Evaluation- Jennifer evaluation writeup

Evaluation-  Jennifer evaluation write-up

As a production team we wanted our film  "like it was yesterday" to be at a high standard; to do this we used, developed and challenged forms and conventions of real media products. We knew that as a company it would be hard to compete with other more experienced and wealthier film companies; so we thought we should use particular real media products to make our film better . One way that we used a media product was to challenge the soundtrack they had in their film. For example a media product that we challenged was Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension When our production team watch the trailer we noticed that the non- diegetic music seemed predictable and familiar as its been on other. From our survey that we conducted in our planning process we found out that out target audience wanted non-diegetic music that was different and something that they could relate to; other than just the typical suspense soundtrack that was played in Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension. So our production chose a hip hop song with suitable instrumentals for our opening scene. The song is called "escape from heaven" and it created a peaceful and soothing atmosphere in the opening scenes. It was also something that a lot of our audience related to due to the fact that most of them are aware of who Tupac is and loved his music. Using this non-diegetic music into our film challenged Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension that is  from a  more known film company as it was something that the audience found different and enjoyable; making our film stand out.  As Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension  is a known and popular thriller film we also wanted to incorporate some of their ideas into out film. We noticed that they used a lot of the POV shot in that film and it made things more effective as it was like you were experiencing the event yourself. So we did the same thing but for a different purpose; we used the POV shot particularly when Porsha was being abused because we wanted the audience to see things from her perspective and understand the pain that she's going through. For example the first POV shot used in our film was when Porsha was looking up at the sisters on the stairs; and from this the audience can tell that Porsha is afraid of what their intentions may be; which captivates their attention. Another media product that we looked at was Insidious: Chapter 3 and from this movie we used the transition effect of fade to black. In that film that's effect was used when the main character seemed almost unconscious on the floor and it made it seem as if the audience was watching the evil man from the perspective of the girl hurt on the floor. So in our film we used the fade to black when Porsha was on the floor after being pushed down the stairs watching her foster sisters come down that stairs. This created a intense and fearful atmosphere; making the audience afraid for Porsha.

In our film "like it was yesterday" we thought it was important to represent social groups that can be relatable or seen as stereotyped in society. We focused on two social groups which were race and age. The race that our film was representing was black people and we wanted to portray them in a way that may be stereotyped but yet still could be relatable in reality.  Normally black people are stereotyped as those who have subservient in work roles, involved in drugs, violent and have anti-social behaviour. This is due to the frustration of being aware of their inability to climb the social ladder. In our film the location of these characters is in the UK and in reality not all of them are recognised as being in the same level as the white people. Our film demonstrates these stereotypes due to the fact Porsha has been surrounded by violence all her life. In the flashbacks the home she lived in with her mum and dad was a council house because her dad was a violent drunk who didn't have the motivation to look for a job. The stereotype of black people being extremely violence was shown in this film as Porsha's dad was an abuser who constantly physically attacked her mum. Also Layla and Jessica were also extremely violent as they were always in possession of a weapon to abuse and torture Porsha. Our film represented the race of black people as those who just cause disruptions and make no progress in their lives but rather use act on impulse and frustration. An example would be when Porsha and Layla and Jessica are in the supermarket making noise as the sisters are chasing after her with a knife. When it comes to age we represented youths as being troublemakers, violent and powerless. Porsha is a 16 year old girl and made powerless due to the fact that she's not allowed live on her own that's why she had to be sent to a foster home that made her life a living hell. If she was older she wouldn't have to endure all of this pain because she wouldn't have to be in a foster home but have the freedom to choose where she wants to live that makes her happy. Also the Layla and Jessica as represented as the youth who are violent and disruptive due to their constant act that goes against the law. They hold weapons, they take drugs and they choose to fight and hurt people who are around them to either make a point or just because they don't like that person and Porsha was obviously a victim of that. The stereotype make about teens in reality was represented in this film.

We know that as a small company with a small budget to make our film our quality wouldn't be good enough for our film to be watched in the cinema but we didn't that discourage us as there are many ways we distribute our film. So because of this fact we had to look for a institution that will help us advertise out product in a effective way that would help us make a profit. Even though cinema is a very effective way of distributing your products we know for a fact that most of out target audience is part of a social media site and most of them go on YouTube. So as a start all we wanted to do was to distribute out products online so that out target audience can access it easily. So the media institution we used was YouTube and we posted our film on Facebook and twitter. The benefits of doing so is that are target audience can watch our film for free and truly recognise this company. Another reason why we want to post our film on YouTube is because people who watch van comment on it and this will make us aware of how they feel about aspects of the film and the film in general. We could also use those comments to improve our future films. In the future we are hoping to distribute our films in a bigger way such as the cinema as well as synergise our film so that we can promote our product in a way that everyone would know who we are.

For our film "like it was yesterday" out production team had a specific target audience that we wanted to watch the film. This is because we thought they were more likely to enjoy the feel and truly relate to it and understand the characters from their actions. Our audience would 17- 32 years olds because out of the wild range of ages we thought this that age range would be the most interested in out thriller film. Teen girls would definitely be the audience for our film because they would be more likely to see things from Porsha's perspective and feel the most pity for her predicaments. Also females that are about to be middle aged  such as the 32 year olds and this is because they would find the film interesting  due the fact that in this film its actually to other females afflicting a female like them with so much pain. Another reason why we chose this exact target audience for our film is because we wanted to reach for a more broader range as older teens to middle aged as a wide range of people to impress; but we wanted a challenge. We also thought they were the most likely to learn from what is happening in the film and apply it to their lives in a way that would be beneficial to people. Its a psychological thriller so we didn't want our audience to be too young as the film is an emotional one that could really open the minds of the audience about the impact of abuse.


As a production team we knew who our target audience were but that was just the beginning because we had to attract them as well. So through research, interviews and surveys we tried to understand what our target audience is attracted to. From a survey we conduced we found out that our target audience was attracted to hip hop music and that's why we had a Tupac instrumental in out film. Another thing that our target audience was attracted to was props; so for this reason we made sure that Jessica and Layla always had a weapon when they wanted to torture Porsha. These two finding were from the younger generation from target audience as they loved captivating things that makes the film seem unpredictable. They also outlined the fact that more music that they were familiar with and enjoyed should be part of the non-diegetic music and that's what did. However from the survey we conducted we found out that the older generation from our target audience such as the 29-23 year olds loved psychological thriller that presented awareness of horrible circumstances that people face and that's why we emphasized the horrible act of abuse in our film. So because this would find the plot of the story interesting as educative of the kind of impact abuse puts on someone. We also took interviews with members of the public who were are target audience and stated that they liked films that had costumes that were realistic; so they were the ones that influenced us to make our costumes normal and not too creative. We also asked people in interviews the kind of locations they would like to see in the film and most of the teens said that they wanted to see clubs. They outlined the fact that they want an drastic event to happen in the club to enrapture their attention.

During the process of constructing there was a variety technology that had to be used film and edit eh scenes. I am not as experienced as the other members of my production teams so during this process I had to be learning at the same time. The first thing that that I learnt about technology was that a camera was not all that was need to construct a film. We used computer software's such as prezi's and this was basically just an advanced PowerPoint. It was used for us as a production team to talk about the steps we carried out in editing and how they are beneficial to our film. Another computer software that we used was adobe premiere from using this I leant how films are cut, put in slow motion or fast motion,  transition effects, title graphics and how to put soundtrack in our film. So generally using this computer software I learnt how to edit a film. Using technology in the construction process also taught me how to be smart with the camera as from this I knew how to start and pause the camera at the right time to that the continuity of the film is good. So I conclusion technologies from the process of constructing this product taught me how to be a better film maker.

From the planning of the film to the distribution and evaluation of the film I feel I gave learnt a lot. The first thing that I learnt was that making a film doesn't consist of just using a camera to film actors but actually it consists of many processes. such as the planning, construction, evaluation, distributing and more. Its not an easy task as what most people would think.  In the planning process my knowledge of film making increased as I came across computer software's such as survey monkey and blogger. Survey monkey helped me learn what the public really wanted in a thriller film and blogger was a way to record the whole process by demonstrating to the public what I did. I also learnt how to use Photoshop to make our poster. In the construction process I learnt that the camera was not the only technology used to make the film as adobe premiere was what helped us edit the film as well. From this software I leant of different components needed to do specific things in the editing. In addition to what I've learnt is mis-en-scene and the  representation of characters. This helped us form characters that represent how people are seen in society. Mis-en-scene helped me learn how to set a scene in terms of props, costumes, location, lighting and etc. In general I leant that to be a film maker takes patience dedication and motivation as its a lot to go through and its not easy with a team so if you have that mind set you can pass through all the challenges and come out with a successful product.