EVALUATION: How Did You Attract/Address Your Audience?

We attracted the audience in by having some main concepts in our film. What i mean by this is we tried to put things into out film that we have seen in other films of the same genre. We did this so that the audience would recognize these things and it would hopefully make them want to watch the film.
We included concepts such as a fight scene and a fast paced car get-a-way scene. Also having a woman as a main character may attract a certain audience. Typically, the male percentage of our audience would want to see films with lots of action in it to keep them entertained. They would also like to see fight scenes for the same reason.
We also used a questionnaire so that we can get peoples opinions on what our film should be like. Although it only got to 11 people we still got decent responses from a range of different people. These answers helped us decide part of out film, the title, for example.

EVALUATION: Who would be the audience for your media product?

The answer to this question is put in throughout this blog as part of a various different posts about the audience we were tyring to attract/address.

Here are some links:
http://asfoundationportfoliostellaperryman1.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/evaluation-how-did-you-attractaddress.html

http://asfoundationportfoliostellaperryman1.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/target-audience.html

http://asfoundationportfoliostellaperryman1.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/our-questionaire-for-target-audience.html

http://asfoundationportfoliostellaperryman1.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/what-someone-from-our-target-audience.html

http://asfoundationportfoliostellaperryman1.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/our-questionaire-for-target-audience.html

EVALUATION: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

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

From making our product I have realised that the quality of the camera ended up being a big issue when filming. So was the lighting.
Because we were filming outside at night we weren’t able to get the best quality of picture. It became pixelated and blurry, and it wasn’t very clear. Having a more professional camera instead of a hand-held one would prove to be a better method of filming but seeing as we didn’t have on we worked with what we had. Hopefully when it is rendered it will look best at its highest quality.
  The other problem we encountered with the filming was the lighting. As we couldn’t afford or place spotlights to light up the streets a bit more then we couldn’t brighten the scene. This made the shot even darker and even harder to see.
           Another problem we had with the camera was a loss of footage when trying to upload it. We managed to get the recorded clips onto the computer but they became distorted and unusable.
On the plus side, one of our group members had his own editing software on his laptop. Sony Vegas Pro 9.0 is what we used to edit our film rather than the software provided because it meant we could do more with it and we already knew how to use it. We learnt about all the different affects you can put on a clip to make it look more professional and run more smoothly. Thanks to this software and the editing skills of Liam, we were able to add some really good affects to out film like; the opening titles and the opening credits. Also, the fades between some shots were executed really well and worked well when trying to add tension during the clip.
    From this we have learnt to prepare a bit more beforehand and really think about what we might need to make a good scene. If we can, try to get our hands on a better camera/equipment and try not to film in the dark unless we do. I’ve also learnt a bit more about using Sony Vegas Pro. Before I didn’t really know what to do but now I’ve learnt how to put effects into a video and how to create affects that make any video look more professional.

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

    There are many things we have taken from our preliminary and taken into consideration when filming our main task. The camera shots for example. Some of the shots we used in are preliminary were perfect for our film because they created the right affect and worked well in the film.
    Another thing we learnt from doing out preliminary was how important a script and a story board is. Because we didn’t have time to really plan our preliminary we didn’t have time to create a script or a story board. This would have made a huge improvement to the way our preliminary task looked because we didn’t really know what we were doing and had to take quite a few takes. Most of the dialogue was improvisation and it was hard not to laugh because we weren’t expecting what was being said. We learnt how effective a story board is from our preliminary because we didn’t have one then either. With a story board you know exactly what shot you are going to include and what and, also what is in the scene. This made our preliminary that little bit harder. We learnt from this though and made sure we had a good one for our main task so that we can look at it and use it so that we know exactly what we’re filming.

First Screening | Evaluation

Audience Reactions

Our first screening of our film was shown to a class of media students who also had the same task. It was shown twice and they were asked to give feedback. That being the genre they thought it was, the name of the film, what went well and what can be improved.
Most if the audience managed to pick up the film name and the genre was also guessed pretty accurately. About eight out of twelve people could tell it was an action film. This was one of the good points we got from our review because it means we used some key conventions of a typical action film and it was clear to the audience what it was.
The audience over all said that the opening titles worked well but we need to change what they say because at the moment they say things like "directed by:" and "filmed by:". These need to be changed so that they just say our names. This was an area for improvement because it would make the start better.
Another thing that the audience said worked well was the music we added into our film. One review said that the music "worked well" and another said it was "appropriate".
The last thing that 'went well' was that a few of the reviews said that we challenged the conventions.
we're really glad that some of the audience picked up on this because it's exactly what we were trying to do. we think they understand this because it was the woman throwing the punches and not typically, the man.
    One of the main things that the reviews say we need to change was the filming of the punch and the other part of the fight scene where Monroe gets pushed. It needs to look more realistic. It looks a bit fake because it was about a foot away from his face. Also the push needs to be redone because it's too slow and doesn't look real either. it needs to be a lot more convincing.
     The other main problem in our film was the lighting. Because it was filmed at night it makes it difficult for the audience to see the surrounding and what is actually happening in the scene. Although we know that the scenes need to have more lighting it is hard to fix. We could film the shots again but the cars will not be in the same place and continuity would go out of the window. If we edited the clip on the computer to make it brighter then we would loose quality of the picture and probably make it worse.

            The final review was from our teacher (of Media) Miss Street. For our first screening she gave  our film introduction a mark of 48, but with the potential to get much higher. Some of the suggestions for improvements were to scrap the ending, add shots of the woman boxing and re-film the fight scene. Our introduction ends with Monroe's hand picking up a phone as it rings. It was suggested we cut this out completely because it does not really tell us much about the film and is not relevant or needed. We could cut a few seconds out of the length of our product and put an extra bit at the start.
       The bit we would add to the start would be quick shots of Janet Monroe boxing. This would give the audience a bit more information about Monroe's character and will help them understand why she is able to punch the robber later on in the production.
       "If Subject Monroe is Stella - audience need to know her better!"
          The reviews have really helped us because they show us what we have done well and what we can improve on. The improvement were what help us tweak our film so that we can make it the best we can make it to achieve a better level.

EVALUATION: Challenging The Conventions

One way in which our group challenged the conventions was by making the main character, firstly a woman and secondly by the characteristics she has.
She's not your average, stereotypical woman. She's a specially trained agent that is no longer in the line of work. She lives on her own, works 9-5 and regularly goes to the gym to work out. This challenges the conventions because she is the opposite of a traditional woman. Her independence would come through ore if we produced a longer length film.
A traditional convention of an action films, that I've noticed from watching previous ones, is that the very first shot is normally an establishing shot where you can figure out the location and see the scene. It might introduce a few characters or sometimes none at all.In ours, however, we jump straight in to the action. This engages the audience automatically. They'd want to know what is happening and why. We did this because it makes a change to the traditional conventions. We wanted to do something different that the audience might not expect.

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

Working Title                                                                 Warner Brothers



      The kind of company we would expect to produce our type of film would be Warmer Brothers or Working Title. Originally i would of thought Working Title would be good because it is not a very big, well know production company and that would mean a lower budget. Looking at some of the films Working Title have produced - such as 'Hot Fuzz' and 'Shaun of the Dead' - relates to the type of film we're trying to create. They are of similar genre and we would expect it to do as well if it were to go in to actual further production.
I also thought that Warner Brothers would be a good company to produce and distribute our film because they are a better, well known company that are responsible for creating spectacular films that have become great blockbusters. They also make them a lot of money. The film would become a lot more 'hollywood' by saying that i mean it would have a-list actors, expensive equipment and technology, great locations and special effects. The film would have a much higher budget and would probably do a lot better in the cinemas.    If we were to producing the full length version of our film then we would want Warner Brothers to distribute it. Also if we were to use Warner Brothers then out film needs to be of a higher standard. The planning would be much more elaborate and the technology and equipment would be a lot better, it would also cost a lot more. We would have to produce a blockbuster film for it to be distributed as one. Having that at the start of our film will help when selling it because the audience will recognize it . Warner Bros' are known being associated with high grossing films.

Metrodome - smaller budget, they didn't use a lot of high technology. Metrodome Group plc is a London based publically traded company that owns, manages and distributes film, TV and digital content. The Company operates through two divisions: Metrodome Distribution (features and home entertainment in the UK) and Hollywood Classics. The Company’s library of right includes over 300 feature films. This would also be a great company to produce our film because they are a low budget company and could probable get some fundin from various schemes available. This company would also be good for us because as this would be a first film then it wouldn't really be noticed by mant people if it didn't sell or do well in the cinema.

EVALUATION: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The main character in our film is a woman aged between her late twenties and mid-thirties. She represents a modern day woman as she goes out to work, lives on her own and goes to the gym regularly. As todays women are more independent and wanting to break out of the stereotype I think this character will be recognised by women as doing so. Women may also find resemblances between themselves and the character because of these factors, this will help when selling the film –if it was to go into further production and actually be made- because women would want to see it. Men may find this independency attractive and make them want to see the film as well.


Traditional Woman                                                        Modern Woman