Evaluation

The task I was given was to create a 2 minute opening for a film, by creating a storyboard and script, filming the 2 minute opening and then editing the shots I had taken.

My film does follow the conventions of drama films, as the films usually have an investigation to find out ‘who did it’ and have to protect the community around them. I decided to set it at night at 40ft park in leatherhead, as I felt this would be a good location to start of my film. I felt by setting it at night I would further follow the conventions of drama films. My film also follows the generic conventions of drama films as my opening scene is a murder/crime scene, and this is what most drama's films opening scenes are as it sets the story for the film and the audience know what they are going to be investigating. My film challenges generic conventions of drama films as in my opening i actually show an image of the criminal, whereas in most drama films you dont see the criminal until the very end or the last few scenes. I felt showing the criminal in the opening scene actually encourages the audience to think about who the criminal is as they look at certain characters in the film and wonder if its them.

My film represents teenagers in a different way that most people would expect them to be represented. Teenagers are usually stereotyped by the media and in films as rebellious and fearless, and hang round in groups or gangs, but the teenager in my film is alone and worried, and it creates a sense of anxiety and weakness around him. However, my film does follow certain stereotypes as my film represents people who wear their hoods up as dangerous and ant-social, as well as someone who uses violence.

The audience for my film would be people who like dramas and like to follow the story, and therefore may not be suitable for children who may not understand the story or might get to scared watching it. With this in mind, the audience for my film would be teenagers and adults, as they like the tension that goes on during the film and the thrill they get watching and trying to work out as the film goes along what’s going to happen next and if the murderer will get caught. Adults will certainly get drawn into the story, because like the TV Drama Jonathan Creek, once you start watching the film you want to watch on to see what happens and how everything is worked out. If this was aimed at children, they would get restless very quickly as they want to see a fun and simple storyline, and so may find my film boring.

I attracted and addressed my audience by creating my own blog on blogger.com, and informed every one of what I was doing and how my filming and editing was getting on. I then posted my film on the blog and got my audience to comment on what they thought of it and how they thought I could have improved it. Most comments focused on the fact that the black and white style editing i had adopted worked very well and that the soundtrack went well with the film and built up the tension. One constructive critisism was that the shots were too dark at times and difficult to see, and in hindsight i could of made these shots slightly better to see. My audience suggested that the fight scene could be more realistic, which i could of done if i had had more time and if the weather had been better.

I have learnt a lot about technology when doing this task; if someone had asked to me how to use a video camera or edit a clip to good effect before I wouldn’t have been able to tell them. I believe after this task I have a good understanding of how to edit and film media products, and will take this knowledge to help me further in media. After this product, I feel much more confident using a camera and going out and filming, as I feel I now have the ability to create a good product due to what I have learnt.