Advanced Portfolio Evaluation - Jess Garman - Question 4

4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction, and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Digital cameras:
In our group we were very fortunate to have Charlea, who is also a photography student and therefore had a very good camera we could use. We all took this as a great opportunity to take plenty of photos on set. Both as evidence of our filming and in preparation to get the best shot possible for our poster. We also took photographs to show elements such as mis en scene, for example photos of the seagulls and the different locations on the beach we could have used but chose not to. (examples below).

Filming Equipment included:
• Camera
• Tripod
• Torch
• Dolly

We were generally pleased with our rushes because we had quite a high quantity and a large variation of shots to choose from. However in some of our more essential shots (the conversation between the two characters), we had obviously forgot to set the white balance, therefore the colour saturation and lighting were distorted and highly noticeable. To overcome this we first attempted to repair the damage made, but when that proved unsuccessful we edited the storyboard to fit around using different shots, this was only possible due to our quantity of rushes.

We aimed for continuity in our editing as it is a social realism we wanted the audience to be able to relate to the recognisable locations and be able to get involved in the characters journey without distraction. We tried our hardest to be as detailed and precise as possible with our editing. However, I feel that because we had watched our film so many times we were missing little details and in places our broke continuity. For example we were so distracted by repairing the sound in our shot –reverse-shot conversation part that we failed to notice some mistakes. In one particular part a couple walk past behind the elderly man and then when it goes to the young boy they have disappeared. Also in terms of the traffic behind them a red double-decker bus is driving past behind the elderly man, and again has disappeared by the time we see the younger boy without a significant enough time lapse. We worked hard to ensure we stuck to the 180° rule, by reminding ourselves of it whilst filming and discussing how it would look in post production, this we succeed in. In terms of sound we also used non – diegetic sound in recording an acoustic guitar to go over the action towards the end of our film. I feel that this helped to pick up the pace that was lost when we had to get rid of the conversation and replace it with a voiceover, as in places the viewer may start to get bored.

Advanced Portfolio Evaluation - Jess Garman - Question 3

• What have you learned from your Audience feedback?
  
  
  We have attempted to get audience feedback from our film by doing various private viewings of it to our peers. We have also posted it on our blog and facebook site and asked for feedback on the following: mis en scene, camera work, editing, and if it sticks to the social realism genre. We also plan on showing our Media studies class and doing having our peers rate it out of five and leave comments. So far all feedback has been generally positive; however we are yet to develop our conclusive evidence.
  
  Here are some of the comments from our Facebook page.
  
  http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=276450286849&ref=ts
  
  Georgia Hannan I thought it was brilliant guys. I loved all of it, the voice over was so good. I loved all the diagetic beach sounds and thought the editing was just amazing, you can tell how much work you guys have put into it and you should all be super proud of yourselves. If I had to say one bad point, it would only be that befor...e reading the description I wasnt too sure what was going on - as in I didnt understand that he had run away from home. But thats likely to just be me, other than that I thought the film went together perfectly, the scenes seemed to follow each other so well. Sorry I cant give you more media language, but it really was great girls, xxxx
  
  We also used our facebook site in terms of initial research. For example the following comment gave us the idea for the shot used in our film. Where the main character is sitting on a bus stop.
  
  RemoveNicole Jepson You could have a really nice shot of him going and sitting at a bus stop (maybe a shot from the other side of the road would look good)
  and he looks like hes waiting for a bus but then you have a bunch of jump cuts showing all the different busses going passt him and hes not getting on.. because he doesnt know where to ...go perhaps.
  and then after a few buses have passed (idealy hes sitting alone at this point) he gets up looking real sad and walks off shot.
  awh bless him lol
  good luck.
  xxxSee more
  
  01 February at 14:44 · Comment ·UnlikeLike · View feedback (4)Hide feedback (4) · ReportYou and Charlea Ann Riceannpea like this..Jess Garman Thank you Nicole, that was such an awesome comment it has its own post on our blog! xx
  06 February at 09:09 · .Nicole Jepson oh yes xD
  06 February at 09:49 ·
  
  
  
  I did a several private screenings of our film to peers and family members in order to get more feedback.
  
  The general comments were positive. However our main negative feedback was that
  
• Could not follow the voiceover the whole way through
• Did not know who the Grandad character was, and why he was being shown before he came in, confused him with the boys dad.
• The pace being too slow
• Did not approve of the use of the word 'Shit' said by a young boy.

We also put our film on youtube hoping for comments however did not recieve any.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7A-kN70gXU

Advanced Portfolio Evaluation - Jess Garman - Question 2

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and your ancillary tasks?

Above are copies of our final review and poster. Which have also been posted earlier on the blog.

In terms of the poster as a group we worked well. As one of our group members (Charlea) is a photography student with a very nice camera. We took hundreds of photos on the day and chose together the best ones to upload to the blog. We found the best photo by asking our peers and teachers to take a vote on the best ones. Charlea is particuarly good at photoshop, however as we wanted the work to be shared out fairly we each had a go at our own posters. We decided on Charleas poster and all made changes to it together to get it to the right standard. In terms of if we were going to release our film we feel our poster would work well, as earlier research into social realism posters shows similarities.

We did our review for Little White Lies magazine. We wrote it by reading lots of other reviews and copying not only the language style, but the unique design style of their articles. For example, each month they have a themed issue of a certain film. Which is refered to by the front cover and unique doodles refrencing that film throughout.

Enitially we were going to make our film the cover film. However being realistic as ours is in a short film format and not feature length we made up a film called 'SALT WATER', so our doodles could have a slight refrence to the seaside in our film.

Above is a copy of a previous cover of LWL magazine.

These are previous covers featured.

I feel that we worked well as a group as we utilised our own personal talents and shared out the workload equally. For example Charlea is very hands on with practical work, and is a photography student. We used her camera to take stills on the day and her eye for detail has helped us create a professional looking poster. Hollie is very good at research and planning, for example she drew up the storyboard and made the appropriate changes to it. We ensured we discussed and made every decision together, no matter how small.

The Advanced Portfolio Evaluation final draft - Jess Garman Question 1, Question 2,3,4 follow

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop, or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

For the media studies A2 qualification we were asked to create, research, plan, film and edit a five minute social realism film. Our first step was to research the genre of social realism itself, as our understanding of it is essential. We used the blog as our main tool to keep updating ourselves and each other with any progress. I felt that this was a key tool in our communication, and that is part of the reason we got on so well as a group.

Through extensive research into the social realism genre and general British films it was not hard to become inspired. The short comedy film by Jim Field Smith called ‘Goodbye to the Normals’ gave us our original idea of a young boy running away from home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFx755QeJME

SOCIAL REALISM:

WHO?
Some British directors include:

Mike Leigh ,
Andrea Arnold ,
Shane Meadows ,
Ken Loach ,
Danny Boyle,
Damien O’Donnell ,
¬¬
WHAT?
Social realism conventions include:
• Recognisable locations (usually inner city or working class areas.) Such as Fish tank ), was filmed on an Essex council estate.
• Reflects social / political issues. Current or in recent times. Such as This is England set in 1983, , showing the racist views of the far right politics of the time of the English Nationalists. ,
• Gritty style of film making
• Usually made with a low budget. ,
• Usually focus’ on characters with a British working class background.
• Often shot to the North of England, areas such as Manchester.
• Often unconventional approaches to film making. (Such as often acting can be improvised, such as Mike Leigh’s Happy Go Lucky).
• Mostly Diagetic sound
• Continuity editing ,
• Detailed Mis en scene. For example costume representing current fashions of the time, place and situation. For example in Andrea Arnolds Wasp the main character wearing pyjamas in the street with no shoes on. Less likely for that to happen in a more affluent area.
• Relatively un-known actors / actress


NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

Todorovs’ narrative structure theory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrativerative,



• Begins with a state of equilibrium
• Followed by a disruption
• Then either a repair or an attempt to repair the damage of the disruption returning to the equilibrium

For example Mike Leigh’s ‘Happy Go Lucky’ it begins with a very slow pace, which is fairly consistent throughout besides at moments of disruption towards the middle end. Andrea Arnold’s ‘Wasp’, however, begins with a fast pace and remains a tension the entire way through. As our film is only five minutes long we preferred the slower pace, as it was more suited to our storyline and doesn’t leave the audience with too many unanswered questions at the end.

In terms of representation our main character is a working class, young white male, around the age of eleven. We needed to take into consideration stereotypes that already exisit and if we are going to re-enforce them or go against them.

In terms of costume he perhaps does re-enforce the stereotype of a ‘hooded teen’. Wearing a ‘New York Yankees’ hoodie, with un-matching ‘le coq sportif’ tracksuit bottoms, even with details as small as his laces being untied gives messages to the audience of him being untidy. However contradictory to this within the dialogue he is being more mature, and the audience is positioned to empathize with his decision to run away. The second character the audience is introduced to is an older more middle class looking man, wearing smart casual attire, with grey trousers and slicked back grey hair, he is around the age of sixty five. The fact that the audience is positioned to see him as an authoritative figure and someone to be looked up to by the young boy perhaps says to the audience that a higher age and social class is something to be respected, more so than the other characters.



Stephen Daldrys’ short film ‘Eight’ helped inspire us as although the boy is younger than the one we used they are both dealing with issues surrounding family life at home, such as divorce. Divorce is becoming more and more apparent in modern day Britain therefore we felt it was relevant. As the writer of the script I found it difficult to try and see it from a young males’ point of view. In order to overcome this I spoke to some young males who had been through a similar thing, and asked them if what I had written sounded too mature or cheesy. I still do not feel entirely confident with what I wrote for the voiceover as I had a relatively short amount of time in which to write it. However I do feel that I did the best I could to try and relate. And the feedback I got was generally positive.

Stephen Daldrys Eight also inspired us as it is a young boy finding an escape from his home life on a public beach.




Here is a copy of the final script used
'We used to go to the beach all the time.
Me, mum and dad.
Do they even remember?
We used to spend every Saturday on the beach, eating chips.
And when it was cold I’d complain and want to go home.
Well… I’d never complain now.

If we were all here. Together.
Haven’t seen dad in ages now.
Mum says I’m the ‘man of the house’
That means I’M in charge
So I can do what I want
And if I wanna go to the beach for the rest of my life. I will!

Everyone thinks mums new baby is SO cute
They used to think I was cute.
Not now, the way I see it mum can take care of that little brat herself.
All it ever does is scream eat and shit!

Mum wont tell me why dad left.
She just cries all the time now, its boring.
Better than hearing her and dad screaming at each other like before I suppose.
Dad wont tell me why he left
Just did
Haven’t seen him since
Hope he comes back soon
If not that’s not fair that he gets to leave and I don’t!

Saw Grandad at the beach.
He says its time to step up and take care of mum and sis.
And that dads just gone away for a bit, so not to worry.
And that I can’t live on the beach because I’ll get eaten by “the sea monster!”
- Yeah Grandad, I’m not three anymore!
He says he is very proud of me, and if I ever need anyone to talk to he’s here for me.
Wish I could live with him and Grandma instead.
There’d be an endless supply of biscuits!

So…
Where to now?'

We also used the last line "So... Where to now" as our tag line for the poster.

Review again [[Charlea]]

Noticed somthing wrong with the text sorted it so all good :)

Final Review (LWL) [[Charlea and Jess]]

First Draft Evaluation {[Jess}]

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop, or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Through extensive research into the social realism genre and general British films it was not hard to become inspired. The short comedy film by Jim Field Smith called ‘Goodbye to the Normals’ gave us our original idea of a young boy running away from home. As we felt this idea was simple enough to use Todorovs’ narrative structure theory
• Begins with a state of equilibrium
• Followed by a disruption
• Then either a repair or an attempt to repair the damage of the disruption returning to the equilibrium

For example Mike Leigh’s ‘Happy Go Lucky’ it begins with a very slow pace, which is fairly consistent throughout besides at moments of disruption towards the middle end. Andrea Arnold’s ‘Wasp’, however, begins with a fast pace and remains a tension the entire way through. As our film is only five minutes long we preferred the slower pace, as it was more suited to our storyline and doesn’t leave the audience with too many unanswered questions at the end.

In terms of representation our main character is a working class, young white male, around the age of eleven. We needed to take into consideration stereotypes that already exisit and if we are going to re-enforce them or go against them.

In terms of costume he perhaps does re-enforce the stereotype of a ‘hooded teen’. Wearing a ‘New York Yankees’ hoodie, with un-matching ‘le coq sportif’ tracksuit bottoms, even with details as small as his laces being untied gives messages to the audience of him being untidy. However contradictory to this within the dialogue he is being more mature, and the audience is positioned to empathize with his decision to run away. The second character the audience is introduced to is an older more middle class looking man, wearing smart casual attire, with grey trousers and slicked back grey hair, he is around the age of sixty five. The fact that the audience is positioned to see him as an authoritative figure and someone to be looked up to by the young boy perhaps says to the audience that a higher age and social class is something to be respected, more so than the other characters.

Stephen Daldrys’ short film ‘Eight’ helped inspire us as although the boy is younger than the one we used they are both dealing with issues surrounding family life at home, such as divorce. Divorce is becoming more and more apparent in modern day Britain therefore we felt it was relevant. As the writer of the script I found it difficult to try and see it from a young males’ point of view. In order to overcome this I spoke to some young males who had been through a similar thing, and asked them if what I had written sounded too mature or cheesy. I still do not feel entirely confident with what I wrote for the voiceover as I had a relatively short amount of time in which to write it. However I do feel that I did the best I could to try and relate. And the feedback I got was generally positive.

Here is a copy of the final script used
'We used to go to the beach all the time.
Me, mum and dad.
Do they even remember?
We used to spend every Saturday on the beach, eating chips.
And when it was cold I’d complain and want to go home.
Well… I’d never complain now.

If we were all here. Together.
Haven’t seen dad in ages now.
Mum says I’m the ‘man of the house’
That means I’M in charge
So I can do what I want
And if I wanna go to the beach for the rest of my life. I will!

Everyone thinks mums new baby is SO cute
They used to think I was cute.
Not now, the way I see it mum can take care of that little brat herself.
All it ever does is scream eat and shit!

Mum wont tell me why dad left.
She just cries all the time now, its boring.
Better than hearing her and dad screaming at each other like before I suppose.
Dad wont tell me why he left
Just did
Haven’t seen him since
Hope he comes back soon
If not that’s not fair that he gets to leave and I don’t!

Saw Grandad at the beach.
He says its time to step up and take care of mum and sis.
And that dads just gone away for a bit, so not to worry.
And that I can’t live on the beach because I’ll get eaten by “the sea monster!”
- Yeah Grandad, I’m not three anymore!
He says he is very proud of me, and if I ever need anyone to talk to he’s here for me.
Wish I could live with him and Grandma instead.
There’d be an endless supply of biscuits!

So…
Where to now?'

We also used the last line "So... Where to now" as our tag line for the poster.

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?


We have attempted to get audience feedback from our film by doing various private viewings of it to our peers. We have also posted it on our blog and facebook site and asked for feedback on the following: mis en scene, camera work, editing, and if it sticks to the social realism genre. We also plan on showing our Media studies class and doing having our peers rate it out of five and leave comments. So far all feedback has been generally positive; however we are yet to develop our conclusive evidence.

Here are some of the comments from our Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=276450286849&ref=ts


4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction, and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Digital cameras:
In our group we were very fortunate to have Charlea, who is also a photography student and therefore had a very good camera we could use. We all took this as a great opportunity to take plenty of photos on set. Both as evidence of our filming and in preparation to get the best shot possible for our poster. We also took photographs to show elements such as mis en scene, for example photos of the seagulls and the different locations on the beach we could have used but chose not to. (examples below).

Filming Equipment included:
• Camera
• Tripod
• Torch
• Dolly