Evaluation 7-What do you feel you have learnt in the progression from the Preliminary Task to the full product

From the Preliminary task I learnt a number of different things about how to make a film, such as how to plan it, how to film it and how to edit it.

Planning:
The planning in our preliminary was very important we had to make sure our short film fit all the criteria, it had a plot and we had made sure it was safe to film. We made storyboards  and in this we had to think about characters, settings, and how they all would fit back to our plot. We also had to do a risk assessment before filming to  make sure nothing went wrong. Our risk assessment included hazards such as damaging the equipment and falling over props. We also thought of ways to avoid these hazards such as being aware of your surroundings and sensible at all times.

Filming:
In our filming we had to fit three criteria. We had to remember to use three camera work techniques. These included; match-on-action, 180 rule  and a variety of simple shot types such as long shots, mid shots and close ups.  


We used the 180 rule when using shot reverse shot. We did this well, and achieved the first criteria, however it was done very simply and boring to watch. There were no camera angles or variety of shots, we simply fit the criteria and left it.

However we then used these skills in our final product and progressed them to improve the use of them, we used this skill alongside adding a variety of camera shots. We also made the cuts quicker and sharper between each shot so it looked more realistic and of a better quality. The main thing we had learnt to improve from our preliminary was using numerous camera shots. In our final film we added shots such as tracking, high angles and low angles as well extreme close ups. This made our film more interesting to watch. Another shot we used in our final film was an establishing shot of the 6th form to show the setting which is relatable to our target audience. 

Another thing we had to improve from our preliminary was framing. It was obvious from our preliminary that it wasn't at a good standard, we had objects such as the bins and school posters in shot and that didn't fit with the plot of our short film. We improved greatly however in our final film making sure every shot didn't have anything that would affect the realism. 

The Mise-en-Scene in our preliminary task was average but we focused in more detail in our film. Characters and costumes in our preliminary task weren't very thought through we just used whatever clothes that the actors were wearing that day, this affected the realism of the film and made it very unbelievable.We learnt from this in our preliminary task and made sure that each character in our final film costumes' fit their personality.I feel because of the mistakes in our preliminary task it helped us improve greatly on our final film and ensured we didn't make the same mistakes when it really mattered.

In our preliminary our Match on action was average, it was quite boring and dull. We improved this in our final film by cutting any unnecessary footage. We wouldn't have been able to do this however if we hadn't learn how to cut footage during our preliminary.  

Evaluation 6- What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this project?

To make our Teen angst film we had to use numerous types of technology to help create our product. From doing this I learn a lot about how different technologies work and how to use them.


One example of technology we used was the TV to watch DVDS or films on Netflix.This helped us create a product because it allowed us to research other teen angst films to get ideas and be able to identify different teen angst conventions to use within our own film. This made our film more stereotypical so would attract the right target audience and therefore make our film more successful.



We had to use Microsoft Power point when we first started working on our films to create our pitch. We brainstormed all of our initial ideas onto a Powerpoint, including ideas such as; characters, plot, music, title, conventions and company logos. We then used this Powerpoint to present it to the class and gain the feedback we needed to improve and adapt our ideas into a film. This benefited our film as we may not have come up with as many good ideas if we hadn't been able to present our ideas for feedback using Powerpoint.



After we had come up with all our ideas we had to start filming; to do this we used HD Video recorders. By using this we were able to film each scene to the best possible quality. The cameras were light and easily portable, this meant they could easily be taken in and out of school so we could film better and more realistic shots. By doing this I learnt a lot about filming in general, I learnt how to use the cameras, how to film from different angles and shots and to film good quality shots with suitable backgrounds and framing. To assist us being able to film the best shots we also used a tripod and a dolly. This meant our shots were steady and we could do shots such as tracking. This made our film look more professional and interesting to watch.

We also used the Mac's to edit our film. We used a piece of software called Final Cut Pro.This allowed me to learn how to edit a film. I learn techniques such as cutting clips, adding transitions and changing the speed of a clip. A main advantage of using Final Cut Pro is it saved our work automatically, so if there was ever a problem and the programme crashed, we wouldn't have to worry about losing all our work. From using this programme i learn many new skills and improved my editing skills to make the best possible film.

You Tube was very important in the making of our film, we firstly used it to research other Teen Angst films title sequences such as; easy A, to get ideas for our own film, we also used You Tube to upload our film to then put it into our blog.

Blogger was also a piece of technology we used to make our film. We  had to post all our ideas research, drafts and final piece on here. I learnt how to use this website and how to present my ideas in a structured way so i could remember everything I did and how. We only had access to this website because of the internet and different internet browsers such as; Mozilla Firefox. This gave us access to many other websites as well as blogger, such as free play music and free sound project. This allowed us to add music and sounds to our film to make it sound more realistic and interesting to watch for the audience. The music we chose was quite upbeat and sounded fairly modern. This would appeal to our target audience who would be attracted to up to date music.



We used a voicerecorder to add sounds to our film, for example we used it to add a voiceover, from this I learn how to record a voiceover and how to download it and add it to Final Cut Pro. We then had to overlap it with the music and clip. This was another editing skill i learnt from the use of technology.







We used Photoshop to create our film. We made our production logo on Photoshop, this meant it was good quality and we could create a logo from lots of collected images, just edited. From using this programme we could make our logo how we wanted it, we made it look strong or bold to connote the semantics of our production company which is good quality.



We used lots of social networking sites to market our film. We used sites such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. We did this because our demographic target audience of teenagers are the main users of these sites and would this would attract them as it would connote our film is modern and cool.

We used different websites in the constructing of our product to get the appropriate sound in our film. These included; Freeplaymusic and Freesoundproject. We used Freeplaymusic to get songs to be our non-diegetic music in our title sequence and opening scene. This allowed us to find suitable and modern music that worked well in our piece and benefited our film.  We used Freesoundproject to get sound effects such as the whizz sound on our production logo and the alarm sound. This helped us construct our film as it made it sound more exciting and added to the realism.

We used Microsoft powerpoint to put all of our initial ideas into a presentation and present them to the class for advice and feedback, this benefited us as it allowed us to get help in improving the ideas and basics of our product.

Another piece of technology we used was a memory stick this allowed us to transfer our film between different computers during editing so we could get feedback from our teachers and peers. We also used it to put our production logo on the mac and our sound-effects from the school computers. Another reason we used a memory stick in the construction of our film was to upload our film to you tube quickly and without any hassle.

Evaluation 5-How did you attract/address your target audience

Evaluation 4- Demographics and Psychographics

Demographics of our Target Audience

Target Audience Age:
The age of our target audience is 15years old. We chose this age because the issues covered within our film would be the most relatable to this age group. For example we cover issues such as; relationships, social groups and bullying. A 15 year old would find these very relatable as, being in school, they are most likely to be facing many similar issues themselves. They are also a similar age group to the characters within our film so will be able to relate to that. A main issue covered in our film that would be suitable to a 15 year old target audience is isolation. Charlotte in our film is often alone and until she meets Peter has no friends. This would be very relatable to a 15 year old as within your teenage years everyone feels isolated or alone at one point.

Location:
The location of our target audience would be in the United Kingdom, because it is a British film so the settings, accents and way of life would be more relatable. The location would also be in a big city, such as London. This is because the target audience will be more exposed to advertising in a city, such as billboards, buses, and large posters in various places; such as bus stops and train stations. In a city where the population is higher there are more people to talk about our film and spread it round by word of mouth. this will increase interest and attract our young target audience, because if everyone is talking about it they will be intrigued and are more likely to copy others if they're watching it, to fit in and be cool.

Target Gender:
The gender of our target audience would be female as they would relate to many of the issues covered in our film more than a male. Issues such as relationships and social groups especially, as female's stereotypically tend to spend more time thinking and worrying about these things than a male. Another reason we chose the gender to be female is the main character in our film is female and the film is therefore from a female perspective. This means a female audience would relate more to her and her issues, they would be more engaged and eager to watch the film. A male audience would not be as affective because they stereotypically aren't as interested in teen angst, more action adventures. To portray our target audience in the film we used lots of stereotypical girly colours such as pink, the fonts in our title sequence also are very feminine.

Income Level
The income level of our target audience is minimum wage because at this age they'll only have part time jobs. This is good because it means they have money but because of their age don't have to spend it on bills etc. so they can are more likely to spend it on social things; such as going to the cinema to watch our film with their friends. It is also an old enough audience to have a part time job, instead of relying on their parents for money, which they may be less willing to give them just to go to the cinema.

Education Level
Our target audience is still in fulltime education in secondary school, this is because they would relate more to the characters in our film, who are also still in full time education. This means they would be facing similar issues to those covered in our film. School tends to be the main place most relatable issues are covered, such as; the stress of school work and exams, arguing with friends/boys and bullying. They will also feel more familiar and comfortable with a school setting if they are in fulltime education meaning they will be more engaged and enjoy the film.

Marital and Family Status
Our target audience will have the same marital status as the characters in our film, of single or in a non-serious relationship. We chose this because then the relationship issues would be easier to relate to and would attract our target audience. Our target audience are also likely to have family issues at home. This is because the USP in our film is that it covers family issues such as sister rivalry and divorce. This isn't that common for a teen angst, so would attract an audience with similar issues that they can relate to our film.

Occupation
Our target audience if fairly young so is still in full time education with a small part time job, this is similar to the characters in our film and will also mean they can relate to the characters trying to balance school life, work and a social life, which is some of the issues that appear in our film.

Ethnic Background
 Our target audience ethnic background is white British. This is because it is a British made film and the majority of characters are also white British so they will seem more familiar and relatable to the audience. Also the characters way of life and everyday problems will be similar to this audience and the familiarity of this will interest this particular audience.

Psychographics of our Target Audience

Personality

The personality of our target audience would be very stereotypical to a teenage girl, girly, popular, enjoys gossiping, self-centred and obsessed with appearance. This is because it means it will attract a large group of people and the target audience will be quite big. It also means they will be able to relate to the majority of characters in our film such as Caitlin, who has a similar personality. We made the target audience for this clear in our film by focusing on props such as make-up; to show they care about their appearance and are self involved.  

Attitudes

The attitudes for our target audience is sarcastic, happy and funny. This is because this is stereotypical of a teenage girl and they would find the characters in our film Karma, easily relatable and enjoyable to watch.

Values

As a teenage girl our target audience would value a number of things such as; family, money, looks, and relationships. Family being a value for our target audience is very important because it is a value covered in our film so the audience may find relatable. A teenage girl is likely to value her family because she would still live at home with them at this age and rely of them for many things. Money is also a key value because with only a part time job they wouldn't have a lot of it, so they have to learn to value it and spend it wisely. Looks is a main issue because teenage girls care a lot about what people think of them and how they look. They want to be cool and fit in. To portray this in our film we did a lot of close ups on make up such as; lipstick and the girls doing their hair and looking in the mirror. Relationships is also valued by our audience because at this age relationships are considered very important, whether that's with a boyfriend or just friends in general. Arguments and upsets within relationships will become the most important thing and the biggest disaster in the world for a teenage girl. This is why we tried to cover these issues within our film, to make it relatable for our audience.

Interests and Hobbies

Our target audiences hobbies and interests include shopping and gossiping. This is why in our film we tried to use up to date brands such as Nike and included a lot of rumours and stereotypical bitching so the audience would find the film more enjoyable. Our target audience also enjoy socialising with their friends by going to the cinema or watching movies. This is a common thing for our audience to enjoy doing because they are very limited to activities on offer. No car or no money the spend their weekends and after school stuck to the same location, so watching films is very popular way to spend their time, it means they are more likely to watch and enjoy our film.

Lifestyle

Teenage girls lifestyles are very busy, social and involve going to parties and hanging out with their friends, this means our film is likely to be talked about; as movies is something they would talk about. This would raise awareness and popularity of our film through word of mouth.

Behaviour

The behaviour of our target audience would be described as in the middle and average. They're not a group of people who cause trouble and don't listen to what they're told, but at the same time want to have fun, because they're young.





Evaluation 3- script

 

 

Evaluation 3-What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Evaluation 2-How does your media product represent particular social groups?

A main example of social groups we used in our film is the stereotypical popular, bitchy group.
We got this idea from Clueless and Mean girls, they are represented as good looking, vain and envied by others who are always seeking their approval. We represented this social group in our own film by trying to achieve the same camera shot as this screenshot from Clueless. We used a mid/long shot to show the characters body language, all stood in a group talking among themselves, this makes them look intimidating and a close group that only a selected number of people can be part off if they're "cool enough"

Another social group we represented in our media product was the disliked, friendless character who spends their time alone, isn't cool and is considered unpopular. This idea came from the character Tai in Clueless, she joins the new school "clueless" wearing unfashionable clothing and not up to date with what all the popular characters are interested in. We represented this social group in our own film by using similar character traits, such as casual uncool clothing and having no friends, to make this obvious the majority of the scenes with Charlotte (Our lead female) she was alone. We portrayed this through our use of camerawork using camera shots and angles to emphasize this. For example we used a mid-shot to show Charlotte was upset through her facial expressions/emotions and we could also see she was alone in the shot. Another example of a way we represented this was the use of tracking as Charlotte is walking down the corridor to her voiceover, this shows all the surroundings and shows she is travelling alone without any company. It also fits with the voiceover which confirms the representation that she has no friends through its dialogue.

Another social group is the kind, good looking male that all the characters have a crush on. This idea came from Mean Girls, the character Aaron. He is represented is good looking, desirable and a genuine nice person that everybody wants. We used the same representation of our main male character, Peter. We portrayed this through our choice of music and camera shots. The music we chose changes when Peter comes into shot to a slower, romantic love song, which connotes his social group immediately, we also used high angle shots to show he is dominant and masculine, which can be considered desirable to the teenage audience.

Evaluation 1-In what ways does your media project use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Frame 1- Camerawork&editing:
In our film we tried to use lots of camera shots to develop and challenge conventions of other teen angsts. In this frame we used a birds-eye shot of Caitlin waking up. This develops a convention because it is a common feature in many teen angst films, such as Wild Child. In wild child they use a Birdseye shot when she wakes up at the beginning of the film and when she is in bed reading in the dark. We chose this particular shot because we thought it would be effective to show the transition between her sleeping and waking up. It showed her waking up to the sound of her alarm and getting ready for school, this is relatable to our target audience, as they probably have an alarm to wake them up for school, and most also have this alarm on their iPhone, this shows it is modern. By using a birds eye shot right at the beginning of our film it instantly made it seem more interesting and eye catching, and draws the audience in.

Frame 2-How characters are introduced:
We introduced the two main characters with titles on the mirrors next to them, we did this to continue with the theme of them getting ready and the convention of caring about their personal image. We used the same font for the character titles as we did for "Starring..." However we did change the font colours. For Caitlin the colour was bright pink, this connotes her stereotypical girliness. Whilst Charlotte's was red, this was effective because it's quite a boring plain colour, but stands out to connote the importance. We got the idea of introducing our characters whilst they were getting ready from the film; Clueless. In Clueless the main character is introduced by getting ready by choosing outfits to wear and seeing if they match. This is similar to ours as both shows the girls getting ready and caring about their appearance, we portrayed this by our characters putting on their makeup. This is a stereotypical connotation of teenage girls in a teen angst and therefore follows conventions, making it more appealing and relatable for the target audience.
Frame 3-Setting&location:
In this shot we use a long shot to show the front of the sixth form doors. This is the main setting for our film, this supports teen angst conventions as it is stereotypical for them to be set in schools, for example; Mean Girls and Clueless are both set in schools, however we are challenging the convention by using a British school rather than one in America. We decided to challenge this particular convention because our target audience is British so would relate more to a stereotypical English school rather than an unfamiliar American one. By setting our film in a school it allowed us to explore many different issues such as; social groups, relationships and the everyday stress of school. This mean we could find opportunities to relate these issues to our target audience.

Frame 4-Title,font&style:
In this frame you can see one of our first titles. It is of the word "starring" and looks animated and cartoon. We are developing conventions of a teen angst by using this because it appears to look like something written in a diary, which is stereotypical for a teenage girl in a teen angst to have. We got
the idea of an animated font from the title sequence of Juno. They also have a cartoon style font, we liked it because it made it look like a story, we took this idea and adapted it using different colours and changing the font slightly, so it looked almost like a diary. We wanted the font to look as if it was in a diary because it is stereotypical for the main female character in a teen angst to have a diary, such as in Wild Child. It also make it appear girly and attracts the target audience. We used this particular font because we believed it would be effective and would stand out against the background of the red curtain, to show the importance. The colour of the title is grey, to match the title of our film, with a gold shadow, again to connote the importance. The ellipsis after also suggest there are more titles to come and keeps the audience engaged.

Frame 5-Genre and how the opening suggests it:
In this shot we can see Caitlin putting on her lipstick in front of the mirror. Our title sequence is
mainly based around the girls getting ready for school. This involves close-ups on make up, clothes and jewellery. This suggests the genre is teen angst because it is obvious they care about their appearance and the make up products are all iconography of a teenage girl in a stereotypical teen angst film. This supports the convention of the girls caring about their appearance, we saw this in Mean Girls where they're getting ready for their "Spring Fling" and in Wild Child when she cries over her shoes being ruined. These both show it is stereotypical for girls to care about their appearance, designer clothes and make-up. We thought it would be a effective convention to use in ours, so it is relatable to our target audience who most likely have the same interests. However we also challenge this convention with our other main character Charlotte. She is a countertype in the movie, and doesn't greatly care about her looks. In the title sequence we see her choosing a random, unstylish jumper and taking half the amount of time putting on make up compared to Caitlin. This means we can aim our target audience to a wider range of people as they may be able to relate to Charlottes character better.


Frame 6-Costumes&props:

In this frame it shows an iPhone alarm at the beginning of out title sequence rather than a
stereotypical alarm clock, this is because it is modern so shows are film is up to date and cool; it also makes it more relatable for the audience who are likely to have similar alarms on their phone. We also used costumes to show conventions of a teen angst. One scene in our film is of one of the main characters choosing between two outfits to wear. This supports conventions used in other teen angsts such as Wild Child because it shows they care about their appearance when poppy is choosing which shoes to take to England with her, or in Clueless where she doesn't want to kneel down and ruin her shoes and dress, even though she is being mugged. Caring about appearance is stereotypical of a teenage girl in a teen angst. This makes it relatable for our audience. The costume Caitlin is already wearing in this shot is her pyjamas, she is wearing pink shorts, which is stereotypically girly and a Jack Wills branded T-shirt. This shows she cares about her appearance even when asleep. We used numerous of costumes and props within our film for example an eye mask, which is iconography for a teenage girl, connoting she is vain and cares about looking nice. We challenged the convention of girls caring about their appearance however when Charlotte wears an uncool jumper she finds on the floor of her wardrobe and doesn't spend hours getting ready.


Frame 7-Story and how the opening sets it up:

In this frame Charlotte and Peter bump into each other and this cues the end of the title sequence and the start of the opening scene. They both come from opposite directions alone, this connotes their isolation and lack of friends. We then use cross cutting when they're talking, because we thought this was an effective way of still showing they're alone as they aren't on screen together. As they bump into each other the music changes into a, slower song where the lyrics are about love, this connotes there might be chemistry between the two characters. We also chose to use mid-shots in this scene because that way we could show the characters timid emotions and body language, also foreshadowing a stereotypical teen angst crush between the two characters. This supports the
convention that there is always a male crush in the film and a complicated relationship between the male and main protagonist before they end up together at the end of the film. We decided to use this convention because every teen angst we watched used it such as; Mean Girls, Wild Child,
Clueless and Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging.


Frame 8-The title of the film:
The title of our film is called Karma. We decided to  call our film this as it is commonly used saying within teenagers at the moment, so appears up to date and relatable. It also is an example of
foreshadowing of the plot in our film as after being mean and horrible to her sister; Caitlin ends up alone, which could be classed as Karma. For the font of our title we used a set font on Final Cut Pro. We decided on this font because it is bold and connotes the importance of the title. The main colour of our title is pink; although it has a grey glow, because we didn't want plain pink to appear boring or too childish. We also thought grey would be effective because it's considered quite a modern and popular colour at the moment so would appear up to date and cool with the young, fashionable target audience. We chose to use pink because it immediately suggests the target audience is female as pink is a stereotypical connotation for girls. This also suggests the genre of the film and attracts our target audience. The colours of our font develops stereotypical teen angst conventions because pink is a common colour to be used to represent the genre, for example in Mean girls, Clueless and Wild Child. By following this convention it would attract more of our target audience as they stereotypically like pink and it also connotes the genre of our film. However we also challenged conventions by using a sans-serif font rather than serif. A serif font is more stereotypical to a teen angst because it appears feminine and appeals to the target audience, however we wanted our font to stand out more and appear bold.


Frame 9-Special effects:
This shot shows students walking into sixth form in the morning, however it was quite a boring scene, so to keep it interesting we edited this scene of Final Cut Pro and sped it up to x4. This worked effectively because it connotes time passing and suggests it is just a normal, average school day. This fits with the convention of a teen angst being set in school, this is the same in films such as LOL and Mean Girls.