Critically Evaluating Video Production

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

At a technical level, we observed the conventions of real media products pretty well. The rules of continuity were observed and put into proper practise, we may have broke away from some conventions when we applied an orange filter to the film during the editing process, however this was to portray a different reality and things not seeming how they actually are to Sarah our main character.

We used various flashbacks in the film to show the emotions that Sarah is going through and how things have affected her mentally. Using a serious of certain camera shots and angles such as P.O.V's (Point of views) and long distance shots it shows how Sarah's world and reality are running parallel to one another.

The orange filter we used was generally to show Sarah's reality and what was actually real, this was a good idea because it shows how delusional she has become as to what is real and what isn't, however she cannot question reality when she doesn't know what she is doing is wrong.

In terms of content our film is non conventional as it doesn't fit into any particular but because of its incredibly delicate nature and possibility of it affecting people, it can be classed as a psychological drama. This is more of a sub genre than an actual genre. The film does fulfill the nature of the genre because of its sensitivity and it portrays Sarah's emotions of what is going through. It didn't need to be explicit because it gets the point across to the audience with flashbacks and filters.

There are no elements of pastiche or parody in our project. There are also no hints or references to other films.

The audience's emotions should be basically putting themselves in Sarah's shoes and feeling how she feels, this is supposed to create a strong reaction in the audience. The emotions we are trying to achieve are ones that play on the mind and actually make you think what it could be like for Sarah and actually feeling how she feels.

In comparison with other real media texts, there is only really one example and that is the 1988 film The Accused. Invaded shows more of a reality of rape and its aftermath. The reality being that violators are rarely prosecuted and theres very little that can usually be done and the rapist usually walks free. The Accused focuses on the court cases etc and the women fighting for the prosecution of the sex offender.

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

We wanted to advertise the production well, the poster reflects the trailer well. The advertisement of a film is very important to get publicity for the film. The film poster and the radio trailer do the main product some justice as it advertises it well, the poster for example shows that the film has a sensitive nature, this is portrayed by the effects on the photos in the poster, such as the fading edges and the fact that Sarah is curled up with her hands over her eyes. Neither the poster or the radio trailer give the entire story away tho just snippets of it to keep the audience asking questions.

Our poster and the poster for the accused are similar in the way that they don't give much away, the two figures in the accused poster are ghostly white and one of the little photos in our poster is completely white and has an feel of innocence to it. The poster could connect with the audience in regards to this and wondering what it could be about as there is a range of moods in the poster linking to the colours.

The radio trailer we created was non conventional as most radio trailers have a deep male voice over the top to make the impact deeper, however as far as out production goes we felt the need to use a much softer female voice to convey the nature of the film.

Examples of Radio Trailers

To be effective to the audience there has to be some manner of impact through the posters and radio trailers.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Before we started our project, we did a questionnaire and asked people if they would watch a film about rape or had ever seen something touching on the subject of rape, the result was that most people had touched upon this subject at some point while watching a film or television such as in soaps like Eastenders or Hollyoaks.

Our audience was people aged 18 and above considering we rated our production an 18 this was a sensible idea.

We had to make it clear to our audience what was happening and to do this we used different shots when filming such as close ups, P.O.V's to get the point across and get a reaction from the audience. The speeds of the editing varied as to what was going on in a particular scene, for example the flashbacks (See film from 1.28 to 1.36) the editing was slightly faster to show how frightened she was and that her memory is scarred for life.

After we completed the trailer, we posted in on Youtube to see if there would be any comments, so far there are only two which can be found at this link: Invaded just underneath the film. I have also asked friends to watch it and tell me what they think, most of them said they did like the film yet there were a couple that said they didn't know why. This is an example of Richard Dyers theory of entertainment, because it suggests that when people have watched the film it made them think about things and possibly put something in their lives that they could think about, because it plays on the mind. Invaded may possibly have given them feelings of sensitivity yet intensity because it plays on the feelings and emotions of the characters in the trailer and the audience also.

The audience questionnaire which we created before the start of the production is here with all the questions and results.

This was the answer to the question:

Do you think a short film about rape would be useful in reducing the amount of incidents in rape?

Half of the people answered yes, the other half either disagreed or weren't entirely sure.

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

During the construction process i constantly used the internet for my research and planning, using it to research other films similar to the one we were making. Youtube was used to look for short films made by other people and also Blogger was obviously used to link everything together and create our digital portfolio.

Everything throughout the process such as other films, photos, sounds, links etc have all been posted onto the blog.

During the filming process we used HVR- HD1000 cameras in the filming process (An image of which can be seen below)

With this equipment we were able to record high quality video footage on 16:9 widescreen. We recorded the footage onto a MiniDV tape which we then used a DV-1000 to transfer the film onto the computer for editing. We used Final Cut Pro to edit the footage with. As for the ancillary task to create a poster we used Photoshop Elements to create this.

This is a screen shot of Photoshop Elements taken from Google images.

I found during all of the planning, research right through to the filming and the evaluation afterwards there were no problems, although we could have actually used an orange filter when filming rather than adding one in the editing process but we didn't think of this at the time. There were no obstructions to creativity and everything went as well as planned.

I used blogger to write up my evaluation and uploaded and pasted images in where i needed them.

Audio Trailer

Evaluation- Charlie Rushworth

Critically Evaluating Media Production
In what ways does the media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
At a technical level, the film mostly conforms to the conventions of real media products. The product follows rules of continuity, as well as staying within the realms of regular conventions of editing. We may have broken away from conventions in using an orange filter on the editing software to convey point of view and things not being as they seem. Flashbacks were used in order to convey emotion of the main character, Sarah, and a series of match on actions were used mixed with a series of POVs to show how the personal perception of Sarah objected against reality itself.

The orange filter shows Sarah's altered perspective on the reality around her.



The filter mixes with the match on action to show the altered perception of Sarah running alongside the reality that she contests. See film at 2:34 to 3:00.



In terms of content, the film is non-conventional in that it doesn’t really fit a particular genre as such. This is probably owing to the theme of the film, as it is of such a sensitive and delicate nature. If anything, it’s a psychological drama, although that isn’t a film genre as such. I find that the film lives up to the expectations of the theme of the film well; it’s sensitive, yet it still gets the point across. It shows the emotional turmoil of the main character without being insensitive to the nature of the theme. We also haven't used any instances of pastiche or parody in the project.

The film plays on emotional audience pleasures, in that the emotions of Sarah in the film are meant to provoke a strong emotional reaction in the audience. That is it's primary means of audience pleasure; manipulating the emotions of the audience.

In comparison with a real media text, The Accused, Invaded shows more the reality of the aftermath of rape. In reality, sexual offenders are rarely prosecuted, and victims aren't fought for so ferociously. In The Accused, however, the film focuses on how the victim fights with a lawyer to prosecute her offenders. This is a world away from the reality for most women.



How effective is the combination of your main product and the ancillary texts?
The ancillary texts, that is the poster for the film and the radio trailer, work particularly well with the main product. The poster has a sensitivity that is required when creating a film of a sensitive nature, shown particularly by the soft faded edges around the pictures within the poster. The softness of the edges yet the hard nature of the content works well together, lending a sensitivity to the nature of the photographs. The poster also shows a little of the story of the film, contrasting against the poster for The Accused, which belies little of the film's storyline.




As regards the radio trailer, the trailer I created to go with the main product is rather non-conventional as far as radio trailers go. Typically, radio trailers use men with deep voices and exciting music to convey excitement and to catch attention. However, for my radio trailer, I used a woman's voice and soft music extracted from the film, showing a sensitivity that runs alongside th other products I've created.

An example of a typical radio trailer.


What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
First, I did a questionnaire that was to find out about peoples general interest in the concept of a short film about rape. I found out from my questionnaire that many people have seen some form of media that touches on the subject of rape. The majority of these people will, most likely, have seen such a subject on a soap.


Peoples response to the question: Have you ever seen a media product that touches on the subject of rape?

I also learnt from it that people think such a film would warrant a certificate 15. The product is certificated either a 15 or an 18. It's a difficult call due to the nature of the film, especially as it's only the subject itself that brings the debate around.


Peoples response to the question: What age rating do you think would be suitable for such a film?

The full set of results to the questionnaire are posted here.

After the production of the short film, we had to acheive audience feedback. To do this, I posted the film on Youtube so that people globally could watch it and comment. Although nobody thus far has commented on the site itself, I have had oral comments from friends who have seen the film. All of them have said that they like the film, but they haven't been able to explain why. This is an example of Richard Dyer's theory of entertainment, suggesting that the people who have watched Invaded liked it because it put something into their life, however briefly, that they didn't have at the time. In this instance, Invaded may have given them the feeling of intensity, through the intense emotions of the main character Sarah.

Invaded is on Youtube here.

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
I used the internet frequently in researching various things towards the product, such as research into a similar film, and using sites like youtube to find short films made by other people. Everything throughout the creative process has been posted on a blog on the website, enabling easy access and clear viewing, as well as the use of pictures, links, sounds and video in the documents on the blog.

Youtube
Blogger

In the construction process, I used HD DV1000 cameras to film the product itself. Using such advanced technology, we were able to film high quality video in 16:9 widescreen. I also used the DV1000 to upload the footage from the MiniDV tapes onto the editing software. As for the software, I used Final Cut Express to edit the film, and I used Photoshop Elements to create a poster.



This is a photo of the HD DV1000 cameras used to film the product (photo found on google images).


This is a screen grab taken from final cut express during the editing of the product.


This is a screen grab from Adobe Photoshop Elements (screen grab found with google images).


In evaluation, I have used word processing software in order to write the evaluation and referred back to Final Cut Express in order to look back on the product to assist with the evaluation, as well as referring back to files saved on the Apple Macs and the blog.

Audience Feedback

I have posted the end product on Youtube.com in order to achieve audience feedback. The film is posted at the link below:

Invaded

I have also uploaded it below:

Final Draft- Poster

This is the final draft of the poster for the movie. I decided to just use the best of the draft posters I made as time is short and there have been complications meaning I haven't had time to create a better one.

Audio Trailer- Script

Audio Script- Radio Trailer

BG Music: Use Orchestral Track from start of film: Rape Scene

Voiceover: 1 in 4 women have been a victim of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault.

Audio Clip: I've just been raped.

Voiceover: Witness as one young woman struggles with her emotions after she is sexually assaulted.

Witness her deal with the one moment that ruined her life.

Invaded.

Coming soon.

Draft Poster

This is a draft poster I created for the project. It doesn't seem to have a movie poster feel, but it looks suitable for a DVD cover. I experimented with fading the pictures on a gradient, making the fade more opaque further out from the main image. As a DVD cover, it works well. As a movie poster, it lacks something.

Below is an alternative where I have experimented with black and white by using filters. I think the overall effect looks good, although I am unhappy with the centre image, as the edges don't seem soft enough.

Finally, I have drafted another poster, using pictures on a black background in a similar style to the poster for "The Accused". It's subtle and simple, yet gets the point and the theme of the project across to the audience.

Storyboard

1. Establishing Shot, Sarah walking down the street, talking on phone.


Walks towards camera, puts phone away.


3. Turns corner in medium shot.


4. Match on action with previous, extreme long shot.


5. Sid enters scene, walks round corner, still extreme long shot.


6. Zooms in to medium long shot, Sid grab Sarah.


7. Continued medium long shot, fade out to black.


8. New scene, medium shot of Sarah.


9. Pans down and zooms, focusing on Sarah's focus.


10. Over the shoulder shot, Sarah dials 999.


11. Back to medium shot, dialogue.


12. Zooms to close up, continued dialogue.


13. medium close up from side, continued dialogue.


14. Medium close up to front, end of dialogue, Sarah hangs up phone.


15. Zooms out to medium shot, Sarah wraps arms around legs and pulls them in towards her.


16. Flashback to first scene.


17. Medium close up showing Sarah's reaction to flashback.


18. Flashback repeats.


19. Medium shot, Sarah lies down and curls up.


20. New scene. Establishing medium shot showing Sarah opening a letter and starting to read.


21. Extreme close up of letter- eyeline match.


22. Low angle shot, powerlessness, continued reading of letter.


23. Back to initial medium shot as Sarah screws up letter, throws it, and slumps.


24. New scene. Extreme longshot showing Sarah.


25. POV of Sarah, filter to show POV and that something is out of the ordinary.


26. Long shot of stranger walking towards Sarah.


27. Sarah's perception of stranger.


28. Shot of stranger walking forward, fades into shot 29.


29. Sarah's POV, morphed from shot 28, showing difference of perception. Sarah runs toward "Sid".


30. Long shot as Sarah hits stranger.


31. Sarah POV of hitting "Sid".


32. Long shot as stranger falls to ground.


33. Sarah POV of "Sid" falling to ground.


34. Long shot of Sarah strangling stranger.


35. Close up POV of Sarah strangling "Sid".


36. POV of "Sid" dead, fades into shot 37.


37. "Sane" POV of stranger dead.


38. Long shot as Sarah slumps to ground and screams.


39. New scene. Medium long shot of Sarah, dressed in white, rocking on a bed.


40. Shot from behind, medium close up.


41. Low angle shot, Sarah still rocking.



42. Moves to shot of Sarah and door. Door opens, doctor enters. Dialogue, Sarah leaves, scene ends.