question 3 of A2 media evaluation

question 1 of media evaluation

DVD Cover Conventions

  DAZED EYES         UNCONVENTIONAL TEXT       NEGATIVE ADJECTIVES
         BLOOD       FROSTED EFFECT ON PICTURE   THE COLOUR RED
THE COLOUR WHITE     BLOOD SPATTER      CLOSE UP OF FACE (EXPRESSION)

Critical Evaluation Questions

1  In what ways does the media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (ESSAY?)

a) At a technical level, how well did you observe the conventions of continuity, and the language of film and editing?

b) In terms of the content, how does your film reflect or challenge the conventions of the genre you are working in? Does it fulfil the nature of film genre or will it subvert expectations deliberately?

c) Are there any elements of deliberate pastiche or parody, where you ‘play’ with the genre’s codes and history? Are there any intertextual moments where you hint at a reference to another film?

d) What kinds of audience pleasure are you trying to provide, and how confident are you that you have achieved this?

e) Make comparisons with real media texts you have studied

.

2  How effective is the combination of your main product and the ancillary texts? (POWERPOINT/PREZI/SLIDESHOW/VIDEO?)

a) What were you trying to achieve in your main production? Was this also reflected in the two advertising products?

b) How effective do you think the two ancillary texts are in selling your production?

c) Make comparisons with real advertising products.

3  What have you learned from your audience feedback? (MODEL MAP/MIND MAP/VIDEO?)

a) How did you respond to the original brief with the audience in mind? Give details of audience research carried out at the planning stage.

b) In filming and editing how did you ensure meaning would be apparent to the audience? What creative decisions did you make in planning, rehearsing, filming and editing that were influenced by your sense of the audience and how they might interpret your finished film?

c) How did the audience respond when you trialled aspects of your film? Are there a variety of             different possible interpretations of your film that will depend on the cultural situation of the viewer?

4  How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? (ESSAY/VIDEO/MIND MAP?)

You will have used digital cameras and editing resources and digital sound recording equipment. You have also used the internet for research and you have created a blog.

a) How did digital technology enable you to develop creatively and are there examples of the technology obstructing or preventing your creativity?

Please note that this must be done as an individual exercise. Post your evaluation on your blog and don’t forget this should be a multi-media product, so include links illustrations, video and audio.

For examples of good evaluations, look at: 

http://a2msbarnsleycollege.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Particularly Group 1 (Kirsten, Andrew, Daniel) and

Group 8 (Clare, Emma)

Question 2 of A2 Media evaluation

Question 2 of A2 media evaluation from LewisMarcelRoscoe

Question 4 of A2 Media evaluation

Question 4 of A2 Media evaluation from LewisMarcelRoscoe

Critical evaluation- Q3

Planning stage.
Before I started filming our film I went around and asked people within my target audience some questions, I filmed this using a Sony HCV Camera. We showed the storyline to our target audience and asked them questions about it. we later used final cut express to edit our questionnaire. This was incredibly useful as I could then make an informed choice about my characters, meaning they would appeal to the audience more. As I filmed I constantly thought back to what my target audience would think about the character, this helped me shape the characters in a way that  would again appeal to the target audience.

Filming and editing stage.

While we where filming we made sure to use creative shot that would appeal to my target audience by referring back to our audience feedback. we used a rang of shots to make Alex look insignificant and smaller on screen (I.E high angled shots) we made the shots have more effect on the audience by integrating quick shots of a letter through out our film. We did this to make the audience curios about the letter and make them want to watch to find out what this is to do with the main character. as the film came towards the end we made the letter more readable making the audience empathies with Alex more.  we also used a filter called 'Bad Tv'. this made the screen fuzzy and represents Alex's decent into madness.

 Audience Feed back
From the start of my project I referenced to my audience feedback as much as i could. This made major inputs when i started working on the setting and the mood of my film. by using drama students that study at Barnsley college i could get a wide rang of emotions that were critical to convey the emotions i wanted to use in my film. 

Q3

Q2

Q1

Our film storyline in simple terms involves a young girl losing her mind. It starts off where she is completely normal then things start going missing. This symbolises the deterioration of her mind. It eventually ends where she tells the audience that she has three mental disorders and that this can be controlled, however she let her mind win and she has lost all that she had. It is conventional for the psychological thriller genre to show continuity throughout the film within shots however, but to have less continuity throughout the narrative. This can be shown in a number of ways by just leaving an important clip out till the end that ties the whole narrative, or by flashbacks for example.

My second year film is continuous as we specifically have sound bridges and shot reverse shots. Shot reverse shots can show the reactions and facial expressions that are happening throughout the conversation. In this shot reverse shot we can see that the camera is looking up at the dark haired character whereas when the camera is on Alex, the camera is looking down on her. This belittles her and makes her seem insignificant. It also makes it clear for the audience that they are looking at each other. We have chosen to do these shots so that the conversation runs smoother and the cuts seem less noticeable to the audience. 

We also show continuity through using match on action. This is shown when Alex clicks her phone and then later picks it up in the next shot. Sound bridges are used by taking the audio from different clips and overlapping them so that they start before the video is seen. 

It is also continuous in the way that the days are ordered in the correct way. This gives the audience a rough idea of how long the film is all together and how much time is taken up throughout the start to the end of the film. It gives you an idea on how long it took for Alex to deteriorate.

We have challenged conventions of continuity however by not starting off with an establishing shot. We use establishing shots later throughout the film, however, but we have started off in a white room showing the video diary that Alex Taylor has done. She is introducing herself. It leaves the environment to be imagined until an establishing shot is shown later in the film. Even though we have challenged the stereotype, we have also used the stereotype in the way that we have a female protagonist.

Tom Ryall's theory of genre says that 'genre provides a framework of structuring rules, which act as a form of guidance over the production of filmmakers and the reading/understanding of the audience'. This basically means that there are certain iconographies, representations and ideologies representative of that one genre. Tom Ryall believes that if people recognise the genre they will gain entertainment from spotting the codes and conventions that relate to the genre. I think that this theory does apply to our film as our character is representative of a person who has psychological problems. Our character has three mental illnesses which means that this is also the framework of the narrative and this is what is emphasized in our film.

Todorov's theory of equilibrium states that at the beginning there is a natural state of equilibrium, which then suffers some problems which is then returned back to a new state of equilibrium. 

I think that our film does fit this theory as it does off in a state of equilibrium, which then gets affected by an event (the start of her disorders and illnesses) and then is returned to a state of a new equilibrium (the end when she realises and warns people hat they can do something about it). Todorov believes that the narrative goes in a circular motion in which I believe our storyline does. At the start everything is normal, then her mental disorders make things disappear. This represents the mental deterioration of her mind. It is only in the event of her doctor sending a letter to her that she actually realises then creates a new equilibrium in which she tells the audience that they do not have to go down the same route as her. I feel like we have strayed a bit further than the actual conventions of the genre in the subject matter of the actual film. I haven’t heard of a film that actually focuses on three different mental disorders. The new equilibrium isn't an exactly nice one as it leaves some of the storyline open to interpretation by the audience. 

We do not use any pastiches or parodies in our film as our film is more of a serious film and battles with real issues that the everyday society does have to deal with. Having any pastiches or parodies in our film will defeat the object of the storyline seeming real and relevant to the worldwide community. We do not think that our film would improve its quality either by adding parodies and pastiches into it. I think that parodies and pastiches work well more in a comedy film rather than a psychological thriller, this is the exact opposite. If we added parodies or pastiches it would make the storyline become less serious and realistic which would make the audience want to switch off our film as soon as they see something funny.

feedback

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aib70HtoSEHxdDhPWGRJZkl6THJnNnhHeG5UZlhEc0E&usp=drive_web#gid=0

crit eval 2

Crit eval 2 from Gemma Bramhold

Seen- Radio Trailer

Q4

Critical evaluation question 1

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

A) At a technical level, whom well did you observe the conventions of continuity and the language of film and editing?

Throughout my film, I used various types of shots, such as:

            -Establishing shots

            -Medium close ups

            - Wide shots

            -Eye-line match

As well as this I using different media techniques:

-Match on action

                                          

     

 -180 degree line

-Shot reverse shot

      

I started the film using elliptical editing to show that my main character in a normal light. After I started to use continuous/ slow editing with small clips edited throughout. This is because as my character is slowly being driven crazy her mind is slowing down. I then edited my characters ‘Apology’ in with the back story (her descent into madness). I did this to make the audience wonder what is happening to my character making them empathies with her.

B) In terms of the content, how does your film reflect or challenge the conventions of the genre you are working in does it fulfils the nature of the film genre or will it subvert expectations deliberately?

Themes of psychological thrillers can be scene throughout my film; the main theme that is shown is ‘Identity’. I show my character as having lost her identity because of her mental illnesses as well as showing; this is also a theme in the film ‘Bourne Identity’ when the main character is tracking down who he really is. In that film the character is physical tracking down his identity whereas in my film, my main character is trying to find their identity metaphorically after not realising that she has lost it in the first place. I show this by having clips of an apology video cut throughout my film.

C) Are there any elements of deliberate pastiche or parody, where you ‘play’ with the genre’s codes and history? Are there any intertextual moments where you hint at a reference to another film?

I didn't use any elements of pastiche or parody in my film, as it didn't fit with the seriousness of the storyline. Although if I had, I would have parodied the scene from paranormal activity 1, where the main female protagonist is being dragged out of bed by the demon. Although I would give the scene my own twist (this would be that my character would be having an hallucination or is walking in there sleep).

D) What kinds of audience pleasure are you trying to provide, and how confident are you that you have achieve this?

According to Richard dyers theory of entertainment my filming Is entertaining because it gives an incite into someone with a mental illness mind, making it informative. It also personal identity to be entertaining as people with similar mental illness/people who work (live) with someone with a mental illness can relate to this film and can gain an insight into themselves or the people they live/work with.  We also use social empathy to make the audience gain an insight into the circumstances of others.

The audience pleases I am trying to provide are as followed:

                        -Intensity-By having such a serious storyline I have tried to make the audience have extremes of emotion, specifically, low lows.  

                        -Transparency- I want my audience to empathise with my character. They may because they are suffering with mental illness or know someone close to them who is suffering with mental illness.

E) Make comparisons to a real media text you have studied.

Seven is similar to my film as it plays with the Psychological part of fear. This meaning that someone could actually go out and kill people in the form of the 7 deadly sins, just like how in our film, it is possible for someone with the mental disorder/history of a mental disorder could start to see their possessions disappearing slowly over time. our film plays with the realistic kind of fear that is not typical horror/thrillers, as it is not scary in that sense but plays on the fear of not being all there and that parts of you are being forgotten by family (as will be shown in my film) and by friends and being 'abandoned' to deal with a mental is order by yourself. As well as this the Uses and Gratification's theory applies to my film.

• Diversion - escape from everyday problems and routine.- This does apply to my film but not the traditional way. i aimed for my audience to escape from there everyday lives and escape there problems but instead to concentrate on my characters problems as well as giving them an emotional boots (making them think that 'At least my problems aren't as bad as her's).
• Personal Relationships - using the media for emotional and other interaction, eg) substituting soap operas for family life- this may, in some aspects apply to my film. my audience use my film for emotional interaction (making them sympathies with my protagonist  this lets them feel an emotional connection with Alex and lets them have a connection with someone even if it is with a fictional character.
• Personal Identity - finding yourself reflected in texts, learning behaviour and values from texts- this applies to some of my audience but not all. my audience may suffer with mental illness(depression, anxiety ECT) meaning they can empathise with my character more than others without a mental illness as they know what Alex is going through. 
• Surveillance - Information which could be useful for living eg) weather reports, financial news, holiday bargains- Surveillance does apply as it brings awareness to mental illness.