2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
• Flashdance was a big influence in the development
of my product. I decided to stick with the variety use
in camera angles which is a typical convention of a
short dance film. The dance scene had static and
moving shots throughout, as well as the variety of
them progressing within the sequence which I
decided to follow in my short film. I also decided to
use an audience to fit my intended message of a
person expressing themselves to grab people’s
attention and Flashdance was a perfect example of
what I was trying to create.
I focused on my use of camera angles for my dance sequence as I found in my research
that camera was extremely important for audiences to feel engaged with dance, as a piece
of dance can be beautiful however an audience needs to be drawn in to what the director
wants them to see or feel, which is why Flashdance was a good part of my research, as it
uses various camera angles to draw its audience in.
3. Close up of audience member tapping his feet Moving foot sequence
I decided to use close ups to
draw the audience in and I wanted to add variety to my
engage with the characters to short film so I decided to have
show my protagonist’s moving frames so my audience
progression with expressing could follow my dancer and feel
herself. connected to her.
Close up of audience members tapping their feet
Moving foot sequence
4. Character coming into a frame Mid shot of interested audience member
I thought this frame was effective
and decided to use it in my short I wanted to engage my audience
film to add variety. It also with my film audience to show their
centralizes my dancer and acts as interacting with my dancer, the use
a close up to engage my of this is to show the growing
audience with her. attention she is receiving as she
dances.
Character coming into a frame
Mid shot of interested audience members
5. • I also decided to focus on my research of other dance
films or scenes. Flashdance had a big impact on my
final product, but I wanted to combined it’s ideas with
conventions of other genres of film and also different
techniques.
May- silent film was a video I watched early on in my research and I knew
the use of it being a silent film could be an effective way of portraying my
message of teenage girls not having the confidence to speak up. I decided
to make my dance film a silent one, with no spoken dialogue, it did
however have diegetic sounds as well as the soundtrack so it could be
easily differentiated from a music video.
I think that combining different conventions and challenging real media products worked well
for me as I knew I wanted to follow my dance theme, but my message was something I really
wanted to put across, and I find the use of no dialogue helped me convey why intentions
effectively.
6. Olympia’s short dance film, Streetdance 3D and Make it happen are also important parts of my
research when I decided to pick the dance genre. I found my research limited when looking for
dance short films so I decided to look for scenes that I had previously seen in feature films.
I liked the interpretive dance within this text, and from this decided I
wanted to have acoustic music and wanted to have interpretive dance. I
found this sort of dance can show how free she feels when she dances.
Also the genre of the music would be fitting with my isolation theme.
This video had huge significance in the rest of my production and not
just the routine. I liked the intercutting between two different
locations and I attempted to intercut my scenes, however I found that
her progress was made through her dancing so I used intercutting from
the routine to the audience.
I liked the variety of shots in this piece and also the use of cutting out
parts of the soundtrack to keep sequences from dragging on. I decided
to have scenes from behind my dancer, however after facing problems
I had to cut them out instead. Although I did use moving camera and
also different angles such as her spins which was influenced by this
text.
7. Pug- to engage the audience
Name of the magazine to Main image for the audience to by stating no other magazine
remind the audience what get an understanding of what would have this review, as it
they’re reading. the film will have in it, as they updates on all the latest
are screen grabs. releases.
Information box Colourful background
for my audience to draw readers in.
to get a brief
description of
Smaller image to
what kind of film
show different
the review will
times within the
be about.
film.
My review
written in Rating with a quote
columns and use from the magazine
of sophisticated and also a page
language and number which is
also includes typical in a magazine
critics as well as review.
praise.
I feel that my review follows the typical conventions of a magazine review. The magazine ‘Empire’ was my
influence as I used the format of the review itself, also the information box and also the use of multiple
images. I kept them same structure as it didn’t seem cluttered, however I did add colour to my background
as I thought it would be more engaging then Empire’s plain backgrounds.
8. Pug- to let the audience Acknowledging the producer at
know it’s being released. the top to show it’s
importance.
Plain background to
being focus to my main
image and the title. Main image- for my audience
to know my character, it’s
also to create synthetic
A teaser for the personalization.
audience, to entice them
to watch as it’s been
reviewed in a positive Title- bold and bigger then
way. the rest of the text so it
stands out, informing the
audience of the name of the
Slogan- I used this to
short film.
engage my audience
and want them to I introduced my actor as this is a
want to know more character poster and I wanted
about it. my audience to feel connected
to her.
I feel that my poster follows a basic structure to a character poster which I decided on as my short film is all
about my protagonist and her resolving her problem. I feel that the simplicity of my poster challenges real
media as posters from the magazine ‘Empire’ had backgrounds to their images or stronger colours whereas I
decided to have a simple colour scheme and make her stand out by her dark hair and also her looking away
to show themes such as isolation and loneliness.
9. How effective is the combination of your main and ancillary texts?
My main and ancillary texts are all connected as they have the same style. For example
my production and my poster both use the same font to show that they are connected.
My poster has a quote from the magazine that my review was written in to show the
clear connections between my products. The use of all three of my texts being
connected is so they can be recognized as one production.
My use of simplicity within my poster presents themes such as isolation and loneliness
which is explained in the review and also shown within the main text. I used the same
font and also connected my pieces together through quoting to prove there is synergy
between my products.
10. • I decided to use a long shot in the review as my main image to show a part of the routine to establish my
dance genre which I think is important in a review for the audience to know what they are reading
about. I decided to use a mid shot for my poster as it’s typical for character posters to use mid shots or
close ups to engage them with the intended audience. The reason I used different types of images for
my ancillary tasks was to have a variety amongst my products and challenge real media texts. I do still
believe all three of my products are effective and link because of the feminine and bold font choice,
however my choice of images makes them seem separate and therefore the combination might not be
as clear as other products.
I feel the font acts as a logo for my products as it’s the same in the
film and the poster. The use of the font being feminine is to target
teenage girls as my protagonist is a teenager and problem she faces
is a common one faced by teenagers in society.
The information box contains information that connects with the
poster such as the director’s name and also the actor appearing in
it. Also the plot connects with the main production as it acts as a
teaser to the audience.
Also, ‘Unheard’ as a short film contains different sequences such as the title sequence which presents a
problem, the home scene which defines her character, the routine where she’s resolving her problem and
then the end where she seems happier with herself, my film is about a girl who gains confidence because
her friends start to notice her and my review describes the plot and comments on problems teenagers face,
and my poster presents a isolated girl and also confirms to the audience of it’s dance genre through the
slogan, which proves they are all effectively advertising my production.
11. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
Throughout the process I have been making questionnaires about my chosen dance genre.
- My first questionnaire focuses on the genre that I had chosen and what people expected
from it such as good music and dancing. It was also to know who would be more interested in
watching my short dance film and from this I found that girls between the ages of 16-20 were
the most likely, so by this I decided to focus my attention on targeting teenage girls through
the use of font, protagonist and also music.
- My next questionnaire was aimed at my specific audience to find out what kind of music they
listened to, which helped me get a better understanding of how I wanted my character to be.
- I then made three final questionnaires on all three of my products with questions such as
‘what would you rate this on 1-10?’, ‘Did you enjoy it and why?’ etc. I also had a final
question of which of the 3 products did my audience favour the most. The reason I had that
final question is for me to know my audience’s opinions on my finished products and if my
use of research and challenging real media products worked to my advantage and if it came
across as effective in my main and ancillary tasks.
12. 'That's so good Laura! You've edited it so well and I love the way more people
enter the room as the video goes on :) and great song!'
• This was one of the feedback comments I received on my first draft. I decided to get feedback
early on so I could make changes to my short film in the right direction by using the audience
feedback as they are my target.
• The quote comments on the build up of the audience within the production. I decided to
start off with the room empty and then slowly build up to show the room is full to emphasis
her growing confidence and also people noticing her. The effect is shown through the quote
as I have done this effectively for my audience to notice and understand my intended
message.
• Also, this particular comment mentions the song which lead me to believe that my choice of
soundtrack worked well with my piece to make it enjoyable for my audience.
This is so good, Laura! I love the way you edited it'
This is another comment about my first draft where it mentions my editing skills. I feel I have
improved from AS, as my editing on the production was limited therefore it wasn’t my strong
point. However in A2 I decided to choose dance genre where my editing would be challenged for
the different movements and to fit in pace with the music. The use of an audience member
noticing the editing shows that it has worked in an effective way and made the routine enjoyable
to watch.
13. • Facebook was how I gained my audience feedback. After uploading to my blogger through
YouTube I would post my video onto Facebook and ask for positives and improvements I
could do on my short film. I found this was effective as I also posted the link to a few of my
friends via Facebook chat so I could get their attention. For my first draft I got a lot of
feedback from boys and girls, all teenagers. Using the internet was effective as being able to
link from your blog was a quick and easy process. The feedback I received was helpful as
comments included things they liked and things they picked up on that were editing or
camera faults.
• I then created the three questionnaires and decided to bring a few people into a classroom
so they could watch and read my products and write out their questionnaires there. I found
this useful as they had direct questions to answer instead of a general statement I put when
uploading to Facebook. The feedback was really useful as my products were commonly
marked the same number in terms of quality and their liking to it, so I found the
questionnaires to be useful as they proved my audience liked my products and found them
engaging.
14. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research,
planning and evaluation stages?
Construction and Research
• Media technologies were crucial throughout
the entire process. In the construction and
research stages the World Wide Web was the
dominant new technology. I used Google at
first to gain knowledge on my chosen short
film brief and then to blog my understanding
of the codes and conventions. I decided to
use YouTube to research dance films so I
could focus on the media terminology
aspect, where I linked together the typical
conventions of dance scenes and dance short
films. This helped me use typical conventions
such as centralizing my character and using a
variety of shots; both static and moving. I
also found this useful for me to challenge the
dance genre and short films themselves.
Media technologies were important in this
stage of the process as they gave me easy
access to broaden my knowledge of genre
and media terminology, also to give me a
clearer idea of how to start planning my
production.
15. Planning
• When getting to the planning stages I found
analyzing the dance videos on Blogger very
effective as it let me see the similarities
between them that I could use in my
production and also a variety of angles or
editing techniques to try. For example I linked a
camera experimenting video onto my Blogger
and wrote a list on the techniques that I
wanted to try which I followed through with. I
practiced a few camera shots and decided to
experiment with Premiere. This helped me as it
made me comfortable with a camera again,
also gave me experience with editing as in my
previous project I was mainly behind the
camera. I also then decided to analyze dance
posters using Google, where I decided I wanted
to choose a character poster as I want my
audience to feel engaged with my protagonist.
Premiere pro and Adobe Photoshop were the
two that I used for my main task and my
ancillary tasks, I found that practicing helped
me when it came to planning and filming as I
was already comfortable with the media
technologies.
16. Evaluation
• Throughout the evaluation process I
used Facebook to gain my audience
feedback on my final products, and
recorded all of my feedback on every
questionnaire on my Blogger. I also
used SlideShare to upload my
evaluation to my blogger for my
teacher to mark. I feel I have made a
huge improvement from As, as my
blogger has far more detail and analysis
within it and I’ve kept a record of my
progress. New media technology has
been helpful throughout the process as
it gave me a greater understanding of
the niche genre a short film is and how
effective the audience are on a
director’s product.
