Target Audience Feedback

Having posted the final product on Facebook to gain feedback we received these comments:

"I think the content of it is great how you lot have added effects such as black and white instead of colour gives it that classy look, but the transitions of when tom is getting beaten up could do with a minor tweak when heather hits him round with a bat make it more believable to make it more believable but other than that, I like how with every blinking eye that video blacks out"

"The opening killed it for me. Rest of it doesn't compare, the opening was brill :)"

"The beginning shots are varied which show the thought that went into shooting and storyboarding, it also makes it look more professional. In some places around 0.36 the audio from the actors are slightly quiet and drowned out by the music but the idea of it is there and the shots are good. The transitions could be smoother but the sharp effect makes it more interesting. The varied shots after 1.08 are good as they add an effect to the film and makes it more appealing to watch. I also think after 1.28, how the shots go black as he is blinking is a very effective way of showing it, makes it different and more powerful and engaging to watch. The only thing i'd say that needs improving is the sound control at 0.36, but apart from that the film is well made and shot."

'The camera angles are good, the bad bit is when the guys are sitting at the table, goes on for a bit and is unclear to the viewer.'

'Good editing, angles are good, music fits perfectly, didn't quite understand it though.'

'Music is very good, the title is misleading, baseball bat hitting is OK, I got confused, acting could be better, its good though for a first time thing, i liked it, 7/10'

'I like how all the shots are your basic angles, that at the end you have the shot from his eyes, footsteps all the way through is very clear, and background noise outside of the wind which may not of been intentional but worked well, although the voices are quite muffled.'

'I think the beginning is very good and the sound, but I find the 2nd half or 3/4's is very sloppy considering how good the first 1/4 is, but as this is your first wack at is its pretty good, i think you need to focus on lighting and clarity of the shot next time.'

'You could hear heather's heels well, the split screen thing was pretty good as well, i wasn't too crazy about her randomly walking back in though. As I had no idea why she was outside in the first place.'

Finished Product

Evaluation

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

I think that our media product doesn't challenge the forms and conventions of a Film Noir, however it does develop them. Whilst we followed the conventions of the genre, we decided to make the opening much more modern; we used the conventions of a 1940's Film Noir, and applied it to our modern opening. One aspect of a common convention we changed was the use of a voice-over, as we felt it made the film appear much less modern to what we were hoping, so instead used dialogue and music. To develop our understanding of modern Film Noir films, we watched the opening of 'Sin City' and also studied films such as 'LA Confidential' and 'Batman Begins' which although belong to the genre, they are not in black and white. They follow the common conventions - gangsters, protagonists, antagonists, dark, eerie, expressionistic lighting etc. The use of having openings all black and white began to die out, as many audiences preferred colour films, meaning that by us making our product black and white, we challenged the conventions. The use of upbeat non-diegetic sound in our product contrasted to the action, again challenging the conventions, as in a thriller film music is often used to connote a dark and eerie atmosphere. Whilst contemplating that our opening may be too cliché if we followed too many common conventions, our research taught us that the need for repetitive and similar conventions is essential.
- Similar to the opening shot of 'Sin City' - establishes dominance of main character and genre, allowing audience identification.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Having followed the conventions for a Film Noir we represented the female gender as more dominant than males, unlike many other thriller films which often represent males as the more authoritative and powerful gender. To represent the females dominance we focus largely on the use of camera angles, distances and editing; the use of low angles, close ups and the females on-screen time is essential to connote her power and authoritative status. We also use POV shots, to allow the female to be the only character present in the shot, further connoting her significance. Whereas, we use high angles to connote the males weakness, and use close ups to allow the audience to focus on the facial expressions of the character, which indexically implies fear and weakness. However, by having the three gamblers as males as well, it connotes that they still hold some power; however the female's dominance is much more significant. The use of gamblers represent the genre of the film, as they're a stereotypical character to have in a Film Noir and crime-related film. The characters are ideological to the genre, as they are used to reinforce the narrative concerning crime and gambling. Tom's character is presented as weak when faced with the female character, further connoting her dominance, this is connoted through scenes such as when the female approaches from behind and and grabs his head, the use of the high angle causes the female to look more superior and dominant.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I think that it's quite unlikely that our product would be distributed by a major Hollywood studio for various reasons. Whilst our opening follows the conventions of a Film Noir, I think that it's too predictable, ultimately seeming pointless to release in a cinema. However, I think that the film could be released as an arthouse film, delivered to a niche audience. As Film Noir's were most common in 1940's and very little exist in the 21st century our product could possibly add a new modern 'freshness' to the genre. German expressionism is suggested to be a reason for Film Noir films, as following World War 1, it was extremely difficult for film makers to produce extremely high quality films; this meant that they used symbolism and mise-en-scene to advocate the mood they were trying to display. Similarly, Film Noir film makers focused on the use of lighting, facial expression, positioning and symbolism to convey an atmosphere; this further provides reason as to why arthouse film enthusiasts may be more interested in our product. Having researched the target audience, many film enthusiasts aged 40 and older are most likely to watch a Film Noir, which suggests that if our film were to be released as an arthouse film, it allows the target audience to critic a more modern style film. As well as this, releasing the product as internet-only could allow a new target audience to appear, as few people are familiar with the genre a modernised form may attract and please the audience.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

After having gained knowledge and understanding from the research on the BBFC website, we decided to have our opening as a 15 and above, as the content is not gory or too scary. However, a much older audience is more likely to watch the product because of the popularity of Film Noirs in the past. Our product fits into the crime-thriller genre, further widening the audience and suggesting that those who are younger may enjoy the overall film. The modernised genre film we created could attract a wider audience as whilst using the common codes and conventions in a repetitive way, we have challenged these to make the opening more interesting and similar to films nowadays. What's more, I think that women are more likely to watch our product, as it specifically represents females to be the more dominant gender, which contrasts to many other films; by watching a film where their gender is being presented as very significant, it will allow them to engage with the film, as there are fewer films which represent females to be stronger and more powerful.

How did you attract/address your audience?

During the research process, we created questionnaires to gain knowledge of our audience's interests; from this we learned that the majority of people enjoyed crime thrillers and action films. At the end of our project we also posted our finished piece on Facebook to gain feedback on what went well and what didn't. However, I think that our attempts to attract our audience could be improved, as whilst we did a lot of research on the genre, we didn't focus as much on the audience as we should have. I think that if I had the change again I would have a wider range of people fill out the questionnaires, and have people watch our product as we went, meaning that we could gain feedback quickly, allowing us improve our overall piece based on the audience's opinion. From audience feedback, we learned the importance of research and planning; the majority of the feedback stated that the opening 30 seconds was much better than the rest of the film. The opening 30 seconds was thoroughly planned, whereas the rest wasn't planned as much; this showed in our final product, as many people thought the significance of the opening was lost. I think that gaining more feedback before we had finished would be very beneficial, as we would have been able to increase the quality and disallow a disrupt in continuity.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

The continuity task allowed me to gain some experience in using the camera and editing software, making the process of creating the opening much easier. I was first unsure of how the clips were to be cut/cropped to the suitable length for the product, however after exploring the tools in Adobe Premiere it was quite simple. However, whilst cropping and cutting the shots was simple, being able to cut it to the exact length that was necessary was much harder. I realised that even cutting the photo wrong by less than a second could create a disrupt in continuity. A particular problem we faced during the continuity task was that our camera wasn't level as result of the tripod, meaning that some of our shots appeared wonky and out of frame; this problem was beneficial to us when beginning our opening as it meant that we would often double check before filming to ensure the camera was level. The camera was fairly easy to learn how to use, however I personally struggled with using the editing equipment. I learned that to add music and sounds into the product, they were imported similarly to importing clips; this proved quite easy as it meant that I could easily understand and work on my own. However, whilst importing the clips was fairly simple, a problem that we faced was that some of the clips didn't import correctly, and the quality of them was hindered. To overcome this, we had to reimport the files, checking that the program didn't freeze. Overall, I have learned the correct and effective ways to use the software and camera, allowing me and the other members of my group to create a fairly high quality opening without the need of much assistance.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Since the preliminary task, I have learnt the important of research and planning; whilst we planned quite a lot for the task, it was evident that it wasn't enough. As we were told what shots we needed to include in the task, it allowed us to understand that we needed to know exactly what type of shot we wanted. We struggled in having a set shooting schedule, meaning that we would shoot last minute, causing our time to be rushed and lacking in organisation. As our product needed to be 2 minutes, our lack of planning hindered our product, as whilst we thought that the combination of shots we first had would make up the 2 minutes, it became evident that it merely made a minute and a half. However, as our product was progressing we began to have much sturdier shooting plans, and we knew which specific shots we were shooting at that time. As our product changed largely from our animatic, we found it extremely difficult to use our previous planning, as it was no longer relevant to our opening. I have learned that a weak plan creates a much weaker product, as it means that a lot of time is spent discussing what we should do next when the time should be used for filming and editing, which ultimately results in a product which may still have quality, however could be improved largely.

Rough Cut

This is the first draft of our production, having shown the teachers and gained some feedback it was evident that we needed to make many changes to improve the production. Firstly, it's only a mere 1:20 minutes, when it needed to be at least 2; to gain 40 more seconds we were told to lengthen our editing, add more dialogue and add more shots in, specifically close ups to further connote the females dominance. Within the feedback we were told that our camera work was generally steady and well filmed, however to improve this we were told to reshoot certain shots such as the ones of me drinking the wine, and the long shot of the male characters playing pool, as the lighting was extremely dark. The credits to our film were positioned fairly well, however the font style was a bit to eccentric, and a more simpler font sans serif would be much better to use, as it doesn't overpower the action and look too large. Having gained feedback, it was evident that the first 30 seconds of our production was much better than the rest, due to the variation of shot angles and distances; using this feedback, to enhance the quality of our production we are going to incorporate more angles and distances. Another aspect of our production we needed to improve was the use of non-diegetic and diegetic sound, our production consisted wholly of diegetic sound, and it was suggested to add non-diegetic sound to create more tensity, and allow each shot to link much better. Another aspect we could improve is our shot transitions, as we used cuts throughout the production, to add more variety would could incorporate dissolves and other transitions into our work.

Filming 15/03

As the deadline was approaching, it was essential for us to have all filming completed by the Tuesday evening, allowing us to edit and finish our product completely over the week. Using the feedback which we received from the teacher, we discussed new shots we could add in, and changes we could make to our previous shots. As it's essential for the female character to appear much more dominant and authoritative than other characters in a Film Noir, we paid close attention to the angles and distances we shot from. We used many low angles throughout to connote her authority, and a variety of close ups to allow the audience to further recognise the females power. However, whilst focusing on the female character, it was also necessary to focus on the male character as well, as the shots of the male connote his weakness. To allow the female to appear more supreme than the male throughout, we made sure that the male was never shot using a high angle, and if he was he would still be much lower than the female, causing her to look down on his weakness and lack of power. After filming, we began to edit the next day and luckily once edited, our footage came to 2.10 minutes, meaning that we had an appropriate amount of footage. Whilst experimenting with our shots, we decided to add in dissolves before the black screen, and during a POV of the female; we felt that using this transition it connoted the females dominance even more, and made the ending to our production look much better, as it didn't simply end on a cut to a black screen.

Filming 14/03

Having filmed all the footage and beginning to edit the following day we realised that our footage only covered roughly 1.20 minutes, meaning that we still needed to gain 40 seconds of filming somehow. With this in mind, we decided to shoot that evening in the hope to make up the other 40 seconds, this meant that we had to think of a list new shots and a basic storyline or series of images which followed our other footage. We decided to focus our opening around gambling, and having one of our male characters cheating, allowing the female to connote dominance through low angles and close ups. However, although we had more shots we were still unable to create a 2 minute opening with what we had, meaning that more shots were needed. As well as this, having gained some feedback from the teacher it was suggested to show the females dominance in a clearer way by having her appearing much more violent and aggressive in the shots.

Teacher's Feedback

After receiving some feedback from the teacher, we have decided to change a few aspects of our production to enhance the quality and also quantity. Our film was only a mere 1.20 seconds, meaning we had 40 seconds less than was expected. Having proposed a few of our new ideas to our teacher, it was suggested to create more intensity by introducing more torture and aggressiveness into our production. Whilst also receiving feedback on how to add more to our production, we were also told to rearrange some shots to allow the footage to flow better and make more sense. I think that gaining some feedback was essential, as we were evidently struggling with ideas, and creating a decent flow to our production. As well as this, I think it's much better to hear ideas from someone much more educated, and also not from your group, as their ideas are a lot more sophisticated and bold, allowing the production to stand out, as the shots are more daring, meaning that the production is not as simplistic and ordinary.

Editing

As we had quite a few problems with the mac equipment we were unable to upload and edit anything for a while, having overcome these problems we uploaded all of our material and began to edit. The editing allowed us to clearly realise what needed reshooting, and any shots that we needed to add in. We had roughly 4 shots to reshoot, as the quality of the shots was not as good as it could be. We have decided to add in a few more shots to make the opening flow better, as we feel that at the moment whilst the collaboration of shots works well, adding in a few more shots will allow it to make more sense. As we wanted the female to appear as the most dominant character we didn't focus on the males shot as much, this meant that when we were editing we realised that some of their shots didn't make much sense as they weren't introduced clearly; this meant that we're going to add in a long shot of the men playing pool. As well as this, whilst there are many shots of the female outside and inside, we don't see her enter the house, meaning that we needed to add in a shot of her entering the house. However, to create a variety of shots we're going to vary the angles and shot distances to allow the shots to interchange. After gaining feedback from the teacher, we were told that the beginning of our project worked very well, and he was pleased with our shots. However, the part of the sequence where the male gets dragged in seemed a confusing; to overcome this problem we are going to rearrange the shots, and not have this section of the project so near the end.

Filming 28/02

During this filming session before our male actors arrived we decided to shoot a tilt up to the female as we didn't need the males in that particular shot; we did a tilt to connote the females power and authority, as the male is forced to look up at her as he's on the floor. When the males arrived we followed our plan accordingly, first with a shot as they enter the room from outdoors at a high angle, connoting their lack of authority compared to the female. We had a shot of Sam being dropped from a POV of the female, further connoting how power. However, we realised that without seeing them enter the room the shots didn't go well together, meaning that we have decided to have another filming session where we will gain more shots of the male characters.