Evaluation Questions

Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Question 3: What have you learned from your audience feedback?

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

Evaluation of our Editing

In two parts of the trailer we used match-on action, we used in the shots of the girl smoking and where she pours water on her face and looks back into the mirror. Match on action is an editing technique for which one shot cuts to another shot portraying the action of the subject in the first shot. I think this worked really well for the smoking shots because it enabled us to put as much footage into one section without wasting time. It also worked really well for the toilet scene because we used a go-pro for the close which created a 'fish bowl' effect. 

In the first few shots of the preparing and injecting of the drugs we used a basic cut between each shots, this created disequilibrium at the beginning and also it allowed us to not waste time as we managed edit it within 10 seconds.

In the final shots in the teaser trailer we used the editing affect 'shot reverse shot'. The shot we used to revert back to was the close up shot of the girl looking in the mirror, looking back on her past. In the same group of shots we used a continuous flash back which worked really well with the light effect, however it was difficult to get the music and the shots to work together at the same beat which is what we wanted.

With the shot of the eye and the pupil shrinking in size we used a slow motion so that the audience could understand what is happening as in its normal pace it was too quick to see there was a change. In all the titles in the teaser trailer we photoshopped them so that we could put a video effect in the background, this worked really well as its something that hasn't been seen before and also the colours were relevant to our genre, however it was difficult to make sure all the words we clear as some parts were too dark to read.

Review of Research and Planning

Evaluation of Research and Planning

In order to review my research and planning, I have monitored my progress from AS to A2.

My creation of storyboards has been in area of improvement during the step up of AS to A2. In our 2-minute AS possession horror film opening about a boy who is possessed by a supernatural female figure, our storyboard had detail and most scenes had a full breakdown. Although we had some parts missing when we started filming. This meant that we had to keep rescheduling filming days in order to complete all of the shots needed, due to adding them throughout the production of the film opening.

 

Due to not storyboarding effectively, some of the shots were unachievable, including having the possessed antagonist making an immediate bruise on the protagonist, we realised that we did not have the equipment or skills for this.

In the storyboarding of ‘Eighteen’, we ensured that we did not encounter the same problems as we did at AS. We did this by writing a list of desired shots and a basic idea of the scenes we wanted to include. We then filtered these to choose the best clips. This allowed us to experiment with a range of shots and editing styles due to having an exact number of clips to film and a finalised storyboard.

Another area of improvement has been shooting scripts. At AS we made a shooting script for each filming day so that we knew the list of scenes and equipment needed. Although, we organised our filming days last minute, which meant that the planning was rushed. This meant that some group members couldn’t attend various filming days, reducing the amount of team participation.

This progressed in A2 as we organised the filming days ahead of time, we grouped clips that we filmed in similar locations i.e. a day in Paddock Wood to film the parts at my house, Five Oak Green park and Costa.

 

To conclude, my skills from AS to A2 have improved. This has helped me share better ideas with the group, and increase the quality of the planning and creation of our media product.

Shots we used for inspiration

•  Shot on left - We Are Your Friends (2015) - drama/music/romance film set in LA which follows the career of a DJ. The trailer features a extreme close up of a dilating pupil with a sharp focus on the iris and pupil. The shot is only half a second long and mart of a montage of footage of the DJ recording different sounds.
• Shot on right - our teaser trailer - we used a close up shot of an eye to show and emphasise the effects of drug use. Our shot lasts one second which gives the audience time to see the pupil dilate. The eye isn't as close as the shot we used for inspiration but we wanted to show that the eye was Roses.

• Shot on left - Trainspotting (1996) - this is a popular drama film set in Glasgow which tells the story of a group of young men caught up in a cycle of drug abuse. As our film was about drug use in response to mental illness, we were strongly inspired by the shots in trainspotting.  The shot above on the left shows the main character, Renton, injecting heroin into a vein in his arm using a needle.
• Shot on right - our teaser trailer - We attempted to replicate this shot using a needle used for printer ink refills. We obviously could not make the shot look as convincing as the shot from trainspotting as the actor obviously could not actually push the needle into her arm and we therefore made the shot as short as we could, ensuring the belt above the elbow is visible and the needle pushing against the skin.

• Shot on left - Trainspotting (1996) - this is a shot from the same scene as above in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting. This shot shows an extreme close up of heroin being made on a metal spoon.
• Shot on right - our teaser trailer - we were inspired by the shot from trainspotting and recreated it using golden syrup and a lighter. We held the lighter under the spoon and let bubbles form. Using a +10 close up lens attachment we were able to capture this process in very good detail.

• Shot on left - Fish Tank (2009) - this is a shot of the titles on the trailer for social realism drama, Fish Tank. The titles are in a bold, sans serif, capitalised font on a black background. However the text is transparent which reveals a layer underneath on moving water. This therefore creates a visual effect o the water through the text which reflects the films name.
• Shot on right - our teaser trailer - we wanted to achieve similar titles to those in the Fish Tank trailer and therefore researched online how to achieve the same effect and applied it to all of our titles with a shot of Rose running through an orange lit subway in the background.

Music

Above - The XX - Intro - featured in Project X (2012), various crime/thriller shows Cold Case, Person of Interest, Law & Order

Above - Jacoo - Crossing Winds - we 7used this in our trailer due to its resemblance to the XXX's song. The tense heartbeat like percussion and building tempo make it perfect for our trailer.

• We researched music we liked and found artists such as The Black Keys and The Vaccines and other indie-rock artists whose music was used in teen drama trailers. We were oringially inspired by this music styles and looked for remixes and remakes online we could use in our trailer however we thought that as our trailer had a darker mood to it we would look for something more sombre.
• We liked music by The XX but their work was copyrighted so we found an artist called Jacoo on online music sharing site SoundCloud and came across his song Crossing Winds. I contacted the artist to ask for his permission and he replied almost immediately granting us permission.
• The song he produced sounds almost identical to The XX's Intro but has a beat and build more suited to our trailer.

Evaluation

• In conclusion, the majority of our shots inspired by existing work turned out successfully and we combined a range of angles and shots to give a restricted narrative outline of our films plot.
• As for the music, we were determined to find the perfect piece inspired by an existing artist and we added different songs to the clips to test the sounds and found Jacoo's song to be a perfect fit

Website deconstruction

• Social links listed on top right
• Promotes film - how you can own it on top of the page
• Tabs such as overview, story, cast and crew, videos, photos, news
• Have to scroll down for the rest of the information - doesn't fit onto one page

• Plays music automatically - also has the option to turn it off
• Can text 'Go London' to 85080 for exclusive clips
• Promoting dvd edition
• Has production company at the bottom and when the dvd comes out
• Tabs about the film such as: about, competitions, trailer, soundtrack, etc.
• Sites for advice and help listed under forums but no facebook, twitter, etc.

• Social media links listed on top right
• Synopsis listed when you arrive on home page
• Trailer at bottom
• Has 'buy now' button to promote film
• In cinemas now, age certificate: 15 - targets right audience

Deconstruction of typography in posters

• The font is bold like teen urban dramas
• The colours aren't opaque and have a faded effect so you can see the brick wall behind
• Billings block is below the title of the film
• Consistent colour scheme - white and a faded brown
• Main actors/actress' at the top; Freddie Highmore and Emma Roberts
• No tagline

• The title is yellow and bold to make it eye catching
• The tagline is below the title in white and a smaller font 'we are infinite'
• 2 colours - yellow and white
• The O is filled in unlike other posters
• Main actors/actress' names at the top of the poster

• Just like the above posters, basic colour scheme with blue and black
• Main actor/actress' names at the top of the poster
• Title of the film is placed in the middle, with some words bigger than others
• Billings block is below the film name in a colour which doesn't stand out so it doesn't draw attention
• Billings block is smaller, in non capitals, unlike The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

Deconstruction of the characters in "It's kind of a funny story"

Vladimir Propp's theory of narrative

Vladimir Propp suggested that characters took on the role of narrative 'spheres of action' or functions. He came up with 7 different character types:

• The hero - usually male, is the agent who restores the narrative equilibrium often by embarking upon a quest. The hero is invariably the texts central character.

• The villain - usually creates the narrative disruption

• The donor - gives the hero something, it may be the object, information or advice, which helps in resolution of the narrative. 

• The princess - is usually the character most threatened by the villain and has to saved by the hero.

• The dispatcher sends the hero on her or his task

• The false hero appears to be good but is revealed at the narrative's end to be bad.

Craig Gilner is 15 years old and suffers from depression. He started having symptom's a few weeks after starting highschool at Executive Pre-Professional. The school's intense academic pressure caused him much stress. After going to countless doctors and therapist's he stops taking his medicationand his suicidal thought's become greater to the point he contemplated jumping off the Brooklyn bridge. He then check's himself into a hospital and meets other patients. This is the main protagonist as the story revolves around him and his mental illness. I decided to look into this character because they are very similar to the protagonist in our teaser trailer; both suffering  from depression and suicidal thoughts.

Noelle is a patient at the hospital that Craig forms a strong bond with. Like Craig, Noelle broke under the pressure and became very stressed, leading to her depression. Unlike Craig however, she was pressured by boys. She cut her face with scissor's and was admitted into the hospital for self-harm. According to Propp's theory, Noelle can be seen as the helper as she forms a strong bond with Craig and helps him through his depression. 

Bobby is one of the mental patient's in the hospital. Bobby and Craig form a quick bond and Craig looks up to him, almost like a mentor. Bobby end's up getting a job, after Craig let's him borrow one of his shirts to wear to a job interview. Bobby can be seen as the donor in this film because Craig looks up to him and he offers advice for Craig.


Our trailer
Our character fulfils more than one sphere character type; the victim and the villain. She is self-destructive and destroys her own life by taking drugs. This was done by featuring a close up shot of her heating up syrup on a spoon which acted as heroin, followed by a tracking shot of her running away in a subway under low-key lighting; further emphasizing how her life has changed and that there is little hope. This shows that there is not always a hero and that she has to face her problems alone; conforming to social realism.