The Evaluation!

Q4) How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? 

I have created a presentation on Prezzi to display the technologies that I have used during the coursework from research and planning to editing. 

https://prezi.com/u3bfr4mkwncg/media-technology/#

Q3) What have you learned from your audience feedback?

   During all the stages of the coursework, we really tried to focus on audience feedback as this is crucial in creating a successful short film. There were many ways that I displayed our audience feedback on the blog from video footage to a standard blog format. 

      Research&Planning

         During the research and planning stage we ensured to ask our target audience a variety of questions so that we could produce an effective film that will attract the right age group. The target audience includes young adults from ages 15+. The main reason for this is because when receiving audience feedback it was easily accessible as we can ask people at college with no difficulty. In addition, the topic and atmosphere within our short film is quite mature as there are many complex scenes and it is quite a serious, thrilling short film. As young adults, many will be able to understand the storyline and find it fascinating because of the modern twist. The actors we have used are at a similar age to the audience which allows the demographic to relate to the characters. One of the locations we used was Brighton which is a well known area within the youn-

ger generation and it is a very popular place to visit with friends and family. This will shock the audience and possibly cause them to fear the area. As we began to come up with a basic idea for the short film, I asked many peoples opinion which is shown in the video above where I asked questions about Jack the Ripper, costumes and music. I edited and filmed the audience feedback video and made sure to ask media students as they are aware of key terms and have some good ideas. As you can see in the screenshots on the right, there are a variety of posts based on the audience feedback we have received from the research and planning section. Once we came up with a secure idea, we needed to think of title and some more ideas about the villain. We received some great ideas about the title and the villain which really helped us to shape the characters. I had a rough idea of calling the villain "J" which was simple and enigmatic. The audience ask themselves, "Who is this character?'" and "What does the letter stand for?" 

I asked some members of the audience these questions:

 Bethany - "I really like the new name of the villain because it is very mysterious and I want to find out who J is. I also think that the title is effective and I will definitely remember it."

Kyle - "The name "J" is simple but really effective because it can mean absolutely anything which makes the audience wonder what it stands for. The title is really clever and connects with the name of the villain."

Finn - "Thriller is my favourite genre of film because it really grabs the audience so I think that the name is very original and does not give away who the villain is. The name of the villain shows that he  is a copy cat of the real Jack The Ripper but is a modern interpretation."

After we researched a variety of short films and planned in detail (storyboards, animatics and equipment/editing practice) I decided to take a trip to Brighton for the evening and film some location ideas in the lanes and on the dark, eerie beach. In addition, I edited all the footage together and inserted some music in the background to make it more entertaining for the blog. I prefer to show my findings in a video format rather than a standard blog as its far more interesting watch and more useful in creating ideas. The video shows me filming around the area in the afternoon as it was beginning to get dark which is the time we were going to be filming. I showed some of the audience this video as well as my group and they all shared great comments based on the fact that Brighton is a great location for a thriller based on a mysterious murderer as it is so unusual and well known within the country. 

 Filming&Editing

This stage was crucial for receiving audience feedback as this was the footage that would be in our short film. We had to film effective shots to entice the demographic. Firstly, I created a video which included examples of raw footage which we were unsure about so we thought we would ask the audience. I asked many peers at college as they are of the right age group. Many were in favour of the chase scene footage, they believed it really captured the mood and made them feel anxious. In addition, the last scene of the Inspector dying is really effective as it may be gruesome but it is a typical convention of the thriller genre because it portrays death and danger. 

Social Networking 

During filming and editing, social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter were important throughout. It is an easy way to ask the audience what they think and for their opinions as we can screenshot them and put them straight on the Blog as evidence. Nearly everyone has a social media account on their smartphones or computers so can access the questions and videos I uploaded easily. Also, when coming to advertising our short film we would use social media as a base for all our rates and reviews. Short films need to be advertised online as they do not have the budget to show in cinemas or on TV. They rely on film festivals and the Internet to create an interest around the film for free. 
Final Product 

Once we completed all the stages and our short film was finished to a high standard, I uploaded it to Facebook and Youtube in order to get some final feedback and see if our target demographic like it and find it interesting. We received more than 100 views on the film and many likes on FB. I did not only show young teenagers (ages 15+) but I also showed some family members of an older age such as my parents. Everyone I showed seemed to really like it and couldn't believe that a group of college students could come up with such an original idea and portray a sense of suspense and enigma at the same time. 

Review&Film Poster
I really enjoyed creating our review and film poster as it showed a different side to my creativity skills within media. I believe that audience feedback was equally as important for the ancillary tasks as the film poster has to grab the audiences attention and make then want to watch our short film. We needed to reach out to our target demographic so that they could give us some good feedback for our posters and we wanted to know what they'd like to see on it. Firstly, Greg, Callum and I needed to create a poster each so then we could decide which one was most effective. Once we created the posters, we asked our class members which poster they believed was the best and they decided that Callum's was great because of the innovative lighting and original ideas. We all agreed about this but we thought that we could somehow use my poster and Greg's ideas to make another poster. The poster I came up with uses dark lighting and a really simple image in the centre of the poster which is faded out to create enigma and mystery around the character. I used Greg's ideas of the names of the actors and the reviews. Facebook was a key site during this period as I posted the two posters online and got some great feedback. For example, we received positive comments about the lighting and the fact that the posters don't give away too much about our short film. But just enough information is given for the audience to want to watch more. 
As you can see below, I created a post on Facebook, with a link to the blog,  asking the audience to give some constructive criticism on the posters. We learnt a lot from this as we found out that the audience seemed to like both our posters and they would definitely want to watch the short film which is on Youtube and the Blog.

The next stage was to create the film review for Little White Lies. I have previously created reviews during GCSE English and media so had a good idea on how to write one. With the help of the staff too we learnt how to write a review in the Little White Lies house style. Once we came up with the review, which Greg and I worked on together, we needed to create the layout. The layout was quite straight forward to achieve as we had specific measurements etc. I decided to print the review out and give it to the demographic to read as I did not want to post this on Facebook as I believe it should be read on a paper format. In addition, I created a questionnaire with only 3 questions. We received comments such as..

 "I loved reading your review, it made me want to watch the short film." 
"The language used was easy to understand and quite humorous."
"The image definitely didn't give too much away but it helped to introduce one of the characters." 
"I actually read Little White Lies and believe this sounded like one of the reviews, good job."

1) Did you find our review interesting to read? 
2) Do you believe the language used is appealing to our target audience?
3) What do you think of the image we used? Does it give too much of the narrative away?

     In conclusion, for the film poster and review it was really important to get some audience feedback because we had never had to create a poster or review before so we needed some good comments. I enjoyed finding out what others thought of our work as it really helped us because we took all of the comments on board. In addition, audience feedback was vital during the research and planning stage when we began to create some ideas for the short film. They really helped us craft the idea of a thriller film and the villains character (props, costumes, lighting.) Also, the actual filming stage was important as we received so many comments on our rough footage which was included in our short film. I believe, that the group did well in getting our audiences comments (15+) and we incorporated their ideas and learnt from them too!

Q2) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? 

For our coursework task, we had to create a short film and two ancillary products which included a film review and poster which I thoroughly enjoyed. Altogether, I believe the products we created really complimented each other and we produced an effective short film, poster and review to attract our target demographic in a marketing campaign. I have come up with some ways of advertising and marketing our short film as we only have a low budget so we cannot use expensive techniques such as billboards or magazine. I strongly believe that social media has helped us to create an affective combination through audience feedback and recognition.

Firstly, I am going to discuss the ideas for our marketing campaign as this is very important for a short, low budget film like mine. There are many different ways that we can market and promote our short film. But, I strongly believe that social media is the way to go in a modern society as we are all on a social site every single day without fail. Tablets and smartphones allow us to access these sites from just a click of a button, its fast and simple. If we were to really market our short film, sites such s Facebook and Youtube would be crucial for success because they are so popular and are updated frequently. As our demographic is majorly males 15+, we know for certain that they all use social media and we can successfully draw their attention to our thrilling film. Also, when advertising a thriller films, images are important ways to stand out to the audience especially images of the villain "J." 

If we had a higher budget, another way of marketing our short film is by approaching popular film and media magazines such as Little White Lies. Inserts inside the magazine of our short film or a film poster could be offered in the magazine. Although this is an expensive route, it would be very effective as magazines are still popular today. As we have clearly shown on the blog, we created a film poster for LWL's and it seems to be really effective and professional looking. I believe that print media is very important but digital media (such as social networking) is increasing in importance and all media companies will soon be only using FB, Twitter and YouTube etc to approach their target audience. I will be discussing the effectiveness of my review later in this post. 

Also, as we do not have many choices in marketing our short film, festivals are a great way to show our film to a mass audience. Niche film festivals are very popular within sub cultures today especially in America. Festivals such as International Short Film Festival Clermont Ferrand,  Berlinale - Berlin Film Festival and many others.  The primary reason for submitting your film to a film festival is to have it screened in front of acquisition executives who will ‘discover’ your film and make you an offer on the spot, which is what many new directors are hoping for. I believe that, film festivals are useful when it comes to independent films as they are a great and effective way to release your film to a large audience whom will be using social media also. Tourists spend money. Any festival coming to town will attract them and local merchants will experience a respectable spike in business.The best way for an up-and-coming filmmaker and film (like ours) to get their name out there is to submit a film and gain acceptance into film festivals. Whether the film passes or not with the audience, the filmmakers get recognition simply for completing a work and getting it screened. Those with the skill to win over the audience and receive awards reap further benefits. 
Film Review&Poster

Our film poster and review work together to ensure that our film is well marketed and promoted. They both appeal to a different audience as the LWL's review is for the slightly older viewers, especially males, but the film poster is aimed at the younger demographic (15+) as they use the Internet more. Firstly, the film posters we chose have many interesting aspects. We really focused on the lighting, miss en scene, text and images. This is because, every aspect of the poster is important and will contribute to creating a successful combination. For Callum's poster, he was able to show his experience with the software as he's done it for many years. He had a different perspective on the poster and wanted to include the two male protagonists. In addition, you can clearly see on the left, he has used a blue tinted smoke effect across the background which really appeals to the target audience. The text is simple and white because it stand out from the dark background. We would put the poster online such as Facebook and Twitter. Outside marketing, we would put the poster in cinemas, colleges, festivals and billboards. This is because we need to appeal to a wide audience and as our posters are very eye catching they can be seen everywhere. Festivals are very important when promoting short films because we can see how a large audience react to it and get some accurate feedback before showing it in other places. My poster has taken a different approach as its simple yet effective. I believe that sometimes in movie posters it is a good idea to not give too much away so a simple image like the one I used, causes the audience to question the narrative and characters. The main image connects with the villain and is quite disorienting. I really wanted to use dark lighting to build the enigmatic codes and to  make it look more intriguing. I also included white text for the actors names and reviews but used red text from the short film opening as its connotes blood and danger. By using the same coloured text for our poster, the audience can relate to the short film easily and it will become a symbol of our thriller film.  I strongly believe that our posters are really effective and will be useful for marketing. 
Film review. It took Greg and I some time to create the film poster as we split the work between us so that we could both have an input. Greg wrote the first half and i wrote the second and we worked together for the template. We ensured to write the review in the Little White Lie's house style which was actually really enjoyable. On the right is our review and you can see the image we used is of the Inspector. It does not give too much away but shows the blood on the weapon which connotes a thriller film. Also, his eyes are covered by the glasses which is quite enigmatic. Due to having a review in the magazine LWL's, we would definitely get more recognition and more interest in our film. We made the film seem enticing and entertaining. 
Together, the poster and review really compliment each other and are a great and effective combination for our short film. Our short film is full of thriller and enigma and with the film poster and film review we are able to really promote this theme and appeal to our target audience (15+males.) I found this task really interesting and both ancillary tasks help to achieve an effective marketing package for cinemas, festivals and other events. 

Q1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Writing The Review!

Tense, terrifying and tragic. Exhibit J is a short film pact full of suspense and tension. Kyle West and Callum Horncastle both delivered an outstanding performance, showing the dark rivalry between the characters. The short films thrilling themes of action and discovery contribute to the brilliant plot and accurate characterisations. Directors Greg and Sofia have produced an effective crime and thriller film; the story put me on the edge of my seat throughout. It was as disturbing as James DeMonaco’s “The Purge,” and that’s saying something. The iconic mask used in the film is like a nightmare that has come to life and is haunting the audience. 

 

The way I’d describe “Exhibit J” is like a haunting image in your head that cannot be defeated, you need to watch it. Greg Bicknell and Sofia Jones have created a film that will be shown through the ages and will always inflict fear amongst the audience. The actors fantastic persona on the screen is so exhilarating, I felt as though I was watching a high budget feature film. As I do not want to give the storyline away, all I want to tell you is that this film is one of the best short thriller films I have seen in a very long time and it is at such a high standard. Exhibit J, the thriller of the year. SOFIA JONES.

My Review Layout

This is my Little White Lies review layout. I think it is pretty good, I got the fonts about right, the sizes seem about right, and everything seems to be positioned correctly. Two things I have forgotten are the name of the journalist at the end of the review and the page number.

Practicing Review Layout!

During today's lesson we learnt how to use Indesign. I have never used this software before but Sophie went through all the stages in order to help us with the review layout. I am going to be writing the review in a separate folder on Microsoft then copying and pasting it into the template. In addition, I still need to change the title and the other aspects of the review such as the ratings in the bottom right of the page. We are now at the film review stage and have been working really hard with Greg to create a good film review. We have decided to split the review between two members of the group (Greg and I.) I am going to be writing the last two paragraphs about the style and then concluding the whole review. Luckily, we have both researched thoroughly about the House style of Little White Lies and we know what is to be expected. Also, we have been contacting each other through Facebook so that we can help one another when needed which is great teamwork. Callum has also been helping me with some ideas for the last paragraph to conclude the review as he has some great ideas. We have all had a part in this stage of the task. Furthermore, Greg and I are now deciding what image to use in the review, as you can see below this is my idea for the image as it shows the Inspector in action and does not give too much away but we can see that he is one of the main characters.

Final Poster Choices

We have decided on which two posters we are going to use for our poster. We will use:

Callum's Poster

We have chosen to use this poster for many reasons. Firstly, Callum has used photoshop for many years and was very comfortable and confident with creating this poster. On the other hand, Greg and I have never used photoshop before and knew little about the software. We both practiced in order to create an effective poster. There are many great aspects of this poster that really appeal to the target demographic (young adults.) The main image used in Callum's poster includes the two main characters which inform the audience and already give them clues which will make them want to watch the short film. The two images are close but not looking directly at each other which shows a sense of competition and rivalry which is displayed in our film. Also, I really like the colour scheme Callum used as the colours are very mysterious and enigmatic. The use of smoke is synonymous of the thriller and crime genre. Callum has included all the aspects of a film poster such as the title, reviews, actors and the credit block. We chose this poster because it looks very realistic and I could see it in magazines (Little White Lies) as well as online. It really captures the mood of the poster and I believe that he has really made the villain look frightening and quite creepy by the light behind him. He has used a different costume to the short film such as the hat and the tie but it works because it makes the villain look like a typical character from a thriller film who inflicts fear and danger on others. Lastly, I believe that the font for the title "Exhibit J" and other texts is bold and stands out as it has a shadow behind it and catches peoples eyes. The white colour stands out from the black background and the main image.

I can really see this poster online as it is an intriguing and artistic poster, the demographic will want to watch our short film because the enigmatic atmosphere creates an interest from the audience on social networking.

Sofia's Poster (with parts of Greg's poster)
We decided as a group to chose my poster (Sofia) but to also incorporate aspects of Greg's poster as he had some really good ideas. This poster is very different compared to Callum's, we wanted to show a variety of designs to display our short film. The darkness and mystery of this poster is very effective as it looks like a typical thriller film poster. Its quite simple as it only uses one main image but is eye catching. I chose to use a black background because it makes the text and image stand out but it also looks gloomy and threatening which is also portrayed in the image. I chose this image because it is quite disorientated and it fades into the background to show that the villain "J" has a hidden identity in our film. The mask is very synonymous and well known as it is used in many thrillers and horrors because it is very creepy and spine chilling. I chose white text for the reviews, actors and credit block so that they fit with the image and can be clearly seen in front of the dark background. Greg's poster included the main actors which I was missing so he came up with idea of including them in my poster. As you can see, I played the actors names around the mask so that they surrounded the bottom of the masks point.  The title "Exhibit J" is in a red colour to connote blood and danger. The font also looks slightly aged to add enigma to the poster. I decided to include our group logo for "NewbieHills" which is green hills in the bottom left of the poster to show who produced the film. In addition, social networking sites are linked to the poster to show where we are advertising our film and where it is available. Short films rely on advertising online as they do not have the budget to be shown in cinemas or on big billboard like feature films. The main sites Facebook, Twitter and Youtube are shown because they are the most popular with the target audience (young adults) and are now easily accessible as everyone owns some sort of smart device. In conclusion, I believe that by using Gregs ideas and my ideas we have created a great poster which really captures the themes in our short film. We have worked really well as a group during the poster stage and have produced 2 powerful film posters!

Analysis of Little White Lies!

Here is a photo of an analysis of a LWL's review called "What Maisie Knew." I have included the conventions, style and layout of the review including the font of the lettering and the sizes in the top right corner.

Final Poster!

Third Draft!

As Marion has sent me some feedback, I have altered my poster in order to get the highest marks possible. The title "Exhibit J" is in a brighter colour as in the last post it seemed to blend into the background too much. The credit block is in a smaller font as Marion decided that it looked to large which I agree with and does not look professional. In addition, the reviews are on top of the magazine that they are from as this is how short film posters look like.

Little White Lies!

Little White Lies

Little White Lies is a magazine based on films which is published once every two months. Combining cutting-edge design, illustration and journalism, LWLies has been described as being “at the vanguard of the independent publishing movement.” Their reviews feature a ranking system that captures the different aspects of the movie experience. The Church of London is a small publishing company which includes writers, artists, film makers and photographers craft content marketing, or native advertising, that connects clients to bigger human stories. You can buy the magazine in shops as well as online including Urban Outfitters, a very popular clothing shop. In addition, there is a subscription available for the magazine as this technique is an efficient way to make money. As the audience can subscribe to the magazine, they are able to collect these and keep them as a showcase in their homes, 93% of readers don't throw away their copies. The magazine is available every two months. Little White Lies  has many apps for the audience to connect with its audience and to keep up to date with the modern technology in today's society. They have an official app, a Youtube channel and Instagram which shows that they are technologically advanced and believe in the importance of connecting to their demographic. The target audience includes mainly males aged 25 to 35 who tend to work in creative media as this magazine attracts creative minds due to its unusual layout and imagery. A survey of 250 readers done in 2008 by The Church of London shows us that 63% of people that read LWLs is male, more than half (51%) of readers are aged between 25 and 35 years,  22% work in media and 20% work in creative design. Furthermore,  35% buy more than 4 DVDs a month and 28% visit the cinema more than 4 times a month which shows that the audience are passionate about films and media and really do find this magazine informative and interesting. 
 

Conventions 

The magazine has a very distinctive style as it includes an image from the short film and the layout is in a specific way. As you can see to the right, there is a review of "Holy Motors" which is showing the conventions of the magazine. I have researched many LWL's reviews and have analysed them in detail to ensure that I know what to use in my own film review. The image tends to be at the top of the page which shows the protagonists and it symbolises the film and a crucial scene. In addition, the image is in colour to ensure that is stands out and attracts the reader. The title of the film is directly under the image and is in a bold font which is Century Gothic. In addition, the directors name, actors names and the release date are under the title in a very small font with italics and upper case bold lettering. Then the actual review is set out in about 5 or 6 paragraphs which are all in line and are lined up. There is also an indent before every first word of a paragraph as you can see above. On the bottom left of the page, there are a few reviews with the ratings on the right in bold. They tend to use one word in bold lettering such as "ANTICIPATION" or "ENJOYMENT" which are all in a Century Gothic font. I have also noticed that there is a page number at the bottom in a very small font so that it does not draw the attention away from the main text. I have posted a separate photo of the analysis of a film review from the magazine. As I have done a lot of research into this magazine, Greg and I have been able to come up with an effective review draft as we know what is expected. I believe that an image such as the Inspector in action or a blurred shot of "J" should be used because it connotes the thriller genre and does not give too much away about the plot or the characters.