EVALUATION: What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

The main technology we used throughout the project was the computer. We used computers to research and help plan our project. Using sites such as IMDB, Google & Wikipedia helped us to research other films that may relate to our film. IMDB was effective as it revolved around all types of genre of film. I had not been familiar with this website previously, so it was good learning about this site and how it could help me with research and planning. We were able to gain information about certain films such as the techniques and locations used and why. We were also able to find out information about media institutions that could be likely to distribute our film. Aside from research, I also used the computer to produce a shot list and shooting script which came in as part of our planning work.

When we wern't using the computer, we were usually filming. Although I had had some previous experience from using the camera in my preliminary task, I learned a lot more from filming in this project and the shots captured were much improved. We had to understand how framing was important, and how different framing can have different effects on certain shots towards the audience. In one scene, the Boss and his 'right hand man' exchange money.

At the time we thought we would capture this shot so it was difficult to see the right hand man's face and the boss clearly. We wanted to keep the Boss' worker 'in the dark' as such; keeping him annonymous and adding a little mystery to the character. However, feedback from the audience told us this technique didn't really work and it rather looks like the camerawork is slightly off centre. Using the camera in the right way for different scenes is important as it will affect the audiences view of the film. We used different angles and a range of different shots including establishing shots, point of view shots and close ups e.t.c.

Once we had finished filming, we had to use computers again to edit our work. I personally found this quite difficult at times as the programme was tricky to use and occasionally crashed. I was able to get used to it however, therefore more effectively being able to edit work. We used Ulead to edit our film. We were able to introduce soundtrack into our film, take out unwanted sections/scenes and place shots in order. We also had to cut down a lot of movie time using Ulead to meet the requirements. Using these technologies to help construct our product has improved my skills in all these areas and I have learned a lot especially from editing.

EVALUATION: How did you attract/address your audience?

We tried to use typical conventions for our crime genre whilst trying to use these conventions to involve the audience in our film. One of the ways we did this was simply by using suitable but suspensful soundtrack on specific scenes. In the very beginning of the opening sequence, there is a point of view shot where chris is sprinting down the road. Not only does this shot involve the audience; making them feel they could be in the scene themselves, but when watching the film you are able to hear quick paced urban styled music. This fits well with the scene and adds extra impact for the audience. I thought it would be a good idea to use this scene at the beginning of the sequence because it is quite an intense scene for the audience to watch and grabs attention quickly and effectively.

Our media product uses conventions typical of the crime genre which will attract audiences that are already interested in watching these types of films. It is easy to establish the genre and style of our film from use of mise-en-scene (e.g. setting, costume, narrative).

Various other shots also make it clear to the audience that they are criminals such as the loading of tools into a bag and the final shot of Chris raising a gun up to a mirror. These shots among others add suspense and impact to our film, attracting our audience further.

EVALUATION: Who would be the audience for your media product?

Being an urban crime genre, our target audience would generally cover a younger age of people ranging from about 13 to possibly late 20's. Despite our product's young target audience, I think it is possible for our target audience to be extended to mid 30's as the crime genre can also attract these ages.

Our target audience is also very male dominated - again, taking into consideration the genre of our product. However, a significantly smaller amount of women may still be interested; especially as we decided to include a female character.

Our urban theme I think would attract a working and middle class audience of all ethnicities; having included a multi-cultural cast.

Overall, an audience based in London are likely to be the largest audience as the film itself is based in London. Audiences might aso like to see familiar landmarks - so we decided to include a shot in front of the London Eye.

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

Our opening sequence is a London based film, so naturally British film institutions such as BBC Films would be a suitable distributor for our film. Popular films may be distributed abroad, however this type of film distribution is not really suitable for our media product. BBC Films are known for distributing many films, but one we found was similar to our product: 'Bullet Boy'. The mise-en-scene used made it adaptable for the audience, along with keeping all the typical conventions of the crime genre. When researching, we found Vertigo Films would also be a good distributor of our film, having distributed popular crime-based films such as 'Lock Stock' and 'Two Smoking Barrels' which is what our film tries to compare to. As both media institutions have distributed these type of crime genre films, I think they would be suitable candidates to distribute our film.
Depending on the type of film and its audience, certain films will be shown in specific cinemas. For example, our film is London-based, meaning it would be common for our media product to be distributed in the most obvious city: London, plus bigger and main cities in the UK. This is because our film has an urban feel interlinked with the crime genre we originally chose to go with.

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

Looking back over our opening sequence we were able to see how our product represented different social groups. However, when we were planning we didn't consider any of these representations as we were more focused on the film and its genre. Watching the opening sequence, the audience are able to see a black male character (Chris) doing a lot more physical work on the street in comparison to the boss; a white male character (George), doing much less work yet taking a large cut of the money earned. After we noticed this Chris came up with quoted lines from another movie saying “behind every big crime organisation is a rich white man, reaping most of the rewards” which in this instance seemed very true.

Aside from this, although we had included a female character (played by myself), the female role wasn't really represented as much as the male roles in our film.

Opening Sequence: The Meet

This was our original media product called The Meet. Unfortunately, it was too long to actually be submitted as our final film so this is not our final product, but it includes all the scenes we filmed before having to cut out some.

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

The audience are able to identify typical forms and conventions in most of the opening sequences of films. This may include the introduction of characters and their relationships with each other, the introduction of some narrative, the film company logo, an establishing shot of the setting and possible captions allowing the audience to see names of actors e.t.c. It is also very common for films to have a title sequence in the opening. These are the main general forms and conventions of film openings. However, depending on the genre of film; these conventions can vary.

The genre we decided to go with for our project was crime. This involved some urban representations such as gangs & wealth. After we had decided what genre we were going to go for, we begun further research into the crime genre. Watching films such as the Itallian Job and Oceans 11/12, we were able to understand ideas surrounding the type of film and were able to plan more effectively.

I think that our final product successfully followed the main forms and conventions of the crime genre. The characters and their personalities are portrayed throughout the film similarily to other types of films involving crime. We decided to include the character of a boss and his right hand man, and also a female character who we decided would accompany the others. We agreed on giving the female character a secretary look. Choosing to include a female character contributing to the crime; I think could challenge some of the forms and conventions of crime genre films, because often the audience will expect the genre to be male dominated. I think this challenges that stereotype.

We were able to distinguish the difference in class between the characters for the audience. Costumes for the Boss such as suits, enable the audience to be able to tell that he is superior, where as his accompanying workers may be less important. This was achieved by camerawork especially but also by the mise-en-scéne (e.g. settings, costumes). We used shots such as shot reverse shot for conversations and to show relationships between characters and long/establishing shots to set the scene and show a location. George and I came up with the idea of having a young character sprinting down the road to open our film. Chris starred in this scene and also thought of having a point of view shot to add extra impact to the scene. This worked very well as it helped to follow the forms and conventions of the crime genre. The audience are able to tell there is something going on from the beginning, without having to include any narrative. We used up-beat urban music in this scene which really had an impact on the scene.

We used fast pace cutting at the end of our opening sequence. It was a more interesting way to end, but also showed the planning of the heist that would take place. I think this created more excitement and suspense for the audience. It also helped to emphasise the activities being done.

We tried to use typical conventions of the crime genre after researching and watching various other films that my relate to our project. I think we challenged certain conventions by involving female characters in the gang.