Evaluation - Part 8 : Preliminary Task.

What do you feel you have learnt in the progression from the preliminary task (continuity editing exercise) to the full product (opening sequence)?

The Preliminary Task = Continuity Editing Exercise


The preliminary task's evaluation = http://lorellethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/edit-workshop-evaluation.html

Digital technology

During the preliminary task, the digital technology used included a camera and an iMac computer. The strengths when using the camera was that we could explore a range of shot types as we knew how to
operate the camera as we had previous experience using this device. For example, at 0:10 a close-up, at 0:08 a long shot and at 0:13 the use of an over the shoulder shot. It had been a while since I had done any practical work, so I had not used the cameras for a while, but this exercise really refreshed my memory.We also used the iMac computers to edit our footage in iMovie, as I had taken media for one of my GCSE's I also knew how to do the basic editing using this software. However, we had used a newly updated version of iMovie and it had taken me a while to get used to it. Although we used the camera to produce a range of shot types, we forgot to implicate the rule of thirds in all of the shots. We had remembered for some of the shots in our preliminary task, but not consistently. For example, we had not applied the rule of thirds from 0:07-0:08 and at 0:12. Therefore, this makes our camera work less successful as we could have paid more attention and been more precise.

In the main coursework that was set - the production of a British Social Realist film, we had again tried to include a range of shot types, but each one had meaning depending on the content of the shot. For example, in our film's opening sequence 'Maze' we used a mid-shot from 1:11-1:19 because we wanted
to show our main character looking out of the window at the council estates as she is travelling on the bus. This was to connote that she is leaving the life of poverty behind as she travels past it. My partner and I tried to improve on our awareness of the rule of thirds, as we tried to apply it to the best of our ability. Unlike in our preliminary task where we had not acknowledged it. For example, from 0:51-0:54 in our opening sequence you can clearly see that the rule of thirds has been applied. The preliminary tasks weakness had made us much more aware of this rule for our main coursework. Next year I would like to feel much more confident using cameras and digital equipment, as I would like to be able to remember the media language skills consistently.

Creativity

180 degree rule

180 degree rule

The brief given for our preliminary task had asked us to create a very short sequence of events in which a conversation had to occur, showing understanding and knowledge of match on action, shot reverse shot and the 180 degree rule. My partner and I decided to add a creative touch to the brief by making the conversation quite heated, as one of the characters was supposedly having an affair with the other characters boyfriend. We made sure we included the three techniques the brief had specified. For example, match on action is demonstrated from 0:04-0:06 (first action) and 0:06-0:08 (continued action action). Shot reverse shot is shown at 0:13 (shot), 0:15 (reverse) and 0:16 (shot), in these shots the 180 degree rule is also clearly demonstrated as the first actress - Ellie is always on the left of the screen and the second actress - Kalkidan is always on the right of the screen. This is a strength of the preliminary task as we have managed to show all of the specified techniques through our creativity at some point. However, in the second action of the match on action the 180 degree rule was broken as the actress was on the left side of the screen in the first action but on the right side of the screen in the second action. This was due to the positioning of the camera, this made our continuity editing exercise slightly less successful.

180 degree rule

180 degree rule

My understanding of the 180 degree rule was developed in the main coursework - in my British Social Realist film, when there was more than one character on screen each character would have a side of the screen that they are always on whether it be left or right. For example, from 0:58-1:04 we see the main character - Leah and her neighbour. Leah is on the right side of the screen in both shots and the neighbour is on the left to prevent any confusion within the audience. In our British Social Realist film - 'Maze', we also included match on action. It can be seen in our film from 0:36-0:40. The first action happens from 0:36-0:38 and the continuing action happens from 0:38-0:40. If we did not do this preliminary task I would have no knowledge of the 180 degree rule or match on action, therefore this task really did improve my understanding of these techniques and proved beneficial for me in my British Social Realist's opening sequence. Next year I really want to be more creative with my practical work and think more outside of the box to produce something really unique and catchy.

Post-production

Match on action (2)

Match on action (1)

The post-production stage of the preliminary task was done individually, so my partner and I edited our footage separately. I think I used iMovie well to edit as I found all of the cutting and trimming tools reasonably easy to use after a some time playing around with them to understand what to do. Putting all of the footage together in iMovie was easy, the hardest thing that had to be done was cutting the two match on action shots precisely, to create an accurate continuous flow of action. The match-on-action in my preliminary task was eventually edited together well after much cutting and trimming of the shots to make it as good as possible, to meet the brief in demonstrating clear understanding and knowledge of the match on action technique. The match on action in my preliminary task can be seen from 0:04-0:08. In post-production I also included graphics of the title and production credits, this was very easy in iMovie.

In our British Social Realist film editing all of the footage in iMovie proved even easier this time as we had already used it to edit our preliminary task. The preliminary task was very useful as we gained at good idea of how to use the iMovie software during post-production. As match on action was also used in our British Social Realist film, editing it was much quicker than the editing of it in our preliminary task, because I already knew what to do and didn't need to waste time trying to get an idea of how to use the software. However, we had to produce our film's graphics in Live Type and therefore we could not edit our graphics into our film in iMovie, we had to complete our film's editing without graphics in iMovie and then import our final film to Final Cut. In Final Cut we then had to put all of our graphics into our film. As we had not used Final Cut before, it was very time-consuming as we had to work out how to use the software first. Next year I would love to be more confident using Live Type to create graphics, so that I can create graphics quickly and effectively. I would also like to be able to use Final Cut better in post-production so that editing footage is not so time-consuming.

Research and planning

In order to complete this preliminary task to the best of my ability, I needed to conduct some research prior to the practical side of the task, as I was unsure of some of the media language skills including; the 180 degree rule and match on action. I used YouTube to find video's of examples of the 180 degree rule, match on action, shot reverse shot and the composition of the rule of thirds. All of these videos exampling these skills can be found in an earlier blog post - http://lorellethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/continuity-editing-exercise.html. My partner and I planned our preliminary tasks scenario using a storyboard. Planning via a storyboard allowed us to see exactly where we would use each skill and when. However, my partner and I are not great drawers and therefore at times the storyboard was difficult to understand. My storyboard can be found in the following blog post - http://lorellethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/continuity-editing-exercise-storyboard.html.

The research and planning stage for my main course work was developed because of the preliminary task. This is because I knew that research into what you had to actually do, really does help your final outcome and therefore I also conducted lots of research into the British Social Realism genre and the themes included in it. For example, I analysed a film of the same genre (http://lorellethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/analysing-fish-tank_22.html), I analysed the conventions of an opening sequence in general (http://lorellethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/analysis-of-conventions-in-opening.html), I looked at how themes are used in British Social Realist films (http://lorellethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/use-of-themes-in-british-social-realism.html)(http://lorellethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/how-british-social-realism-themes-are.html) and I conducted some primary audience research (http://lorellethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/primary-audience-research.html). In pre-production for my partner and I's British Social Realist film, we used a shooting script to plan our film instead of a storyboard used in our preliminary task (http://lorellethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/shooting-script.html). The use of a shooting script really developed my planning skills for the main coursework as I felt that this allowed me to be more organised in production. Next year I would like to be able to conduct even more research covering different elements of my assigned task so that I can increase my understanding and knowledge of the set task in hope of a better outcome. I would also like to be able to use a shooting script again and be able to stick to it more, to make the production stage of my task faster and organised.

Evaluation - Part 7 : Technologies Used in Production.

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Evaluation - Part 6 : How we attracted our audience.

Evaluation - Part 5 : Representation of Social Groups.

The main character in our film is Leah, she represents multiple social groups within British society today including; a neet, a battered wife, a poor person and a pregnant young woman.

Leah is represented as a neet because we gave no signs of education, employment or training throughout the opening sequence. This representation was constructed through the camera language because at 0:48-0:49 there is a close-up of Leah withdrawing a bag of coins from a cupboard. This connotes that she does not have an income and therefore doesn't have a job as she is just saving up spare change. Evidentially she is not in education either because she would qualify for a bursary if she was in education due to her working class status. We conformed to this negative stereotype of neets failing to do anything productive or constructive with their lives. This is shown through the editing, more specifically the use of a smash mouth opening which emphasizes Leah's rush to escape the mundane of everyday life and almost trying to run away from her failure in hope of a more successful future with no education, job or training.

Leah is also represented as a battered wife. We constructed this representation through the camera language, editing, sound and mise-en-scene. This representation of a battered wife was shown through the camera language by using a close-up of Leah's face from 0:39-0:47, where we see her looking in pain, fragile and vulnerable - this is the typical state of women after they have been physically abused. However, we subverted this typical stereotype of battered wives being weak minded. We subverted this stereotype through the editing as we used a fast montage from 0:13-0:37 creating a smash mouth opening which adds to the desperation of the need to escape the violent relationship, proving that Leah as a battered wife has the courage to leave. In the sound we used non-diegetic music (a song) to connote the hurt Leah has gone through and to show that she is not going to allow this hurt to continue. This is signified through the lyrics '...and you broke my heart for the very last time,' which plays when Leah is evaluating her bruises and bloody nose in the mirror. These lyrics really anchor the meaning of the shot of Leah looking at herself in the mirror which is necessary as no dialogue was used. We also used a long take in the shot from 0:39-0:47 to really slow down the pace of the film allowing the audience to see Leah's face for the first time. Highlighting her representation of a battered wife to give the audience some time to understand the previous actions in the smash mouth opening, to answer any enigmas like; why is she rushing? Also to allow the audience some time to sympathise with her.The mise-en-scene also helps to establish Leah's representation as a battered wife. This was done through the choice of actress. We chose Amber Quadling to play Leah because Amber has a small structure and is quite short, therefore we felt that she would best fit the role as she conforms to the characteristics of a battered wife as she could be made to look weak and timid. The make-up we used on Leah which includes the bruises and bloody nose definitely helped to establish the representation of a battered wife as we could clearly see the result of the violence although we didn't show the actual violence being carried out. Overall for this representation of a battered wife, we felt that we subverted its typical representations and portrayed battered wives in a more positive light. This was because instead of making Leah put up with the ongoing situation of being abused, we have her trying to escape it as seen through the use of public transport.

The representation of a poor person is established most strongly through the mise-en-scene. The first sign of poverty is when Leah opens her kitchen cupboard at 0:31 and its practically bare, this connotes that she cannot afford to buy lots of food to fill her cupboards. Throughout the smash mouth opening she packs one rucksack with all of her belongings proving that she doesn't have much to take with her because she can't afford much. This emphasizes her working class status. From 0:49-0:50 Leah takes coins out of her cupboard like it is money she has saved which represents her as a poor person because people who are not poor usually save money in bank accounts. This connotes that the sum of money Leah has is not substantial. In this time frame we also see the council flats where Leah lives, this signifies poverty as they are very cheap accommodation and sometimes even free depending on an individuals circumstance. My partner and I conform to the typical representation of poor people through the mise-en-scene as Leah has a lack of food, clothes and money, just like the stereotypical poor person.

Leah is also represented as a pregnant young woman. We created this representation through the camera, editing and the mise-en-scene. The camera and the mise-en-scene in combination help to produce this representation because we see Leah ripping up the letter (prop) at 0:20 and flushing it down the toilet at 0:23. This connotes that she has something to hide but it is not an obvious sign of pregnancy. The previous shot of a close-up of the envelope in which the letter was contained which states 'private and confidential' at 0:19. The use of a close-up lets the audience know that the information documented in the letter is of great importance as this is what triggers her panicked and rushed escape. The close-up also almost lets the audience know that Leah is pregnant because of her reaction following the opening of the letter. This letter, more specifically is the agent of change for Leah and we can tell this because of the editing after the flushing of the letter. The fast montage shows that she is rushing to leave, but this need for escape also highlights our subversion of the typical stereotypes of pregnant young women such as; they don't care about pregnancy because they will just abort it. We have portrayed pregnant young women in a more positive light as we have Leah trying to escape her violent boyfriend to protect her unborn baby, representing young women as bold, brave and loving.

Evaluation - Part 4 : Textual Analysis.

Evaluation - Part 3 : Film 4.

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Evaluation - Part 2 : Our Film's Audience.

Evaluation - Part 1 : Brief.

The brief stated that we had been '...approached by Film 4 to make make a British Social Realist film aimed at British 16-24 year olds... to produce the first two minutes of the film...[and it] must conform to the conventions of the Social Realist genre... Finally to keep costs low, all visual and audio material used in the film must be entirely original.' I feel that we met the briefs requirements because when in pre-production we had conducted a lot of research into the British Social Realism genre to gain a better understanding of it's conventions and find some inspiration for our film. For example, we analysed the British Social Realist film 'Fish Tank' and looked at different elements of the film that were typical of the genre, (http://lorellethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/analysing-fish-tank_22.html). My partner and I had stuck to the brief and aimed our opening sequence towards a British audience between the ages of 16-24 year olds as we included some cultural references, such as the London Underground which appeals specifically to British people and particularly people living in London as this type of transport will have more meaning to them. The iconic London Underground is evident in our film at 1:34 as we
see her entering a subway with the station sign in the background and also at 1:44 as we see her entering the sign posted station. It also appeals to those of or within the ages of 16-24 as the use of public transport is a more common thing for these teenagers/young adults because they are less likely to be able to drive as it is very expensive, public transport is more affordable for them. We also used a young British actress who is within the target audiences age as we felt that this would create some personal appeal or identification within the audience as they could relate to the character and what she is experiencing. Our actress is in our opening sequence from 0:14 and for the remaining duration but you see her best at 0:58. We also met the brief as all of our opening sequence's visual material is original as it has been produced and created by my partner and I. The audio material in our opening sequence is also 'entirely original' as the song was produced by a friend of mine and is copyright free. The song used in our opening sequence starts from 0:15 and plays throughout the rest of our opening sequence.

We titled our opening sequence 'Maze'. We decided to give our opening sequence this title as we felt that a maze connoted our main characters struggle to escape her abusive relationship with her unfaithful boyfriend, in hope of a better life for her unborn baby and herself as stated in our treatment (http://lorellethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/treatment.html). A maze is isolating and confusing due to the amount of different narrow paths to take therefore we felt that this would connote that a character/s in our film feel very isolated and confused because of what they are going through. Following Propp's narrative theory, our opening sequence is immediately affected by an agent of change which is evident through the use of a smash mouth opening and the speed of the action starting at 0:13. Another British Social Realism film that uses this convention of a smash mouth opening is 'London 2 Brighton'. My partner and I saw this film and we too decided to use a smash mouth opening as we liked how it made us as the audience feel. In our film the agent of change is the pregnancy of Leah - our main character. In this case it is a positive change as it urges her to try and escape from her violent boyfriend. The agent of change sets up the rest of our film as there is still the conflicting complication, the elaboration, the climax and resolution and the coda to be seen, which would all be revealed in the rest of our film. The rest of our film's narrative is displayed in a blog post titled 'whole film narrative' (http://lorellethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/whole-film-narrative.html), since this post our narrative has been altered in production due to peer feedback.

When identifying the themes of British Social Realism, we found that there were a range of themes that were majorly about the hardships of the working class population. These themes included; aspiration and escape, violence, pregnancy, childhood, poverty, etc. Some of these themes can be seen in some research into themes in real British Social Realist films like; Bullet Boy, East is East, The Football Factory and Kikdulthood, (http://lorellethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/how-british-social-realism-themes-are.html). When taking a closer look into the themes used in British Social Realist films they all seem to have a link to the news. When researching further I found that the production companies of British Social Realist films and the news influence and inspire each other, (http://lorellethompson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/use-of-themes-in-british-social-realism.html). Based on this research my partner and I had individually conducted we decided to look in the new for any stories that revolved around the main themes of pregnancy and domestic violence we had planned to use in our narrative. On the BBC news website we had found a story about a girl who had been abused by her boyfriend at the age of 16 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17787243), this really helped to develop and inspire our narrative. We used the theme of domestic violence and this is evident in our opening sequence at 0:39-0:47, it is connoted when Leah is looking in the mirror at her bruises and
bloody nose. We also used the theme of poverty which is connoted throughout the mise-en-scene in our opening sequence, for example from 0:48-0:50 where we see Leah grabbing a prop of coins, which signified she has very little money and we see the location of council flats which is where she lives, this also signified that she is financially unstable and could be living off of benefits. Both examples connote the theme of poverty. This is similar to the British Social Realist film ' Adulthood' as we see many council flats and people with little money.