EVALUATION: 7 Questions

Below is the evaluation of my final media product, where I have answered 7 questions:

1) In what way does my media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?


Here is a film of me discussing the; Titles, Mise-en-scene, sound, camera types and editing in the opening scene of 'Dirty Little Secret' - and how I feel this resembles conventions of real media products:

Please note that tweaks were made the to final video following the making of this video, so not all of it is in context.

2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?

If you see this picture in large I discuss how my film represent the social group of teenagers:

3) What kind of media distribution might distribute my media product and why?

A media institution is a company which distributes a media product into the public for viewing. Media product's are likely to be distributed to cinemas and then eventually into merchandise such as home DVDs - this can either be on a local, national or even international scale. Having made the opening scene to my film 'Dirty Little Secret' I might take this to an institution along with the plot and see if they would fund the product.

I have conducted some research into media institution in order to decide which might distribute my product. I have found that my product would be unlikely to be published by a film company in Hollywood. This is due to the fact usually these films have huge budgets and are international blockbusters. I feel my product would have a small cost of production and would be successful in England, but perhaps shouldn't be rushed straight to Hollywood.

So, after finding that I wouldn't necessarily go to a major film company in Hollywood, I started to look at smaller British film institutions such as:

• BBC Films
• UK Film Council
• Film Four
• Vertigo Films

My favorite film company and the one I feel most suitable for my film was BBC. This is because they are at the forefront of producing modern teenage dramas for small directors. They like to find new talent so this would be good for me having never produced a movie before. Apparently they are picky on what they publish, however I feel the movie idea of 'Dirty Little Secret' is good enough. The fact the film is set in Britain would be good for a British based institution such as BBC Films.

 In conclusion, I would hope a British institution such as BBC Films might distribute my media product. If this was successful I think it would be suitable for cinema viewing and DVD viewing.

4) Who would be the audience for my media product?

Before making my media product I decided that the target audience for my product would be teenagers of either gender. Now after making the opening scene I have conducted some extra target audience research to make sure of the audience for my film. Here is evidence of me undertaking this piece of research, just simply doing a web search for information via Google:

In the original bit of TAR I undertook with mostly teenagers, I found the following information about their favourite genres:

This was a crucial bit of research in me deciding to aim a romantic genre film at this target audience, as you can see from the table above they like films with romance in. To consolidate this, this is what I found with my most recent genre TAR: 

The graph above displays the market share and ticket sales from the genre Romance/Romantic Comedy. It proves that romance still holds a great share of the film market in 2011, although ticket sales are low. However, this isn't to worrying as this is probably due to factors such as; 2011 is only a third of the way though and new technologies allow for downloads. If you look back to about 1999 in the graph above, you can see this genre was booming. This is good news as this is when my target audience will have been growing up, so they will have a large influence from romantic genre films. So overall, the audience for my final media product is definitely teenagers of either gender.

Where and how will my target audience access my film?

As explained in the question before, my product would be suitable for local cinemas. This would be good for my target audience as they really enjoy going to the cinema for a social activity.

5) How does my opening scene attract/address my audience?

Below is a picture of how my target audience has responded to the opening scene of my film. I asked them to watch the opening scene and took a picture of them, before they gave a response of how they felt about it.

I think my product identifies with all these people because they are teenagers just like the people in the opening scene, that is why the feedback is so positive. One person in the picture above is older but even they liked it! Another way I have addressed this audience in my opening scene is this POV (point of view) shot near the beginning of the scene:

This can be a good technique to immerse the viewer as they feel that they are there.

6) What have I learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Below is a presentation I created answering this question. You might want to use the arrows to view it at your own pace. Also, if you click 'menu' in the bottom left then 'view in fullscreen' you can see it larger so the text is clearer.

Evaluation question 6 presentation.

7) Looking back at my preliminary task, what do I feel I have learnt from the progression from it to the full product?

The preliminary task was all about focusing on the techniques I had previously researched, which were: Match on action, Shot/Reverse shot and 180° rule. I feel it is hard to show how my use of 180° rule, shot/reverse shot and match on action has progressed since my preliminary task. There were no errors in the preliminary task in that department and if you see my final product I just had keep this up which I feel I did. 

However, here is a demonstration of how match on action slightly advanced into my final product:

So above you see the transition of the use of match on action in my preliminary task through to my final video. Both are shots of someone walking through a door. You can see both times the rule has been stuck to, however it has advanced. This is because the shot for the final shot was a lot more ambitious than the simple one in the preliminary task.

In terms of other ways I have developed since my preliminary task, I feel that my general filming is better. In my final product I demonstrated skills such as pans and zooms, which were not tried in the preliminary task. Also, I filmed some shots without a tripod for the first time. When I filmed the boy's memories in the final product I wanted to give a natural effect like the viewer was there, so I held the camera with some movement. Another extra shot I hadn't tried before was the POV (point of view) shot from the boy's POV looking at his iPod:

In conclusion, I think that since my preliminary task the main thing I have learnt is a broader range of filming techniques. In my final product I clearly tried trickier stuff than in the preliminary, as I learnt how to use the technology better and could perform better shots.

EVALUATION: Extras To Film

The video below is an extras part to the opening scene of 'Dirty Little Secret', where the cast and crew review the opening scene:

Please note that some of this is not in context as tweaks were made to the video after these extras were made.

Use of Web 2.0

During my film coursework project, my film partner Alex Saker and I have used Web 2.0 to share information many times. We have shared our work of documents, photos and videos using MSN Messenger and Facebook.

Here is an example of me posting the evidence photos of us recording the film across Facebook, so these are now accessible for Alex Saker:

Now below this is an example of us sharing our final film over MSN Messenger:

Another way I individually used Web 2.0 was to book out equipment when we originally intended to film the project. I did this by tweeting to the Media department at my school. Below is a screenshot documenting evidence of this:

FINAL PRODUCT

Film Title Ideas

In this post there is my finished opening scene for my movie which I decided to name 'Dirty Little Secret'. While deciding on a name for our film, Alex Saker and I drafted a little list of rough ideas as a way of brainstorming. Here are the names we came up with:

• Lies
• Deceit
• The 14^th
• Deception
• Teenage dream
• PS, I (something) you
• When love goes to waste
• Something about Abi
• There’s something about Abi
• Not my girl
• My valentine shock
• My girl, not my valentine
• Teenage fling
• Love hurts
• Only say it if you mean it
• 3 words
• Love you more
• Dirty little secret
• Shh.
• Modern affair

We eventually came to the conclusion that 'Dirty Little Secret' was the most suitable name for our film. I think this title is punchy and to the point, which I hope would entice a viewer into watching the film.

Problems encountered while making the final film

As explained in my shooting schedule, the original actress we wanted to play the female part dropped out when we originally planned to shoot the movie. As a result of this, we had to postpone filming to a different day and use a different actress.

Another problem was while shooting the point of view shot of the iPod, as it was too hard to make the iPod display itself clearly outside in the sun. The background is actually the boyfriend and the girlfriend, and he goes to a playlist stating he is putting on their song - but this can not be seen.

Tweaks made to film after final storyboard

In my final opening scene to a film, quite a few changes have been made from the storyboard. One way it changed is the planned birds' eye view shot which my TAR suggested could be hard. When filming the opening scene, we didn't have appropriate resources to shoot shots from a birds' eye view in those rooms. Instead we cut straight from a scene of the boyfriend being cheated on to a close up of him about to walk in, which still gives the same affect of him about to bust them. 

A big change is the phone call at the start of the clip. This is done because before it was in, the narrative was not clear enough. This meant the film was longer so to shorten we changed the end as well. We cut of the narrative between the boyfriend and girlfriend at the end as this was not very well acted anyway. Instead a slow motion scene was created to build tension, but you don't actually see whether the boy bust them or not.

Another change from my plan was I could not get hold of a rose for the film. This meant it was harder to connote it was Valentines Day. Also, the iPod did not clearly display the date on camera so this was another way we couldn't show the viewer it was Valentines Day. The were two suggestions of Valentines Day during the film, the first is near the start on the phone call where there male mentions that it isValentines Day. The other way in which the film connotes Valentines Day is in the song lyrics, as it sings about the girl being his valentine. Although this isn't quite was I wanted, I still feel this is suitable.

FINAL OPENING SCENE OF A MOVIE

Below is the opening scene of my movie 'Dirty Little Secret', enjoy!

Evidence of shooting

Here is photographic evidence that me and my partner recorded and completely controlled the movie ourselves. These pictures are not posed and were actually during shots.

This is me, Zachary Goodchild, filming the close up of actor Thomas Oriel about to walk through the door into the bedroom:

This final picture is of my partner in filming, Alex Saker, shooting a scene in the bedroom:

RESEARCH: Marketing and Distribution

BBFC Certification Research

There are 6 different ratings that BBFC use, these are: U, PG, 12A or 12, 15, 18 and finally R18. All of these different ratings have different meanings and are given to a film judged on the content in the film. I shall now run through what each rating means...

The first official BBFC rating is 'U', which stands for 'Universal'. This logo indicates that the film is suitable for everyone, in particular for audiences aged 4 and over to watch on their own. BBFC can not guarantee what could upset any particular child, but usually when this logo is given it is very unlikely that the film could upset anyone aged younger than four. Something a 'U' rating movie should do, is offer reassuring counterbalances to anything that could be perceived as mildly disturbing or horror. For children aged under four who probably go to pre-school, the consumer advice report on a film is likely to state whether the film is suitable to view on their own.

Above you can see the logo of the second BBFC rating, where the letters 'PG' stand for 'Parental Guidance'. This means that the film should be suitable for general viewing of most children, but a parent or guardian should consider whether the child needs to be accompanied while watching the film. If a child is aged 8 or over, it is unlikely a parent should feel it is necessary to watch the movie with them, but children aged under 8 could be potentially be upset by the content.

Now we moving on to the the third of the BBFC ratings, where to logos almost mean the same thing but have subtle differences. In terms of film criteria, the same content is needed to classify a '12' or '12A'. These ratings are simply awarded when content of a film is deemed to be suited to a person aged 12 and over. BBFC state the parents are likely to think that the movie material of a 12/12A will upset a child under 12 years old. A '12A' rating comes into things only for cinemas, where a child under 12 years old can get into the movie, but only when accompanied by an adult. Although cinemas will allow a child of under 12 in when accompanied by an adult, this BBFC rating still recommends that content is unsuitable for a child of this age. If an adult accompanies someone aged younger than 12 years old, they assume full responsibility for how the child reacts. Going back to the '12' category rating, this exists on video works and DVDs, and no one younger than 12 years old may go into a store and buy a film rated '12'.

This is the forth BBFC rating, which states that no one younger than 15 years old may see the film in cinema or rent it out at a store. The content of a film rated '15' is likely to be adult with the following things: hard drugs, strong words, moderate-strong violence/sex references, and mild non-detailed sex activity.

As we move on to the next official BBFC rating you can see this is labelled '18'. Similar to a '15' rating, no one younger than 18 may purchase a film from a store or view in cinema a film rated '18'.  This rating is given to a film when it contains some very adult content, such as no limitation on the amount of bad language used. Other factors can be hard drugs generally being allowed, strong violence or sex scenes - with hardcore scenes acceptable if justified by the context.

This final BBFC rating is a very rare one and means the film can only be sold in specially licensed cinemas or supplied in licensed sex shops - and obviously one under the age of 18 is permitted to view it. The rating 'R18' carries legal restrictions and may only be given to films which are primarily for sex shops and contain footage of unleashed sexual nature for adults. The 'R18' rating is so restricted you may not supply this category of film by mail order!

My film rating

After reviewing the certificates above which the BBFC use, I think our film would receive a 12A/12 rating. This is because throughout the movie there might be signs of affection, and that might not be suitable for viewing from children below 12. We also thought that because the title of our film is ‘Dirty Little Secret’, this might carry some connotations to some sexual contact or swearing throughout the rest of film which we think wouldn’t be suitable for a child younger than 12 years old to watch.

PLANNING: Marketing and Distribution

Below is the official poster for my film 'Dirty Little Secret':

I created this poster in Microsoft Publisher, after many drafts and trials with different techniques. I shall now run you through how I came to creating the poster above.

I started with this photo and I wanted to work with this as the main feature of my poster, as they are to be the main stars of the film:

 From here I thought it could be a good idea to try and split up the photo and show try to imply to the viewer that the girl had a dark secret. So I split the photo up into two different photos, and made the one of the girl black and white for a dark effect. Like so:

 So now I had split the photo, I needed to add in the film title 'Dirty Little Secret'. I chose to do this down the middle and actually use that as the thing to split up, this is quite a dominant place for it which is good as it's the title. Next the film production company logo I had made needed to go on it, so I added this to the top. A final idea I had was to add the words 'Dirty Little Secret' over and over again to the right hand side, to really get across the girl has a dark secret.

Putting all this together, I came out with this:

I thought this one to the left was okay but too narrow for a poster so I added in black round the sides to even it out, like this poster shown to the right...

I eventually came to the conclusion of moving the 'AZ Productions PRESENTS' down onto the poster and get rid of all the black. Now I had arrived at the poster at the top of this post, my final film poster!

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: Film Logo For Film Company

This is the final logo for the film company producing my film:

You can see the official film company logo of 'AZ Productions' above, now I shall explain how I came to making this logo. I started trying to think of a name for the production company, and with a bit of research I noticed many companies were named '_____ productions'. Therefore, I wanted to have a word then productions in my film company name. I thought a good idea was to personalize the company by combining my film partner and I's names. My first name is Zachary, and his is Alex, so we decided to combine the first letter of each. Which brought us to the logo below: 

After creating a logo in the form of 'ZA' we decided it was better the other way round so changed it to 'AZ'. We also needed to incorporate the word 'productions' into the logo so we decided tuck this under. I then reviewed the logo and decided the letter 'AZ' should be capital as it would look more effective, and then wouldn't necessarily need a dot. Combining all these factory with some colour and a shadow effect, I came out with the following logo:

I knew I had made steps towards making a good logo at this point, but it still wasn't quite perfect. I felt it was still a bit loose so I tucked the productions right up to the 'AZ'. Also, I thought the logo would be more noticeable and striking if I gave it a black background and reversed the colours, while additionally taking out the red. Finally, following making all these changes I came to the official logo at the top of the post.