Evaluation Question 1

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


I think my film challenges the forms and conventions of real media productions as it combines two unlikely/opposing scenarios. Stereotypically ballet connotes grace, elegance, innocence, youth and beauty and this is completely opposite to the connotations of drugs (desperation, sadness, addiction, low self esteem). Also I think that  the way the music plays throughout is quite different to many other film openings, I think it really connects the audience's emotions to the piece and makes them feel how Chrissy (main protagonist) is feeling, and this is effective as when the audience feel they connect to a character they are automatically drawn in. Our film opening has been hugely inspired by the Black Swan but have interpreted it differently. I was especially inspired by the cinematography in the Black Swan. I loved the dark shots and thought this added to the darkness of the film so  and thought this would be extremely effective in our opening, as it too is based on a very dark subject (drugs). Another technique we used was that our shots are filmed in conjunction with one another, as if two situations are going on at the same time. We used fade to black transitions to distinguish between the two scenes. I think this is a rare technique especially in a film opening, as a film opening is all about setting the scene and its very brave to try and set two scenes at once. However we were able to, without it being to confusing or disjointed as we have a cyclical narrative, this means that our opening scene, if we were to make the whole film would be one of the last scenes in the film.



This nine frame grid shows the nine shots I feel represent the general feel of my film. They are all in order.

Frame 1
Frame 1 is our opening shot, it was inspired from the film The Black Swan in which Nina the main protagonist is dancing on stage, I loved the darkness of the shot and the high contrast of the pointe shoe and the black stage. This artistic shot tells the audience that the focus of the film is on ballet. In this shot the music is first introduced, and think this adds to the emotion of the opening and the slow ballet dance on pointe shoes fits the slow music perfectly. I think the reflection of the pointe shoes on the stage proves extremely effective and makes the shot even more interesting. The beautiful shot mimics the beauty and elegance of the dance.

Frame 2
This is the first shot to reveal our main protagonist, Chrissy. This shot shows Chrissy tying her hair up in the mirror and staring at her reflection. I think the deeper meaning behind this shot is that she's looking at what she has become all in the name of dance. This shot is the shot in the bathroom before she takes the performance enhancing drugs so her looking in the mirror could also be her decision whether to take the drugs or not. The shot also helps to establish that she is getting ready for something, and the costume helps to infer that this is probably dance related. This is the first time you see Chrissy's costume, she is dressed in all black. We wanted to dress her in black to make the cinematography of the performance darker but also we thought it could reflect her thoughts and personality. This idea was taken from the Black Swan where the two main characters are constantly dressed in opposing colours (pink and black) to represent the part they play in the film (good and evil).

Frame 3
This next shot is the only shot used that was filmed in out third location, the dance studio. Its a very bright shot in contrast to the later dance performance. All the actresses/dancers are wearing pale pink pointe shoes and tights, this colour again connotes youth, innocence, sensitivity and love and this contrasts against the upcoming shot of Chrissy taking drugs. I love this shot because of all the reflections, as well as the obvious reflections in the mirror there are also reflections of the shoes in the floor. We were very lucky with the dance studio location as it looks extremely professional and very similar to a studio that real ballerinas would train in.

Frame 4
This is a very important shot because prior to it the audience have no idea of Chrissys dark side and the fact that she's taking performance enhancing drugs to deal with the huge pressure that she is under. When filming this shot I focused the camera on the white pills, this would make sure that the audience knows they are the most important thing in the shot and ensure that they are what the audience is focused on.

Frame 5
This shot follows Chrissy through the backstage corridors of the stage. I like how her reflection is projected onto the wall in front of her, we achieved this effect by lighting her from behind. This shot was filmed on a hand held camera (without tripod) which makes the audience feel as if they are the one behind Chrissy. When Chrissy turns to the left you can really see the solemn expression on her face, this portrays her emotion to the audience.

Frame 6
This frame is a extreme close up shot on Chrissy's eyes. This shot shows her natural make up that fits perfectly with that of a ballerina. I love the simplicity of this shot. It shows Chrissy's realisation of what she has just done (drugs) and what she must do next (perform a dance that will determine her future as a ballerina). Also as the shot shows her eyes it could link to the effect drugs have on the pupils (they dilate).

Frame 7
Frame 7 is the first shot in which we see the stage. Here we can really see and appreciate all the outfits. All the actresses/dancers are dressed in black leotards, Black cardigans, Pointe shoes and either pink or black tights. The lighting of this shot is different to the previous shots, as you can see the light is bright white and in front of the stage to achieve this look we used a spotlight. The use of this type of lighting projects choruses shadow across the stage which I think looks quite effective. This is a panning shot which slowly reveals all the actresses leaving the main protagonist until last, and its also filmed from a low angle which portrays the dancers as the most important in the scene. The positioning of the characters is equally as important as Chrissy is centre stage which makes her the main focus. Chrissy's graceful dance actions also really compliment the music and it fits extremely well. In the background of this frame there is a black wall/curtain, it was on this that we projected a video, we wanted a monochrome video so it wouldn't detract from the action taking place in the performance scene, but just something that would add another subtle dimension to the film. Here is the video we used (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QB0ordd2nOI). This video not only emotionally connected with the tone of the film but also has our music/soundtrack which made it easy for us to choreograph the dance routine to when filming, this also made editing easier as we could fit all the actresses/dancers actions in time with the music.

Frame 8
This frame is a low angle shot of Chrissy in the bathroom, we can see Chrissy in the reflection. Its a very short shot with a length of around three seconds. I think the low angle portrays Chrissy as superior she is about to perform and this shot suggests she is very good at what she does (ballet). However it also challenges the representation of Chrissy, we know she's a highly established dancer, but she has no self confidence within her self and this is why she has a glum expression. This shot is very bright its filmed with natural and artificial light, and the white tiles in the bathroom reflect the light and make the shot even brighter. This frame shows Chrissy's cardigan falling off, this suggests she's a bit of a mess, this is probably due to nerves.

Frame 9
This final shot reveals the title of the film. We chose this title as it has a double meaning, in dance terms it means to shadow or to obscure and in the english language it means to make one self seem insignificant or inconspicuous. We thought this was very relevant to our film as Chrissy acts in exactly this way she try to hide herself to make her seem insignificant. We chose this font as we thought it was classic and timeless which fits with the classical dance ballet. Also we wanted something simple that didn't distract to much from Chrissy in the back ground. Again the reflection of Chrissy on the stage floor looks effective especially the reflection of her hand as it symbolises that she is not alone and this is portrayed in the shot by her fellow dancers running to see if she's ok. This final shot also leaves us in anticipation as the final shot is Chrissy falling and the audience are left to anticipate the outcome.

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?


Chrissy was our main protagonist in our film opening, we had seen her perform in many school productions such as Beauty and the Beast and Alice in Wonderland. She was readily available and fitted the ballerina role perfectly, her interest in our chosen genre social realism was also very beneficial to us. Her youth made her look innocent and vulnerable. Her pale skin looked extremely effective under the spotlight.
As a character Chrissy both follows and challenges the conventions of the social realism genre. 
Chrissy (our main character) represents a young, aspiring ballerina who has to battle with mental issues and drugs as a result as the huge amount of pressure put upon her by the demands and expectations of the elite sport that is ballet. She also has to deal with family pressures, friendships and relationships and at Chrissys age this is all relevant. Social realism films always feature problems that are prominent in todays society such as drugs, bullying, sex, racial abuse, family problems, violence etc. We wanted to focus on the use of drugs in todays society but not in a conventional way. As a group we decided as our film is based on the elite sport ballet it would be fitting to surround our idea on the topic of performance enhancing drugs.
In social realism films the characters are often played by unknown actors, this makes the film more relatable and believable but also this is sometimes due to restricted budgeting. We have followed this guideline to conform with the conventions of the genre and to hopefully make the character Chrissy relatable to our target audience.
The character Chrissy, shows a likeness to the character Nina from the Black Swan (Natalie Portman). Nina is the main character in the Black Swan like Chrissy she represents a pure and innocent personality however as the film continues she becomes increasingly unstable. Both Nina and Chrissy challenge the female stereotype, and they prove they can play challenging and important roles. Gender and sexism are topics constantly challenged in other social realism films. We too have tried to challenge this representation by using a all female cast.

From the screen grabs below you can see the similarity in the portrayal of both Chrissy and Nina.

Chrissy is shown on the left, the two shots show the similarity of the two characters.

Both characters seem lonely, in the Black Swan and in our opening both Nina and Chrissy are pictured on their own as opposed to being with their fellow dancers. Both these frames above are taken from parts of the films where the characters are alone secluded from the rest of the dancers. I get the impression both characters enjoy their own company as they are both very independent, however as the films proceed we can see the damaging effects of loneliness.

Chrissys costume is simple and dark, she wears a black leotard and has a simple/minimal make up look. She wears traditional pink tights and pointe shoes. Chrissy's costume is similar to that of Nina's warm up wear (the clothing she wears when rehearsing), however in the Black Swan the character Nina has several costume changes and in the performance scenes her costume is more complex she wears tutus and corsets with feathers her make up is dramatic and she wears a hair piece. However I also noticed in the Black Swan as Nina's transition from pure, elegant swan to her darker, fierce more evil side her outfit changes to fit the persona she is playing. Our character Chrissy only has one costume.

These two images show the performance scenes of both films/openings. You can see the similarity in camera work, the shot types are both medium shots and the two shots are both filmed from a slightly low angle, this is done to portray the characters as the most important and symbolise that this performance is the most important thing to both of them. I think it also shows that when these characters are dancing it builds their confidence, we can compare the screen grabs from above and the screen grabs from below. When on stage the characters look confident and composed they are centre shot, they are the focus and the audience can feel their emotion and sense that this is their moment to exceed their friends, family and own expectations. However the two frames below show afraid, upset, out of control characters. The camerawork is very similar in both shots they are both close up shots and both characters are pictured in the side of the frame, i think the space on the other side of the shot symbolises the journey they have ahead and the goals they wish to achieve.

The shot below also shows the similarity of location.

Evaluation Question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

                     

You are unable to view my spoken analysis video on the powerpoint shared above using slideshare, so I have embedded our youtube video below.

            

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

     

       

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?


In the video below I am interviewing Darla, a sixteen year old student at St Johns sixth form. She is our target audience. In the video she is shown our opening, although she has already seen it before through social media websites such as Facebook. However I thought she should have the opening fresh in her mind before answering and asking a series of questions that relate to the opening. The questions I used were pre-prepared, and i wanted to see her reactions to my final product.
The interview was very beneficial as it told me what the most effective techniques for attracting our target audience were. Darla answered truthfully and hadn't prepared her answers.

Video reaction to my film opening, Effacè.


    

                                                                             

                                                                           

 Script:

Me: What is your favourite genre?

Darla: Urmm i really like dramas, just because they are so dramatic, I like to have tension in a film and not know whats coming next.

Me: What was your initial reaction to our film opening, Effacè?

Darla: Um I thought it was very dramatic because there was no talking in it so it was quite, its only the motions and the movement that you focus on, which i thought was really effective

Me: Would you continue to watch the rest of the film after watching the opening?

Darla: Yes I would, because its quite ambiguous so you want to carry on watching it to see what happens and why the main characters taking pills and the story behind the scene.

Me: Could you compare this to a everyday film or a film you have seen?

Darla: Yeah, I thought it was quite similar to Save The Last Dance, which is also about a girl, i think she's a ballet dancer and she's trying to make her way in the ballet world, rum but then she comes across someone who's into street dancing, and its all about how her dance style changes and stuff.

Me: What genre would you say our film is?

Darla: I think its social realism just because its quite easy, it would be quite easy for people to relate to these kind of situations.

Me: Are there any particular techniques or features you find interesting in our film opening?

Darla: Well I said about the no talking, I think thats very dramatic and its quite striking quite a lot of films start with talking and that has less tension so this is really good. And i really like how you have the definition of Effacè at the end of the scene.

Me: Do you think that helps you too.... Because obviously first watching it did you know what Effacè meant?

Darla: No I didn't!

Me: But then after seeing the definition did it make sense.

Darla: Yeah, it kind of brought the whole thing together, which was really clever.

Me: So what do you think of the font?

Darla: I think its quite authentic, its very dramatic.

Me: What do you think about the music?

Darla: I think is really good to have that as the opening instead of taking, it quite dramatic and it makes you really focus on whats happening.

Me: And do you think it fits with the movements and the actions of the dancers?

Darla: Yeah definitely, her movement is so in time with the music, its really clever. And when you just saw the feet going on that was in time as well. Its like your the audience watching the performance which is really nice.

And here when your not always focusing on the protagonist which is really good because if you were watching that show you wouldn't just be focusing on one person you would be focusing on everyone, so that really good as well.

Me: What do you think of the title?

Darla: I think its really good because its quite mysterious and its got two meanings as well, which is really good.

Me: Yeah we waned a double meaning. And what do you think about the accent because we had a long debate over whether we should include a accent or not. With the accent its the dance term and without it its the english literature term, but we thought as our opening was about ballet and after asking our target audience we decided it should have the accent.

Darla: Yeah I think thats the right option because the main focus is the ballet so I think it should be there, yeah thats good.

Evaluation Question 6

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

                   

                       

Evaluation Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

The screen grabs included below show the progression of skills and techniques I have learnt and from my preliminary task and final film opening.

Frames from my preliminary task                                       Frames from my film opening

At first glance you can immediately tell that our preliminary task was shot on a different camera to out final film opening, as the quality in the preliminary task is nowhere near as good as the film opening. Both the frames above are filmed using the over shoulder shot. In my preliminary task this technique is used to portray conversation between the two characters, I also used the technique eyeline match to make the conversation more engaging. Eyeline match is based on the idea that the audience wants to view what the character in the scene is viewing, this makes the audience feel as if they are part of the scene. However for the shots above in the preliminary task we used a tripod as we wanted the shot to be still and keep the same angle. But in our film opening we didn't used the tripod and filmed the footage hand held, we did this because we felt that if the camera was more shaky it might make the footage more raw and make the audience feel as if they are there behind Chrissy.

Looking back at these two frames from my preliminary task and film opening I feel that the lighting, costume and location are all more professional in the film opening. I think I learnt from our mistakes in the preliminary task, for example the background is one of the school mobiles and it doesn't fit with the tone of the film, whereas Chrissy in the bathroom fits perfectly with the tone of the film opening.

Match on action:

Match on action (or cutting on action) is an editing technique for continuity editing in which one shot cuts to another shot portraying the action of the subject in the first shot.

Preliminary Task

This shot used the filming technique match on action, These frames show a close up shot of George opening the door, then the next shot cuts to the door opening from inside the classroom, the wide angle shot focuses on George walking through the door.

These are a couple from frames from our preliminary task that demonstrate match on action. a over the shoulder shot shows George walking around the table, this then cuts to a high angle shot of George continuing his walking to release Luke from his handcuffs.

These frames above also contain the technique match on action, however the action that is taking place is dialogue. As the character in white shouts "i'm innocent!" the shot changes but the speech continues. For this I had to film the same scene twice and then carefully edit the two shots together.
Our film opening features no dialogue as we thought it would make it more effective, looking back I think this was the right choice as it built more tension, set the mood and made the audience more emotionally engaged. Also feedback from our target audience have commented on how effective they think the use of no dialogue is in our opening. However this did mean we weren't able to show off any match on action editing techniques using speech, such as the one in the preliminary task demonstrated in the frames above. But hopefully we demonstrated our technical and camerawork knowledge else where.

Film Opening

The shot shown in the first two frames shows the dancers moving toward their position on stage. The action of the dancers continues fluidly through the change of shot types.

The second series of frames are another example of match on action. The first shot shows the ballet dancers running on stage to take up their positions, and the next shot shows the dancers on stage in position.

Shot reverse shot:

Shot reverse shot (or shot/countershot) is a film technique 

where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.

Here is a diagram that illustrates the technique, shot reverse shot:

Preliminary Task

                             

These series of frames are filmed using the technique shot reverse shot.

This technique engages the audience in the conversation that is taking place between the two characters.
Something that is very noticeable here is the background of the location, I think this a weakness in my preliminary task as it doesn't set the tone of the scene very well. As you can see from the frames below and above you can see I have tackled this problem in my film opening as we have made sure when location shooting that the set/background is applicable and fits with the tone of the film.

Film Opening

As our film opening was generally only focused on one character it was hard to use the shot reverse shot technique, however we did use a cut away shot instead. The frame above shows the cutaway shot. This shot was used to show what two different things happening all at one time, and it was also used to show the audience how Chrissy perceived things.

180 degree rule:

The 180-degree rule is a basic guideline regarding the on-screen spatial relationship between a character and another character or object within a scene. An imaginary line called the axis connects the characters, and by keeping the camera on one side of this axis for every shot in the scene, the first character is always frame right of the second character, who is then always frame left of the first.

Preliminary Task

The sequence of frames above show the 180- degree rule. Throughout the conversation between the two characters the camera has stayed on the same side of both characters. We have carried out what is demonstrated in the diagram below.

Film Opening

In these series of frames we have demonstrated the 180- degree rule. The camera has stayed in the same position through out the series of shots and has not crossed the imaginary line/axis. This creates a fluid sequence. If we had broken the rule the audience may have been left disorientated and confused which may have put them off.

These frames from my film opening also show how successful we have been in lighting the set in comparison to the preliminary task where we only used natural light.

 In our film opening we used the stage spotlights and a soft light to highlight the main protagonist and give the impression that the scene is a actual ballet performance, all the equipment and camera techniques we used in our film opening make it look more professional and realistic, and some of these techniques were learnt through the experience of creating the preliminary task.

Looking Back

 In my preliminary task i worked with Etty (whom I also worked with on the film opening) We worked well as a team however i felt that we were particularly unorganised. We didn't have a filming schedule so it was all filmed in a rush when we had free time. However we worked very well to find a location and we had to write a series of emails to ask permission to use one of the school mobiles. I think this helped us to be more prepared when we had to find a location for our film opening and as we filmed in the school once again we had all the right people to talk to as easy access as we had already built a relationship with them through the course of our preliminary task.

In the film opening I worked in a group of three with Etty and Mollie. I think we worked very well as a team we were extremely organised we planned shooting schedules and booked out the appropriate locations for filming. I think the opening shows many camera techniques and conventions of the social media genre, some of these techniques and conventions I have learned from research and creating a preliminary task. However one aspect of our film opening we could improve on is our variety of shot types. Even though we did have different shot types I think if I was to do this task again I would include a wider variety such as using some high angle and birds eye view shots (demonstrated in my preliminary task).