Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience of your film?

Originally I had envisaged a fairly relatable and accessible opening to my film. I had primarily targeted an audience of 17-20 year old males. This is only what i thought the main bulk of my audience would consist of, as i was aware that aspects of it would appeal to a much older audience also. In terms of certification, i deemed it a 15, after having reviewed the 'bbfc' website, which addressed the topics of nudity, violence and drug use which, although not appearing in my opening, would have been themes later in the film. The 'bbfc' website says of drug use that:

At 15 drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse.' I felt that this statement encased my film and the boundaries it set did not constrict my creative interests. My opening really consists of very little 'innapropriate' content which the 'bbfc' might deem 'unsuitable' for those under the age of 15 years old. In giving my film this certification I felt that i would be able to make my film accessible to a larger audience than of course if it had been deemed an 18.
It can be said that my film would attract a fairly niche audience and would have a more distinctive following than films such as Skyfall (2012), although would not create a cult following as some superhero films might (The Avengers, 2012)
The results from a survey i distributed to the audience at a viewing of my film widely ratified my assumptions concerning my target audience. The majority of people who i asked we from the age of 16-18 and all said that they enjoyed the film and would like to have watched more. Very little difference can be seen between opinions of males and females in terms of my film, which was not unexpected.

Evaluation Question 6

Equipment

The camera I used was an HD Panasonic Camera and was relatively simple to grasp and use effectively. I found more trouble in making sure that i had an SD card and was able to save all my footage effectively. I avoided using zoom too much or panning and tracking as often the shots looked shaky and unprofessional. 

I did not have to use a microphone as I did not want to record any of the ambient or diegetic sound.

Using the tripod (Velbon DV-7000) was easy and effective. I got to grips with using the spirit level to make sure all my shots were level and adjusting the speed of pans was easy enough to do on the tripod.

The lights and their power packs were very self explanatory and I used them extensively whilst shooting indoors. They helped to create interesting shadows and highlight elements within a shot that were not being paid enough attention to. The main problem i ran into when using the lights was that they ran out of power very quickly, leaving me with less light in certain shots than i would have initially hoped for. Of course natural lighting and the lights already present in my house were of great help when shooting my film.

I was already well accustomed to using Mac computers and luckily enough was used to using software by Apple as well so some of the functions of Final Cut Pro were not completely alien to me.
Final Cut was probably the technical element of the course i found most difficulty with, purely because i found the interface difficult to understand at times and i thought many of its functions were not well thought through enough when considering beginners to the software.

I wrote all the music for my film on Logic Pro 9 which i have been using for a couple of years now, so was able to create what i wanted with relative ease.

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

(View in Youtube in order to see annotations)

The film industry in Britain, 2011.

Why do you think 3D takings when down when the number and variety of 3D films increased in 2011?

Despite the number of films being released in 3D increased in 2011 from the number in 2010, it is easy to claim that the immediate novelty found in 3D films had been somewhat lost by this point. This novelty is recognisable from the spikes in views of early 3D films such as 'Chicken Little' (2005) which held first place at the box office for its first two weeks. 

This downfall in views may also be attributed to the 3D films being released in 2011 themselves. Many smash hits were released in 2010, such as 'Toy Story 3', which grossed worldwide at $1, 063, 171, 911, earning more revenue than the previous two films combined.

Many of the films released in 3D were not necessarily produced in such a way to merit their conversion into 3D. This would give a lower resolution and a less 'clean' final product, in turn lowering admissions for said film.

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Charles Stooke

The opening of my film is set in South London. My character is meant to elude any firm stereotypes, as his identity is to question for the majority of the film. He appears as a British, conservative middle class male, however it is apparent that there are aspects to his character that deviate away from those of your typical shut-in middle class man.

He presented in this way via a number of different mediums. The location is of a well-furbished, fairly grand house, set in a suburban street in south London. In his house he has lots of books and instruments, suggesting he is quite dull. His clothes are verging on being smart (suit trousers, a shirt and tie) although they are far too big for him and he wears a fairly grubby pair of white Reebok classics. These decisions were made in order to ridicule James’ character and show in incomplete aspect to him.

This undermines James’ character although also makes him easier to connect with, as he is not entirely stern and sinister and clearly has the tendencies of most people. I engineered this with my target audience in mind.

I chose James’ to play my character as he is an average looking man although has a few distinctive features. This was to show that he was not as average as the next person although was not dissimilar at all.

The audience would be estranged by James’ actions (murder) and his psychological state but still be able to form a strong link with his character as he does things and acts in the same way as many of them. People would be able to instantly associate with his surroundings (primarily middle class males) and actions whilst be startled by many of the less naturalistic events in the film.

Evaluation Question 3

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

My media product would most likely be distributed by a Commercial Art House Cinema (eg. Brixton Ritzy or Clapham Picture House).

Although many Art House cinemas are very well established and large, they take on smaller, independent films. They have smaller screening spaces, where as a multiplex or a city centre cinema have huge capacities. This sort of capacity is not necessary for my film as my target audience is younger film goers, a large portion of them would most likely be media students themselves. This sort of niche audience are characteristically drawn to art house cinemas due to the independent films they make space for, which are of the same category as my project.

Due to my film not including any highly technical aspects or CGI and generally appears to be a low budget production, it is highly unlikely that it would attract as large an audience as a 'blockbuster' film, such as 'Avengers Assemble' or 'Troy'. Much larger films (with larger budgets) often include well known actors who have pre-existing fan-bases and so draw huge audiences. These sorts of films require multi-plex or inner-city cinemas to accommodate for such huge audiences.

As a low budget film, we would not have enough money for advertising to draw in large audiences to fill larger cinemas. As well as this, we wouldn't be able to pay to have our film on over a number of weeks, as is usually the case with high budget films in large cinemas.

Evaluation Question 7