Evaluation

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

The film Step Brothers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sczh_KjjFNU) has largely influenced our own filming style, like our film it is also a comedy based on the relationship between the two main characters, who are brothers.

We all liked the type of comedy that was used in this film, it isn’t slapstick but it is still playful and quite outrageous and we found that it was the characters personalities that gave the film the majority of its humorous qualities, so, we wanted to re-create this as much as possible in our own film. There is a scene in Step Brothers where one of the brothers is seen waking up and putting on an old t shirt, we used this in our own film where we see Jim picking up an old t shirt from his bedroom floor that we can assume has been there several days. 

Another scene that is similar is when one of the brothers is playing computer games very intensely until he is interrupted, Jim does the same in our film. 

The lazier of the two brothers, Jim, is shown entering the bathroom we then cut to a close up shot of flowing water which is assumed to be Jim urinating until the camera zooms out to reveal that the water is being poured from a kettle. 

Like Step Brothers our film is based on the relationship of two brothers however the brothers in our film are complete opposites and we wanted to emphasize this as much as possible throughout. We also got ideas for our music choice from the film Step Brothers, both pieces of music are of an indie-rock genre which represents and helps to introduce the personalities of the main character, Jim. The main storyline of our film is similar to that in The Secret to my Success where one of the characters also pretends to be someone they aren’t in order to reap undeserved benefits. 

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Although our characters are slightly exaggerated for the enhancement of humour and entertainment I think that they are typical of their social groups. For example, Jim is a white, working class, teenage male, who is unemployed and lives off his parents. He is represented as being lazy and is it obvious that he spends all of his time not being very productive and either lying around the house or out partying. This is a common stereotype for teenagers of this generation and because our main target audience is males aged 15-30 I think that this will increase the humorous factors because they will either know someone similar to Jim or have been like Jim themselves and so can easily relate. Men are defiantly more dominant in this film which would again help to appeal to a majority male audience as in one scene the solicitor is shown reading a men’s magazine whilst mainly focusing on females breasts. This character is similar to David Brent in the television comedy series, The Office, played by Ricky Gervais. Much like our character, David Brent isnt very interested in his job and he casually rebels.

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

Optimum Releasing were founded in 1999 and are based in London. They release over 200 films a year and have become one of the biggest distributors of independant film and world cinema in the UK since Tartan Films closed in 2008. Our film is very British and low profile featuring no famous actors or impressive special effects so I believe that a distribution company such as Optimum Releasing would be better suited for a film of this budget. 

Also, when I have previously researched Optimum Releasing as a distribution company they generally focus of low budged comedy films like ours such as This is England and Four Lions.

Our film would be distributed throughout Britain and if successful lead to DVD production and rentals however I don’t think there is much chance of merchandising as there are no new and outrageous themes featured in our film with would usually lead to merchandise production unless it was something basic, such as t-shirts.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Thank you Uncle Norman is aimed at a predominantly male audience between the ages of 15 and 30 but because our film is a comedy it may appeal to an older audience if they enjoy the type of humour. According to BBFC regulations (http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/guidelines/15-2), our film would hold a 15 classification due to its immature nature, we ensured that we kept our film at a 15 and not an 18 certificate because we didn’t want to lose 15-17 year olds as they are an important group of our target audience.

Due to our cast been male dominant which we would continue throughout the film having women playing only small parts and even then being perceived as sex symbols. Our film is similar to Step Brothers, American Pie, Pineapple Express and Superbad all of which centre around the relationship and personalities of men playing leading roles. We interviewed both male and female participants in our audience research, all of which would be a part of our target audience and these films that are similar to ours were all listed as peoples favourite films. 

 

How did you attract/address your audience?

The characters featured in our film are most likely to attract our intended audience due to them being so relatable and part of the same social group as our main characters are both male and aged 19 and 17. As both these characters have such different personalities it is easy to relate to their lifestyles by either being a college student or being unemployed and  being familiar with the personality traits that accompany each of these. The camera is usually at eyelevel with each of the brothers because the whole film is about their lives so this will help the audience to feel connected to them, making it more enjoyable for them. Comedy films are generally filmed using basic shots because it’s the characters or situations that make the theme of the film and so they are shown as realistically as possible. 

What have you learnt about technology from the process of constructing the product?

I had no prior knowledge of how to use any filming equipment and we chose to use the Sony HDV 1000 so this was challenging at first until I had learnt how to operate it properly. 

We learnt how to film and then playback the footage and in time after studying other films we understood what camera angles and shots worked well with different scenes. We also learnt how to correctly set up the tripod, what type of lighting worked well and how to white balance the camera so that we could achieve a more natural colouring and look to our shots.

We only encounted minor problems such as shots that followed on but had different brightness levels due to strong sunlight, but we rectified this by simply re-filming after adjusting the lighting available. We used Final Cut Express to edit our film which although it was complicated it was easier to use after some practice and we were able to use it for any effects that we wished to incorporate into our film.

We used several effects to enhance the quality and look of our film including the Dip to Colour Dissolve effect which we used as a colour fading transition between our titles and the start of our film. 

 We also used the High Pass filter which we configured slightly and applied it to the voices of our characters when we wanted it to sound like their voice was being heard through the phone, I think that this worked very well.

We finally had to adjust the audio volume on some shots to keep consistency and we increased the speed of our titles because our film was well over two minutes and we also wanted it to fit in with the beats of the music that was playing over the top to help the film flow.

 We also used programmes such as blogger to present our work, Mozilla Firefox for research and YouTube to upload our video making it easier to access

Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

In the preliminary task we had to use techniques such as match on action and the 180 degree rule, these were difficult to remember and apply at first but after having done them I was much more confident and found them alot easier to do when we begun filming. In order for us to create the best film we possibly could in the time we were given we ensured that we had properly planned out what we wanted to achieve, we firstly decided on what the genre would be and then we compiled our ideas and thought up a plot for our film. We tried to include a realistic comedy feel throughout our film wherever we could, including the setting, mise en scene, music, the personalities, actions and body language of the characters and the script. This then lead us on to what certificate our film would be and what target audience this would attract. We then created a detailed shooting script and storyboard and then began to select filming locations that would be suitable and would fit in to the final look we wanted to create constantly bearing the films target audience in mind as all decisions were to point towards pleasing our audience. As our film is a light hearted comedy we weren’t filming anything over the top so to add interest to our film whilst keeping it as realistic as possible we tried to include more interesting shots by using match on action and different camera angles wherever possible. We ensured specific props were included to add to the individual characters, for example, we see Craig putting on his glasses as people who wear glasses are represented as being intelligent.

The first time we see Jim he is waking up surrounded by alcohol bottles and a calendar full of women.

Jims body language also enhances his slob like character as he is seen here laying on the settee.

These are some examples of interesting shots and cuts that we used to help the film flow and keep the audience’s attention. Here we see a phone conversation between Jim and the solicitor. As it cuts between the two men their faces remain in a similar part of the shot

The locations that we chose to use are basic but after we had added some props they fit with the overall feel and theme of the film

Overall I feel that our film has been successful as the final product is what we envisaged and together we have been able to create it in the time that we were given to the best of our abilities.

Analysis of a Title Sequence - DodgeBall

For research into title sequences I chose DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story

Immediatly the audience is watching a parody TV advertisement for Globo Gym which features shots of weightlifters and exercisers. These shots mainly consist of the female body in tight clothing, giving the audience an idea of the commercial.

The narrator has a cheesy american voice talking to the viewer and asking them questions, much like stereotypical advertisement people would expect. He goes onto to say "tired of out of shape and out of luck with the opposite sex" and it shows a shot of a male lifting up a female whilst he does push ups.


The narration then switches to White Goodman (Ben Stiller) and he begins to speak about the gym whilst walking the camera through it. We see various people working out and Stiller also speaks some ridiculous lines like "ugliness and fatness are genetic disorders, much like baldness or necrophilia". It jumps straight into the comedy and the audience is given a huge idea about what kind of character Stiller will play.

Goodman then shows the viewer a picture of what he used to be like, which is a crazy picture of him, obese and naked, eating ice cream.

We then see Peter LaFleur (Vince Vaughn) and the editing drops in pace, the music stops and feed good music kicks in, showing the differences in the characters.

The titles also come on now, the font is simple and orange which has a old-style look. The colour itself matches the main character and how he's only ordinary.
Peter carries out his daily routine of getting up, brushing his teeth and getting into his car to go to work.

Thank You Uncle Norman

The finished film.

Evaluation - Thank You Uncle Norman

1. In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of media products?

Our film uses typical conventions of comedy, such as a lazy main character who likes to drink and a solicitor who looks at adult magazines whilst talking on the phone to a client. Although they may not be in all comedy films, we often see such characters with similar traits in more modern comedy films such as Pineapple Express with the main character as a person addicted to marujuana and does his job in roundabout ways.

We develop these conventions in our film with the storyline and the events that happen in the film. For example, to emphasize Jim's lazyness we had shots of him lying on his sofa watching TV and playing games.

The music we used follows the general comedy conventions of being up beat and we chose rock/indie as it links with our main character and the poster at the beginning.

The opening sequence of our film is similar to a few films that I've researched, most notably Step Brothers and Dodgeball. In our film we start off with the titles, showing the film and the main cast and then it goes straight into the film with the music over the top. This is similar to Step Brothers as the music and how the start of the film consists of the brothers just doing their own things is the same as Jim who gets up, watches TV and plays some games.

Jim gets up and goes down stairs into the bathroom whilst his brother exits his room ready to go to college.

Jim shuts the door behind him and it cuts to flowing water, with the camera zooming out to show thats it's only water pouring into a cup which is light hearted humour as the audience may be thinking that we were showing him urinating. He then goes into the living room and sits on the sofa which we have a similar angle found in Dodgeball.

Jim receives a phonecall from a solicitor telling him his Uncle has passed away and left his brother inheritance, not him which gives him a shock but procedes impersonate his brother and claim the money as his.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our film reprents social groups such as the low class teenage male who has finished college and is jobless. We also added in how he likes to drink and party which can be seen by the drinks we placed in his room. This represents other teenagers in similar situations as him and also attracts them to watch to film as they're familiar with the situation the main character lives in. Although this is stereotypical, it's also realistic as there are people out there who have gone through a similar situation in life.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
A major Hollywood studio wouldn't be distributing our film as it has a british feel about and low profile actors. However, it could be sucessful even with these setbacks as comedy films don't focus as much on the special effects used or the high budget sequences, more on the dialogue and script.

A small distributor such as Warp Films (they would have a part in production) or Optimum Releasing (This Is England and Four Lions) would distribute our film in Britain. The film would start in cinemas and go onto DVDs after time on screen, following the standard route films take. It could also be bought or rented using the internet with sites such as Amazon, Play.co.uk and Love Film.

There would be possibilities for merchandising in the film as there are props that we use which advertise products such as the gaming console shown during the title sequence and the phone. Clothes which Jim wears could be of a certain brand and attract viewers to buy clothes from the brand, as the main character wears it.

4.Who would be the audience for your media product?
The general audience of our target audience would be 15-25 males, as that age group can relate to the main character. However, older viewers may find out film interesting if they like the plot or just enjoy comedy.

The main cast are males only and if the film were to carry on for full length we would only have girls be sex symbols and play a small part, which would detract our female viewers to an extent but some would still watch the film as other comedy films such as American Pie have this approach and have some female viewers.

Similar films to ours include Step Brothers, Superbad and Pineapple Express which have the typical bro-comedy, two or a group of close friends who experience silly situations together. As shown in our audience feedback, these films are amongst peoples favourites and they would watch our film takes ideas from them.

The film would be classified as a 15 as we created the film to follow these guidelines. The language would be too strong for 12, but staying within the limits of 15. It also has brief nudity but is not strong, which would keep it at the 15 classification.

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/guidelines/15-2

5. How did you attract/address your audience?
We attract our intended audience of 15-25 year old males using the cast, which is of a similar age group consisting of 19 year old Jim and 17 year old Craig. Jim and Craig would go through things in their life which the audience can relate to such as partying, college or being jobless.

The audience would also witness most of the film from Jim's viewpoint and the camera shots would generally be of his height. This will put the viewer in Jim's shoes, which would make them enjoy the film more and the comedy would seem more natural to them.

6. What have you learnt about technology from the process of constructing the product?
We used Sony HDV1000's to film and we learnt that the cameras aren't complicated to use, which helped us as things such as white balance, checking if it was on widescreen or watching our shots on set helped us save time and gave our film a look of high quality. The tripod can take awhile to set up to make sure it's level and isn't too loose or tight and it can also restrict us as some pans and tilts were harder to pull off with the tripod due to it getting stuck sometimes.

There were some problems we faced such as the lighting. As we didn't have time to film it all in one day the weather would sometimes take a change for the worse, which would mean we have less natural lighting and wouldn't give our film a summery feel.




We used Final Cut Express when editing our footage. During the few sessions we spent editing, we developed skills to be able to do all the editing ourselves apart from when we needed certain effects to be added into our film. One effect we used was Dip to Colour Dissolve which helped our opening title sequence blend into the film smoothly. Another effect we used was a High Pass filter which we placed into the audio to give the effect of a phone call. We also did small things like increasing the audio levels on some shots to keep the levels consistent, increasing the speed off the titles to match the music and editing our shots to cut to the beat of the music.

7. Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
We spent time planning what we would do in our film and what the plot would be. The planning and storyboarding ensured we were focused on what we had to do and we also thought up better ideas than we had originally thought as the production went on. The shooting script also helped us not waste time trying to figure out what to shoot first and what goes where in editing.

The research we did gave our film a more professional feel, as our film has conventions from other modern comedy films which we found by watching and analysing other films. The research we did also gave us an idea of our audience and what they want, which enticed us to make our film have similarities to films such as Step Brothers.

Our use of the different shot types has definately improved such as match on action and different angles and height as seen in our film. I feel that I'm comfortable using the editing software and cameras without much help apart from the more advanced effects in editing which I may need to figure out.

Our lighting was also much better in our film than in the preliminary task, we saw that problem after we filmed our preliminary task and we made sure we did it properly in our film.

Finally, I feel that our film was sucessful in fufilling a 2minute opening of a comedy films and it incorporates everything I feel that would make it obvious to the viewer that the film is of a comedy nature.