Emma Devlin AS

1) Excellent first post. 'Lighting can be used to create verisimilitude' explain things clearly! 2) Challenges binary opposites or challenges the archetypal hero? Excellent post that dealt with both characters and the representation of their social groups 3) You've defined production company with the definition of institution! Pictures? Seems to be missing. Not sure I understood the bit about netflix being interested in both niche and mass films. Another excellent post 4) Great. Maybe you could have included the pros and cons of an 18 certificate 5) You say how great Blair Witch marketing was without really explaining why! This is another terrific post. Perhaps you could have included some more specific ideas about marketing your film. 6) Wonderful 7) Ideally we would have had a director's commentary for your final task. This is another solid post though Emma! Level 4 16–20 marks • Excellent skill in the use of appropriate digital technology or ICT in the evalu...

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to your full product? For this part of the evaluation, I have decided to do a directors commentary. This entailed me pausing my preliminary task and discussing each part, focusing on how my skills have progressed and improved since, in comparison to my final piece:  https://youtu.be/ca-ulp5bK24 Upon reflection, I think it is clear how not only my understanding of media has developed, but I have also greatly improved upon my technical skills too. I think my greatest improvement has been in how I have framed my shots, as I have become more conscious on getting every single frame to look good. This was also helped by producing a storyboard for both my preliminary and my film opening. Other skills I have gained from the production process is how to use a Steadicam, how to edit the volume on a section of the soundtrack, how to use time lapse (both slow and fast motion)...

What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product? For this evaluation activity, I used another Prezi Presentation: https://prezi.com/p/qilntwhqirxx/

How did you attract/address your audience? To present this evaluation, I chose to use an online website called Time Toast. It is similar to Blogger, in the fact that different posts can be published to create a time line effect. The link is as follows: https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/1520791

Who would be the audience for your media product? BBFC Age Rating As a result of carrying out a focus group, questionnaire and audience feedback, I have found that rating my film an 18 (according to the bbfc guidelines) would be the most suitable. This is because  I plan to include scenes in which characters are breaking the law through frequent drug use, extreme violence and general criminal activity. Although I realise this slightly restricts the size of my audience, including this is important because drug use and violence are key features of a crime film. As a result of this, my audience will be more mature, and therefore have different characteristics to the typical audience of a 15 age rated film for example. Below are character profiles on the types of people I would target my film towards: Secondary Audience A secondary audience is the second most important segment of people to target. As they are not a primary target, they are slightly less imp...

What kind of institution might distribute your media product and why? For this section of my evaluation, I created an online powerpoint, using Prezi: https://prezi.com/p/qiuktoxljtng/

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? These nine images are all screen shots from my film opening. I will use these images to help to explain how it uses, develops and challenges the conventions of real film openings. Film Title The name of the film reflects that take place, as Dichotomy means  " a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different". It is conventional by the way it looks (e.g. big lettering, a plain background and a professional font), however its position within the opening sequence is less conventional. When analysing billing sequences, I found that the film title typically comes after the lead actors, however, I chose to challenge this convention by putting it last. I did this because it will have a stronger impact on the audience. Credits The credits are conventional as they follow the typical structure. T...

There is evidence of excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills: • material appropriate for the target audience and task; • using titles appropriately according to institutional conventions; • using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set; • shooting material appropriate to the task set;, including controlled use of the camera, attention to framing, variety of shot distance and close attention to mise-en-scene; • using editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer and making selective and appropriate use of shot transitions and other effects There's a lot to love in this.  The material is clearly appropriate- a package being exchanged between a dodgy character and some kind of smart-dressed gangster in an urban area would suggest crime thriller. I liked the unobtrusive titles blending in to the background and you followed the right conventions here. The diegetic police siren and car at the start worked nicely wit...

Excellent understanding and thorough examination of genre and conventions. Mood boards reinforce excellent appreciation of genre and style. The levels of analysis were superb on Se7en and it is a shame that Emma missed the introduction of both Mills and Somerset. The blog is a wonderful analysis of opening titles. The analysis of Reasonable doubt is again, incredibly thorough and insightful. The post on opening titles is excellent although I didn't think Se7en was a good choice for discrete (although this is clearly the same mistake as was made earlier). I felt the understanding of audience expectation was excellent but that maybe there should have been some appreciation of the fact that the types of opening can often be mixed. The first person to explicitly use information learned from the BFI trip! Good and informative post on marking previous work and the conclusions drawn proved that this was a worthwhile exercise. Emma's post on audience and demographics/psychographi...

I asked a range of different people to watch my film opening, so that I  could get feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the work I have produced. After this, I asked the people to fill out a sheet based around the mark scheme, in order to get their opinion on how successful it was based around the points I had to meet. I decided to ask five people - as this is the same amount of people who participated in my focus group, and the size of the group was successful and appropriate. However, this time I decided to be more specific when choosing people to ask for feedback. Three of the people picked were other media students, with a good understanding of what is expected. The other two people had not studied media,  and I thought it would be good to see their opinions from a different  perspective. Feedback 1 Scores: 9, 9, 9, 9, 9 What was successful: " Catchy soundtrack, unique use of editing as a narrative and effective selection of shot types. Inte...

Below is a link to my final cut of the opening two minutes of the film Dichotomy: https://youtu.be/NFDd-sV-J9E  

The editing software I used for my crime film opening was iMovie. I chose to use it because I have frequently used it in the past (e.g. to edit my preliminary task together), meaning I am familiar and comfortable with using it.  I started by selecting what shots were framed the best, as these would be the best ones to include. After arranging the sequence I wanted them in, I frequently referred back to my story board to assess weather I was on track, and to see what other techniques I had planned to use. Transitions I then began adding any transitions. The fade to white I had originally planned to use to break up the events to the title worked well, however, I thought a fade to black worked better in order to keep the atmosphere mysterious and dark, instead of bright and happy. Despite this, I did add a fade to white at the very end of the opening as this gave the effect of the clouds slowly disappearing along with the title too. Speed I then looked at the spee...

On the 13th April, I met with my actors in Southend again. I had arranged for it to be later in the evening (7pm) when it would be dark, but not so dark that my phone would be unable to produce high resolution footage. I had checked the weather earlier in the day, and found that it was due to be cloudy, and although my opening would be most realistic when shot in light rain, it was not due to rain for the rest of the week, so instead of waiting, I took the opportunity to film anyway.  I used the same props as last time, and I used the steadicam again, however this time, I implemented the changes that I had listed from my previous shooting. I also used the successes from last time, such as filming as much footage as possible and the same good locations. In reality, I did not get as much footage as I would have liked, however, other than that, the evening went really well. I got lots of shots of buildings, as well as the graffiti pictured in the subway - ideal for putting the ...

To get a feel for how the opening would look, I took the footage shot from the 9th April and edited it together. To overcome the problem with it being too sunny, I experimented with different filters. I found that using the 'camo' filter on iMovie worked best as it made the footage darker and more mysterious. The images below demonstrate this: I also decided to keep the diagetic sound of the car door slam, as I felt this helped demonstrate the characters superiority. However, putting the footage together has helped me to identify other points to improve upon, so I therefore made a list of things to consider for my next filming session: - be cautious of my framing (do not cut at his shoulders, keep his head in shot) - stick to the same rule of thirds when filming him walking through the different locations (e.g. film from either the left or right, not both) - film more shots of the location to increase the time - film late evening - ensure to follow the 180...

Throughout the duration of filming the opening sequence, I kept a record of what I had done, any problems I had faced, parts that went well and the quality of my shots. My first day of filming was on Sunday the 9th April, and I noted all the failures and successes that came from the day of filming: Steadicam On the first day of filming, my actors and I had arranged to meet at 1pm outside the Forum Library (the first location to appear in the opening).  The overall aim was to get some initial shots based around my storyboard, with the hope that being in the location with the actors may bring some additional inspiration.  I experimented with different camera angles and shot types, ensuring I got plenty of useable footage by refilming certain shots up to six different times. Despite the fact I was using a steadicam for all my shots, I thought to be on the safe side, I would film as much as possible in case the camera work was poor, and I'd have ...

The opening two minutes do not contain any dialogue, therefore I do not need a script. The reason why I chose not to include dialogue is because the majority of the shots feature Murphy by himself, therefore meaning he has no one to talk to. Even when the package is exchanged, I thought it was key to keep it short and swift, as the characters would want to make the deal as quick as possible to avoid drawing attention to themselves. If they stopped to have a conversation, it would make it clear they are linked to each other, and because of Murphy's role as a police detective, it is imperative for him to keep his profile low, so no one knows he associates with the gang. Not including dialogue also puts the pressure off my actors. As they are not trained and have little experience of being filmed, I felt the more simplistic I kept it, the better it would be, as it may look unprofessional trying to get ameuturs  to represent something done by professionals....