Evaluation time

CODES AND CONVENTIONS 

- In what way does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 

For my A2 Media products I would like to think that I both challenged and used conventions of real media products. Throughout my production my aim was to make products that were not so typical of the representative field of short film. I think that challenging conventions of real media products is important because I think that it is a method of development in relation to audience reaction within the making of any type of film. Having said this, it is equally significant that we use existing codes and conventions not only so that the product makes sense but also so that the film can be tailored to attract a certain group of people or target audience. Audience reaction is the most important part of making what is referred to as a 'successful' film therefore any type of reaction that can be instigated from an audience, is valued whether it is negative or positive. In fact, a negative audience reaction is good because any constructive criticism that can be provided can only benefit the producer in the long run. 

Some things that I feel that I challenged include: 

- The use of various locations for my filming which also includes use of different types of lighting 

- Camera shots in some of my scenes

 (I believe I have used a bird's eye view in one of my scenes) which is not typical for my type of film

- 'Real footage of events' 

Codes and Conventions that I used: 

- Minimal amount of characters - I got this idea from a short film that we watched in Media class at the end of AS. The film was called 'Slinky' and I have done a review on the film in one of my earlier posts. The film used limited characters to compliment the length of the film - placing emphasis on each characters introduction to the audience throughout the film to save time. In my short film I used a similar method by using only 2 characters and ensuring that they had a complete introduction at the start of the film.

- Audience relation to my film 

Technicality of realism: 

• Natural lighting and sound 
• use of text & titles | words on the screen - this was a cost efficient way of conveying information 
• sound - Diegetic; voices of characters, sounds made by objects in the story
• Non-diegetic sound; narrators commentary, sound effects for drama as well as additional mood music 
• 'Set Ups'/ Typical scenes - sometimes included waiting for things to occur naturally 
• Visual coding e.g. mise en scene & props which included: class books/ stationary/ visual glasses/ clothing or costume/ locations and mobile phones - all added to amplify impact of the scenes. 
• Unintended sound | hand held camera work

 Single camera production: Narrative Structure 

- Linear structure (sequential): where the order of events in my film happened chronologically (B/M/E)

- Closed ending: the drama finishes and is completed with a resolution

Research Methods

Types of Research Methods:

- Internet search engines such as: Google | Yahoo | Bing (Secondary Research)
- Surveys and Questionnaires (Primary Research)
- Interview ( Primary)
- Textual Analysis (Primary Research)
- Industry Websites (Secondary Research)
- Books | Newspapers (Secondary Research)
- Radio | T.V
- Email | Letters (Primary Research)
- Audience Feedback

Quantitative Data: This is data that is either statistical or numerical based. This type of data can be collated from Questionnaires where I may find patterns or trends with answers that were given to me. For example, I did a quick survey asking people whether or not they liked my film name 'Cultural Differences' (my first name) and I found that 35/45 people did not like it. Therefore have come to a conclusion that I am no longer going to use this as my short film title.

Qualitative Data: This is data that is based on words. For example this type of data may result from using research methods such as books and magazines (as I will be analysing the words in them).

Data that I used:

- Short film blog (what you are reading this from)
- Textual Analysis of other existing short films
- Looked at all of my previous notes that I made in class.
- I used the internet
- Looked at other existing short films for inspiration
- Survey

Primary Research: Pro's and Con's ...

Textual Analysis:
 Pro: - Gives me an insight into how to make my own short film providing me with endless innovation.
Con: - I needed to be careful when analysing other current existing material as I had to make sure that I was only observing and not copying other ideas that are not my own as well as avoiding copying the film itself.

Questionnaires:
Pro: - I can get answers quickly, making the entire data collection time efficient.
Con: - The answers that I was provided with may not have been entirely accurate as people may have only provided me with what they think I want to hear instead of their actual opinion - this is called desirability bias. Also, if the questions are not planned cautiously then answers may not actually be helpful or relevant, E.g 'Is my film good?' I may have received an answer saying 'yeah' or 'quite good'. Instead questions asking why should be put in place such as 'What do you like about this film' or 'what needs improving?'

Secondary Research: Pro's and Con's

Internet:
- Copyright issues
- Sites such as Wikipedia may not be accurate and can therefore be unreliable
- SPAM with the internet and cons to donate money as well as pop up adverts while you are researching,
- Information from the internet may be irrelevant
- Information overload | too much detail makes it increasingly difficult to filter and select information - Internet isn't free / taxes are expenses.

My Film - Meaning | Definition

My short film is designed to show how society views particular religions and cultures completely as what society perceives it to be, and every person within a certain ethnic or social group to be the same without any complexity or identity of individual people. Rather than perceiving people as people with diversity I feel that race, ethnicity and culture determine how individuals are viewed in a community. My film is an attempt to demonstrate that regardless of background and origin every person is individual and nobody is simultaneously the same.

Filming // Locations - RECCE

1.) Georgia's Bedroom:

This is a key filming location for me as this is captures Georgia in her element as this is the location in which she spends the most time. I think that this reinforces the reality of my film by use of a natural setting.















2.) Raveena's bedroom. Here is an image of the location that I filmed Raveena's scenes in. Again I have used an ambient environment to reflect the actuality of my short film. There are some obvious differences between the style of the various locations and this to illustrates the differences in character of my two actresses.