Production Report Main Task Evaluation Ayanda Jones

1. Production ReportMain Task EvaluationAyanda Jones

2. Ways that my media product uses, develop and challenges forms and conventions of real media products Mise-en-scene: As our film is based on ‘gang life’ we decided to dress our characters in ‘street wear,’ i.e. Tracksuits and ‘Hoodies.’ This is a common form used in many films based on crime and gang culture. For example, in Kidulthood the dark hooded jumper worn by one of the characters suggests danger. In our film we two wanted to represent the danger associated with gangs and the dark colours are associated with terror and death. This also shows the characters to be unite, all belonging to the same gang. Camera Work: The conventional way of opening any main stream film is with an establishing shot, allowing the audience to recognise and become familiar with the settings. We decided to challenge these forms of conventions and use a close-up of the main character as the opening shot. This enables the audience to recognise her importance as the leader of the gang and causes the audience to be put on edge as they are unaware of the setting until later on when we use an establishing shot . I feel that this worked well as it portrays to the audience that the film is unique and I also feel it’s a good way to differentiate Melanie for the remaining members of the gang. After the main character has got up to go home, an eye-line match is shown of her and her little sister. This draws attention to these two characters and foreshadows the action that is yet to take place between them. The use of an eye-line match has become relatively conventional and so by freezing on each character in an extreme close-up for a couple of seconds was good as It Is developing these conventions, I also feel that with this, audience are kept in suspense. It is an unfamiliar view point and so keep watching in order to find out what happens. The use of a handheld camera as the little sister runs up was based on the conventional way of showing ‘realism.’ I feel that in the context of our film, it reflects the excitement of the little sister as she calls out ‘Melanie, Melz! I’ve got something to show you.’ We also used props such as bandanas, alcohol and mobile phones, the bandanas and the alcohol again reinforce gang culture and portray a sense of realism. It was very important that we did not cross over the fine line of showing realism, and begin to reinforce the negative stereotypical views of gangs and so we decided to have some characters dressed in brighter colours. For example one character was wearing white trousers and a blue top.

3. Characters: Many films about gangs are made up of black teenage males, They are presented negatively and carry a form of weaponry weather it is a gun or a knife. We wanted to challenge these conventions and have gang members from different ethnicities. Unfortunately, we were let down by some of our actors who were unable to attend the shoot and had to find new actors, which ended up being mainly black males. This meant that to our disadvantage our film in a way reinforces negative stereotypes of black males . We thought of other ways to challenge existing film conventions as we did not want thee male figures to be the main focus of our film. Saying this, we decided to have a female character as the gang leader. Not only does this go against the normal forms and conventions but it also allows a females ability to dominate. The younger sister who is young and not in a gang, is the character that we show with a gun. This again is challenging to the normal conventions and shows the consequences of carrying a gun as she is the character that ends up dead. Editing: We used continuity editing throughout the film which a common form of films. This allows the film to run smoothly and draws attention away from the editing. When editing I decided that that the opening sequence would be in black and white. This is unconventional and suggests that the events taking place have happened already and it is just a flashback or someone’s memory. I feel that in not doing this, the audience would be confused as to what is taking place and the opening would like like a short film itself, which is not what was intended.

4. How my media product presents the different social groups Teenagers Children .

5. The audience for our media product and how we attracted them: We decided that the targeted audience for our media product would be within the ages of 15 to 24 and so have a certificate of 15. Music We decided to use ‘rap’ music in our opening sequence. The artist of the track agreed for us use his rap, titled ‘pain and strife.’ Being a genre which is widely listed to among youths of today, using the music at the beginin of the film would attract them straight away. Genre Gang Crime is an increasing problem in modern society, and many young adults have knowledge of gangs and the issues that arise between gangs. I feel that by dealing with such an important issue the audience are able to relate to the context and sympathise with the characters. On the other hand, more mature viewers may also find interest in our film, as it raises issues to do with the importance of positive role models. In addition, It also shows that not only are gangs a threat to those within them, but also for children growing up around gangs and these negative influences. In addition I feel that the film not only attracts woman who would be able to relate to the main character as she is female but it also appeals to men as they are very much attracted to fighting and fast action. In terms of editing, the cuts between films are fast, this reflects a music video and so appeals to younger viewers. Characters When casting for our film, we ensured that we used people within the same age group as the targeted audience. I think this worked well as having a gang made up of older adults, would simply be unrealistic

6. Audience Feedback • I got together a group of 15 people within our target audience range of 15 to 24, along with a few others who were of an older age, and together they viewed the opening sequence to my film ‘End of The Road.’ As part of my evaluation process I asked the audience to complete an on-line evaluation questionnaire. Following this I got together a sample of the viewers and had an evaluation discussion. • The feedback from both parts of the process aimed to explore the following components • Mise-en-scene • Clothing/props and makeup • Setting and location • Figure expression and movement • Lighting • Sound • Camera work • Editing • The link below is a copy of one of the replies which I got back. http://www.surveymonkey.com/MySurvey_ResponsesDetail.aspx?sm=ovsHyT7BHcuQ4r5cIaYTXn%2fC6XLqfINQp4TlD6bgBTT3gigWERfkUREMFLKcShis

7. Evaluation Discussion Group The discussion took place on the 23rd March 2010. During the discussion, the following questions were asked: There is a fine line between realism and perpetuating popular stereotypes – Do you think the film was realistic or did it fall into the trap of stereotyping What do you think the film says about childhood in Britain today Do you think it is morally acceptable to portray Melanie as a good person receiving an award for good work given her history of gang violence The following icon directs you to a recording of the group discussion.

8. What I have learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product Before beginning with the construction of my media product, I had very little understand of final cut and so feel that I have learnt a considerably large amount. I am now able to add cuts into the film, allowing me to shift the position of particular shots. This also enables me to delete sections which I feel are unessential. In addition I learnt how to adjust the volume in the sequence. For example, to begin with, rap music is heard, I was then able to gradually decrease the sound until it was at a low level to allow for the opening to play over. I also learnt how to edit the image on screen, i.e. change it to sepia, distort the image or and a ripple effect to it. Furthermore, I learnt how to use freeze frames and also add text to the sequence. This enabled me to create a title sequence, where each section of text entered with a different transition. I have learnt a lot about camera work and how different shots can present different meanings to the viewer. Evidence of which is in our film. Depth of field: -A shot which shows one person near to the camera and another person behind them at a distance. In our final 2 minute opening sequence we presented our understanding of this shot, by having Melanie close to the camera and Kaley behind, this is just before she begins running up to Melanie whilst calling her name. Through the construction of our film, I also learnt about the 180 degree rule. Breaking this rule would go against conventional media forms and simply allienate the viewer. Working towards a final product I have used various means of technology, from the internet -to research other films within the same genre- to Final cut which I used to edit the final product. Firstly, I learnt how to screen grab a page, and paste it into my work, this helped during the planning to our film as I was able to capture aspects from other existing films and comment on various things, such as the use of mise-en-scene. In constructing the film, I feel that I have been able to develop my understanding and use of lighting. Although in our final product we only used natural lighting sources, in the run up to our film, we experimented using different sources of lighting to achieve different dramatic effects. For example, just a backlight would bring focus to the face and create an intense mood.

9. Looking back at my preliminary task in progression to my full product, I feel I have learnt the following; Below is a screen grab taken from one of the many emails which I forwarded to all my group members With my preliminary task I feel that I did not do as much planning and research into other films, I feel that this helped a considerably large amount as it enabled me to incorporate ideas from existing films. Another key factor which I have learnt is the importance of communicating with other group members and as director, talking them through each step I take towards the production of the opening sequence. Saying this, in doing my main task I used email as a way of communicating with the other group members. This allowed us to keep track of what was going on and what had to be done. Taken from a few bad experiences during my preliminary task where people were unsure of what they were meant to be doing and some members of the group overdoing the work. During the production of my main task I found that it was very much important as a group to allocate job roles at the beginning stages

10. Final Comment When watching through the sequence on ‘final cut’ before editing, I felt that the sequence looked more like film in itself as it ended with the character Kaley being shot accidentally by her sister and the title ‘End Of the Road’ appearing on screen. This suggested to the viewers that it was the end of the film. As a result, I decided to add a voice over the beginning of the film were Melanie Smith is being interviewed about the recent award that she has just received, she does not reply to the interviewee and then the opening sequence acts like a flashback, as she remembers how she got to where she is now. In order to present this as a flashback to the audience, a black and white effect was used. I feel that this and along with the text which I added both at the beginning and end, helped to illustrate that the sequence is only the opening to the film. If I was to do the task again, I would work more closely with the actors in practicing different shoots and working on ways which they could be more convincing to the audience. As a final note, i am happy with the outcome of the film and it was very reassuring to hear the positive feedback from those who watched the sequence.