Evaluation transcript
- 1. JordonClifton Evaluation 1) In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? I believe that in many ways I have used, developed and even challenged the conventions of real media products from the media products I have created of a short film, film poster and film review. As my genre for my own short filmwas a drama or could be classed in the sub- genre of dramatic short. I found there were particular conventions of these media products that were specific to this genre. I discovered this by undergoing a wide range of researching and taking up a six-week online course at FutureLearn, called Filmmaking: From Script to Screen. Which showed me a large variety of different genre short films, and dramatic shorts. Allowing me to identify the links between drama short films and their stereotypical conventions that work well. Therefore I decided to use some of these conventions in my work. While developing others to make my media products personal and unique, and to do this further I chose to in some ways challenge these conventions. For my short film I have used conventions which are found in other short films such as having two to three main characters, having a low budget and a twist to the narrative. For my short film I had a main character and two other characters, as I wanted my audience to relate to my characters quickly. Showing how I have conformed to the conventions of short films as I havenāt changed the number of characters typically used. Various short films stuck to this convention and have influenced me to use this convention such as the short film āHello?ā. Which has the main character of a girl, then the love interest of the man and the best friend as the dominant characters. Showing how they have conformed to the conventions of drama and grief based short films and how it has influenced me to do the same. I also had a low budget as I am an A level student therefore donāt have a large amount to spend on the film. Therefore I used the tools I had around me to create my short filmbut to a high standard. I also conformed to narratives used in most short films as I included a plot twist in my storyline, of my character receiving replies to her letters. In terms of my film poster I conformed to conventions as included a large bold font for my film title. Which is used frequently in short filmposters as it clearly informs the audience of the film, and can hint towards the narrative or symbolism created by the image. I then developed this convention as I included a tagline and billing block which can be seen in some drama posters such as āThe Last Lullabyā and āDeparturesā. We see a tagline in a lot of drama posters, meaning I wished to conform to this convention to make it understandable this is my genre to my audience. However developed this form as I included a billing block with the other elements of my poster, to make it different. Finally for my film review I conformed a lot to the conventions of its real media product as I wanted to make it clear it was a film review in a magazine for Empire. Therefore for this I conformed to the conventions that Empire use, making it suitable to be published in this magazine if it would be chosen. I included similar font styles, magazine features, register
- 2. JordonClifton and language and layout to conform to its conventions. Highlighting how I have used various ways to make my filmreview conform to its stereotypical codes and conventions to aim to appeal to a wide audience. Additionally, for the ways I have challenged forms and conventions of real media products by what I have created. I have used some close up shots of my characters but not too many, but decided to use mid and long shots frequently to show the location and situation. I also havenāt used a large amount of the typical props seen in drama short films such as drugs, alcohol and guns. This is because the props I wanted to use would be either symbolic or important to my narrative, and I didnāt want to use stereotypical props of drama films with teenagers in it. This is because I find these films and conforming to these conventions as predictable and less interesting to watch. As the audience can guess what will happen next or already have negative preconceptions of the genre and film. I also didnāt include locations that are conventions of drama films with teens in them in areas such as council estates, flats or streets. As I wanted to challenge this convention and show how a dramatic short film doesnāt have to be set in these locations, and can work well in completely different settings. I wanted my audience to find out for themselves the genre of my short film, mainly through other mise-en-scenes and the narrative therefore I chose to challenge this convention of dramatic short films. I also believe that my filmposter challenges the conventions of real filmposters in some cases, as I have included several elements that are shown in film posters and not in many short filmposters. This is the billing block, short sentence of āA Short filmby Jordon Cliftonā and having the title incorporated in the image. Especially for me having the title not added on top of the image, but being part of the picture. Meant that I challenged the convention of the title in filmposters, as they are normally added over the top of the image and made clear and almost protrude out of the poster. I thought that not having my title as obvious to everyone was more captivating to look at, and was more individual in appearance to other film posters. In terms of my film review I mainly conformed to the conventions and forms of filmreviews. However I did challenge the conventions of the layout of my review, as at the beginning of the review I listed the details of my film with headings such as cast, duration, and certificate. While having a brief outline of the films plot which is similar to the introduction of reviews, but not I choose not to give too much away but to introduce the characters and actors. In conclusion, there are many ways my own media products have used the conventions of other real products related to my genre of drama. I found that when creating my media products I either found myself using these stereotypical conventions without realising, as they have been ingrained into my though processes. Or that I choose to conform to these forms and conventions as I wanted to appeal to a specific audience and have a clear genre demonstrated. Through doing this I also found myself developing these conventions in all aspects of my media products to adapt them to my preferences or opinion. To me this then
- 3. JordonClifton made my media products more appealing to my specific target audience and distinctive from other real media products. I also held this belief when choosing to challenge these conventions as I thought certain aspects of say my short film or review, would look better if I didnāt follow the trend and made my work my own. It also made my media products more challenging to appeal to my specific target audience, but was something I found more interesting to create. 2) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? I found that my main product of a short film and the ancillary texts of my film review and film poster were very effective in the combination of my main product. Because I conveyed the same genre of drama throughout my work, which automatically generated a combination of all of my work as this showed a clear similarity between them all. Which throughout its genre was either conformed to or sometimes challenged by its stereotypical conventions. Making both my main product and ancillary texts combine well due to their similarities and conventions. I found that my ancillary texts combined effectively with my main product as they were convergences of my short film, and were products related to my film. By having my ancillary texts being a poster and review about my short film it automatically creates a strong and effective link between all my work. As they are primary products of my short film, advertising and reviewing it before its āreleaseā. There are also aspects of my short filmshown in my ancillary texts linking it directly to the props, locations and characters of the film. This means that my audience can see that all of my work is connected and is focused around the same topic. Effectively demonstrating the combination of my main product and the ancillary tasks I have created. In terms of the house style used for all of my work they appear to be similar as I have linked them all together through aspects such as using stills frommy filmin my filmreview, using props of my short film as the main image on my film poster, using the filmtitle as the writing on the envelope etc. By using this I believe all of my work looks more professional and relates to symbolism, which is dominant in my genre of drama. By using props as the main image of my film poster, this strongly creates symbolism as it represents the topic and themes of my short film without having to watch the film. It also then makes viewers more attracted to watch my film as they want to understand its narrative and may be engaged by the ideas represented. I have also aimed to create the same kind of layout in terms of the written aspects of my work. Aiming to create the theme of grief and drama throughout my short filmand film poster, and having the same serious and sometimes informal tone in my film review and short film with its dialogue. Additionally, I found that my main product converged into the ancillary texts I created as they linked to promote and advertise my short film. I found that when creating my short film I had set ideas and planning of what my film was going to look like. But I also found that I had set ideas and images in my head of what I desired my ancillary texts to look like as well. However as I went about creating my short film I found that I wanted to incorporate
- 4. JordonClifton more aspects of my film review and poster from my short film. As it looked much more effective and conformed to the conventions of film posters and reviews. I found that I wanted to create similarities throughout my work and clearly show a convergence and link of my genre and film. Through this convergence I wanted to show the development from my short filmto how itās converged into its advertising and promotion. I believe that the combination of my main product and its ancillary texts are very effective as a clear link is demonstrated throughout all of my work. Allowing audiences and viewers of all of my work can see theyāre connected through different concepts such as genre, language, layout etc. I also believe that the combination of my main product with my ancillary texts have worked well, as it shows how I have created my ancillary texts first setting the audience up for my main product. And giving them a specific impression and idea of my filmbefore they have seen it. However, all of my media products are different forms of media meaning that although they are all similar because of several aspects. They are in themselves different due to the nature of the product they are. Meaning they are most likely to address slightly different audiences needs and may be read differently due to the individual. For instance if we follow the Uses and Gratification Model developed by Blumler and Katz, it can demonstrate how my media products may meet different audiences needs due to being read differently by individuals. I believe that my target audience watching my short filmwill interpret and watch my media for entertainment, which will allow them to escape or be diverted from problems, relaxing, filling time etc. As this is the main aim of my short film to entertain my audience and captivate them. Although other audiences watching my short filmmay be watching it for information, learning and finding out about certain events, for instance learning about my charactersā lives and teenage grief. Highlighting how my short filmcan address the needs of slightly different audiences in terms of their needs as they may read my film differently due to subjectivism and their interpretations. In terms of my film review I believe that it will attract my target audience because of the content and genre of the film. But could also attract a slightly different audience because I produced it to appear like a film review in Empire Magazine. This means that I may attract readers of Empire Magazine as they may want to read this style of review. I believe that depending on the type of people reading my film review they will interpret my work differently and therefore have varied needs. Using the Uses and Gratification model my target audience would read my review for entertainment and information. As they would desire to learn more about my filmand be entertained by the language and tone within the content. Other audiences who may be more attracted to the review because of its publisher. Would read my review because of integration and social interaction, which is identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging. They may feel attracted to read my review as they see my work as a way to follow others and belong to a specific group.
- 5. JordonClifton For my filmposter I may attract different audiences due to the different needs they have as they may be looking to be informed about the short film and its details. And they will read my poster differently as they will see it as a way of informing them of what they need to know. Or other audiences may read my poster as an advertisement and entertainment for them, seeing it as a poster that hints towards the narrative and short filmgenre. In conclusion, I have found that due to the differences of the type of media products I have created. They can attract different audiences other than my target audience, who then read my texts differently due to the needs they are aiming to meet through my media. Although, my main product and ancillary texts due to their effective combination through my research and planning, do attract the same target audience. Highlighting how my project as a whole is interweaved as a clear audience is established, and links are conveyed throughout generating the same effects. This means that through these aspects my media products link together and produce almost a singular project as they are so effectively combined. Overall, I believe this has been created by following the conventions of short films, reviews and posters and of the conventions of these drama media products during my planning and production. 3) What have you learned from youraudience feedback? Throughout the planning of all my media products I tested my ideas and thoughts on various focus groups. This was by creating a large amount of questionnaires and an online survey on different parts of my short film, poster and review planning. As well as asking for feedback on specific parts I wasnāt as confident on or felt I needed another opinion on. Through this exercise I received feedback from my questionnaires through the answers given on the questions I had created. Giving me effective feedback and different things to think about changing. When undergoing this task I decided that my focus group for all questionnaires would be the age of my target audience which was 16-18. This was very effective as it gave me an accurate and reliable idea of how my target audience would view my work, and what specifically they would enjoy about my media products. However I thought that although my target audienceās gender was female, that having males would be useful in terms of its feedback for my secondary target audience. This is because I can have a wider variation on opinions and ideas, as I wish for a wide audience to be appealed to watch my short film. In terms of the different questionnaires I created for my short film, I produced three questionnaires on specific parts of my planning which were location, character and music and lighting. I believed these were the main aspects I will have to take into consideration when producing my short film, and are the aspects that audiences will take note of first. Generating a certain impression about the film from the beginning. Therefore I found it crucial to test these aspects on a focus group of the ages of my target audience. Asking them questions such as āDo you believe that my characters are suitable for my filmās genre of a drama and will convey realism?ā and āDo you think that my location for the mugging scene is an effective location to create fear and tension? If youāve ticked yes, please explain
- 6. JordonClifton why belowā. Most questions I asked were yes or no questions giving me a clear answer to what I wanted to know. However some were questions with yes or no answers but I prompted my audience to give a reason why they answered what they did. These questions were the most useful as I received the opinions of my audience, reassuring me the choices I wanted to make about my characters, location and music and lighting were going to work, as well as how other concepts may not work as well. Therefore I needed to improve this before I produced my short film, to suit my audience better. Additionally, through the positive feedback I received from my audience, I didnāt only become more confident in the decisions I wanted to make. But I realised that the narrative and genre of my filmwas going to work well with my target audience, as the choices I wanted to make were perceived well in the questionnaires. Therefore this reassured me that the changes I made to my narrative near the beginning of the planning of my film, was an effective decision. As my new idea would be more relatable and engaging to the audience I had in mind. Meaning I went forward with the ideas I had originally and continued to plan my short film. I then created a pitch for my short film giving details on my favourite genres and subgenres, details on my chosen genre, my inspiration, target audience and my short filmās narrative. Which I presented to a focus group of the age of my target audience, and then asked them to fill out a survey about what worked well or didnāt in my pitch. I found that there was all positive feedback on the yes and no questions, as well as the questions that prompted for responses. Making me more confident in the choices I had firmly made for my short film, and once again on the other aspects I planned to use of location, character and music and lighting after receiving individual feedback for each aspect. I found that testing these aspects on another focus group but as firm choices in my film, reassured me that my narrative was going to work well. This particular exercise taught me that from having positive feedback from my audience that my short film, would be perceived effectively if released in cinemas and would attract the right audience. Also that the final choices I planned to make to my short film would work well, and that I would go ahead with them. Therefore I went forward with the choices I planned to make for the production of my film. In addition, for my film poster I also created various questionnaires for different sets of focus groups for all the vital aspects of a film poster. This included font style, colour of text and poster layout as I created a series of mock-ups and drafts. Through wide research I looked at the typical conventions of drama posters, and noted what worked well. I then planned what I wanted to include on my poster giving me a rough idea. However I wanted to test the main aspects of my poster on my target audience, to make sure my final poster was unique and interesting. Therefore after the planning of my poster I created questionnaires starting with the smaller parts of my poster to the biggest. My questionnaire on the font style of my poster gave my audience a range of fonts that I thought would look effective to choose from. After this I prompted people to respond why they choose this, and also asked if using more than one font style would be effective with their response. The feedback I was given was very helpful as it narrowed down the options I had. As well as
- 7. JordonClifton validating my decisions with the answers given such as āyes more than one font would help differentiate between different parts of the posterā. After the feedback I was given I decided to use the most popular font style of Kartika and Orator Std as my main fonts, as I knew they would be received successfully. For the colour font questionnaire I created it showed me that out of the options I thought would look successful, black and white were the most popular ones. Therefore this made me trial out the two colours against the main image I had chosen. Where I could then see which colour worked the best, which was white. This then lead me to choose white as the colour of my text in my poster, with the help of the feedback given by my audience. Before this feedback I had decided on the main image I wanted to use for my poster, so with the feedback from my font style and colour. I started creating mock-ups and first drafts of my filmposter with the decisions I had come to. I then had three main drafts of my poster but wasnāt too sure on which was the most effective to convey my genre and narrative. This meant I created another questionnaire to test on a wider range of people of different ages as I wanted varied views. I asked questions enquiring which poster they preferred and why, if the text is integrated with the text well and other questions. I received mainly positive responses giving me feedback that poster A was the most popular. While I received other feedback which helped me to see that certain aspects of particular posters may not work so well with a wide audience. For example having the logos of Facebook and Twitter under the billing block may not look as effective, as a large amount of my focus group answered no. This then discouraged me from including this aspect in my final draft, and clearly demonstrated how different impressions can be conveyed about my short film through the layout of its poster. Overall, I received a large amount of feedback about each aspect of my filmposter, and the opinions of my target audience. This then aided my confidence in the choices I wanted to make making me go forward with them in the production of my poster. As well as discouraging me to not include other parts in my poster which I then took out. Finally, for my film review I planned what I wished to include within it, and gave myself a rough outline of its layout. I then created a first draft of my film review, and thought I would test my film review on a focus group to see their opinion, and also to see where I could improve specifically. I decided to slightly move away from using a questionnaire and created an online survey for a focus group to fill out. I gave them five questions to answer such as which parts are the most effective, giving them options to choose from. If there is a mixture of formal and informal language throughout, if my review is similar to Empire Magazine etc. Some questions also allowed my group to give their own answer or improvements on my review. Helping me to see what changes and decisions I needed to make to my review for the final draft. I found a mixture of positive and negative feedback from my focus group and a wide range of answers to the questions I had created. I found that the most effective parts of my review were the image, title, language and tone. With less people answering that the content and magazine features were as successful, highlighting how this is something I need to look at again. Other questions I asked were mainly positive allowing me to see my first
- 8. JordonClifton attempts were good and that not all of my review had to be changed when redrafting. I also created a question that asked if there were any improvements I could make to my film review, prompting for a response. I received lots of different answers giving me direct advice and feedback on what I could improve on. This feedback and the responses I received through the other questions asked, helped me to see there were still improvements needed. And the responses given by the audience I plan to read my review, gave me specific areas to add to. Because of this I went back to my first draft of my review and changed and improved the specific areas my audience said to improve on. While adding aspects such as more accurate magazine features and altering the content of the review. Overall, Iāve learned from my audience feedback what and where I need to improve on in all my media products. I found that testing each stage of my planning on different focus groups, gave me accurate and clear guidance on the areas I wasnāt as confident on. And what needed to be improved on from a different persons perspective. I found that using questionnaires and surveys were the most effective ways to receive responses on the questions I needed answering the most of all my media products. And through receiving feedback Iāve gained a good understanding of what my target audience find effective and may not like as much. Meaning that before producing and creating my media products I could make changes to the planning, to make my products much more effective in terms of their purpose. 4) How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? During the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages I used various different media technologies to showcase my work and technology skills. Throughout the year and all stages of my media studies course, I have used Blogger, which is an online blog to upload and post my work onto. Throughout my media studies course at A2 I have created posts on this website on any ideas or coursework I have generated. This made all of my work more accessible as they were all in one area, so audiences who wish to view my work can do so easily. I have demonstrated different techniques using technology for the presentation of my posts such as embedding videos from YouTube, uploading work onto SlideShare and then onto my blog, inserting images and creating my own videos and uploading them to my blog. Also as my work is published online it demonstrates how all of my work is real media with my target audience. Making it more relatable and relevant with the new media that is constantly emerging today. I believe that I have used new media in all stages of my coursework especially throughout the research and planning. But have used computer- editing programmes to construct my short film, Photoshop and Microsoft Word for my film review too. Highlighting how several media technologies and different forms of technology have been used, conveying that the media I have produced is real media. I also believe that the Internet has brought about media studies, where real media is made. As this has allowed all different types of media including the media products I created to be
- 9. JordonClifton put onto the Internet. Where a broad audience can view it and enjoy it. Through the Internet research I have been doing I have seen that media is used for lots of different reasons. It can be used to educate or inform audiences, publish work as well as advertise and promote media. This has then made the media grow in power and influence as itās something that is incorporated in our everyday lives. Therefore by posting my work online and on Blogger it makes my media products real media and conventional. Allowing my audience to explore mine and others media products that are put online and around the world. I also heavily relied on the Internet in my researching stages to look for inspiration on short films, to identify their conventions and my favourite genre. I looked at various short films on YouTube and the website Future Shorts with different genreās, where I then decided I wanted my short film to be a dramatic short. This then led me to my planning stages of all my work where I continued to use the Internet for inspiration. Additionally, media technologies of the Internet have helped me largely in the research stages of all my media products. As there is such a wide variety of short films, filmposter and reviews online and from different institutions. This has allowed me to identify the conventions of these products giving me ideas and inspiration of what to include in my own work. As well as the use of Blogger which has allowed me a specific place to showcase my work, and still be easily accessible to my audience. Other media technologies I have used for my short film is shooting my film on my iPhone, and using the computer-editing programmes of PowerDirector 11 and iMovie to edit it together. Highlighting how I have used more than one programme to construct my film together. I decided to use my iPhone when shooting my film, as I didnāt have the resources to invest in my own camera. However I knew that my camera on my phone was of high quality, therefore using it would still allow my filmto be a successful production. It also meant I always had my phone on me so if there were any locations I thought would work well in my filmI could shoot it effectively. I found that using this form of media technology was also easier when uploading my footage onto my computer. As it could be quickly plugged into my computer and accessed when editing my film. In terms of the editing programmes I used for my construction stages I initially started using PowerDirector 11 which was the schools editing programme. I edited my film opening together and only found it easy to use because of previously using the programme for my media filmopening in year 12. However, I found that when using iMovie for the first time making analysis videos on short films Iād watched. That it was much easier and effective than PowerDirector. The quality of my footage remained while editing and enlarging my clip, was easier to overlap music over the top of dialogue, and was more straightforward than PowerDirector. I then decided that I wanted to use iMovie as the editing programme for all of my short film, and transferred my work over. Although I made this change during the construction stages of my short film, I found that using two different media technologies gave me good experience and knowledge on editing techniques. Giving me more ideas on what to do with the footage of my film, and even changing ideas I had in my planning which improved my film overall.
- 10. JordonClifton In terms of the research and planning for my filmposter I also used the Internet to look up other drama short filmposters to give me inspiration, and to identify the stereotypical conventions of these posters. Through research on the Internet I found that symbolism is used a lot in the genre of drama and when looking at drama posters it was evident this was used. Therefore I decided that I wanted to use this aspect in my poster and link the image back to my film, signifying that my media products are intertwined together. I went about searching on Google Images and websites to find drama film posters which used symbolism, and found several that were inspirational such as It Follows, Submarine and Theory of Everything. I then went about planning how my film poster would look like by posting my thoughts on my blog and testing my ideas on focus groups through questionnaires created on Microsoft Word. After these stages I moved onto the construction of my poster, by taking various shots of the main image I desired on my iPhone. Uploading this onto the computer and using Adobe Photoshop to edit my poster. I found that using this programme wasnāt straightforward right away but I found that after using it for a couple of weeks I discovered more tools and ways to edit. Using Photoshop I edited the final image I decided to use and increased its brightness, sharpened the image, emphasised the darkness of the leaves and other techniques. I then constructed the tagline and billing block, as well as the short sentence of āA Short Film by Jordon Cliftonā. I used more than one font style and kept the colour of all the text white to stand out over my image. I also dominantly changed the size and appearance of the text in my billing block to make the headings smaller, and the names of people in bold to convey it is a billing block. By using this form of media technology it allowed me to create all the poster conventions I desired, to generate in my planning stages and made my final product look successful and relevant to my genre. Finally, for the research and planning of my filmreview I once again used the Internet to research online reviews of varied genre films and including drama. By looking on websites such as EmpireOnline, PluggedIn and The Guardian I identified the language, tone and register used of each institution. As well as its layout and linguistic features, allowing me to decide how I want my filmreview represented to my audience. And giving me a wider scope of online film reviews, letting me form opinions of them before I had seen magazine film reviews. By using media technology in my researching online it gave me inspiration as I took note of areas I liked in various reviews, giving me ideas on what my review could look like when constructing it. I also moved away from digital media and looked at magazines with film reviews and noting the differences between this and online reviews. I looked at magazineās such as Empire magazine and Sight & Sound which had a large amount of reviews and drama films. To me these reviews were more engaging to read and look at so I planned to generate my filmreview as if from a magazine, which I decided would be Empire. I then went about putting my ideas and planning onto posts on Blogger, to showcase my thinking and planning of my film review in stages. Due to this decision I wanted to create my film review with a media technology that wouldnāt create any restrictions such as positioning or layout etc. Therefore I decided to use
- 11. JordonClifton Microsoft Word in terms of media technology. As I was familiar with how to work the programme and made the constructing of my film review quicker and easier. Word is more typically used when creating documents so had a wide variety options in terms of font as you could change the colour, size, style positioning and more. I could also add images, titles, shapes, text boxes, headings and other aspects to make my filmreview look like a magazine page. By using this form of media technology it gave me a wide choice of what to do with my review and how I wished it to look like. Therefore I spent some time looking at examples of Empire magazine reviews, and gathered ideas on what I liked. I then incorporated these ideas with a slight twist to make my work unique and came up with my first draft. Additionally, when I received feedback from my focus group and decided to make changes to my review. I knew what I could do with the tools I had on Word, so knew how to refine my improvements to make them much more effective. Enhancing my review altogether and leading me to being happy with my work and having my final product. Finally, for the evaluation stages of all my media products I have gone back and used the same media technologies to create an evaluation video of all my work. I first created my transcript which was typed out on Microsoft Word as this is straightforward and quick to use. As well as with the guidance of a PowerPoint presentation with information on what to include in my evaluation. I have then gone about taking screenshots of different stages of my work and including images of things Iām talking about such as institutions, specific examples of media products and my short film stills. After this I created a video using iMovie once again, showing the screenshots and images I have taken in the order I speak about them. I have recorded the transcript of myself talking, and put it underneath the images and background music I incorporated. Making an evaluation video for each of the four questions answered. This makes my evaluation more engaging and captivating to watch as itās a visual piece of work. However I plan to include the transcript below all the videos I will put in my blog post, in case my audience miss anything or want to actually see what Iāve written. Demonstrating how I have incorporated media technologies from all the other stages of my media coursework, to create my evaluation videos. Which successfully demonstrates all of the skills I have learnt over the course in terms of the different forms of technologies I have decided to use.