Click Here To View Prezi
Here is a version of evaluation in video form, which we made before our Prezis:
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Evaluation Prezi & Video
My Evaluation Prezi can be viewed embedded below in this post, but it is recommended that you view it on the official Prezi website by clicking below:
Click Here To View Prezi
Click Here To View Prezi
Saturday, 20 March 2010
Group Feedback Sessions
Here is footage of the two feedback sessions we held with groups of people. In the first, I ask questions to a Year 11 form group, some of whom take Media Studies, and in the second, I ask a Year 12 English Literature class.
Saturday, 6 March 2010
Individual Feedback Sessions
Here is a compilation of the responses from the individual viewers we interviewed.
In terms of the viewers' first impressions, I feel we have achieved what we set out to. The interviewees mentioned that it was the visuals and the lighting that initially stood out to them, and one said that it was the combination of visual style and the dramatic voiceover that drew them in. In our Research Presentation, I mentioned that, due to the time constraints for our OTS, we would, 'really need to focus in and ensure that almost everything that we do; we put into it, is a signifier.' In using conventional film-noir lighting styles and including a dramatic and mysterious voiceover, I feel we have done exactly as I suggested, and it has paid off; our audience are drawn in to the world we have created.
Drawing the audience into our imagined world is important, but it is no good immersing the audience if you can't follow through and convey the correct ideas and emotions. To see whether we had made people feel the way we intended, we asked questions about the style and tension in the OTS. Our interviewees commented that the sequence had a 'dark atmosphere' which contributed to the mystery of the piece, and one person said that it was clear to them who the protagonist and antagonists were. I am glad that someone felt they benefitted from this clarity, as this is what I was trying to achieve when writing the dialogue; clearly showing the Femme Fatale as the antagonist whilst remaining vague on the subject matter of her speech.
The people we asked rated tension as above 5 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the most tense), and there was evidence to suggest that the tension did indeed build as we had intended; one person said that the revealing of the Goon (towards the end) made them tense, and another said that the musics helped to build the tension towards the end. We also asked the viewers if they would have wanted to continue watching the film, and all said that they would, but for different reasons. One person mentioned the relationship between the voiceover and the final moments of the OTS, suggesting that this made them curious, and another person said that they were drawn into the story of the Femme Fatale. This is good, because the narrative purpose of the OTS was to introduce the Femme Fatale, and the viewers' recognition of her importance shows that this has worked.
When asked about the power of the characters, most of the interviewees talked about the authoritative nature of the Femme Fatale, but one person did state that they thought the Victim had the most power. Although this means that we failed in conveying our ideas correctly to all of our viewers, the varying interpretation doesn't detract greatly from the OTS; it is intended to be mysterious, and a variety of audience interpretations can only enhance this sense of doubt.
The general opinion of our interviewees was that people above the age of 15, but mainly those of late 30s to early 50s, would enjoy the film most. Some justified this by stating that younger teens and children may be put off by the monochrome visuals, and would most likely be confused by the relatively complex plot. In terms of place of exhibition and genre classification (disregarding film-noir), the general consensus was that, based on the OTS, our film would be shown at an 'art house' cinema and would be classified as a 'thriller' or 'psychological thriller.'
In terms of the viewers' first impressions, I feel we have achieved what we set out to. The interviewees mentioned that it was the visuals and the lighting that initially stood out to them, and one said that it was the combination of visual style and the dramatic voiceover that drew them in. In our Research Presentation, I mentioned that, due to the time constraints for our OTS, we would, 'really need to focus in and ensure that almost everything that we do; we put into it, is a signifier.' In using conventional film-noir lighting styles and including a dramatic and mysterious voiceover, I feel we have done exactly as I suggested, and it has paid off; our audience are drawn in to the world we have created.
Drawing the audience into our imagined world is important, but it is no good immersing the audience if you can't follow through and convey the correct ideas and emotions. To see whether we had made people feel the way we intended, we asked questions about the style and tension in the OTS. Our interviewees commented that the sequence had a 'dark atmosphere' which contributed to the mystery of the piece, and one person said that it was clear to them who the protagonist and antagonists were. I am glad that someone felt they benefitted from this clarity, as this is what I was trying to achieve when writing the dialogue; clearly showing the Femme Fatale as the antagonist whilst remaining vague on the subject matter of her speech.
The people we asked rated tension as above 5 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the most tense), and there was evidence to suggest that the tension did indeed build as we had intended; one person said that the revealing of the Goon (towards the end) made them tense, and another said that the musics helped to build the tension towards the end. We also asked the viewers if they would have wanted to continue watching the film, and all said that they would, but for different reasons. One person mentioned the relationship between the voiceover and the final moments of the OTS, suggesting that this made them curious, and another person said that they were drawn into the story of the Femme Fatale. This is good, because the narrative purpose of the OTS was to introduce the Femme Fatale, and the viewers' recognition of her importance shows that this has worked.
When asked about the power of the characters, most of the interviewees talked about the authoritative nature of the Femme Fatale, but one person did state that they thought the Victim had the most power. Although this means that we failed in conveying our ideas correctly to all of our viewers, the varying interpretation doesn't detract greatly from the OTS; it is intended to be mysterious, and a variety of audience interpretations can only enhance this sense of doubt.
The general opinion of our interviewees was that people above the age of 15, but mainly those of late 30s to early 50s, would enjoy the film most. Some justified this by stating that younger teens and children may be put off by the monochrome visuals, and would most likely be confused by the relatively complex plot. In terms of place of exhibition and genre classification (disregarding film-noir), the general consensus was that, based on the OTS, our film would be shown at an 'art house' cinema and would be classified as a 'thriller' or 'psychological thriller.'
Overall, I feel that these individual sessions worked well, and much of the feedback confirms that we have succeeded in achieving what we originally aimed to. What has been interesting is hearing the in-depth personal feedback that cannot be extracted from large audiences. I feel that listening to the viewers' opinions of the OTS has highlighted the importance of our collegiate method of approach; tackling different factors of the OTS individually and then piecing them together has resulted in an overall high-quality product that meets the standards we set. The result may have been very different if we hadn't clearly distributed the workload and had simply started contructing our piece from all angles.
Saturday, 27 February 2010
Audience Feedback Questions
With the final cut of our OTS just finished, we decided that it was time to go out and get some audience feedback that we can use when evaluating our OTS.
For this to work, we needed succint and suitable questions that we could pose to individuals as well as larger audiences. They needed to be phrased in such a way that they weren't daunting to those without experience in media, and they had to extract useful information. I wrote down some questions, and then we added to and tweaked them to ensure that they were sound.
Here is a list of the questions we used:
Whilst we know that this in-depth, media-conscious feedback will help us a great deal when we come to evaluate, we are also aware that we will need to hear the opinions of general viewers in order to attain a more accurate overview of the film's reception. Yesterday, Tom and I showed the film to our AS Literature class (ages 16-17), and then I asked them the above questions, re-phrased slightly to address the entire group. James, Daniel and I have another audience feedback session with a Year 11 form group (ages 15-16) planned for Monday morning, which will hopefully allow us an insight into the opinions of a slightly younger audience.
Footage of the individual feedback sessions and also those with a group audience will be uploaded and posted soon.
Daniel has posted our OTS to the National Preservation Forum, of which he is a part, so that we can get some feedback from mostly middle-class people up to the age of 60, and James is posting it to Playstuff, where most users are students or academic creatives within the age bracket of 18-40, who hould be able to give some good, articulated views.
For in-depth written feedback on the OTS, please look to the completed questionnaires in Tom's post on Showing the Consumers.
For this to work, we needed succint and suitable questions that we could pose to individuals as well as larger audiences. They needed to be phrased in such a way that they weren't daunting to those without experience in media, and they had to extract useful information. I wrote down some questions, and then we added to and tweaked them to ensure that they were sound.
Here is a list of the questions we used:
- What are your first impressions of the film? Did any specific moment stand out to you?
- How tense did the OTS make you feel on a scale of 1 - 10? 10 being the most tense.
- Did you find the ambiguity and mystery of the piece intriguing? Did you feel curious enough to continue watching the film?
- Which character did you feel had the most power?
- Based on what you have seen, who would you recommend the film to? What age-group?
- At what kind of venue would you expect the film to be shown, Art House or Mainstream cinemas?
- How did the film's visual style make you feel? How did this contribute to the overall atmosphere of the film?
- Aside from film-noir, what genre would you classify the film as, based on what you have seen?
Whilst we know that this in-depth, media-conscious feedback will help us a great deal when we come to evaluate, we are also aware that we will need to hear the opinions of general viewers in order to attain a more accurate overview of the film's reception. Yesterday, Tom and I showed the film to our AS Literature class (ages 16-17), and then I asked them the above questions, re-phrased slightly to address the entire group. James, Daniel and I have another audience feedback session with a Year 11 form group (ages 15-16) planned for Monday morning, which will hopefully allow us an insight into the opinions of a slightly younger audience.
Footage of the individual feedback sessions and also those with a group audience will be uploaded and posted soon.
Daniel has posted our OTS to the National Preservation Forum, of which he is a part, so that we can get some feedback from mostly middle-class people up to the age of 60, and James is posting it to Playstuff, where most users are students or academic creatives within the age bracket of 18-40, who hould be able to give some good, articulated views.
For in-depth written feedback on the OTS, please look to the completed questionnaires in Tom's post on Showing the Consumers.
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Final Cut of OTS
Long at last, here is the final cut of our OTS.
And here is an early cut of the footage for comparison.
Click here for my article explaining the early cuts.
Click here for James' explanation of the editing process.
The most noticeable change between theses two cuts has to be that of the Femme Fatale's voice. As described in a previous post, we quickly discovered that this character did not appear authorative enough, which was largely down to the intonation of the voice. To solve the problem, Tom and I sampled several voices, chose an actress who could create the right tone, and then recorded her speaking the lines so that we could replace the original audio with the new.
The sound has also undergone considerable changes, with the sound of the rain featuring less due to a drop in volume, and the dramatic, non-diegetic background music made more prominent to increase tension. On top of this, sections of the Victim speaking were reomved, largely due to time constraints, and, of course, the acting credits were added at appropriate moments in a font that seemed both classic and bold.
All of the videos we have uploaded can be found here, on James' Vimeo account.
And here is an early cut of the footage for comparison.
Click here for my article explaining the early cuts.
Click here for James' explanation of the editing process.
The most noticeable change between theses two cuts has to be that of the Femme Fatale's voice. As described in a previous post, we quickly discovered that this character did not appear authorative enough, which was largely down to the intonation of the voice. To solve the problem, Tom and I sampled several voices, chose an actress who could create the right tone, and then recorded her speaking the lines so that we could replace the original audio with the new.
The sound has also undergone considerable changes, with the sound of the rain featuring less due to a drop in volume, and the dramatic, non-diegetic background music made more prominent to increase tension. On top of this, sections of the Victim speaking were reomved, largely due to time constraints, and, of course, the acting credits were added at appropriate moments in a font that seemed both classic and bold.
All of the videos we have uploaded can be found here, on James' Vimeo account.
Thursday, 18 February 2010
Blog Directory
Throughout the time we've been working as a team to produce our actual OTS, we have also been working individually in different areas of research and development, which enabled each of us to focus on specific areas when we presented our ideas to the class. By working to our individual strengths, we were able to combine areas of speciality to create an informed and accurate film-noir OTS.
The delegation of research and development tasks can be seen in the work we have posted to our respective blogs.
As the member of the group with experience in Drama and an interest in English Literature, I took on responsibility for character development, the writing of the script, and storyboarding. I also researched semiotics and representation & stereotyping, explored The Changing Nature of Noir, and explained the title of our OTS.
Tom is much more experienced in the business and theoretical side of media, and so took on responsibility for explaining types of market research, methods of distribution, and quantitative and qualitative target audiences. Tom also looked at sound, classified our film as a 15, and explored new 3D technology.
James was clearly the most experienced in technical areas, and so handled the editing of our piece, the mise-en-scene, cinematography and lighting. He also went into more depth as to the problems we faced with our continuity task, and took care of any video uploading for our blogs.
Daniel had more of an active role in researching the practical side of productions, and so was responsible for posting about film roles, researching opening credits, explaining the titles of our OTS, and explaining camera techniques.
Although we did overlap on certain areas of research, such as Semiotics, film classification, continuity ideas and target audiences, the above links show which members took a main focus in these areas.
The delegation of research and development tasks can be seen in the work we have posted to our respective blogs.
As the member of the group with experience in Drama and an interest in English Literature, I took on responsibility for character development, the writing of the script, and storyboarding. I also researched semiotics and representation & stereotyping, explored The Changing Nature of Noir, and explained the title of our OTS.
Tom is much more experienced in the business and theoretical side of media, and so took on responsibility for explaining types of market research, methods of distribution, and quantitative and qualitative target audiences. Tom also looked at sound, classified our film as a 15, and explored new 3D technology.
James was clearly the most experienced in technical areas, and so handled the editing of our piece, the mise-en-scene, cinematography and lighting. He also went into more depth as to the problems we faced with our continuity task, and took care of any video uploading for our blogs.
Daniel had more of an active role in researching the practical side of productions, and so was responsible for posting about film roles, researching opening credits, explaining the titles of our OTS, and explaining camera techniques.
Although we did overlap on certain areas of research, such as Semiotics, film classification, continuity ideas and target audiences, the above links show which members took a main focus in these areas.
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
OTS Title: 'Chainbound'
When we first established our basic ideas for the constituents of our OTS, we decided not to label it immediately. If we had chosen a final title for our piece before actually creating it, we may have ended up working backwards and shaping our ideas around the title, and what it implied. I think this would have resulted in a piece with one central theme or focus and little else. In order to avoid this, we left the naming of the film until after it was created. We very much wanted our title to be generated naturally; the OTS would inspire a title, not the other way round.
Our OTS introduces the Femme-Fatale as the film's main antagonist, the Goon as her 'right-hand-man', and the Victim as an unimportant individal who has unfortunately got into trouble with the Femme Fatale's crime syndicate, and is suffering the consequences. Theoretically, the actual film would then go on to introduce the main protagonist, perhaps a private investigator, and would follow his progress as he infiltrates the syndicate in order to uncover the truth of the given situation, perhaps a murder, but ends up in too deep, and struggles to cope with the problems that arise.
On my desk at home, I had a piece of paper which I would use to jot down any title ideas that came into my head. I had already looked at a list of film-noir titles, and so knew what sort of name would fit. As the name of a film-noir/psychological thriller hybrid, the title would need to be both ambiguous and daunting; possibly alluding to an important plot element, but not something that would spoil the film. Here is a list of some words I jotted down:
Our OTS introduces the Femme-Fatale as the film's main antagonist, the Goon as her 'right-hand-man', and the Victim as an unimportant individal who has unfortunately got into trouble with the Femme Fatale's crime syndicate, and is suffering the consequences. Theoretically, the actual film would then go on to introduce the main protagonist, perhaps a private investigator, and would follow his progress as he infiltrates the syndicate in order to uncover the truth of the given situation, perhaps a murder, but ends up in too deep, and struggles to cope with the problems that arise.
On my desk at home, I had a piece of paper which I would use to jot down any title ideas that came into my head. I had already looked at a list of film-noir titles, and so knew what sort of name would fit. As the name of a film-noir/psychological thriller hybrid, the title would need to be both ambiguous and daunting; possibly alluding to an important plot element, but not something that would spoil the film. Here is a list of some words I jotted down:
Cipher, Trial, Alibi, Break, Deed, Tact, Chase,
Mutiny, Run, Code, Riot, Storm, Recoil, Clarity.
Mutiny, Run, Code, Riot, Storm, Recoil, Clarity.
I paired some of the words together to create two possible titles: Riot Cipher and Clarity Tact. I liked the pairing of words, because it left a certain mystery as to how they were linked. Riot Cipher, for exmaple, juxtaposes something chaotic and something that requires order and precision, and this could work to make people wonder about the film and become curious enough to watch it. Despite this, I didn't think either of these titles would work for the OTS, because they didn't seem to fit with the themes of the OTS at all, and would seem detached from our piece, possibly resulting in audience confusion.
James produced this 3D title animation for the end of our OTS, but it was replaced by normal, 2D text on the general consensus that it was too lucid, and shattered the subtlety that our OTS had established up until that point.
A week or so ago, when we realised our production was coming to a head, we decided to have a group brain-storming session for our film title. This involved sitting around a computer, suggesting words that related to our OTS, and then typing them into Thesaurus.com in the hope of discovering an appropriate synonym. After a while, I suggested the word, 'Chain' as a metaphor for the crime-syndicate; the main protagonist would be uncovering links between different sections of the syndicate, trying to find weaknesses along the way that he could use to his advantage. It was Tom who then developed this idea, suggesting 'Chainbound' as a single world. This made even more sense as a metaphor for the situation the protagonist would find himself in; whilst trying to uncover the weak links in the crime-syndicate, he would become bound by certain problems, and would struggle to escape. Also, the name doesn't appear to have been used previously, which will give our OTS an even further sense of originality.
James produced this 3D title animation for the end of our OTS, but it was replaced by normal, 2D text on the general consensus that it was too lucid, and shattered the subtlety that our OTS had established up until that point.
A week or so ago, when we realised our production was coming to a head, we decided to have a group brain-storming session for our film title. This involved sitting around a computer, suggesting words that related to our OTS, and then typing them into Thesaurus.com in the hope of discovering an appropriate synonym. After a while, I suggested the word, 'Chain' as a metaphor for the crime-syndicate; the main protagonist would be uncovering links between different sections of the syndicate, trying to find weaknesses along the way that he could use to his advantage. It was Tom who then developed this idea, suggesting 'Chainbound' as a single world. This made even more sense as a metaphor for the situation the protagonist would find himself in; whilst trying to uncover the weak links in the crime-syndicate, he would become bound by certain problems, and would struggle to escape. Also, the name doesn't appear to have been used previously, which will give our OTS an even further sense of originality.
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