Final Farewell

Dear Examiner,

Throughout this two year course I have learned a great deal about media studies. From the theories and conventions on the 'boring' side and actual practical skills I've learned from the process of making my short film.

I have greatly enjoyed this experience, and have enjoyed developing my skills from my first preliminary task in September last year, till now, having finished my final A2 piece.

Next year I hope to land an apprenticeship with the BBC as a Broadcast Operator.

Yours sincerely,

Charlie Davey

Final Post

Shakespearean - See English translation below.

All My Products Together

This final look at all my products reveals how they all link together. I explained in my evaluation question 2 my in house style and colour scheme that is consistent throughout my 3 products and how they all followed conventions of an experimental short film. Overall the codes and conventions of the experimental short film tie my 3 products together. The colours, fonts, layouts, and presentation of each lends themselves to be linked with the chosen genre that my team and I have worked hard on to keep consistent throughout this course.

Evaluation Question 4: How have I used New Media in the Research, Planning, Construction and Evaluation?

Evaluation Question 3: What have you learned from Audience Feedback

Evaluation Question 2: How Effective Is The Combination Of Your Main Media Product And Ancillary Tasks?

Evaluation Question 2: How Effective Is The Combination Of Your Main Media Product And Ancillary Tasks?

Collecting the Images for my Ancillaries

Due to the planned design for both my ancillaries, a specific photo-shoot wasn't required. Instead I screen grabbed footage from the film, took casual photos on the day of the shoot after we had finished filming, and finally took simple photos of Dylan (actor) and of Ruben's macbook for their respective photos in the ancillaries. The fact that the images were collected away from filming also emphasized the idea that the film is a representation of reality. It is hyperreal as it blurs the line between reality and film, with the film itself actually following an audience member watching people on a video chat.

This is the stock photo of the laptop used as the basis of my poster. 

I have not included the other images as this is the only one that has been altered.

 The GIF on the left showcases the chronological progression of my poster, with the poster on the right being the finished product for reference.

I used Adobe Photoshop to create my ancillaries, as this is a software I have used before and my skills with the software have greatly improved throughout this course. 
For my actual media product (short film), we filmed the clips on a digital camera, before uploading the footage onto a Mac, then proceeded to edit using Premiere Pro, before encoding the footage of Adobe Encoder then uploading onto YouTube. In most cases of conventions in my film, I often developed, and adapted the conventions to show the changing society and how life is developing. However, there were numerous conventions that I challenged, such as having a linear narrative, and following Todorov's theory of Equilibrium. Rather than follow a traditional narrative with the film beginning and ending in equilibrium; equilibrium is never present in our film. According to our feedback panel and peers, the decision to challenge these conventions was effective as the new meaning was very apparent and the audience were not left confused as a consequence.

In my ancillaries, particularly my poster, the use of font was vital to connote meaning. The light effect that I created around the text is suppose to emulate the light given off from on screen text, and so when printed off, this poster would still emulate that effect.

In House Style & Colour Scheme

From my final three products one thing that is strikingly clear is that the lighting is the same. Although there may be added effects/filters on my poster and magazine article, the image is largely consistent and recognisable between all my images. 

The font is different on my film than my ancillaries, but that is because I found that the desired font (which is used in my film) looks messy and hard to read when effects are applied and it is surrounded by other text. For this reason I decided to change the font for my ancillaries, however they all have a similar effect of blue light being given off by the text.

All pieces feature a large amount of blue and that is the main aesthetic of the brand of my film. The only major colour in the three products is orange in the double-page spread. This is because I wanted the spread to stand out in a magazine, so that those who flick through it will likely have a second look at the page. Orange is also the complementary colour to blue on the colour wheel so the piece stands out and is aesthetically pleasing

Addition of a Narration

Not only was the addition of a narrator something I was frequently advised to do for my film, it also well compliments the film.

Without the narration, the film seems to hold no purpose, and the plot itself can seem confusing. However, with the narration a story is more clearly told and the plot is contextualized. After adding the narrator and showing my feedback panel again, they all agreed that the narrator made the film easier to follow and understand, as well as adding a bit of poignancy to the message as audiences may relate to the narrator and so understand the message that is being said.

Furthermore, the fact that the only named character is the one that 'escapes' technology reinforces our point about the encompassing power of social media and modern technology addiction as those trapped fall into a sea of others with the same fate

Evaluation Question 1: In what ways does your Media Product Use, Develop, or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products

Final Ancillary Tasks

Previous Feedback from Panel on my Movie Poster:

How I used this Feedback:

Chloe:

I decided to add the social media as it does follow convention and it makes use of a free platform and media that can help expand my films audience and market it more effectively.

Jack:

I agreed with his point and so I moved his image down slightly so that his eyes were visible. I also added a sharpen effect on his eye.

Eleanor:

I thought her idea was very interesting and a very good point so I researched different film festivals that would potentially show my film and added them to my poster to pretend I had won awards. Obviously, for a real movie poster I would not add such awards.

Jacob:

Jacob's point was very true, as I had received similar feedback from other peers and so decided to add a drop shadow onto the text.

My Finished Poster:

The Conventions used in my Final Poster:

There are many ways in which I have applied the conventions that I researched for my ancillaries into my final product. For example:

I have used a larger title font, with my title 'blue light' being visible larger than the rest of the text on the poster.

I have included ratings/reviews which I incorporated in my poster via the fake short film awards that I would use to advertise my film if I did in fact win the awards.

I have one primary image that takes up most of the poster and is the main site for the audience to see. This image consists of my friends mac book, where I have photo-shopped the screen to make it appear to show our film and also photo-shopped the keyboard to incorporate other conventions into my design.

My tagline 'modern enslavement' has been follows conventions as it is included in the poster. I have chosen to 'hide' it slightly as it is for more observant viewers to see. Those who spot it will recognize that others viewing the poster may not have seen it. I have done this to mirror the effect of modern technology on society as only some realize we are becoming slaves to it.

I have also included a social media hashtag and shown the platforms on which the film is available to talk about on. Although this is ironic as the film is inpart about speaking against social media, the main target audience for the film as available to Instagram and Twitter and so by running a social media campaign it allows the film to draw in a larger, relevant audience.

I also chose to develop a convention. I have included the names of the director and actors in this poster, but I have incorporated them into my design. I have done this as not only is a more aesthetically pleasing design that the viewers will hopefully enjoy, but also it shows how rife and intrinsic modern technology is in out society, and how to develops the conventions found in everyday life ie working, socializing.

Previous Feedback from Panel on my Double-Page Spread:

How I used this Feedback:

Chloe:

I altered the lone picture of Dylan so that it had a redder hue so that the whole spread didn't become too saturated with blue.

Jack:

I changed the caption of the crew to make it shorter and added a caption to Dylan's picture.

Eleanor:

I credited the article's author by adding his twitter handle.

Jacob:

I didn't realise that the Star was an actually newspaper, so I took his advice and changed it to Mark Kermode who is a famous film British film critic.

My finished Double-Page Spread:

The Conventions used in my Double-Page Spread:

I also chose to follow many conventions in my double page spread design:

I have used a larger font to show the title of the film that is being reviewed so that it is obvious what the article is about.

I have also included a review from a well-known film critic which adds reliability to my article and also attracts more viewers as they can see that  a famous critic has enjoyed the film which suggests that it is in fact a good film.

As well as a main image, I have also included secondary images to pad out the visual content of the piece so that viewers that prefer images and graphics will still enjoy my article. I have also included highlighted quotes and 'fascinating facts' to keep the article visually pleasing.

The writers credits are also available as the twitter of the author of the article is given credit.

One convention that I should have followed in more detail was the in depth writing that is found in most articles as there is usually a lot more written in more professional articles.

Final Short Film

My Final Magazine Spread

My Final Poster

4th & Final Draft of Short Film

3rd Draft of Short Film

Previous Feedback:

How I used Feedback:

Chloe:

Again we agreed with her costume choices as we felt that the connotations of that outfit would fit our film.

Jack:

I changed the blue light so that it, like the other characters, covers the full screen for Macy's character.

Eleanor:

We have planned to add a narrator to the film, however, haven't added one yet. We should have written a script, chosen a voice actor, and recorded the voice by the time we upload the final film.

Jacob:

We agreed with Jacob's suggestions for Felix.

New Feedback

First Glimpse at New Project

More details in the description - but the Premiere Pro file on which my previous project is on crashed and I unfortunately lost all my work so far.

Re-Filming

Initially, we planned exactly what we needed to film, and the equipment/props that we needed to film. We also decided upon dates when to film and where we would film.

Our first re-filming session took place at Dylan's house for his scene as 'Laptop Guy'. We made the mise-en-scene purposefully messy and created a blue light effect by placing coloured tape over our phone flashlights.

Here's what it looks like with the desired lighting:

 

Ancillary Tasks Updates

Feedback Panel on my Double-Page Spread.

Above is a draft for my double-page magazine spread. As you can see I have effectively followed conventions of a magazine movie review article.
Conventions:
- The title of the film/article is bolder and more visible than the other text.
- I have included direct quotes from critics and people who worked on the film.
- I have mentioned positive aspects of the film.
- I have shown the ratings given to the film by other critics.
- Page numbers are present.
- I have included the writer of the article
- The images are captioned

What I need to improve:
- I need to add the films tagline and release date.
- I need to introduce the film and describe the plot.
- I need to mention the characters in the film in more detail.
- I need to mention the writer of the article.

Feedback Panel on my Movie Poster.

I have also followed conventions with my poster:
- It is eye catching and draws attentions.
- A main image.
- Title is obvious and a different font to the rest of the text
- The genre is clear
- I have included the release date
- It targets to the largest audience possible
- I have included a billing

I need to :
- Include social media
- reviews

Ancillary Task Convention Research

Created using Visme. Free Online Presentation Software.

2nd Draft of Short Film

Previous Feedback:

How I used Feedback:

Chloe:

We decided to keep Felix's outfit and agreed with Chloe on her opinion on his outfit. We also decided to completely cut any footage from other sources from our film to make it completely our own.

Jack:

With Jack's advice we decided to keep the blue filter, and even exaggerated it to make to bluer (in part due to Jacob's advice as well). We felt as a team that this reinforced our point, and made it seem like the characters were completely obsessed. We also made an active effect to make the lighting brighter so it was picked up better on camera.

Eleanor:

We filmed the rest of the film.

Jacob:

When filming the rest of the film Ruben effectively managed to maintain his cool, quirky use of the camera. We also did experiment with different filters and as a result came out with this bluer effect.

I have chosen to upload at this stage to gain some preliminary feedback on the way the film is presented and whether the little niches, ie Macy's blue light only coming from her phone. Which numerous members of the feedback panel suggested they didn't like on different occasions.