathieu Ratthe

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

Narrative: My short film follows a linear narrative, due to the lack of potential confusion and to entice the audience by building up suspense for the twist at the end. By starting with the equilibrium from Todorov's theory, it enables the audience to clearly follow the female character in the film and are keen to know what the resolution at the end of the film will be. Our film, like 'Lovefield' also aims to mislead the audience into assuming the genre of the film as a thriller due to the events that take place and the non-diegetic sound used, as well as the camera shots used such as point of view shots and surveillance shots, achieved with the use of a handheld camera to create a false thriller narrative. However it is only at the end that they realise this is not the case at all, in fact it is a surprise party and the soundtrack played at the end of the film reflects this new light-hearted atmospheric quality of the film. 


Camera Work: The short film 'The Shot' follows the conventions of a thriller shown through the use of camera work, close up shots of parts of the body keep certain identities restricted. 

I used these camera work techniques in my own short film to conceal the male characters identity until the end of the film, making the twist at the end more dramatic. 

Other types of camera shots we used to increase the suspense were surveillance shots, whereby we used a handheld camera in locations such as in a ditch next to the pavement where the main character was walking, so we can see what this unidentified character is seeing, which  creates a sense of enigma; who is this character and what are his intentions. Again this builds suspense  and aids the audience in believing that this is a thriller. The cuts between surveillance and point of view shots from the females perspective link the two characters together. Also, the fact that we are able to see from her point of view, it create a relationship between her and the audience.

Post production/ Editing: In the short film 'TIME' speed is altered for effect, once the bomb is revealed, the use of slow motion and close up camera work adds to the suspense of the moment. Like the film 'TIME' we also altered the speed for effect, however we made it faster, this was for most of the car shots, especially the ones where we drove over the camera, we were obviously careful and drove slowly, yet this dampened the suspense, so we sped it up afterwards in post production.

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

Film Posters

Here are some examples of film posters that I have annotated in order to explore the conventions and layout before creating my own poster.

How does my own poster reflect the conventions of real media products?

My film poster

After researching and analysing the conventions of real film posters, I then used the findings to create my own film poster. I tried to mimic the key conventions of a poster, however the main image causes it to lack a certain professionalism. Due to the main focus on the image of the female character, if I had the chance to do this again, I would have spent more time trying to get the picture perfect and then editing it so that it looked like slightly better quality and captured the focus of the audience more. 



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

Little White Lies Review

 

Little White Lies is an independent film magazine, published by The Church Of London, it is released bi-monthly.

Each edition of the magazine revolves around a main theme, involving the new release film shown on the front cover. It consists of articles which throughout the magazine follow on with this theme; the typography and page detail also reflects the theme.

The magazine is primarily artwork based as you can see from the graphic design of the front covers. Each front cover is handrawn and often the use of bold colour, can cause them to look almost like pop art.

Unlike other magazines there are very few advertisements featuring in the copy, therefore this is not their main revenue stream like most magazines. Instead they rely on the cover price and subscriptions to the magazine for profit.

The main target audience for the magazine is adult young males, around the age of thirty, however this demographic is shifting as they develop younger readers that study media and film. This is shown through the restricted code in language used in the copy which relies on an assumed knowledge of the reader.

Review Copy:

- Quirky tone
- Restricted language ( Assuming prior knowledge to the topic of media.)
- Puns
- Complex sentences ( Suggesting the audience should be educated.)

When writing my own review, I tried to mimic the layout and use the conventions of a Little White Lies copy. To some extent, we achieved this, the layout matches our desired layout, however some of the copy may need have needed some more thought in order for it to sound similar to that of Little White Lies, but all in all I think we quite successfully mimicked their review style when creating our own film review.

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

What have you learned from your audience feedback?


Target Audience:
15 -25 year olds
Appeals to both genders but perhaps slightly more to the female audience, due to the female character in the film; female audiences can easily relate to her, despite the themes of the film which are more likely to appeal to a male audience.


Both the characters in my short film were roughly the same age as our target audience, which is how we appealed to that demographic. This is enhanced through the main female character, due to the fact it is a short film the idea is simple and for the first part of the film we see her carrying out her morning routine, a narrative which other females her age will be familiar with. Whilst this is good for the female viewers, it doesn't leave much for the male audience, as the male character doesn't play a huge part in the film and is only briefly seen throughout; It's not like they can relate to his role in the film as a 'kidnapper!'

I used Social Networking site, Facebook as my main source of audience feedback, due to the fact that it is interactive, allowing for me to get feedback and is particularly aimed at the younger generation; my target audience. I am 19 and so most of the friends I have on Facebook are roughly the same age, therefore keeping my feedback informative; as it is from my target audience.

I posted my short film on Facebook and asked for both positive and negative comments after watching my film, this way I can talk about what was received well by the audience and what I would change if I were to do this task again. Due to the fact that I posted this on a social networking site, more than just my key demographic responded including my 60yr old grandma, however this aids me when collecting audience feedback due to the variety of ages I am able to see how the film was perceived by different people and despite the fact that she is not part of my target audience, she enjoyed the film nonetheless. 

I then asked people to do the same for my poster and review, again Facebook was my main source of feedback. I used Facebook due to the fact that it is easily accesible for my audience to leave responses to my ancillary products, as well as the fact that it covers such a wide range of people, meaning it allows me to get comments from my target audience and from those outside my target audience as well, giving me an insight to the way they recieved my portfolio products as well.

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

<iframe src="http://prezi.com/embed/s4bvjyuybzlq/?bgcolor=ffffff&amp;lock_to_path=1&amp;autoplay=no&amp;autohide_ctrls=0&amp;features=undefined&amp;disabled_features=undefined" width="550" height="400" frameBorder="0"></iframe>

Charlie Evaluation

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

1. Gender/ Characterization. as you can see this is a female in a tough rouged environment, this breaks any stereotype of being feminine and not tough, however the theme of the film 'Portal' is escape and entrapment.given that the story of the film is that this tough strong woman has been given nothing but what she is born with, her hands and her brain. she then discovers some sort of cannon and uses it to get out of the cell. however as the story unwinds it was just a training exercise for the guards on the woman and she remained trapped. in terms of gender this really breaks away from the modern representation of women, although in comparison with 2013 women of the 1950's were considered weak and inferiority and good for cooking the supper for the husband. now women are much more independent  and women and men have equal rights, however the strength and determination of the woman in 'Portal' Shows maybe too far the other way. she is a contemporary model of femininity. the effect on the audience that these characteristics might be fear, or even sympathy for her situation.

2. Camera Work. Camera work, the camera is as much about telling a story of whats on screen as much as the way its put on screen. for example different shots are used to connotes different things, such as long shot is used to establish a setting or location (otherwise known as an establishing shot) mid shot is to fit in what a character is wearing and see some facial expression, close up is for high levels of facial expression detail, and extreme close up is to focus on a specific feature e.g. Eyes, nose, mouth etc. the extreme close up of the eye shows light blue tint and suggests clean and perhaps medical circumstances. this is achieved by using a extreme close up. for more information of her feeling and emotion we would have to zoom the camera out a bit.

3. Editing and Post Production. As you can see a title has been put in 'Lovesick' this is called editing. editing inst just titles, and billing, it also means transitions and fades and other techniques, editing is a way of finalising a film and even improving it, but there is a limit, too many edits if not done properly or well executed can ruin a film. in contrast a film with no edits can also be very effective. the main edit used is the 'cut' or the 'fade' the cut is used as a transition from one shot to another. and the fade can be a transition from one scene to another, or can also be used as a representation of passing time and the situation changing.

4. Mise En Scene. An important feature in a short film is 'Mise En Scene' however given the time budget it is not simple to get right, because a full length film on average runs for over one and a half hours. however the average short film runs for less then ten minutes so introduction of loads of characters and locations is fine for a full length movie. but for a short film of less then ten minutes it would tend to just confuse the audience and make it harder to understand the plot. the films 'Dream Girl' is all done in one location with one camera angle (directly in front of the subject) this makes the films very easy to follow and even easier to understand any key conventions and issues such as romance.

5. Sound. Non Diagetic and Diagetic sound are ways in which separate the conventions of the film, for example non Diagetic sound is added on afterwards for an effect. the effect is purely for dramatics impact which will have an effect on the audience perception of the film. for example, the short film 'sign language  (block 5) will use sound to help put the audience in the mind of a deaf person, furthermore this technique will work along side perhaps a disorientated character to help really help the representation of the woman's lack of hearing. sound such as Foley or fx are added on after as well to help increase the drama of a situation such as a gun shot, punch or explosion.  

6. Themes and issues. Themes and issues of 'Dream Girl' the story is of two completely different strangers that meet whilst on a tube on the way home from work (assumed as there both tired). its been a long day and there all tired, the woman falls asleep on the mans shoulder, then the man leaves but feels bad for the woman not having a shoulder  to sleep on, so goes back sits back down and rest her head on his shoulder. this connotes a very clear theme, the theme of love and lust for romance, and also chance, the theme of chance and unexpected occurrences is present. this is clear because at first his facial expression towards the woman suggests that he wasn't comfortable with her sleeping on his shoulder, but when he got up to leave it is more then clear that he was more then happy for her to sleep on his shoulder, even if it meant going past his stop and helping her out. and race comes into it, as the characters denote a true reflection of multi-cultural Britain. more then one singular race living along together. 

7. Narrative. In 'Two cars one night' something that's a must normally in a short film is a simple story. 'Two cars one night' has a narrative of three children waiting in a car park for there parents to return. whats funny is that the children act a lot like parents trying to be mature and grown up engaging in sophisticated (for someone of their age) conversation. they start talking and one gives the other a ring. although the narrative at this time seems perhaps boring or UN-interesting, but it is not done without purpose as the lack of narrative actually allows the directors to be more innovative in terms of hidden meaning. For example the ring could be a scoop for the futurewhich is how one person may see itm, or another may look over this completly and think little of the exchange. This will depend on the mind of the audience anbd would make the film have multiple meanings making the audience think more. So the term "less is more" somtimes really is.

8. Use of genre conventions. With the title 'Lovesick' and the screen grab as you can see (number 8) there is a women smiling nicely, in fact she is smiling at the character who seems to bounce from lover to lover. typical conventions of the short film are love and romance, as we see a pretty woman smiling at a man, the we see the bus, so she is leaving the scene or situation setting up the rest of the plot, the man will try and catch her and tell her how he feels. these conventions all work together to help denote the theme of Genre. The genre in this case is love. Possible other connotations could include props. Props are a great signify-er of genre for example, vast amounts of metal robots and guns, and fire and danger wouldn't normal connote love. especially in a short film. so the connotations in the short film 'lovesick' connotes romance and lust for the girl.

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

1. Gender/ Characterisation. Throughout our film we didn't use gender to represent characters in a certain way, however we used Dani (female) and Charlie (male) for different roles and maybe typical of stereotyping that the male character took the role of the person doing the kidnapping, and the female taking the role of the victim, the person being kidnapped. and according to Propps character theory the female role will more likely be a damsel or someone needing rescue. in our films case this is true. but for realism as dani's character is smaller then charlies so if the roles were to reverse it wouldn't be good in terms of realism and accuracy.

2. Camera Work. In the film we really wanted to include some unusual camera angles, and we included one that was supposed to represent a surveillance shot, on which the camera is very low down and out of sight, this makes the shot more believable. relating it to a previous film in 'Portal' the the shot is very high in the corner like a CCTV camera, in comparison our surveillance shot is outside not in a room so the same shot would of worked better if hidden lower down. we didn't really focus on much detail of close up and extreme close up, as we had a time budget, in which we had to familiarise our self with a sense of routine and daily on goings as well as all the other information we needed to portrait such as destination, theme, and plot.

3. Editing and Post Production. In block 1 and 3 we see a critical feature in both films, and short films which is editing. this was done post production and is known as billing, or credits. the title of the film is also here. it occurs at the beginning of a film or end of a short film and allows the audience to know who stars in the film. This is normally why short films either don't have allot of credits or don't have any at all because a Hollywood famous actor wouldn't normally star in a short film, so its fine putting the actors name on a short film however there isn't much point putting their name on something when no one knows who there are.

4. Mise En Scene. The definition of 'mise en scene' is "arrangement of scenery and properties to represent the place where a play or movie is enacted" in terms of our short film the representations of our film had to look normal as in not connote anything o do with horror or thriller because of the twist at the end represents the fact that the film in fact is not a thriller although events before the ending may suggest otherwise.

5. Sound. Sound in our film is used to create a bridge when the visual is not available, for example there is a small sequence from when the car boot is open and the hostage is puller out, however its a point of view shot and she has a blindfold on so we rely on the sound to fill in and explain what cannot be seen. this works well as you can see from block 8 that the screen is black, it could work the other way, when no sound is available just visual, visual aids will be put into place. such as effects like shaky screen and blurry to represent disorientation.

6. Themes and issues. Possible themes to consider in our short film would be kidnapping. as the film begins buy suggesting a calm routine and normal life living by the character, then turns so different when the kidnapping scene takes place, there is no race themes to discuss maybe stereotype or gender issues, relating to Propps characterisation theory when saying that stereotypically the woman will be the damsel. in the case of our film I'm afraid we prove Propps theory correct in the way that it isn't a woman kidnapping a male. however its based on realism and the fact that the male character was bigger then the female would be inconstant and unrealistic if we were to swap the roles around.

7. Narrative. The narrative of the film suggests that the genre is something else. it appears to be a thriller or horror film as the theme changes so quickly from regular normal life to the main character being kidnapped, and sudden change in theme suggests horror. However the theme takes one final turn in the end in which all lack of clarity built up before will now be sorted as it changes direction. there really isn't much in the way of hidden meaning and no further connotations are there, the film is literal and by the end of it it is also self explanatory which helps to clear confusion. over all the film follows a strict genre in terms of plot which is thriller however at the end the genre changes and sises to be a thriller.

8. Use of genre conventions. The key conventions of the the film to suggest genre are the lack of identity, there are no names mentioned in the film, also no clues as to a specific location, its just somewhere in the countryside and furthermore all we know of the character is her routine no more no less. this lack of identity works with the anonymous side of the character. maybe she is shy and outgoing. the conventions of a thriller or horror match the conventions just mentioned as we don't get familiar with the character. and we dint get familial with the location in a horror, its because of this that we feel on edge and uncomfortable this is what makes the genre successful. therefor our film fits into place well as the genre is horror.

Film Poster Analysis

Finally our film poster :

It has all the key conventions that a film poster should have, including sponsors links. co-operations names such as "BBC films" And "Bafta".

also it includes other key conventions, such as cast billing and a title. a tag line for the title and a series of star ratings. the star ratings are there and are a Very quick way of analysing an expectation of a film. by this i mean people are going to have less compunction to see a film that only has a two star rating. where as a five star rating is quite sort after therefore more and more people would queue up to see a film with a lot more hype and a lot more of an expectation. also however we have to take into consideration the organisation who gave the review as many stars, for example a film about zombies and cars are both quite niche audience films so a niche magazine would be giving the review so maybe nuts or zoo, or FHM magazine or even Little White Lies as those magazines have a specific audience so the film would want to be represent by a similarly niche magazine.

in terms of genre and conventions of the poster w see a girl, pulling a rather peculiar expression as if to suggest fright, or being petrified. furthermore we see a bright well lit background with no possible connotations of danger, as its just a road nothing scary or other worldly about the the location. but the two work in synergy to make the audience question why she has a scared expression in a place that has no fright full connotations at all.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

my audience feedback helped me get past any bias i might have therefor lets me know what real un bias people think of the film.

I used facebook as a means of getting all of my friends to give their analysis of the film and say what they did and indeed didn't like. i started a group messaging conversation that went like this...

Charlie 'jacob' Smith

What did you guys think of the film? Your feedback would help me out loads..

Panida Staplehurst

I think that the way you create tension with the footstep shots and weird camera angles is really good, definitely helps the drama along, and the sound when your names appear makes it scary too!! Nice work chazz xxx

Harvey Ward

Good ending man! Wasn't sure what was happening at the start but it all came clear in the end! :) x

Nicola Horrell

Yeah I agree with you Panida!! Really like the footsteps! Also when the car runs over the camera. Very cleaver!! Xxx

Harry Blunnie

When you see most scary films, you expect the typical movie camera angles you get and seems to fake . With your camera angles you've created the first person view which makes you feel like your that person, like the camera getting run over. like from the films of Blair witch and paranormal activity, which are some of the scariest films Iv seen, this is why it's very clever and can easily be done but affective.

Amy Weston

I think it's cleaver when she opens the fridge and the Camera is already in there, not too sure about the driving though, seems to be too much, but overall I liked it the plot wasn't too confusing and the films makes sense of its self after the cool twist at the end :-) xxx

Kieran Austin

Didn't really like all the driving if I'm honest dude, the rest was good though x

Tim Rogers

Wasn't expecting that twist haha thought it was like a thriller at first!

Maddie Newell

I like it :) I like the twist at the end!! wooohoooo!

By doing this i have learnt that audience feedback is important and has helped me overlook any bias that i had before. for example it hadn't even occured to me that their might be too much driving involved. however due to some of the comments i have realised that there perhaps might be.further more the age range of the feedback ranged from 16 to 19 years of age and therefore would be a perfect starting point as the expected audience that i would expect to see watching the film.

the audience reaction though although critical was also positive. this shows me that besides what problems have been labelled by the audience its also a good film that they like and understand. because of this it hits its purpose and the genre is so unclear towards the end it shows that its also understandable as non of the feedback i received told me that it was un followable and confusing.

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

Bellow you will see a link for a prezi, on the prezi is a step by step walk through of what media technologies i used and for what purpose.

http://prezi.com/xcvwgukzpwgf/edit/