Evaluation Question 4

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


During the research and planning stage new media technology played an essential part in the whole process. The internet enabled us to access a full range of short films for analysis through internet sites such as YouTube and the BBC film network which influenced us on our final idea. We were able to research into the background of short films and look into existing products, allowing us to see what worked best and if there were any ideas we could include in our film. Short films only used to be distributed via mainstream means and were not easily accessible, potentially making the research and planning process very difficult. A particular short film that we got a lot of ideas from was Sold by Nadia Attia. The film has a linear narrative as the movie played out in chronological order and was in 'real time'. It also had a circular narrative but was subjective which we used in our film.

For ideas on our film poster, Google image easily allowed us to access film posters via the internet which we could instantly look at and analyse instead of having to physically go out and look for

them. The internet website; www.blogger.com has been essential for the documentation and organisation for our research and planning stage. The website has been easily accessible for both me and my group member which allowed us to communicate through comments. In addition, we could see each other’s work and see how each post had progressed.

DV cameras and digital cameras were the main media

technologies used during the production process. The DV cameras were used to film the whole production however there were limitations. The quality of sound/microphones were poor although we worked around this by using voice overs and scores to set the mood and to illustrate the narrative. Furthermore, the footage appeared to be 'grainy' however it was suitable for the theme of our film of the awareness of social networking sites as it added to the social realism of the topic which worked in our favour.

For our blog posts the digital cameras were used to take pictures of the location and characters, and for the poster and magazine. Digital cameras allowed us to easily upload them to our blog whereas before hand pictures had to be developed making the whole process very time consuming. In addition, digital cameras allow you to see the pictures taken before hand where you can make instant changes if necessary whereas camera films before had to be developed. I have found that with the use of new media technology has made the entire production process faster and easier.

During the post-production process new media technology was essential. The use of I-movie HD was very useful. It is non-linear editing software this means the process was non-destructive which worked at an advantage as we could therefore film in non-chronological order and place the clips in the order needed which made editing a lot easier. Moreover, after audience feedback was given we could make the changes instantly to improve the production efficiently. I-movie HD comes free with mac computers, it is therefore consumer targeted software as oppose to professionals. This made the software easy to use and understand, as you do not have to have a lot of skills to use it. However, with any free software it came with limitations. The effects and functions available were limited such as split screen which could have been used to make our film more enticing. Similarly, the use of the desktop publishing software Pages is a consumer product and not professional, it was easy to learn and use however again there were limitations with effects such as merging images etc. which reduced the utilisation of the publishing software for the magazines full potential although it did provide us with the basis for making our magazine film review.

Important software used during the post-production process was Photoshop CS4. It is at industry standard and was therefore a bit difficult to use and learn which was very time consuming, although it has a lot of capability. The software allowed us to develop more advanced poster ideas in contrast to the film editing software.

Photoshop covered a variety of different effects such as image manipulation, cutting, layering and blending etc. The use of expanded options meant the poster could potentially look like the real Hollywood ones once we developed our skills and techniques of using Photoshop.

The internet played a vital part in the post production process as we could access copyright free music via www.freeplaymusic.com for our film, there were thousands of songs available for us to choose from which made it easy to find a score or sound effect to suit our film without having the struggle of creating our own scores or contacting

people for permission to use their music as it could have potentially been very time consuming. Furthermore, there were copy right free 'stock' images that we could use for our poster and magazine which also worked at advantage as we didn't have to take some pictures ourselves in our case the picture of Facebook in the background of our magazine review.

New media technology was used during the evaluation process via the internet to post our blog evaluation. The use of YouTube enabled us to instantly distribute our media film and receive feedback. This was the same with Facebook as we posted our film onto the website to receive constructive criticism from people all around the world. This was helpful as we could get a variety of responses and opinions on how to improve our film. In addition, I-movie was used for creating our podcast for evaluation. Editing pictures into the voice over using the microphones was very simple and made the evaluation process easier.

Overall, I found that internet was the main source of new media technology I used throughout the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages as it played an essential role in the making of our short film. This is the final version of our short film which would not have been able to be made without the use of new media technology.

Evaluation question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Audience feedback is essential for any media product as it ensures your product/ products are suitable for your target audience. It ensures that the content of your film is appropriate and allows you to receive feedback on your target audience, narrative, score or editing which can help make a big difference to your film by correcting any mistakes you may have missed or any areas that you may have thought would appeal to the target audience but actually does not.

Firstly we showed the full preview to our class mates and our teacher, they filled out a survey asking them questions about the product to enable us to make necessary changes if needed to our short film.

• To the left you can see our audience feedback given to us by Nicholas Hobbs our media studies teacher, he clearly stated that our media product (short film) showed the intended theme, this was great as the message we were trying to portray was clear to him and the class without a obvious statement in the short movie. Furthermore he also says that our film achieves its purpose of educating and making young girls aware of the dangers of social networking. On the other hand him and the class thought our initial target audience was to young as we intended it at girls aged 11 and over, but this is why audience feedback is vital because as everyone thought the same we changed our target audience to 14 and over . The upper hand he thought that the film was very clear and did not need changing. Moreover he thought our plot twist and narrative was very good as we included a circular narrative which was obvious for us and our intended viewers. The whole class thought the score was suited for the mood of the film which made our job much easier as our product was suited for our initial intentions meaning we hardly changed much.

Secondly we then uploaded the video to Facebook, which was a great idea, quite ironic as we do indicate the dangers on this social networking site however we received important global audience feedback. This was important as we learnt a lot from our Facebook feedback as it was a greater viewing audience so there was many mixed opinions.
This indicates that it went global on Facebook:

 However this was just proof of it going online the audience feedback and comments will be displayed below:

 'Eman Ali' believes that our short film clearly portrays the theme he believes that the viewers will be aware of the purpose and he wrote that it should be for younger girls so he established the target audience without studying media studies. Furthermore the short film was highly rated by him and thought it should be used in schools and over the internet to educate our target audience.
'Mark khalil' also thought the theme and purpose was very clear however his audience feedback was vital as he stated something we did miss during the viewing and that was the voice over seemed very scripted and not natural. He believed that 'a younger audience would require a more 'cool' narration something they can relate to. A positive feedback on the whole including at the end it should be shown in advertisements in the cinema as its productive. So far what i learned from audience feedback is our production was well crafted and many people actually thought it was fantastic. With many of the comments being positive it only portrayed to us that our short film suited the criteria and hardly nothing had to be changed. As it was kept on Facebook more feedback was given :

'Demetri Mitchell-Palmer' indicates that he understood the purpose and theme and stated, 'I could picture this mini video being used in a reconstruction in crimewatch as it has been very thoughtfully filmed' again most of his feedback was positive and maybe considering that our product did not really need changing. However the negative feedback we received from him was the score could of been better and maybe some sound effects like a 'scream' when Vanessa was abducted could have been used however his feedback was used after the construction of our movie but we learnt for future preference to pay more detail to slight sound effects that can improve a product.

• 'Annie'  knew the aimed target audience however she had a different negative feedback to the rest and that was the filming in the school could of been a bit more interesting, i tend to agree that we could of slightly made it a bit more enticing but this shows audience feedback is key as it is a learning curve.
• 'Lauren' gave positive feedback about the score which contradicts 'Demetri' however she noticed something in the original production and that was the girls hair was still there at the end as we used the same clip but we altered this so it does not show and we would not have noticed if it was not for her audience feedback.
• 'Farah' believed it was 'sik' which in her terms means a really good production.

Finally to sum up our audience feedback over Facebook was all positive everyone understood the theme, purpose and thought the narrative was clear. We had mixed opinions about the score but this is the same with all productions mixed opinions will be given as an example as Lauren suited our target audience and she liked the score, her comment overrode Demetri's comment as he was not the intended audience. Additionally  audience feedback is vital as it helps correct the product where needed and shares different peoples opinions on the product, if the audience feedback is mostly positive it just states that you made a very good and enticing production which we are very happy about. Lastly i decided to put evidence of the 'likes' on the short film on Facebook as people who did not comment just pressed 'like' which portrays they enjoyed viewing our product.

•  This included past and present people that attend Gunnersbury catholic school.

For our last piece of evidence for audience feedback i asked two friends of mine that have not studied media as a subject but they always watch movies; mainstream and independent for there feedback on our product and filmed what they thought. 'Alex' believed that the film clearly states the theme and and purpose and thought it intended its target audience. However he thought the voice over should of been put across in a more attracting manor and the score at the start should of been more suspenseful. His feedback was important as his opinion is vital however he is not the intended target audience but i secondary screened him as more information about our product and to give us a clear indication on our product.

Seconday screening with Alex

Another secondary screening was carried out as i believe the more audience feedback the better our product can be and the more we can learn about what the audience expect as a whole.

Secondary screening with Mark




'Mark' says the theme is clear and he understood its for educational purposes especially to young girls as our target audience, also he believes the film does achieve the purpose. Most of the feedback given by him for the short film is mostly positive except he believes the score should be changed to appeal to younger girls. He believes the score is to scary for younger girls. However we did not seem to change the score because our class feedback which had mainly girls believed the score added suspense and mystery which helps to entice the audience so more is learnt.

After we seen that audience feedback was useful for our short film we also carried out the same process for our film poster. Audience feedback for our poster was important as all our products go hand in hand to accompany our main task which was the short film. Our poster was intended for our target audience which was young girls aged 14 and over and audience feedback will entitle us to see peoples opinions on the product and see if changes could of been made.
Firstly we asked our classmates with a questioner to fill out that was similar to that of our short film.

The questions we asked were as follows:
1. Does the film poster represent the theme of the short film
The majority of our class mates said yes, they all mentioned the faded background image of the Facebook home screen and this gave them the initial idea that the clip had something to do with social networking furthermore they seemed to link this image with the main image of the perpetrators eyes as they then could assume that it had something to do with  danger in social sites.

2. What target audience does the poster look like it is aimed at?
Again many mixed opinions were given none of them said none at all however it was split answers between half the class saying yes as if it involves a older man they assumed it will be aimed at younger girls that could be in danger, however, the other half said ' it was not apparent to begin with but after examining the poster you could get a slight indication of the aimed target audience.

3.What do you think could be changed visually to suit the intended target audience?
The majority of the class thought if the intended target audience was young girls maybe an image of a younger girl could of been used alongside the current main image, furthermore they thought the colour was far to serious and older looking to be used in a film poster trying to target that range of age to view the film; hence thought more vibrant girly colours should be present.

4.What is effective about the film poster?
yet again, they all seemed to speak about the main images present as it enticed them to look further into the poster and gave them a urge to watch the film quote from Rachael was ' the eyes present in the image gave a suspicious but yet mysterious thriller feel, this is was caught my attention and this is what made me want to watch the short film' this is key as our visual codes seemed to outbalance the colour scheme so still attracted an audience.

5.After viewing the film poster, would you watch or recommend the short film?
Everyone said yes.

Secondly we uploaded the film poster to Facebook to see other peoples audience feedback. This gave us a clear indication if changes were needed to be made however from the comments sent by the viewers most of it seemed to be positive feedback. examples of these comments are shown below:

   'Annie' gave positive feedback and straight away spoke about the eyes drawing her attention so this feedback made us aware that, that visual code would not need changing as if we linked it to our class survey they also said the same thing.
'Zane' also gave positive feedback recommending that the Facebook background is what made the theme and purpose very clear combined with our class feedback this was also another aspect that we didn't change. He also indicates that the colours used go well with the theme of the poster.
'Mica' a girl in the age range of our target audience said the colour scheme was very effective; this in turn contradicted what other feedback said alongside 'Joseph' also agreeing with the colour scheme these mixed opinions helped us come to a conclusion that the poster does not actually need changing and is suited to our theme and target audience in all aspects.
As time progressed and this was left longer on Facebook more audience feedback was received:

• 'Kassia' thought that the film poster as a whole attracted her to want to watch the short film, this again was positive feedback which generally helps with the overview and perception of the product as a whole.
• 'Jennifer' noticed a typo error dramatically she is right and if she thought that is must relate to others thinking similarly, however we used 'what' instead of who as the perpetrator was not in contact with the victim at face value it was him over the web so we thought 'what' is better as it suits the environment to which we are portraying. She then goes on to add and agree with the class evaluation that the colours could be too sinister for schools again showing the mixed opinions on the colour scheme. Furthermore adding the main image of the eyes and the Facebook add being the main attraction to her. 

'Alex' believes the Facebook background and the mysterious eyes are the main things that attracted him to the film poster, however he believes that the eyes could be with his face to show its a older looking man and finally he would recommend it to his sister so again mostly positive with some visual aspects that should be considered for our related target audience.



'Mark' believed the the film poster does represent the theme through the same assets that nearly everyone commented on the Facebook background and the eyes. The only negative feedback he gave was more vibrant and less dull colours should of been used.

A summary could be made about our film poster according to the audience feedback , again it was highly rated with a few debates about the colour scheme suiting the intended audience, however there was no clear indication that something was wrong with the film poster, hence nothing really was changed. Audience feedback is important for your film poster as this is 'meant' to be displayed in public places so it is important to attract any audience to watch your short film, the poster that goes with it should entice and captivate the public and ours seemed to do that from the comments left on Facebook and the survey given to my class mates.

Finally we conducted Audience feedback on the magazine film review, this was our final ancillary task and depending on the visual and written codes, would either attract or discourage the audience we are trying to target which were parents and teachers.

One area where this evaluation could have been improved was to do a class viewing of the magazine film review to gain more audience feedback teaching us more about the elements that could be changed within the poster however due to time constraints we were not able to perform this duty.
However i performed private audience screening on some viewers thoughts on the magazine film review and this is what was said:


'Mark' again commented on the magazine article, he was drawn in by the picture from the scene he also believed it suited the target audience due to the language used he also says our film follows the standard convention of a magazine article ' looking like any other' and finally he would watch the film from reading and looking at the magazine film review we created. This overall was a positive feedback with no negativity.



'Alex' was used for all our products feedback, the large image is what enticed him to read on, visually he believes its to basic for our intended audience however the language used does appeal to a older audience, furthermore he says it follows the standard conventions of a magazine article finally saying hell recommend it to younger girls and his little cousin and sister.

Again to gain a greater prospective of what people thought of our product we put it on Facebook this was the feedback as follows:

 This audience feedback was vital and key most of the responses were negative 'Annie' stating that the article does not make the film sound interesting also adding its colourful and easy to read, 'Joseph' disagrees with her and says the colours used are 'dull' and don't go well together again disagreeing with her saying it was interest to read. 'Kassia' clearly stated she disliked the article as its something her mum would read, this is positive and negative because she is our intended target audience for other products but not for the magazine and she said ' this is something my mum would read' showing that are target audience was aimed precisely through the language used. 'Jennifer' just gave positive feedback just stating a link of them film should of been added again a slight mistake we left out.
The audience feedback regarding the magazine film review was really mixed, out of all three tasks this was the one that people seemed unable to agree on, however slight changes where made to the magazine but not much on the whole as mixed opinions does not give a clear indication of what needed to be done to attract and entice any audience.
To conclude i have learnt a lot from audience feedback as it shows all products were liked by the audience and not much had to be changed. The short film was clear with the theme, purpose and audience same with the film poster, however there was clear mixed opinions about the film magazine review and this enabled us to make some changes that needed to be made; this ties is to show audience feedback is vital as we are constantly learning from the audience to make our product better suited to their needs and our target audience.

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 1