Evaluation Essay – AS Media Studies
For my piece of coursework, I based it entirely on a moving image: a crime film trailer to be precise. For my Pre-Production task I worked alone, creating an animatic storyboard made up of my own drawings, editing them together with some small voiceovers from other members of the class. For my actual Production task, I worked alongside my classmate Stefan Okopskyj. Together we both played an even part in creating the production piece, me being in charge of the camera work and lighting, Stefan being in charge of editing and both of us working together for the mise-en-scene and props.
Before beginning my Pre-Production task I did some research into the film industry, how trailers are constructed, similar trailers to our chosen genre and audience research. By carrying out research beforehand it gave me a better idea of the codes and conventions in products of a similar genre and what is expected of a typical crime film trailer.
The main area of research I carried out was for the target audience. The target audience for our crime film trailer is from the age of a young adult (15 /16+) and onwards. This was chosen because of the concept of violence used to create our heist scene and also because of the effect of the use of weaponry towards the audience. We also found our audience research revealed that films and trailers in the same genre as ours usually appeal most to a male audience usually around the young adult mark. To attract our target audience we included aspects that were commonly displayed in Crime film trailers, this including character roles such as the villain (in our case the evil loan shark and the characters carrying out the heist) and the innocent civilians (played by extras for the bank scenes). By following what is typical of products of this genre we were able to create ‘Comfortable re-assurance’ meaning that we are giving our target audience something that they are used to (similar to existing trailers), along with something new.
With this I also carried out research on some existing film trailers. Firstly I studied the film trailer of "Oceans Twelve" this fitting with a similar target audience to ours, appealing most to male adults. The film also included a similar plot and some edit features of which we plan to include in our production piece. From this I also did research into a film trailer of completely different genre, the disney animation "Big Hero 6". The content and language used in a film like "Big Hero 6" is a lot more tame than a film like "Oceans Twelve". Not only is the genre and language different, both trailers are aimed towards different target audiences. "Oceans Twelve" targets the audience of young adult, most commonly male; whereas "Big Hero 6" targets a more family friendly audience, targeting younger children, from both genders.
With this I also carried out research on some existing film trailers. Firstly I studied the film trailer of "Oceans Twelve" this fitting with a similar target audience to ours, appealing most to male adults. The film also included a similar plot and some edit features of which we plan to include in our production piece. From this I also did research into a film trailer of completely different genre, the disney animation "Big Hero 6". The content and language used in a film like "Big Hero 6" is a lot more tame than a film like "Oceans Twelve". Not only is the genre and language different, both trailers are aimed towards different target audiences. "Oceans Twelve" targets the audience of young adult, most commonly male; whereas "Big Hero 6" targets a more family friendly audience, targeting younger children, from both genders.
For the planning of my original moving image Pre-Production task I created various different sketches for my scenes that will make up my final storyboard. Overall I created 16 different images, which I then scanned into iMovie and edited them together to create a mock-up Production piece. For the planning of our Production task we created various different lists and ideas of what we can include in it. One thing that we found useful was to create a list for the props and Mise-en-scene. This helped to give us an overall idea of everything that we have planned to include, and also give us an idea of the types of props we will need to buy or make for the Production task.
For the Production task we tried to address our target audience by focusing on the interests they have. From this we looked closely at existing/current products of which had similarities of what we plan to achieve. One example of this is by focusing on the storyline, for our Production we planned to make the storyline interesting so that it would appeal to our target audience. We created this concept by taking both storylines from mine and Stefan’s trailers that we used in the Pre-Production mock up, merging them together throughout the trailer to create one final storyline.
For the Production task I was able to take into consideration the codes and conventions which help the product to create meaning for the audience. Both Symbolic and Technical codes were focused on in detail. From this I was able to follow the codes and conventions through the use of Symbolic codes; these were used to show in depth everything that we see (Language, costume and language of characters). One example of this is; In the Production we focused on how the characters reacted (e.g. becoming upset when they were fired, or lose in the poker game), the emotion and expressions that were shown in these scenes and their overall actions. We also focused on the characters costumes (smart/casual for the poker game and work, Suits and balaclavas were used for the actual bank scene to create drama and suspense); lastly the language used in the production was also formal to help show the seriousness of the scene.
From this I was also able to follow the codes and conventions through the Technical codes (the shots, different angles and the overall lighting). For the production I filmed from an array of different angles to create significance and meaning to some/most of the scenes; For example, for the poker scene I used a bird’s eye view to help set the scene, from then I used some close up shots to focus on certain actions and props and used medium and Point of view shots to set the scene of the poker players. For the lighting in the Production, all of the light used was completely natural. From this I focused on the angling of each of the shots, so that everything could be clearly shown. For most of the scenes the natural lighting wasn’t used to create meaning, but it was used in that way for the beginning poker scenes. For part of the poker scenes some of the shots are quite dark, this is so that these scenes can help to create suspense and importance of the shots.
For our Production task, the main way that it would be distributed / consumed would be before similar films in a cinema. It would be most suited to be shown in this environment as our Production task is a Crime film trailer, fitting in well with our target audience before a film is shown. The content of our film/trailer would have to be taken into consideration with the film that it will be shown before. This is so that it is targeted to the appropriate age range, and those of a particular interest. I also focused the representations of people and places. We looked into the way in which characters are typically portrayed in genres of this kind and how we can introduce them into our own piece. We focused on the typical “bad guys”, someone who has lost their job (Family man), a gambler and a loan shark. Each of these characters commonly appear on films, trailers, or just products involved with this genre, so this is why we have included these into our piece to reinforce how thing are commonly done.
Overall for our Production piece, I made many improvements from my original Pre-Production task. Some ways in which I had made these improvements include: The use of professional HD Camcorders instead of using just hand drawn images to create each of the Pre-Production scenes, using a tripod to get a balanced shot, and a location to set the scene.
Whilst filming the Production task I became more aware of the codes and conventions, helping to create meaning to each of the scenes. As I had been placed in charge of the camerawork and lighting, with an equal involvement with the Mise-en-scene, I was able to take into consideration both the Technical and symbolic codes in detail.
The outcome of the Production task turned out extremely well and had been produced how we initially planned if not better, the standard doesn’t differ too much to a professional one, as we used similar camerawork and editing techniques that they commonly use in the film industry. The filming turned out better than I originally anticipated, being able to capture some of the scenes perfectly in just one take. Although from this I used a different camera for the poker scene than I did for the rest of the filming. I found that for the poker scenes the camera quality wasn’t as clear as I had originally expected it to be, but once edited it fitted well with the other scenes.
From this production work I have learned a lot more about technology, especially camerawork and setting the scene. By focusing my area on the camerawork and lighting I was able to learn more about the camera and how they worked whilst shooting the production. Before beginning the task I had knowledge and understanding on how the scenes could be shot and how the cameras worked but I hadn’t actually used them myself. From this Production I learned in detail the importance of the angles, shots, lighting and being able to capture the meaning through facial expressions and emotion, this overall helping to appeal to and attract the audience.
