How didyou use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and
evaluation stages?
Media technologies have been vital for us, of course; without them we could not have
produced our film. The technologies we used in the construction of our product included the camera, obviously, editing software, a virtual storyboard and a photo editing software. These were used to create and hone the products, and to polish them off to the best of our extent.
Whilst researching, the main technology we used was the internet on the school
computers and our laptops. This enabled us to look up funny stories from around the world and diversify our influences.
Once again in the planning stages the main technology used was computers. We used a virtual storyboard for planning camera angles, shots and the like. We
wrote up a script on Microsoft word, and had a general outline of what we hoped to achieve on that same software. It was also used for writing a synopsis.
In the evaluation stage, once again the main technology used was the computer. I am writing this in Microsoft word, all the stuff on our blogs was obviously uploaded using a computer. We also used a projector to show groups of people our film.
Overall, technology has been very important for us; without it we could not have
produced our film at all, let alone got it to a standard that we believe to be
our best. We did not use all the technology available to us though; we chose not to use a green screen in our film, as this was unnecessary; we feel we would just be using it for the point
of it, and this would cheapen our film.
We also chose the same fate for an ultra-slow motion camera; we decided
that, for our purposes, regular slow motion done on a computer would be more
than adequate.
Thursday, 29 March 2012
Evaluation part one
What haveyou learned from your audience feedback?
Audience feedback is of course essential for makers of any films, and it provides us
with a valuable opportunity to get an independent assessment of our work. We have shown our film to a variety of people, mostly in the age brackets 17-19 and 30-51. People in the first age bracket were essentially friends of ours, and the second were mostly teachers, parents and
family. What we learned proved very useful in the following weeks.
One of the most significant things that came about as a result of audience feedback was
the removal of one of the scenarios, as it was deemed to be too offensive for
inclusion. This scene was not deemed too bad by the younger age group, but the older age group had a very strong reaction to it, and as a result we decided not to include it, as we wanted our
film to appeal to this age group, and we knew that we would have to make more
effort for this; the humour naturally appeals to the younger age group.
Our feedback testing was extensive, and we showed our film to as many people as possible in
the hopes of gaining an insight to as many differing viewpoints as possible. The results were mixed, with some reactions favourable, and some not so much. We attempted to gain as much constructive criticism from everyone as possible, as this would enable us to develop our
film as much as possible. Some were more useful than other, with more to say and more opinions on a wider variety of topics.
The specific age group we found to be the most useful in our research was the 30-51 age groups,
who on average were better able to articulate their ideas, and recommend a
course of action for us.
A very important function of audience feedback was to tell us when we were going too
far with jokes. When we were making the film, we found it very easy to get carried away with some elements, and the group opinions helped us to stay grounded and understand what was and what was not acceptable to certain audiences.
Audience feedback is of course essential for makers of any films, and it provides us
with a valuable opportunity to get an independent assessment of our work. We have shown our film to a variety of people, mostly in the age brackets 17-19 and 30-51. People in the first age bracket were essentially friends of ours, and the second were mostly teachers, parents and
family. What we learned proved very useful in the following weeks.
One of the most significant things that came about as a result of audience feedback was
the removal of one of the scenarios, as it was deemed to be too offensive for
inclusion. This scene was not deemed too bad by the younger age group, but the older age group had a very strong reaction to it, and as a result we decided not to include it, as we wanted our
film to appeal to this age group, and we knew that we would have to make more
effort for this; the humour naturally appeals to the younger age group.
Our feedback testing was extensive, and we showed our film to as many people as possible in
the hopes of gaining an insight to as many differing viewpoints as possible. The results were mixed, with some reactions favourable, and some not so much. We attempted to gain as much constructive criticism from everyone as possible, as this would enable us to develop our
film as much as possible. Some were more useful than other, with more to say and more opinions on a wider variety of topics.
The specific age group we found to be the most useful in our research was the 30-51 age groups,
who on average were better able to articulate their ideas, and recommend a
course of action for us.
A very important function of audience feedback was to tell us when we were going too
far with jokes. When we were making the film, we found it very easy to get carried away with some elements, and the group opinions helped us to stay grounded and understand what was and what was not acceptable to certain audiences.
Friday, 20 January 2012
Cliches
In producing the film, we attempted to avoid using cliches, and sometimes when we had an idea and found it un original upon completion, and disregarded it so as to avoid using these cliches. In the particular genre that we were operating in, these are often plentiful and hard to avoid, and we were anxious to not succomb to this stereotype.
We did not accomplish this one hundred percent however, as a certain amount of cliches are necesary.
In our eagerness, we also discovered a paradoxical situation: we were trying so hard to avoid including stereotypes, that we were rejecting ideas not on their merit or what they would bring to the film, but on their lack of uniqeness. This led to a situation in which our film actually did become a stereotypical "convention-less" film. In the end, we decided to try and better meter the amount of stereotypes and cliches, so the audience has clues as to identities of characters, and can follow the plot easily, but at the same time, ensure that the film does not become stale and boring.
We did not accomplish this one hundred percent however, as a certain amount of cliches are necesary.
In our eagerness, we also discovered a paradoxical situation: we were trying so hard to avoid including stereotypes, that we were rejecting ideas not on their merit or what they would bring to the film, but on their lack of uniqeness. This led to a situation in which our film actually did become a stereotypical "convention-less" film. In the end, we decided to try and better meter the amount of stereotypes and cliches, so the audience has clues as to identities of characters, and can follow the plot easily, but at the same time, ensure that the film does not become stale and boring.
Rejected ideas
When planning the film, we initially considered many different types of film. Early ideas was for a world war two era drama, a horror film, a spoof action film and even surrelist avant garde style films.
We eventually decided to settle for a comedy due to the belief that comedy is the most widely regarded film genre, and hopefully we could make something that everyone could enjoy, rather than panderind to certain people (ourselves).
There was initially some disagreements between Andy and myself over certain concepts and ideas. This, however, was not a serious obstacle, and we eventually decided to settle on a comedy film, due to our mutual love of the genre, and our belief that most people enjoy a well made comedy film.
We eventually decided to settle for a comedy due to the belief that comedy is the most widely regarded film genre, and hopefully we could make something that everyone could enjoy, rather than panderind to certain people (ourselves).
There was initially some disagreements between Andy and myself over certain concepts and ideas. This, however, was not a serious obstacle, and we eventually decided to settle on a comedy film, due to our mutual love of the genre, and our belief that most people enjoy a well made comedy film.
Monday, 31 October 2011
Music research
When researching music, we were holding several ideas in mind. First of all, we did not want the music to give our film a dark or somber feel, so we knew we would have to medium to high tempo music. Secondly, we wanted our film to have a youthfula ad bouncy feel, and we wanted the music to reflect this. This once again narrowed the range of tempos and genres we could use; doom metal would unlikely be appropriate in this instance. Thirdly, we wanted the music to be recognisable to certain members of the audience, but not the majority, as people may focus more on the song than on the film. For this reason, we avoided the pop music world.
When music was allocated for different scenes, we had to consider carefully the overall atmosphere of the scene. For instance, in the party scene, the music was happy and upbeat, and reflected a happy and carefree enviroment. This was to help create an atmosphere of youth. However, later on, when the main character is attempting to chat some one up, we switched to the funk genre, attempting to play on its stereotypical associations with sex and seediness. Finally, for the ending of the film, we settled on an upbeat, happy and easily recognisible song that contributed to the overall light hearted atmosphere.
When music was allocated for different scenes, we had to consider carefully the overall atmosphere of the scene. For instance, in the party scene, the music was happy and upbeat, and reflected a happy and carefree enviroment. This was to help create an atmosphere of youth. However, later on, when the main character is attempting to chat some one up, we switched to the funk genre, attempting to play on its stereotypical associations with sex and seediness. Finally, for the ending of the film, we settled on an upbeat, happy and easily recognisible song that contributed to the overall light hearted atmosphere.
Target audience research
When planning our film, we decided the target audience should be the 18-35 age category; we came to this conclusion based on the blue homour sometimes included, which this age group would find acceptable, whereas other age groups may find it offensive or otherwise unnaceptable.
By setting this age category for our target audience, we were able to include more crude homour without concern for alienating the target audience with the topics that we address. However, throughout writing it we tried our best to make sure there would be nothing that offends people outside of the target audience too, as we want our film to have the widest appeal possible.
By setting this age category for our target audience, we were able to include more crude homour without concern for alienating the target audience with the topics that we address. However, throughout writing it we tried our best to make sure there would be nothing that offends people outside of the target audience too, as we want our film to have the widest appeal possible.
Genre research
http://www.filmsite.org/comedyfilms.html
When deciding on a plot and script for our project, we researched the codes and conventions of different subgenres of comedy, attempting to follow some of these; however we did not want to use excessive cliches and outdated homour. We have decided to include slapstick elements to the film, such as drunken stumbling and over the top fighting. We will use this to create an increased sense of confusion in the drunken scene, and add a touch of homour to the fight scene, which could otherwise be taken relatively seriously when compared to the rest of the film.
When deciding on a plot and script for our project, we researched the codes and conventions of different subgenres of comedy, attempting to follow some of these; however we did not want to use excessive cliches and outdated homour. We have decided to include slapstick elements to the film, such as drunken stumbling and over the top fighting. We will use this to create an increased sense of confusion in the drunken scene, and add a touch of homour to the fight scene, which could otherwise be taken relatively seriously when compared to the rest of the film.
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