Target audience

Main task

Prelim task

Question 7

- Question 7- Looking back at the preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Looking back at the preliminary task, and now at the main task I feel that the change I have noticed is quiet large, from the different shots I have used, to the flow of the film.

Firstly, when I did the preliminary task, coming up with an idea on what to do wasn’t so hard, because my group and I didn’t need to think of a whole plot idea, all we needed was an idea to last only less than a minute, so it was fairly easy to come up with a treatment, however in the main task the process in coming up with an idea was much harder and complex, because the people within the group want their idea to be the  main story line, and  we all had different plots for the story line, also the process in which we had to decide the genre wasn’t difficult, but it was something that we didn’t have to do when we were doing the prelim task, which made my group and I have more of a discussion on what genre we should do, we first chose action, but after some further debate, we chose romcom. After that we finally came up with the plot ide, and it started becoming easier to further improve the story. Once we came up with our final storyline, we had to made a story board, when doing the story board for the prelim task, I found it pretty quick and easy, because there was only one person in charge of the story board and that was me, having done art, I felt like I had more skill in presenting the story board well. Whereas in the main task, the story board had to be very detailed, and we had to capture every shot we need precisely , but my group and I co-operated very well, and we were organised, meaning we got everything on time, and analysed it throughout.

Also the location for the prelim task wasn’t complicated or hard, I just felt there were more problems than I had in my main task, because in the prelim, because the location was in school, so there were students or teachers coming in and out of our location, meaning we had to wait for a certain time to film, that was mainly all the problems, from this I learnt that we have to choose a location with few people, so my group and I weren’t disrupted, for the main task, I decided that my group were going to film at my house, because it had all the props needed for the film, and the story board shows the main character waking up in her room, and getting ready in her house etc., meaning that the best place for the filming was a house,  we chose my house because it was big, allowing us to have enough filming space, also it was fairly close to the school, meaning it didn’t go past the restriction of the equipment. There still were a few problems when we were filming like the fact that we had to film outside for the establishing shot at the beginning, and because we were filming on a road that meant that cars were able to drive on the road and that stopped us from filming sometimes.

During the production the continuity was checked by one person within the group, this was an easy decision as the person volunteered to be the person in charge of continuity for our main task, this helped as we found fewer mistakes than I originally found in the prelim task, in the prelim task I noticed that there wasn’t anyone in charge of continuity, there went many mistakes in there prelim, but I’m sure that if we did have someone checking the continuity that the prelim would have been floorless, that was something I took on board when making the main task, as we constantly took shots making sure that the hair, makeup, costume etc., was the same. Something else I took on board when creating the main task, that I didn’t do for the prelim was ‘variety of shots’, in the prelim I don’t feel like I experimented with the different shots we could do, so when it came to the main task we included many other shots for example mirror shots. The location used for filming the main task was my house, there were a few problems like the fact when we were filming outside we had to do an establishing shot on the road which was annoying as it disrupted us from filming sometimes, which shortened our time. Other than that I feel like the location we used was very good as it contained all the props needed for the filming, which was good for our group as they didn’t need to carry any props, or had the job to bring something and then forget it, meaning it was less of a struggle for me and the group. The prelim task was similar as there were a few problems, but nothing that really disrupted the group and I, everything was solved in minimal time.

Lastly post production and feedback, when editing the prelim I noticed that time management was a key factor, editing for the prelim had to be done quite quickly, which was hard because it was our first time editing which made is more of a struggle as we only had 2 hours to edit, whereas in the main task we had more control ad information in editing, also we got to experiment with editing in different styles which was good because we had more time to do all these things to our film. Sometimes managing the time was difficult than expected as there were many deadlines when things had to be sorted, for example the actual filming of the prelim had to be done within 2-3 hours, so we had to be organised and manage our time well, as well as getting good shots. This was however all sorted as the group and I had everything in control and made sure that we stayed on target. The feedback I had got for my prelim was that the camera was sometimes shaky which is what I took on board and made sure wasn’t in my main task, and I succeeded on that point, for the main task we didn’t have many issues, most were actually compliments, the only thing people had said was check the continuity on the titles, as some had surnames and others didn’t. In the prelim there wasn’t any non -diagetic noise, all was on screen, meaning it was easy because all we needed to do was remember the dialogue, however in the main task we had struggles as we needed to use some music to fit the genre of romcom, which wasn’t hard, but it was hard trying to find the right soundtrack, we used minimal dialogue, because the main character uses her facial expressions to show her feelings.

Question 6

Media – Q6 – what have you leant about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

When filming we used a lot of hardware for instance trackers, we used those to film a tracking shot at the beginning of the film on the road. I learnt how to film the shot, and that when filming the shot you can’t be too fast or slow, it has to be perfect in order to make the shot look high-quality. We also used the tripod, we sued this to put the camera on, in order to get the camera perfectly straight, also to create different angle shot, for example the high angle shot used when Anne falls on the floor, I was able to learn how to change the tripod in order to make the shots happen, also how to assemble the tripod, which was important because I wanted to show that i could help with the set up of the equipment as well as other jobs, like lighting.                                                                             During the process in which we  were filming we had to make sure that no rules were broken for example the 180 degree rule, this rule is a imaginary line that you can’t pass when filming, for example if you are filming someone from the left hand side, you have to stay on that side at all times, secondly we made sure that the we caught our shots ‘match on action’, this means we have to make the shots flow without any mistakes and that all the shots once put together matched the previous shot. Every group also had to do a safety shot, which is when you film all the shots in one big frame in case you other shots get lost or so, so we made sure we did a safety shot in case. I learnt how to do different angles as I said before using the tripod, here are all the times we used angles in our shots, the high angle shot used when Anne fell on the floor from her bed and low angle when the camera is on the floor looking at Anne from a view from her feet.                                                                 I also learnt how to use the camera for the first time, so I got to understand what does what on the camera and the different tools e.g. the different settings, manual and automatic, during the process it filming had to be done on the setting ‘automatic’, that was one mistake my group had done for the beginning, as the camera was on manual making the shots a little fussy, but this was later sorted out, and solved.  

We also used software, the editing programme we used to complete the film for instance. I learnt probably the most when editing, than actually filming because I had never used any editing software before so it was good to have the chance to challenge myself. I learnt how to cut different shots for example the slice tool, this was helpful in a great deal, because we needed to shorten or get rid of certain shots to make the film less than 3 minutes. Another tool that I learnt was the making of the titles, making the titles was one key element to make our opening sequence look more professional, it was easy once learnt, and after finishing the titles it showed me how quick and easy it can be to make titles only once you learn it.

The main things I learnt that I didn’t know before were mostly editing, for instance the whole process in which you come up with the final product, like cutting, I knew you had to cut, but I didn’t know what tools to use, this will be useful especially if I do media again next year or in the future. I also learnt how to use the camera, this was the most important, because if you don’t know how to use the camera then filming would take longer and you could maybe mistakenly not even filmed anything when you thought you were, so that was diffentatly important, i learnt how to put the tape in and out, I learnt how to record, stop, play, rewind etc.

Question 5

Question 5- how did you attract/address your audience?

At the beginning of my opening sequence is shows a big title of our production company, this is so that it’s the first thing they see and will catch their attention, the title is on a street which is the location of the house, which Anne lives in, it then goes to a panning shot of the street and then a close-up/ cutaway of the window which indicates that we will now see the main characters room. We go to a wide shot showing the main character sleeping showing its the morning and she has to wake up soon, after we hear the diagetic sound of the alarm clock, and Anne hits it and drops it on to the floor showing her being lazy and clumsy. She tries to reach for the alarm on the floor, and is too tired to get up and pick it that she ends up falling on the floor lying lifelessly on the room floor, showing that she has no intention of getting up soon, it then goes to a cutaway of her looking in the mirror and slapping her face and sarcastically saying ‘gorgeous’ to herself, showing that she doesn’t take herself seriously, this creates humour and a light hearted feel , which would appeal to our target audience, because they could relate to being sarcastic towards themselves and others.  After she goes towards her wardrobe showing this is when she starts to get ready, as she decides on what to wear she throws out her clothing showing she is messy and is indecisive, as she the walks on to go to the bath room she scratches her bum, representing her as a disgusting and odd female, as most females would worry about what others think of them, or have at least some manners, which she obviously doesn’t care for. As Anne goes to brush her teeth she puts the toothpaste on her teeth first then starts brushing which instantly creates a humours atmosphere, and a certain judgement upon the character which would be that she is weird and strange. This is one of the main ways we attracted our audience, because they would want to know how this character ends up getting a love interest.  During the opening sequence we have the titles placed in different random places, and in colour that are similar to their surroundings which makes you familiar with the main colours of the setting, also adds a childish feel, because the colours shown are very quirky and bright.

The knowledge the target audience would already have of the genre would be quite a lot, as the codes and conventions in many romcom’s  are the same, or similar, they would have to know the main story line, the characters for example, female main character, love interest, main friends, bully etc , This would make people want to see our film because not only would we have those typical codes and conventions, but we would also have a unique story line, my film does have similar movies to follow such as Never been kissed, but the success of that film was so high, which shows a promising future for our film because I guess that the target audience like the idea of a strange female main character, a this idea of secret identity.

Question 4

  Question 4 – Who would be the audience for you media product?

The target audience for our film is females, more specifically:

-          Age of 13 – 18, i have chosen this age, because our movie is more light hearted and the content involved is fairly childish, but still is mature for the age range we are targeting at.

-          All ethnicities

-          They would have an interest in mainly comedy, fashion, romance, friendship, and a light hearted story, also would be maybe interested in sports which have minimal violence such as swimming.

We chose this target audience because our movie is in the market of romance, and research has showed us the mass market of the genre ‘romcom’ is for females, and this is where we would get the money from, unlike males, who would rather watch action packed films . So it would make sense to target towards the people who are more likely going to watch the movie and pay money for it.

The main expectations that the audience would have of the movie is the different social groups in school for example: bullies, geeks, teenagers, jocks etc. They would also expect the obvious romance between a boy and a girl, meaning a happily ever after, but they would also expect some problems accruing along the way. For example in Never Been Kissed, there was a happily ever after, but there was problems along the way, such as keeping her identity a secret, so she doesn’t get into trouble, but keeping her identity a secret becomes a struggle when falls for someone who thinks the girl is someone who she really isn’t.

The different codes and conventions that would attract them to watch out film would be to see what happens when Anne goes on the dating website, which is seen in the opening sequence, I think it would intrigue them in wanting to know who she ends up falling for, also the story line says that she puts a fake profile picture on the dating website to make herself look/ seem more attractive, which would make the audience want to see the transformation of Anne to look like the profile picture, because it adds humour and suspense, because we want to see how the love interest finds out Anne’s true identity.  Lastly the codes and conventions are: boy meets girl, bully tries to cause trouble, untrue identity, love, friendship, and secrets.

-          Other genres that the target audience would probably like would be family, animation, drama and comedy.

-          These would be the most likely movies that they would have watched recently or further in the past: crazy stupid love,

Devil wears Prada

Never been kissed

Cinderella story

Think like a man

Bend it like beck ham

Valentine’s Day

Easy A

Question 3

Question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? 

Since my group’s movie is a low budget independent film, it makes sense to use a distributor who sells the same kind of movies, and research has shown me that not all independent films are right for my movie, because their films are too high in quality than mine. Warp X distribute low budget independent films for example ‘This Is England’, which made a immense success, which shows they maybe too high as well for my groups film, but they do distribute similar movies, so I think that they would be best for the film I’ve made. I also think that the way independent films distribute is right for my film because it’s simple and a cheaper alternative, since we haven’t gained any profit, I like the way they work, producer => distribution => theatre => customer.

Other ways that I could distribute my film is free sites and social networking links, for example YouTube, Facebook etc. They would be decent, since it’s a free way of getting the movie out there; it’s also an easy way of getting views. Having said that, there is a chance that not many people see it and its fails, which is another reason why actually using independent film distributors would be better, because people would be able to find is easier, since it’s on a website, and has cheap advertising on the website.

I don’t know if Warp X would consider distributing my film, which is why I feel that if they don’t, I would have to settle for YouTube because there’s a 100% chance for me to upload it, so that means I don’t have to ask anyone to distribute it, also its free, allowing me to not waste money in case no one watches the film.

Question 2

Question 2 – How does your opening sequence represent particular social groups?

The main social group shown in my opening sequence is diffentatly ‘teens’, I say this, because our main character ‘Anne’ is of 17 years old, and has the room and clothing of a teenager, from the childish clothing of leggings and a simple brown short sleeved T-shirt, to a colourful and flower overdosed room.  The opening sequence shows Anne waking up and doing her normal everyday routine, in a very unusual way.

 Mise en scene – the costume of Anne would portray her as a careless and messy girl, which suggests that her sense of style is lost, showing she needs help. The makeup is al natural which tells us she is very young, to portray her age across simply, and lastly her facial expressions show her to be a very disgusting teenager as she constantly sneers and touches her retainers and then moves her face like a animal .

Sound – the music in the background is quirky and childish which represents the movie as a light hearted film, and the main character also to be quite child like, and doesn’t really act her age fully . When Anne wakes up and goes to the mirror she slaps her face and says ‘gorgeous’ in a sarcastic tone showing that she doesn’t take herself seriously.

Camera- she is always in the certain of the frame showing she is the main character, but there are times when the camera is pointing down at her showing her weak side and lazy personality.

The key characters in the movie are –

Anne

Amy

Kevin

Max

In the opening sequence we only see Anne, the representation of Anne is that she is clumsy, careless, lonely, strange and is slightly envious, we see her envious side when she vandalises the pictures in the magazine, as she makes negative comments regarding the way they look and the fashionable clothing being worn.

We came to the decision that I was going to be the actor in the movie, because I had skill from taking Drama at GCSE’S, but only that, I wanted to act because I felt more comfortable doing so than others from the group, and I didn’t mind doing the various things the director needed me to do in order to closely as possible to be the character of Anne the geek.

The different directions i was told to do were for example when I go to brush my teeth I put the tooth paste on my teeth first, then start brushing, to give the character a sense of strange which is needed of her to show the audience that she isn’t normal. Also I had to show my dark side/ envious side when I start scribbling on my fashion magazine and quickly writing negative words on the models faces and body, showing that I’m a insecure and jealous character as well.

I strongly believe that our main character shares many similarities towards ‘Josie Geller’ in the movie Never Been Kissed.  They both don’t care about their appearance, or have no idea on how to present themselves, also they both are very lonely and have a goal in being in love, and living happily ever after, they also both have a big clumsy side, although they are smart, they can’t do something without something bad happening to them or someone else. Also in Never Been Kissed Josie is in disguise, which is very comparable to our character Anne, meaning not only are the characters the parallel but the story line is too. 

Another character Anne is similar too is Laney, from She’s All That, again they both are smart, yet clumsy, they both don’t care what they look or dress like, and they both want to be loved by someone.

Question 1

Media Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? My opening sequence differently follows the codes and conventions of the genre of ‘Romcom’, but we have developed some of the conventions to make it unique. For example, the main character Anne isn’t the kind of girl you would get in a romcom the girl tends to be a bit more attractive, an Anne isn’t someone with a kind face, Anne also doesn’t act like a lady which is entertaining because we want to know how she progresses throughout the movie. All the other characters follow the codes and conventions o the romcom genre. The use of sound in terms of diagetic sounds are quite minimal, as there isn’t much dialogue other than her sarcastic comment to herself in the mirror, but the character on screen does make sounds to express her emotions which show that she is a girl who doesn’t talk much, which can follow the conventions of a shy female lead, but her shyness is contradicted by her disgusting and careless personality. The use of sound in terms of non- diagetic sound tracks diffentatly follows the genre nicely, because its childish and quirky, and promises a light hearted comedy to the audience which is good, because they know from the beginning what they are in for. The Mise en scene follows in many ways of the codes of the genre, but they have been altered to fit the story line of my movie, for example, at the beginning of the opening sequence we see that Anne is in pyjamas, which is fine, but after she gets ready we see her sense of style that changes the conventions slightly, because we think that a female lead would be attractive in also the way they dress, of have a inkling of what looks good, but Anne doesn’t, at all, and the fact that she puts the new clothes on top of her bed clothes show she is a very different female lead then what we would of thought. This again is good for the audience’s entertainment, because they want to find out more weird habits of the character. The story line is very similar to the narrative line on Josie Geller in Never Been Kissed, because in that movie Josie the main female character is also and outcast, and can have weird habits, also is lonely, similar to Anne. What is really similar is the way that the 2 characters are dressed, they both have minimal makeup to show that they aren’t fussed about looking good since no one is even looking at them, they also have no sense of style which instantly shows that they aren’t popular, showing that they have also developed on the codes and conventions of the genre, and have had a success in doing so, because the audience liked the change in female lead. Also Laney from She’s all That is similar in the way that Anne and Josie’s character profile is quiet comparable. The editing follows the conventions as it is simple so and doesn’t confuse the audience. We still have put our own spin of changing the way we did our editing so that it does create humour, and stays similar, and this is shown when Anne goes to the bathroom in the opening sequence, and as she gets ready and brush’s her teeth we cut the shots to make it quicker, but make it look flashy. The camera has also been developed in a way to show that the main character is weak, for example when Anne falls to the floor and can’t get up, we use a high angle shot to show her lifeless and powerless, which creates wittiness as she is young, but acts like an old lady who doesn’t have energy or strength. I also use a lot of mirror shots to contradict the character of Anne, because we see Anne looking in the mirror 3 times, showing she does kind of care about her appearance, but this is strange because she doesn’t make an effort when she gets ready, which makes us think that does she like looking like a mess, which creates a strange judgement on her. The one theme we can clearly see from the opening sequence is the theme of ‘teenagers’, which follow the conventions of Romcom’s as the audience we are targeting too are 13-18 year old girls, which his good so that our audience can relate to the character on screen. We also developed the character of the teenager, to make her seem like a non stereotypical teen, as she isn’t into fashion and beauty, because her perception of beauty is different, which intrigues the audience into finding out who she chooses to fall for.