http://prezi.com/p5hj4xewtj8x/what-have-you-learned-from-your-audience-feedback/
SL.
Showing posts with label A2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A2. Show all posts
Wednesday, 7 May 2014
Wednesday, 30 April 2014
Sunday, 30 March 2014
Evaluation Question 1
EVALUATION 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
USE:
USE:
Our trailer combines a mix of genres that can be identified as a sports documentary infused with British urban drama qualities. We incorporated a linear three-act structure commonly used for many trailers and other narrative theory , which consists of establishing character or situation, the second act presenting a conflict that needs to be resolved, and then the final montage increasing tension before the reveal of the title.
In terms of aesthetics, there were no post-production effects in order to achieve a realistic ‘feel’ like other documentaries, despite influence from the surrealist, 'dream-like' qualities of "The Act of Killing".
Sound was a significant factor in determining the mood established by our documentary. Similar texts usually have vocal-less non-diegetic soundtracks, and we incorporated two songs to demonstrate a progression in pace and mood of the trailer- the first one being a driving yet sparse and ambient piece of post-dubstep composition, the second a bass-heavy percussive number, with a jaunty swing to it and layered with emotive synthesizers and ‘trappy’ hats – as a way of engaging the audience’s emotion through dynamic shifts. Our choice of audio was influence by the type of music listened to by our teenage subjects, and so can another way for the audience to interact with characters by gaining a sense of the way they soundtrack their own lives. This auditory device can also be seen in the trailer “Dogtown and Z-Boys”, which layers a contemporary ‘surf rock’ soundtrack that would been popular at the time of the 1970s Californian skateboard culture subject matter.
For location, we took inspiration from "China Heavyweight" by showcasing establishing shots of local areas the characters inhabited in order to familiarise the audience to how unique the setting of South London can be in terms of cultural and architectural diversity. This is similar to the fact that rural China would also be a niche setting to Western audiences, and thus follows the conventions of introducing location before narrative.
We took further influence from "China Heavyweight" in terms of using 'writerly' subtitling to encourage the audience to interpret important plot points through an open reading. Where the documentary pinpoints setting and activity, we replicated that.
CHALLENGE:
In terms of aesthetics, there were no post-production effects in order to achieve a realistic ‘feel’ like other documentaries, despite influence from the surrealist, 'dream-like' qualities of "The Act of Killing".
Sound was a significant factor in determining the mood established by our documentary. Similar texts usually have vocal-less non-diegetic soundtracks, and we incorporated two songs to demonstrate a progression in pace and mood of the trailer- the first one being a driving yet sparse and ambient piece of post-dubstep composition, the second a bass-heavy percussive number, with a jaunty swing to it and layered with emotive synthesizers and ‘trappy’ hats – as a way of engaging the audience’s emotion through dynamic shifts. Our choice of audio was influence by the type of music listened to by our teenage subjects, and so can another way for the audience to interact with characters by gaining a sense of the way they soundtrack their own lives. This auditory device can also be seen in the trailer “Dogtown and Z-Boys”, which layers a contemporary ‘surf rock’ soundtrack that would been popular at the time of the 1970s Californian skateboard culture subject matter.
For location, we took inspiration from "China Heavyweight" by showcasing establishing shots of local areas the characters inhabited in order to familiarise the audience to how unique the setting of South London can be in terms of cultural and architectural diversity. This is similar to the fact that rural China would also be a niche setting to Western audiences, and thus follows the conventions of introducing location before narrative.
We took further influence from "China Heavyweight" in terms of using 'writerly' subtitling to encourage the audience to interpret important plot points through an open reading. Where the documentary pinpoints setting and activity, we replicated that.
CHALLENGE:
We aimed to subvert the audience’s expectations of representations of young people by exposing their prejudices with a set of enigma codes presented during the first third of the trailer. These included shots of young men in open spaces such as parks and urban streets, dressed in stereotypically familiar ‘youth’ clothing such as hoodies and snapbacks; deliberately worn to evoke connotations of wayward lifestyles and youthful misconduct. In fact, with the suggestion of a mysterious new ‘hobby’ young people were indulging in via on-screen titling – a common technique in documentaries to introduce a story that is less clear in narrative that a fictional piece – expecting some of the audience to assume it was some sort of dubious drug-dealing venture.
The unique selling point of our film is the sheer bizarre nature of our subject matter. Other documentaries such as ‘Ping Pong’ (2012) focus on similarly non-mainstream topics, such as world table-tennis championships for the over-80s. Being a particularly niche subject perhaps works to its advantage, as it means the topic matter is not homogenised enough to attract a certain kind of following, such as men watching sports dramas more than women, but instead alternative enough to be open for anyone’s curious enjoyment.
Our open reading encourages audiences to become active discovering semiotic codes and thus making certain connections, in the vein a small-budget, independent film that intends to impress on the film-festival-going public's consciousness by enticing them with unexpected, 'edgy' subject matter. Furthermore, we chose to not explicitly outline narrative and oversaturate the audience's sense in the style of blockbuster marketing because as an independent documentary, "Back/Hand" requires more subtlety. Our text becomes considerably more writerly during the final montage as we encourage pondering about the fate of the characters, such as whether Chris will succeed as a professional tennis player or whether Robbo’s psychotic edge will destroy everyone else’s ambitions.
The unique selling point of our film is the sheer bizarre nature of our subject matter. Other documentaries such as ‘Ping Pong’ (2012) focus on similarly non-mainstream topics, such as world table-tennis championships for the over-80s. Being a particularly niche subject perhaps works to its advantage, as it means the topic matter is not homogenised enough to attract a certain kind of following, such as men watching sports dramas more than women, but instead alternative enough to be open for anyone’s curious enjoyment.
Our open reading encourages audiences to become active discovering semiotic codes and thus making certain connections, in the vein a small-budget, independent film that intends to impress on the film-festival-going public's consciousness by enticing them with unexpected, 'edgy' subject matter. Furthermore, we chose to not explicitly outline narrative and oversaturate the audience's sense in the style of blockbuster marketing because as an independent documentary, "Back/Hand" requires more subtlety. Our text becomes considerably more writerly during the final montage as we encourage pondering about the fate of the characters, such as whether Chris will succeed as a professional tennis player or whether Robbo’s psychotic edge will destroy everyone else’s ambitions.
The eventual reveal that the hobby is ‘street’ tennis is only visual and is never explicitly mentioned in a voice. However we hoped the use of semiotics such as tennis courts, changing rooms and sports equipment would be enough evidence for the audience to infer from the open-reading that this was film primarily about sports, and the characters involved. Thus to provide some sort of understanding of the social interactions within the piece, we provided anchorage with a display of binary opposites in terms of the archetypal hero and a villain characters. The hero appears at the beginning of the trailer – the only character to speak directly to the camera – and is the main voiceover aside from the villain, who behaves manically on camera and appears over voice-overs identifying him as a dubious character. Furthermore, he is the only figure to behave aggressively throughout the trailer, further anchoring the audience’s preconception that he will be a volatile and dangerous character. Our protagonist however, appears aspirational and playful, and hopefully encourages the audience to take interest in his struggles and eventual outcome. The opposing ideals presented from both characters – one wishing to be a sporting champion, the other wanting to destroy everything in his wake – create a conflict set-up that should interest the reader into discovering more about the film. This device can be seen in documentary trailer “Undefeated”, where characters with a variety of socially disruptive issues, such as deceased parents or anger problems, are briefly introduced and an air of questioning is left as to whether they will overcome their difficulties. A device used to increase understanding of the characters is the voice-over, which can pose questions and draw links, used for narrative effect in our film when one character states, “I want to improve my game…this isn’t just a hobby anymore”, which is able to develop the storyline. This can also be seen in “Undefeated” which is narrated by the football coach protagonist as he weaves around a plotline that suggests the team are heading towards a daunting championship competition.
Introduction of character.
SL.
Friday, 28 March 2014
Monday, 10 March 2014
Magazine Cover - Early Drafts
These earlier drafts show our creative development in producing this magazine cover.
Back/Hand Poster Drafts
Here you can see the development and growth in the poster we produced for our film, drawing on conventions and traits employed by other documentary posters.
Saturday, 22 February 2014
3rd Day of Filming - 18/01/14
Preparation: To prepare for our second and main day of filming, we created a Facebook group in which we advertised and invited friends to our day of filming and outlined their roles as extras. Some RSVP'd, many did not.
Before the arrival of most of our cast we set up the equipment and organised our travelling equipment bags, making sure to charge our two cameras as previous experience had taught us that technology has its definite limitations.
In order to to achieve maximum output in the shortest possible time schedule, it was agreed that each film-maker would film certain scenes separately, one having the tennis scenes and the other documenting social scenes. We organised the crew into two groups that would participate in either one of these filming sequences, the plan of action conveyed by a written presentation at the start of filming, along with some ideas of themes and characters.
Furthermore in this initial preparation stage, costume was important to establish. There was a descriptive 'street' dress code on the Facebook event, and the cast adhered to this to the best of their abilities. Knowing there might be some limitations, we supplied choice garments in order to maximise their 'street' look, as well as catering to the sports element with gym wear and tennis rackets. When all were assembled and dressed appropriately, we left for Dulwich Park.
Location: We chose Dulwich park because of its close proximity, sense of local community and availability of public facilities such as tennis courts. We were able to use these courts for our full advantage in shooting the sports scenes, as they matched our preconceived ideas of the slightly run-down, definitely not state-of-the-art or moneyed aesthetic. This was a nice contrast to the image of tennis as an exceedingly middle-class pursuit, played in spotless whites upon a freshly manicured astro-turf. Ours we gravelly, grey and bedraggled, but that added to its rough charm.
The social, 'human interest' scenes were shot in and around the Dulwich Picture Gallery grounds, which posses an timelessly beautiful and other-worldly quality that juxtaposed with our motley crew of extras milling about it.
Filming: A key element of filming was the use of candid camera; as a documentary we want our subjects to act as naturally as possible, particularly in a situation they may not be wholly comfortable in, such as filming. Thus many of our 'socialising' shots were recorded unbeknownst to the subjects, and I feel this was pivotal in securing the feeling naturalness and familiarity 'Backhand' achieves. Many of the cast were never even given direct instructions on how to act, and so instead made conversation with their friends to pass the time, yet unknowing using our time well.
SL.
Before the arrival of most of our cast we set up the equipment and organised our travelling equipment bags, making sure to charge our two cameras as previous experience had taught us that technology has its definite limitations.
In order to to achieve maximum output in the shortest possible time schedule, it was agreed that each film-maker would film certain scenes separately, one having the tennis scenes and the other documenting social scenes. We organised the crew into two groups that would participate in either one of these filming sequences, the plan of action conveyed by a written presentation at the start of filming, along with some ideas of themes and characters.
Furthermore in this initial preparation stage, costume was important to establish. There was a descriptive 'street' dress code on the Facebook event, and the cast adhered to this to the best of their abilities. Knowing there might be some limitations, we supplied choice garments in order to maximise their 'street' look, as well as catering to the sports element with gym wear and tennis rackets. When all were assembled and dressed appropriately, we left for Dulwich Park.
Location: We chose Dulwich park because of its close proximity, sense of local community and availability of public facilities such as tennis courts. We were able to use these courts for our full advantage in shooting the sports scenes, as they matched our preconceived ideas of the slightly run-down, definitely not state-of-the-art or moneyed aesthetic. This was a nice contrast to the image of tennis as an exceedingly middle-class pursuit, played in spotless whites upon a freshly manicured astro-turf. Ours we gravelly, grey and bedraggled, but that added to its rough charm.
The social, 'human interest' scenes were shot in and around the Dulwich Picture Gallery grounds, which posses an timelessly beautiful and other-worldly quality that juxtaposed with our motley crew of extras milling about it.
Filming: A key element of filming was the use of candid camera; as a documentary we want our subjects to act as naturally as possible, particularly in a situation they may not be wholly comfortable in, such as filming. Thus many of our 'socialising' shots were recorded unbeknownst to the subjects, and I feel this was pivotal in securing the feeling naturalness and familiarity 'Backhand' achieves. Many of the cast were never even given direct instructions on how to act, and so instead made conversation with their friends to pass the time, yet unknowing using our time well.
SL.
2nd Day of Filming - 06/01/14
This day of filming was necessary in capturing location shots and establishing background for 'Backhand', as opposed to excessive character study. In fact, we only had one extra who took on the role of "tennis racket dealer".
The day started off on a slow note; charging cameras and assembling tripods. We then transferred this equipment to Dulwich Park.
Initially, long-distance panning shots were taken of the waterfront, tennis courts and the luscious green fields, intended to be used at the beginning of our trailer.
We also shot the tennis racket dealer exchange scene that could be used as our teaser trailer. This sequence sums up the interchangeable similarities between the conventions of the 'street' youth world and the street tennis world we aim to present.
SL.
The day started off on a slow note; charging cameras and assembling tripods. We then transferred this equipment to Dulwich Park.
Initially, long-distance panning shots were taken of the waterfront, tennis courts and the luscious green fields, intended to be used at the beginning of our trailer.
We also shot the tennis racket dealer exchange scene that could be used as our teaser trailer. This sequence sums up the interchangeable similarities between the conventions of the 'street' youth world and the street tennis world we aim to present.
SL.
1st Day of Filming - 20/12/13
All the cast and crew were arranged to arrive at my house for 11 AM, although admittedly we were not ready to film by at least midday. We first checked that all of our filming equipment was in order, checking the boom, directional microphone, camera, tripod, dolly wheels, micro-track and all the appropriate headphones and cables. After all of this was done we had to make sure that we had effectively collated all the necessary provisions, costumes and props for the scenes we hoped to shoot. This all consisted mainly of hats, coats and tennis rackets. Our actors arrived appropriately dressed for the shoot but also took to some costume enhancements.
Once we were ready we made our way towards the estate in Dulwich which we had planned to use as our first location. The walk was not too long and we were able to share the load of the equipment between many hands so one could hardly describe it as gruelling. Upon arrival at the estate, we set up our first shot which is of Chris (Tom Hemington) standing beneath an underpass giving an interview on how he is struggling and so are many of his peers in the high pressure situation that they have found themselves in. Unfortunately an irate woman made us move from that particular area of public land and so we resumed filming soon after across the road, continuing on with Chris' interview. After this we filmed Robbo's (James Wilson) interview and then Carl's (Ranya El Refaey), both fairly near by due to convenience but also due to the area fitting our style and tone so seamlessly.
We continued to experiment with our character depictions, particularly Chris, for example switching from the initial, full-frontal camera long-shot we were using for his interview in the underpass to a side-on mid-shot as he leant against a brick wall, eventually zooming in for close-up. This felt like we were exploring multiple 'sides' of our character, as well as getting to grips with camera angling on a practical level.
During these interviews we used to boom pole to help us record sound on the micro-track, and having previously never used such advanced sound equipment we had to repeat several shots over in order make sure we had completed the task. Issues with wind interference were corrected.
CS & SL.
Once we were ready we made our way towards the estate in Dulwich which we had planned to use as our first location. The walk was not too long and we were able to share the load of the equipment between many hands so one could hardly describe it as gruelling. Upon arrival at the estate, we set up our first shot which is of Chris (Tom Hemington) standing beneath an underpass giving an interview on how he is struggling and so are many of his peers in the high pressure situation that they have found themselves in. Unfortunately an irate woman made us move from that particular area of public land and so we resumed filming soon after across the road, continuing on with Chris' interview. After this we filmed Robbo's (James Wilson) interview and then Carl's (Ranya El Refaey), both fairly near by due to convenience but also due to the area fitting our style and tone so seamlessly.
We continued to experiment with our character depictions, particularly Chris, for example switching from the initial, full-frontal camera long-shot we were using for his interview in the underpass to a side-on mid-shot as he leant against a brick wall, eventually zooming in for close-up. This felt like we were exploring multiple 'sides' of our character, as well as getting to grips with camera angling on a practical level.
During these interviews we used to boom pole to help us record sound on the micro-track, and having previously never used such advanced sound equipment we had to repeat several shots over in order make sure we had completed the task. Issues with wind interference were corrected.
CS & SL.
Saturday, 8 February 2014
Graphics: Planning
For end credits, we would like a dense cluster of the words to present the information, because following the dramatic montage of the trailer's third act, the credits should appear on screen in a 'hard and fast' style that delivers all the essential information in one go. Our trailer will probably start off fairly ambient and visuals based, but will gradually become more concise as it crosses over into Act 2 and Act 3 of the Three Act Structure of the trailer (the establishment of conflict and the final montage), and so the clear, block credits will be the final burst of information following the title shot.
Saturday, 25 January 2014
Thursday, 16 January 2014
Film Title: Influences
Inspiration can be drawn from Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden, with its separating the stylisation of two sections of one word; this places emphasis on its meaning and leads the audience to question why the title was chosen and how it is important. In this case, 'manhunt' is familiar term with sinister connotations, but in the case the hunted is the 'evil' entity, not the hunter, thereby subverting expectations of what the title implies. Furthermore, the title is so basic and literal in its meaning that it quite simple to understand its premise, and although it may be a touch heavy-handed at least it is simple and direct, avoiding anything complex and pretentious.
The spacing of the letters is relevant here because the 'Man' in question - Bin Laden - is one obvious issue the CIA are facing in their counter-terrorist activity, present in a tightly-lettered, simplistic form, whilst the 'Hunt' is the bigger, longer process that takes years to resolve, conveyed with the letters spread out across the screen/page.
Tuesday, 17 December 2013
Friday, 13 December 2013
Focus Groups & Target Audiences
In light of the results of our survey, I interviewed members of our target audience in order to get a better idea in terms of qualitative data what it is about a film that gets people watching. Three boys were interviewed and one girl, all seventeen.
Fitting our assumptions, two of the boys were into the action and thriller genre, and they were attracted to it because of the promise of excitement and adrenalin, although it was mentioned that violence should not be overtly gratuitous and should be done right. The girl agreed that action films are watched for the purpose of entertainment and do not need to develop on any other elements of plot, yet interestingly this was reason that our male interviewee did not like action films. He expressed that he enjoyed drama, romance and comedy because they included an "emotional connection" between the characters that was involving, and particularly that character development is a rewarding process. This view is at odds with the other male interviewees, one of whom stating that human interest stories were not really of interest of him because he only watched films for entertainment and escapism, not as a mirror to real life.
Thus, documentaries were not high on the watchlist of the the action-and-thriller boys, but all the participants agreed that a big factor in making a documentary interesting is presenting a subject that is unfamiliar to the viewer, so learning about a completely new topic is a rewarding experience. Popular criteria for a watchable documentary is that they be somehow relevant, maybe containing 'current affairs', or 'trashy' in the style of Channel 4, with human interest being a strong factor as long as it is entertaining. One of the boys mentioned that he only watched geographical/wildlife elements, but yet it was still the aforementioned element of discovering the unknown, and not "stuff form day to day life" that appealed to him.
In terms of the 'gritty' urban thriller genre, there was a general agreement that its portrayal is often heavy-handed and cliched, and so stereotypes must be avoided in order for a film to gain credibility, and perhaps incorporation a plot twist to keep the genre exciting. As our female interviewee said, once you have seen one generic urban thriller "you have seen them all".
Viral media such as Youtube was the most effective form of getting mass publicity for a film, but the most valuable of exposure was recommendation from a friend. Thus it is important for our film to strike a chord with a certain demographic for it to get good reviews, but attempting to reach as many markets as possible because 'human interest' stories have a fairly universal appeal. Furthermore, the trailer should showcase accurately the vague premise of the film without giving too much away so that the viewer has a notion of what to expect from the genre.
SL.
Fitting our assumptions, two of the boys were into the action and thriller genre, and they were attracted to it because of the promise of excitement and adrenalin, although it was mentioned that violence should not be overtly gratuitous and should be done right. The girl agreed that action films are watched for the purpose of entertainment and do not need to develop on any other elements of plot, yet interestingly this was reason that our male interviewee did not like action films. He expressed that he enjoyed drama, romance and comedy because they included an "emotional connection" between the characters that was involving, and particularly that character development is a rewarding process. This view is at odds with the other male interviewees, one of whom stating that human interest stories were not really of interest of him because he only watched films for entertainment and escapism, not as a mirror to real life.
Thus, documentaries were not high on the watchlist of the the action-and-thriller boys, but all the participants agreed that a big factor in making a documentary interesting is presenting a subject that is unfamiliar to the viewer, so learning about a completely new topic is a rewarding experience. Popular criteria for a watchable documentary is that they be somehow relevant, maybe containing 'current affairs', or 'trashy' in the style of Channel 4, with human interest being a strong factor as long as it is entertaining. One of the boys mentioned that he only watched geographical/wildlife elements, but yet it was still the aforementioned element of discovering the unknown, and not "stuff form day to day life" that appealed to him.
In terms of the 'gritty' urban thriller genre, there was a general agreement that its portrayal is often heavy-handed and cliched, and so stereotypes must be avoided in order for a film to gain credibility, and perhaps incorporation a plot twist to keep the genre exciting. As our female interviewee said, once you have seen one generic urban thriller "you have seen them all".
Viral media such as Youtube was the most effective form of getting mass publicity for a film, but the most valuable of exposure was recommendation from a friend. Thus it is important for our film to strike a chord with a certain demographic for it to get good reviews, but attempting to reach as many markets as possible because 'human interest' stories have a fairly universal appeal. Furthermore, the trailer should showcase accurately the vague premise of the film without giving too much away so that the viewer has a notion of what to expect from the genre.
SL.
Mood and Tone
Our drama is a sports documentary with a blend of 'urban' drama, and do it needs to incorporate an energetic pace with a certain darker mood. Themes include struggle, relationships, sportsmanship, redemption and triumph over tragedy.
A lot of the colour palette will adhere to a grey/blue-tinged grain similar to Fish Tank and Into the Abyss (bottom right and bottom left respectively), a typical representation of urban landscapes in order to establish the audiences' expectations and understanding of the geographical context . However we will aim to subvert these visual stereotypes by including more green landscapes such as parks, flowers as trees, in scenes with the tennis court and in the park. After all, almost 40% of London is covered by green space, particularly the numerous commons and parks in South London, so it would be wrong not to include those aesthetics. Furthermore, youth culture is extremely dynamic and creative and this should be represented at least through colourful and stylish clothing; this varied the palette and make the film more visually exciting and avoid drab stereotypes. Inspiration for this can be taken from This is England, where fashion plays a large party of cultural identity and representation of the time; in this case with the characters expressing themselves as members of 80s counter culture (center bottom). Other aesthetic influences include China Heavyweight (Center), because although these people may come from small town agricultural/industrial China, they still present their individualism through their bright clothing and adoption of Western brands. This perhaps may be seen as a visual metaphor as they desire to break free of their rural, insular background and achieve their dreams on an international platform.
SL.
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