The Evaluation A2 Media

8/7/2019 The Evaluation A2 Media

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The EvaluationLovey Dovey

Nicola Bound


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The task: what the evaluation will

coverFor my A2 media coursework, the task was to create a short film, with a genre ofour choice. I chose to work together with a friend as we both had similar ideas

and, too, wanted to create a film of a romantic comedy based genre. As well as

the short film, we designed a poster that would help to promote the film, and a

double page spread article that would again persuade our audience into watching

the film. From this, we then had three media texts which would overall developthe components of a successful short film, that manages to target and please a

certain audience. These are what the final three media texts look like:


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The task: what the evaluation will

cover

I will cover: Narrative

Mise-en-scene

Title shot

Key Scenes Intertextuality

Effects

Lighting

Poster

Double Page Spread Article

Combination of Main Products and Ancillary Texts

Audience Feedback

Media Technologies

If I were to re-do my coursework what I would change


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Narrative 1

A narrative theory which I believe ours follows is Claude Levi-Strauss idea ofbinary opposites. Ours follows this convention through the oppositepersonalities and character types between our two lead characters, Georgie andAli. This was a deliberate choice of making the characters opposites, as the mainintention was to emphasise the unlikelihood of a relationship formation, and

highlight how unusual it is of Georgie to want to fall in love with Ali. One way weconnoted this idea of opposite characters was through the mise-en-scene.Georgies happy yet crazy personality was connoted through her clothing whichcontrasted in colour, for example the bright blue cardigan compared to her goldenhair. We used several accessories for Georgie too, almost suggesting that she hadso many elements to her; many parts to her character. It also emphasises how sheis different, how it is not particularly conventional to wear lots of random items of

jewellery and accessories. On the other hand, Alis very ordinary and boringcharacter was connoted through his dark, plain clothing. We made sure he woreblack and dark wash colours, connoting this darker aspect to his personality,furthered where he can be heard listening to heavy rock music at the beginning ofthe film.


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Narrative 2

Furthermore, Strauss theory was used further through the behaviours of eachcharacter. Georgie is always seen to be smiling, and getting over excited aboutsituations and prospects, whilst Alis character was again performed as if it have aboring and dull personality, represented by his occasional frowning and lack ofexpression. This is also presented in the dialogue of each character. Georgies voice

is intentionally performed rather well spoken, an evident contrast of her unusualappearance, an opposite in itself. However, myself and my partner believed thiswas an effective tone in her voice to have, as it contrasted her character so muchthat it almost extended the idea of her character being unusual. With regards toAli, we matched his voice to his appearance, and kept his voice very monotone andexpressionless.

(What must be mentioned is this applies to Ali up until he is dosed by the love

potion chocolates, whereby he then acts besotted with Georgie, and his voiceraises in pitch and he temporarily is seen to be very happy and smiling, likesomeone madly in love.)

From our audience research, the idea of binary opposites was an idea wedecided to use through looking at classic fairytale ideas.


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Narrative 3

The storyline itself was inspired by that of Snow White, however, we also looked

at Disney Princess fairytales. This was because they all follow a similar idea of

opposites, for example in Beauty and the Beast, where Belle falls in love with the

Beast even though they are completely opposite, and in The Little Mermaid,

where the mermaid Ariel falls in love with Eric, a human from up above. Again,

they are opposites in the way of species almost, and it appears

an unusual relationship. I believe that basing a story-line on

a very popular films is an effective technique, as it almost

ensures that it is a popular convention to follow. Our short film

Lovey-Dovey is more satirical than the fairytales, as this adds

a slight edge to our film, and creates the aspect of comedy.

From a different perspective, a theory by Barthes suggests that an audience

negotiates a meaning for the media text, based on other areas of media and their

own experiences. In such a way, different meanings can be negotiated when

applying it to my short film. Themes present are unlikely relationships, making

people fall in love involuntarily, stalking and isolation. An audience may apply their


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Narrative 4

their own knowledge and understanding to forming different interpretations on the short

film. The aspect of isolation, present where Georgie is immediately called a freak at the

beginning, and throughout how she appears in her own world, separate to others around

her. An audience may consider this pathetic, however, another audience may consider this

sad and a lonely prospect. This idea can be carried forth throughout the short film.

Finally, Laura Mulvey suggested the theory of the male gaze, by which a female isperceived as an object of desire, and on screen to be looked at. Mulvey says that this is

encouraged by lighting, editing, mise-en-scene, positioning and narrative placement.

Furthermore, I believe this is presented in Lovey Dovey. Towards the end of the short

film (5mins30), where Georgie is presented as an attractive object to be desired. This is

exaggerated through the elements in which Mulvey lists should be present. The shot is a

close-up of Georgie, where she is positioned central in the camera. Here, this enables the

audience to get a clear view of her appearance. Moreover, the camera shot follows Alismale gaze, as if to imply this is from a males perspective. Slow-motion is used, to

emphasize this moment of her beauty, exemplifying that the audience are to see her as

seductive. The editing used is a glow, connoting the idea that she is almost an angelic

figure, as if from heaven, and brightening and contrast is used to imply that she is of

overpowering beauty. The mise-en-scene is of her in a red dress, with the red connoting

passion and love and the dress being a seductive item of clothing for a male to be

attracted to.


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Mise-en-scene 1

As aforementioned, mise-en-scene is a key aspect of portraying the short film, as it

visually enables the audience to understand the character types and the situations

in which they are in. This is represented mainly in the contrast between Georgies

costume between the beginning of the short film, where she is seen to be dressed

in the contrasting clothing and many accessories, however, where Ali sees her in a

new light as beautiful, she is seen in a red dress (as mentioned connotingpassion and love) with her hair down naturally, looking simply beautiful. Similarly,

the mise-en-scene in the first scene immediately introduces and connotes the

character of Georgie. The diegetic music has the lyrics, we live in a beautiful

world, whereby the scene films Georgie walking through the country side happily,

and spinning in a circle. This immediately represents to the audience her

personality, of being alone but happy and appreciative of life, but at the sametime, the spinning in a circle connotes the idea that she is quite unordinary. As the

short film begins outside, it too sets the scene for the majority of the film, in which

is filmed predominantly outside. This was an idea that we carried forth as it

signifies the idea of stalking, and enables us to present the fact that she follows

him on his day to day excursions.


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Mise-en-scene 2

Throughout Lovey Dovey, we decided to manipulate the format of the film, with regards to

the brightness, contrast, saturation and exposure. The main adjustment were of the contrast,

whereby we wanted to create a slightly vintage quirky effect. From carrying out research, we

looked at the manipulation of the Harry Potter film sagas, where this too is manipulated to

create a vintage, aged effect. It is particularly appropriate with the fantasy genre of Harry

Potter, as the films are set in historical style settings, for example in the castle of Hogwarts. It

is also appropriate as the film setting era is not aimed to be particularly current, and this

aged and vintage effect conveys this well. Similarly, the films are quite dark, which connotes

the darker aspect to the film, such as the deaths and the dark magic. In such a way, the

manipulation of increasing the contrast and brightness connotes a cheerful feeling to the

film, which is the intent as it is a satirical easy going short film. The brightness connotes the

light-hearted aspect, whilst by increasing the contrast adds more colour, connoting a more

colourful and happier feel to the film.


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Title ShotWe chose the title shot of our film to --- CHANGE.


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Key Scenes 1

This is the first scene after the title shot, in which Georgie is walking through the country

side alone. Diegetic music is played in the background, being Dont Panic, where thelyrics write of how we live in a beautiful world, implying that Georgie is content with her

surroundings and appreciative of this. The first words of the film are from the character

Georgie, where she sings another song to herself, Ill go wherever you will go, by The

Calling.This is a early and subtle denotation to the audience that she is referring to

someone else, an idea carried forth where she appears to revel in the fact that he spoke

to [her]!

No head shot creating

anonymity and curiosityfor audience

Long shot enables

audience to see

both characters and

the situation in

which they are firstseen together


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Key Scenes 2Long shot, positioned centrally toemphasize character and actions

Tracking shot of Georgie as walks looking at the writing of Alis

name. As if audience is following her actions instead sense of

irony. Shot enables Georgie to get closer to the camera, adds

proximity and slight relationship with audience

Shot reverse shot camera

action, representing the

backward and forward motion

of communication


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Key Scenes 2This is a key scene within Lovey Dovey as it is where Georgie acquires the Love Potion Chocolates to give to Ali.The scene begins with her watching Ali as he walks away, from over the bridge. A long shot is used, with Georgies

back to the camera, with her positioned centrally to the camera meaning she has the audiences gaze. Another

effective shot used is a tracking shot of Georgie walking whilst kissing the piece of paper with Alis name on. The

tracking shot enables the audience to see her moving and get a full understanding for her mood through her

mannerisms, for example, she has an individual work of almost strutting/bouncing, connoting her strange

personality. The camera work then zooms into a close-up of her face looking extremely happy, again positioned

centrally. However, the camera then moves slightly to the left, giving a moderate indication of something

happening on the right-hand side of the screen, where the character of Miss Tree then appears. Following from

this, a series of shot reverse shots from over the shoulder are used, representing the motion of conversation, and

allowing the audience to feel involved with each character, from different perspectives. The shot reverse shots are

also close-ups of each characters face, meaning the audience can get a clear view of each characters thoughts and

emotions from the clear depiction of their facial features. This is similar to that of the film Love Actually, where

Juliet and Mark meet. A series of shot reverse shots are used, from the house and from outside, creating a sense of

division between the two characters, an aspect these shots helped portray in Lovey Dovey, whereby Miss Tree

and Georgie are opposites with the individual camera shots highlighting this.


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Key Scenes 3

This is similar to that of the romantic comedy

film Heartbreakers, whereby the mother and

daughter are a double act that con men for their

money, but who each end up falling in love. In a

conning scene, the mother puts water down to

pretend she has slipped on spilt water from the

hotel. A series of close-ups are used here, tohighlight her private act that is not intended to

be seen by any characters but only the

audience. Thus, this is similar to the close-up

shots in Lovey Dovey that too are used for this

same effect.

This shot follows on from a close-up to emphasise the

idea of the act she is doing is private and she does not

want others to know of it.


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Key Scenes 4

Finally, I have chosen to evaluate this scene as it ends the short film and was a scene thattook a lot of careful consideration and planning. It ends by Ali falling unconscious after hittinghis head, then waking up in Georgies room. The ending was created for the purpose of itbeing up to the audience what has happened to Ali; the only indication is of him lookingunderneath the sheets, but as to why he does this is down to the audiences interpretation.We carefully constructed this scene, in the way of not revealing who the individual was who

was walking up the stairs, yet it being all the same very obvious. As the individual walks upthe stairs, they wear a light purple dressing gown carrying two cups of tea. There are a seriesof shots from different angles, each revealing different areas of the individual such as theirhead, back and feet. Finally, the individual pulls down the dressing gown hood, uttersGood morning sleepy head Howre you feeling? and ginger hair is revealed, showing tothe audience that is, in fact, Georgie. In our audience feedback, we were criticised of theshort film being predictable, however, we reply that this is the aspect of the film that werevelled in the most. We want it to have an element of predictability, yet conjunctively to

represent this satirically, having a clich aspect that adds to the light-hearted humour that wewanted to emit throughout. Despite this, we did appreciate the positive and critical feedbackwe received, as it helped us to develop our film better and give us a greater understanding ofour audiences expectations. As aforementioned, as Georgie walks up the stairs, there areconsecutive close-up shots, enabling the audience to get hints as to who this character couldbe, despite the deliberate lack of subtly. At the end of the scene, when Ali realises where heis, he looks under the sheets and has a direct gaze with the audience, as if


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Key Scene 4looking into their eyes whilst screaming. We believed this was an effective shot as this is theonly interaction with the audience Ali has throughout the film, therefore, looking at theaudience and having their gaze connotes his panic and horror. His scream is then faded intothe background, simultaneously as the scene fades out to black. This is intended to representto the audience how there is nothing more he can do, as if his voice is diminished by the senseof loss of dignity and knowing, whilst the black could connote his emptiness, whilst at thesame time connoting his darker more miserable character. Moreover, black finalises the end ofthe film well, compared to white which we used to begin the film with after the title shot.

Once the film is completely black, a diegetic voiceover is used, where Georgie says, I will loveyou Ali forever. This ends the film with a little quirk, as quirk is the main genre of our film.This line can be viewed almost hauntingly, which furthers the idea of it having a satirical edge,as throughout watching the film the audience should realise it is a romantic comedy.


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Intertextuality

Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. Intertextuality can be directly

applied to the relationship between media texts and the participants. When considering the

actors and actresses to use in the short film, it important that they are chosen right in order

to get an accurate portrayal. From films such as This is England to Slumdog Millionaire, it

is becoming popular to use unknown actors/actresses for the films benefit in not creating

any bias from the audience. For example, using well-known, famous actors/actresses can

have one of two effects; they may be tempt an audience into watching the film or discourage

them to watch the film, possibly for reasons such as the individual have too much of a strong

familiarity with the genre, or too contrary to their actual character that it reduces the

realism. For example, over the years Hugh Grant has got a renowned connection to playing

the bumbling hapless male in romantic comedies, which arguably takes the believable aspect

out of the role. With this in mind, this is a popular reason as to why films are beginning to use

unknown fresh talent, as it enables the character roles to be more believable as the role is

potentially not tainted by the actor/actress. Unknown actors are also good as they are in low

demand and require low amounts of funding. When applying intertextuality to my short film,

I used unknown individuals from my sixth form of the same age as the characters. The age

similarity means that the actor and actresses are able to relate to these feelings more than if

there was a larger age gap. They are unknown actors/actresses, meaning there are no

distractions for the audience, and they are in little demand.


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Effects

Effects: As previously mentioned, I manipulated the short filmconsiderably in terms of brightness, saturation, contrast andexposure. I manipulated the short film on the video editingsoftware iMovie, in which I also created the film. For theposter, I edited the image on Photoshop, a graphics. editingprogram, developed and published by Adobe Incorporated. Thisprogram allows professional editing to enhance theappearance of media work. I predominantly used this to created asoftened effect on Ali and Georgies clothing, and similarly theirskin. I did this to create a gentle tone to the poster, similar to the ofthe soppy aspect of a romantic comedy. Thus, the soft and blunttone connotes that the film is of a gentle nature. For example, in ahorror film, a poster may chose to display a contrast of dark andbright colours, with a sharpness to the image to exaggerate certainaspects, possibly those that are designed to be fear-arousing. Inusing Photoshop, I used a smudge effect to manipulate the imageof the love potion chocolates into appearing as if they had amagical glow/flames emitted from them.

For the double page spread article, I used Photoshop andInDesign. Photoshop enabled me to manipulate the image itselfsufficiently, then I placed this into InDesign where I was able todisplay it in a double page spread article format. I added a text,

masthead, boxing, captions, lines and an image.


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Lighting 1

The lighting for the image of the double page spread article was naturalistic as it was

captured outside, reflecting and representing how the majority of Lovey Dovey was

filmed outside. However, I still manipulated the image using InDesign, as it was an

inconsistent background which I didnt like. The image bled to the sides, however the

sky in the picture was not consistently covering a certain area, so instead I brightened

this area of the image to make it all completely white. The sky that was manipulated towhite merged with the white background, by which I then was able to incorporate a

aged background, which is linked with the title page of Lovey Dovey. Therefore, a

sense of a continuity was achieved through creating a consistent background to the

double page spread article.


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Lighting 2

The lighting for the poster was artificial, created from a spotlight which was stationed from

above, casting light directly onto the two characters. This created a shadow from the characters,

as they stood in front of a white backdrop. I believe this created a professional appearance, as it is

a technique used in many areas of research that I have carried out, for my short film and for my

AS music magazine front cover, by which after asking a large sample audience they too felt that a

spotlight creating a shadow on a white back drop looked professional. For example, it can be seen

in these romantic comedy film posters:

I then manipulated the image

by editing the shadows to

where I believed they would

look best, for example

Georgies shadow not covering

or hindering any area around

Ali, as it would obscure him ordistract the attention off of

him.

I felt using artificial lighting was effective as it created a professional look to the poster, one that is

seen and achieved successfully in previous romantic comedy films. It was also arguably effective to

do as we used naturalistic lighting for the double page spread article, thus, we are showing different

aspects to the film, and not repeating the same idea, being boring and it isnt.


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The Poster 1When designing the poster, the most important area to considerwas audience research; what conventions to stow by and follow

for the ones that have previously proven successful, or which

new ideas to bring to the area. There were several conventions in

which I used which were effective, those being the ones circled

in red on the left. In How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days, the

conventions we followed were of having the actors and actresses

names horizontally along the top of the poster. This is effective as it adds emphasisto them. Another is of how the characters do not have a gaze with the audience; they

are looking at each other, connoting their love/hatred for each other, giving slight

indications for the theme and message of the film. We also followed the arguably

cheesy and satirical framing of the two characters having their backs against

each other. This implies that they oppose each other for some reason, which is an

idea I wanted to portray to the audience, thus, they have their backs to one and other,

however, with Georgie looking towards him, connoting how she has eyes only for him,

and with his back to her, connoting to the audience his lack of interest. In The Backup

Plan, I followed the convention of having alternate colours in the main title/masthead

of the film. This is an effective technique as it adds a familiarity between the title and

the audience. The colours used and word length would be hopefully soon be

recognised as a familiar heading, in which they would not need to read to know what

it was. We also followed the convention of having the credits field along the bottom

as it is important information, but lower on the poster means it is not obscuring


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The Poster 2

any of the image or headings and callouts etc, or distracting

the audience from the main areas of the poster (title, date,

image.) Another convention I followed was of Just Like

Heaven, where I used the idea of incorporating detail into

the poster to make it more visually attractive and

appropriate for the poster. I manipulated leaves onto the

poster, detailed horizontally across the top, connoting the

fact of it being based outside, whilst it being visually

attractive to brighten up the poster with and not look so

plain. I too followed the idea of the men dressed in dark and the female in white, a popular

convention as it highlights the gender differences, whilst following the stereotypical idea

of women being an angelic figure, compared to men, hence the white t-shirt, as if

heavenly Just Like Heaven however, to prove this isnt just a fortunate convenience

it can be seen in the previous two examples to further this point. Moreover, its

appropriate to my short film, as the dark clothing connotes Alis dark attitude, whilst the

bright colouring of Georgies clothing connotes her bright and happy attitude.


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The Poster 3

However, I did not follow all conventions into the formation of the poster, myself and my partner

incorporated our own preferences and ideas, whilst including feedback from our audience

research. A main example of this is of the love potion chocolates box, featured central right of the

poster. In our audience feedback we received positive comments such as the framing is excellent,

the colour is really effective and goes with your film, the editing looks great, the white-dropbackground looks professional, and constructive criticism such as, the arrangement of text could

be better, with the suggestion of moving the release date and quotation to be central in the page,

to catch the readers gaze. However, myself and my partner believed the poster looked slightly

simple, which is not a connotation of the film; we believed that Georgies area of the poster in

particular should be more detailed to connote that of her crazy personality. Therefore, we decided

to manipulate the chocolate box using Photoshop, whereby I put lines around the chocolate box of

different shades of pink, and then used the smudge tool to create a hazey effect, as if thechocolates are emitting a powerful feeling of love, almost like fire, a satirical idea on the males

burning loins. We believed this effective as it also connoted a magical aspect to the chocolates,

hinting to an audience who are yet to watch the film (bearing in mind the poster is there to tempt

those who have not watched it) of what the chocolates are capable of. Similarly, after carrying out

research into existing posters and looking at that of Just Like Heaven (above) we too believed

that adding further detail would enable the poster to become more visually attractive, and

connote the almost flowery, lovey dovey aspect of the love presented.


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Double Page Spread 1Here, there were many conventionsin which I followed:

Angled call-out to catch readers

gaze and persuade

Page numbering informs

reader and directs them to

correct page

The rule of thirds image covers 2/3rds

of page

Film information

Secondary images to inform

reader and enhance the

appearance of article

Information organised into columns for

ease of reading and to create a structure

to the article

Capital letter extremely conventional of

written articles, in particular magazine.

Draws in readers gaze to signify where

to begin reading

Background effect used, to create an

aged and battered effect which

connotes the dark aspect to the

Twilight saga with the aged

connoting the myths and legends

told aged effect in Lovey Dovey

connotes the clich old fashioned

satire of the unrequited lovepresented

Large callout of a quotation, catch readers gaze, inform them of the style

of interview (personal opinions) and gives information on the topic of

question

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