Jenna-Olivia: May 2011

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

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The first and main group my media represents is those that have a keen interest in dance. The whole two minutes are focused on the sport and it is made obvious that this is what the rest of the film (if it were to continue) would be focused on. Even though I have a specific audience who I have aimed my peace at who are younger, I fee dance is something that regardless of the fact it tends to be younger people with a keen interest, virtually anyone can like dance. This is is supported by the fact dance programmes such as ''Strictly Come Dancing'' and ''So You Think You Can Dance'' do so well, and there widespread audience cannot just be down to a small minority age group chooning in. As well as dance itself as a whole, it represents those who are interested in one type of dance in specific. No matter what that dance is, various styles are used in my coursework therefore they're likely to find the type of dance that they enjoy participating in, or equally, just like to watch. If they didn't like ballet dancing yet loved street dance for instance, street dance is included so hopefully they would still feel engaged and want to watch the film. I have represented the dancers quite stereotypically, I chose those that looked elegant to perform a more elegant style and those that had a slightly edgier and fierce look to them to perform less elegant and more powerful routines such as break dance or street dance. This was done purposely so that the audience could relate to characters more, as although doing this was stereotypical, this is very true for dancers in real life. Gender also played a part in how my media catered for particular social groups. My film is more primarily focused on girls rather than boys. However I did do somethings things to try and make males interested too. Out of the characters that were auditioning, three were females and two males which is fairly balanced. A lot of teenage boys also like to see females dancing, so the fact there was one more female than male doesn't really matter. Some of the girls are more girlie and elegant and appear to be shier and more reserved, whereas the other girls come across confident. This represents the everyday female, regardless of whom is watching my film as people are one of these two, or they may be a combination, which means they can relate to each character or an equal bases. For males I chose two contrasting characters. One which had a 'camp' side to him and the other very masculine. So the boys as well as the girls could relate to a character. My film therefore represents males in very apposing ways. In terms of strength/power which are typical characteristics males are considered to posses and in another way which shows males can have a softer, more gentle approach to them. Aside from gender, age is something I focused on in my production. Majority of my cast were 16-17 years of age and I feel they were represented in a laid back manner, generally taking everything in there stride. Yet at the same time expressed a passion for a topic mostly related to their age range (dance.) The judges on the other hand were older, and the older people are is often associated with them increasingly in knowledge and taking things more seriously. I showed this through each of them wearing glasses as well as wearing smart clothing, plus having a constant serious expression on their faces.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my media film would definitely be catering to the female population of a younger audience (those between x-x). This would be that they would also be ABC1's as they're students. So people that were considered to be of lower class citizens. The reason I feel my product best suits this audience is because it is based around dance, something that younger girls are predominantly known to be interested in. As well as these, not all, but most of the characters are young females so my chosen audience can relate to them. Thirdly, in previous months when I carried out my audience research, a large proportion of the girls I interviewed all filled in my survey were interested in the type of film I have come up with and they too were between the ages of x-x.

How did you attract/address your audience?
I feel I attracted by audience by firstly making all the fonts that I used for credits in a pale pink colour which is a colour that girls are known to like far more than boys. Secondly, out of 9 of my characters that I used in my media coursework majority (6) were people who were 16-17 years of age therefore they could relate to these characters. I know this because in my survey, people from a younger age category tended to want younger actors/actress in their films. In terms of my locations, I ensured I chose places that a younger audience could familiarise themselves with and not chose places they would not tend to go to. For example, a dance studio is a prime location were young girls have been to when they were younger and Chapelfield Gardens is a known location for young people meeting up with friends. A further point where I addressed my audience was by the music that I used. Within my film I decided not to use dialogue, purely because as I am the same age range to my target audience, I know that teenagers like myself find it boring if a lot of dialogue is used, especially within the first opening sequence. Teenagers tend to like to get to know the characters and to be visually intrigued, and have verbal stimulus used later on. Plus the fact the film is based on dance therefore would not have suited a large amount of dialogue. Music had to be included as it gave the audience the vibe for my film that I was looking for. The music I chose was itself done by a young artist, so they know what a younger audience are looking for, and with me also being younger and female, I knew what type of music my audience would like. The music had a beat/rhythm to it which was the kind of music which is popular amongst teenagers today, as well as the fact it worked well with all the various types of dance which were portrayed in the movie. Although I used music instead of dialogue, if I did use dialogue in the two minutes I would have kept the language simple, so that my age group were able to understand, instead of long winded sentences which hugely complicated wording. I also might have got my characters to use some 'slang' words which fit with the typical teenage dialogue. Aside from music, I got my characters to dress accordingly in dress such as jeans, track suit bottoms, with girlie colours such as pink/purple, light blue, navy,white/cream. So they were not dominated by colour seen typically by boys, i.e. black, brown, green, grey. Lastly, dance is a hobby mostly taken up by girls so the overall plot was indicated towards young females, however some boys enjoy the sport too. So in order to address the plot more towards girls, I tried to use types of dance which females were known for doing more so than males. For instance ballet is popular amongst young girls, as is tap. Aside from one clip of one of the boy characters doing break dancing (typically a dance considered to be mostly taken up by males) all the other clips of dancing are swayed towards females.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
The preliminary task was a very short piece of filming that was basic to do. Doing the preliminary task helped as prior to doing it I had not had a lot of experience using video cameras, a tripod and to getting a sequence of filming done which fitted the brief, as well as being completed on time. The preliminary also helped in working out how to use the editing software (iMovie.) Looking back at the preliminary task which was set, I really wasn't very aware of how to use the equipment. This is something which has been greatly improved apon from doing all my filming that was required for my own short film. When I did my preliminary, luckily there was someone within my group of 4 who knew how to use camera equipment well already therefore was able to take over regarding this aspect. Although this was good, when filming my coursework, even though I had people to ask if I was stuck with something, I had the opportunity to find out for myself on my own accord as to how to use the equipment. I learn't how to do simple tasks such as zoom in and out as well as slightly tricker tasks such as ensuring the sound was off in certain shots. Furthermore, when I did the preliminary, even though we were given a tripod to use, when we initially starting shooting we didn't use the tripod, and then towards the end of filming we started to. Consequently, some shots looked a tad shaky and this ruined our shot sequence slightly. This mean't when I did my own coursework I made sure that I used a tripod at all times and this really showed in my end product. So much so this came up frequently in comments which I got people to give me for feedback. Another thing I have learn't since conducting the preliminary is developing different shot angles and how this can really make some filming far more interesting than just to have the same shot for a too longer period of time. In my preliminary video there are some varying shots of characters as they come into the room and sit down and talk to one another but not enough to really make it interesting. Secondly, the shots tended to be set at the same distance, i.e. a mid shot, there were a few close up shots however, but they didn't stand out from the others. My two minute film however has many varied shots and angles, including viewing people from behind, in front and sideways. It also has some cutaways shots as well or shots which particularly focus in on a certain part of a characters body (this was done towards the end of my two minutes when the main character can be seen tap dancing and the camera cuts to a shot just of her feet or when one of the judges are writing notes about one of the auditionees.) As well as this, it has wide shots from far away to extreme close up shots. This again was mentioned positively in the feedback which I received. Shots were broken up and more interesting to the eye. In terms of costumes, even though me and my group gave my preliminary a horror theme looking back this doesn't come across too well and I feel the outfits that the actress are wearing plays an important part in this. This factor couldn't be helped when doing our preliminary as we were in Sixth Form and the task had to be completed within the allocated time slot we were given, but for my own piece I feel the costumes went well and added to the theme of my film. By dressing the dancers in clothing they were free to move in and material that was 'giving' like track suit bottoms it would have enhanced their performance which they gave, plus goes with what dancers are known for wearing so the audience could related to their dress. Having the main character wear the appropriate dance shoe (ballet shoes for ballet, tap shoes for tap, trainers for street dance) they wore iconic shoes related to the relative style so it is immediately obvious what type of dance they're doing and as I wanted to get as many styles in as possible, it was important that they were distinguished between one another instead of looking as though he had been repeated. When looking back at the preliminary, something which I think was done well was the lighting. We chose a genre 'horror' and this fitted with with the fat the day was quite cloudy and dark plus the room which the characters were in also reflected this as we closed all the blinds to give it a darker feel. Even though this worked well, in parts it is difficult to see the characters because the room is almost too dark. Obviously whether is prodominantly down to chance on the day, however by looking at the whether for-cast getting the whether that suits your film becomes increasingly more likely. Ideally, for the scenes were I shoot with the main character (Harriet) I would have liked there to have been a mixed of rain and sun which led to there being a rainbow present. This is because my film has a fantasy element to it, will she or will she not become a professional dancer in the end? and I feel by having a rainbow there this supports the fact the film is a fantasy. Having said this, getting there to be a rainbow on the day was hugely unlikely, so I decided that it would be better for the light in Harriets part to be darker because she has the talent by at present it is being disguised and then to have the light lighter in the auditions because they are able to show case their talents and at the moment, have been lucky and get the opportunity to do what they enjoy. It was partially do to with luck that the light was quite dark when filming with Harriet, however we did film at 6:30am so it would be still slightly dark at this time. In regards to the auditions, the light does not show up through the camera as much as I would have liked. It appeared lighter in real life than it does on screen and this makes it look as though there is not a significant contrast in lighting between the two sequences which is something I would work on if I were to do my filming again. Having said this, unlike my preliminary, the lighting is not so dark that some of the characters are unable to be seen which is good.

Jenna-Olivia

Sunday, 1 May 2011

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