Jeté
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Monday, 2 May 2011
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Here are some of the physical and digital equipment we used in the production of our short film. This includes a professional filming camera, a digital camera, mobile phones, a scanner, a computer with programmes such as Adobe Premier Pro and Photoshop and internet sites such as Blogger, Facebook and YouTube. All of this hardware and software heavily impacted on the final production of both the main film and the ancillary tasks. These new technologies helped us in the following ways:
Research and planning:
Research and planning:
· Mobile phone/Facebook: social networking sites such as Facebook and the use of mobile phones was an easy way in which we could contact each other. This allowed us to arrange time to meet and film, organise our actors and to share the work we had produced afterwards; for example, the questionnaire results and the ancillary task research.
· A scanner/computer: these helped greatly throughout with such things as the ancilary task review as they needed to be scanned into the computer to be able to display our blogs. This was also yet another way in which we could diplay our work.
Construction:
· Professional camera: we used one of the professional cameras as we needed to be able to pull focus, do white balance and narrow depth of field to enhance each shot. As I had used a professional camera last year for the filming of the two minute opening sequence, I knew how to work it and this posed no problems and allowed everything to run smoothly.
· Digital camera: we used a digital camera in order to be able to capture behind the scenes shots as well as pictures for both the ancillary tasks. This was helpful, because without this etchnology, we would not have been able to edit and manipulate the photos to how we wanted them to look, for example for use in the poster and the review.
· Adobe Premier Pro: this editing software allowed us to edit paying more attention to detail, for example, on the titles and credits, sound and use of transitions on the montage shots. As there was more choice, we were able to be more creative and experiment with different effects.
· Photoshop: we made use of this software on both of the ancillary tasks. It was helpful as it allowed us to be creative and manipulate the photos to how we wanted them to look. We were able to make small, yet effective changes to the photos, for example, making the whites of the eyes whiter, making them stand out more.
Evaluation:
· Blogger: using a blog this year instead of a folder was greatly beneficial for many reasons: it was more efficient, it was cheaper to use, it was easier to share work, it allowed us to be more creative in the presentation of our work, for example, uploasing Word documents, PowerPoint presentations and podcasts.
· YouTube: by posting our video on YouTube, this enabled us to reach a much wider audience. This also not only helped us to reach our target audience of teenage girls, but also helped us to stop the audience being niche as it many different people use YouTube.
· Mobile phone/Facebook: these both helped when we needed to contact each other and in the evaluation stages of our work as well as this allowed us to share our ideas.
3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
From our short film ‘Jeté’, we were able to gain a lot of audience feedback. I showed our film to a few audience members and I decided to write a few of the main responses down on post-it notes to document it. The following points were made by audience members:
1. Interesting opening sequence. This was due to the fact that we decided to incorporate it in the film rather than editing them in during the post production. A lot of people liked this idea as it was visually interesting and unusual. One audience member commented that this was similar to the opening sequence of ‘Napoleon Dynamite’, which was where we took inspiration from.
2. Good variety of camera shots used for the representations throughout the film. This was good because we had tried to incorporate a range of different camera angles and movements to show different representations of characters in the piece and help to reflect Faye’s mood.
3. The music used suited the style and genre of the piece. The music used was ballet music which we thought would complement the style of the film as it revolves around dancing. We also used Idina Menzel’s ‘Brave’ which one person picked up that the lyrics reflect the story of the piece.
4. Good use of montage shots. Some audience members commented that the montage shots were effective as they showed both time passing and a wide range of dance movements, some of which were known to the general public who do not dance, which was effective as they were able to recognise them.
5. Interesting perspective in the audition scene with the judges backs to the camera. This was because it added tension to the scene as it constantly reminded the audience that they were watching. They also found it visually effective as it seemed to frame Faye as she was dancing.
6. Camerawork could have been better in the scene with Faye’s friends. The comment was made that the camera movement could have been better sorted in the scene in which Faye talks to her friends. This was because the pan that we used was messy and the audience found the switching back and forth a bit confusing.
We also recieved the followong feedback on the two ancillary tasks:
1. The poster looks very professional; however it was felt that both the poster and review looked too similar due to the fact that the same picture was used for each.
2. It was said that the picture on the review was striking and drew them in as an audience. The fact that it is on a white background helps this because there is nothing to distract the eye away from the main picture and the text. To do this we used Photoshop to make the background colour and to make certain features on the picture stand out.
We decided to use the same image for both ancillary tasks because we felt that this would link the two together. On our first attempt at the poster, we used a screen shot from the film as we felt that this would link directly to the film, however we decided that this didn’t work because after feedback, we found that the audience found the picture of a bad quality and looked unprofessional. We also drastically changed our review from our first draft to our final review. This was because after having received feedback, we found that the audience didn’t think it looked like a conventional double page spread.
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and the ancillary texts?
I believe that the combination of both our ancillary tasks and our main film were very effective as they link well which helps to provide a way to promote and sell the main film.
We also decided on using the same image for both the review and the poster as we not only wanted a link between the ancillary tasks and the main product but also between the poster and the review; we felt that this was a simple yet effective way to achieve this.
There is the running theme of dance throughout the film and we wanted to be able to portray this in both of the ancillary tasks to be able to have a link between them. To do this, we decided that the protagonist should look like a dancer. We decided on having her hair in a ballet bun in the photo. We had also tried several experimental shots of her with her arms in ballet positions, however felt that they didn’t work well in the frame.
Originally, we used a picture from a screen shot of the film for the picture in both our review and our poster as we felt that this would help the audience link directly to the film. The main picture showed the principal character, Faye, in mid audition dance, holding a pose. We felt that this was effective because it let the audience in on what the narrative of the film was. However, after feedback, we decided against this as the final image because it was not good quality and looked altogether, unprofessional. We also decided that we wanted a simple design for both the poster and the review and this is yet another reason that we chose the design above as the final design as it is very clean and simple with the white background and one main picture.
Another key theme of our film is the protagonist’s passion and love for dance. This is shown in the film through her determination to achieve her goal no matter who or what stands in her way. We also wanted to show this in the ancillary tasks and we have done this by the use of the colour red for some of the writing as this is a connotation for passion and love. This also helped aspects such as the title to stand out, as it is a striking red on top of a white background.
I feel that overall, the combination of the main product and the ancillary tasks were effective as we have tried to link them well so that the audience can identify them together. This helps in the promotion and selling of our film which is the main purpose of a poster and review.
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Shot 2 – This shot shows the principal character, Faye, meeting with her friends. This scene follows the conventions of the drama genre, which is quite a broad genre and is therefore difficult to name the specific components. They usually reflect reality, which is what we have tried to achieve in this scene, through the representation of the characters. They are all wearing clothing suited to their age range: jeans, leggings, jumpers, hoodies, converse, dolly shoes etc. All are casual and reflective of the fact that they are teenagers meeting up.
Shot 3 –This is a long shot of Faye rehearsing for her audition. We decided to do this because it not only distances her form the audience but also because we could capture her refection in the mirror as well. Following this frame, we have also included montage shots of her rehearsal. The subgenre of our film would be a dance film and these both follow conventions as in films such as ‘Step Up’ they use these techniques. The mirror is also symbolic for the fact that Faye lives in a very different world to the rest of us and demonstrates her isolation.
Shot 4 – I have chosen this screen shot because I feel that it closely follows conventions of a dance film. This is because this is a classic dance movement that many people, both dancers and non-dancers, would recognise.
Shot 5 – This screen shots shows a match on action shot of Faye having just fallen to the floor after rehearsing a move. This follows conventions of the subgenre of a dance film: it reflects verisimilitude because the match on action gives the sense that the movement is continuing on and flowing.
Shot 6 – This shot shows a close up of Faye’s hand opening the door to go into her audition. This very much follows conventions of a drama genre as, typically, the narrative creates suspense and makes the audience want to watch on. This shot does this because it limits what is shown in the frame and therefore reveals very little about what is going on.
Shot 7 – This frame shows a shot of Faye dancing with the backs of the judges in the foreground. The long shot of Faye is conventional of a dance film as they often show the principal character dancing from this distance so that it is possible to see the full movement of what they are doing. The fact that the judges can be seen in the shot challenges conventions. We decided to do this because, as they are so close to the audience, it creates a sense of the nervousness that Faye must feel doing her audition.
Shot 8 – This shot is in the scene where Faye’s mother tries to convince her that going to university is a better and much more sensible option than going to Dance College. This follows the conventions of a drama genre because this is a real issue that our target audience would be able to relate to as they are going to university age. Many people may even be able to relate to the fact that their parents will be trying to convince them that to do to university, regardless of what they actually want to do.
Shot 9 – The narrative of a drama usually tends to emphasise on the plot and what happens next, which arouses curiosity about the story line. At the end, we have created suspense by leaving the film on a cliff-hanger where the final shot is a medium shot of the protagonist’s face showing her smiling slightly as she opens a letter. We do not learn the outcome and what the letter says. This is a convention of the drama genre, yet is possibly more related to TV dramas such as ‘Eastenders’ or ‘Hollyoaks’ which always leave their viewers in suspense at the end of each episode and wanting to watch more. In this way, we have challenged conventions.
Monday, 21 March 2011
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