Evaluation

The genre we chose for our film was ‘teen drama’. We chose this genre as we thought that it would be the most appealing to our target audience of 15-19 year olds. When deciding what to include in the opening sequence of our film we looked at many other different film ideas, the first one was mean girls. We looked at this as we thought it would relate back to our target audience and was a film with a similar genre. We also looked at the opening sequence from the film snatch, as we thought that although the genre was not the same, Snatch is a popular film among our target audience. We also looked at the television series Skins, as this has a similar plot and is also aimed at 15-19 year olds. It includes topics like sex, drugs, alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy etc. And is supposed to represent the college life of the teen audience in a more exaggerated way. We decided this was effective and tried to incorporate this into our film idea. We have chosen to use teenage characters in our film to make it more appealing to our target audience as they are characters we hope our audience can empathise with and are representative of the different social groups of college. The music we have chosen is ‘indie rock’ it is upbeat and modern and is something that is stereotypically what teenagers listen to. We hope this will add to the appeal of the title sequence, portraying its fast movement and upbeat storyline.

We have used 6 characters within our film, 3 girls and 3 boys. We have chosen to do this as it is an even representation of both sexes. We have tried to make our characters versatile and representative of all different sorts of teenagers. Firstly there is Cher. Cher is the leading female character who is easy going and into partying and drugs. She is the most dominant member of the group but that is only because the other female characters envy her lifestyle, not because she tries to be in charge. Cher subverts the stereotype of a teenage girl as she is not easily led by male characters, she does what she wants, when she wants which is something teenage girls are not always given credit for. The other two female characters are Lola and Sara, who tend to be more like Cher’s followers. Lola is very academic and quiet and is more in the group through her association with Cher rather than any forcefulness of her own. Sara however is a typical wannabe character. She’s vain, image obsessed and jealous of Cher’s link to the male characters. She is also the most bitchy of the females and is constantly trying to cause upheaval within the group. Matt is a typical ‘jack the lad’ character. He’s the most domineering of the boys and is the one that gets all the girls. Chris is less of a dominating character. He’s mischievous and likes to have a laugh but is less ruthless than Matt and knows his limits. He is a college music student who dresses more alternatively. A typical ‘boy in a band’. Finally there is Thomas who is a college dropout, but still part of the gang. He is laid back and spends most of his time at home of his Xbox. The reason we have chosen to use these characters is so that our film appeals to our target audience because they can relate to the characters they are seeing on screen. We want our film to be representative of the college environment and the only way we can do this is by creating versatile characters that represent most social groups. For dominating females we have Cher, for the high maintenance fashion girls we have Sara and for the less extrovert shy girls we have Lola. For the popular ‘ladies men’ we have Matt, for the ‘indie’ boys we have Chris and for the boys that don’t go to college or the nerdy geeky types we have Thomas. Hopefully this will help our target audience to be more attracted to our film.
If it was to be released we think our film would probably be released by a small British company such as ‘Warp’. If it was to be shown on television it would probably be shown on Channel 4 alongside things like Shameless and Skins which are of a similar genre. It would have to be shown after the 9oclock watershed as it is not suitable for children. It is low-budget and probably be shown in select cinemas in a limited amount of areas. It is not supposed to be a Hollywood blockbuster. Regarding merchandise I don’t think it would be an effective method of promoting our film. The best way to do this would probably be by holding themed parties at nightclub venues for obviously the older end of our target audience. Where the cast would attend as a meet and greet for fans. Our target audience is 15-19 year olds. A similar film to ours would be films such as mean girls. This has similar target audience and is also based in a college setting. The TV programme Skins also has a similar plot structure and characters. From our audience research we learned that teen drama was a popular genre and the film Mean Girls and the TV programme Skins did appeal to our target audience. We gave our film the classification certificate 15. As it involves scenes of alcohol, drugs and some mild sexual contact, which we thought was suitable for persons aged 15.
In the opening 2 minutes of our film we decided the best method would be to introduce the characters and the college setting. This was in order to keep our audience intrigued and make them want to get to know the characters more. We haven’t included much action or gave away very much of the storyline as it this stage we decided it was better to keep the audience guessing. We have used a range of characters and settings to show the fast pace of the film and the range of topics we want to cover.

By creating this two minute film I have learnt how to use the filming equipment correctly and effectively. I have also learnt how to use the editing software to manipulate our shots to make them look the way we wanted them too. The difficulties we encountered were that, at times our group tended to lack some motivation for the project; we also found it difficult to transport the large equipment to our range of different settings as they were quite far away from each other. We also chose to film in a busy area of the town centre which made it difficult to get the shots to look how we wanted them too. As a group i think we have all improved since the research process of our film in which we lacked motivation when it came to the filming and editing we managed to pull together and although we found it difficult to work round everyone schedules we made it work and still remained a functioning team to create a finished product that we were happy with the standard of. The most difficult aspect of filming I found was trying to remember the 180 degree line rule. This is difficult without guidance to put into practice. We are now more confident as a group with both the technical aspects of setting up a camera and tripod but also with the creative side, knowing which shots work and how to make the film run more smoothly. The main effects that we have used within our film are fades to make the change of settings run more smoothly. We found it difficult to perfect the timing of the shots so that they didn’t jump and also finding a soundtrack that was appropriate to our genre was also difficult though in the end we were happy with our choice of an ‘indie rock’ song which really finished off our film well. For my research I chose to look at the opening sequence of Snatch and also Mean Girls and Skins. This gave us an idea what shots were effective and what characters to use. The shot list was effective as it made our filming much easier as we knew exactly what we wanted and where we needed to film which characters. The character profiles gave us an idea of how the characters should behave and treatments made it easier to remain on track with our idea. Overall I am happy with our finished film product. Although if we could improve it would definitely be on our blog. Due to the confusion of what our idea actually consisted of and trying to figure out how we would put it into practice our blog is not up to the standard I feel that it could have been had we have time managed more appropriately and so if I had to improve on any point, that would be it.

Lauren Remington - Evaluation

The title sequence we have done is in the theme of a ‘teen drama’ hence our target audience of 15-19. Movies such as Mean Girls, Juno, and Thirteen helped us to get an idea of what a ‘teen drama’ consists of, i.e. characters, settings, storylines and music, one of our biggest inspirations was the Television Drama, Skins, Using ideas such as alcohol, sex, drugs, college and just general teen life in the 21st century.

Throughout our 2 minute sequence we tried to use a range of different ways to portray teenage life such as our setting, using bedrooms, parent’s houses and college as our main focal point. Our music was chosen specifically as ‘indie rock’ is a popular type of music within teenage groups. We also used a variety of characters to give different aspects of a group and to be able to relate to our target audience, characters such as Cher, a troubled tear away and obvious leader ruling not only the girls, but manipulating the boys. Then there’s Sara and Lola the typical sidekicks to the leader, playing a part but not a big on, there purpose was mainly to highlight Cher’s power over people and influence, another Character is Matt, the character all the boys want to be and all the girls want to be with. There is also Chris a laid back music student, whose life is music, in particular rock music, this being said he is still a key piece to the group, Thomas the college dropout, a lazy but loveable character. All these characters were specifically chosen to compliment each other and give a well rounded view of typical clicks.
When filming this sequence it was apparent from the start that this type of genre, if made wouldn’t be made into a big Hollywood blockbuster, this would be a small film company, probably British, the time of Film Company that may make something of this nature could be like ‘warp’ or film4.

The first 2 minutes are to introduce our characters and make the audience familiar with them, in the hope that this would keep the audience interested and carry on watching, by not using anything scary, no action or anything particularly shocking, we hope that this would interest the audience into seeing what would happen. By introducing our characters in certain ways it gave an initial outline as to what each character would bring and by using a range making it more relatable.

When making this sequence I picked up a range of skills such as how to set up filming equipment, how to use a camera in the correct manner and learnt that filming isn’t that easy as me had a few minor problems such as our locations i.e. a busy main road a street, making it difficult to be able to use a shot and make it fit. It was also difficult to get who we needed where we needed them, and a lot of time was wasted in chasing people up, and organising times and places. The hardest bit for me was editing, as I have never used editing software before the concept was alien to me, and a lot of time and patience was needed to get the sequence to run as smoothly as possible.

A key feature we did use in editing was fading in and out, as it seemed a good way to give off the effect we were hoping for whilst making it run smoothly, also the soundtrack was difficult to find as it was difficult to find the song we wanted to fit our purpose, so by choosing and upbeat, young ‘indie rock’ song it seemed to fit the bill quite well.
Obviously from the start of the sequence to now, I feel my ability has improved vastly, from not being familiar with a camera, editing, or filming to making a 2 minute successful sequence that in my opinion works well, and portrays exactly what was intended. There were good days and bad days, lack of communication and experience affected us, but through determination and effort we were able to work as a team and pull it out of the bag.

Snatch research

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vWxU7tclsw

We decided to look at Snatch as it is a popular film among our target audience. We decided after looking at the opening sequence that the method of freeze framing characters and telling the audience their name, was a good way of introuducing them. We incorporated this idea into our own film idea.

Final Finished & Edited Film - Unrivaled

This is our final film. Filmed and edited by Courtney Harrison, Becky Yeardley and Lauren Remmington. We have tried to use a number of shots and also some interesting edits to capture the audience with our film. We have used some upbeat indie rock music to represent teenagers and their party life style and we have also tried to gage a teenage environment by the sets and props we have chose to use.

Courtney - Media Evaluation

Our film is a ‘teen drama’; we decided to do this as it would appeal to our target audience of 15-19 year olds. We have looked at the movie mean girls and this gave us the idea of having different types of character clicks linked into one group. Also we looked at the TV programme skins this also gave us the idea of having themes of teenagers, college, partying, alcohol, drugs and sex. In our film we have used teenage characters so this shows it is a teen drama. Also our setting shows that it is based around teen agers as we have used a college set and a teenager’s bedroom. The music on our film is ‘indie rock’ so it suggests some of the music teenagers listen to, also it is upbeat so it suggests the kind of party lifestyle a lot of teenagers seem to live and especially the characters within our film.

Within our film we have used 3 girls and 3 boys, all teenagers. We have tried to portray these characters are all different types of people. Cher is like the leader of the girls, and in some sense the leader of the boys, so she is not a stereotypical girl as she shows a girl having power to rule boys so she is subverting a stereotypical female. Lola and Sara are more just like Cher’s sidekicks and these don’t seem to be leaders, so they are more like stereotypical females. Matt is like the leader of the boys, everyone wants to be like him as he is ‘cool’, he is like a stereotypical ‘jack the lad’ he’s cool, popular and gets all the girls. Chris is a music student at college rather ‘mosher’ like and is into all heavy rock bands; however at the same time he still belongs in the popular click at college. Thomas, even though a college dropout is still part of the gang, he is just lazy, maybe like a stereotypical boy. The group as a whole is rather stereotypical to a college or a school, seen as they are the popular group who everyone wants to be like. As our target audience is teenagers, and mainly girls we have tried to show a range of different characters so that the people watching can link and relate to these characters. So our audience who are girly girls we have Sara, for our more dominant girls we have Cher, for our more quiet geek like girls we have Lola, for our popular boys we have Matt, for our music students we have Chris and for the boys that don’t really do much we have Thomas. So we have linked a variety of teenagers to relate to our audience.

Our film would probably be released by a small English film company such as ‘Warp’, as it is not a big Hollywood blockbuster. It may be shown on the TV now and again, maybe on channels like film 4 and it would be shown at night after 9 as it is not suitable for younger children. There would probably not be any franchises or merchandising for our film as it is just a small production in which will be released by a small company, also there would be nothing suitable for merchandising in which would link to our film.

Our target audience for the film is 15-19 year old girls and boys, o we have tried to relate our film to teenagers and how some like the party life style as well as coping with college. A similar film to ours would be mean girls and by doing audience research a lot of people stated they like that film. Also we asked our audience if they like the TV programme skins as our film is similar to that and most of our audience said yes to liking it. We have decided to give our film a classification on 15 as it involves alcohol, drugs and some sexual contact and we thought it would be appropriate for 15 year olds.

In the opening 2 minutes of our film we basically just introduce our characters, we have used different sets and props in which relate to each character. We decided to do this in hope that people would want to keep watching and find out more about our characters and get to the main storyline. There is no scary action in our first 2 minutes and nothing inappropriate, so our audience will just be intrigued to see what happens within the main film. We have shown all different types of characters, boys and girls in hope that this will link to a lot of different teenagers and show what they are like.

By doing this 2 minute film I have learn't how to set up the filming equipment (camera and tripod) properly and safely and I’ve learn't how to use a camera correctly. We had a few little problems when filming, one being, as we filmed on a main busy street outside of college we struggled a clear pathway to film, we just had to keep trying and doing all different shots until we got it right, even though it took a long time we eventually got there. Also getting our characters to be able to film at certain times was hard as we had to work around everyone, but in the end we got it all sorted and done to the standard we wanted. As I have never used the editing soft ware before, doing this film has gave me the chance to find out what it’s all about and basically use it. The main effects we have used in our film are fading out and fading in, this has helped us to create the effect of ‘passage of time’ and it has also made our editing a lot smoother. During our editing process we struggled to find a sound track, however eventually we found one to fit our theme, it is an ‘indie rock’ track which is quite upbeat, to represent the party life style of teenagers.

Since doing the preliminary task I feel like my work with different equipment and resources has improved, also so have Becky and Laurens. We have become more confident with setting up the tripod and camera and also learnt more of how to use the camera. I have learn't things in which need to be took into consideration such as the 180° line and white balance. Also I have learn't how to do a range of shots and use the camera correctly. Through the planning stages of our film my group struggled to find our main idea of what we was going to base our film on, however we eventually all came to an agreement of doing a teen drama. For my research within the group I looked at mean girls and they way our characters could link to the characters from mean girls, this gave us an idea of how our characters could act. Also I looked at a clip of a skins house party, this was just to see how later on in our film for the partying scenes this would be what it is like. By doing the basic story outline and by doing the treatments for our film it gave us a clearer idea of what we wanted within the first 2 minutes of our film, we didn’t want too much to show off the whole film however just a basic introduction of our characters and this is what we have tried to show within our 2 minute clip. Also by creating a shot list gave us an even better idea of what we wanted.
Over all I think our film has turned out to be quite good as it has worked out just as we wanted it to, however the only problem we have faced by doing this project is our research and our blog work, as our time management hasn’t been the best. We originally decided we was all going to do different things to put on the blogger but as we have took a lot of time filming and editing we have not done as much research and blog work as we could have, so if we was to do the project again this would be the thing we need to improve on.