Question 4

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? 

SHORT FILM

Question4 - New Media
See bottom of post for comparison to year 12 film opening.

FILM POSTER

This is the process of I how I created my film poster. In this video it highlights all of the technological aspects which were involved in this process.

 

FILM REVIEW

This is the process of I how I created my film review. In this video it highlights all of the technological aspects which were involved in this process. 

 PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED

However, when using these new technologies, I encountered a few problems. These problems occurred within all sections of planning, making and evaluating my products. Within the planning and research stages of my products, at school my blogger account was blocked which meant I was unable to use my blogger account for the majority of the year. Additionally, at our school YouTube is blocked which caused problems when trying to research short films to then

analyse. 

When making my short film, I had to re-shoot scenes due to technical faults with the camera. The Samsung video recorder which I used cut off the beginning and ending of my scenes which meant that the majority of the dialogue was ruined as it started halfway through sentences. As I have stated, I then had to re-shoot these scenes as the camera had cut so much out that I could not use insert shots to try and compensate for it. This caused problems within itself, as I had to try and match the characters up to the original shots which were usable.

I additionally had difficulty casting for my short film, even though it was not a technical aspect, it still caused great difficulty when trying to film and edit my short film. With the difficulties I found with cast for my AS media film opening, this film I decided to keep the number of cast to a minimum. I went from a cast of 6 to a cast of 4, trying to reduce problems with availability. However, this was not the case. For this short film, I had to recast the main character 3 times. Each time I cast the main character, they then pulled out due to school commitments. This was also the similar case for the character of the girlfriend. When I finally managed to get a cast, it was problematic trying to get a time when they are both available.

Overall, I managed to overcome this and filmed at any moment possible.

Year 12 Coursework

Question 3

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

In general, audience is crucial when producing any product. They enable companies to know what product is needed and what it should contain. All products are designed around a specific audience.

With this in mind, I then started to make my media product. Throughout the process of making my Short film, poster and review, audience played a very important part. To start with, I carried out a questionnaire to see what sort of people watched short films in general. I found that a global audience liked to watch short films.

Carrying out 3^rd party testing is crucial as it let me known how effective my products actually were. By asking a variety of people, meant that I received unbiased and fair opinions which would help to improve my products.

Due to the fact that I my audience was that of the film production company “Whitestone Motion picture”, it meant that it was global and therefore was quite general. Throughout all of the stages of planning, research, creating and evaluation my products, I have tried to incorporate a global audience. 

When creating designs for my short film and poster, I got audience feedback. This was important as, in particular with the poster, the audience asked would be the people who the poster is aimed at so it therefore needs to be most effective and attractive towards them. This was the reason why, when choosing which ideas to use, the views put forth by audience feedback had a very high impact and input on the final decision.  

The research and feedback can be seen on these links to other posts within my blog;
http://helenthemelon24.blogspot.com/2011/03/film-ideas_29.html
http://helenthemelon24.blogspot.com/2011/04/audience-poster-feedback.html

 

I posted by short film onto global web 2.0 sites such as YouTube and Facebook.  These then allowed anybody to view and also comment on my short film. 

              

Upon doing this I gathered a variety of results. From posting it on YouTube, it got a positive feedback, it gave me the quantitative data of being viewed 75 times and had been given two ‘likes’. 

 

Link to YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgj6mDeeuGg&feature=related

In addition to this, the qualitative data on feedback and comments on Facebook which I received for the short film was mainly positive. Upon the comments which my short film received, they were mainly positive although like most feedback there were adjustments suggested. The most common was the issue of it being too long. As my short film was just under 8 minutes long, this is a realistic factor, and in retrospect, I could cut down some of the montage scenes between the two characters in the protagonist’s own world. If I were to have presented the short film earlier for commenting by audiences, I would have had the chance to alter it. However, this is one point which I have learnt through audience feedback and would put into action if I had the opportunity to do it again.

One aspect which the audiences on both YouTube and Facebook really liked and positively commented on was the use of the stop motion picture. This was good as the concept of the stop motion picture and the artistic symbolism which it created was a really important aspect of my short film. Having this noticed by audiences was pleasing. 

Through these results which I have gathered first hand, It  is evident that the use of audience feedback is very important within creating media products.  Through the use of both quantitative and qualitative data I have managed to gather a wide set of results on my media products. It has been emphasised that the information gathered through audience feedback can be used constructively to enhance and improve the product, and thus optimise the products suitability to the intended audience and make it more successful.

Question 2

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?  

  Question 2

Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions or real media products?

This power point gives an overview of the conventions which I considered and incorporated into my own short film, from existing media products.

Question 1

Film

This is an annotated video of my short film highlighting all the elements within film film which I believe coincide with short films. It also comments on aspects which where included to make it effective as a product.

(If you are unable to read or the annotations do not appear, please double click on the video to send you to its YouTube page where it is more easily visible.)

Poster

This power point highlights all of the features which I have included within my poster. They all coincide with the features of poster which I have previously mentioned in my research on Poster contents.

Poster Analysis

Review

This poster annotation  shows all of the features which I have included within my own film review that are featured in real film reviews.

Note: If you are unable to read the comments, please click on the images to enlarge. 

Overall, my media products all comply with the conventions of short films, posters and reviews. The reason for this was because, by using these conventions, mean that my products will be easily recognised by audiences. As a result, making them more successful. 

Final Product- Review

This is review for my short film. It will be published within the film magazine Empire. 

Final Product- Poster

This is the poster which will accompany and be used as a form of advertisement for my short film.

Final Product- Short Film

This is the Short film which I have created. It follows the story of a girl who attempts uses her imagination to escape from the bullying which she endures.