Evaluation Question 4: How Did You Use New Media Technologies In The Construction And Research, Planning And Evaluation Stages?

For this question, I had to conduct research into new media technology and find examples that applied to my coursework for each stage of the production. As part of the evaluation, I had to consider what new media technologies that I has used during the different stages of my coursework such as planning and research to production, and why they were useful in helping me complete my coursework to a good standard. A long with this, I had to show the varied pieces of hardware, software and websites that I used as well as examples, and how I used each different one and why.
Furthermore, I've shown images of how I used the technology such as camera positioning and computer software, and explained how they were effective and useful at different stages.

 

In addition, I've created a small video presentation on what technologies we used and how, whilst I've also tried to explain clearly what they were used for, adding further detail to what I've shown in the presentation slides.

Evaluation Question 3: What Have You Learned From Your Audience Feedback?

In response to question three, we conducted a focus group with our target audience in order to get some feedback on our short film. After watching the short film, we asked the three individuals from our target audience a series of questions in order to see what we could do to improve the short film from their perspective if we were to do it again, whilst we also tried to ask questions about whether it appealed to them as a whole. We received some helpful and varied information that was mainly positive, although we've learnt primarily if we were to do it again we should perhaps make our narrative slightly clearer during the course of the short film.

Based upon our findings, it seems that we were able to succeed in appealing to our target audience through applying all the initial research we conducted into our short film. it seems what they found most appealing about the short film is its artistic nature and how it was created, and also the narrative once it was somewhat explained to them after viewing the film. that was perhaps the only part which they seemed to be confused by, and they wanted to the narrative to perhaps be a bit more evident if we were to make it again, however they understood it was due to the art house influence which we used. Another feature they seemed to be impressed by the film was its somewhat simplicity in regards to the amount of props and character that were used, which they found easy to follow without the narrative on top.

Considering the ancillary tasks, they each believed that my own two ancillary tasks linked in very well to our short film, and that there was some consistent form of house style evident throughout each one, be it with the film colour style of be it a replication of Sight & Sound magazine. In addition, they believe the style of the the poster looks as though it could be shown easily within a multiplex or specialised art house cinema, and that it would appeal to them if they were to see it outside of the college.

We found that it's essential that we appeal to our target audience so that they are encouraged enough to watch the film and continue to want to watch it when viewing the short film. The target audience if they are a fan of the short film will most likely want to share the film with others in the short film which will then spread the name of the short film and draw in a larger audience. Furthermore, considering target audience was important in order to understand what sort of features they want to see with this style of short film and genre.

I think that our film could appeal to several target audiences as opposed to just perhaps showing it an art house 25+ type audience. It's evident through our audience research that it would also appeal to a younger audience with different interests and personalities, which would ultimately make our film more appealing to a wider audience and make our film hypothetically more successful. We seem to included features within our short film that seem to appeal to these different age groups.

Evaluation Question 2: How Effective Is The Combination Of Your Main Product And Ancillary Texts?

As part of question two, we conducted a group interview of ourselves with a  series of questions in regards to our ancillary tasks such as the double page spreads, posters and radio trailers, in order to see what we had done to make them effective for our target audience and how we were able to maintain some form of style from our film over into our design and exhibitions pieces. I personally spoke about how I went with my style of a split poster and how it appealed to me as part of the target audience we were trying to appeal for. In addition, I spoke about how I went for a different style of double page spread with structuring it as a top ten films to see at a national film festival, whilst having the main article about our own short film, which I reviewed from a  personal point of view. Overall, I wanted to create a brand identity through a use of a consistent house style, such as the black and white colours that I tried to use, which linked to our short film.

Evaluation Question 1: In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop Or Challenge Forms And Conventions Of Real Media Products?

As part of this question I have to look into how my created product relates to real media products. I have to consider the conventions of filmmaking for our short film, short film narrative theories and concepts, genre codes and conventions and also the style of the film. This is my response through YouTube by adding notes to my our short film about some of the techniques we used and why. During the short film, I tried to focus on and comment on why we used particular effects and shots, such as the quick-fire rapid shots with the clock face,  as well as focusing on the anti-narrative of our short film and why we structured it in that way in order to create meaning, which also related to the genre of our short film, taking in some inspirations form the genres we had researched.

I've annotated the different conventions I used as part of my double page spread in order to show how i related it to my real life example from Sight & Sound magazine. Using the various images, simplistic layout and colour scheme all makes the article very easy to read and look at which is what the real magazine tends to go for.

 

I've annotated the elements of my completed short film poster and explained the features to why they've been used and how they effectively they do their purpose. All of the elements come from the example of an art house and feature film poster that i'd initially researched.

Short Film And Ancillary Task Questionnaire

In order to get some audience feedback, I've created a questionnaire to get some information from my target audience about the short film and the supporting ancillary tasks.

Here's some of the feedback I received from my target audience following handing out my questionnaires. The results show that my target audience believe it relates to them, although it can appeal to a target audience of 25+ if it was to be advertised and shown to that specific audience. My target audience said they would also recommend it to others within the specific audience range, as they would probably find it as entertaining. Furthermore, my audience believes that my ancillary tasks support the main short film with the central character image primarily and the black and white links, whilst there are no features they would change about the ancillary tasks in order to make them go and see the film even more. Finally, the target audience believes would look good within a art house cinema which is where our main distribution target for the film was for, whilst the double page spread also looks as if it has came out of Sight & Sound magazine, due to it being reconstructed from an existing example and them altered to fit in with the short film. 

Completed Short Film Double Page Spread

Here's my completed double page spread that will be placed within Sight & Sound magazine as a feature for the BFI London Film Festival. For this I tried to follow my real life example that I'd found which initially gave me the idea for the top ten structure, which also had a consistent house style. However for my article piece for my number one film, I had to use the features that were evident on other pages as well as the real life example in order to construct my own version for my article.

Double Page Spread Article

This is my article that I'm using as part of my double page spread. I wanted to go for the personal review angle which gave my personal thoughts that would in turn persuade readers of Sight & Sound magazine to go and see the short film at the film festival. I decided to focus on:

1. The cinematography and the camera techniques used
2. Acting and how it was convincing
3. Memorable scenes from the short film
4. Brief summary of the film based upon the directors hypothetical previous works

Article:

To truly understand what the film as hoping to achieve, any audience member who decides to read must take my word for and take any chance they have and see this film. I could easily compare the film to other great short films that have blessed festivals all over the world, but simply put this film stands out from the crowd from what others have made me experiance.  

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the film is its ability to immerse the viewer into a fake world and make it real. The use of creative camera angles that capture the doll like movement of the character as well as an anti-narrative plot that is perfectly constructed with the black and white contrast, adds a different level to the film. Although perhaps the audience might find themselves confused during the initial scenes of the film, soon enough all the enigmas are solved and narrative becomes full circle. 

In additon, on top of  all this, we have to focus on the stunning and convincing performance that Katy Mitchell delivers. A simplistic character as a whole, it’s hard to really understand what she actually is during the course of the film until the very end where her doll like appearance becomes obvious, but this fails to draw you away from the film overall.

By far the most stand out film of the festival, those who managed to see it definitely didn’t go away disappointed and in fact were aching to see it again, I for one being one of those. Leaving the screening, I found myself  being reminded of one scene in particular where the character is  is going through a supposed breakdown. The visual and sound effects was a clear stand out part of the film, and helps emphasise every scene, be it the echoing voice over or the repetition of the TV screens, all of which was very engrossing.  However, this is just one of the many scenes that really rubber stamps it as a great.

What the director has been able to achieve as a whole is beyond impressive.  looking at his previous works, it’s safe to that he’s found his style and peak with this short film and deserves all the rocognition and accolades that surely will come his way.

Double Page Spread Template

As with the poster template, i wanted to create a rough design with all the considered elements from my research whist also following an existing example from Sight & sound magazine. Whilst creating the rough template, I tired to consider all the elements from the real life example, and also thinking about what I could do in order to draw the reader into my film in terms of my article's content and how I structure the layout of my page. I also tried to keep the structure fairly basic so it didn't become to overwhelming for my reader, which is also consistent in Sight & Sound magazine.

Double Page Spread Example

During the planning of my double page spread, I got a real life example that I'd like to recreate so that it's relevant to my own short film. Instead of using a top 20, I intend to use a top 10 with other prior short films, before finally having a number one spot for a review of my film. the article example I will also layout in the same way. The main features of the double page spread which I'm looking to take forward into my own work is it's simple structure which is also quite eye catching through it's use of minimal colours and somewhat little text. The varied images and the way they're structured in the grid is also something I'm looking to take forward, a long with the brief descriptions to accompany them. Furthermore, in terms of the main article for my film, I wanted to use the three column structure and pull quote style, however I want to have a larger image of my short film which would immediately grab the attention of the reader.

Double Page Spread Planning

This is some of my initial planning into film magazine double page spreads, looking into the features and content that are typical. For the research, I looked into the typical conventions of a double page spread in terms of structure and design, and also looked at the multiple ways in which the articles content can be worded, be it a review, preview, a personal point of view or overall review for all readers. I also found real life examples of film magazines which I could potentially sue as inspiration for my double page spread and what ideas from them I can use.

Completed Short Film Poster

This is my completed short film poster that I have created in order to advertise my film effectively both to my audience and also through it distribution methods. Overall, I wanted to have some form of house style which did relate to my short film in some way, mainly the use of the black and white colour scheme. My main inspiration came from real life art hose style posters such as Black Swan, where elements such as awards, taglines and a cartoon like image were used. Initially, my entire poster was going to be black and white, however I decided against this once I thought about the single colour scene at the end of the short film, which then made me think about introducing some form of colour with the green eye, which captures the viewers attention. I also wanted to make my poster relatable to our tagline for the short film, which is why I tried to use a form of split poster structure, with having one have black and one half white with colour, and showing only one side of the character, perhaps giving some indication to what our narrative is.

Short Film Poster Image

This is the image I've decided to use for my short film poster from our recent photo-shoot. I felt this image would fit perfectly with what I'm planning to do as part of a split image style, that also linked to the tagline of our short film, as it only shows one side of the characters face. With some editing on Photoshop, I intend to cut round the image of the character and remove the background, before moving onto reducing the amount of light shown on the left hand side of the face so the right side stands out more, where I cant then use the different tools such as contrasting and levels. I will also experiment with the different image layering options to see which one will have the most stand out and eye catching effect when placed onto the film poster.

Short Film Poster Template

Before I began creating my short film poster, I decided to draw out a rough template for it so I could create a much easier structure and layout design for me to follow. I considered all the conventions and components that a researched that make up a poster for the genre, whilst also following some of the real life examples of art house film posters. I want the poster to stand out, mainly due to the image I do choose to use, however I don't want the poster to be purely text dominated which in turn takes away the attention to the image.

Art House and Feature Film Posters

As part of my film poster planning, I wanted to find some real life examples of an art house film poster which also has a feature counterpart which in some way related to the genre and style of our own short film. An example that I was able to find was for the film Black Swan, which had numerous art house and feature film posters, and also had the genre style of a psychological thriller. Art house film posters tend to orientate around being more graphic and simplistic as opposed to a main film poster. In addition, these poster types also include minimalistic text and also striking colours that catch the viewers attention. With feature film posters, a main image from the film tends to be a main part of the poster in order to show both the main character and the starring actor/actress of the film. With the Black Swan examples, there is a clear contrast in terms of the features that re used, be it the image type of overall house style of the poster in relation to film. i think I would be able to combine elements from both posters such as the striking colours and large covering facial image, so that it can appeal to our target audience and relate to our style of film, and also where it'll be shown.

 

Art House Research

In order to understand how our own short film related to art house films, I've conducted some brief research into the type of film and also found existing feature films examples and what they do that's similar to our won film. I've also considered what our film does in terms of representation, narrative and  exhibition/distribution methods.

Additional Short Movie Posters

I've conducted some further research into both short movie posters and feature length movie posters, and compared the difference between them as well as finding the typical conventions for both types of poster and genre.

Short film posters from AntonieThomas

Short Movie Posters

I've done some further research into short movies and focused on some posters for some various styles of movie in order to find out the key features of short movie posters and how they differ for different genres.

Completed Short Film

This is our final version of our short film with our completed effects and voice overs. We can now move onto to creating our supporting advertising and exhibition ancillary tasks for the film.