A2 BLOG

Coursework grade: 73/100 (B)

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Fri, 07 May 2010 22:34:00 +0000

Well done.

Planning grade: 16/20

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Fri, 07 May 2010 21:43:00 +0000

WWW:
Good proposal, analysis of films using key concepts, consideration of target audience and animate.
EBI:
Analysis of technical elements (camera, mise-en-scene and so on)
Language - in proposal you discuss dialogue under LANGAUGE but LANGUAGE is about the technical elements and how these communicate messages i.e. camera movement and shots, casting, costume, lighting and so on.
Use of VALS in discussing audience profile for your film

Production grade: 40/60

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Fri, 07 May 2010 21:40:00 +0000

Film: 27/40
Proficient technical skills, some small errors and mistakes
Poster: 8/10
Very good, move date up as discussed
Radio advert: 5/10

radio advert 5/10

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Fri, 07 May 2010 21:15:00 +0000

Good idea but issues with editing - it doesn't run smoothly. Also issues with quality of voice recording - you may need to do this in a music department studio for better quality. Also consider adding sound from the film - convention.

Evaluation Feedback: 17/20

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Fri, 07 May 2010 21:13:00 +0000

Great, well done. Excellent understanding of conventions, audience, marketing and use of new media.
Excellent choice of form for presentation of media.
Good skill in creation of podcast.

EBI:
Some sound interference from mobile phone and some sounds editing issues.

Planning for Poster, Image concept

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:22:00 +0000

I researched conventional Film Posters and took this into consideration when selecting an image to put at the forefront of my poster. A film poster that i could really relate to is the "Good Will Hunting" poster which i found relevant to my own as the storyline conveys two different individuals, who are friends.

Below is the "Good Will Hunting" poster which had a massive influence on my poster idea, and inspired me to create a poster in the in which I did. I liked the natural effect of the two characters in the foreground, embracing in conversation and expressing emotion towards each other as peers.

Planning of Radio Advert

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:18:00 +0000

I researched conventional Radio Adverts, and planned my own according to this. I tried to include as many conventions as possible which you will see through the development of my Draft/Script.

A2 Planning via iCal

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:00:00 +0000

In order to plan my next step of action effectively, I used iCal to recored important deadlines to remind myself when certain pieces of work were due. Here you will see my monthly routines, and how i completed my work with the use of intense planning.

APRIL: Last Footage Shot, Final editing of the Film, Audio and Film combined. Film Finnished and Burnt to disk along with Radio Ad and Evaluation.
MARCH: Radio Ad Planned and Completed, Footage edited. Evaluation complete.

FEBRUARY: Film Poster and Upload more footage.

JANUARY: Start Filming and Uploading Footage.

DECEMBER: Animate complete.

NOVEMBER; Script first draft, Identifying Conventions of Short Films, Character Profiling, Begin Storyboard Animate.

OCTOBER: First identified the concept for my film, which is related to peer pressure and drugs. Planning; First Draft, Presentation, Storyboard.

Radio Advert for "In Two Minds"

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:36:00 +0000

Evaluation (podcast)

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:18:00 +0000

Really need Film and Radio advert on DVD to mark

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 13:47:00 +0000

..... EVALUATION TOO.........!!!!

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:06:00 +0000

The Film Poster

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:01:00 +0000

Making The Poster

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:54:00 +0000

2) I had to consider the typical conventions of a film poster when deciding what picture to use, and where to place the text. I also had to consider the actual text Eg; actors names, film title, production company which me and Brad made up as "EVERGLAD Productions", and the date that the film hypothetically "comes out".

Also, the film has to portray the overall message of the film which had to be conveyed by the photograph. I came up with the idea as the two protagonists are in main view and the focus is on their body language and facial expressions. The poster shows the two characters as friends having a casual conversation, however there is a divide down the middle which portrays their differences.

1) The original photograph was taken at night around 9:00pm on a Canon350D. I inserted it into photoshop and began editing the image and adding in text to make it look like a conventional film poster.

Storyboard Animate

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:37:00 +0000

MISSED DEADLINE

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:02:00 +0000

See me Monday BEFORE lesson

Target Audience Questions

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:15:00 +0000

Who are the Target Audience for short films?

1. There are several types of audience for short films.

The first being young people who are hoping to be noticed by bigger film directors and break in to the industry. They usually make short films with a very low budget and post them on internet sites where directors can easily access them. It would also be Arts and Media students who are ordered to construct a short 5 minute film as part of their course criteria, these are known as amateur filmmakers. On the other hand, Industry professionals and Investors may be looking for new talent in the filmmaking industry and would come under the umbrella of people who could be considered as an accurate target audience. They would look at short films online, to try and spot new and innovative short films in order to invest or work with new people.

2. Who are the target audience for the films you've studied?

Night School; is a short film directed by Ben Soper, which represents one male and one female youth who wish to become more intimate with each other and break into a school in order to find some privacy.

I believe the short film is aimed at industry professionals, as I researched that Ben Soper made the film in a 48 hour filmmaking competition.

The target audience could also consist of students, as the film is featured on the BBC website for short films it is likely that younger and more technologically advanced teens would be thought to access the site (not unlike myself) in order to conduct reasearch for their own filmmaking projects. Also, the style of the film appeals more to a younger audience as it has a "rebellious" feel to it in which youths can relate.

If Not Now, When?; is a film in which the protagonist is a youth from an ethnic background with not many opportunities in life, however he tries to pursue his dream of becoming a professional footballer by staying out of trouble. But eventually, trouble finds him.

It is likely that the target audience for this film is that of teenage males involved in gang violence, as it confronts the issue of urban violence. It would be harder for adults to relate to this film as they cannot understand the characters perspective.

Although it involves gangs of ethnic groups, I believe the target audience does not single this out, the target audience incorporates all different cultures. The main target audience is youth, who could face the possible problems as the protagonist in this film.

As for the social class of the audience, it is more than likely to be the lower class people who can relate to life on an estate like the set in East London. Aiming the film at wealthy public school boys will not have the same effect.

School Life; is situated in a school environment and represents how one boy wants to find out the answers to life and who is bullied and ignored by teachers and peers, eventually finds out the message is not what he originally thought. Again due to the age of the protagonist and the majority of actors/actresses on screen the main target audience for this film would be youths aged around 14-18, and are likely to still be at school. The fact that the film addresses bullying enforces the fact that it is aimed at teens as they are able to relate.

3. Who am I making my film for? ( Demographics & Psychographics )

My film is a representation of youth and the problematic situations teens find themselves in, and how they have to make decisions to deal with this.

Taking this information into consideration I believe that the target audience for my short film would be of a similar age to the protagonists, so around 14-18 years old.

In relation to gender, young males could be seen as the main target audience as they can understand the difficulties the 2 characters go through in the film as we are representing young male life throughout.

Educational background is another factor to consider. The target audience are most likely to be undertaking or to have completed an Arts or Media qualification as the type of people who make short films; such as students. There could also be people such as industry professionals who have completed a media related degree and are now fully involved in the industry of filmmaking.

The likely social class of the target audience i would consider to be middle class as they would need access to computers and the internet if they were viewing the short film. If they were making the short film the same social class would apply, as the students would need filming equipment and accurate knowledge of the industry gained through education.

The economic status of my target audience is varied as the age range of people is quite vast. Firstly, there are students who make the films and have limited or no income and are likely to live at home with their parents. Secondly, there are the industry professionals who view or invest in the films, and their economic status would depend on the individual.

How will you measure your success in having made a product which appeals to the audience?

I will upload my film to networking sites such as; YouTube. This is an interactive method as people can leave comments as to what they think of the film. Another way is to create a survey on the film and physically hand it out to people, or e-mail it to people who have seen the film. Utilizing this could be vital, as feedback is gained from the audience about out media product. The final idea would be to hold group screening, which would consist of a group of people watching the film and then initiating a discussion afterwards to get everybodys' views on the product.

RIVALING (short Films)

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:32:00 +0000

R I V A L I N G

In this section of my blog i am going to analyse 4 short films from the BBC network, according to the RIVALING concept.

Representation
Institution
Values
Audience
Language
Ideology
Narrative
Genre

School Life / Night School / If Not Now, When?
View more documents from everest1234.

Newspaper Evaluation

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:29:00 +0000

Newspaper Evaluation

One of the things I learnt throughout the production process was how to use Adobe In Design. I have had no previous experience with this program so had teach myself the basics when coming to text, image and boxes in order to create a conventional newspaper layout. I found it relatively easy to use after playing around with it for a while. I now feel more confident when using the program Adobe InDesign.

I also developed a better understanding of newspaper conventions and layouts by doing some research. I studied the influence of font style, images and a creative headline has on the viewer. It also came to my attention that the most important part of a newspaper is the newspaper masthead which is located on the front page, as it is the first thing the reader will see. If this is is done to a high standard it can really add the the professional look of the paper.

Finally, the last thing I learnt was the significance of the newspaper layout. I found that by not including too much text on the front page was more effective, and that by arranging images and text in a orderly way I could make the most of the page whilst making the paper eye catching.

Character Profiles

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:02:00 +0000

2 Main Characters

Character 1

Name : Dylan Tate

Gender : Male

Age : 17

About

Attitude;

A confident character who could be described as an extrovert, he is loud and always looking to have a good time. Challenges conventional behavior and has a rebellious streak which often leads him into trouble as he is a bit careless. He is gifted academically but he wastes his potential as he is too laid back and doesn't take life seriously enough. Likes to drink alcohol and go to parties, he is willing to "try anything once". Very loyal to his close friends.

Sub-Culture (Dress Sense);

Stereotypical teenager/ Relaxed, scruffy look / Casual wear / Preppy / Not too concerned about his image.

Interests/Hobbies;

Represents the working class so hobbies consist of- Football, Drinking, Socializing with mates, Smoking.

Character 2

Name : Sam Rye

Gender : Male

Age : 17

About

Attitude;

More of an introvert character, does not like to show off or be the center of attention. Could be seen as "quiet but confident". Has had to deal with more responsibilities in life as his dad died of a drug over-dose when he was younger, so has strong ethics, wants to do well in life, feels responsible for his mum and younger sister and therefore is a bit more cautious than character 1. Tries hard at school as he is not naturally academic. A good friend, who is also up for a bit of fun but not the the extreme.

Sub-Culture (Dress-Sense)

Casual wear stereotypical of a teenager/ Well groomed/ similar to character 1 but a bit more smarter and more thought out.

Interests/Hobbies

Also representational of working class; enjoys football, playing the playstation, socialising.

Short Film (REPRESENTATION)

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Short Film

For my coursework, I am working with Brad Gladden. We have chosen to make short film, as we feel are both interested in the process of film production and would like to experiment with it ourselves.

Conventionally, a short film begins with an equilibrium, which is something that happens in the film that creates some sort of dilemma. From this, the film returns to a re-equilibirum nearer the end which could possibly incorporate various different shots and/or camera angles. Brad and I have a brief idea of what our short film will represent however, we will need to go into more detail.

Representation - Our idea involves the representation of teenagers and the effect that peer pressure can cause on a group of individuals. From this, we decided to include the message that; one decision in a teeneger's life could lead to positive or negative consequences. We will include two main characters around the age of seventeen. Both are males (like Brad and myself) and go to the same secondary school. However, one of the characters has more ethics and a stronger will power than the other due to a death in the family and the sense of responsibility. They are best friends and have many things in common, however there will be an equilibrium which see's the two friends' seperated.

This is representation of peer pressure and how it can have an affect on your life as a teenager. We are going to have contrasting scenes where you see the different lives each boy leads as a result of the decisions they each made.

Institution - The institution is Film/Cinema, but the sub genre is short film. Our target audience is going to be that of a secondary school, as we feel that teenagers would benifit most from out short film because than can relate to the characters and what they could be feeling.

We believe our film would be perfect for film distributors Revolver Entertainment as they have previously released urban drama's such; as Kidulthood, which out film could be catagorised with.

We could also receive funding from the UK film council as the fully support realist films that let people see into the everyday lives of the working class, which out film could be see to represent.

Values - The film is going to need skilled camera work so me and Matt will organise slots of times to work on the film with extra incase things need to be fixed at the end like in our short film 'The Package'. We will also need a co-operative cast, who will be our friends willing to work for us.

Audience - This film would be given a certificate '15' which is appropriate as out target audience is for secondary school kids around 15-18 years old . There will be moderate scenes of drugs taking, but no real violence or swearing involved.
By showing representation of social decisions and the negative effects they can have, we hope to make a direct impact on our target audience. We will not force them into thinking what's right and what is wrong because that is our own view's and could have been mediated, we want to represent teenage life in the best way we can in order to the viewers to come to their own conclusion.

Language - There will be a fair amount of dialogue in the film, but we are also planning to use diagetic and non-diagetic music to portray the storyline and the mood. In relation to this, we are also going to use camera angles to exaggerate and express some scenes.

Ideology - The film will deal the issue of peer pressure amongst teenagers, and how older teens can influence the decisions younger, more vunerable teens can make. We are dealing with factors such as the loss of a role model, in this case character 2's father. In the film this makes him realise that you shouldn't waste your life, and that the decision you make are important, and i'm sure particular viewer can relate to this. On the other hand we are dealing with the consumption of drugs among youngsters, and showing the negative effects that they can have on your life, long term and short term.

Narrative - Set on a Friday, the story will begin by each character waking up in their home, and showing the contrast between the indiduals, and their daily routines. It will show the way in which they interact with their families (or in some cases, don't), their houses and the areas they live in. There won’t be much dialogue, just some non-diagetic music to portray the mood.
Then the story will show the two different characters meeting up on the way to school and the similarities they possess. Sometime during the day they hear about a party and decide to go. From this we will show a few school and clips from throughout the day, showing how one character is an introvert and how the other is an introvert. Possibly showing their different attitudes to school. From this we will show them getting ready before the party, having a laugh and drinking. The main scene which involves the equilibrium shows one character taking drugs off older kids, and the other declining the offer. This is where their similarities decrease and the gradually drift apart. Flash forward to a re-equilibrium where the two are reunited and the viewer can see the contrast between the two, when character 2 decides to help character 1 get his life back on track.

Genre - Looking at the paradigms of the film it will be catergorised in the ' Teen Drama' genre.

Short Film Script

matt.everest@hotmail.com (Matt Everest & Brad Gladden) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:59:00 +0000

Detailed Script

Script First Draft

the start of this sequence involves frequent transitions between Sam & Dylan

the first shot is an establishing shot of Sam's house fading from a black screen. this cuts to a close up from Sam's POV looking at a framed picture of his dad, there is a pause to try to signify his sad emotion of losing his dad. this includes a quick action shot of him following his normal routine of washing and walking down the stairs.

a sharp transition

to a medium shot of Dylans bed, which is a very stereotypical teenagers room. his alarm goes off and as a result of the alarm he roles over and slams the alarm clock in somewhat iggorance, lack of responsability and drops his head back down to the pillow. this scene is important because it is the first impression that Dylan gives to the audience so it is important they already begin to understand his character

the next shot is sam waking up his younger sybling and his mum this is viewed from an over the shoulder shot and him opening the curtain in their rooms. again because we want the audience begin to understand the personality of these two protagonatists. in contrast to the ina responsable aactions of dylan slamming his alarm clock sam is the one waking his family up which shows the mature attitude of sam.

sam finishes getting ready, laying the breakfast table for his sister and mum, he has a quick check in the mirror and leaves his house.

meanwhile the next transition is back to dyaln, he is still laying in bed. this shot is very important and will be difficult to execute to because we want the shot to include the alarm clock and allow the audience to see the time. this is so they know that dylan iggorance has lead him to be late for picking sam up for school

on the other hand to this laziness that dylan demonsrates sam is shot waiting for dylan to pick him and shows his frusatration that he is late. even though sam has gpt ready himself and manage to wake his mum and sister while laying the table for them yet, dylan himself hasn't even got out of bed. i want the audience begin to see the diffierent personalities.

the shot carrys on between sams frustration waiting at the side of the road constantly looking at his watch. yet dylan finally wakes up and realising that he has over slept, with the realistion of his clumpiness of being late. he jumps out of bed with his creased shirt still on from the night before, he hops out the front door trying to put his leg through his trousers, he jumps into his car literally. wheel spinning off with his tyres squeeling.

still frustrated about still waiting for his lift from dylan he takes a glance to his right and sees dylans recklessly drively around the corner with his music playing at a level that would disturb the whole street, the two of them engage into a conversation with sam having a go at dylan for being so late.they both speed off in the car.

they pull up in the car with dylan 'curbing' his wheel they both step out of the car and start a conversation with a group of there peers who are waiting outside on the side of the street opposite their school. they both start smoking and laughing with their friends, as they are about to enter the school as the bell is alarmed, a group of there friends from another school driving pass shouting they should come to a party that is being organised they agree and enter the school.

sam, dylan and a few are getting ready for the party that they have been invited to, there is a medium shot of the three characters. there is an over an shoulder shot of sam styling his hair, there is also a pan of the lads joking around and having an alholic bervarage.

this then leads to the friends maoning at dylan for taking too much time getting ready. they finally see him stumble down the stairs saying goodbye to dylans mum

they arrive at the party laughing and joking where they are greeted by their friends and start drinking. the evening progress' when a group of the boys separate themselves from the party which includes sam and dylan. a couple of the mates reach for their pockets and present some drugs they had brought with them, there will be an extreme close up of the drugs so it will allow the audience to have a clear view of the items. one of the male characters in the group offers the drugs around, there is little pressure to accept this offer on behalf of dylan and sam, yet dylan believes that if he accepts the drugs he feels he would be more accepted within the group. however, sam doesn't believe this thought and declines the offer and carrys on smoking due to the experience he has had with drugs and his father.

the boys merge back into the group and carry on socialising with there peers. dylan starts to feel the effect of drugs and his mood is very upbeat and excited, he is telling jokes and has a lot of attention from his friends as they are finding him hilarious. sam is joining in at the pair of them have got people in orr of them.

the both have a memorable night and jump in with some friends who give them a lift home to dylans house where they both stay the night.

sam wakes up the next morning and leaves dylans house early as he has to take his sister to horse riding where attends every saturday, he leaves dylan in a complete mess.

dylan phones up sam the later on that evening to dicuss the events that happen the night before and they are laughing and joking. dyaln mentions how bad of a head ache he is nursing yet describes it worthwhile because of the night he had and wants to do the drugs again, sam replies in a negative manner saying i would never do that and warns dylan that he should think about the possible consquences about doing it again.

the weekend comes to close and its monday morning at school, everyone is in an energnic manner becasue everyone had a good time at the party on friday. there is a lot of attention on dylan because of how funny he was and th company that he was displaying by making jokes and being everyines best friend. during the week thy are both handed an asssignment to complete for the following the week, sam gets really worried about because he struggles with he academic ability. yet dylan on the other hand laughs and thinks he will do all the night before and pass with flying colours, sam si's away in jealously knowing that he can work as hard as he wants and still wont get a better grade than dylan.

the week ends and sam recieves a text to see if him and dylan want to go to another house party that their friend has invited him to. its a smaller party more like a gathering with some food and drink available. the night is a lot more low key then the week before and dylan is getting very bored and ageitated by the comments that some of his peers are makeing that is very boring also. dylan thinks back to last week and remembers the drugs he took made him more socialble and funny, he texts one of his mates if he can get hold of any drugs that he could have. his mate texts him back (extreme close up of the mobile phone) and tells him to meet him in five minutes outside his the house they that are at. dylan recieves the drugs and enters back inside the house where sam and the other friends are sitting. dylan starts to make jokes and makes everyone laugh which he enjoys himself immensly.