Evaluation - Question 1

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Feedback from Miss Stone: Shorten video and make it more concise

• At 00:10 - 00:45 I am talking about the media conventions in my opening and closing credits.
• At 01:24 - 01:46 I am talking about using genuine students to play background students as Saturday Night Sunday Morning does to add to the realism.
• At 05:43 - 06:00 I am talking about sound bridges as a convention of blockbuster films.
• At 07:03 - 07:22 I talk about how Rom-Coms make sure there are different levels of comedy in order to attract a larger target audience.
• At 15:00 - 15:10 I am talking about the use of shots to split up the narrative as done in fish-tank.
• 19:45 - 20:40 I talk about the conventions of meta-humour that we conformed to. I give examples of the convention being present in Community, Arrested Development, and Family Guy.

Happily Ever After is written as a romantic-comedy. It was decided from the beginning that it going to be modelled after a blockbuster rom-com but the further into the research stages we got, the more we realised it would more likely be produced by a British subsidiary company of an American production company.

Blockbuster films follow mainstream film conventions so we made an effort to follow conventions but at the same time challenging them to give our own spin on things. So in terms of following general conventions of a rom-com, we begin by introducing the characters subtly, with multiple comedy-specific sequences. We also have a romantic montage which is seen in many rom-coms.

Below is a short comparison video Callum put together of our media product and an existing short romantic comedy.

Revised Review

I have upped the rating to a four star for consistency with Callum's poster which says my review gave a four star rating. 

I have also replaced the photo from Happily Ever After as Miss Stone suggested in her feedback.

My Review.

Review Analysis: Sight & Sound

This film review has a tagline and details about the film in a corner. Other than that its all the same. The review begins with the title and rating of the film. This is to quickly let the audience know how highly the reviewer has rated the film. 

There is then a shot plot overview detailed enough to explain what's going on. 

The review is kept short because too many words will put off an audience. This is why reviews include a verdict; it allows readers who aren't interested in reading the review to find out the general opinion of the film. There is a screen shot and a trailer of the film. A trailer is not just to advertise the film but also to give the audience a sense of what the film will be like.

I am going to use from this the Tagline and the Details about the film in my review.

Review Analysis: Empire

The review begins with a small synopsis explaining the plot. This stays short so that the writer doesn't go too in depth. The plot-line explanation isn't too detailed because a review shouldn't give away spoilers. The review itself is then kept short to avoid putting people off. The review begins by explaining what currently is happening during the film, before explaining why it is or is not entertaining or in-keeping with the genre.

The review goes into what sections fit the genre and how/if they are effective in their goals, before at the end reaching a Verdict (a short sentence concluding the review). The verdict is only one to two sentences long and sums up the review as a whole, I shall use this technique in my own review. There is also a rating out of 5, this film has only been given 3/5 stars, the reasoning is explained in the review.

I am going to use from this the Plot and Verdict section in my review

Production companies

I have done some research into production companies to determine which one would produce our film. Callum and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out of our film is British Independent, or mainstream. 

Film production/distribution companies in red are companies that might not produce our film. 
Film production/distribution companies in green are companies that might produce our film.

 Mainstream

Dreamworks
DreamWorks, is a California film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming. It has produced or distributed more than ten films with box-office grosses totaling more than $100 million each. Today, most of DreamWorks' films are marketed and distributed by The Walt Disney Studios

This would not produce our film because according to the IMDB it does not have any existing British films.

20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox Pictures, is one of the six major American film studios as of 2011. Located in the Century City area of Los Angeles, just west of Beverly Hills, the studio is currently a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

This would not produce our film although it is possible that their subsidary company Fox Searchlight would.

Disney

Disney, is an American diversified multinational mass media corporation headquartered in Walt Disney Studios, Burbank, California. It is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue.

This would not produce our film because the Disney target audience is way too low for our film.

Fox Searchlight

Fox Searchlight Pictures, is an American film division of the Fox Entertainment Group alongside the larger Fox studio 20th Century Fox. It specializes in independent and British films, alongside drama and horror as well as non-English-language films, and is variously involved with the production and/or distribution of these films.

It is possible that Fox Searchlight might produce and/or distribute Happily Ever After

Metro-Goldwyn Mayor

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. Once the largest and most glamorous of film studios. MGM went bankrupt and heads of their subsidary companies took over.

It is unlikely that MGM would produce our film as it is not famed for their rom-coms, neither have they released anything recently.

New Line Cinema

New Line Cinema, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner Bros. in 2008

It it not a film studio which would produce a film like Happily Ever After.

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is a film and television production/distribution studio, consistently ranked as one of the largest (top-grossing) movie studios. It is a unit of American media conglomerate Viacom.

It is not a film studio which would be likely to produce Happily Ever After

Universal

Universal Studios Inc. (also known as Universal Pictures), is an American motion picture studio, owned by Comcast through its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal, and is one of the six major movie studios. It is one of the longest-lived motion picture studios to be located outside of Hollywood.

It is possible that Universal would produce our film but it is more likely that they would produce it through the subsidiary Working Title

Warner Bros

One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank, California and New York. Warner Bros. has several subsidiary companies, including Warner Bros. Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Home Video, New Line Cinema, TheWB.com, and DC Entertainment

It is possible Warner Bros would produce our film solely because generally their target audience is the same as ours. Also the range of different types of film produced by Warner Bros is wide.

Working Title

Working Title Films is a British film production company, based in London owned by Universal Studios. The company was founded by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1983. It produces feature films and several television productions.

Judging by the films it has previously produced (According to IMDB), the target audience that Working Title genrally make films for, and the fact that it is a British Subsidiary of a major Mainstream American production company, working title is probably the most likely company to produce Happily Ever After.

 Independent

I have not researched a large amount of independent companies, partly because their aren't many but also because my film is a mainstream Rom-Com blockbuster.

Artificial Eye
Artificial Eye is a British film distributor, specialising in foreign-language and art house films for cinema and home entertainment.

It would not produce our film.

BBC Films

BBC Films is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including An Education, StreetDance 3D, Fish Tank, Stage Beauty, A Cock and Bull Story, Nativity! and Match Point.

I would not produce a mainstream romantic comedy like Happily ever After

Channel 4 
Film4 Productions is a British film production company owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The company has been responsible for backing a large number of films made in the United Kingdom.

Because it produced The Inbetweeners Movie, it is possible that it would produce Happily Ever After

Studio Canal
StudioCanal  is a French-based production (as StudioCanal S.A.) and distribution (as StudioCanal Images S.A.) company that owns the third-largest film library in the world.

It is possible that it would play a part in the production of our film if we were to work with Working Title as the two companies have worked together on comedy films in the past.

Conclusion

After researching into existing Rom-Coms and their production & distribution companies, I have determined that our film would be produced by a British subsidiary of a mainstream American company like Notting Hill which was produced by Working Title - a British subsidiary of Universal Pictures.

Poster

Callum made the poster for our group and I made the review. This is our finished poster. The process can be found on Callum's blog 'http://www.remasteredmedia.blogspot.com'

Final Poster

Having looked back on more feedback, Callum has changed the font colouring for the actor's names. So now that has been rectified, here is our final poster:

The choice to have a simple white background was made based on other Rom-Com posters I have analysed previously, with Callum looking at the camera as he is the person we empathise with. Also, Callum is the person we follow through the story, and he is the only one that understands the absurdity of Benjy's chat-up lines.

I supplied Callum with a white version of my production company logo which was created in my AS media.

Analysis of Short Film: SIGNS

 
Name of short film: SIGNS 
Writer, Director and Editor: Patrick Hughes 
Genre: Romantic Comedy 
Running Time: 12:13 min 

SIGNS follows the story of Jason who meets Tracey. They work in buildings opposite each other, and communicate through paper signs. It’s an interesting and unique way of showing a love story, as every day is the same in the sense they communicate through signs, but they say and do different things. Each day we watch as their relationship progresses. This is much like my short film, in the fact that you will watch my characters each day and you will see their relationship progress quickly over the course of the film. 

 Many aspects of my short film will hopefully be emulated from SIGNS. The use of sound in their opening is similar to what I what I hope my opening will do. SIGNS begin with the sound of an alarm clock in the background, constantly dinging, signaling the beginning of a new, dull, boring day. A cut to a birds eye view of the man, lying in bed, eyes wide open, with the alarm clock still ringing. In my film I will have the sounds of a classroom come in before the actual video starts.

Jason is struggling with the stereotypical alienation of a young office man new to the big city. Work is boring, the loneliness is heart-breaking, and the false expectation of family and friends who think you’re living it up to the max is soul-crushing. But, through the window and into the office across the street, Jason spots and draws the attention of the girl who might change all that. 

Signs is a classic boy meets girl in which the central concept is not too contrived. You couldn’t make a feature based off it, but it is the perfect size for a short. Many of the introductory moments that inform our impression of Jason as depressed, the photocopying at the office for instance, are inverted later on in a funny way to establish his renewed verve. Routine is presented at first in order to accentuate Jason’s dread of life, the mind-numbing banality of his existence, yet the pacing of the film and its editing, morph his morning routine into narrative development. The long-drawn out takes initially become progressively quicker to signify Jason’s energy and excitement, building to a fevered pace right before the moment he is let down at the end of act 2. 

 Nick Russel does a really laudable job as Jason, playing the role with the kind of earnest goofiness that has earned Hugh Grant millions of dollars. The role on both ends, the sad sack and the nervous comedy are both very easy to overplay, but he does not.


In the first three minutes of ”Signs” we see our “Hero” Jason in his ordinary, meaningless world. He is bored and loveless, his job is uninspiring, and most importantly, he is lonely. We see him on an escalator, spotting a lovely girl going in the opposite direction, in a park, shyly watching another girl, on a train watching lovers kiss, and at work, alienated from his boss and workers. Jason lives a loveless life. Even his mum and dad don’t understand him. 

When Jason glances at Tracey through the window of his office is the inciting incident. It’s where the movie starts moving. All that goes before it is setting up the ordinary world, and you can get away with this set up for quite a while, if it is done with style. In a 12 minute movie, Hughes waits 3 mins and 12 secs before that fateful glance. Structural Perfection. 

Jason looks away once, twice, three times. He is shy. He doesn’t want to get involved. His life may be boring, but he is too set in his ways, too comfortable in his misery to break out of his comfort zone. 

At 4:19 Jason smiles. That smile means that Jason is entering the special world of his story for the first time. This is the point at which the story takes off and the real adventure gets going. The hero Jason is now committed to his journey… and there’s no turning back. 

In this film, the venue is the space between the two buildings, but the challenge is clear. Jason has to engage with and keep interested this vivacious, beautiful young woman. One wrong note and all is lost. It’s dangerous. If he gets caught, then boss will fire him. He is wary and scared, but he goes for it, getting more and more confident. In a good rom com this sequence can go on and on and on as long as we like the characters and can engage with the hero, up the ante between him and the object of his desires. 

Jason dares to message Tracey in front of the boss. He would never have dreamed of doing these only days before. He is risking his career, all in name of love.

At 5:20secs there is the moment when the protagonist is in deep jeopardy. It usually occurs about half way through a narrative. Here, Jason risks all. He faces the possibility of exposure, ridicule, the sack, and whatever else, and for Jason it takes place in the meeting room, where he is so intent on “messaging” his new love, that he falls backwards on his chair but he survived. He now decides to take control with his new found courage. The hero’s supreme ordeal usually grants him a better understanding of women, leading to the moment in a love story where he finally decides to make his feeling clear. 

 The flirting continues and Jason finally decides to commit. He is stopped from taking the final plunge and asking her out but just when he goes for it...Jason loses Tracey. The film shows the same shots from the opening scene. Showing that Jason has returned to his word of boredom and loneliness. 

Soon afterwards, Jason sees that she is back and she left because she got promoted and is therefore more desirable. Also she is immediately forgiven for leaving. 

It takes him an instant to suggest that they meet. The timid Jason of Act 1 is transformed, and we love it! He’s ready, she’s ready, and he emerges from the special world, transformed by his experience. 

 Hughes is smart enough not to make the characters have a cliché kiss at the end, but leaves us with questions: Will they get together? Ever speak? Kiss? Is she deaf? 

 This shows the work of a true filmmaker who understands his audience and his characters. 

Analysis of Short Film: Love Sick

Name of short film: Love Sick 
Writer, Director and Editor: Kevin Lacy 
Genre: Comedy 
Running Time: 4:32 min 

Short Film Analysis 

Plot of the film 
A man has just got dumped by his girlfriend; he is devastated, however not for long. As he is walking back with a broken heart he suddenly falls in love with a lady walking into a train. He begins another mission to find her as he just misses the train. This is an unsuccessful attempt as the audience all expected. As he is sitting down in the dumps he ridiculously falls in love with another lady jogging past him in the park. 

Character portrayal 
The main character is portrayed to be full of unrealistic aims in life and alongside a hint of bad luck. Because he is shown wearing ordinary clothing, the audience expect him to be an average middle age man. However his comical thoughts surprise the viewers. The facial expressions and body language are synchronized with the sound of narration and the music. The ladies shown in this short film are extremely feminine and follow the stereotype of women that any man will fall in love with. The young teenager used in the short film is referred to as Justin Bieber for comical value and pop-culture reference to appeal to the films target audience.

Film techniques 
The music used in ‘Love Sick’ enhances the setting and themes of the film. The music used makes you believe that everything may go well, however his dreams are shattered as we first expected. The fast paced music increases to give the film an inspirational undertone. The film has been edited together by using a range of shots which makes the short film more comical and more interactive with the audience. By using shots, such as close ups, make the audience aware of the characters feelings.

I was impressed by the use of narration and audience interaction. This film exaggerates realistic emotions so the audience can relate to the main character but in a very comical way. The use of a narrator throughout the film helps keeps the audience’s attention though interaction. This creates a strong link between the narrator and the audience. 

 The short film takes you on journey of mans thoughts. The moral of this short film is that to always try hardest in any goal in life regardless if you achieve it, it’s better to attempt something rather than just accept defeat. 

In mine and Callums short film Happily Ever After I intend to use similar narrative techniques; such as exaggerating a realistic situation so that an audience can relate to the story but still find the film comical.

Budget report

Callum and I decided from the very beginning that we would put everything into the final shooting of our film. As a result we spent hours talking to people, either on the phone or in person, to acquire the perfect locations. We also spent money on this film to make the film as professionally as we could. 
Previously, every film we have made has been 100% free, so because we spent money on our film, for the first time, we had a budget which was previous an aspect of the media industry which was not applicable with films Callum and I have produced.

We decided our budget would be £10

Callum (as expenses manager) gave me the figures so I could write up a budget report.

Things we spent the money on:

• Wedding decorations - balloons, confetti, and streamers
• banqueting roll - to make a white carpet for the wedding
• food for the restaurant date scene
• Tiara

In the rough cut we wanted to get an idea for how we would set-up a wedding sequence so we bought balloons and confetti. We did not buy food for the restaurant sequence because we knew it was a rough cut.

 Rough cut expenses

Balloons = £1

Confetti = £1

Total = £2

In the final shooting of Happily Ever After we bought more of the same wedding decorations and we also bought some streamers for £3. We also bought McDonald's for food during the restaurant sequence. We wanted actual food for three reasons:

1. to give the impression it was a real date
2. to make our film more professional
3. to give our characters something to do on their date and to add to our montage

The McDonald's we bought cost £2.18 for two medium fries and £2.98 for two cheeseburgers. We also got two packs of ketchup which was free and we bought plates from home.

Final Cut Expenses

Balloons = £1

Confetti = £1

Streamers = £3

Medium fries x2 = £2.18

Cheeseburgers x2 = £2.98

Total = £10.16

Overal Expenses

Rough Cut Expenses = £2

Final Cut Expenses = £10.16

Total Expenditure = £12.16

As you can see from these figures, we went over our budget by £2.16. We decided at the time that we would put in the the extra money because for the sake of £2 it was worth it in terms of the quality of our final outcome.

Roles

Callum and I had very different roles in the production stages of Happily Ever After. However, some of our roles were shared.

My roles were:

• Main actor - Callum and I were the two main actors along with Poppy
• Camera-Man - I shot all scenes including many that i was in.
• Director - Callum directed last year so we agreed to switch roles this year.
• Editor (of my own final out come)
• Music Composer - I wrote and recorded all the music.
• Location scouter - I found and aranged locations. Callum helped.
• Writer - I wrote the script, Callum made few alterations and helped.
• co-expenses manager - Callum managed the money, I helped.
• Producer - Callum and I both share role.
• Set design - I designed the set, Callum created it.
• prop manager - I decided on props and acquired them.
• costume manager - I decided on costume.

Callum's roles were:

• Main Actor - Callum and I were the two main actors
• Storyboard artist - Callum created the storyboard.
• concept artist - Callum drew up the script based on my descriptions
• co-director - Callum helped direct the film.
• editor (of his own film)
• expenses manger - Callum orginised all the money with my help
• producer - Callum and I share this role.
• co-writer - Callum helped with the script.
• make-up artist - Callum was in charge of all make up.
• co-costume manager - Callum helped gather costume.
• set creation - Callum built the set based on my instructions.
• co-prop manager - Callum helped gather props

My Final Product - Happily Ever After

My Final Product -Happily Ever After

Callum and I are going to do a video commentary on the pre-production, post-production and production of our film.

Changes in my final film

1. I used our new font (Bachelor Pad College) instead of the previous font (Jellyka Delicious Cake). 

Reasons:

• It conforms to the conventions of a media american blockbuster better than the previous font.
• Its clearer and easier to read.
• The last font resembled a drama which might confuse our audience. Though the previous font makes subtle links to the story, subtlety is rarely found in american blockbusters.
• Our last font was only appropriate during the wedding sequence whereas the new font is appropriate throughout the whole film.
• Our film is set around two schoolboys so a font which resembles an American college is more appropriate.
• As a blockbuster, it makes more sense to pick a font which will appeal more to our target audience.

2. I added footsteps and sound in a part of the film which previously had no sound due to editing error.

Reasons:

• the lack of sound was unintentional so I have rectified this error.

Callum's edits

Callum and I have edited separately but used each others edits, outcomes and experiments, to determine what our final pieces are going to be like. As a result, we have shared the workload of trying different film techniques out and therefore produced more potential film ideas.

Here are Callum's outcomes:

Editing

I edited on two different softwares. Adobe Premier Pro and Sony Vegas. Here is a screen shot of editing the opening scenes. I used Sony Vegas to do the tiles and split screen effects. 

Target Audience

Definition Of Audience: "An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art"

Romantic Comedy Romantic comedy films (abbreviated as rom coms or romcoms) are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as a true love able to surmount most obstacles. Romantic comedy films are a sub-genre of comedy films. Romantic comedy can also be used to describe some television series.

 My target audience Typically Romantic / Comedy films appeal to a young audience, of both genres who can appreciate and enjoy the story, the connection between the two people and how the story progresses. Therefore, I propose my production to be aimed at both a male and female audience with an age range from about 13-18, and a demographic of lower to middle class consumers with a reasonable disposable income and level of education to afford to watch the film as well as appreciate and understand the narrative plot. Despite this, due to the unique story-line I believe people within a higher demographic of an increased disposable income and higher level of education would also enjoy the film, with perhaps less well known actors. 13-18 year olds still attend school and are at a part in their life when relationships are very much on their mind. For this reason I believe the most profitable market for mine and Callum's film is 13-18 year olds.