Feedback on Swell

After having presented our final piece to an audience, we found that the majority of people enjoyed it and would be interested in watching the complete film. Others that did not enjoy it said that their main criticism was the acting and that some errors of the film were unclear as to what they were supposed to represent. They also said that if they had not been paying much attention they would have missed the fact drugs were passed to Ashley and that this would have been a crucial error as the use of illegal substances was a significant part of the narrative.
We were pleased with the feedback we received as it supported our film, but also gave us useful knowledge as to what we could change if we had more time.

Evaluation 8; Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Looking back at the preliminary task I think that we have progressed a lot. We made the preliminary task very simple, without preparing and thinking as deeply into it as we did with the full product. We played around with camera shots and whether it was close up or a long shot. We practised the rules of continuity. We learnt how to angle the camera, and the best way to do it. Directing the acting we also practised which came in handy when we shot our real thing because of the amount of people we had to direct in the party scenes.
There wasn’t much preparing for the preliminary task, so when we planned for the full product, ‘swell’, we got much more into it and looked at every last detail. We looked at clothes, hair colour, and tone of voice and even what her room looked like. The panning in the preliminary task helped a lot because we also had to pan with Ashley in ‘swell’. From the same side of the room, through the door and sitting down, this made it a lot easier because we had done it before.
Because there was barely any editing for the preliminary task, when we had to edit for ‘swell’, we were quite shocked at how much work it was. But we also had to edit in music and make scenes black and white, so in fact our preliminary task was extremely different to our final product. We used diegetic sounds and non- diegetic sounds, diegetic when they were in the party room, even though we edited it in and the actors couldn’t hear it when filmed. And non- diegetic when Ashley was walking down the long flight of stairs.
For the preliminary task we chose to use natural light and when we filmed for ‘swell’ we chose to use lights or even take away most of the light, when we filmed the party scenes. But we used the natural light in the bedroom scenes because we started filming so early that we had a great morning sun coming in through the windows.

Evaluation 1; Identify the brief

Our film takes you through the journey of a young teenager who has to tackle the prospect of being pregnant. We touch on many teenage issues, such as peer pressure, drug taking, consequences, pregnancy and many more. The opening sequence lets you see how the girl changes from a sweet innocent girl to a pregnant rebelling teenager. We use lots of props to show she is innocent, by the black and white photograph of her mother which you can see in her bedroom, to her white sheets, and clean bedroom. The film will tell us whether she will confront the issue she has to deal with and tell her parents, or will she have an abortion. Will this decision change her life or will she move on? What kind of person will this situation turn her into? These are the questions we want our audience to be asking after they have watched the opening sequence.

Evalutaion 6; How did you attract/address your audience (video blog)

We attracted our audience by listening to what they had to say. We used a questionnaire to start with and then we also asked people what they thought about the idea of a film. When we got negative feedback we would try and change the idea of the film to what the majority were saying, but you can’t always please everyone, although we really did try to! Once we had made the film and we had showed the actors and some people it for feedback we found that they were finding it hard to tell the difference between the flashbacks and the present time. So to make this easier for people to understand we changed the flashbacks to black and white which when we played back to the people how had found it hard to understand they now said it was much easier to understand it.
We also used modern day dress, and the language was also modern day. This helped to attract an audience because they could relate to it. Although not everybody can relate literally to all of the circumstances that happen in the film, they can however relate to a lot of it. Problems with friendship, problems with peer pressure, even if it is not drug related.

Evaluation 7; What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Media

View more presentations from Antonia Formosa.

Blogging was the most used technology throughout the process of making the opening sequence. It kept all our ideas organised and it was very useful. We were able to blog anything and keep it safe while we did other things. We also used Facebook and Hotmail to contact people and make sure everyone was up to date. We also used it to talk to other members of our class and hotmail especially with our teacher.
Wordle is what we used to help create the name for our film, where we came up with many names and ideas about our film and it came out with lots of words. Although we never actually used one of the titles it came up with. Scribbed is what we used when we needed to upload word files to put them in our blog.
We learnt how to use Adobe Premiere and we practised making still credits using Photoshop.
Because of our low budget we were unable to use lights, so we used the natural lights. This worked well as we needed that anyway in Ashley's bedroom. In the party room scenes we were luckily using lights that dimmed down which was good because we need to create a dark room but obviously we needed a bit of light so that we could film. We used a Dv film camera. I learnt lots of things through the internet and lots of skills to help with our film making. For example embedding, which I had never used before making this film. Embedding is when you can copy a YouTube video into your blog. Editing on Adobe is a very useful thing to know how to do. Although it took a lot of practise, it was very simple once you had got used to it.

evaluation 4; in what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In the construction of our narrative we have complied to the codes and conventions of a normal teenage drama. In the sense that the story deals with alienation, rebellion, teen angst, conflict with parents and peer pressure with and underlying story line, dealing with the universal issues that come with a journey of coming of age stories. We established these issues clearly in our opening sequence with the extreme close-up of Ashley’s leaflets on abortion. This combined with shots designed in a central composition of her seated in the middle of the party, clearly alienated from the other partygoers. Establishes her teen angst and awkward,, shy nature that one can easily relate to.
We have decided to display the narrative in a non-linear fashion by utilising flashbacks to clue in the audience on the escapades that were the catalysts in her downward spiral.
As the opening sequence conventionally sets up the whole atmosphere for the movie, the blatant lack of adults being present tells the audience that this film will be mainly focused on young adults, in turn this is evidence of our genre being directed at teens, this coupled with the melancholic, and sombre music, establishes the movies status as a teen drama.
We have undertaken a style of editing that involves numerous cross cutting between the present day shots of Ashley and the flashbacks. This made the process quite laborious and meant intricate system of shots and sounds. The cross cutting was used as a representational method of portraying the madness and confusion plaguing Ashley’s mind. It is noticeable in the movie that we have made use of very little locations; this shows our lack of budget, though it creates a realistic image of a teenage lifestyle. Our costumes are clearly representative of the fashion styles of modern day teenagers. The props used were instrumental of displaying the troubles and peer pressure our character Ashley would have to face. These being the bottle of vodka Ashley clutches nervously to her chest as though it was a lifeline as she wanders in her own social peril and the substances she is peer pressured into taking. We decided to go with a classic design for our typography, especially with the aesthetic, as we were faced with the problem of having the colours being defined enough to be noticeable. The visual conventions of the genre are conspicuously displayed within the opening sequence and can be identified as the leaflets on abortion, the alcoholic drinks and the substances offered to Ashley.

evaluation 3; what kind of media institutions might distribute your media product and why?

For this film we could use warp films or working title. Both would suit our film, but in a very different way. Warp films are low budget, indie films like ‘This is England’, which concentrate mostly on cultural values. This type of film only really appeals to the culture that is being portrayed. Warp films does not have enough resources and sponsors to make their films with a high budget. This would be good for our film, ‘Swell’ because it tries to make the audience relate to it through cultural values such as pregnancy, drugs and other stuff that happens in teenage everyday lives. Working title would be a high budget, make it a romantic comedy and would use international actors. They wouldn’t focus on cultural aspects that the film has.
I think Warp films would be the better institute to distribute our film, ‘swell’ because it would tell our story better. A teenage film that working title produced would be ‘wild child’. It portrays glamour, fashion and a stereotypical view on British teenagers.

Swell Rough Cut Analysis

This what we have done so far to the 2 minute film, 'Swell'. We have finished cutting the scenes and have put them together quite well i think. We haven't yet finished all of the effects etc yet and we are planning on making the flashback scenes, the ones at the party, made black and white. This is for the audience to see clearly that they are flashback scenes.
We still need to find some music and put it into the film. We need to find two different tracks, one sad track to play while we watch Kat in her bedroom and walking down the stairs. And another track to play during the party, to make it more like a party.
I think as the story line goes, we have achieved what we intended to. It is well set out, and i think it will be easy for the audience to understand the story line. Because of the amount of 'close-ups' we use for Ashley, i think the audience wil.l be able to understand emotionally her issues, and feel for her. I think a lot of people will find it realistic as it so easily could happen to a teenager.

Evaluation 5; How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Through mise-en-scene we manage to demonstrate Ashley’s character of a sweet simple girl, specifically through the props that were used in her bedroom and her chosen attire of her plain and appropriate t-shirt and jeans. This created a stereotypical representation of the wholesome girl-next-door. As our film targets young women explicitly, it was very important to us to show them in a realistic light, so as to create a foundation for young girls to learn from and relate to.
Because Ashley succumbs to her temptations she is automatically seen as more human and therefore her character becomes more three-dimensional. This directly challenges other representations of young girls as large studios prefer to distribute an image of a teenager that’s says no to peer pressure. Conventions are challenged this way due to Ashley’s human actions.
However in the aspect of our representation of males, we have created a fairly two dimensional character. This is acceptable, due to the films explicit targeting at females. We only see two male characters within the opening sequence, who are both instrumental in peer pressuring Ashley into taking drugs and having sex. Therefore they are considered the ‘evil’ characters and thus it becomes a fairly stereotypical model of the male gender.
Youth has also been represented in our media product. We have portrayed a typical view of how the world perceives youth today, that being irresponsible, as substance and alcohol abusers and as sexually active with no regard for the consequences. However this was pertinent to our product as we wanted to show that even those of the most wholesome personality may fall to the pressures of teenagers. This was important in our creation of a realistic setting and character. It is evident from the large staircase that Ashley descends and the nicely furnished home that she is from the middle class section of society, which is then further enhanced by the diegetic sound of radio four that is being played from the kitchen.

Swell Final Cut

Evaluation 2; Target Audience

After having done our questionnaire we knew that our target audience would be a white female, aged between 14 - 25. And our questionnaire showed that comedies were the most popular genre but as a group we decided to do a drama because a comedy is quite hard to get right. A lot of the time they fail and we didn’t want to risk that. Also we wanted to discuss teenage issues that a lot of teens are going through and as teenagers ourselves we felt like we could relate to our target audience. The internet is the most common way of watching movies from our target audience so we would advertise it on YouTube and other sources on the internet and streaming the movie via Netflix.
We would release the film in the winter because the questionnaire showed that people preferred watching films in the winter, not the summer. And the internet would be the main advertising area, we could put adverts on facebook as most teenagers are using that nowadays, YouTube, also a very popular site with teenagers and other pages.
As much as we wanted to, and our target audience wanted us to, we could not use a famous, established actor because of our low budget. So instead we looked for talent among young actors who once the film is released are seen as established good actors.

Questionnaire Results

Questionnaire results





questionaire 2

Production Log Shoot

On Friday night we set up the areas we were going to use to film. We went to a pub close to my house and asked for any unwanted empty bottles, and we were given a bin liner full. We then emptied them around the room and put used ash trays also in the room. Next we went and tidied up my sisters room which we were using for Ashley's room. We made sure it looked very clean and opened the curtains for light effect. At this point we decided we wanted to start the scene opening the door and filming towards Ashley sitting on the bed.
At 9 am the next morning, our teacher and actress for Ashley arrived. When we put forward the new idea for the opening we were told it wouldn't work, although we did try it, to make sure. We had Toni F filming and Toni A focussing on Continuity to make sure it was good and I was directing. After filming all the scenes with Ashley alone in, it was 10 30 and our actor for Max arrived. Because there were no scenes with just Ashley and Max in we had to wait for everyone else, and we waited for quite a long time. At about 11 30 our teacher left and told us to finish and return the camera later that day. We didn't have everyone at the house until about 1pm and so we started filming the party scenes straight away. It was a lot harder than we thought because everyone was tired and wanted to get it over and done with as quick as possible, so we had to calm everyone down and give lines out. Then we had to make sure people's conversations were the same each time we shot it for continuity. This was actually okay and people remembered lines.

Production Schedule

Production Schedule for Scribd

Call Sheet

Media as Call Sheet

Questionnaire Analysis

The questions we chose for our questionnaire were quite straight forward questions but they were ones we needed the answers for. We needed to know the age of the audience so that we could then know the reasons for the answers to the other questions, because a 10- 13 year old is more likely to watch films in the cinema or a TV rather then downloading them. We did this questionnaire so we could make our film more fitting for the audience.

Questionaire

Questionnaire Media AS

Our preliminary video

This was a learning experience to see how continuity rules are applied. Although we had problem with some sound from the printer in the shots directed at Toni F. The continuity still was good. We could have framed some of the shots better, but we know that now so when we shoot our opening sequence we will be more prepared. We learnt how to track well, because we had to film Toni A walking in through the door and we will also have to do this in our opening sequence with Ashley walking into the party. It was a very good practice for all of us and the editing will help us so much when we edit our opening sequence of ‘Swell’.

Preliminary Task Video

Before shooting our opening sequence for 'swell' we were told that we had to complete a preliminary task. A preliminary task is when you film and edit a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom he/she then exchanges a couple of lines. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and 180-degree rule.
The role-play we came up with is 2 people are sitting in a room when a I enter, cross the room, sit down opposite them and talk to the 2 people about my book I am reading for drama.

An example of match on action is;


An example of shot/reverse shot is;


An example of 180 degree rule is;

Sound

When we open to Ashley sitting on her bed we have complete silence in her bedroom apart from the faint rumble of Radio 4 being played in her kitchen. Radio 4 is a good one to use because it shows her family are intellectuals, middle class and up to date with current affairs. And then at the party we are listening to loud drum and bass which is a huge contrast from radio 4. But we won’t actually have the music playing while we film it, we will edit the music in at the end so that we can chose and make it better. We will just have to make sure everyone talks a lot louder so it seems like they are talking over the music. When Ashley walks down to talk to her parents, there should be the sound of cooking and the washing machine and radio 4 loud so that it contrasts greatly to the feelings we were getting when watching Ashley alone, silent in her bedroom.

About the script

Below this post is my script. We have changed our ideas around quite a lot and this is our final plan. There is very little speech in the film, and we chose to do this because we felt like it was a deep and meaningful film and lots of speech would ruin it. We have few actors also, but we will use quite a lot of extras for the party scenes.
We chose to open the film with Ashley sitting on her bed with her back to us so that the audience don’t know anything about her. It is a light room with lots of air and sunlight coming in, which is a nice contrast to the sadness of the Ashley. At the moment we are choosing for Ashley’s’ face to be turned away from us but we may change this while filming. Her room is very tidy because it shows how the family are, and with the line ‘Ashley, dinners ready!’ we know that their family eat together.
The party scene is going to be quite packed with extras to make the feeling of a party much greater. When Kat hands Ashley a pill and say ‘go on newbie. It’s not a big deal.’ We are supposed to sense the pressure. As she stated newbie it lets the audience know that Ashley is new to the school/group of people, and the way she is dressed, to the kind of things these new friends of hers do. Saying ‘it’s no big deal’ creates a lot of pressure for Ashley as it’s a casual way of saying, your pathetic if you don’t do it. Her eye line match shot with max, shows that what she is doing is for max and she wants him to see her doing it.
We then go back to a shot of Ashley sitting on her bed before heading into the second flash back. The cantered camera angle showing what Ashley is seeing is very effective I feel because it lets the audience hear and see what Ashley is seeing. Everything around her will be a lot louder and everyone will be moving and bumping into her. She will feel very lost. When max approaches her, it will feel like a good thing for Ashley because she thinks he is going to help her, and when she looks over at Kat who is preoccupied with another boy we see an impulse run through her where she suddenly decides that she is going to be cool as well and go with max.
We then go back again to her sitting on the bed, but this time we see her face and she is holding a pregnancy test, and the test is proving to be positive. We watch her slowly walk down the stairs and into her kitchen where her mother is making supper and her father is sitting reading a newspaper. She looks around at them and then we fade out.

The Script

Script for Scribd

Film Title 2

                                                        'No Big Deal'

This was the second idea for a title, No Big Deal. I like it because it portrays what the friends of Ashley would say to her to pressure her into sleeping with the guy in the first place. No one would think about the chances of pregnancy so therefore it is a big deal. It is a film title that looks at younger audiences as that is the generation that says 'no big deal'. It is not as appealing to middle aged people because it is not something they would say and could relate to. Peer pressure is also a very big part of the storyline so therefore it is a good idea to subtly use the word that issued under peer pressure as the title.

Film Title

                                                                 'SWELL'


The film title we came up with is 'Swell'. The reason we thought if this is for a number of reasons and it has a double meaning. Swell is used by americans to say 'cool'. which is a positive meanung for the word. Another meaning is when you are pregnant your belly swells, this is a negative meaning. So it has positive and negative meanings which makes it quite a neutral title. It is also short and catchy, one worded title. It also descibes the content of the film whithin this one word. The title appeals to male as well as female audiences in all age catogries beacuse it is anigmatic.

wordle to inspire our title

Title Sequence 2

This was the second title sequenece. We were looking on google images to find a picture of a pregancy test to have in the background of each title but we found this image that we all really liked. We decided to use photoshop to delete the word pregnant and instead put our names and the titles in. I really like this title sequence because it looks stylish and has a grater effect then the other one. The last slide of the sequence saying 'pregnant' i think is goodbut there was a lot of debate as to wether to use it because it gives away a lot but if we use it at the end then the audience already knows what happens andi think that it looks really good. It is very simple but i like this about it.

Title Sequence 1

This was our first trial title sequence, and we discussed it a lot before we did it. We had to think about the font, the size of the font, colours and the layout. We didnt want a bright pink, bubbly loud opening sequence becuase that 1, gives away that its all abuot girls and 2, becuase its not serious enough. We want to make sure it looks quite serious as otherwise people wont take the problems in and it wont seem so realistic. The font is very basic but for this reason to and as is the layout and the presentation. The colour purple we felt worked well because it is quite a neutral colour and the black there brings in the darker part of the film into the title sequence.

Preliminary Opening sequence Analysis

Catch me if you can, has a sans serif font which suits the old fashioned, retro look that Spielberg went for. Its a simple opening sequence which i find is very effective. The coulours at the beginning are just blues and blacks which suits the music at this point because the music is slow at the start but then becomes a little more mysterious, which is the black in the sequence. Then we got to yellow which fits in with the mellow music of the saxophone. Next is orange and the orange turns to red at the same time as the music becomes rushed and jumpy. The man in the sequence begins to run in time to the music. He is being chased by another man and pieces of papaer are flying around, this all relates to the music being fast.
Then as the man is running its pitch black but we see him a bit as the lights are switched on above him sometimes. The title sequence to me shows a man going to work at an airport as everyone is carrying briefcases and there are aeroplanes flying around everywhere. People are going up and down on the elevators. As it is all in cartoon its hard to find out what the film is actually about with such little evidence, but the man we are following does run through quite a few jobs. Firstly the airport, then a doctor then a secretary/office job then a party room with a piano in, which could mean either hes running away and has found himself in the room or could mean hes a waitor. Or just a guest.

Preliminary Poster Analysis

In this poster of 'confessions of a teenage drama queen' we are presented with nine images of Lindsay Lohan in differnet over exagerated poses. This goes with the title of the movie, 'drama queen'. It is a very simple way to do the poster, but at the same time it is very effective. This film is clearly for girls of a young age to girls in their mid twenties. Its a fun film that if you are yourself a drama queen you would enjoy to watch as you can relate to it And as many teenagers are drama queens it has a very wide audience.  

Poster Analysis 2

In this twilight poster, there is a clear distinguish between the two males. The one furyher in front is much fair skinned then the guy behind him. They are also standing back to back. The girl looks as if she is trying to get passed the darker skinned man but at the same time she looks as if she feels protected. The background is very dark and mysterious which shows us that the film will be a very dark film and proabbly not suitable for young children.

Poster Analysis 1

In this clueless poster, we are shown three teenage girls, dressed up in prestine, fancy clothes. They are clearly very well off as they al lhave designer clothes and are standing on a very posh staircase. They are very made up with lots of mak up and look quite fake. The 'leader' standing in the middle with the long blond hair looks like she would be the one that controls the group. From this poster you can already tell that that the film will all be about popularity, fashion and sex. But this is shown very clearly in the small writing at the top of the poster; Sex. Clothes. Popularity. Is There A Problem Here?
This film is very clearly aimed at females rather then males and to the younger generation, the teenagers.