Evaluation: Who are your audience? & How did you address/attract them?

This video addresses the questions: who are your audience? And how did you address/attract them?

As we can see from the movie, the audience I have targeted is British teenagers. This is because the film is set in a college and is about teenagers- this may help them to relate to the characters and therefore find it much funnier than someone who has never experienced it. I do not believe there is specific gender which would prefer our film, but based on audience feedback and the fact that both lead characters are male- I would guess that male teenagers would find this much funnier, and the feedback supports this. As I was observing when our film was watched, the males in the class laughed much more than the females and asked to see it again.

We addressed the audience by using a voiceover, we thought this would be much more effective and funnier. Originally we wanted a male to narrate- someone who sounded much like David Attenborough or Stephen Fry, but as there was no one available I did it instead. We have no dialogue in the movie, I believe this to be much more effective because it allows the audience to make their own story instead of us forcing them to interpret it. We attracted them by making the beginning the most humorous part, we used music which contradicted Brian’s persona and this has a very positive effect. Thus, making this the funniest part it probed the audience to watch the rest.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

From this task I have learnt a number of things, these are as follows:

·         How to operate a video camera: Before this task I had never used one, I had used digital cameras which were combined to make one item and I had used mobile phone devices. I believe this has helped me because I can now take this skill with me and use it throughout my life, I can also practice using them and discover new and exciting effects and angles which will enhance my work.

·         I have learnt how to edit a number of things on iMovie. Some of things consist of: Slowing down and up the film, adjusting the audio and adding in special effects. This is good because it means that I now know the basics, and can further enhance my knowledge thus making my future work better.

·         I have learnt that if you do not have the correct equipment- for example, a boom microphone cover- then you should never film outside on a windy day because it distorts the audio and makes it extremely difficult to understand.

·         I have learnt how to connect the camera to the tripod safely, and remove it in an equally safe manner. 

All images from Google Images.

Evaluation: In what way does your media product use, develop of challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Codes and conventions of media are defined as:

"The familiar and predictable forms and techniques used by the media to communicate certain ideas or to convey a desired impression. Technical codes include camera angles, sound, and lighting. Symbolic codes include the language, dress, and actions of characters"

- http://www.saskschools.ca

We aimed for our media product to be as realistic and professional as possible. We took inspiration from a number of comedy films and used the tilt upwards in the beginning scenes to add a comic effect. We started at Brian’s feet because we wanted to slowly reveal the rest of his features, we then added the music in which made this even more humorous

We have challenged the usual media conventions because we have stereotyped two people to the absolute maximum, we did this purely for a comic effect- as you can see from the audience feedback, this has been entirely successful and if this were to be distributed for real- then it would be a hit with the support of the target market.

Google Images

Evaluation: Questions via Animation

The following video addresses the questions: "What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?" and "What have you learnt in progression from the preliminary task to the main task?"

You may also watch the same video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khpgk991z2A if the video is not working.

Following on from the movie I have made, I would like to talk about what kind of media institution may distribute my product. As I mentioned, a firm such as Entertainment Film may do this- they are very well known in the UK and have distributed television programs such as ‘The Inbetweeners’. This is exactly the type of company we need to target because the shows that they are known for distributing are comedies, just as Brian is. 

 Entertainment Film Site

Here is a link to the Entertainment Film website: http://www.entertainmentfilms.co.uk/ 

Entertainment has had further success with other big box office hits such as Gangs of New York, Hairspray, Sex and the City ,Saw, 17 Again and The Final Destination franchise and British films such as Stormbreaker, Run Fat Boy Run and St Trinian’s 1 & 2.

There is a previous post in my archives which addresses the question further on what I have learnt from my preliminary task, it can be seen here: http://charlotteharbour.blogspot.com/2011/02/three-things-i-have-learnt.html

Main Task: Audience analysis- Graphs

Below are graphs which represent the audience feedback I collated in a previous post, this visual aide helps show the overall consensus. 

1. This graph shows whether or not the audience believed 'Brian' followed conventions, as we can see 8 out of 9 people believed that it did.

2. This graph shows whether the audience thought that the angles used in 'Brian' kept them interested and informed. There were three options for this question and as we can see that overall, the angles did keep them interested.

3. This pie chart shows whether or not the opening of the film created suspense and encouraged them to watch the rest. This was a very successful result and we can see that 100% of the people asked wanted to watch the rest of the film.

4. This graph shows the results when asking the audience if they would buy a copy of 'Brian' on DVD if it were available. We can see that overall the audience would buy a copy, with 6 saying yes, 2 saying maybe and 1 saying no.

5. This graph shows the results when asking the audience if they enjoyed the film. We can see that there is no question about the results, as 100% of the people questioned enjoyed watching the opening to our film.

6. This final graph shows whether or not the opening of the film made sense to the audience. This is an overall positive result as it shows that over 70% of people did understand (7 people)- with the other 30% saying 'slightly' (3 people).

Evaluation: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our short film depicts a stereotypical representation of a British teenage male who is academically successful and intelligent. The typical derogatory word for this persona may be: ‘geek’ or ‘nerd’. We have represented this character, Brian, comically by dressing him in clothing that provokes a humorous response. As well as this we have forced him to portray entertaining mannerisms which again provoke a positive response from the audience. Brian is an ambitious person who doesn't have much luck with friends, this may be considered a negative representation because it suggests that this social group is not liked by others and may be seen as discriminative.

We have also represented another type of social group: bullies. This is shown through our character, Mario. Mario’s costume consists of trainers, baggy clothes and a hat. This is a stereotypical representation of a bully- I believe it is difficult to judge whether or not this is a positive or negative representation because a bully is a negative character anyway; therefore some may say it is positive because it shows that a bully is not a nice person, but it may be negative because it suggests that everyone who wears this costume is a bully.

Define 'Geek' : (courtesy of Wikipedia) "The word geek is a slang term, with different meanings ranging from "a computer expert or enthusiast" to "a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts", with a general pejorative meaning of "a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp[ecially] one who is perceived to be overly intellectual"

"Bullying is a form of abuse. It involves repeated acts over time attempting to create or enforce one person's (or group's) power over another person (or group) , thus an "imbalance of power" - Wikipedia

Preliminary Task: Props

In our preliminary task there were not a lot of props that were used. We made use of the items that were already there such as the automatic doors of college, the entrance and swipe machines- and of course the lunchtime bench that we sat on.

The props that we used in the preliminary task were as follows:

The homework paper

Preliminary Task: Cast and Costume

The two cast members that were in the preliminary task are as follows:

Jack Lewis

Charlotte Harbour

The costume that each of them will be wearing on the day is as follows:

JACK

As you can see above, Jack will wear black skinny jeans- white converse and a white hoody. This is a very casual look and fits in well with the stereotypical notion of a college boy. Underneath this hoody Jack will wear a green t-shirt.

CHARLOTTE

Above we can see that Charlotte will wear a very casual, stereotypical look of a college girl. It is a comfortable look and is very appropriate for the role that she is playing.

Main Task: Evidence of Filming

Below are pictures I have taken which act as evidence for our filming, this was done on a rehearsal day.

EQUIPMENT

This is a photo showing the tripod we used for the filming, the camera is mounted on it and was used when we need a still shot for the film.

This is a close up of the tripod and the purpose is to show the detail.

This is the camera that we used for our rehearsal, unfortunately due to others using this camera we did not use the same one. Instead, we used a Sony HD camera which looked similar to this:

CHARACTERS

This is Sean Twomey who played 'Brian'.

This is Alex Ridley who played 'Mario'.

LOCATIONS

This is the college stairwell in which we filmed the first part of our film. We needed a white, clean backdrop for Brian to stand and this was an ideal place.

Below we can see various shots of Sean preparing to be filmed for Brian, I have used an Canon EOS 450D SLR here to show Rachel's filming in focus and Sean in the background.

We can see the opposite scenario here, in which I have focused in on Sean. 

This is Sean getting into character for Brian.

This is Aylesbury library, it was used to film the second part of the film. In this section we see Brian walking into a library and scanning through some books, we then see him reading these books.

Again, this is another shot of the public library that we used.

This is an outside shot of the college that we used, it is to show that we used college for a location

Audience Feedback

TO BE COMPLETED

add in: personal comments for mise-en-scene and how this could be improved or how it helped.

Analysis of audience feedback

From the feedback given by the audience I have compiled a list of aspects we could change in order to improve the opening. These consist of:

·      Finishing the opening of the film so that it is completed

·      Edit a part of the opening as there is a continuity error reported: that it is unclear where and why we are cross cutting

·      We must add in the voiceover for the film

On the other hand some positives in the opening of the film are as follows:

·      That the overall audience ratings for the film were high, as a deeper analysis shows:-

The mode scale: 10

The median: 9

The mean:  8.7

·      All of the audience would recommend this to a friend

·      All of the audience preferred the fact that there was no dialogue in the film

·      All audience members agreed that the costume and setting was appropriate for the film

·      Nobody in the audience lost interest at any time

·      Only one person noticed a continuity error, which can be changed easily

·      All audience members agreed that this film followed conventions

·      The film made sense to the majority of people

Planning: Props

There will be a number of different props we shall use in the short film, the purpose of this is to add realism and effect. The props we will use are as follows:

• Two books related to science, this will enforce the stereotypical image of "Brian" in the film.