Evaluation

Introduction

My name is Samuel Farina and for my A2 coursework I have
done a short film called Heaven Call my two ancillary texts
were a poster and newspaper article the storyline is a boy
has lost his mum to a car crash and he remembers when he
visited her grave and he receives a phone call from her in
heaven and then after that she appears on his doorstep. For
my film I used conventions which consist in modern media
products of this genre.

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

Question 1 – In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My film has a linear structure as it makes it way through from the beginning, middle and
end I did this structure because I like the audience to think what might happen at each
stage of the film.
With character types I used two character one of them is a young man I used this
character as when a parent dies in my eyes it effects the young adults more and my film
shows how it affects people of that age group mentally and it will develop media
products as it would make them think to use characters in the age group that would get
affected most by the storyline in real life issues. I also used a women I used that
character as in real media products of my genre women of that age group are in the
products a lot and I used that convention in my product.
With settings I used dark lonely surroundings in my house to show, currently there is no
light in his life and he is alone, in real media products of my genre those kind of settings
are used a lot to show a person’s downfall in there life and to show there feelings and the
settings set’s the scene well and you can tell instantly from the settings he is feeling the
way he is feeling. I also used a graveyard as in real media products of my genre a
graveyard is often used as my genre involves around someone who has died and a
graveyard represents someone who has died well and set’s a good scene for the film.

With music and sound I used a emotional piano for scene at the graveyard this set’s the scene well as
the music will reflect his feelings in the scene and music also fit’s in well with the location as music
set’s a upsetting tone and a graveyard is a place where the feelings of the people who visit it are
upset feelings I also kept the natural sounds from when I filmed there such as bird’s tweeting and the
light wind this set’s the scene well as in graveyards you can always hear natural sounds from nature
which calms you down and I wanted that scene to feel real and my audience to feel those feelings
which you feel in that kind of environment so they can understand how the boy is feeling at that
moment in time.
With iconography the significant objects are phone which is used when the boy has the conversation
with his mother in heaven in real media products of the same genre as my film a phone is not used as
often, if it is used, it is not as significant as a phone is in my film it is the most significant object in
my film without it the storyline would be completely changed. Also you would not know the mum’s
story that lead to her death. And there would be no build up to the most important part of the film.
The themes of my film is death which is the main theme as my film uses the theme of death the
whole duration of it, in real media products the same genre as my film death Is often a significant
theme within a film as it fit’s in well with foundation of that kind of film. Also sadness which is a
significant as the film uses sadness a lot with the main character. In real media products of the same
genre sadness Is often used because in films like that it often results in death which results to
sadness for the characters in the film

With cinematography the camera work I used was a lot of close up’s so you see his facial expressions
and you can see what emotions he is feeling I also used pan shots to show the surroundings where
the characters are and you have a better knowledge what emotions they’ll be feeling by looking at the
surroundings where the scene is. In real media products they often use close up’s so you can see the
emotions there characters are feeling and I wanted my film to be like that so my audience can see my
characters emotions.
With editing the software I used was final cut express which I have used a lot for my coursework on
the software I used the tool’s available to add dissolves and other video transitions and effects to the
voices to make them sound like they are coming from heaven. In real media products the add effects
when needed to there characters voices so they sound distant and strange so it seems realistic to the
audience watching. They also add a lot of video transitions to signify something is happening or to
show a emotion the character is feeling using the editing software the use to edit there film.
With mise-en-scene the lighting I used was dark and gloomy so the audience could see it was a sad
atmosphere and the feelings of the character. The costume I used for the characters was casual
clothes for the son I used these as males of his age group often wear those type of clothes around the
house and I wanted him to look like a ordinary man and not look different to males his own age or
close to his age.

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

Question 2 – How effective is the combination of your main product and
ancillary texts?
The aspects of my poster I have used to market my short film are the image of
the phone on the poster this shows it evolves around a phone call from heaven
because of the text heaven on the image of the phone.I also promoted by having
the debut date on it and it will be shown at a short film festival this will attract
people who are going to the festival to go and see my film the day it is being
shown.The stars will promote the film because if someone has seen a movie
before starring the actor that is in my film and his performance was good in his
last film they will want to see him in another film because they like his acting
style and want to see him in a new role and see what he brings to it. Also It
promotes the director because if someone has seen another film he has
directed and they liked they will want to see another one of his films he has
directed and see if it compares to the high standard he bought to the last
production. As the poster is quite plain in terms of colours that does not relate
to my film as my film is quite dark and lot’s of things are happening so the
posters does not reflect the vibe of my film in terms of presentation. I
communicated the genre in both the short film and poster by having the font of
my text on the poster the kind of writing you would sometimes see on graves
which you see quite a few of in my film which makes it look like a death film and
quite spooky in terms of what happens during the film.

Question 2 – How effective is the combination of your main product
and ancillary texts?
How I have targeted the target audience in both the ancillary tasks and short
film is that in terms of the mild sections of death in the film it can be seen by
most age groups as it would not scare younger audience members. And on
the ancillary tasks as it is quite plain it would attract people of all age groups
to come and see the film as nothing to scary for young children is contained
on the ancillary tasks and film for gender it is for both male and female as
there is nothing on the ancillary tasks or film that makes it mainly for a
certain gender. It can be seen by people in any social class as it is a film
which any social class would enjoy as it there are no parts within the film or
the poster which is targeted at a certain social class. With the magazine
review page the decision I made about the layout was that I wanted it to be
easy to read and not have text all over place which would make it hard to
understand which part to read next and the quotes from people big and bold
so they know it is a separate part and know they are quotes and I wanted
small bits of information about the film at the bottom so people could read
them after they have finished reading the article so they know when it is
debuting and where it will be shown. With the title I made it big and bold and I
put it at the top so it is noticeable and people will read it first and know what
it is about and I put the film title in big lettering as well in case people did not
know the title of the film. With the photographs I put them at the top so
people will look at them first and they will know then what certain parts of
the film look like and get the see the main star of the film which would
promote it well and make it look more presentable and interesting for the
readers of the article

What have you learned
from your audience
feedback?

Question 3 – What have you learned from your audience feedback?
The feedback I have gotten since the beginning has been constructive and
very helpful and improved my film and ancillary tasks a large amount. The
feedback I have gotten from my peers was helpful I took into consideration
their feedback which improved my film a lot after I put their feedback into my
film and showed them again they thought it was much better than before. They
also told me what grade they think I would get and they gave me great
feedback and I put in my film I asked them and my predicted grade which they
gave me became better so my peers have gave me brilliant feedback which
has made my film much better. I also asked for feedback by the LSA’s and they
gave me some good feedback which I took some into account which everyone
thought made my film better and the LSA’s said it looked a lot better than it
was. The feedback from my teacher’s improved my film a great deal more and I
took all there feedback into account I looked at what It looked like on my film
and some of the shot’s I re filmed were to dark to put into the film as the other
shots were a lot lighter and it did not fit well so I had to keep my old shots. But
some of the other shots I did which they suggested to improve my film fitted in
brilliantly with the other shot which made my film look better and people knew
more what was happening at that point within the film as before they were not
sure what was happening with the old shot I used for it. I asked my family
what they thought of the final finished product and they thought it was
excellent and was impressed of the camera work and editing and music which
was in the film

Question 3 – What have you learned from your audience feedback?
With the ancillary tasks the feedback my peers gave me was helpful and made me feel
better about my work and helped me improve it a lot to get my predicted grade by them a
lot higher than before when I asked them again after I put there feedback into account.
The feedback from the LSA’s helped a lot as there feedback made my tasks a lot better
and there predicted grade for me went higher as well and teachers thought their
feedback was good as well and improved it a lot. The feedback from my teachers was
brilliantly to improve my tasks and I took their feedback into account and it looked a lot
better on both tasks and they thought It improved a lot and looked more professional
taking their feedback into account like changing the picture on my poster, changing the
layout on my review and putting pictures on my review. I also asked my family what they
thought of my ancillary tasks after I finished them, and they thought the phone picture on
my poster was brilliant because I put It at a angle to make it look like it was on the
actual poster and it looked very professional and they thought the writing was good how
I layed it out and what I wrote made it a very good poster to look at. With the review
page they thought It was a good and they thought what I wrote was good and the way I
layed it out was brilliant and my pictures on the review page was good and well layed out
on the page and a good size. The sort of feedback people gave me was they did not like
the phone I first put on my poster they asked me to put another phone on saying heaven
call and have it at a tilt. They also said they did not like my magazine review saying the
text was to all over the place and I had no pictures on it so I had to put some pictures on
my film and rearrange the text on my review. They also said to improve my shots as in
one of them I cut to the next shot to soon so the character is going to sit on his sofa and
he was about to sit down and the next shot he was sat on the sofa so they gave me
feedback to reedit it so in that shot he is fully sat down then I cut to last shot. They also
gave me feedback on the individual credits of the cast and crew saying they need to be
on the screen for a bit longer. They also said for my last shot when it finishes it cuts to
black they said it would look better if I faded it to black very slowly.

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

Question 4 - How did you use media technologies in the construction,
research, planning and evaluation stages?
The media technologies I used are a HD camera for better quality and sound to look more
professional I also used a tripod which I mounted the camera and I used it so the camera
was steady whilst I was filming shots and It would look more professional when I edit it
all together. I also used a mac which I used to use final cut express which I used to edit
my footage together and add effects to the voice of my mother and add video transitions
to the film. How I used it was I used the tools available on the program to add what I
wanted to add to my film I used it because it is a good editing software and I have used it
before and understand it fairly well. I also used the program photoshop which I used to
design my poster how I used it was I used the tools on the program to edit the image so
the shadows of a thumb was deleted and delete text from the phone and put the phone at
an angle and change my text so it was how I wanted it to be I used it because it is a
excellent program to design posters on as it has the correct tools on it to do so and it is
quite easy to use. I also used the program pages to design my magazine review page how
I used it was I used the tools available to add text and insert images and to delete stuff
from the template that I did not want to use for my review and add my own text to the
places on the poster I wanted them to be and the same for images which was helpful
when designing my poster as I did not have to make the template myself. I used pages
because it is a great program to design your review on and previous students have used
pages and said how good it is to use and it is quite easy to use and get a hang off.

Question 4 - How did you use media technologies in the construction,
research, planning and evaluation stages?
I also used a normal school computer which I used to do my blog on the blog
website blogger which I used to create my A2 blog to record my progress for
my A2 coursework how I used it is I used the tools available to make posts and
insert images into posts to show my location shots and images of my
storyboards and my shooting schedule and my risk assessment I used blogger
because it is a great and fun site to create your media blogs on and it is quite
easy to use and you can get the hang of it quite quickly.

Evaluation

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