Evaluation

For our advanced production we were required to produce a short film of approximately five minutes. Also, we needed to show that we have carried out relevant research and planning. Short films have become increasingly popular with film makers because this makes it possible to use different techniques and unique ideas to create an effect that often proves to be at least as effective as a full length film. The definition of a short film is one which lasts less than an hour.

After completing the Foundation Portfolio, we have transferred and developed the skills learnt there and have put them to use in our Advanced Portfolio. Specifically on creativity and digital technology; as in our Foundation Portfolio which was shown in a folder, just using mainly images and text. We found that this wasn’t as effective as it would have been on a blog for instance.  As we have internet access, we decided to make best use of internet resources and to present our work online. This has encouraged us to use different digital techniques such as Slideshare and Youtube as well as conventional photography to make our work more engaging. Also using mobile phones and e-mail to communicate with each other as a group, also as we used a song in our film this had to be downloaded through iTunes and then uploaded to our editing software. To make our short film evident on our blog we used film stills which we print screened from the film, this giving us support for our evaluation and ancillary tasks. Using this range of different technologies it produced a variety of media texts to present on our blog.

Although still using high standard text in our ancilliary texts to promote the Short Film, ‘Weightless’ this has proven our intellectual abilities as a group. Looking at our film, and ancillary tasks they clearly communicate a similar message to our audience, producing a synergised marketing campaign. As for our poster the image conveys the theme/genre of our film and what it is about. The photograph on our magazine review demonstrates the genre of the documentary, being an image of the narrator and the interviewee. This then links them all together, to make our film memorable and increase awareness of the films subject.

One of the things that we learnt from the Foundation Portfolio is that for the 'Research and Planning' section of the coursework, it is crucial to go into as much detail as possible. This provides the essential background information needed to produce a successful film. This was lacking in the Foundation portfolio so, for the Advanced Portfolio, we made sure that we used our time effectively and carried out as much research and planning as possible.
　
The analysis of successful short films gave us a better idea about what the audience enjoys and idea/conventions that we needed to include. This then relates to real media texts, which we needed to research and provide knowledge of on our blog. These then guided and influenced our choices and techniques. For example, analysing documentaries or short films which try to convey and achieve a specific meaning.
We decided that the best way to connect with our audience was to choose serious subjects and to use content that may prompt an emotional reaction. The logic behind this was that it would make our film more memorable. Also, this technique would make the audience more aware and more educated in the subject of the film. We decided that an ideal subject to use for our short film was eating disorders.

After analysing a number of short films which produce emotions from the audience, we decided that the films ‘Offside’ and '10 minutes' were the most successful and memorable. They also gave us ideas for narrative, lighting, sound, mise en scene, film style, genre, character representations, and editing etc.
We were inspired by their use of sound, and so we used similar techniques of slow, emotional non diagetic sound. We also wanted to create a personal and intimate effect with our documentary. To achieve this, the narrator talked to camera in a casual style, and also to the interviewees in this style. They sat quite close to each other also, because as this is a personal subject we thought this would make the subject feel more comfortable talking about their experiences.
Our target audience are young and educated. Therefore the people we interviewed were also young and intellectual. This achieved audience inclusivity and made them relate to it. After looking on the website ‘find your tribe’ this gave us further insight into what our audience enjoys and is interested in, such as fashion and technology, which we tried to convey within our film.
Conventions such as various shot types, to keep our audience interested. We found music very important also, we used typical conventions such as music relating to the mood and emotion of the film.

Our media product challenges previous documentaries about eating disorders, mainly by acknowledging male and female sufferers. In the past there have been very few documentaries on male eating disorders despite the well known fact that 1 in 10 eating disorder patients are male, recent figures have even shown it could be closer to 1 in 7. In previous years there has only been one real documentary highlighting male anorexia and that was BBC3’s "I’m A Boy Anorexic". Other than that in documentaries males are barely ever mentioned. Although it was not our main focus we still wanted to aim at highlighting the issue and help appeal to a broader audience. Unfortunately we were not able to find a willing male participant to take part in the interviews; however we did include statistics of male eating disorders. We also carried out interviews with male participants on their views and opinions on eating disorders. We have used the typical media convention of on the street interviews intertwined with set up interviews. After watching other documentaries it showed that having a variety of different people gave a much wider range of responses.

We researched many different short films to analyse which forms and conventions were for the most part successful. We chose the genre ‘Documentary’ as this type of film commonly provides an alternative outlook and opinion of different media subjects. One decision we made was to include interviews with patients that have suffered or are suffering with an eating disorder as this would give insight and detail into the subject.
To give the audience perspective we included statistics conveyed through a voiceover to increase audience exclusivity. Also using group opinions with people not suffering with an eating disorder this would give a non bias opinion and different intellectual responses. As this was a difficult genre to relate to a narrative theory, but we structured it, so it could be followed, at the start introducing it, then gradually introducing it through opinions, then at the ending credits we showed how the patients are doing now to give the audience closure and understanding. We represented our subjects as ‘normal’ people to reduce stigmas and stereotypes, this could possibly also make the audience sympathetic and cause them to emphasise with the interviewees.

Our ancillary tasks, we feel had a successful and effective relation to our main feature. The title ‘Weightless’ is catchy, memorable and relevant. Then the poster is a picture of someone standing ona scale, which expresses the theme of being weight conscious, and being the main image on our poster this then expresses the importance of weight and image that our patients feel is high, this then passes on this particular message to our audience. It also gives our audience an idea of what our film and whether it interests them as of course everyone has their own opinions. Our magazine review for Empire Magazine then gives further incite into the plot of our film and what it is about. We also put a still frame of our film into this review, to make it more pleasing to the eye and more attention ‘grabbing’. The ancillary are proved most effective together as they both have different effects on the viewer, and together, we think promote our film most effectively, which is important so people view our film.
For our group getting audience feedback was really interesting and it made us aware of what we did well and what we achieved compared with what they thought we could have improved on or what they thought wasn’t particularly effective. Looking through the comments, we found out that people did become more aware of eating disorders, which was one of our more important aims; to increase awareness. They also thought the personal style of it also created further meaning and effectiveness. It also showed that they formed a bond and could identify with them. Our criticism was taken as constructive as our audience main concern was some camera movements were shaky and in particular parts of the film sound was in issue; which we found hard to avoid.

We used many different media technologies, as mentioned before, but during our filming process, we thought the best way to produce a successful film was to use a good quality hand-held camera attached to a tripod to avoid unwanted movement, and also to incorporate a pod cast in our film.
For editing we used Adobe Premiere CS4, as this was available and convenient for our group, and we also have experience with it from our Foundation Portfolio. For our ancillary tasks, Photoshop was used on the poster, and Microsoft Word for the magazine review. Using this range of different technologies it produced a variety of media texts to present on our blog.

The Genre specific elements of a documentary are firstly an interesting subject, with interviews and live footage. Documentaries also need an element of realism and factual knowledge on the chosen subject matter.
We incorporated these into our film, we used many interviews which were all live and the peoples answers weren’t scripted which adds realism. The subject matter we thought was of great interest as it’s a rising problem especially with teenagers and the pressure they face through the media to look like celebrities and models. We filled the film with knowledge through interviews and statistics and then at the end we put a help line so people can find out more if they need or want to. It targets our audience by giving them knowledge of new things which we found out in our audience surveys is the main reason people watch documentaries is to educate themselves.

We represented our characters as real people so the audience could relate to them and it would make the subject matter seem more real. It targets our audience by making them feel involved with the characters as they are real people also as the audience are.

We used many different shot ranges to give a different outlook on our interviewees and the narrator. We used the close-up shot to really display emotion, so our audience could connect with the patient and to bring out emotions. we also used over the shoulder shots to enforce our genre Documentary, as it showed the narrator, we ensured that the narrator and the interviewee were sat near each other as we wanted it to be personal and we thought this would make viewer feel more involved. We used shot types such as medium and full length to show the location as well as the characters. This makes the frame look more interesting and more appealing to our target audience as it is more visually attractive and they won’t lose interest. We also used a panning shot to establish one of the various locations, and to slowly introduce one of our main patients. The location was peaceful although quite a lot of background noise caused by a fountain, although still effective.

The locations we used were thought about carefully we wanted them to be everyday scenes but not so public that it would cause are interviewees to feel uncomfortable, as they were sharing personal stories. We used benches as they are commonly found but in secluded areas and small class rooms as well. We occasionally had to change our plans to adjust to our surroundings such as rain of loud noises. It targets our audience by making them feel comfortable watching it because its filmed in a college or public space there is nothing intimidating. It adds realism by them recognising the places we filmed or by viewing it as familiar makes them emphasise further with the characters.

On the whole, we are happy as a group with our production and ancillary tasks as the majority of the feedback was positive and we believe that we have achieved what we set out to do. There are, of course, enhancements that could be made, especially in our production, and in particular the sound and the camera movements. Overall we are pleased with what we have achieved and have learnt through working on our Foundation and Advanced Portfolios.