Feedback Evaluation

Analysing the feedback received:

Paul Russell said...

The crosscuts of the night and morning after with the different camera shots work really well in holding the attention of the audience as you want to know more about what happened.

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Tom Blagdon AS Media Studies said...

This is a quality piece of work. It is relevant to the youth now so it is something to relate to. The acting was good and you can tell that a lot of preparation and planning went into making it work. The location it was filmed was good because its in the right type of environment and the use of different equipment to make it look more real was good.

The right choice of music was also being played because it made it run through clearly and the types of fonts used were good.

There is not a lot to improve because its a good opening sequence maybe just to have less titles.

Quality.

Action: 

I did not have to think much about changing anything in my opening sequence, however it has made me think about the amount of titles I have included. If I were to do anything different next time I would maybe use less titles.

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Lia Bright. said...

Love this film opening.
Really relates to youth and teenagers in this generation.
The flashbacks and the character the morning after changing really catches the audiences attention and keeps their eye on the opening wondering what is going to happen next.
Good choice of music to go with the opening, and the title fonts were simple but effective for the film which also worked well.

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Camilla Chetty said...

I really enjoy this opening. This is definitely something i would watch. The way you've captured the youth side, but made it adult as well is very affective. The music you have picked couldn't have complimented the video more. Well done

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Hannah stokes AS media studies said...

I realy enjoyed watching your film opening

It is really good as it relates to our agegroup and therefore makes it more interesting to watch.

I like how you have defined youth at the start of the film as i think it looks very effective and is an original and different way of starting it off.

The music used is very effective and suites the film really well. I like the variety of camera angles you have used and how you have cross cut them all in together. The flash backs of the night before in black and white also look really effective and makes the meaning and story of the film really clear.

Very good well done

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Katie Collins said...

The camera angles chosen work really well, the extreme close up used at the beginning creates a confusing atmosphere and as it goes on the story line is made clear with all the flash backs to the night before. The music is very effective and goes well with the story line. The ending of your opening sequence leaves us wanting to see more just as it should.
You could have spread your titles out a bit more for improvement.

Action: 

After reading this comment I have taken into consideration that maybe I should have spread my titles around more, and if I were to do a similar project I would put that consideration into practice.

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Thanks to Katie for the comment!

Mrs Joy said...

Hello Nick,
Your opening sequence works really well and is set for a good age group; I feel that you have used good use of the camera as you have a good variety of shots also being steady and good angles. Your use of font and sound track works well with the genre.

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7- Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Looking back at my preliminary task i think I have learnt a lot, wether it to be with filming, editing or organization.


With filming I have realized the importance of holding a steady shot, getting the correct angles on a shot and how important it is to be audience friendly. With editing I have realized how much patience is needed to edit a lot of footage and with a little bit extra effort the editing can be a real success, I have not learnt much about effects but I have learn't how to crop and make my film look a little more cinematic which I think was  a decent skill to learn. 


I have discovered more about shot types, learnt the complexity of getting certain shots and how they work. With my film I worked with a lot of extreme and normal close ups, I have worked on racking shots as well as to stick with my abstract theme I have got a lot of out of focus footage.


I didn't have to use the 180 degree rule in my opening sequence, however I think I could have comfortably achieved one using the experience gained from the work for the preliminary task. Neither did I have to use shot reverse shot. However, I did have to use match on match action when the character left the main scene and entered down the stairs, I would not been able to achieve this without the experience gained from my preliminary task. 

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

I have learnt to use different technologies throughout this process, 
The first being the camera:

When filming my piece I decided I wanted to use the Sony HVR-HD 1000P -

I liked the quality of the footage captured from it, also it was good to use with the tripod. I could use the camera to get good close ups, I switched the focus to manual in order to get a lot of my footage because a lot of it consisted of racking and abstract shots. I used a firewire to capture my footage.


A tripod was also essential in order to capture my footage, it helped me get steady shots and get into places i wouldn't be able to naturally.


The program I used when editing my footage was Adobe Premier Pro, it was fairly easy to use as I did not intend on adding many special effects. However, I think if I had to add a lot of special effects I would have found the editing process a lot more difficult. I also used Premier Pro to edit my soundtrack to the opening, as all i had to do was cut it and make it longer, this process was fairly simple.

5- How did you attract/address your audience?

The unique selling point of my film;
I think the unique selling point of my film is that it would be a bit more raw and real than the teenage drama's that are on the market at the moment, I think it would therefore be a lot more appealing to a young audience. As they would feel they could relate to it more. I think another unique selling point of this film is the music used would be a lot less mainstream compared to most teenage drama's, for me personally the soundtrack of a film is a big thing and a film that would use music right from the pioneer's of the underground scene down to the fresh and unheard material would pull in a more underground audience, an audience i would like to attract/address in my film. 

4- Who would be the audience for your media product?

My opening sequence does appeal to a very specific audience, teenagers. I chose to aim my film at teenagers becaus I myself am a part of that audience and I wanted to create something I would enjoy making and could put ideas from experience in to. But I also think that something that is aimed at teenagers would be appealing to an older audience as they always want to know what the teenage society are doing as it is a topic that is heavily covered on the news.


I grabbed a couple people that would fit into my audience and analysed them,


First up - Georgie Whitmore
Age- 16
Where she would shop - Urban Outfitters, Top Shop, Asos, Levis, Hedkandi etc.
What music she likes - Indie Rock, Pop, House, Indie Dance, Future Garage + Grime.
Favourite TV Programmes - Skins, The Inbetweeners, Shameless etc.
Favourite Films - Harry Brown, AduLTHOOD and Pulp Fiction
Interests & Hobbies - Socialising with friends, parties, gigs and nightlife.

Second - Chris Ogunsola
Age - 16
Where would he shop - Urban Outfitters, Size, Levis, Topman, JD etc.
What music he likes - Hip-Hop, Grime, Dubstep, Future Garage, Drum & Bass + Electro.
Favourite TV Programmes - Skins, Shameless, The Inbetweeners, 90210, Jersey Shore etc.
Favourite Films - KiduLTHOOD, Snatch, Lock Stock, Layer Cake.
Interests & Hobbies - Socialising with friends, parties, gigs and nightlife.

Last but not least - Harry Izzet
Age - 16

Where would he shop - Size, JD, Foot Asylum, Bank etc.

What music he likes - Hip-Hop, Grime, Dubstep, Future Garage, Drum & Bass + Electro.

Favourite TV Programmes - Skins, Shameless, The Inbetweeners, Dubplate Drama's

Favourite Films - KiduLTHOOD, Snatch, Shank, Harry Brown.

Interests & Hobbies - Socialising with friends, parties, gigs, music + football.

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

What is a production company?
A production company is the part of film making that is responsible for doing things like raising funds, providing equipment and crew and all of the physical elements of filming. So the production company doesn't actually think up the ideas themselves, they will work in partnership with the writer of the anticipated film and have some but not all creative input. However, some production companies are tied in with the writers and are sometimes used privately to them or specific people. For instance Clint Eastwood has his own production company and he will use the same people for every one of his films.


What is a distribution company?
A distribution company are simply the people that take the film once it has done and make the sales and do the marketing side of the film. They have nothing to do with the creative input in the film.


Where would the money have come for a film like mine?
Because my film was fairly urban, aimed at young people and all british I would look towards someone like the UK Film Council who get their funding from The National Lottery for the funding to make my film possible.


Why are the various people named in the titles?
The people that are named in the opening titles usually have the most important jobs, the rest of the people are named in the end credits. People such as the director, producer, who it was written by, main actors, who it was funded by, editor etc. In my film I have named nearly all of the people listed, in this order;

1. Production name
2. Main actors
3. Other actors
4. Music by
5. Filmed by
6. Edited by
7. Director
8. Written by

Films that would be institutionalised in the same way;
Films like Adulthood, Kidulthood, Harry Brown and Shank. They are all funded by The UK Film council and produced in similar ways. Also they are based on the same kind of thing.

2- How does your media product represent particular social groups?

This is my main character;

His name in the film is Jordan.
Characteristics-
Outgoing, ruthless, unlwaful, loud, funny, smokes, drinks, takes drugs, is a bit of a layabout, menace to society and young.


Comparison to-
Cook from skins

Characteristics-

Outgoing, ruthless, unlwaful, loud, funny, smokes, drinks, takes drugs, is a bit of a layabout, menace to society, is a ladys man and young.

Conclusion;

My main character is simular to Cook from skins in every way, Cook was my main inspiration when thinking up a main character, thats not to say I copied Cook's characteristics. I took his best ones and merged it into my character, I enjoyed the series Skins and always thought that Cook was the best character because he appealed to everyone. 

Where appearance and costume is concerned Jordan and Cook look quite simular, simular kind of hair and features and have a style that is almost the same; rough indie type. Wearing jeans, tee shirts, denim, trainers, rough shoes etc. They also share a simular role, as Jordan does the same kind of things as Cook does in Skins in the film. For instance in one of the series of Skins Cook beats up a local gangster and ends up paying the consequences, which is what Jordan does (except he doesn't beat up a gangster its just a local rival) in the opening. Also in the film Jordan would be the main source for excitement throughout.

This is Cook in action;

This is my main character;

His name in the film is Jordan.

Characteristics-

Outgoing, ruthless, unlwaful, loud, funny, smokes, drinks, takes drugs, is a bit of a layabout, menace to society and young.

Comparison to-

Chris from Skins

Characteristics -
Funny, outgoing, unlawful, young, drinks, takes drugs, smokes, is thick, naive, happy and is a party animal.

Comparison;

Both my character and his character take part in the same activities such as taking drugs, drinking, partying etc. So they are in some ways quite simular, however they do have some differences whereas Chris is quite a dopey character and is happy all of the time my character Jordan can be quite on the ball and can switch into aggressive or sad moods.

Jordan and Chris do have a fairly simular appearence, same kind of hair and style: messy. As far as costume is concerned Chris dresses fairly differently to Jordan in the film, as Chris dresses in UV colours and rave clothes where as Jordan dresses more rugged and rough. In Skins Chris is not a main character unlike jordan, he is just a sub character that tells a different story, however he is a character we as an audience manage to love which again is fairly different to the character I am trying to paint. I want Jordan to be loved at times, but at other times I want an audience to think "what the hell are you doing, what an idiot"!


Chris in action;

This is my main character;

His name in the film is Jordan.

Characteristics-

Outgoing, ruthless, unlwaful, loud, funny, smokes, drinks, takes drugs, is a bit of a layabout, menace to society and young.

In comparison to-

Sam from AduLTHOOD

Characteristics - 
Rough, harsh, unlwaful, done wrong, sad, aggressive, violent, deep and fed up.

Comparison;

Jordan and Sam are both main characters that have done wrong and are now paying for it, Sam kills someone in the past film KidULTHOOD and is now making up for it in AduLTHOOD. However, Jordan is a lot more positive than sam and has a lot more fun than him, Sam doesn't find the time to party, drink, smoke, take drugs etc. in the film whereas in my film that would be pretty much the main focus.

Jordan and Sam look a lot differently, Jordan is white where as Sam is black, Sam has more of an urban look whereas Jordan has more of an Indie look. Their costume differs highly, Sam would wear fresh trainers, baggy jeans and almost all of the time throughout the film a hooded up hoody whereas Jordan would wear skinny jeans, a scruffy hoody and scruffy t-shirts and shirts.


Sam in action;

So in conclusion I think an established main character you could compare my one to would be Cook from Skins.