Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
This can be in the form of narrative and form or in terms of the style of your film. You should have a wealth of material on this. You can and should refer closely to film theory (Derry/Barthes/Todorov), your narrative and how it builds suspense and elements of m/e/c/s.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
What social groups are represented? Socio-economic and class, gender, age race or other?
Have you employed stereotypes or countertypes and if so why? Is this reflected in the narrative, costume, performance, sound, or casting? Was the representation of your character types designed to appeal to your target audience?
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
This will involve research. Consider these prompts.
What other films is yours similar to and which companies produced and distributed them?
What have you learned about these companies and the kind of films they produce? (You should be able to research the companies on their sites and they will probably describe the kinds of films that they distribute)
Is your film national or international in its appeal?
Does your film have major commercial potential or is it less mainstream and more arthouse?
Who would be the audience for your media product?
This is an area that could easily be vague. It’s important to be specific and to be able to make clear how the requirements of your audience affected production decisions. Don’t just say that you chose an audience of young men. You will have more to say if you look at particular subgenres and then relate these to conventions. One group made a gangster thriller and were able to discuss how its style was proven popular to an audience of the genre as it had many elements of Tarantino and Ritchie. They then were able to discuss the ‘Loaded’ generation and obsession with materialism and its male bonding issues and relate these to their film.
Or you may consider how particular groups such as gender groups would respond to your production. One group made a film with a female protagonist which brought up lots of interesting ideas about male oppression of women. There have been a number of recent films such as ‘Eden Lake’ and ‘Attack the Block’ which have particular relevance to their target audience as they involve contemporary social groups that will be relevant and of interest to their audience.
It mat be that your film will include issues or representations that will be particularly relevant to your audience. One group focused their narrative around estranged families which in the present age seems particularly relevant for a young audience. Disturbia includes issues of social disobedience, negative representations of youth, negative representations of older generations and step-parents which again would be of particular interest to its target audience. My pitch for Deadline has a central protagonist who is labouring under school pressures, again to strike a chord with a young target audience.
How did you attract/address your audience?
Consider your initial planning into conventions used in similar films which were proven to appeal to an audience.
Explain how you included your audience in the planning and production stages through their responses to your pitches and to your rough cut.
Explain how you changed your production to meet their expectations.
Explain how your research was useful in improving your understanding of audience requirements in the genre.
Are there elements of the production which seemed to be particularly appropriate for the audience such as the music/soundtrack or representations?
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Explain your greater understanding of Final Cut Express, Livetype and Garageband. Make sure you use the correct terms. Don’t just comment on filters, for example make clear you used the Gaussian Blur for a specific effect. The key point is to be specific with this and explain what you have done in detail
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Don’t be vague when answering this.
You will have improved your technical skills as well as your understanding of the demands of the making films and in the importance of thorough research and planning. You will also have developed a far keener appreciation of all elements of film-making which you must make clear.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
This can be in the form of narrative and form or in terms of the style of your film. You should have a wealth of material on this. You can and should refer closely to film theory (Derry/Barthes/Todorov), your narrative and how it builds suspense and elements of m/e/c/s.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
What social groups are represented? Socio-economic and class, gender, age race or other?
Have you employed stereotypes or countertypes and if so why? Is this reflected in the narrative, costume, performance, sound, or casting? Was the representation of your character types designed to appeal to your target audience?
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
This will involve research. Consider these prompts.
What other films is yours similar to and which companies produced and distributed them?
What have you learned about these companies and the kind of films they produce? (You should be able to research the companies on their sites and they will probably describe the kinds of films that they distribute)
Is your film national or international in its appeal?
Does your film have major commercial potential or is it less mainstream and more arthouse?
Who would be the audience for your media product?
This is an area that could easily be vague. It’s important to be specific and to be able to make clear how the requirements of your audience affected production decisions. Don’t just say that you chose an audience of young men. You will have more to say if you look at particular subgenres and then relate these to conventions. One group made a gangster thriller and were able to discuss how its style was proven popular to an audience of the genre as it had many elements of Tarantino and Ritchie. They then were able to discuss the ‘Loaded’ generation and obsession with materialism and its male bonding issues and relate these to their film.
Or you may consider how particular groups such as gender groups would respond to your production. One group made a film with a female protagonist which brought up lots of interesting ideas about male oppression of women. There have been a number of recent films such as ‘Eden Lake’ and ‘Attack the Block’ which have particular relevance to their target audience as they involve contemporary social groups that will be relevant and of interest to their audience.
It mat be that your film will include issues or representations that will be particularly relevant to your audience. One group focused their narrative around estranged families which in the present age seems particularly relevant for a young audience. Disturbia includes issues of social disobedience, negative representations of youth, negative representations of older generations and step-parents which again would be of particular interest to its target audience. My pitch for Deadline has a central protagonist who is labouring under school pressures, again to strike a chord with a young target audience.
How did you attract/address your audience?
Consider your initial planning into conventions used in similar films which were proven to appeal to an audience.
Explain how you included your audience in the planning and production stages through their responses to your pitches and to your rough cut.
Explain how you changed your production to meet their expectations.
Explain how your research was useful in improving your understanding of audience requirements in the genre.
Are there elements of the production which seemed to be particularly appropriate for the audience such as the music/soundtrack or representations?
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Explain your greater understanding of Final Cut Express, Livetype and Garageband. Make sure you use the correct terms. Don’t just comment on filters, for example make clear you used the Gaussian Blur for a specific effect. The key point is to be specific with this and explain what you have done in detail
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Don’t be vague when answering this.
You will have improved your technical skills as well as your understanding of the demands of the making films and in the importance of thorough research and planning. You will also have developed a far keener appreciation of all elements of film-making which you must make clear.