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

To make our opening sequence look more effective to the audience, we added some special effects. One of the effects was to add a red tone into certain scenes. These were designed to create an image of flash back, so viewers would realise the difference of each scene understanding the moral of the film.

The effect used below was to put emphasis on the main story line for the film. It was designed to fade into the screen then out transparently, whilst still playing the main character, Emily, in the background. The newspaper is designed to show the viewers why Emily is acting emotionally, and what she is thinking about, giving it a more powerful effect.

Another effect added onto the film, were the titles of each individual character. As they appeard on the screen, their real names would appear on screen giving the knowledge to the audience of who was who. The titles came in and out using the fading tool giving it a special effect.

What Kind of Media Institution might Distribute Your Media Product and Why?

The funding of the film would come from the budget we have personally, a funding from Kings Langley Production, UK Film Council, or even the BBC. This would help significantly as it would help broaden the distribution of the film, as well as help greatly to film it without the disrupt of money worries.

For more success, it would be best to distribute this film worldwide.

There are many distribtuion companies such as Sony, Film 4, and Warner Bro's. Personally, i believe Sony would be best for this film as it has worldwide knowledge, therefore it would help into where to distribute e.t.c.

How Does Your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups?

Our characters are mainly dressed in smart yet representable way. Lucy, the auntie in the film, is dressed in smart casual clothes. Emily, the main character, dresses also in casual clothes, whereas Kelly, the social worker wears smart clothes representing her highly respected role. Whereas in other shows, characters in the same genre dress in a more stylish, stereotypical way. They are more likely to dress in hoodies, skirts e.t.c as they believe this is the stereotype for them, whereas we have gone for the more smart suitable clothing, as we do not believe that is the correct way to represent these specific genders.

As you can see from the above pictures, it confirms what is written above

Evaluation

Evaluation For our preliminary task, we filmed it twice due to unnecessary scenes being put in the first one. the first time we filmed the video, we had three extra people sitting in the room: this caused distraction as well as un-agreements with our storyboards and all other preparations to do with the filming. therefore we decided to re-do the filming rather than we-write everything else, this time with just the people needed.
The first time we filmed, it took a lot longer than the second time. this was due to the distractions the other people caused, by playing music and/or laughing meaning we had to re-do many scenes in order to get the right one.
Here we had three friends join us in the room not participating jsut observing, this caused a lot of distraction and the need to do many of the takes. if we had thought about the additional people, before allowing them in this would have made this task a lot easier, and done with a lot quicker. It affected us as we had to re-do mos of our planning to add these three poeple to the scene, causing a waste of time, putting us back on what we had to do further on in the task. After evaluating what we had done so far: whether our scenes were actred well enough or not; whether the scenes were shot according to the script; whether we could have improved the whole task or not, we came to a decision that it would be for our best benefits to re-do the filming. this would help us t concentrate more, and make the clip a possible whole lot better.
The second filming was done a lot quicker due to no distractions, and everyone being a lot more focused, confident and willing to finish this task with their best performance. We did re-do a few scenes purely to the fact that we wanted it to be the best, rather than under performing what could be done better. We also made sure the 180 degree rule, shot reverse shot, continuity, and match on action were all abided by, in order to save from re-filming due to us not abiding by these well known performances. This time, we made sure no one was to distract us in any way by; not allowing others to observe what we were doing; being more confident in front of the camera rather than laughing at unappropriate things; and making the filming better by making the shot sizes perfect and according to what we had planned.
Once we finished the filming part of the task, we went to the editing suite to edit the clips we had taken. Shortening clips that needed to be, adding titles and adjusting the volume for each take. we then had to update our blogger. However, as we had filmed twice, we also editied twice; once after the first filming; the next being after the second time we filmed.
The first time we edited, we were taught by our teacher as it was completely new to my group. we easily understood what was expected of us, and set off to log and edit our clip. Although it did take a long time due to all the distractions and unappropriate scenes. As we were logging the cluips, we came to a decision that it would take to long to finish and that we would benefit more if we had re-done the whole filming, where the teacher agreed therefore we abandoned what we had done already and set off on our filming second time round.
During the duration of the filming and editing, we changed many aspects of the film. This was due to many reasons; to give more of an effect and understanding.

JoTiSo Productions

Below are images of the work we did before the filming as part of the pre-production task. This helped us have a good understanding before we set out to do anything, helping us with the planning of time,

Shot List

Treatment

Risk Assessment

Post Production

Once we had finished the filming, our next task was to edit it, this included adding effects and titles.

Firstly, we connected the camers to the computer and began logging the footage. This prepared us for deciding which clips to use and which not to use, as many went wrong due to various reasons. It would save time when putting the film together, and help with the understanding of the shots.

Next, using the knowledge of which take was best for each shot, we collected the suitable ones and put them together on the editing suite. once arranging them, and cutting them to make sure they fit perfectly and accordingly to each other, we begun to add the effects. one effect was added to the flashbacks put into the clip. To make it more understandable to viewers whether each scene was a flashback or not, we added a dark transparent red to the screen on each flash back. This gave it a better effect and uderstanding to viewers as i also gathered from a questtionaire i produced.

We also decided to add some music suiting the theme. This added more of a feeling to it, adding emotion and thrill. we got the music off a website for unlicensed music, after listening to a few of there samples, we listed a few would suit our genre and clip, then as a group picked a finla one. We mainly came up with this option as it had a thuderous sound we thought would perfectly suit the film and the timing of it.

We also added titles to the clip. This was to show viewers who was part of the production of the film, and what each individual did.

Pre-Production Report

We had to prepare many things before we wet out to do any part fo the filming. this was in order to help us to plan more carefully and accurately meaning the filming should be less time consuming and more successfully approached.

As part of the pre-production, we had to take pictures of the rooms we were set to film in for the location recce. This would help while planning the filming, as we had a good image of where everything was therefore not interfering whilst filming. This was done by taking pictures from two opposite corners of the room, from one side to the other side. Where one of the pictures ended, the other had to start so when it was put onto the computer, each picture would be put side to side showing the room clearly.

Another part to help us in pre-production was to produce a storyboard. This would help us as we could always trun to use this whilst filming. This helped to remind us of the information placed on each shot. camera angles and loactions were shown helping us on making the filming a whole lot easier.

Production

Organisation
the organisation of this task was fairly well organised i believe however there were a few things we had to deal with obstructing the perfect way of working. At first we begun with four people in the group, however one person who was to be the main character of the clip, left meaning we had to change many things around such as the descroiption of the character. Although we dealt with this loss very quickly and adapted to having only three of us and more of a work load. we decided now that we have one less member than some other groups therefore more work, we should be more reliable and enthusiastic.
Another problem i mainly had to deal with, was the absences of the other two people in my group. At one stage, i was the only one which attended a few lessons due to their ilness/holidays. therefore i had to cover some of their work in order to keep the task on target and finish the project successfully.

Newspaper
One effect as part of the clip was to show a newspaper article, this was to be shown translucently zooming in then out of the screen. I was set to take on this task, therefore i picked a suitable programme for this task, Draw Plus, and designed it accorrdingly on there. The main things needed for this article was a clear image of a house fire as well as a clear heading for the viewer's to view and understand the point we were trying to get across. The point being there was one survivor of the family house fire, the survivor being the main character of our clip.

Filming on Location
Another issue we came across during the filming process was the size of certain locations.
One scene was to be shot in the hallway of a house. The camera was located on the stairs filming in on the characters at the bottom of the stairs, however the area in which the camera was positioned was low and tight, therefore we had to try and fit around the place we had which was a struggle however we managed to accomplish it.
Another scene had to be shot in the bath room which we also found difficult to do due to the room being small and the bath not being as high as we wished it to be. we therefore had to be more careful and accurate when filming in order to make sure we got what we wanted.

Group
Personally, i believe that we worked well as a group. We came up with many group and individual decisions, where we then decided on them by agreeing with each other. We all contributed equally at the begining of the task, giving ideas to each other, then agreeing on what we thought would be best for our genre and the resources we had. However soon due to one of our members leaving, and others not attending lessons, i found out that we didn't work too well together as the majority of the work was set on me, causing some confusement and disagreement on what each individual had to do.

Recent Films Of Teen Drama's

Here are few examples of recent films including the genre, teen drama:

• Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging

• St. Trinian's:







• December Boys




• Tormented




• Wild Child




• Dear John




• The Last Song

History of Genre

History

• At first, this genre was non –existent for its first 45 years.
  It came into importance at around the early 1990’s.


• One of the earliest soap opera’s with this genre was Never Too Young, this attracted many younger viewers as they had a character they could find relatable characters.


• This helped films such as Love Is A Many Splendored Thing become premiered and hit films quicker amongst teen audiences.


• In the next few years, there were more films of this genre which also became hits.
  These made young stars like Willie Aames and Kristy MacNichol become youth icons.


• Fox's Party of Five, which also premiered in 1994, became an instant hit with teenage audiences. Stars Matthew Fox and Scott Wolf became teen heartthrobs, and it also launched the careers of Jennifer Love Hewitt, Neve Campbell, and Lacey Chabert.


• In the early 2000s, teen dramas began experiencing a decline in popularity. Teenagers were now watching shows that featured adults in their twenties and thirties.


• In 2003, a whole new set of teen drama’s arrived, bringing in more hits for them as well as a new trend for youths.

Brief

Our task was to produce the opening sequence of a film. We had to successfully think of a genre, and plan out the whole film first. Once we did that we developed on the opening sequence, we had to write about the shot list, treatment, risk assessment, produce a questionnaire, write about the location and take pictures for the location recce.

Audience Feedback

Questionnaire

Age:
Male/Female:

1 - What is your personal favourite genre?

2 - Where do you tend to watch new released films?

3 - Who do you watch these films with?

4 - When you go with these certain people, do you go for their preferences or your own in genres?

5 - What age range would you say genre ‘teen drama’ suited?

6 - Would you watch this film after hearing its plot?

7 - Would you recommend such films to others?

8 - Do you like tear-jerkers?

9 - Do you enjoy teen dramas?

10 - What attracts/distracts you to/from this film?

Please describe to us your ideal opening sequence:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
Why is this your ideal opening sequence?:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Responses

1. The majority of people included comedy for their personal favourite genre, although it did have other genres to go with it, mainly romantic. other genres included were horror, with only one being action.
2. Nearly all the people interviewed claimed they watched new films in cinema's, however there was one person who said they only watched films at home on DVD. However, becuase the majority of people opted for the cinema, it would be best for releasing it their.
3. Again, the majority of people said they watched these films with their friends, meaning it would have to appeal to all of them, and of their age range. although, one person said they only saw these films by them selves, however as it is only a single person, it is best to go with what the majority of people do, in order to help the film itself.
4. Most people said they went for their own preferences when chosing a film, however also claimed that they came to a mutual conclusion when watching films with friends. therefore to help us, we should interview groups rather than individuals.
5. When asked what age range "teen drama" suited, some replied teenagers, however others included more of a variety, going upto the age of 24 from 15.
6. The greater part of people interviewed stated they would watch this film after hearing its plot, although there was the odd few that declined the invitation. On the other hand, as most people accepted to watch it, it is probably best to keep the film as it is.
7. In this question, mainly the girls replied that they would recommend this film to others as it suited there storyline of a film, however the boys replied they would not as it was too feminine-like for them.
8. The majority of the people questioned replied they do enjoy tear-jerkers however a minority of boys replied they prefer other genre’s instead.
9. All of the people questioned replied they do enjoy teen dramas, this could be due to the fact they were all teenagers and relate to such things. However this is an advantage as the film is mainly aimed at teenagers, therefore receiving positive feedback from them is helpful.
10. The greater part of boys replied they would be un-attracted to this film as it would not reach what they wanted, however they admitted this would be a good film for female’s to watch. The female’s confirmed the male’s response saying it would be better if we targeted at just their gender rather than including male’s.
11. The bulk of the audience questioned said their ideal opening sequence would include comedy with the male gender adding some action to it too.
12. In reply to why that would be their ideal opening sequence, they replied it was because it would attract them to the film, and look forward to what was to come.

Group meeting

PLOT

16 year old Emily Lock’s family have just died in a house fire and she has had to go and live with her auntie far away from her home. Her auntie doesn’t have any children of her own, and often has different men visit her at her, which is extremely uncomfortable for Emily.

After Emily’s trauma, and having to move in with the nasty aunt who begins to physically harm her when coming home drunk, she starts to become depressed and self harm herself. Her depression grows deeper as she has to join a new school. The students there don’t warm to her and bully her. The school teachers have no time for the new scruffy student. The torture proves too much for Emily as she begins looking for different ways out of her mess.

She slowly turns to drugs and mixes with the wrong people; she becomes ill and reliant on strong drugs and alcohol. She is in a helpless situation and at the lowest point she could possibly be at; the future looks lifeless and non existent.

On a significant day when Emily feels she is at a complete dead end, she goes to buy more drugs; a boy from her school is watching her from a distance giving her money to a dealer. The dealer is evidently trying to steal the money without providing the drugs, so therefore the boy watching runs over and ‘saves the day’. He particularly notices that Emily is very unwell, and realises she was buying drugs. He feels sorry for her and wants to help her, she refuses his offer on a few occasions but he is adamant to get involved.

Eventually she lets him into her life and tells him the story of her tragic past, and present as she realises his pure intentions. Jack is effectively the only one who cares for her. Emily’s happiness starts to return and the drugs and self harming starts to stop. Jack, the hero, builds her life back up and they grow closer until, at the end of the story, he asks her to be with him and move in with Jack and his welcoming parents.



Opening Scene

Emily, the main character, is standing in the shower, the shower is on, and she faces the shower so the water is spraying on her face.
Whilst Emily is in the shower, a newspaper article appears transparently over the top of the image of Emily. The audience hear screams etc which are in Emily’s head. The newspaper is transparent over her still in the shower with Emily’s hands at her face. It creates the affect of her remembering reading/seeing the front page of the paper.

We then cut back to the shower where she is still in the shower, facing it however her hands are no longer at her face, they are just hanging by her side.

The second flashback depicts Emily sitting in the family room at the hospital with a social worker comforting her. Someone of authority walks into the room and tells her all her family have died and he says that they did their best.

We cut back to the shower, which is at her auntie’s house; you see her reaching for a razor. The razor is about chest height on a shower shelf so she just reaches forward. The camera catches Emily’s hand trembling.

We cut it to the third flashback of Emily going to have to live with her nasty aunt. The camera follows Emily walking up her auntie’s path. You see her knock on the door with just a small bag of belongings. All the auntie does is use a head signal suggesting Emily to come in. Her auntie doesn’t make Emily feel welcome at all. Next, her auntie just literally closes the door as Emily has rushed in. The auntie then walks away into the kitchen dining area, not letting Emily know where she is staying or offering her any tea.

Cutting back to the shower where she is shaving her legs and accidentally cuts herself with a razor; the camera goes onto the water and you just see droplets of blood. Next the camera goes onto her face, where she is looking at the razor, suggesting to the audience that she could use this razor in the future to perhaps harm herself. The camera then fades out from this shot to the next shot of Emily preparing herself.

Emily has just got ready for first day at new school, says to her auntie she’s going who takes no notice of her and doesn’t look at all bothered.

Emily walks out the door, flinging her bag over her shoulder looking at the floor unconfidently on her way to school. This begins the story.