FINAL COURSEWORK

Here is a version of our final coursework. It is perfectly watchable small screen but the full quality is on the DVD version, which we recommend you watch for its truer depiction of our work:

Evaluation of Appeal of Our Film to Audience

Our evaluation of the ways in which we hope our film will attract our target audience. Please pause to read individual comments more slowly. This is also intended to be viewed on DVD as it is one of the extras often provided.

Progress in Research and Planning

Prelim:
We did not have a chosen target audience for our prelim task, we given an outline of a situation that we had to follow and certain criteria that had to be met, such as: dialogue, someone walking out of the scene, and shot reverse shot. We did not create a storyboard for this piece.

Our prelim did not follow a specific genre type, therefore we did not have any music playing that would relate to the genre nor did we have a script.

It is therefore not surprising that the sequence feels disjointed and does not convey any real meaning to the audience.

Final Task:
We watched the opening of many films from our chosen genre of Chick Flicks. This enabled us to recognise common techniques for the genre in terms of camera angles, sound, editing and mise-en-scene, for example being set in a school, having girls as the main characters, and the use of non-transparent very visible editing to create a fun and light-hearted feel.

For our final task we produced a storyboard, which included every shot, with the decided composition and specific camera movements. We decided not to include much dialogue in our final piece as dialogue is introduced at the end of the first two minutes as we found in our research of our chosen genre.

Progress:
The fact that we conducted all this research for the final task helped us identify the specific elements that had to be included in our piece, which we did not focus on in the prelim task. Therefore making is easier to identify the genre of the piece.


Progress in Storyboarding and Scripting 

Prelim:
For prelim task we didn't have a story board or a script. We were given a basic outline of what turns the piece had to take and basically made it upon the spot. Our planning was disorganised, we chose where we were going to film on the spot, obviously this wasn't thought through as well as it should have been, because the lack of space caused framing issues.

Final Task:
In contrast we planned out each scene and drew each shot so we knew exactly what we were doing when we turned up to our filming location. In fact, our storyboard went through several drafts and was detailed by the time we came to film:



We had written up a script previously so we knew what was being said, but on the first day of filming we improvised what the girls would say to their mothers and they were leaving, so not everything was as fully planned out as we hoped, but still much improved from the prelim task.

We put much more thought into our location, but again we still had to work with what worked best and what was best and easiest for us in general. For example, when we were filming in the bathroom, space was an issue, but worked best for the shot. Also, proximity to the school had to be taken into consideration when choosing our location due to limited time and locations.

Our piece makes more sense than our prelim tasks, this is because no planing was involved when making our prelim therefore it was a bit random.

With our piece it is clear to the audience what is going on. Our storyboard helped us when filming- we were able to refer to it during production whereas we had nothing of the sort during our prelim task.

Progress in Camera Work

Prelim:
We used the tripod for the entire thing, we encountered problems when we were trying to keep the tripod straight, this made some of our shots off balance. We still werent familiar with using the camera at the time, and our planning and how we developed the characters wasn't good.

Tripod off balance

Poor framing

Poor composition of shot

Did not notice person in background while filming

Camera movements were tricky for example we cut off Rebekah's head a couple of times so the piece didn't look very professional and gave it an unfinished look.

We struggled to use playback when filming the prelim and we recorded over work. Also as we struggled to use it, we didn't watch over what we had filmed so were unable to see what problems we needed to amend.

As we were new to using the camera and how to move them, we struggled to make out tracking shot look effective and have a smooth finish.

Final Task:
This time round we were much more confident with the use of the camera and tripod, making it easier to film. From previous experience we thought that using the tripod throughout the filming was appropriate for our particular production. Although we were confident with the camera we did have to re-film certain moments in our piece where we used handheld camera instead of a tripod.When we watched this back we realised the shots were evidently moving, giving it an untidy finish.Therefore we switched to filming these parts with a tripod, and this created a steady shot.

We found major improvements with our camera work from when we filmed our prelim task. Although we did not use any of our panning shots in our final piece (as it did no fit in with the film) they were much tidier than the prelim task panning shots. Our panning shots were more professional and smooth showing big progress in our camera work.

We naturally used a much wider range of camera angles and distances due to having planning time and a whole day of filmin as an initial shoot with pick ups on other days, whereas in our prelim task we only had a lesson period.

Progress in Editing

Prelim:
In our prelim task we were inexperienced with Final Cut Express and this meant that the editing was a slow process.

We weren't familiar with the continuity issues that could occur, and the fact that two different shots could jump because of a gap in editing. This occurred in our prelim task when there is a jump between two shots because we did not check it in editing.

We did not have any sound apart from dialogue and did not have any experience of using Live Type for credits.

Final Task:
We used layering capacity of Final Cut more effectively to achieve our effects of credits, split screen, and using a page turn effect.

Page curl

Split screen and credits

We were more careful with continuity as we understood from our prelim task that it easy to make a mistake. We did this by enlarging the tracks to check we were cutting at exactly the right moment for continuity to be perfectly precise.

We used effects and transitions carefully for example making sure that the page turns were at the right moment, and making sure that the non-diegetic music faded in and out at the right time so the dialogue could be heard.

We included titles, credits and production idents using other programmes such as Livetype, and Photoshop and imported these into our piece. We gained experience from using these where we had no experience from our prelim task. We also used Photoshop to animate our ident:

Ident on Photoshop

Progress

We gained a greater understanding of the potential of the editing packages and how they can be combined.

We used a large range of effects

A more layered product created

Editing was less time consuming as we were confident with the tools and layout of the site.

Evaluation of what we have learned about Technologies

Please use the link below to see our presentation discussing what we have learned about technologies through carrying out our coursework:

Presentation on Slideshare but better quality on DVD!

Evaluate how your product used, developed, or challenged the forms and conventions of real media products.

Title

• We chose large bubble writing for our title, which appears in pink on the first page of the photo album.

• Fits well as the colour pink connotes girly things, so it suggests from the outset that this is a teen drama aimed towards females.

Credits

• We chose a plain white font for our credits, as they showed up well against the pink background

Characters

• Our main characters are young females.

• We cast two young females as the main characters as this is fitting with our genre, and also relevant and relatable to our target audience, as the majority of the time in a Chick Flick the main character/s is a girl.

• The love interest is a white male. He’s appearance fits into the stereotypical gender conventions of being the attractive boyfriend of one of the key characters, e.g. ‘Aaron Samuels’ the boyfriend of the popular ‘Regina George’ in ‘Mean Girls’.

• The girls in the corridor scene are made to seem intimidating and clique-ish, as we got them all to stand together gossiping.

• The cast that we use all create a high sense of verisimilitude as they all look as though they are the right age to be in school.

Mise en scène

• Typically, chick flicks that are aimed at our audience are set in scenes that the majority can relate to, such as a high school

• Used props such as books and  notepads to create a high sense of verisimilitude, as these would be common in a stereotypical high school.

• One of our scenes was set in Charlie’s bathroom – we used props such as perfume bottles and hair products to exaggerate her lifestyle.

• We cast Rachel as Rosie, she is smaller than Becca, who plays Charlie, which helps indicate to the audience who is in the position of power, as Charlie is constantly looking down at/on Rosie.

• We got Rachel to carry a rucksack and Becca to carry a handbag to highlight the juxtaposition we were trying to create. Also rucksacks connote studying and ‘geekiness’, whereas handbags are seen as more glamorous and feminine. Use of props to establish character is common in our genre.

Camera Work

• Used a close up on Charlie’s face in order to enable to audience to gauge her reaction, also this may have caused the audience to dislike Charlie as they’re able to see her facial expression and she looks really angry and indignant, when clearly Rosie’s done nothing wrong, which will hopefully cause the audience to sympathise with Rosie.

• We used shot reverse shot – a typical technique of all genres, used often when filming a conversation- to film Rosie and Charlie talking at the bottom of the stairs.

• We used lots of close ups at the start of the piece when the girls were getting ready, so that the audience could familiarize themselves with the characters. Convention of all openinf sequences, not only our genre.

• This can be typical in chick flicks as they help highlight who the main characters are and what significance they have to the story.

Editing

• We used a page turn transition to smooth the cuts from scene to scene, and from the split screens to the full screen.- these just made it more obvious to the audience that the current scene was over and helped create the photo album feel, as if we are seeing a snapshot of their lives. This photo effect is common in the genre.

• We also used a fade transition to show the establishing shot of the school - conventional technique in fast-moving film openings.

• We decided to cross cut between the two main characters at the start, to highlight the juxtaposition between their morning routine. This technique is commonly used in the TV Drama ‘Glee’, which has a high amount of female viewers.

Sound

• We used two main sound elements, the first piece of non-diegetic music plays over the scenes where the two main characters are getting ready, and the other starts at the establishing shot of the school and continues through till the end of the piece.

• The music is has a pop feel, and is quite girly, so it gives an upbeat feeling to the film. The non diegetic sound used at the start is also quite happy and upbeat, so I think it’s relevant to be used in the part where the girls are getting up, and getting ready.

•    The dialogue used in our film demonstrates the power between the two main characters, as Charlie has a lot more dialogue than Rosie, with Charlie saying long sentences and Rosie just giving short answers

Evaluate how your product used, developed or challenged the forms and conventions of real life media.

1. Title

• Opens with a girly photo album where a page turn transition was put in place and the title in a feminine font in bright pink against a softer pink back ground.
• It ties in well with our genre of chick flick/teen drama with the use of bright feminine colours that appeal to our target audience and the fact that all the colours used are high key showing the story line is light hearted and up lifting and not to be taken seriously.

2. Credits

• The names of our two main characters appear in bright pink and elaborate font and are presented in the blank space that has a baby pink background when the split screen is used.
• Our producer and director name will be shown before the actors’ names, in a simple way and equally on a simple background.
• We intended to put the credits in from the start as soon as the music begins. However, this proved that too much was happening on screen and looked untidy and was distracting to the actions taking place.
• However, it is often the case in our genre that the credits are almost part of the action and we hope we have achieved that to some extent.

3&4. Characters

• Chick flick/teen drama films are about portraying an exaggerated way of life in a glamorous way allowing the audience to envy the lifestyles portrayed and dream. With these teenage themes such as gossiping and bullying are used to give the film credibility perhaps use situations that could arise in a real school with extras to make it gripping and entertaining.
• Characters that are usually used in chick flick and teen dramas are centred around social groups and the particular stereotypes within the existing social group.
• Often consisting of the popular girl who has a privileged lifestyle, confident characteristics and surrounded by friends and boys. And the contrasting character of the nerdy girl, who focuses on work, has few friends and is represented as being quiet.
• Our main characters are females as it is a teen drama. The secondary characters are the back -up friends (the ‘posse’) and boyfriends that are both genders.
• We cast two teenage girls with contrasting appearances linking to our conventions therefore following out genre.
• The secondary characters such as the group of friends that are friends with the popular girl are all girls and her boyfriend is the hunk of the school, which fits into our genre conventions.
• The popular girl is shown as having glamorous surroundings and being spoilt with the way she talks to her mother whilst the nerdy girl is shown to have manners and more basic surroundings. The popular girl in many chick flicks is usually associated with having ‘too much’ money for her own good emphasising her ‘perfect’ life making the nerdy girl seem more common and like everyone else (unoriginal).
• The use of a rich popular girl and the more working-middle class girl is shown a lot in teen drama programmes and films such as ‘Surbugatory’, where these two contrasting girls have had different up-bringing’ and different privileges in life.

5&6. Mise-en-scene

• Typically set around school grounds and bedrooms.
• Usually big blockbuster stars are casted especially to play to popular girl role as it perhaps more believable. However, in some cases such as ‘Angus Thongs and Perfect snogging’ unknown actors were used and this added a sense of mystery into the story and made it perhaps easier for the audience to relate to the characters.
• Use of academic stereotypical props such as glasses, books and clichéd activities like library club as well as on the other hand we used designer bags, makeup and phone were used to create a wide division between the two contrasting stereotypical characters we deal with in our piece.
• The main location used was the two houses picked where the girls lived. We used contrasting bedrooms and added colour and props relating to the popular girl. A plain room was used for the nerdy girl. Additionally, we followed through with these conventions in the bathroom locations using extra cosmetics for the popular girls emphasising her appearance is important to her and the nerdy girls routine was short and simple.
• The second locations used were on school grounds in the corridors. This is a stereotypical location that is used in teenage dramas where something embarrassing happens to the nerdy girl as it is a public place and makes the situation all the more humiliating.
• The final location is just outside the school, which emphasised the popular girl’s power. It shows that she is superior to the nerdy girl in school grounds and outside.
• The costumes were simple as we were relating the school ethos with the UK meaning that we used school uniform.
• We cast Rebekah to play the popular girl as she was tall and this made it easier to make her look more intimidating than the nerdy girl. We gave her a glamorous house that helped maintain her ‘spoilt’ characteristics. We had Rachel play the nerdy girl as the contrast in size between Rebekah and Rachel is large and made it easy to distinguish the possible superiority we could highlight with the use of acting.
• We made the popular girl emphasise on the fact that she had ‘dance after school with the girls’ whereas the nerdy girl was going to the library making it very clear who is the more sociable one of the two.

7,8,9. Camera work

• We used a lot of medium shots and long shots in our sequence as we wanted the audience to be able to see the main characters in action as well as distinguish the contrast in friends that are around them to distinguish the two stereotyped we are dealing with. This is common in opening sequences.
• We also used a series of two shots to portray the intimidating and power of the popular girl and inferiority of the nerdy girl. This is a typical shot used in teen dramas to show which character is dominant in conversations.
• The use of some close-ups showed the emotions of the nerdy girls face which showed her as being victimised throughout the piece, this clearly helps the audience to identify which stereotype Rachel fits into. Similarly, with the popular girl the confidence and meanness on her face was well portrayed with the use of close-ups. Again, this is a common convention in our genre.
• We used one over the shoulder shot/shot reverse shot during the conversation between the two girls. This scene shows Rebekah confronting Rachel and puts Rebekah in a position of power with the use of bright light on her face. The high angle as she was taller than Rachel and the fact that she had more screen time. Shot reverse shot is associated with our genre as many conversations such as gossiping between girls occurring teen dramas and chick flicks therefore we used conventions relating to our genre.

10. Editing

• We used ellipses to move the story along at some points in our sequence. This was created by using simple fade in and outs and cross-dissolves to give a sense of the scene moving on/changing but maintain a smooth and soft transition in scenes rather than a fast cut which would be more appropriate in an action film.
• We put in a split screen to emphasise the differences/contrasts between the two characters.
• Cross cutting was used a lot at the beginning of our sequence between the two girls’ morning routine in different locations, this forces the audience to compare and distinguish their differences which is what was our target. This is a technique we saw in many films such as "10 Things..."

11 & 12. Sound

• Our main sound element is non-diegetic music which plays during the girls’ morning routine as there is barely any dialogue at this point.
• The background music adds a bounce to the sequence and makes it more interesting to watch as it gives the film a youthful edge - new music is often showcased in teen films like ours as well as established hits.
• The music chosen is a rocky/alternative type and this is the typical music you would hear in a teenage film as it has this rebellious tone to it.
• The dialogue used is rare during the morning routine scene but a small snip is used when their mothers talking them to hurry for their bus. Rebekah’s response is more sharp and rude in comparison with Rachel’s sweet and kind reply.
• Another song is used when we use the cross dissolve between two scenes and we did the same with the music and faded it out and faded the next one in at the same time as the scene change.
• The music stopped when the dialogue starts in corridor scene. The dialogue on the nerdy girl’s part is very limited and this highlights her shyness. Rebekah’s dialogue is said in a confident manner and emphasises her confidence and loudness. She almost shows off in front of her friend’s in this scene to highlight her power compared to the nerdy girl by telling her boyfriend off as if she owns him.

Evaluate how your product used, developed,or challenged the forms and Conventions of real Media Products

PREDICTIONS BASED ON GENRE RECOGNITION

•  Easy to make predictions from our opening- shows relationships starting- shows conflicts

•  Audience feedback gave us confidence in our piece as they recognised it as a ‘chick-flick’/ ‘teen drama’ immediately and could guess how everything would develop.

• Could be some concerns about being predictable / unoriginal - but this is a genre people enjoy for its comfortable familiarity, not to be shocked or surprised so it is not surprising we have stuck to conventions so completely.

TITLE 1,2,3

•  Pink text on top of a picture of a photo album – the font gives a sense of being someone’s handwriting - establishes feminine nature of genre.

•   Pink photo album - sense of storing memories / year book feel

• Colour pink is used to link in with the ‘chick-flick’ genre - notice how it is a key accent colour on this shelf of DVDs:

CREDITS 4

•   Appear when there is a split screen next to the clips of the characters.

•  Pink ‘handwritten’ font- links with the ‘chick-flick’ theme.

•  The credits appear next to the clip, the clips are presented as small squares, and there is a pink background – all this is to give the sense of the inside of a photo album and a sense the girls' life is being 'written' - lack of verisimilitude associated with genre.   

CAMERA WORK 4,5,6,7,8,9,10

• ·High angle during the split screen of both girls in bed enables the viewer to see the girl’s bedroom revealing their personalities - often seen in film openings and was made very popular by 90s teen drama Dawson's Creek:

•  Two shot and close up is used when Seth helps Rosie pick up her books. This can be typical camera work in chick-flicks/teen-dramas as there is often love interests and relationships and the two shot show intimacy between two people. It is often totally obvious who will get together from the beginning of the film, but this is not the pleasure of watching - the pleasure comes from seeing how they eventually fall in love as in "10 Things I Hate About You"

•  A close up of Charlie is used to show her emotions. This close-up is used to make the viewer feel negatively against Charlie as a character as she is giving dirty looks to Rosie, a character the viewer is positioned to like. Having a clear 'villain' who taunts the 'good girl' is also a common feature of our genre from Rizzo in "Grease" onwards, and they are easily identified through close ups:

Like this character, they often follow a redemptive arc through the story and end up being more likeable at the end.

CHARACTERS 5,6,9

•  ‘Chick-flick’/ ‘teen-drama’ usually follow one character throughout and usually have a conflict between the main character and one other- which we show in ‘Just a Girl’

• In teen- dramas/ chick-flicks there are often two or more juxtaposed  stereotypical representations of teenager shown- and this is the case in ‘Just a Girl’

• Our two main characters are ‘girls’ which common in a ‘chick flick'
 
• We cast two girls who were quite the opposite. The ‘geek’ is significantly smaller than the ‘popular’ girl. Making it realistic for the geek to be picked on and intimidated by the popular girl.

 

• The ‘geek’ is represented as not having any friends- following the social conventions of the geeky characters being lonely and unpopular.

• We cast two other girls to play the friends of the ‘popular’ girl- having similar characteristics to the popular girl portrayed a stereotypical representation of a ‘type’ of teenager as seen in this classic canteen scene from "Mean Girls":

     MISE-EN-SCЀNE 5,6,7

• The geek character is portrayed as vulnerable which follows the  stereotypical social conventions of a ‘geek’-this representation of the ‘geek’ character is shown in ‘Princess Diaries’ – being nervous and vulnerable to bullying.

•   The love interest is represented as popular- having friends around him.

• Typically teen dramas are set in high schools/ secondary schools- which is the case in ‘Just a Girl’

• Costume plays a big factor in a ‘Chick-flick’/ ‘Teen-drama’. It defines the characteristics of the characters.

• The costumes are usually exaggerated to make it clear of the characteristics

• Teen dramas often use props like make-up, mobile phones, and books to define characters.

• Both of the girls houses, when first filmed, didn’t really define their characters, the set just looked like two plain bedroom and bathrooms- didn’t emphasise their characteristics. When we re-filmed we had more props to show the portrayal of both girls. More make-up products in the bathroom of the popular girl, and books surrounding the geeky girl in bed, exaggerated their characters

• The location of the scene was realistic because it was filmed in an actual school. This enabled the set to include lockers and props that would stereotypically be associated with a school.

• Costumes are all the same or similar as realistically people would be dressed similarly in a school- although accessories and props define the differences. In most teen dramas/ chick-flicks the geek wears glasses and to exaggerate that she is a geek we put Rosie in glasses in ‘Just a Girl’. A popular girl in a teen-drama/chick-flick normally has a perfectly kept hair, jewellery, make-up and altered uniform- and we have met this representation with Charlie in ‘Just a Girl’.    

• Rosie (the geek) carries round a rucksack, while Charlie ‘(popular) carries a handbag, shows that Rosie is more worried about something that is practical rather than what is seen as ‘cool’.

•   Rosie carries books in the corridor and busy in her locker while Charlie is with her friends.

 

EDITING 3

• We used split screen to show the comparison/contrast between the two girls.

• We used ellipsis during the piece in order to introduce the main characters and the school as quickly as possible.

• When split screen wasn’t used in the opening, we used cross-cutting to show the girls waking up and going through their morning routine. This allows the viewer to easily compare both girls, as we cross-cut to them doing similar routine things.

 

• In the first two minutes more screen time is given to Rosie (the geek), not only because she is the main character, but because we want the viewer to immediately sympathise with her as a character.

SOUND

 

• During research we found that music almost always plays at the very beginning, if not all the way through the first two minutes of a chick-flick/ teen-drama.

• We had two types of non-diegetic music playing through the first two minutes. The first type was played at the introduction of the piece, when the girls were waking up and doing the morning routine- this track was of the ‘pop’ genre which links with the teenage audience and the two characters. The second track is more of the ‘rock’ genre both of these genres are genres that can be related to teenagers.

• Although there isn’t much dialogue in the first two minutes if ‘Just a Girl’ the dialogue included is essential for defining the characters personalities. Charlie’s threatening dialogue of ‘have you done my homework’ suggests not only that she is a bully, but that Rosie is vulnerable for being used as a ’slave’, and also the fact that Charlie has asked Rosie to do her homework follows the stereotypical representation of a ‘geek’ being clever and enjoying work.

• Dialogue from Seth ‘You alright there, Rosie’ suggests he has a nice side and that there could be a possible relationship between these two characters.