Evaluation: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I think that I have greatly improved from our preliminary task, my knowledge of the software are well as the film-making process has greatly improved and therefore the progression from the preliminary task to the full product has quite obviously improved.

Firstly, during pre-production of the preliminary task I found is quite hard to even come up with more than a few shot types, showing that my understanding of film-making has vastly enhanced and thus our film opening contained some much more challenging shots such as the tracking shot, in comparison to just a shot-reverse-shot which we completed in the preliminary task. Not much thought went into the location nor costume of our characters in the preliminary, in fact we used a classroom as a 'restaurant' and we just used actors that were either in our group or were just free in the time for filming after-school. Whereas, with the film opening we went through a lot more planning and made multiple storyboards in case the main tracking shot did not work out. Props for the preliminary were just things that we found lying around which we thought slightly would look like they would belong in a restaurant which we were trying to make from a classroom (?).

Overall, the amount of planning required for the preliminary task did not amount to what was required for the main task. Production took a whole day for the main film opening whereas we only spent around an hour on the preliminary as we only had a few shots to film, in comparison to the multiple close-up and attempts at tracking/pull-in shot in the film opening.

Evaluation: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Throughout the process of constructing our film opening I learnt a lot about technologies such as Final Cut Pro and Colour, as well as the cameras themselves. For example, with the Canon EOS 550D cameras I learnt that in order to achieve an extreme-close-up you use the 75mm and for a wide a 35mm is required – the middle/mid-shot being 55mm. In this way being able to use trial and error to achieve the perfect wide shot (etc.) was the easiest way to ensure that the right lens was being used. Similarly, discovering Final Cut Pro seemed like a daunting task however, once we learnt the basic tools such as the ‘Razor Tool’ for a straight cut, is was easier to use the software. It took a while to be able to understand the software since there was so many tools on it which appeared very confusing. 

In order to do many things such as the writing appearing on-screen in a typewriter fashion, we had to google how to do this. Often, watching videos on how to use Final Cut Pro helped quite a lot.  We also wanted to adjust the sound levels of the music throughout the opening to imply- since the music was diegetic -that the music would get louder when the shot was closer to the laptop where the music was coming from. This took a while to get right and make sure that we adjusted the sound levels with slight fades between the different levels to make sure that the music was not jarring when it changed volume. Surprisingly, as a group we managed to work out how to complete this on Final Cut Pro, we realised that all we needed to do was clip on the audio and adjust it in the viewer.

The Colour software was actually fairly easy to use, what caused the most problems was actually transferring it back to Final Cut Pro since we did not understand that we had to ‘render’ the whole completed sequence in order to send it back to Final Cut Pro since the files could not be read properly. However, the colour software itself was easy, as I described it, ‘it’s a bit like Instagram filters’, despite the appearance of the software looking complicated, it was fairly easy to use because if you moved one of the buttons you could see how it would affect the actual picture.

Evaluation: Who would be the audience for your media product? How did you attract/address your audience?

I think the main audience for our film opening would be teenagers aged 16-18 since it is most empathetic for this age group due to the social issues raised; bullying and mental illness (depression & anxiety). In this way, we tried to address the audience through portraying things which many teenager has gone through, since almost everyone at least has been affected by mental illness in some way, not just exclusively teenagers, although depression and certainly bullying may be particularly prevalent in teenagers. In terms of audience being of a global range, I do not think this is the case since the main plot-line is a school shooting which is quite a niche subject matter in America. Also, since it is set in America with music, objects associated with the place and so therefore may not attract audiences globally. Despite the film opening not being filmed as American the location was meant to be set in America thus, it would not be classified as a 'British' film despite all the cast,crew and location being British.

In this way, our film opening may be limited in its audience globally but should appeal to teenagers aged 16-18. According to the BBFC classification for film, our film would most likely receive a '15' certificate. This is due to the themes of drugs and perhaps later scenes of the school shooting and suicide being prohibited in a '12'. 

What might I see in a 15 rated film or video?

Any of the following:

•   strong violence
•  frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***').
•   portrayals of sexual activity
•   strong verbal references to sex
•   sexual nudity
•   brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
•   discriminatory language or behaviour
•   drug taking

Having a '15' certificate however would enable the film to be viewed by who I think would target most appropriately and be able to understand effectively. 

Evaluation: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

We thought that our film opening would most likely be distributed through online platforms such as 'YouTube' or 'Vimeo' since it is so accessible for everyone and thus, it is the easiest way to get people to see our film without having to go out of their way to go to the one cinema which may exhibit it.  using social media networking sites such as twitter and Facebook to market and promote the media product. With a small budget behind the film, hardly anything can realistically be spent on distribution, let alone marketing. In this way, I feel that this would be the best way to distribute an independent film like ours to be seen by the audience who need to see it and would most relate to the subject matter. With perhaps the 'death' of cinema as we know it, many films are transferring to internet platforms like 'Netflix' which most people use in nowadays in order to watch what they want, when they want it for a limited price. A trip to the cinema can now cost around £10 per person and that is without the added ridiculous price of popcorn and a drink. Thus, I think we need to embrace digitisation and have our media product distributed online. Online platforms have the added benefit of limited distribution costs and almost everyone can access it and so I think this is the way forward particularly with a small independent film as 'Nineteen Minutes'.
     

Or alternatively, with something produced with low production costs, reasonably it is likely that an independent institution would be able to help with the distribution in a more traditional way, through, perchance, cinematic exhibition. Also, in order to get our film some 'critical acclaim' we could enter it into film festivals in order to get more exposure since if the film receives good reviews hopefully people will want to see it to see what the reviewers are talking about (as well as through word of mouth). 

Our audience may be limited slightly due to the film being classified as a American film since the themes apply to quite an American audience and is also set in America (since school shootings are perhaps culturally specific and also apply to American teenagers). However, I think that the subject matter would apply to teenagers in a global audience since the experience and issue of bullying is particularly prevalent throughout any teenagers lives, in particular their school lives. 

Evaluation: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Social groups that are prevalent throughout our film opening is age and gender. Firstly, the main character in our opening is perhaps perceived as a stereotypical teenager since he has traits like staying up and sleeping through the day. This is apparent in our film opening since there is a close-up of the clock which is already at 12:19 pm. Peter can also be seen as a

stereotypical teenager since he wears quite young adult clothing; a black t-shirt, skinny jeans and Nike trainers. In this way he perhaps seen as ‘normal’ and attempting to 'fit'in' with the crowd and therefore at high school. However this is subverted with the added touch of  glasses which usually conform to the stereotype of a ‘nerd’ in a typical American school, someone who does not fit into the 'cool' group at high school and gets bullied by the jocks for actually caring about his grade average. In this way, this reflects Peter’s vulnerability as well as representing him as a bit of an ‘outsider’ and therefore his susceptibility to bullying. 

Peter is also aged 17 and so does conform to the stereotype of being 'mis-understood' by adults since his character shuts himself away in the comfort of his attic room. The attic room is also quite symbolic of Peter feeling closed off from society and kept out of sight, up in a small room. Peter's bedroom also represents his depression since it is very dark and deliberately blue-ish in colour in order to display his isolation and struggle with mental illness and bullying.

Despite this, the film also later represents the idea of parenthood and what it is like to be dealing with a teenager as they turn into adults themselves. Peter's mother Lacey is a midwife and throughout the novel is described to dedicate a lot of her life to her job and in this way misses the subtle changes in Peter as he slips deeper into depression. Thus, Lacey could appeal to parents who have gone through similar struggles with their children, struggle to juggle their jobs with bringing up their child. 'Nineteen Minutes' therefore represents parenthood in a very relatable way to many who have experienced the troubles of raising a teenager and helping them transition into adulthood. 

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

I think that generally, our film opening conforms to the conventions of real film openings since it establishes time, location, character and creates enigma. Firstly, time is established in our film opening through having a clock on the desk and more explicitly having a close-up on the clock as it ticks to the next minute (12:19pm). In this way, this conforms to the usual conventions of a film opening by establishing time. Near the end of the film opening, perhaps even more explicitly, we have typing appear on the screen ‘Sterling, March 6 2007’ thus, establishing location. However, location has already subtly been revealed through the mise-en-scene, for example, the placement of American sweets like ‘Hershey’ as well as American writers within the main character’s book collection e.g. Stephen King.

Similarly, our film opening conforms to conventions of real film openings by establishing character. Mise-en-scene makes a big contribution to revealing more about the main character as well as revealing him gradually. For example, the types of DVDs can been stereotypically seen as ‘nerdy’, with the set including ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’, this enabling the audience to learn about his character. With the room also being quite messy, with chocolate wrappers and marinating cereal bowls, it implies that the character is also the stereotypical teenager (one who would sleep through a whole day). Character is also established through his clothing, conforming to the stereotypical teenager with a black t-shirt, glasses and jeans. In conjunction with this, enigma is created through the audience only seeing parts of the main characters, and not seeing his whole face one shot. This serves to create a sense of the character wanting to remain anonymous as well as conforming to conventions of real film openings by not revealing everything in the opening scene.

Final Cut - 'Nineteen Minutes' - Main Task