Evaluation

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE,
DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF
REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
- My short film fits into the genre of drama with fantasy enmeshed within the narrative making it
a hybrid, I both followed and contradicted certain conventions of real media products.
Following conventions allowed me to grasp the attention of an audience who know what they
want when viewing a film. My film consists of a cyclical structure and follows Todorovs
narrative theory of ‘Equilibrium – disequilibrium – new equilibrium”.
- Before creating my own short film I went about watching various different short films in the
drama genre in order to discover the common aspects of them. I also, on top of this, watched
films with a hybrid genre (such as ‘The Woman in Black’, a horror-drama) in order to discover
aspects of other films which I may be able to include to make my film more interesting and
original.
- I took notice of all aspects of media, the camera, editing, sound and mise-en-scene, and how all
these aspects are pieced together to create the intended response from the audience. Such as
quick straight cuts matched which tense music to create suspense and how professional film
makers create shock and present twists within the story through the use of different techniques.
E.g close ups of a character crying matched with non-diegetic music.

After the viewing and analysis of many different kinds of short film I discovered that there
were some typical conventions of the drama genre:
- Simple text used for titles, most commonly white
- One/very few amount of characters
- 5-7 minutes long
- often portray real life situations and occurrences
- Main aim seems to be to make audience emotional
- Ending has a hard-hitting moral to relate to viewers own life and create a long-lasting effect

The short film ‘Imagine’ is one which follows the main codes and conventions of the drama
genre. It focuses on one character in order for the audience to sympathize for her. The use of
POV shots also reinforces this. It uses slow-mo and straight cuts in scenarios of high tension. I
recreated this in my short film, in a different way, when using straight cuts to create the sense of
time travel. The short film ends to create an impact on the viewer to be grateful for their life and
follow their dreams as this girl wasn’t able to do this. My message is similar as it teaches the
audience the dangers of technology and you shouldn’t waste your life. I added my own take on
this as my story is more relatable for modern viewers and I allowed the audience to feel as
though they are Hazel and gave a sense of experiencing the same emotions as the character. I did
this through the use of close ups to emphasize her emotions. The audience learn the same
lessons as my protagonist. However certain members of my audience didn’t receive the message
which I intended, maybe I could have made the ending more clear by adding extra scenes at the
end when she wakes up, such as the character seeing a newspaper with the date on it. I also could
have made the calendar in the dream sequence more professional to make the message clearer as
well as improving the mise-en-scene.
To continue, the short film ‘Are You Living an Insta Lie?’ follows a similar intended message as
my own, this short film allowed me to discover the issues with social media and inspired me to
go forward with presenting the bad side of technology. This film contradicts common codes and
conventions as it doesn’t have one main character but includes many characters all with equal
screen time, this works well with the message being portrayed.
IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP
OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL
MEDIA PRODUCTS?

After discovering the common codes and conventions used in the drama short film genre, I
decided to use the majority of them in my short film. However having a big twist ending is not
common of the drama genre but I was happy that my viewers responded well to it. I wanted to
add this twist as I wanted a shock factor and make my film even more memorable, with the
underlying message also contributing to the long term impact on the audience. During research
I watched ‘The Woman in Black’ which is a thriller-drama, the twist ending contradicts the
drama genre and I decided to follow the conventions of a thriller with this aspect. The reason
behind this is that my target audience is so young who have expectations to be entertained and
I personally also enjoyed the twists in other films I have watched, it is an important part of
being memorable and leaving an impact. Having this ending allows me to follow Allan Rowe's
theory which involves the viewer being able to ask questions and being invited to ask questions
about what is going to happen next and how it is going to end. I created this mystery in my
short film as the audience is left to question the outcome of the film until the very last few
seconds, with only 30 seconds till the end Hazel is at her lowest, crying in the alley it is hard to
predict how this situation is going to be solved, my audience enjoyed this sense of mystery.
The use of straight cuts and tense music during the time travel, creates a sense of mystery as
the audience is left unsure about what has just happened and they find out gradually with
different clues to guess the situation. Tension is a common code and convention of the genre.
MEDIA PRODUCTS?

Furthermore, I followed conventions by making the titles in my film white. Many short
films in my chosen genre do this and it worked well with the atmosphere. The product
itself is tense and overwhelming and the text juxtaposing this doesn’t give too much
away about the happenings within the film, once again adds to the mystery. The colour
white also reflects the innocence and ignorance of Hazel as she comes to a realization
of the effect her technology is having on her. However I added a glitch, wave effect
onto the text to make it not only more interesting but reflects the technology aspect
within the narrative of the film. I decided to put the titles at the beginning of the film
as it created a better structure for the overall product and is where titles are most
commonly placed in short films
MEDIA PRODUCTS?

Sound was a very important feature to achieving the atmosphere I was intending, I wanted the
audience to feel connected to the characters and I strongly believe that sound played a big part
in achieving this. I really enjoyed the sound used in the short film ‘The Return’ as the tense,
mellow score reflected the guilt felt by the character. In ‘Look Up’ I used tense sound effects
when something is confusing and shocking which, when receiving feedback, worked well for
my audience to relate to the character. Also, when she is crying in the street, the soft music
accurately reflects her mood and sets the tone for the scene. This scene follows David
Chandlers theory that media texts include stereotypes, females are typical weak and vulnerable,
I also used a high angle to emphasize this along with the use of music.

I watched the drama/fantasy film ‘Click’ in which the main character falls asleep in a
department store, the main happenings of the film take place and then ends with a
twist of him waking up again in the store. I really enjoyed this twist ending so
contradicted the conventions of the drama genre by adding this fantasy twist into the
storyline. I think this allows me to finish the film with a satisfying ending for my target
audience.
MEDIA PRODUCTS?

I looked at many different film posters before creating my first ancillary text. I took
inspiration from this poster for the film ‘Loving’. It has a border around the image
which is representative of what happens within the film as the couple are pushed out
by society, I really appreciated this subtle link to the concept of the film. I wanted to
do this in my own poster so I created a transparent box to put around the image to
convey the intended message of the film, that we are trapped by technology.
I used a picture of the phone as I wanted the
poster to reflect the storyline of the film. The
phone is symbolic of the overall encoded message.
I also took inspiration from this film poster to
underline the title, I think it made a nice effect and
made the title more eye catching.
I used Photoshop to make my film poster as I
believe this is what would make the most
professional finish.

After research on film websites I discovered that the main purpose of them is to inform an
audience about the film and to prompt them to go and watch the film. I made my website
simple so that it is easy to navigate as this is most important so that the information provided is
easily found by the user, I followed conventions in this way. The layout for the film ‘Everything
Everything’ is quite simplistic, it has easy to find tabs, the first thing you see when entering the
website is the trailer, I decided to do something similar by adding my short film as the first
thing you see on the website as this is what I want my website to lead my audience onto.
However the film website for ‘Everything Everything’ has some advanced features such as
music which plays when entering the website. I wanted to add something that creates interest
and keeps the captivation of my audience so I added animation onto the text.
MEDIA PRODUCTS?

HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN
AND ANCILLARY TEXTS?
Ancillary
text 1 –
Website

HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN AND
ANCILLARY TEXTS?
Ancillary text 2 -
Poster

- I believe that my film poster creates a
sense of wonder for the viewer as they
are left to ponder on what the film might
be about as I don’t give too much away in
the poster. However I think that the
tagline (‘An addiction which takes your
life’), combined with the image of the
phone provides the audience with an idea
of the intended message of ‘Look Up’,
even though its not obviously presented.
The idea that we are all addicted to
technology is also evident in the title of
the film, overall the poster conveys this
well. The simplicity of the poster allows
the audience to focus on the message, I
only included aspects to the poster which
I believe put this idea into motion as this
is what was most important to get out of
my poster.

- My initial idea for the poster
was to have the main character
on the front as this follows
conventions of a traditional film
poster. I didn’t come across a
poster which didn’t have the
characters on the front of it.
However I wanted to contradict
the typical conventions by
putting the image of a phone as
the main picture, I believe this
symbol reflected the film better
as the narrative and moral of
the film is much more about
technology than the actual
character. I think this leaves
interest for the audience as they
don’t know anything about the
character before starting to
watch the film.
Initial idea:
ANCILLARY TEXTS?

The title ‘Look Up’ doesn’t give too much away about the film before watching it but it does
come clear to the audience, whilst watching, why I might have chosen this title. Before
watching, the title is up for interpretation. I used natural lighting throughout my short film as
I wanted, even with the fantasy storyline, to create a sense of reality as this makes my
message more prominent because the audience can relate the story to their own life and
leaves them to reflect on how much they are using their own technology. This links to the
quality of the picture, although I did take it on a camera, I edited the image to make it seem
as though it could've been taken on a phone as if the viewer could have taken it themselves. I
have the intention to remind my audience of the poster the next time they use their
smartphone camera. My main aim of the poster is to promote the film so I had to think of
different ways I could make an impact with the poster so that the audience member thinks
about it again, after finishing to look at it.
The colours of the poster, the white of the overlay, links to the pastel light colours of the
website, I wanted to create a sense of purity and innocence across my ancillary texts to link to
the idea that technology is stealing our youth and childhood.
ANCILLARY TEXTS?

I have utilized the conventions of a film website
through the research I carried out in some of the
initial stages, to create a website which my audience
would like and enjoy. The first thing you see when
entering the website is the animation of the titles all
coming onto the page, you may have noticed that all
titles across ancillary texts are underlined, this is
consistent as its something different and memorable
about my film, it allows me to link all aspects of my
film together rather than seeming like separate pieces.
I follow the conventions of a film website in my own
website, when I looked at film websites I ensured I
listed all the information that is included and is most
important, I also did a survey to see what my own
intended audience is wanting out of visiting a film
website. My website is quite basic as it was important
that it was easy to navigate and that the information
was found easily as without the information I have no
website.

ANCILLARY TEXTS?
I was very much inspired by the film website
for the film ‘Argo’. It includes the title and the
trailer immediately when going onto the
website, like many websites. I replicated this as
these were the most important aspects to have
initially on my website but my website reflects
the genre of my film, this website is more for
a thriller, drama film.
As you can see, I included simply laid out pages,
all with info that my target audience want as well
as what I believe will push them onto then
wanting to go and watch the short film. Every
film website has this same intention, they want
you to watch the film, everything is pushing you
to do this. It is a very interesting advertising
technique.

One of the main weaknesses of my website is the colour schemes. I received a few comments
about how the colour scheme doesn’t match the contents of my website, the use of pastel
colours could make the website be mistaken for a kids clothes website, the colours are very
typical of baby and children colours. However, I wanted to keep the website simple to match
my other ancillary texts, I experimented with other light colours such as white or yellow but it
really didn’t work, this looked much worse so I decided to stick with my initial chosen colour
scheme.

- My ancillary texts all connect as I have included the same text across all pieces,
having the underlined title almost acts as a logo for my film, it is something
simple yet more memorable.
- I have also included a tagline on both the poster and website which links to the
encoded message in ‘Look Up’. It is short yet dramatic, enticing the viewer to
watch the film.
- My text is all serif to add a sense of elegance and professionalism to the simple
text.
- I use innocent and light colours across my work to connote innocence which is
within the character of the film.

Once I had decided the basic outline of my film I wanted to get some information from my
target audience in order to discover their expectations from a film in my chosen genre and what
they would enjoy if I was to include it. I made a survey on the website Survey Monkey and
shared the survey via social media, my target audience are teenagers so using social media was
effective in grabbing their attention.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT FROM YOUR AUDIENCE
FEEDBACK?
By having this question it ensured that the right age
group were responding to my survey, the same
people who I would expect to enjoy the film.
I included this question as I wanted to find out what other aspects from other genres I should bring
into my film. The responses are rather equal, with action being the most popular I did decide to have
the running scene with a hand held camera, typical of the action genre. However my film also
includes aspects of mystery and thriller.

FEEDBACK?
Before watching the film ‘Are You Living an Insta Lie?’ I had a very positive outlook on social
media and I initially decided to present this view in my film, but my mind was opened to a new
perspective after extra research and inspiration, the questions reflect my initial viewpoint. My
audience responded that they would prefer a closed narrative, to be left satisfied. I decided to do
this to please my audience and leave them with a feeling of completion after viewing. However if I
told my audience that my film was about the negative impacts of social media I am left wondering
if the answer would be any different. Although, when viewing the completed film I got good
responses for the ending.

FEEDBACK?
My audience responded that they would
believe it to be effective to break the forth
wall, however I made the decision not to do
this as I want the audience to feel empathy
for Hazel and I think by doing this it would
ruin the relatable aspect of the film.
By using silence I was able to create tension, I
also added to this by adding a ringing noise on
top of the silence to give the impression of
panic and fear which the character is feeling.
This allows me to follow conventions of the
thriller genre.

It was also essential to get some feedback on one of my drafts for my poster. I did this by
planning a quick interview with a member of my target audience, I wrote down the conversation
and everything she said so I could reflect and improve my poster further.
FEEDBACK?
This is the poster which was
shown:

Doing this research and having a one-on-one chat with someone who would potentially be
watching my film was really refreshing and made me realize the importance of meeting the needs
of my audience. She made a point of the poster being too plain so from this I reflected back on
my previous research and I made the decision to add credits onto the poster, this is an aspect of
every poster which I looked at, its something you don’t even notice and I didn’t previously
realize the importance of have them. I also rearranged the text so that it stands out more on the
poster.
FEEDBACK?
I, personally, have never had experience making a website before and wasn’t sure what would be best
to include or what visitors of the website wanted from it. Before I went about making a website, on
top of my research, I did a survey and shared it on social media.
I firstly wanted to find out the importance of the
website. I found out that my target audience visits film
websites often, implying that it is an essential
accessory to any film.

FEEDBACK?
This question allowed me to confirm that the
layout of my website would be simple and
easy to navigate. Its more important to find
the information than to be entertained on a
website. I was very surprised by the Reponses
to the next question. I personally love
watching bloopers videos of my favourite
films, even though most responded yes I am
unsure why this wouldn’t be something
enjoyable for those who responded ‘no’.
Because of this, I decided to put the video
away from the scroll layout so its not on the
initial page and is separate.

Another question I asked
was an open-ended
question about what they
would want to see on a
website, all responses
were as expected and
matched the previous
research I had done.
FEEDBACK?
After doing this survey I managed to put together a website which I was proud of,
especially for my first attempt. I then, continued from this by holding a focus group
with two members of my target audience and allowed them to interact with the
website and see what they thought of it.

FEEDBACK?
I was so happy with the feedback I received, I had worked really hard on the bloopers video
and I am pleased with the recognition this got. The only negative feedback I got was due to
the fact the website was unfinished at this point, I ensured to take the feedback on board and
completed the website soon after.

I was so apprehensive about the feedback I was going to get for my film but I knew it
was important. I held a focus group and I asked some questions on a word document
to get specific feedback.
FEEDBACK?
I am glad that they think my use of camera
is professional. After receiving this feedback
it allowed me to consider where I could add
a POV shot as suggested and it worked
really well, I was really happy with this idea.
I spent a lot of time choosing actors and music so
I am happy to get recognition for this. I was
disappointed that the time travel scene created
confusion rather than a mystery however I believed
the following events of the film make this scene
clear and I have received other feedback which is
positive about the narrative structure.

Summary
- The feedback I received from my film allowed me to feel proud of what I made as
well as receiving some constructive criticism to further improve my work. My main
purpose of creating this film was to spread my intended message, although the
story left some people confused I also received feedback where the encoded
message was received and left an impact, it was very mixed but I did my best to edit
and alter my film to fit with the responses, pleasing my audience is very important.
- I also received feedback allowing me to add and alter my ancillary texts. Having a
one-on-one conversation allowed me to see the initial response of a target audience
member. I believe that the poster and website are now at the best they can be, the
main thing I found is that even though I have a niche audience, not everybody
wants the same thing so I found it hard to find a compromise for some things.
FEEDBACK?

Research
- I used a large range of new media technologies during the research stages. I firstly
had to do some initial research into the codes and conventions of my chosen genre
and I used Google to do so. It allowed me to find many different websites with
endless amounts of useful information.
- I used social media sites such as Snapchat & Facebook, to advertise my survey, I am
aware of the impacts social media has and how quickly things can be shared online
so this was the most effective way of allowing people to see my survey.
- My actual survey was created on SurveyMonkey.com. This website gave me the
basic template of a survey which I could easily edit with my own questions. It also
gave me the results of my survey simply presented in a graph form.
- I took advantage of web 2.0 sites such as YouTube. YouTube is a site I am very
comfortable with using as I am constantly watching other creators channels so I was
excited to have my own content to put on the site. The site allows me to upload my
film in a high quality and clearly shows the progress of my drafts as well as
watching other filmmakers short films.
HOW DID YOU USE NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE
CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH, PLANNING AND
EVALUATION STAGES?

Planning
- During the planning stages I used ‘Adobe Premiere Pro’ editing software to create
my animatic. I made this by taking pictures of each step of my story board and
then, this was the point which I picked my music score, so I layered this into the
animatic. This animatic allowed me to see if the narrative works and if the desired
effect of tension and mystery is created at the correct points, it’s the first time I
saw my ideas on screen.
EVALUATION STAGES?
Here you can see the progression I
made from my storyboard to the
actual film. I think I recreated it
well.

Construction
- Last year, at AS, I was the editor of the group so I was confident in this aspect when coming
into this project. However I hadn't had a chance to handle a DSLR camera, I have my own
camera and tripod but I have never actually used them to film anything before, I was
apprehensive about my lack of skill in this area. I feel this year really challenged me and
forced me into learning new skills, I am thankful for this experience.
- I have had a lot of previous experience using ‘Adobe Photoshop’ and I was confident that it
could create a professional film poster for ‘Look Up’.
- I used ‘Adobe Premiere Pro’ to edit my short film, I was doubtful as I have had a lot of
previous experience using the editing software ‘IMovie’, however after research I found that
I would have a larger range of tools if I was to use Premiere and I have had small amount of
experience using it before so I thought I should take advantage of my access to this
software. The software allowed me to add an eye catching and gripping effect to my text as
well as creating an edit with many different transitions. It also allowed me to colour correct a
clip which didn’t quite match what I wanted, rather than having to re-film it I could simply
adjust the colouring of the clip using the software which was useful.
- After everything was done I again used Survey Monkey to get feedback as well as social
media to get the feedback from my target audience.
EVALUATION STAGES?

Did I use these new media technologies effectively?
- I believe that I very much took advantage of the new media technologies which I had access
to. Although I was doubtful I was able to learn many new skills when handling a camera and
using new pieces of editing software to get the most professional outcome for my short film.
- I am overall very happy with the progress which I have made over the last two years as I have
learnt so many new skills which will be with me for my life now. I am excited to learn new
things and enhance my skills more in the future.
EVALUATION STAGES?
Self Evaluation
I lastly wanted to evaluate my own performance over this process. I have learnt a lot through the
challenging process of making a short film. It allowed me to improve on skills such as editing as I
was using a new software and discovered how to use certain tools that made the outcome of my
video more professional. I am happy with my ability to stay organized and keep up my time
management skills throughout the process, these skills were an essential aspect also ensuring that I
remained calm and reduced stress, managing my time made it much more enjoyable. Overall I am
proud of the work I have created however I am looking forward to future projects so I can become a
better filmmaker and move forward from this.

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