Evaluation%20presentation
- 2. For my media coursework I have been given a main task to follow. I have created a two minute opening of my film called ‘The Truth’. My films open with the Sandbach Studios and Coulter Productions to show who has distributed my film, I also used opening credits such as the title which sweeps across the screen and the actors names: Sarah De L’Ecluse, Sarah Davis and Shammie Robshaw-Bryan, the actors credits fade in and out of the corners of the screen revealing who they are subtly. I decided to use a young cast in order for my target audience to connect with the characters. My film has a genre of adventure and is set in the small town of Sandbach, in my preliminary task I filmed in the Glasshouse bar in the centre of the town, I wanted to film in a quiet location in order for my camera to pick up the sound clearly.
- 3. My main task, ‘The Truth’ uses forms and conventions of editing in existing films, I have chosen to open my main task with a white title centred on a black background which sweeps across the screen, I have been influenced to do this by films like ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’; I think this worked well as I felt the white text on the black background was very simple, tidy but bold which represents the truth in reality being very blunt and to the point. I have also used some conventions of casting; I have decided to use an all-female cast, which I have taken this idea from existing films such as ‘4.3.2.1.’ Using an all- female cast would create a more specific target audience and bring 12- 16 year old girls into the cinema to watch the film. I found casting all-female roles very difficult as they wouldn’t keep on task, in addition they also felt embarrassed acting around each other, therefore they kept laughing.
- 4. ‘The Truth’ develops the conventions of sound in existing films; I have chosen to do this by overlaying a soundtrack onto the film. I used the song ‘You failed to mention it John’ by a local up and coming band, The Flares with a unique instrumental indie sound. I found this difficult, as the diegetic sound became hidden behind the high volume of the soundtrack; I also had difficulty with fading out the music. However using this music emphasised the genre of an adventure aimed at teenagers. In addition, I have also developed forms and conventions of camera shots in existing films, by using a variety of shots such as: establishing shots and mid shots of the characters within their own setting. Using these camera shots has improved my film opening as each shot is important as the shots introduce the characters who will be in the film. http://www.facebook.com/theflaresareafteryou
- 5. For my main task, I challenged forms and conventions of fast cut editing in existing films. I decided to go against the films I researched such as ‘Twilight: New Moon’ and use fast cuts to establish each of the central characters although doing this created the continuity editing to become rare in the scene as I used jump cuts to establish the central characters. I have also further challenged my film by using credits immediately, but many films usually show the credits throughout the first 30 minutes of their film. I chose to do this because my cast are unknown as the film is an independent movie, whereas films such as ‘New Moon’ don’t need them as the cast are well known as the film is mainstream and a sequel.
- 6. Through my main task, I’ve used an age specific cast of seventeen; this is to portray a social group of high school teenagers. I found this has worked well, as the target audience are able to easily relate to the characters, being around the same age. My main task represented three different types of high school stereotypical teenagers: the geek, the dumb blonde and the misfit. By using these stereotypes, it aims the film at a variety of teenagers; I portrayed these stereotypes through the mise-en-scene. I used props such as chemistry, biology and physics books to depict the geek character, and decided to manipulate the idea of beauty over education through the dumb blonde by using props such as lip gloss and mirrors.
- 7. Independent film institutions such as Entertainment Films could distribute my film; I have chosen this institution to distribute my film, as the British leading company is based in London and is well known for distributing popular upcoming films such as ‘The Artist’. This company’s success has increased and grown, winning many awards internationally. Having the location of the company in London, shows the popularity of the distributor as it’s based in the capital. If the film was to be premiered, I would choose to have the event in Manchester, a popular and media cultural city.
- 8. The target audience of the film is aimed at 14-17 year olds, who are in high school/sixth form. I have chosen this age, as the audience will be able to relate and connect to the characters in the film and are more likely to go to the cinema with groups of friends, in addition this target audience is very popular, from my research of the films ‘Twilight’ and ‘New Moon’ they created a very wide audience of teenagers around this age, impacting the box office. The film is aimed at girls, as the narrative is based around a group of female friends, who are exploring who they are through the film, expressing their thoughts and feelings about their life situations, this creates an element of the genre ‘rites of passage’. The ways in which they overcome these situations could advise some of the viewers. The reason for watching would be for escapism and enjoyment and some of the viewers may watch the film due to the genre of adventure.
- 9. I have used non-diegetic sound to attract my audience, I have used up beat music in my film from a band called The Flares, which would address the audience as teenagers are more open to listening to unusual music. I used upbeat and fast paced instrumental music in the opening of the film to create a quick introduction of the characters, the fast pace sounds could represent the heart pace speeding up, this reflects on the genre of adventure. I have also used un-known actors to address my audience, as having an unknown cast makes the characters become more relatable as they are viewed as just another high school teen, this has been shown through my research of the film ‘Twilight’ as the actors Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner weren’t very popular until the film released. The setting I have chosen for my film of the character’s bedrooms also attracts the teenage audience as they may feel like they have visited a friend’s house; this feeling is created with the mise-en-scene of props like photographs and old toys creating a personal touch to the setting.
- 10. To construct my project I have created a blog, to update people on my latest work, with researching, planning, and filming for both preliminary tasks and main tasks. I have found that posting presentations and word documents have made my research and planning for interactive. This has improved my work, as blogging keeps track of each time you post, showing how long it’s taken to do the research, planning and creation of the main task. To construct my main task I used a Canon video camera to film each shot of the main task. However I found this camera was not picking up the natural diegetic sounds of the zipping of the rucksack or the cars driving past. To overcome this issue I had to re-film my scene in a quiet environment in order to hear the natural sounds. I was also able to emphasise the diegetic sound by increasing the sound wave on iMovie.
- 11. When editing my film, I used iMovie to construct each shot together, I found this editing software, time consuming when it came to finalising the main task. This is because adding in titles in the opening delays the sound. This became a problem for me as I chose to use music to overlay the film, adding titles to the film delayed the music making it not as smooth as I would have liked it. Due to this I wasn’t able to alyn my music with the camera shots like I wished.
- 12. From my preliminary task to the main task, I feel I have progressed my shooting and planning by using a variety of camera shots and angles such as: close up, establishing shot, mid shot, and long shot. This has helped me introduce and establish my characters, such as the character: Jessica. I have used an establishing shot of Jessica to establish her family’s social class of a lower/working class background; this is shown through the combination of camera shot with the narrative of her running down the road to school contrasting to the other characters driving to school.
- 13. From my preliminary task I learned about lighting, I need to make sure I have the same lighting throughout the film in order for a good continuity, therefore if it’s set at the same time on the same day it must be the same. I used this vital information for my main task by checking the weather conditions and news in order for me to achieve the same weather on each shot. If not, to use the editing software to brighten up the lighting.
- 14. In conclusion I think the genre and the narrative will appeal to the target audience of 12-16 year old girls. However if I could improve anything, I would improve the non-diegetic sound issues I had. Making the fade in the music in time with the shots. I would change the time of when I filmed the scene, as I captured the shots with different weather conditions, as I only had limited time and had to work around other student’s schedules who were going to be featuring in my film. Therefore next time, I could film on the same day. I think the editing worked well, by using iMovie I was able to control the volume of the diegetic, and non-diegetic sounds, the cropping the scenes, and editing the speed of the fading in and dissolving of the titles and the credits.