1. A2 Media Evaluation 5 Minute Film, Film Poster and Double Page Spread.

2. 5 Minute Film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4kIZBvbu9I &feature=player_embeddedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4kIZBvbu9I &feature=player_embedded I have finally completed my five minute film ‘Helpless’, I am considerably pleased with the final outcome. However, if I were to redo the task again, I feel there are many changes I would make in order to make the film stronger and a lot more appealing to a certain target audience, for example, the older teen between the ages of 16-19 years of age. Having said this, I still feel many aspects of the film are strong and the story behind it is told in a meaningful, yet sensitive way for the viewer. Our film, that both Jaina Badesha and I have created, is based on domestic violence and explores, lightly, similar situations of someone that might be experiencing when in that position. I have wanted to sensitively portray this through the us of camera shots, such as the mid-shot, in order to create the actors/ actresses expressions and actions during a scene or conversation. We have also explored the use of stills. I wanted to us stills as I felt this was the most recreational of creating a realistic fighting scene, as believable fighting is harder to capture in a not so experienced actor or actress. The film is quite slow paced, however, it gradually picks up speed at the end. This was an intentional technique in order to convey to the viewer, how quickly things can get out of hand/control if you don’t speak out.

3. Film Poster I have tried to create a a very cold film poster, as this links in with the theme of my film. I feel portrayed this most effectively through the deep cold stare straight into the camera. I have used artificial lighting in order to light a well lit, yet mysterious and ill looking photograph. I haven’t changed the colour of this photograph as I felt the original colours looked realistic. However, I have changed the contrast of the photograph in order to create a more empowering image and to make it stand out from the other film posters, I didn’t want the colours being lost within the image. I have chosen to use very thin and spaced out text for the title and header of the film poster, as this text shows more of the image than larger and thicker text would. I haven’t used the same text throughout the whole film poster as I felt that wouldn’t be very appealing and it would look to samey and boring if all of the text was in the same font and font size. I wanted the word ‘Helpless’ to be the main subject of this poster, therefore I have placed the text along the centre of the actresses forehead, as it doesn’t get lost behind the dark s0hadows of her hairline. I have successfully created a film poster that is simple yet affective and looks interesting an appealing to the target audience.

4. Double Page Spread I have finally completed my double page spread for my film, ‘Helpless’. I have chosen the header name ‘Hardly Helpless’. I have chosen this as a headers as it is alliterate creating a bold and interesting read for the reader. I have wanted the header to also link in with the rest of the double page spread. Therefore, I have used a photograph that I had taken of actress who is featured in my film ‘Helpless’. I have changed the colour of the photograph to black and white and I have heightened the contrast in order to create the depth within the image as well as to convey a strong impact on the reader, drawing them in to read the article and watch the film. I have also broken up the text with pictures that I have taken as ‘action shot’ from the film. The text looks better with the text broken, I feel the images I have chosen to break up the text create a link between the text and the film as the text talks about the actress who plays one of the main characters within the film. The images describe parts of the story without giving the storyline away. I got the images from sections of the film. I have chosen to have a gradient on the header of the double page spread, I have done this as I think it makes it easier to read and stands out when set against the text, images and slogans, on the page.

5. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge the forms and conventions of real media products? Within my film I have used many camera angles in order to create my film with the sense of tension, helplessness and sensitivity that I am trying to convey to my target audience (my target audience being, mainly women between the ages of 20-25 year olds). I have begun my film using various establishing shots as this helps the viewer establish where exactly the film is set and also helps the viewer get a better idea of what the film maybe be about. Throughout my film I have used many mid-shots in order to capture the emotional mind set of each character. I have also used the close ups and mid shots to my advantage through the use of deeper breathing to show/ portray the sense of being scared of overwhelmed. I have used a few panned shots within my film so you can follow the actor when going in from one room to another. This helps build an understanding of where the character maybe going and how they are getting there (e.g.. Walking, running), these shots also show what the character is wearing, or holding. Within my five minute film there are two sections where instead of using more film clips I have decided to use still shots and linked them together to create a small fight scene. I have chosen to use stills rather than use more film clips as it shows variety but I also felt the photograph capture a better fight scene that what a re-enactment would have been. I feel the stills have successfully worked and portray a sense of movement and tension within the photographs. I have used a very mellow and subdued piece of music for this small section of the film as I felt fast action like music would not be suitable for the storyline of my film nor for this tense section. I have used the stills in one more section of the film later on. I decided to use stills over any different way, as I wanted to show variety within our film but I also wanted to keep drawing the viewer back in and the only way to do this is by creating something and coming up with something different.

6. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? At the very start of my project I had a very clear idea that I wanted to create products that give an impact on my target audience. I wanted to create something that’s bold, different and something that can challenge other media products on the market today. After finishing my product and coming to it’s final stages I feel I can happily say I have done this. The film ‘Helpless’ explores the situations that can arise within an abusive relationship, yet it’s not grime or graphic, it’s light and is an easier viewing to watch compared to something that has graphic fight scenes in. I feel the right music has been used within the film. I managed to collect some music of the internet for free which was also non-copyrighted, which works very effectively when placed within the scenes of my film that use and need to music in order to create a tenser and more dramatic scene. I feel both my double page spread and film poster have been a successful creation of what I was trying to convey to my audience when given the task to create my own film. I feel my film poster is a lot stronger than my double page spread, however, I am very pleased with both final outcomes of my work. My film poster portrays the exact look I was wanting to go for, ‘Helpless’. I feel I have successfully achieved this through the use of text, font sizes and the main photograph of the poster. There is a lot to think about when creating a film poster I have tried to take many parts of my research and interpreted many of the ideas I got into my own ideas in order to create a successful film poster. Instead of using a coloured photograph for my double page spread I have chosen to use a more deep and meaningful photograph which I have changed to black and white, I have also changed the contrast of the photograph to create an I pact on the reader when the looking through the pages of the magazine. I have used a very simple font for the text as I wanted it to be easy to read instead so the reader is drawn into the article instead of flicking through it because they cant read the font size or style.

7. What have you learned from your audience feedback? When carrying out my audience feedback the following questions were asked: Easy the storyline easy to understand/follow? Does the music work well? Has the film been well edited (if not what could be improved)? Are there any parts of the film that you didn’t understand? Give one improvement… After carrying out my audience research I’d say it was mostly successful. However, Some people have given me ways in which I could improve the film and suggestions to make the film stronger, if I were to do the project again. Most people who were asked said the storyline was easy enough to follow, but they thought the ending was to fast making it hard to follow and leaving the film with a very abrupt ending (wanting more). Someone said the film was ‘well executed, but could have been a bit longer in order to grow an understanding for each of the characters’. I believe this is true, I could have allowed for more time in order to create the film so the storyline is more successful and easier to understand when watched once by my viewers. Many people said the music worked really well and they like the way it doesn’t abruptly stop, but it gradually fades out. They said this was ‘clever and works well with the film, as it’s quite a sensitive and slow film’. The music was taken from a non copyrighted website and has successfully fitted in with the theme of my film. Everyone that we asked ‘has the film been well edited said ‘the editing of the film works really well and looks great when linked with the music, each scene links in really well together and there isn’t anything that is noticeably jolty or anything that has been cut too short or made too long. When asked if there was anything we could improve on most people said that the ending was too short and if it were to be slightly longer then they would have more understanding of the ending of the film and it wouldn’t then look rushed or hard to follow.

8. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation? In order to create and capture my five minute film, I used a Nikon 3200 Digital SLR as this camera successfully filmed with great camera quality. The clips that were taken are all successful and look great when all put together to create a film. I also used this camera in order to take the stills that are also featured within the film. As well as the camera I also used a tripod. This helped keep the camera still and the quality of the film well. Without both the DSLR and the tripod I don’t think our work would have been as successful and wouldn’t look like a great quality. Therefore I am overly pleased with the final outcome of the film in the quality sense. In order to edited the film I used a software called Adobe Premier Pro. This is a software that helps you edited and cut down film clips easily as well as adding music and photographs to film. Without such a software I don’t think the editing of my work would have worked at all as it’s an essential software used to create films and edits for both films and music videos. This project was the first time that I had used Adobe Premier Pro, however, I have successfully created and edited a film that I was wanting to achieve from the very day we started our projects. I created both my film poster and double page spread on the software Photoshop. This is a great software for creating posters such as the ones we had to create for our project. Photoshop was a successful software to use as it had many different tools in order to create the right affects for your project. There's a variety of different fonts which can come in many different sizes. As well as cut tools so you can cut out parts of a photograph/picture of the internet, there’s also grab and select tools so it makes it easier to move things from one place to another. There are also blur tools so image scan be blurred together. There’s such a wide range of things that can be performed on this software and without it I wouldn’t of been able to create such a successful film poster and double page spread for my final project.