Evaluation

Evaluation

FILM

 

POSTER

FILM REVIEW

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

 Film

USES 

Characters- firstly my use of characters within my film leave connotations of real film noir films, my female actress is presented as a seductive and manipulative femme fatale character, this is portrayed through her costume (dress, heels, red lipstick e.t.c.)  and also her dark and mysterious mannerism. 

My Male actors role also leaves connotations of the typical anti-hero character, which you often find in lots of films. This is evident through him being perceived by the audience as the 'baddie' but in fact he ends up as the femme fatales victim towards the end of the film.

 

Camera angles and shots- my short film uses conventions of film noir films and other films through the use of its camera angles and shots. I have used a variety of camera shots, which resemble both film noir characteristics and of other modern day films. Similarly to film noir films I have used a range of awkward camera angles in order to emphasise the uneasiness of the characters in the frame. Some examples are close ups and extreme close us of my characters and props, low angle shots showing shadows, night time urban shots with obscured lighting.

Close-up of femme fatale characters

My film- 'Pick-Up'

Short noir film RedBlack

Classic Noir film 'Detour' 1945

I have also used a variety of other shots such as aerial shots, POV, over the shoulder, arcs, pans, high angle and level, long shots, zooms and hand-held shots. These are all types of camera angles and movements which are typically used in real short films and feature length movies.

 aerial shot

over the shoulder

high level shot

Other similarities to RedBlack:

Camera placed on bonnet looking in, spotlight on femme fatale in backseat with light from street lights reflecting on the car windscreen

male character looking in mirror suspiciously

Location, lighting and costume (mise-en-scene)- For my location I used a night time urban setting as well as the day showing variation. The dark and gloomy night time urban setting is very typically film noir.

night urban setting

POV driving shot

Additionally keeping in the theme of film noir I used obscure and minimal lighting in some scenes to add to the element of mystery and suspense. I shot many scenes at night when the street lighting was the only source of light, this resembles many classic film noir scenes

Use of street lamps for lighting

the big sleep (1946)

My film 'Pick-up'- Car park scenes

Shadows

Pick-up- shadow on pavement from streetlamps

The big sleep- classic noir

 Costume and Props

I have used props whch are typical of film noir- Guns, Cigarettes, lighters

Female character- For her costume I used seductive and mysterious dress through the use of a red dress, black high heels, long hooded coat

Male character- I kept the male looking smart by wearing black leather shoes, blazer, watch. Smart dress for males is typical in film noir films.

I have also used:

• A twisting plot like most noir films
• Emphasis on crime/violence
• Similar moods and atmospheres- despair, confusion
• Endings are usually bad and unhappy in film noir, my short film also displays this.
• Flashback

DEVELOPS

My short film Pick-Up develops conventions of film noir by:

• Filming in colour rather than black and white- usually classic noir films are filmed in black and white whereas I decided to take a post-modern stance and film in colour.
• I have updated the usual male detective character into a more modern day character- through little details in his costume such as wearing blue jeans rather than suit trousers.
• I have used the common film noir setting (night,urban) but i have also developed the setting in my day scenes. I have used a modern derelict setting, with modern day features such as graffiti, this contrasts with the settings used in the first half of my film which reflect classic film noir. 
• I have used modern day technology when filming, I have used a range of cameras and other technology in order to create effective shots and scenes. e.g. Helicam

CHALLENGES

My film challenges conventions by:

• Using minimal dialogue-this challenges real modern day films of all genres as well as film noir films.
• Unlike classic noir films which use voice-overs and speech, I have used sound effects e.g. police siren and dramatic music scores.
• I have only used two characters throughout my short film.
• Unlike most noir films where the femme fatale is the main character In my short film I have placed more emphasis on the male character.
• My femme fatale is slightly unconventional with her look, she is not typically Caucasian and blonde, she is olive skinned with dark brunette hair.

Poster

USES

My poster uses conventions by:

• Using a photograph for the main image this is similar to neo-noir and posters for films such as Pulp Fiction and Taxi Driver.
• Using the femme fatale as the main image looking directly at the audience is similar to Pulp Fiction's film poster with Uma Thurman
• Contains all the relevant institutional information that is included on modern day film posters and such as, cast, director, release date, certificate, website and awards won.
• The image I have used is typical of neo-noir posters with its dark background and femme fatale character, this instantly sets the genre of the film connoting a dark atmospheric feel.
• A tagline is used this is typical in both classic noir film posters and modern day film posters.
• Colour scheme is used 
• Credit block is used at the bottom of the poster
• Institutional references such as 'Miramax' are included which is conventional of film posters
• I have used a photo from a separate photo-shoot which was set up in a night time setting rather than a film still, this is conventional of real film posters.

DEVELOPS

My poster develops conventions of real posters by:

•  Using modern fonts which I downloaded of websites e.g. Dafont.com

CHALLENGES 

 My poster challenges conventions by:

• Many classic noir posters use illustrated posters whereas I have taken a more neo-noir stance and have used a photograph.
• I have placed the release date of my film in rather large lettering above the credit block this is not conventionally included in this position on the page or font size. It is usually underneath the credit block and is in smaller lettering
• The classic noir posters usually use lots of colour and more than one image, they also usually include both characters and have their taglines and titles slanted across the page. My poster is more modern and conveys elements of neo-noir.

Film Review

USES

How my film review uses conventions:

• I looked at a variety of film reviews both online and in magazines and decided to base my film review on a similar style to that of Total Film. The layout of my film review therefore resembles conventions of Total Film's hard copy reviews.
• I included conventional features such as columns, a sidebar, key information e.g. directors name, verdict section and a website
• I also used a main image which took up half the page
• The image I used was a screen grab from my film, as after looking at real film reviews in magazines they mostly used screen grabs from scenes in the film.
• Included a star rating
• Included an age certificate
• I used a pull quote which is conventional of real film reviews

DEVELOPS

My film review develops conventions by:

• Only using 2 columns rather than 3 or 4
• I also instead of creating a 'Verdict' box i incorporated the verdict into the main part of the article.
• I developed the 'If you like this' column by adding images of other films and there star rating rather than just naming the film and giving a brief description.

CHALLENGES

My film review challenges conventions by:

• Some magazines prefer the reviews to be landscape and spread over two pages with the image crossing over both pages whereas I used a single A4 page rather than a double paged spread. Although the style I used was the typical style found in Total Film magazine, which is what I based my film review on.

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

 

• I feel that my film and my ancillary texts are very effective as they all display a similar mood and atmosphere. The genre and mood is clear in all three pieces. For the poster the mood and genre is set by the dark imagery, femme fatale character and use of the colour red. The tagline who can you trust also allows the audience to realise the film is a thriller. The film review sets the mood and genre through the text, colour scheme and main image, where the male looks in despair and my film shows features of the film noir genre throughout, with the use of its cinematography and mise-en-scene.
• The ancillary texts use a similar colour scheme of red, white and black which convey aspects of the thriller genre such as danger, death and blood.
• All three complement each other well, I have managed to use both characters for my ancillary texts. For my poster I used my femme fatale character as the main image and for my film review I used the male victim.
• All three pieces connect to each other showing continuity. For example for my film review i have used a screen grab from my film. For my poster I have used an image of the female character in my film. Both the film review and poster show the same features such as directors names and the 15 age certificate.

 3) What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I Showed a small group of people my film via YouTube, after the showing I gave each person one of my questionnaires

Here is an example of my questionnaire which I gave out to people after they viewed my film -

Positive feedback

The positive feedback I received was:

• Good range and use of camera shots and angles
• Music was perceived as effective
• The ending was not anticipated by the majority
• The average rating was 4 out of 5
• 100% of people who answered my questionnaire said the director used the allocated time very well 

Negative Feedback

The negative feedback was:

• The narrative was not completely understood 
•  There could of been more dialogue 

OVERALL

• 100% of people who answered my questionnaire agreed that my short film would be classified in the thriller genre, this allowed me to conclude that my film effectively used features from the film noir genre and created suspense well.
• The narrative was not understood by 30% of my questionnaire participants and 20% percent of these people suggested that by using more dialogue this confusion could have been overcome .Therefore my audience feedback led me to realise that I needed to put more emphasis on dialogue and that music and sound effects did not necessary replace the need for dialogue, as some viewers were still confused by the plot.
•  My choice of music was received well by my viewers as they all agreed it was effective in creating suspense. This was a positive result as the task was to create a short suspense film.
• The target audience which I decided to use was decided after my first questionnaire earlier on in my research. This appeared to be successful as when asking again whether this was an appropriate target group 90% of participants answered yes.
• Looking at the results of my questionnaire it was clear that the most positive aspect of my film was the use of camera angles and shots. 100% of participants gave positive feedback when asked about this aspect. I Concluded that most people were fond of the variety of shots used and impressed by the aerial shot which was taken by the helicam.
• 80% of participants did not anticipate the ending. This was a good result for me as there was supposed to be a twist in the plot as this is typical of film noir.
• The Average rating for my film was 4 out of 5, which meant that most people agreed and rated my film above average
• After reading my audience feedback I have learnt that the use of dialogue is more important than what I had anticipated, espescially in making the narrative coherent. I would say that this was the aspect which let my film down most.

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

Research

• We mainly looked at and watched classic film noir and neo-noir films both in class and and home we looked at classic noir films such as Double Indemnity and neo-noir films such as Pulp Fiction. We watched these films on DVD.

• We also used the internet to complete research. We used YouTube to watch other short films. I was able to complete research on the subject area of film noir and on short films and there directors such as RedBlack directed by Mal Woolford. We also used the internet to complete institutional research when making our posters and film reviews, I looked at magazines online such as Total Film and Empire.  
• I also used the internet to go onto blogger.com where I completed all my blogging.
• Used the internet to find pictures and examples of film reviews and posters for analysis
• I also used YouTube for tutorials on how to use software such as iMovie
• I used the programme 'Paint' to analyse examples of film posters and film reviews 

 Planning

• I used a video recorder to record each section of my storyboard to create my anamatic, I then uploaded it to the mac computers where I edited it on iMovie. I then used the internet to upload it onto YouTube, and onto my blog.
• I used a digital SLR camera to take photos of my locations before filming 
• I used Microsoft word on the computer to create my questionnaires which determined my target audience I also created my call sheets using this software
• I used the programme 'paint' to create my scheduling calendars and  my costume mood boards
• I also used my digital SLR camera to record possible shots such as a POV driving shot

Construction

• I used a variety of video cameras when filming my short film 'Pick-Up', I used my own personal camera equipment which complied of a Nikon D300 SLR camera- I used this to film the majority of my film and a GoPro camera- I used this to film awkward scenes such as moving car scenes, running POV shots and the aerial scene.
• I also used an RC helicopter to film my aerial shot I attached the GoPro camera to this RC helicopter in order to achieve this shot.
• I used the programme iMovie to edit my footage
• I used YouTube to find music which I was going to edit to use in my film. Once I found appropriate music i downloaded it using the YouTube converters online.
• I used a programme named Garageband to edit my music. This programme allowed me to select sections from a song and create loops, this enabled the music to be original.
• I also used my SLR camera to take photos for my poster.
• I used the programme Photoshop to edit and enhance my images for both my film review and poster.

 

Evaluation

• For my evaluation I mainly used the internet to access blogger.com where I completed my evaluation.
• I also used the internet to find relevant photos and icons of the software which I have been using
• I used YouTube to access my film and to get screen grabs from my film and other short films to make comparisons. 
• I used the programme 'Paint' to select and cut my print screen images to the write size.