What have you learned from your audience feedback?

‘I liked the music, I liked the editing and how it went straight from scene to scene. I also liked how at the end of the of the trailer the music went back to how it was at the beginning’ – Magda

 

‘I feel that the music suited the style of the trailer really well, I also feel that the message and film was portrayed well throughout the trailer and the music enhanced this.’ – Ajay

 

‘The settings used were realistic and matched the style of the trailer. The black screens with writing on looked really good and helped summarise the trailer.’ – Mason

 

‘I liked how we got a clear idea of the main character and how you singled out James to make him unique from the others. I also liked how we got a strong idea of the storyline. ’ – Sam

 

‘I like the use of editing and the fast paced cuts, it makes the trailer more exciting. However I think you should use less random shots as it doesn’t tell the story.’ – Mustafa

 

‘I found the music added a youthful, urban feel. I liked how the story line was evident and created a sense of tension.’ – Jodie

 

 

 

From my audience feedback above I have learnt that the main thing that worked extremely well and everyone seemed to enjoy was the music that we used. They all agreed that the urban R&B style of music fitted the style of the film; it helped emphasis the theme of the movie and also added tension.

The editing used is another element that people enjoyed. The audience particularly liked the straight cuts from scene to scene as this together with the music helped to create tension. They also liked the black screens with taglines from the script that we added as this gave the audiences clues about the plot without revealing the whole story line. The target audience felt that the trailer engaged their interest and made them want to see the film.

One improvement that I was given was to not include as many short random clips as it did not help to tell the story. Our reason for using this technique was to set the scene for the audience and try and engage their interest without giving too much away. However I except the criticism that because it does not help to tell the story the audience may not understand the relevance. If I were to edit the trailer again I would try to consider the point of view of the audience who do not know the plot and limit the number of short random clips that I used in order to create a balance between engaging the reader and causing confusion.

Overall the feedback that I received was mainly positive. What was particularly pleasing was that when questioned the target audience identified the main theme of bullying after watching the trailer. They also commented that the techniques and conventions that we used were realistic giving it the appearance of a professional trailer. In conclusion the target audience feedback suggested that we have been able to successfully engage our target audience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evaluation question 4 - Mikaela Lawrence

The link for the slide share that I have presented my answer for the evaluation question 4 is:

http://www.slideshare.net/mikaelaa_x/evaluation-4-how-did-you-use-media-technologies-in-the-construction

 

Narrative theory

 

Narrative is the establishment given to a serious of facts. To make sense of things the human brain needs a narrative so that we can connect events and make analyses based on these connections. Not just in media but in everything we look for a beginning, middle and an end which help to make these connections.

 

In 1969 Todorov came up with the theory that all films follow the same narrative. He believed that they all followed the same 5 stages. Which are:

Equilibrium- everything is okay

Disequilibrium- something or someone disrupts the order by an event

Acknowledgement- realising that the disorder has occurred

Solving- an attempt to repair the damage of the disorder

Once again equilibrium

This structure can be applied to the majority of mainstream film narratives.

 

Vladmir Propp studied over 100 different fairy tales and broke them up into different sections. He suggested that all of these fairy tales contained the same 8 characters:

Hero- goes on a journey or quest

Villain- attempts to ruin the hero’s journey or to kill the hero

Donor- this is the person that gives the task to the hero

Helper- the hero’s friend who decides to go with the hero to assist them

Princess/Her father- the people that provide the hero with an object or reward on the completion of their task

Dispatcher- the person that sends the hero on their task

False hero- they take the credit for what the hero as done

We can relate this too many media pieces today even if they are not as obvious as they are in fairy tales. For example, TV Dramas always have villains also known as the bad guy that no one likes.

 

Barthes who is another theorist made the suggestion that the narrative works with different codes that the reader tries to make sense of. The most obvious used code is the enigma code, these are little puzzles that the audience need to solve throughout the plot, making us work but also giving us a sense of pleasure once we have solved them correctly.

 

Levi-strauss argued that everything, not just narratives, depend on binary oppositions as this shows a conflict between two sides. It also shows two different qualities. This is why whenever there is as helpless person there will always be a dangerous person as it shows the conflict between the two. Another example is the law and outlaws, there is always the stereo typical teenagers defying the law.

 I feel that my trailer will fall into Levi-strauss theory.

 

Evaluation - Mikaela Lawrence

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

 

After researching existing products at the beginning of the project I had an idea of the typical codes and conventions of real media that is out today. ’kidult hood’  is a typical social realism film that I decided to analyse in detail, I also looked at a number of other existing  social realism films such as ‘This is England’ and ‘Attack the block’. After I had looked at a number of existing films I came to the realisation that the codes and conventions that are normally used are:

Trailers usually start off with non-diegetic sound such as instrumental music which is added on top of the trailer. Sound effects are also used such as gun shots or traffic in the background. This is why I decided to use an instrumental R&B song throughout my trailer because I feel that it suits the style of the trailer.  

 

We decided to use a variety of shots to show the different perspectives of the scene. For example, the use of wide shots gives the audience an idea of where the film will be set. We also used tracking shots to show the scene from the perspective  of the main character and to create a sense of the pace of the action. The editing will give the audience a clearer idea on the style of the trailer, for example, if the film is upbeat and fast paced the editing will be quick, cutting straight to the next scene.

 

A disturbing shot is typically used when  someone is killed or hurt. In our trailer we have used this technique in the last shot of the river. At the same time the audience hears a faint gunshot which implies that someone has been shot without giving too much away.

 

The setting for social realism films are real life environments rather than staged sets. Therefore in our trailer we went to existing urban areas to complete our filming.

Social realism films also use unknown actors and the majority of the dialogue is improvised rather than scripted. When we were filming our trailer we told the actors the outline of the plot and how we wanted it staged, however we did not give them a script but simply an idea of what they might say and then asked them to improvise.

 

Every trailer also has a British Board of Film Classification to tell the audience the age rating of the film. Our trailer is rated 15 because the target audience for the film is 15-24 year olds. This is because under the guidelines set by the BBFC the language and scenes of violence used are unsuitable for an audience under the age of 15.

 

 

Social realism films typically contain lower class and working class people, which makes the film more realistic. They are also normally based on real life situations that have previously happened or could potentially happen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From our research we also found out that the majority of social realism films have been distributed by BBC Films therefore we decided that our film would also be distributed by them as this would be most realistic.

 

Trailers also have the release date of the film included in the trailer so that the audience know what day the film is released. We decided to use the same font as the movie title because it looks professional and it links together.

The credits also appear at the end of the trailer to inform the audience who is acting in and directing and producing the film. This is important because if the audience see an actor’s name that they had previously seen in another film, or a producer or director whose film they have enjoyed it may encourage them to go and see it.  

Bibliography (PAULINE KATE BALUYUT)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fotoflexer
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/
Google images
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-independent-film.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_PowerPoint
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfilms/film/bullet_boy
http://www.totalfilm.com/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0313670/
http://www.empireonline.com/
http://www.trustedreviews.com/adobe-premiere-pro-cs4_Software_review
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1478964/
http://www.channel4.com/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435680/

Storyboard

As you can clearly tell from the storyboard located above, we have decided to change the frames we intentionally first planned to use - this was because we felt that our original plan lacked several conventions seen in existing social realism trailers thus explaining why we changed the frames' sequence slightly.
The storyboard undoubtedly helped us during filming, as it gave actors information on the plotline of the trailer and the knowledge of what to do during filming. 

Originally we planned to use a green screen in the first few seconds of our trailer but as I clearly saw afterwards after viewing the second trailer edit, the green screen clearly stated "The following preview has been approved for appropriate audiences by the motion picture association of America".
We changed the green screen for the BBFC's black screen version instead as our trailer's location is clearly not America but in England.
We found that this was a good idea as it informed viewers that our film is rated 15+ .

Evaluation (PAULINE KATE BALUYUT)

Evaluation  

1. In what ways does your short film (trailer) use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

link to slideshare to view my presentation answer

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and subsidiary texts?

link to my answer on YouTube

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Names of those in the clip who gave feedback:

• Sean Walsh
• Kirsty Godwin
• Iqra Mohammed 
• Yusuf Dunn
• Sian Madigan
• Arsene Mbenga

From the audience feedback video located above, I learned that our music choice suited our target audience's preference well - this was because most of them said that the song fitted well with the story and that they really enjoyed listening to it. Another thing that I have learnt from the feedback regarding our audio choice was, that we edited the clips really well with the music, I know this because I was told that the song was on time with the action and scenes in the trailer.
If given a chance of re-editing our trailer I could enhanced the audio by simply blending the 'gunshot sound effect' more with the song, because one feedback I got was that the music near the end "lapsed" a bit.

On the visual side of our trailer, I noted that we could have slowed the pace of the trailer, down a little bit. This was because one review I got, suggested  that the trailer was too fast paced and that they wanted to know more about certain scenes, like the scene of Richard-Henry reading the letter.
Another review I received about the visual side of the trailer, was that the texts we used on screen was effective and that the audience felt engaged. Text that we used, informed the audience who the creators were and when the film of the trailer was going to be released.

I asked some of our target audience what they thought our trailer was about and the most common answer was "bullying". What this means is that our trailer was able to be understood by many and yet not give most of the storyline away.

Some of our target audience felt uncomfortable being filmed and have opted out of being recorded. They informed me that they felt the trailer looked realistic enough, that they actually want to see more scenes and if the movie was real they would actually go see it. What I learnt from this was that our trailer followed enough existing trailer conventions that some of our audiences felt it looked real enough.
Some of our audiences also said, that at times our trailer looked pixelated, this means that if we were ever given another chance to improve/redo the trailer we would use a better quality camera with a higher megapixel. This would allow us to record clips with a clearer visual quality.

Overall our trailer received mostly positive reviews which therefore shows that we have targeted our audience well.

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

slideshare link to my answer