Evaluation

FILM

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

FILM

Use conventions of real media products

Characters

Tosin

The misunderstood anti-hero (e.g. as he's perceived by the audience to be the predator, playing with audience expectation- the phone call at the beginning of the film doesn't show him in the best light to begin with)

He is the victim of the femme fatale who he falls for at the beginning of the film

Adriana

Her costume (short dress, bare legs, hair down) is seductive

Leaning against the door frame with arms folded across her chest, connoting dominance/power (typical of the femme fatale in a film noir)

- Mise-en-scene-- Location, Lighting, Costume

The location of our film was at my house and the surrounding area (the alley way and street) and all filming took place when it was dark/beginning to get dark so we could create a typical film noir atmosphere.

The alley way created a good mysterious atomosphere due to the fact that it was dark when we filmed and the orange lights in it. The darkness and harsh street lamps worked well together to give a ambiguous feel.

The lighting we used inside the house was harsh, bright lighting, creating bold shadows and strong lines on objects/walls- a typical triat of film noir.

The main bulk of our film was filmed in my living room. We used harsh lighting to create a film noir effect by using only certain spotlights to create harsh shadows in the room

The costume worn by the character of Adriana was a short black dress, bare legs and a jacket. The short dress connotes sexuality (typical of a femme fatale) and the black colour connotes darkness/mystery to represent her character.

The costume worn by the character of Tosin was a hoodie, jeans and trainers. This is not typical of a male in a film noir as they would normally be wearing suits, however putting Tosin in a hoodie and trainers represents his laid back/unsuspecting character.

Style- camera angles
The range of shots used in 'Siren' represent typical film noir qualities.

For example, the cantered angle to high angle when Tosin falls on the chair after finding the picture book

The fireplace shot and close up of book- focusing on objects

Also, the slight track and then arc when Tosin finds the knife in the fire place

POV shots were used to show Tosin walking into the living room, gaining a feel for what he is seeing- what he is letting himself in for.


Some shots that we used in 'Siren' are similar to that of film noir. For example:

FILM
Develop conventions of real media products

- Although the film is filmed in colour, the pictures taken for the stalker book are in black and white- a development in that some conventions have been used but in a more toned down way


FILM
Challenge conventions of real media products

- The main convention we have gone against when making a film noir/neo noir film is that our main male character is black. Typically they would be white but we wanted to challenge the perceptions that are usually linked to black (particularly black males) in films.

- Another way that our film challenges conventions of real films is that there is only one line we actually see the characters talking in the film. There is a speech from Tosin at the very beginning however the screen is black and we can’t see him, so by having hardly any dialogue throughout the film it challenges the conventions of real media products.

- The clothing worn by Tosin is not typical for the protagonist to wear in a film noir. Normally the protagonist wears a suit/smart work clothes, however in 'Siren', Tosin is wearing a hoodie with jeans and trainers, a much more causal look for the main character.

REVIEW
Use conventions of real media products

The layout of my review was typical of one from 'Total Film' as I used an example review as a template. The way it follows a typical 'Total Film' review page include:

- Large central image which is a screen grab from the film
- Tag line
- Informal language
- Star rating
- Film certificate
- Verdict at the bottom of the page
- Three coloums
- Same colour scheme
The mode of address used in the review was written for the target audience of the film which was:
- teenage girls and boys (students) aged 16-20
- middle class
- white/black (because both ethnic groups are in the film)

Challenged conventions of real media products (real review pages)


- Only used one of the characters in central image, most pictures on review pages have both the main characters in the picture

- Review pages would normally include films that you would like if you watched the one being reviewed, however I did not include this (mainly due to not having enough space on the page)

- The fact that it is a short film goes agains the conventions of a film review in 'Total Film' because they wouldn't normally include a short, low budget film in their magazine.



POSTER
Use conventions of real media products

- Follows the conventions of a typical film noir/neo noir poster by having the femme fatale on the front, e.g. Pulp Fiction

- The black reflects the dark tone of the film and the mystery throughout and the red connotes danger/passion/blood which is also included in the film

- The poster includes an age certificate, official film festival company, actor/actress names, a large title, a strapline, details such as director, editor, casting director etc and quotes from other media e.g. radio, tv etc...



Challenged conventions of real media products

- Main picture is a screen shot from the film, normally the film poster would have been set up with the actors in a particular setting and looking a particular way

2) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

- The film poster reflects the mood of ‘Siren’ well as similarly to the film, it has conventions of film noir. The main picture on my poster is the femme fatale, showing her in a controlling position like she has in the film. It has a black and red colour scheme in keeping with the film- the black of her dress and the red of the blood.

- The review promotes the film as an independent, low budget short film. So the review is there to publicise the film for the public at film festivals, for example Future Shorts

- The three tasks are all connected and there are a number of aspects which demonstrate this. Both the review and poster have print screens from the film, so all the images are from the film itself, showing continuity. The review and poster are connected in that both are there to publicise the film and bring it to a wider audience.


3) What have you learned from your audience feedback?

- The people who viewed the film felt that they were the intended audience, showing we sucessfully targeted the film towards the group we wanted to- both genders, all ethnicities and within the intended age range

- The majority of people who filled out the questionnaire agreed that the lighting used was sucessful in creating shadows and mystery and the shots used were unusual, therefore fufilling traits of film noir

- A lot of the people asked to complete the questionnaire had good knowledge of film noir, therefore showing that our film demonstrates good use of film noir conventions as the majority of the answers listed traits commonly used in film noir


4) How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Research
I used the internet to research a number of things including:
- examples of posters and reviews of the film noir genre
- to watch Mal Woolfords neo noir films
- to find pictures from real film noirs to use as annalysis
- used youtube to watch film noir and neo noir clips
- used youtube to watch tutorials on typical film noir conventions, including Indie Mogul:



Planning
I used a digital camera to:
- take photos of each scene of the storyboard for the animatic
- take photos of location- living room, alley way
- take photos for stalker book

I used a video camera to practice some of the harder shots included in 'Siren' such as the fall to arc when Tosin finds the book and also for some of the longer shots, for example when he finds the knife

I used the internet to keep a blog and record all my findings

I used youtube to upload the animatic


Construction
I used a digital camera to take pictures as we were filming to use as evidence as filming progress

I used a video camera to film 'Siren'

I used iMovie to put all the clips we had filmed on and used it to edit the film, create titles and credits and to add a soundtrack

I used Garageband to record some original music (for the flashback)

I used Youtube to upload the film when we had finished in order to create easy access for people to view it and give us feedback

I used Photoshop to create the poster for the film and also the review page

I used an iMac to take printscreens of shots I wanted for both the review and poster