EvaluationGrayWolf EntertainmentKrishan Patel

Introduction

Create an opening scene which would best fit our target audience

Our selected the genre was ‘Teen Comedy’.

We had formed a team of 4 members, this team consisted of Jayesh, Mark, Shyam and myself.

Research had to be done specifically for our selected genre.

Pre-Production Planning Aims

We had different aspects of a teen comedy to cover in our opening sequence.

Beneficial Team Discussions.

What our genre was going to be.

How can our target audience relate to this opening sequence.

How effective the camera shots we have chosen will be.

More Planning

On top of brainstorming ideas, we also had to create much more detailed plans to guide us through the process of creating this opening scene, explaining why each shot would be used and why they were used.

We did this In the form of a ‘Storyboard’, displaying the events that would occur in our opening scene in chronological order.

One of the pages of the storyboard, mapping out what camera shot will be used, in what direction and when. The storyboard also shows the dialogue being used at the time simply so we can visually see how the scene would play out all together.

Production Timeline

The following chain of events occurred whilst creating our opening scene

Planning Research

Initial Draft

Teen Drama/Comedy

surveys

Editing First Draft

Feedback

GrayWolf Entertainment Opening

scene Planning and Production

Final Draft

Planning and Production

For Planning, we created our opening scene synopsis, script and storyboard.

Whilst Filming, we tried to include a range of camera shots to emphasise key parts of the opening .

Whilst editing we had to keep it between 2 and 3 minutes so video trimming was quite important.

The final draft session was used to include our bumper and any other clips and transitions we felt was necessary.

Research

Research had to be done before attempting to create our own opening scene.

Research on different teen comedies

By analysing the four aspects, mise en scene, camera shots, editing and sound, of many professional teen comedies we easily noticed how teen comedies are layered and built up.

Target Audience

The target audience profile would be used to see what teenagers prefer in teen comedies.

If whether it would be an overwhelmingly funny opening scene which attracts the audience, or if the opening scene was much more subtle and engaging.

We used the target audience profile to see what the typical teenager enjoys most.We could adapt our opening scene much more accurately than to guess what teenagers look for in a comedy opening sequence

Ideal Teen Comedy Conventions

There are a few conventions of typical teen comedies which we have implemented into our own opening sequence. The conventions we used include:

Fast Pace Editing. Teen Comedies have very quick, short scenes and do not drag themselves out to prevent the audience from losing interest in the scene.

School Setting. One of the main conventions of teen comedies is that they are set in or around a school or college as this is the easiest way of representing the actors as students (young).

Rock Music (Or similar to). Fast paced electric guitar sounds accompanied by a drum beat will often set the tone for many opening sequences, we have decided to implement this convention as it is very typical and generic in teen comedy movies.

Conventions Rejected

We decided to reject the following conventions and not use them in our opening sequence:

Dark Lighting.

This does not fit In at all with our other chosen conventions because the main character of a teen comedy is typically very predictable and what he/she is going to do is obvious.

Slow Music. Slow music is used in sequences to build tension in a scene where something shocking may happen however this is not ideal as scenes in teen comedies are short and quick to the point, the faster paced music we have opted for is much more appropriate.

Audience Feedback After the production of our opening sequence, we gained

audience feedback from others in the class.

They judged our work, giving us compliments and also points for improvement.

The suggestions for improvement given to us played a crucial part in turning our rough cut into the finished final cut.

The feedback received was both positive and negative.We aimed more on the negative feedback, because we could use it to improve our opening sequence.

Ways which our media product uses, develops and challenges forms of real media products

There are many similarities in our media product compared to real media products.

There are differences which we skipped on purpose, so our opening sequence does not look like a copy of something else.

From extensive research and analysis, we understood that many teen comedies begin with short voice overs to introduce the area and the characters.

Voice overs talking about the character or others have also been used in teen comedies such as Kick-Ass.

Use of 6 to 7 short voice overs to engage the audience and make them feel comfortable with the situation.

Phrases in the voice overs such as ‘welcome to my life’, ‘ nothing much happens’, is very relatable to many teenagers as it is true, not much happens In an average teenagers life, at least not every day.

Instead of trying to include all techniques from real media products, we focussed on a few specific ones.

I think that focussing on a few techniques is more effective than including all techniques. (More simple, easier for the audience)

Included more characters with varying personalities to keep the audience engage.

The audience should be able to relate to at least one character.

For example, our main character is a nerd, however with the multiple characters introduced with a voice over, this main character has more than one opportunity to become friends someone with a varying personality, therefore the story becomes more engaging.

Ways which our media product uses, develops and challenges forms of real media products

As a group we thought that it is very significant for the audience to identify the techniques used in our media product the same way they would if they were viewing a real media product.

Stereotypes are major factors in all media products which can be viewed positively, negatively, or both in the eyes of the audience.

By creating certain stereotypes in our media product such as a school nerd and a bully we can engage our audience.

Ways which our media product uses, develops and challenges forms of real media products

Real Media Products vs. Our Media Product

• An establishing shot of the school entrance.

• White clothing• Walking around, trying to fit in.

• An establishing shot of the schoolIs used to show the main character standing by himself.• White/Grey clothing.• Standing still to not attract

attention.

How our media products represent particular social groups

Both genders have been included in our media product.

Characters with different races are used in our media product.

The common stereotype of the ‘school nerd’ is effectively used to show that those in that social group.

Some social groups including the ‘gamers’ have been shown negatively in our media product as they have been portrayed as lazy and careless.

Institutions that could distribute our media product

Universal Studios could distribute our media product. Universal have produced countless teen comedy movies such as Johnny English, Ted, and Kick-Ass and may find our media product very relatable to the majority of our target audience

Warner Bros. Entertainment could distribute our media product also. Similarly to Universal, they are one of the top 5 major distributors in the world and this means that our media product would gain an even larger audience and a bigger release.

Target Audience for our media product

Our media product is aimed at teenagers, and more specifically, teenage males.

We have chosen the most suitable target audience for our media product.

We have chosen teenage males specifically because our main character is male.

I think that the age rating for our media product should be 15 and over.

Target Audience Surveys

Online surveys were created by our group in attempt to pinpoint onto our target audience.

Our survey results would show us whether or not we chose the right initial target audience.

The results also improve the accuracy for our media product, in terms of choosing the right genre for the right age group.

Appealing to our Target Audience

This is the poster which was created for our media product.

Our specific audience is teenage males so by using our main male character on our poster, we should appeal to more of our specific target audience.

Our Media Product PosterOur company name is labelled above the title so it is fully visible to our audience

Our title is a playful pun, suggesting that our main character is trapped in school as if he has a ‘prison sentence’, a fun way to engage our audience.

No specific date has been given.

The age rating of the media product, 15 is the average rating for all teenage movies

The main character is dressed in formal clothes.

How we attracted our audience

Props, clothing and the setting are used to replicate a typical classroom which all students can easily understand.

The pan of the room reveals all the students and their behaviour, we can see some students falling asleep or with their heads down and hoods up.

Here we can see the students bored of the lesson already, and it had only just started, however our main character is facing forward, continuing on with the lesson.

Technology used in the process

One piece of technology was the mac and its iMovie editing software.

Gained new knowledge.

We used a Panasonic HD camera to record all of our footage alongside a very sturdy tripod which managed to keep the camera still during heavy weather conditions like very strong winds.

Improvements

I was the director for both the preliminary and the final.

I think that I could have tried to keep the camera more steady.

The technology used could have been replaced with a camera of higher quality.

From the Preliminary to the Final

We have learnt a variety of things whilst creating our media products;

Our planning and research skills have increased over the duration of time.

We have also become more organised in terms of preparations for filming.

We have gotten better at editing and handling equipment.