Saturday, 16 March 2013
End Note.
Okay, so here is the end of my A2 Media Portfolio! I felt it appropriate to put in a small afterword, just saying that the long year has come to an end! It's been a difficult journey, that has involved lots of time and effort, but overall I feel I've learnt a lot about Media on the whole and how a film would be constructed! As I've said, I'm happy with everything that has been done and I'm looking forward to applying everything I've learnt in the exam and continuing to gain knowledge about Media institutions and audiences!
Friday, 15 March 2013
What Have You Learned From Your Audience Feedback?
Just a short video of myself evaluating the question!
In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop Or Challenge Forms And Conventions Of Real Media Products?
This is the first question asked to evaluate! Now, it's an interesting question and one that is best answered by simply writing about it! There's not really much else I can do, other than reference parts of my media and evaluate them!
This question is a good question for me, as the whole point of my film was to challenge the conventions of narrative in a film. That's what my film does, it's about the challenged life of a disabled person and shows some pretty awful things happen to him. Not an average film, a very unconventional story line. However, it is quite 'developed' as there is a lot of conventional narrative in it. There's a Protagonist, Antagonist and even a love interest! Very basic, essential parts to a film. So, it's quite an interesting way of using forms and conventions, by partly sticking to the conventions so it attracts a modern audience, but also straying away in some form, so that it makes people think and it's different. By being different, it means people remember it, which is exactly what I wanted!
As for what I did in regards to filming, camera shots, etc, I stuck mainly to conventions! There's no extreme angles, no ridiculous cuts, etc... Everything is very conventional, as the story is so unconventional, that by making everything else the same, it would simply be too confusing! So, that's why I stayed fundamentally conventional.
In regards to my ancillary tasks (poster and website) I stayed very conventional in the design and effects on them. They're basic, eye catching and put across the feeling of the film! Both the website and the poster do this. They stay conventional, as if they're confusing and different, then an audience aren't going to know what they're looking at. Conventions are there because they generally work best, so sticking to them in the advertising is best. If not, they don't advertise properly, so people don't know what they're looking at.
So, there's my answer to how my media product uses, develops and challenges conventions!
This question is a good question for me, as the whole point of my film was to challenge the conventions of narrative in a film. That's what my film does, it's about the challenged life of a disabled person and shows some pretty awful things happen to him. Not an average film, a very unconventional story line. However, it is quite 'developed' as there is a lot of conventional narrative in it. There's a Protagonist, Antagonist and even a love interest! Very basic, essential parts to a film. So, it's quite an interesting way of using forms and conventions, by partly sticking to the conventions so it attracts a modern audience, but also straying away in some form, so that it makes people think and it's different. By being different, it means people remember it, which is exactly what I wanted!
As for what I did in regards to filming, camera shots, etc, I stuck mainly to conventions! There's no extreme angles, no ridiculous cuts, etc... Everything is very conventional, as the story is so unconventional, that by making everything else the same, it would simply be too confusing! So, that's why I stayed fundamentally conventional.
In regards to my ancillary tasks (poster and website) I stayed very conventional in the design and effects on them. They're basic, eye catching and put across the feeling of the film! Both the website and the poster do this. They stay conventional, as if they're confusing and different, then an audience aren't going to know what they're looking at. Conventions are there because they generally work best, so sticking to them in the advertising is best. If not, they don't advertise properly, so people don't know what they're looking at.
So, there's my answer to how my media product uses, develops and challenges conventions!
Thursday, 14 March 2013
How Effective Is The Combination Of Your Main Product And Ancillary Texts?
The combination of my two ancillary tasks is difficult to evaluate, as both of them aren't that interlinked and I decided to create them as separate projects. I did this for a number of reasons, but the problem it gives me is that it's difficult to measure how effective they are together.
To do this, I think it's best to link them as pure 'advertisements'. Their link is that they are both just standard adverts, that is pretty much free! Whilst they don't 'link' together, I think the both of them combine in creating a certain enigma surrounding the main task. They revolve around it and create a feeling of professionalism that is needed, so that people feel comfortable in spending their money in order to see the film.
It's very difficult to comment on this with there being little to comment on, however I think what I'm trying to say is that they are effective in pulling in an audience, but outside of that they really have little use together. This is not a bad thing, they were made for a purpose and they fill that purpose quite well!
To do this, I think it's best to link them as pure 'advertisements'. Their link is that they are both just standard adverts, that is pretty much free! Whilst they don't 'link' together, I think the both of them combine in creating a certain enigma surrounding the main task. They revolve around it and create a feeling of professionalism that is needed, so that people feel comfortable in spending their money in order to see the film.
It's very difficult to comment on this with there being little to comment on, however I think what I'm trying to say is that they are effective in pulling in an audience, but outside of that they really have little use together. This is not a bad thing, they were made for a purpose and they fill that purpose quite well!
Comments On Trailer.
So, what I've got here are a few comments on my Facebook page and the people involved didn't mind their names being featured in the blog. Unfortunately, I got very few responses, so there isn't a great deal to choose from. However, the comments I do have are pretty positive! I think Luke's comment is the most constructive, with it showing positives and negatives! The YouTube comments on the trailer are very similar too. With comments such as 'It's good'. They're not particularly constructive, however they are positive, meaning it can't be all bad! 
Changes From Planning To Production!
In the planning stage of my Portfolio, there were lots of things I said I wanted to do in my film trailer that I either haven't done, or have done very differently. Granted, there is a lot I've stuck to and the overall idea is the same, but there are a lot of differences. I think it's important to note this as it shows how my ideas transitioned from the start to end.
Some of the changes are that there are much more basketball scenes in the trailer now than I had originally storyboarded and generally, I made the whole thing flow better with more black outs, better cuts, etc!
From the very start, a little bit of the 'story' has changed, but not a great deal! The feel is the same, but now in the trailer, you see less character motive and such, than had been originally planned!
I don't have much to say on this, but it shows how ideas change over time. This isn't a bad thing, but is interesting. If anything, it's good, as we create our piece off far more than just our original plan!
Some of the changes are that there are much more basketball scenes in the trailer now than I had originally storyboarded and generally, I made the whole thing flow better with more black outs, better cuts, etc!
From the very start, a little bit of the 'story' has changed, but not a great deal! The feel is the same, but now in the trailer, you see less character motive and such, than had been originally planned!
I don't have much to say on this, but it shows how ideas change over time. This isn't a bad thing, but is interesting. If anything, it's good, as we create our piece off far more than just our original plan!
Evaluation Questions.
To evaluate my media package, not only will I be evaluating my stuff individually, but also I'll be answering these questions in their own separate posts!
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
What I Wanted To 'Achieve'?
I think it goes without saying that with all of this, I wanted to 'achieve' something. Now, the basic answer is an A grade! However, that's not all I was going for.
Whilst yes this is just an A Level project, it all turned into a lot more than that throughout the process. This Media Package became a way of expressing myself, in a much different way than people would usually do so! What I mean is, I actually set out to create something with genuine 'meaning' not just a blank piece of media. Everything I have in my video is there for a reason, it's all there to express my feelings about society in general and the way I feel about the life of those in struggles. As I've shown in my evaluation, there's elements that reflect on my life and elements that reflect on what people see as 'conventional'.
Now, the reason I've stuck to conventions, is that this isn't just for me. I really wanted other people to see what I was trying to express. I didn't just want to have something there for myself to look back on, I wanted to let other people tap into my thoughts and the 'achievement' was that people would understand exactly what is happening in modern life, according to someone who sees it from a different perspective. Now, I'm not going for world peace or anything, but if it just gives one person a little bit of understanding, then I feel like my media has done it's job. It's not just a piece of work, it's a piece of art in its own form. It's a visual expression of everything I know. And that, is what I wanted to achieve.
Whilst yes this is just an A Level project, it all turned into a lot more than that throughout the process. This Media Package became a way of expressing myself, in a much different way than people would usually do so! What I mean is, I actually set out to create something with genuine 'meaning' not just a blank piece of media. Everything I have in my video is there for a reason, it's all there to express my feelings about society in general and the way I feel about the life of those in struggles. As I've shown in my evaluation, there's elements that reflect on my life and elements that reflect on what people see as 'conventional'.
Now, the reason I've stuck to conventions, is that this isn't just for me. I really wanted other people to see what I was trying to express. I didn't just want to have something there for myself to look back on, I wanted to let other people tap into my thoughts and the 'achievement' was that people would understand exactly what is happening in modern life, according to someone who sees it from a different perspective. Now, I'm not going for world peace or anything, but if it just gives one person a little bit of understanding, then I feel like my media has done it's job. It's not just a piece of work, it's a piece of art in its own form. It's a visual expression of everything I know. And that, is what I wanted to achieve.
Am I 'Happy' With Everything?
From my full product, I feel I need to evaluate my overall 'happiness' with the media package. This is so I can just reflect on everything and work out for myself exactly what I do fully like about everything and really start to see what I don't like about it and what I'd do differently, should I ever do it again!
Overall, I am pretty happy with everything and everything has gone better than I imagined it would do! This does not mean to say it is perfect, but overall it's all very good and professional. There are no huge errors in my package which is always a plus and any minor errors are quite well covered up. Most of these are hard to see and not really 'errors' but more blemishes. So, because of there being no glaring errors it's hard to be unhappy with the majority of it.
Whilst saying this, I can also say that I know my package is far from perfect. I know that personally, no matter how happy I would be with my package, I would never be fully satisified. This is because I could just carry on editing everything to my heart's content and always thinking I could do something better, or different, when really it has the same effect, just in a different format.
I think what I'm most happy about, is that even though my film had no budget, no equipment and no real actors, it still manages to have an effect on an audience. I got this through asking people about everything, and seeing their response. One woman was quoted as saying "It made my heart race". Now, being an independent film maker, making people 'feel' is my highest priority, as that's the way to get noticed. If people talk about my film, then I get noticed. Or, that's the theory anyway! So, if I can say that I've made people 'feel' then I'm happy!
As I've been saying, I am generally happy with my work! However, I'm not fully satisfied with my website. The problem I think came from a lack of research and generally not knowing how to fully construct one. Luckily, the website does its job of just being a source of information about the film, so there's no glaring fault with it! Always a plus.
Even though there's no glaring fault, I do know it could be better and should I do it again I'd take a lot more care with it and do far more research into it, so I could make it a lot better! However, it's not a huge problem! I like the overall look and feel of it and it incorporates everything I have done, so it's hard not to be satisfied!
Again, overall I'm quite happy! I don't think there's much else to be said!
Overall, I am pretty happy with everything and everything has gone better than I imagined it would do! This does not mean to say it is perfect, but overall it's all very good and professional. There are no huge errors in my package which is always a plus and any minor errors are quite well covered up. Most of these are hard to see and not really 'errors' but more blemishes. So, because of there being no glaring errors it's hard to be unhappy with the majority of it.
Whilst saying this, I can also say that I know my package is far from perfect. I know that personally, no matter how happy I would be with my package, I would never be fully satisified. This is because I could just carry on editing everything to my heart's content and always thinking I could do something better, or different, when really it has the same effect, just in a different format.
I think what I'm most happy about, is that even though my film had no budget, no equipment and no real actors, it still manages to have an effect on an audience. I got this through asking people about everything, and seeing their response. One woman was quoted as saying "It made my heart race". Now, being an independent film maker, making people 'feel' is my highest priority, as that's the way to get noticed. If people talk about my film, then I get noticed. Or, that's the theory anyway! So, if I can say that I've made people 'feel' then I'm happy!
As I've been saying, I am generally happy with my work! However, I'm not fully satisfied with my website. The problem I think came from a lack of research and generally not knowing how to fully construct one. Luckily, the website does its job of just being a source of information about the film, so there's no glaring fault with it! Always a plus.
Even though there's no glaring fault, I do know it could be better and should I do it again I'd take a lot more care with it and do far more research into it, so I could make it a lot better! However, it's not a huge problem! I like the overall look and feel of it and it incorporates everything I have done, so it's hard not to be satisfied!
Again, overall I'm quite happy! I don't think there's much else to be said!
Written Evaluation Of Trailer.
I decided that it would be reasonably difficult to express my feelings on my trailer in words, I felt it was something that really had to be 'spoken' about, whilst you could see what was happening! So, as you can see, I went on a fully 'ramblomatic' review of it, as that's the ONLY way I could properly express how I felt about it. However, that was very in depth and I feel I should summarise my nearly 20 minute long rant!
In my rant, I said that I overall liked the feel of everything and that the whole thing was designed to be 'powerful' and spark different thoughts in people's minds.
That's the main aim of my trailer, controversy!
I don't want to go into detail here, as it's all in my spoken evaluation... However, as you see, I wanted to achieve a real sense of stress in an audience, so that they want to see my film! Really make an audience wonder... And that's what I've got! It's plain to see that lots of people feel this way about my trailer. Many people almost feel scared and that's perfect!
Overall, I'm happy with my trailer. After a full run down of it, I can honestly say I really like how it turned out. Refer to my spoken evaluation to hear all about the in depth parts of it! But from here, yes... I really liked the whole thing! And I'm proud of it!
In my rant, I said that I overall liked the feel of everything and that the whole thing was designed to be 'powerful' and spark different thoughts in people's minds.
That's the main aim of my trailer, controversy!
I don't want to go into detail here, as it's all in my spoken evaluation... However, as you see, I wanted to achieve a real sense of stress in an audience, so that they want to see my film! Really make an audience wonder... And that's what I've got! It's plain to see that lots of people feel this way about my trailer. Many people almost feel scared and that's perfect!
Overall, I'm happy with my trailer. After a full run down of it, I can honestly say I really like how it turned out. Refer to my spoken evaluation to hear all about the in depth parts of it! But from here, yes... I really liked the whole thing! And I'm proud of it!
Ancillary Task Two: Website.
Here is the link to my finished website:
http://waring51.wix.com/takingastand
I will evaluate in later posts!
http://waring51.wix.com/takingastand
I will evaluate in later posts!
Saturday, 9 March 2013
Facebook Comments On Poster
Although, what is to be noted is that some of the posts are less than helpful. Some of them are friends simply trying to be funny. However, I kept these in as besides them just being a joke, they do offer some value. If people feel comfortable enough around the poster to make these jokes, then the poster can't be bad. If it was truly a bad poster, they would not post those things, for fear of it being taken seriously. So, the jokes show me that people are comfortable with my poster, which is always a good thing to know. If people are comfortable, they are not feeling uneasy, therefore want to see my film. There's always something you can take out of ANY comment. Plus, they are pretty funny.
Overall, these comments give me some clear cut feedback, which I can use to fully evaluate my entire product!
Tuesday, 5 March 2013
Preferred, Negotiated And Oppositional Reading Of My Media Package.
When creating my trailer, there were certain ideologies I had, that I wanted to put across. In all media, directors want to put across their own message. This may refer to their political stance, feelings about certain issues, or simply how they view the world. There's endless possibilites as to what a director wants to address when they create a piece of media, whether that be a film, a poster, website, maagazine, etc!
This in mind, I had my own ideologies that I wanted to put across when creating all of my media. The ideologies are all very similar, if not the same. They all address the same film, so naturally they're all going to give off the same message. This being said, my ideologies are likely to not be the same to everyone else, so people may read the media pieces differently to how I wanted to put them across. This is known as 'Negotiated' or possibly 'Oppositional' readings, depending on how different their thoughts are to mine. If a person saw my point, but perhaps saw things a little different, then that is negotiated, but if someone saw it completely different, that is oppositional.
So, onto my preferred reading!
In my trailer, poster and website, there was some definite issues that I wanted to put across. These are political and just plain issues. Without being too harsh, my piece does have quite an 'anti-conservative' feel to it, due to the issues involved with it. Due to the film looking at problems in working class life, it kind of takes an indirect stab at the upper classes, for not having to deal with this kind of thing. In fact, the conecept of a disabled person getting beaten up is completely alien to upper classes. But, in a small town full of lower and working classes, the idea is not so far from what happens, but maybe a little extreme. This is only a small ideology in the film, though. With me coming from a very working class background, I obviously have Labour/Liberal views, so an opportunity to expose neglect of Conservatives was a chance I couldn't not take, however this is not about my political viewpoint, it's merely a small ideology, embedded deep in codes that could be put forward very indirectly, as to not alienate audience.
There's much more of a meaning embedded into my media package. Perhaps the main message in my film, is the exposition of a certain type of Youth Culture in Britain. As everyone knows, there are certain youths in the country that you don't want to aggravate, as the consequences can be harmful, whether that be on a physical or emotional scale. So, this was a way to really exaggerate that, in a powerful way, under rather extreme conditions. However, the truthfulness in it is not far from the truth. I base this on personal experience. Whilst this is a very biased thing to do, if it's happened to one person, then the issue is very real. I doubt I am the only person that could experience an event such as is in the film trailer. Yes, it's an extreme case, but it highlights a lot of Youth Culture in Britain. Also, the part where they are actually beating the main character up, shows a struggle between those law abiding citizens and those that choose to disobey the law and have lack of respect for anyone. I put this in, as I feel that in modern day society, there is a constant struggle between good and evil.
Underlying this, is the ascension from underdog to hero. Whilst we don't see the 'hero' phase in the trailer, so nothing is given away, it's implied, so this shows how in society, there are those few that rise above everything and follow their hopes and dreams. Often, these are the people we least expect.
So, these are my ideologies behind my film package! Hopefully, this gives a lot of insight into why I did everything that I did, and everything that would be planned for if I ever made a full film!
However, in media, everything is not always as simple as this. As my film is quite controversial in the grand scheme of things, it leaves it open to a lot of negotiated and even oppositional reading...
With these, there are endless possibilities into how people could read my media, but for example, a negotiated reading of my piece would be that it simply shows how society is bad, there's no hope, etc. This is slightly what I was going for, but not completely, making it negotiated. However, there could be many slightly changed meanings of what I was going for, this is based on the audiences ideologies, to how they read my piece.
There's also some really harsh possibilities for how people could read my film, show they follow oppositional reading. If their ideologies are a certain way, then it could really open my film up to a lot of criticism and really spark a lot of controversy. This in a way could be good, or very bad.
The controversy would come from someone saying I'm glorifying disabled people being beaten up, or something like that. Saying how all we need in life is to have something bad happen to us before we can be any good, etc.
There's lots that can be said to put my film in a bad light. However, this is not what I was going for and it would be a minority that felt this way, I would hope.
So, there is it. Preferred, Negotiated and Oppositional reading of my film. It's good to show this, as it gives insight into everything about my media package!
This in mind, I had my own ideologies that I wanted to put across when creating all of my media. The ideologies are all very similar, if not the same. They all address the same film, so naturally they're all going to give off the same message. This being said, my ideologies are likely to not be the same to everyone else, so people may read the media pieces differently to how I wanted to put them across. This is known as 'Negotiated' or possibly 'Oppositional' readings, depending on how different their thoughts are to mine. If a person saw my point, but perhaps saw things a little different, then that is negotiated, but if someone saw it completely different, that is oppositional.
So, onto my preferred reading!
In my trailer, poster and website, there was some definite issues that I wanted to put across. These are political and just plain issues. Without being too harsh, my piece does have quite an 'anti-conservative' feel to it, due to the issues involved with it. Due to the film looking at problems in working class life, it kind of takes an indirect stab at the upper classes, for not having to deal with this kind of thing. In fact, the conecept of a disabled person getting beaten up is completely alien to upper classes. But, in a small town full of lower and working classes, the idea is not so far from what happens, but maybe a little extreme. This is only a small ideology in the film, though. With me coming from a very working class background, I obviously have Labour/Liberal views, so an opportunity to expose neglect of Conservatives was a chance I couldn't not take, however this is not about my political viewpoint, it's merely a small ideology, embedded deep in codes that could be put forward very indirectly, as to not alienate audience.
There's much more of a meaning embedded into my media package. Perhaps the main message in my film, is the exposition of a certain type of Youth Culture in Britain. As everyone knows, there are certain youths in the country that you don't want to aggravate, as the consequences can be harmful, whether that be on a physical or emotional scale. So, this was a way to really exaggerate that, in a powerful way, under rather extreme conditions. However, the truthfulness in it is not far from the truth. I base this on personal experience. Whilst this is a very biased thing to do, if it's happened to one person, then the issue is very real. I doubt I am the only person that could experience an event such as is in the film trailer. Yes, it's an extreme case, but it highlights a lot of Youth Culture in Britain. Also, the part where they are actually beating the main character up, shows a struggle between those law abiding citizens and those that choose to disobey the law and have lack of respect for anyone. I put this in, as I feel that in modern day society, there is a constant struggle between good and evil.
Underlying this, is the ascension from underdog to hero. Whilst we don't see the 'hero' phase in the trailer, so nothing is given away, it's implied, so this shows how in society, there are those few that rise above everything and follow their hopes and dreams. Often, these are the people we least expect.
So, these are my ideologies behind my film package! Hopefully, this gives a lot of insight into why I did everything that I did, and everything that would be planned for if I ever made a full film!
However, in media, everything is not always as simple as this. As my film is quite controversial in the grand scheme of things, it leaves it open to a lot of negotiated and even oppositional reading...
With these, there are endless possibilities into how people could read my media, but for example, a negotiated reading of my piece would be that it simply shows how society is bad, there's no hope, etc. This is slightly what I was going for, but not completely, making it negotiated. However, there could be many slightly changed meanings of what I was going for, this is based on the audiences ideologies, to how they read my piece.
There's also some really harsh possibilities for how people could read my film, show they follow oppositional reading. If their ideologies are a certain way, then it could really open my film up to a lot of criticism and really spark a lot of controversy. This in a way could be good, or very bad.
The controversy would come from someone saying I'm glorifying disabled people being beaten up, or something like that. Saying how all we need in life is to have something bad happen to us before we can be any good, etc.
There's lots that can be said to put my film in a bad light. However, this is not what I was going for and it would be a minority that felt this way, I would hope.
So, there is it. Preferred, Negotiated and Oppositional reading of my film. It's good to show this, as it gives insight into everything about my media package!
Monday, 4 March 2013
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