Evaluation #4

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

In the creation of our trailer, we used many new technologies in order to increase the quality of the final product. We used things such as iMovie, Garage band, YouTube, twitter and a HD camera.

For the planning section of our trailer, we created a hand done animatic; we then took pictures of it and imported it to iMovie where we were able to make it a picture video. We used sites such as YouTube and IMDB to research and give ideas for our planning of our trailers; we watched multiple different genres and were able to see which conventions were used for the different genres. For the research and planning of our poster and magazine cover, we used Google images and real media pieces to gain an insight of what the typical conventions were, although we had an idea and knew about magazine covers due to having produced them at GCSE level.  We also used websites such as 'bubbl' as part as our planning and research for both marketting strategies and for brainstorming ideas.

We used iMovie frequently in all stages of the production. For research we created a voxpop with it in order to gain an understanding of what our audience expected within the genre that we were going to do, this involved cutting together different parts of people’s sentences together emphasising on the separate words that they felt described it best. We also used iMovie to create our trailer, it enabled us to add effects either to the actual shots, such as black and white effect or to the transitions such as fades or cross dissolves. This enhanced the viewing for the audience as it made it a lot more interesting and more realistic to watch.

The technologies used, such as; an HD Camera, a Mac book computer - with the programmes iMovie and Garageband, Photoshop, Microsoft word. These media technologies were the base of our coursework tasks, we wouldn’t have been able to make them without it. We were able to use the creative effects on iMovie, such as cutting clips, using transitions, colour correction/adjustments, picture effects, and more, these were the things that helped make our trailer look more professional and realistic. Without the use of this new media advanced technology we would have come to problems such as; not having any effects on the shots, there would be no text over the frames – a typical convention for trailers, there wouldn’t have been any transitions which would have made our trailer jumpy therefore it wouldn’t run smoothly throughout.

We also used garage band to create our music. This allowed us to find ready-made tunes and adapt and combine them to fit to specific parts of our trailer. Because our plot includes three different stories, change of music had to be clear to show a change of storyline in the plot. To combine the music we played around with the tempos making them fit together smoothly.

Using the HD camera in the construction of our trailer was far more beneficial than say a DV camera, they produce far higher quality in the picture, therefore adding to the professional quality we were hoping for. We were able to easily use the manual setting in order to get the background blurred so all of the focus was on one spot, in our case, the women.

Another problem we would have had without new media software, would have been the advertising section for the trailer. Without sites such as YouTube and Twitter (the online software we used to promote our trailer) the word wouldn’t have got out and we would have had to promote the trailer using things such as posters and in cinema, and although these are both beneficial as it reaches out to different audiences, they are expensive and using YouTube to broadcast our trailer is completely free and essentially would be able to make a profit. Using websites such as Twitter and YouTube gives the opportunity to broadcast the trailer to an enormous, worldwide audience, instead of doing a screening to a local audience, it immediately brings more attention to it. YouTube and Twitter are sites which are visited by people all over the world on a daily basis and are the best way to reach an audience. Having around 360 million sign-ups and according to Twitter, there are around 460,000 sign-ups per day worldwide, the evidence is clear that the word would get out. Even though we created a poster as well as a magazine covers both advertising the trailer, the internet provides an immediate and free viewing. Also, it is possible to have direct feedback on YouTube, consumers can ‘like’ the video or comment on it giving an opinion etc, this shows how far new media technology has progressed through time, this method of commenting online is far quicker, easier and effective than say a written questionnaire.

Evaluation #3

What have you you learned from your audience feedback?

We have decided to show our audience feedback through the use of pie charts, clearly showing the percentages of the audiences reflection of our media product.

The feedback that we recieved was fairly positive for whether or not the plot was easy to follow. This was a concern to us due to there being three different story lines with in the short trailer. However, the negative feedback that we recieved was that "the second character wasn't as clear as the other two" and another response was " I don't know if the three characters have anything in common with one and other." After reading the feedback we decided that due to it only being a small percentage thinking that it was unclear, there wasn't any adjustments needed to the plot.

The camera work was seen to be the most effective technique in our trailer, followed by the music and sound. We were pleased by this, because we used a variety of interesting shots that we felt emphasised the persona of the characters. These were shots like the over head spinning shot and the medium close up of the first character at the beginning of the trailer. On the other hand, mise en scene recieved the lowest percentage, this could be because part of the audience haven't studied media therfore wouldn't understand the term. But we didnt neccesarily focus on the mise en scene as much as the other techniques.

As you can see the feedback for this is mainly positive, such as "the sequence of shots engaged interest and the music fitted well." Other members of the audience also stated that the editing was simple but drew them in and didn't distract them from the main purpose. We learnt from this feedback that short and simple editing is more effective and appealing to an audience.

After experimenting in the post production of our trailer with the music for the second character, the piece we chose still arose queeries between my partner and I. So that is why we created a question for the audience specifying that one section. The feedback we recieved was mainly positive and it became clear that the volume wasn't correct. After the viewing we sorted the volume and despite the audience feedback changed it. We created a mix of two different tempo beats in order to emphasise the characters emotions..

We decided to include this question to allow us to understand which parts of the trailer that the audience preferred. This was helpful because we could see what was in that particular section and  could make adjustments to the other parts. The last character prooved the most popular, some because of the over head spinning shot and the night club shot. I think this was because they were quite different and quarky shots. The camera shots and music were equally popular and played a big factor in the effectiveness of the final character.

Having to match the music both in time with editing and with what is going on was the most time consuming part of creating the trailer. The only section of the music that I wasn't happy with was the second girl which was altered after the viewing. The audience feedback suggested that the music went well with the plot, some commented on the "good change of tempo emphasising the different characters and their moods." How ever some of the audience stated that the volume was inconsinstent in parts which is something we also adjusted.

Gettting across the genre of our film in our trailer was crucial and the fact that the majority of the audience said that it fitted to the conventions was good. We recieved comments such as "yes, there were three typical modern day problems." and that it "gave a mixed view." The people who disagreed didn't leave any feedback for us to then read and adjust on.

As you can see the majority of the audience thought the trailer fitted to the conventions, if not thought that it mostly did. We recieved no feedback that it didn't at all do this. The positive feedback we recieved claimed that " it had typical opening and closing scenes as well as text to explain the characters." and that "it didn't give too much away."

We used this question to get an insight into what first impression the trailer created in the audiences mind and whether or not it drew them in. One of the audiences said " Effective social realism aimed at a prodimantly female audience." The majority also was left wanting to see more which is a key feature in watching a trailer.

 Some feedback that we recieved was that the male voiceover at the beginning of the trailer should of been a women, this is something we agreed with and have changed. On the other hand, some one stated that " could have slightly explained more but left it up to your imagination." We didn't want to let off too much of the story line with in the trailer, because we felt it should give you a 'teaser' of the real thing.

We thought that this question was going to be the most help incase any of the audience members had any new and creatives ideas that could improve our trailer. The voice over was mentioned a lot and the audience felt that it should be a female voice rather than a male linking with the story line. Another suggestion was that the "lighting could of been better." Because of it being social realism genre we needed it to be as natural and realistic as we possibly could.

Evaluation 2

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

This is our script for the commentary we created discussing our ancillary tasks as well as our final trailer.

Poster

For our ancillary tasks we did a poster and a magazine cover. On our poster we chose to have a brick wall in the background, as through research run down brick walls were a typical convention for the social realism genre. This image is also a connotation of each woman hitting a brick wall in their lives. In the foreground we have a photo of the three protagonists in our trailer. Our aim was to show each woman’s character (problems) through body language – left is the alcoholic, middle is the grieving woman and the right is the get around. We thought conveying their characteristics were important in order for the audience to get an insight on the characters. We used a cold effect on the photo of the women; we think it made it look more edgy, which is what we wanted. We played around with different compositions of the poster to get the most realistic outcome – these are available on our blogs.

Camerawork

First woman – The first woman, we used a range of camera shots to try and focus on her emotion, as this is essentially the most moving storyline of the three. The camera shot of the graveyard; we have used a slow zoom to fit with the soft mood. We used a medium close up shot with a shallow depth of field her, this brings all of the focus to the character in the foreground. We chose not to use any close up shots in order to keep the camera and audience distant – mirroring the character herself.

Second woman – We started the second characters section with her coming out of different doors, resembling the fact that she sleeps around. Then we did a point of view shot of children playing in the park, which shows what she could be thinking about and what her future could hold. The shot of the girl in the mirror was a common shot when doing research and so we felt it was an effective shot to include. The mirror could also present that idea of her being trapped in a frame, which is metaphorical of her being trapped in her life. Because the room in which we filmed this scene in was very bright so we blocked off a couple so that we had a more professional looking set.

Third girl – We used a medium close ups from the side of the character as she was doing shots, it was effective because of her costume changed; showing that its something which happens daily. From our audience research that fact that her hair was different each proved to be reflective. We did an overhead spinning shot that mirrors her spinning out of control, which is then reflected by s party scene. The mise-en-scene here was lots of colourful strobe lights and people partying, making this seem more realistic.

Editing

For the first grieving women, we used four dissolves transitions to convey that the images of her husband are a past thought, this also fits with the soft slow mood. The frame of the women in the grave yard is in black and white to emphasise the mourning atmosphere/

The second girl, the inter titles was included in order to fit into the typical conventions of a trailer, the black frame then smoothly goes into the dark mise en scene of the first shot. The slow motion added onto the point of view shot of the children conveys the women confused state of mind. Each story line ends with a black or clear frame showing it is the end of each story.

For the final girls editing we used slow motion on two shots; the first being overhead spinning shot and the party scene. This was to show her puzzled, out of control state of mind. We also used cross dissolves to show it is a reoccurring situation/

Magazine Cover

Our second ancillary task was the magazine cover, we wanted to emphasise that women are the target audience; therefore, we used flowers as a prop in the shoot which are connotations of beauty and peace. The puffs around the frame all link to the world of media and our film. We took out the background leaving a blank canvas and put a soft touch on the edit. The title ‘Crosscut’ is a media jargon and sounds catchy as a magazine name, also it would feature multiple films therefore crosscutting between different genres. We included a date and barcode to fit to standard conventions. Changing the font colour made the magazine look artier, making it fit into the creative media world.

Evaluation #1

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

Our first shot in the trailer is a medium shot with a blurred background clearly identifying and focussing on the character. Taking into consideration the theme of the first part being grieving, this shot portrays the characters emotions.  The colouring is all linked to autumn which also depicts a sad atmosphere. 

Comparing to this shot from our trailer, we can see the emotion in the characters face, with the background blurred the focus is also concentrated on this. Another similarity is the rural backgrounds in each of the shots, this could be interpreted as the characters being alone and isolated, mirrored in the plain background.

This screen grab from our trailer shows a girl identifying that she is pregnant. We thought that a common shot from films was a point of view shot of looking in the mirror. We used natural lighting to fit to the conventions of a social realist film.

Although not the same camera angle/shot, this screen grab from Kidulthood sends the same message of a woman finding out she has fallen pregnant. We chose this screen grab from Kidulthood because of its natural lighting and the message being given.

We chose this shot to be in black and white to fit the mood of death, we didn’t want bright colours conveying a different mood. The actual shot of this zooms in whilst the woman kneels down to her husband’s grave bringing the emotion of her face clearer to the audience.

This screen grab is from Skins, there is a similarity on the colour, although it is not in black and white the colours are slightly saturated to fit the mood of bereavement. The mise-en-scene is also similar with the trees, a sign of the natural world, death being a part of that.

From our trailer within the story of the pregnant woman, we thought being in a children’s play park would fit this storyline. We chose to have no one else in the shot, or in the mise-en-scene to show how isolated and alone the character feels. Daylight as opposed to night to steer away from what could be seen as a thriller scene.

From one of the Skins trailers, we chose this due to the fact that the woman is also on a swing, although it is not the same storyline, a sense of deep emotion or thinking is in her face, similar to ours.

An inter-title  from our trailer, fitting with the conventions of a real trailer. Having a quote  from a film critic or magazine will prompt the audience watching to see the actual film. Research showed us that a lot of inter-titles use triadic structure – “Moving, realistic and relatable”.

A screen grab from This is England trailer. The use of triadic structure was the main reason we chose this shot. Also that the writing is in the middle of the screen, white and easy to read, mirroring our work.

From our trailer, with the woman who lost control. We thought of shot of her actually losing control was needed. A hand held camera mirror the girl falling about. Dark lighting and people dancing in the mise en scene showing the party is genuine and realistic.

From the Misfits trailer. A girl appearing to have lost control, all focus on her, similar to ours. Also the lighting and the people dancing showing the party/club is realistic.

A shot from our trailer, showing the emotion of the woman, sitting on a bench by a park watching the people go by. Again a sense of isolation. Natural lighting. Dark clothes to mirror her mood, and sunglasses perhaps to hide tears?

We chose this because it mirrors our woman sitting on the bench. Showing the emotion in her face, also her body language by being tight to her. Similar dark jacket to convey the mood maybe.

Magazine Cover

Planning and Research for magazine article.

Poster attempt #3

This is our third and final attempt at producing a poster. We increased the size of the endorcments as well as the characters names which is a common thing with in poster conventions. We recieved some positive feedback from our piers about our poster and how it linked clearly to our trailer.

Poster attempt #2

On this attempt we were experimenting where to put the billing block once it was positioned on the bottom of the page. We firstly put it to the left hand size, but we felt that it would look better central.

Poster attempt #1

This is our first attempt at making a poster, but after analysing it we realised that it would look better to have the billing block beneath the picture, whick would add focus to the picture and characters.

Poster Research Planning

We chose Bridesmaid as one of our posters to use as research, this is also a film which is predominantly female similar to ours.

This is England is the other poster we chose, thsi is because the layout is similar to what we want to create.

Font experiments

 After looking through many different fonts these are the three that we are considering to have as our title. We are then going to add them to our poster to see which goes best with the layout and colouring.

We thought this font was simple as well as sophisticated and depicted the mood of the film correctly.

We both really liked this font. However; it seemed to suit a horror film rather than a social realsim. We also felt as though it wasn't particularily easy to read either.

In the end we decided to choose font #2 after asking our media class for their opinion ending up with most of them picking this one.

3 Women Final Film

Social Realism

Social realism is an artistic movement, expressed in the visual and other realist arts, which depicts social and racial injustice, economic hardship, through unvarnished pictures of lifes struggles; often depicting working class activies as herois. The movement is a style of painting in which the scenes depicted typically convey a message of social or political protest edged with satire.

 

Wikipedia

Changes Made

After futher discussions between my partner and I, we came to the conclusion that we were not happy with our final idea. Therefore we changed the genre of it to social realism, we did this because it broadened our choices of shots and effects due to a romantic film being very simplistic.

In our trailer, we are going to do a montague of shots from each women giving us an insight of what is going to happen in the film. In the montague we are trying to get across that it is set in the country so we have included a river in one of the scenes and use areas that make it obvious for the audience.

Our poster is going to consist of the background being a wall, to emphasise the genre and symbolise how each of the women have 'hit a brick wall' in their lives. The three womens faces are then going to be slightly faded on the wall with the credits above as well as the title '3 Women'

We based our title on a French film with a similar story line called '8 Women'.

Our magazine cover will stay as the original idea.

New Filming Schedule

We did a new filming schedule when we realised we were going to change our idea for the trailer. This is a basic outline of when we are filming and what we are doing. We have organsied to do the filmign within 3 days to allow our selves time for editing or anymore filming that needs to be done, if any. Changing our idea has limited our time down, however if we do all of the filming in these 3 days we should be back on track.

Final Mood Board

Evidence of work

These are pictures of my partner, Eva planning our magazine cover for 'Cross Cut'.

Magazine Cover Layout

For one of our ancillary tasks we were asked to produce a magazine cover featuring and advertising our film, which is a potentially succesful marketing strategy. The magazine is called 'Cross Cut', we chose this because it could produce the idea that it cuts between lots of films and their information. It was also fitting because it is media jargon. The poster is going to be centralised with the puffs around it advertising games and interviews the the stars. We have not yet decided the colouring for our poster but as we produce it we will decide.

Poster Planning: Layout 3

Our third and final idea turned out to be our final design which we are going to use as our film poster. We decided to do this because it would appeal to our target audience of females. A large picture in the middle of the three faces combined together with the jaggered lines going between them would highlifht the protagonists. However, we think it might cause confusion to the audience but are going to see what the finished version looks like. The pictures surrounding it, are pictures of all of the women helping the audience develop an understanding of the plot. The words 'Love' 'Drink' 'Sex' are going to be scattered around in hand silouhettes. The background is going to be a faded landscape of a winter setting, fitting to a convention of this genre.

Poster Planning: Layout 2

Our second idea was the focus on the protagonists faces to show their emotion which is a typical convention of that genre. It is slip into three, showing the different issues which the women are experiencing. After over viewing this idea, we decided to change it by having the title along the bottom and tag line along the line. The jaggered line going diagnolly through the women represent problems in their lives. The tag line is also going to run along the line, highlighting it which will attract the audience. The casting names will be boldy displayed beneath each actress which will draw the audience in due to their previous successes. The graphology of the poster will be the top half in colour and the bottom half in black and white to portray they in consistant emotions of the women. How ever the title will be in colour to make it stand out.

Poster Planning: Layout 1

This was one of our first ideas, which was the three female protagonists circled around the title of the film. The shots were going to be a close up emphasising the emotions on the women's faces. The tag line, which is a current convention, "3 Women 3 Lives 3 Problems" would be positioned on the right hand side of the poster on a blanc canvas which highlights the characters. The casting and director would be bold on the page to entice the audience.

Poster Planning

  We thought these posters were along the right lines of what we wanted our poster to look like. The first one shows a group of girl which is similar to our story line and the second one focuses on the emotions of the women which is what we will be trying to portray with in our trailer.

Setting

After changing the idea for our film the settings are going to change.

The first women who is grieving for her husband is set in a grave yard as well as a park in which they used to walk through.

PICTURE OF GRAVE YARD AND PRIORY

The second women who is known to sleep with alot of men, we show her coming out of many different houses to elaborate this.
PICTURE OF EVA'S DOOR

Finally, the third women is an alcoholic who goes out partying alot and is becoming out of control.
PICTURE OF AZUZA

Wordle for new film

 This is a wordle created to highlight the key words which are associated with our new film.

Changes made to our trailer

We have been having difficulties with the actress and actor due to filming and time issues. This has made us re think our idea to make an all female trailer, experiencing difficulties in the modern life. This is going to make the trailer a lot quicker to film as there will be 4 different girls therefore the filming won’t take as long as the previous idea. There will be: a woman grieving the loss of her husband-hoping to find new love, an alcoholic dealing with her issues, a single woman who has many sexual partners and falls pregnant with one of these one night stands and a female who is exploring her new homosexual life. We are still using the female we had already filmed, as this shows the woman grieving. We have organised three other actresses to play the other roles and will be done filming very shortly.