Evaluation Question 7

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Question 5

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Originally, we planned on certifying our film as a 15 aiming it a British women who have an interest in socialising and relationships. Now that we have finished creating our film, we have decided that it is more of a 12a as there are no rude suggestions of any sort but the character does swear in the opening. When considering our whole film idea, it would be more appropriate to give the film the certificate of a 15. This is because we planned for it to be similar to films like Sex and the City (2008) which is classified as a 15 and so are films like Bridget Jones (2001).

We decided when we were discussing our audience profile; we thought that our film was likely to appeal to demographic groups C1 through to E. This includes people like office workers, skilled workers, students and pensioners and we decided that it would appeal to mainly females. In our research and planning we had decided that we aimed to apply the Uses and Gratifications theory (McQuail 1987) and wanted to use realistic settings and characters so that the audience can relate to them.  We also planned on applying the Hypodermic Needle theory to create a film that would be ‘easy viewing’ for our audience as they are likely to be a ‘passive audience’ and our film reflects that as we feed to basic information to the audience in an obvious way so that not too much processing is needed.

We had discussed that our typical audience member will be interested in fashion and relationships as well as things like cooking and keeping fit. We discussed in our planning that they are likely to shop in fashionable stores but not top end designers because of the demographic groups we are aiming at and their favourite TV shows are likely to address similar issues as our film like Sex and the City, or Hollyoaks. They are likely to have an interest in socialising and friendships and will have experiences of the stresses of work and love; however some of these issues are not to be addressed until later in the film when considering it as a whole.

We showed a screening of our film to our target audience and have received their feedback on what they thought of the film and if it would be something that they would go to see at the cinema.

Evaluation Question 3

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

When we were initially considering ideas for our film and were looking at existing rom-com’s we found that most were produced and distributed by mainstream, Hollywood companies. We therefore decided that were aiming for a mainstream film. We looked at existing films that are produced by mainstream companies, for example Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001), distributed by Working Title, a conglomerate of Universal Pictures. This film is similar to ours as the setting, style and storyline are fairly similar and so our film would be suitable for mainstream audiences. Other films such as Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) also have a very similar storyline to ours and characters that are similar to our own characters. Universal Pictures would be an appropriate distributor for our film as they produce ‘traditional’ style romantic-comedies and ours fits into this genre and this company also aims its films to mainstream, mass audiences. We also considered the overall look of our film when we were thinking about mise-en-scene and we wanted to have an overall Hollywood feel to our film. We looked at the existing films to see what sort of costumes were used and we chose to use an office setting and our characters dressed in a very professional way to show this.



Universal Pictures is the sort of Mainstream Instition that
distribute similar films to ours

Working Title - a conglomerate of Universal Pictures that
distributes films similar to ours, e.g. Bridget Jones' Diary (2001)

Our film does however have elements that cold make it an independent film as we imagine it to be set in London with British actors and comedy elements that may appeal more to a British audience. This could mean that it may be more suitable for a company like Working Title to distribute our film as it would receive funding from the mainstream company Universal but would still be aimed at the appropriate audience. Using a mainstream distributor would also mean that our film could be shown in main cinema companies and could reach the audience we want to target.

Our film would most likely be released for premiere in London and then perhaps later released in other places as this is the setting of our film. If the film were distributed by a company like Working Title, because this is a British company it is more likely that the film would be released in Britain first to reach the right audience. Working Title has made films such as Love Actually (2003) and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) which both have mainly British casts and have British settings despite being owned by the American Universal Pictures, and both films were shown on tent-pole release, premiering in London. This would therefore be the method of release that would be most suitable for our film as these existing similar films have had success this way.

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 1

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

Our film does use a lot of the typical generic conventions of a romantic-comedy however in our opening we look more at the conventions of a romance rather than the comedy element of the genre.  The colours that we have chosen to use in our opening like pinks, bright and happy colours reflect the mood of the piece and particularly the use of pink has connotations of romance. We used brightly coloured post-it notes and doodles to reflect the characters personality as she is quite creative and a bit of a workaholic. We also used typical ‘office’ objects including a computer and magazines with pens and pencils to emphasis the characters job as a journalist similar to characters like Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City. These colours and objects are used similarly in Sex and the City and Confessions of a Shopaholic.



Carrie Bradshaw
Sex and the City



Rebecca Bloomwood
Confessions of a Shopaholic



This is a screen shot of a shot from our film showing the objects on the desk
including magazines, post-it notes etc.

Our use of sound is also similar to that in films of the same genre as our character talks directly about love and we have romantic music playing throughout the opening to hint at the rom-com genre. We also use conventions like the photo of the man on her desk which hints at their relationship and her costume also emphasises at her sexuality. We conform to the stereotypical rom-com main character as she wears fashionable but professional clothes and adds hints to fashion with her painted fingernails and jewellery. She was dressed in a smart blazer and top similar to characters like Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City.

Carrie Bradshaw
Sex and the City
She is wearing light colours and
looks very smart similar to our main

character.



Our main actress getting ready for filming
wearing a 'girly' flowery top and smart trousers.
(she also had a smart blazer)



Carrie Bradshaw again, wearing a floral pattern similar to our chosen costume.

From doing several analysis’ of films from the romantic comedy genre, we found that most are set in a city setting and so we set our in and office location in London. This has been a commonly used setting in other rom-com’s such as Bridget Jones’ Diary and The Devil wears Prada.  



Thiw is the setting that we used to film
our opening before we added any props.



A scene from The Devil Wears Prada which also uses a similar office setting like the one that we used.









The use of the voiceover in our opening is also very similar to the opening of other films like Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) and Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001) and is a typical convention of a romantic comedy. These are two of the films that we used for inspiration for our film as we took the obvious British elements from Bridget Jones but the journalism, discussion of love side of things from Sex and the City. We decided that we wanted to use this in our opening as it means that the audience is immediately seeing through the main characters perspective and is able to relate to her straight away. It also introduces her job and hints to her personality setting it up for the rest of the film.

When we were considering the storyline of our film as a whole, we took inspiration from films like The Break Up (2006) and Bridget Jones (2001). This was because both involve some sort of break up between a couple and show the difficulties of balancing a love life and having a demanding job.


Bridget Jones' Diary



The Break Up (2006)





An over-the-shoulder shot of Carrie Bradshaw in

Sex and the City



In our opening, we wanted to keep the identity of the speaker somewhat hidden to capture the interest of the audience and so that we could give hints to who she was but still leaving the audience to ask questions about who she is. This meant that we used a lot of shots from behind our character including over the shoulder shots and long shots of her at the desk. From analysing various other film openings of the genre I noticed that other all introduce the character fully showing her in her everyday setting doing her job. We decided to go against and challenge this typical type of opening to introduce something different about the opening and to keep the audience’s attention throughout.





The over the shoulder shot that we used in
our opening to hide the character's identity



Our title: ‘Penelope Fox: Lessons in Love’ gives a direct indication to the genre of our film similar to the recent film Love and other Drugs (2010) and older films like Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). Our title appears in a light pink attractive writing in our opening which typically shows the genre of romance and happiness, conforming to the typical generic conventions of a rom-com.

Diary of Editing

22/03/2011

- final cut express
- found it hard, changed to imovie
- put all shots in order
- fiddled with timings

23/03/2011

- looked for music
- played with timings

24/03/2011

- added some of the titles
- struggled with main title
- worked with louise on voiceover
- had difficulties - decided to do it in sections - had to adapt script - didnt quite complete the voiceovers

25/03/2011

- we completed the voiceover with Louise

Initial Rough Cut



- worked on timings and titles
- added the soundtrack

28/03/2011

- We re-ordered some of our titles to the correct order to make the film more realistic
- We edited the length of the shot with the photograph in to make it shorter

29/03/2011

- Edited the size of the titles, made them larger and easier to see
- Had a final check over timings and sound

Second Rough Cut



31/03/2011

- Made the film title stand out more, changed the words 'Lessons in Love' to a typewriter font and had the letters checkered in however this was extremely time consuming as the letters had to be changed individually and ended up taking a lot longer than we had hoped.
- Added in our institutional logos and adapted the timings according to the opening logos.

Final Cut

Feedback on Filming

Having completed our filming in one day, we decided to go and receive feedback from our teacher on our shots in case we needed to re-film any shots. We received both positive and negative feedback and we were told that our tracking shots and lighting was very good however it was suggested that the framing of our close-up of the characters eyes was not so great. It was also suggested that we should perhaps re-film the screen as the text types up as it looked very small and would have been potentially difficult to read. We decided not to re-film the close-up shot as we are aware that there are cropping facilities when we are planning to be editing however we decided that we ought to re-film the shot of the text typing up as were were able to do that at school and did not need to visit our filming location again.

16/3/2011

Today we re-filmed the text tying up. We decided to film a few different shots of this so that we had different ones to choose from when it came to editing and we could choose the best and most appropriate one for our final film. We managed to complete this filming within around half an hour and we worked together really well. I learnt that it is much easier to have one person controlling the camera - particularly when using a dolly as it results in the most professional and effective final result. We are very pleased with how well this shot came out and it looks much better than our original version. I think that our overall filming process was very successful and our time management was very good and we hope to be as efficient when we begin to edit our opening.

Diary of Filming

15/03/2011

Today we started to film our opening on our location of Chelmsford town centre in the bank office. We managed to successfully complete all of our filming in one session and managed to use our time very efficiently and successfully. We did however come across some problems during filming which we had to work together to address and fix to get the best possible results. I found it quite difficult to keep the camera level as our tri-pod turned out to be faulty on the day and we were unable to stand in a way that ensured the camera was level. We decided to use a table and very slightly held the camera to one side when filming with the tri-pod to ensure it was level and we were able to quickly solve this problem.

We did also have some problems when we were attempting to do the tracking shots across the desk. We each tried to do the shot as it was a handheld shot and needed someone with a steady hand to film it. We found that I had the most steady hand and so I was in charge of this shot. I learnt that it is very difficult to get timings correct when filming, particularly with the tracking shots when you have to move at a certain pace as well as trying to keep a steady shot with good framing. We all equally contributed to the filming and attempted at filming each shot and so we were all able to contribute well to the filming of our piece and we managed to film all of our shots in one day of filming.

Creating our Shot-List and Film Schedule

We have been working as a group on our shot list to organise how we were going to organise our time when it comes to filming. As we were only working in one location to film our opening (all in an office), we decided to organise our shots by camera angle to save as much time as possible. We all agreed that this would be the best way to organise our time when filming to be most effective. We also put together a film schedule to make sure that we knew where we were going to be at what time and what props and costumers would be needed. This schedule also included the actors and camera equipment that would be needed on the day. I found this very helpful as I was then fully aware of when we would be filming what and in what order we would be working and I felt fully prepared to film and that I knew exactly what I would be doing and would be able to work most efficiently.

To view our shot list please visit our group blog:
Initial Shot-list
http://ascvhsmediacjc.blogspot.com/2011/03/g321-initial-shot-list-for-opening.html
Final Shot-list
http://ascvhsmediacjc.blogspot.com/2011/03/g321-improved-shot-list.html

To view our Film schedule please visit our group blog:
http://ascvhsmediacjc.blogspot.com/2011/03/g321-film-schedule.html

Comparing our Film Opening to Other Films

Now having compared our overall film idea to other existing romantic-comedies, I am going to look specifically at comparing our film opening idea to other films. This is to ensure that our opening uses the generic conventions of a rom-com as well as giving hints to the storyline and keeping the audiences interest. I am going to compare our opening using the categories I have previously used to analyse other film openings with: Narrative, Character, Atmosphere,  Setting, Sound and Titles.

Narrative and Setting

Our opening consists of a woman at her desk typing her new column for her magazine. The camera will establish the setting by panning around the room and give hints to themes that will appear later in the film by tracking over her desk where there will be magazine cuttings and articles hinting her job and interests. We will hear a voiceover revealing what she is typing in her article talking about love and relationships however her face will not be totally revealed to keep the audience interested. Other films that use the voiceover technique are ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary’ (2006) and ‘A Cinderella Story’ (2004) – both use the voiceover technique, specifically in the openings.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aFhQ9uPsxM

The idea of the main characters face not being entirely revealed is also used in the film ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ (2009) where we hear a voiceover but do not see the characters face until the very end of the opening sequence.



The opening will also introduce the city style, office setting as we will see her typing at her desk. The film ‘The Proposal’ (2009) also introduces this city setting along with the busy office life in the opening sequence which is quite common among films of this genre.

Office Setting - The Proposal (2009)

Character

In our opening, only the main character is properly introduced which is similar to most other films of this particular genre. We are also introduced to the characters job and where they work as we see the main character Penelope Fox working at her desk in her office and we are made aware that she is a relationship columnist for a magazine. The film ‘Never Been Kissed’ (1999) uses a similar type of opening as in the first two minutes we only focus on the main female character who is speaking in the voiceover and on the screen. The character herself is not similar to our character but she has a similar career and the techniques used to present her are similar to the way we are planning on presenting our character.



We also plan on introducing the male protagonist through a photograph in the opening to hint to the audience that he will be a main character but not as main as the female character present in the opening. It is also to hint his relationship with the main female character as the photo will show them as a couple who are clearly romantically involved. Another film that uses photographs in the opening to show the characters relationship is the film ‘The Break-Up’ (2006).

Atmosphere

Most rom-coms open with a light hearted, romantic atmosphere and this is what we would like to depict in our opening. The voiceover will be discussing love and romance and we are thinking about having a romantic, relaxed song playing in the background to be in-keeping with the light, comfortable feel to the opening. We plan to introduce the comedy element by making the atmosphere change very suddenly by having an interrupting phone call that will cut through the relaxed feel.



Titles

We have decided that we would like our titles to be very simple, fading in and out of the shot however we would like to make our main title more creative by integrating it into the narrative of the opening. We are considering using white text for the titles as this is very common among romantic comedies and goes with the light hearted feel of the film.



Simple white titles in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)



Simple titles in Bridget Jones' Diary (2001)



Simple titles in Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009)



Comparing our Film Idea to Other Films

Now that we have the ideas for our film as a whole, I am able to look at existing films of our chosen genre to compare the narratives and plot-lines to that of our own film. This is to help me ensure that our idea conforms to the generic conventions of other romantic-comedies. I have looked at comparing specific details of the whole plot idea with that of other films in this genre including the characters, storyline and general details.

Characters and Storyline

The Break Up (2006)

Our film has one main character with two other important characters alongside. The main character is a glamorous young woman who is very fashionable and professional who is in a relationship with a man who is somewhat opposite to her: very spontaneous and laid back. This type of relationship in other romantic-comedy films is a little uncommon however films such as ‘The Break Up’ (2006) use this idea of a couple who don’t entirely match. Our storyline also plans to have a break up between our main character (Penelope Fox) and her boyfriend which is common among romantic-comedies as one of the main events in the films. Films like ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ (2006) and ‘Valentine’s Day’ (2010) both also express this ‘break-up/make-up’ storyline.



The Devil Wears Prada (2006)



Valentines Day (2010)

We decided to have our main protagonist as a female character who is very likeable and relatable and this is very common in rom-com’s as we see the female usually battling some personal issues surrounding work and love. Films that include this sort of character are ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary’ (2001) and ‘Maid in Manhattan’ (2002).


Bridget Jones

 

Marisa Ventura















With regards to setting, most romantic comedies have a busy, city setting with glamorous offices and jobs and we plan to use this same sort of setting. Our main character is a journalist, much like the character of Carrie Bradshaw in ‘Sex and the City’ as well as Rebecca Bloomwood in ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ (2009) who both write for magazines and books. These characters are also similar to our character of Penelope Fox in that they are extremely fashionable and likeable but do also find themselves in sticky situations easily which is common among characters in films of this particular genre.



Carrie Bradshaw - Sex and the City
Writer and Publushed Author



Rebecca Bloomwood - Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009)
Journalist

 

Our storyline presents the main character Penelope Fox to have the ‘perfect life’ however this soon changes and she starts to fall from happiness as aspects of her life fall apart. It is common in the storylines of romantic-comedies for the main character to experience some sort of downfall before problems are overcome and perfection, as it were, is restored – most likely in a new way. The films ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary’ (2001), ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ (2009) and ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ (2006) all depict this idea of perfection being destroyed and restored in both love and work. One of the most common aspects of a romantic-comedy is that the ending will be happy and the girl will ‘get the man’ and have turned over a new leaf or this will be at least hinted at the end of the film. We also plan to conform to this and will definitely have a positive ending to the film.

Storyboard and Script Diary

11/2/2011 - 18/2/2011

We have now been spending a number of lessons working on the storyboard and the script for our film opening in our group and are thinking more about specific details like the setting, mise-en-scene and the scripting. During these processes, our group has been working really well together and we have each been putting in our own ideas and discussed what we each imagine our film opening to be like. We have been looking into other films of our genre and comparing the narrative to our own narrative as well as thinking about the characters and what type of actors we would like to cast. We are all equally enthusiastic and inputting our ideas regularly to make sure that every person is happy when each new process is completed.
Below is the link to our group blog where you can view the storyboard work and script we have been working on:

http://ascvhsmediacjc.blogspot.com/2011/02/g321-storyboard-and-script-for-film.html

Initial Ideas Diary

8/2/2011

Today we discussed our Initial Ideas for our own film. We created a mind-map of our ideas and made sure to consider setting, characters, storyline, sound, certification, audience expectations, generic conventions ans signifiers. It was important that we considered our film as a whole and made sure that we completely understood the brief that we are to make the opening two minutes of the film, not the whole film or a trailer. To make sure that we understood what will be expected of us, we watched a student film that was a very low grade and a student film that was a top grade. I found this very helpful and meant that I could properly understand what we are aiming to create. We have considered the fact that we must make the characters relatable and realistic and so we have taken this into consideration within our group when thinking about our initial ideas.

Below are the links to the group blog to view the mindmap, list of scenes, character profiles and film brief:
http://ascvhsmediacjc.blogspot.com/