Evaluation
For my A level media coursework, we had to create a 2 minute title sequence. In my group was me, Jase and Dom. We had to create a film storyline, do research,
My group and I made the titles for the comedy genre. The reason we decided to go for that genre is because as a group, we are all comical people and also the audience range is wide so we can appeal to more people. If we go for a wide age range, the more we will be able to appeal for.
Second thing we had to do was create a storyline. Our storyline was about an American teenager who is jobless and lives at home with his mum. His mum tells him to get on with his life and get a job but he will not listen. His older brother comes into town and he is extremely successful. He is incredibly jealous as he is his mums’ favourite child. This makes him more productive and tries to get a job and become more successful. This leads to him failing to get many jobs and he finds himself in many comical situations, which he then overcomes and becomes successful. This is the disequilibrium and equilibrium in our storyline. We planned our storyline because that will give us a better idea of how we can do our titles.
Research
We had to do plenty of research of the codes and conventions of a title sequence. We had to find out the ‘norm’ of a title sequence and abide the most common features. We also researched, order of titles, so we know which order they appear on screen. Even though this is not a necessity, it is something we wanted to abide by so we have professionalism about our titles. This meant we had to watch countless titles to figure out what sort of titles we wanted to go for.
What Age is your target audience and why?
We then picked what age range we were going for. We decided to go for the age range of 12 and 25. In our research, we found out that these are the age ranges that mostly go cinema, and when they do, they preferably like to go see a comedy as it cheers people up. We would make the certificate for the film a 12A because there will be mild violence involved. Also, we don’t think there will be much point in under 12s seeing it as they wouldn’t understand the film. The reason that 12-25 would be our primary audience is because the comedy that is being portrayed in this film is that of which only this age group may laugh at because of the stage that there mind is at in the fact that older people above this age limit might not find the jokes that funny. Also, because the whole situation is that he is trying to make something of his life, after being a lazy, and someone who doesn’t want to achieve in life and then conquers what he wants. This will put the primary audience in ‘Andrew Andersons’ shoes, and make it relative to their life. This will be the moral in our story.
What particular social group does my media product relate to?
When looking at the social groups that I have represented within my media product I can think of one in particular that could be seen as me representing and that is Americans. We have stereotyped Americans, which will make it more appealing, because instead of doing it in an offensive way, we are mimicking a minority of Americans. We are putting the minority of lazy people who don’t want to work into a comical situation. People will not be offended by it but will find it comical and can laugh at the situation.
We have used mise-en-scene to create this stereotype by the way the character dresses and his surroundings in his house. We have dressed him up in tracksuit bottoms, and a baggy top. This shows that he doesn’t take pride in his appearance and he doesn’t take pride in what he does. The setting we had to think about carefully. We couldn’t just put him in a room for our titles sequence as that does not give off the impression we want. So we decided to surround him in food and mess that way we can show that he is a stereotypical American.
Post Production
Our post production of our title sequence was perfect. We got the exact effect that we wanted for our titles with the ‘swipe’ effect. It took us hours to do but was defiantly worth it. It took us ages to get it perfect but it defiantly made us stand out to the rest of our class as they just went for the simple pop up titles, we made our appear behind things and it helped us improve our knowledge of Logic Pro. We learnt how to do various cuts and different effects, but we soon realized that if you do strange cuts, it would start to look tacky. To make it look more professional and for it to be made by professionals, we went for the most common form of cut, jump cut. None of us in our group has ever used Final Cut Pro before, and to learn how to use it and put the effects that we wanted to do was a real achievement. There was defiantly a sense of pride after we finished editing. We had minimal criticise after our work which made it seem even better because that was our first draft. So knowing after all the work we did, there wasn’t much to improve on made us a lot happier.
Codes and conventions
In our title sequence we have used some of the main conventions that exist in most titles and that is that we had the film title, an introduction to character, information regarding mood and tone. Also we helped the audience get in the mood and give a taste of what the character is like in the film by the music we chose. We chose an American type soft rock, as this is the most stereotypical music we could find. It sets up the pace of the film and gets the audience intrigued. It is loud so it will get people’s attention. You need a catchy song because the titles are possibly the most important part of a film as this is where you get people’s attention or lose it. If they are not intrigued by it, they will not be paying much attention to the film if they cannot get into it.
What Institution would you chose to distribute and why?
The two media film industries that we chose to distribute our film were Columbia Pictures and the other is Paramount Vantage. We was not sure which one to pick because Columbia Pictures made great comical films like Step Brothers. Step Brothers was a great film and it made it big and still one of the funniest films of all times. Our film is almost like a sister to our film. This is because they have the same moral to the film and Columbia Pictures would know the best way to distribute it.
The Other institution, who we decided to pick, was Paramount Vantage. After a lot of in-depth research on both film institutions, we felt this was the better institution to distribute our film as they track record of Paramount Vantage is amazing. They have won a lot of awards and this means they know how to get this out to the audience and get the name out there. Most of their films that they have distributed was comedies. Therefore we thought this is the better option as this was their most focused genre. The decision was made in the group very quickly, even though both industries both have strong parts to them and the vote was unanimous.
Any Issues overcome?
We had one issue within our filming and that was the initial idea to do a 360 degree movement of the camera around the room. The issue was that we could not find a suitable location to be able to do it. We tried at various locations but the effect we was trying to do was just too hard. We used the dolly and it just wouldn't work. So we decided to change taking single shots and then edit them together in post production and I think it made it a lot better. In a way I am glad it never worked at first because this has made our titles look a lot more professional and it has made me get better at Final Cut Pro. The new final titles which we have made is very good and high standard.
What have I learnt?
I feel that this media project has helped me a lot and has improved my knowledge of Final Cut Pro and now I can use it if need be in other lessons. I also now know a lot more about how films get distributed and about industries and it is nowhere near as simple as it seems. I have accomplished a lot in this task and I now have a deeper understanding of the whole film industry. I worked very hard and stayed behind after school to finish all work to get it to a high standard as I found the whole topic very interesting and it has made me more aware of what goes on in the film industry.
What Institution would you chose to distribute and why?
The two media film industries that we chose to distribute our film were Columbia Pictures and the other is Paramount Vantage. We was not sure which one to pick because Columbia Pictures made great comical films like Step Brothers. Step Brothers was a great film and it made it big and still one of the funniest films of all times. Our film is almost like a sister to our film. This is because they have the same moral to the film and Columbia Pictures would know the best way to distribute it.
The Other institution, who we decided to pick, was Paramount Vantage. After a lot of in-depth research on both film institutions, we felt this was the better institution to distribute our film as they track record of Paramount Vantage is amazing. They have won a lot of awards and this means they know how to get this out to the audience and get the name out there. Most of their films that they have distributed was comedies. Therefore we thought this is the better option as this was their most focused genre. The decision was made in the group very quickly, even though both industries both have strong parts to them and the vote was unanimous.
Any Issues overcome?
We had one issue within our filming and that was the initial idea to do a 360 degree movement of the camera around the room. The issue was that we could not find a suitable location to be able to do it. We tried at various locations but the effect we was trying to do was just too hard. We used the dolly and it just wouldn't work. So we decided to change taking single shots and then edit them together in post production and I think it made it a lot better. In a way I am glad it never worked at first because this has made our titles look a lot more professional and it has made me get better at Final Cut Pro. The new final titles which we have made is very good and high standard.
What have I learnt?
I feel that this media project has helped me a lot and has improved my knowledge of Final Cut Pro and now I can use it if need be in other lessons. I also now know a lot more about how films get distributed and about industries and it is nowhere near as simple as it seems. I have accomplished a lot in this task and I now have a deeper understanding of the whole film industry. I worked very hard and stayed behind after school to finish all work to get it to a high standard as I found the whole topic very interesting and it has made me more aware of what goes on in the film industry.
