the evaluation a2 media
TRANSCRIPT
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The EvaluationLovey Dovey
Nicola Bound
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The task: what the evaluation will
coverFor my A2 media coursework, the task was to create a short film, with a genre ofour choice. I chose to work together with a friend as we both had similar ideas
and, too, wanted to create a film of a romantic comedy based genre. As well as
the short film, we designed a poster that would help to promote the film, and a
double page spread article that would again persuade our audience into watching
the film. From this, we then had three media texts which would overall developthe components of a successful short film, that manages to target and please a
certain audience. These are what the final three media texts look like:
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The task: what the evaluation will
cover
I will cover: Narrative
Mise-en-scene
Title shot
Key Scenes Intertextuality
Effects
Lighting
Poster
Double Page Spread Article
Combination of Main Products and Ancillary Texts
Audience Feedback
Media Technologies
If I were to re-do my coursework what I would change
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Narrative 1
A narrative theory which I believe ours follows is Claude Levi-Strauss idea ofbinary opposites. Ours follows this convention through the oppositepersonalities and character types between our two lead characters, Georgie andAli. This was a deliberate choice of making the characters opposites, as the mainintention was to emphasise the unlikelihood of a relationship formation, and
highlight how unusual it is of Georgie to want to fall in love with Ali. One way weconnoted this idea of opposite characters was through the mise-en-scene.Georgies happy yet crazy personality was connoted through her clothing whichcontrasted in colour, for example the bright blue cardigan compared to her goldenhair. We used several accessories for Georgie too, almost suggesting that she hadso many elements to her; many parts to her character. It also emphasises how sheis different, how it is not particularly conventional to wear lots of random items of
jewellery and accessories. On the other hand, Alis very ordinary and boringcharacter was connoted through his dark, plain clothing. We made sure he woreblack and dark wash colours, connoting this darker aspect to his personality,furthered where he can be heard listening to heavy rock music at the beginning ofthe film.
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Narrative 2
Furthermore, Strauss theory was used further through the behaviours of eachcharacter. Georgie is always seen to be smiling, and getting over excited aboutsituations and prospects, whilst Alis character was again performed as if it have aboring and dull personality, represented by his occasional frowning and lack ofexpression. This is also presented in the dialogue of each character. Georgies voice
is intentionally performed rather well spoken, an evident contrast of her unusualappearance, an opposite in itself. However, myself and my partner believed thiswas an effective tone in her voice to have, as it contrasted her character so muchthat it almost extended the idea of her character being unusual. With regards toAli, we matched his voice to his appearance, and kept his voice very monotone andexpressionless.
(What must be mentioned is this applies to Ali up until he is dosed by the love
potion chocolates, whereby he then acts besotted with Georgie, and his voiceraises in pitch and he temporarily is seen to be very happy and smiling, likesomeone madly in love.)
From our audience research, the idea of binary opposites was an idea wedecided to use through looking at classic fairytale ideas.
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Narrative 3
The storyline itself was inspired by that of Snow White, however, we also looked
at Disney Princess fairytales. This was because they all follow a similar idea of
opposites, for example in Beauty and the Beast, where Belle falls in love with the
Beast even though they are completely opposite, and in The Little Mermaid,
where the mermaid Ariel falls in love with Eric, a human from up above. Again,
they are opposites in the way of species almost, and it appears
an unusual relationship. I believe that basing a story-line on
a very popular films is an effective technique, as it almost
ensures that it is a popular convention to follow. Our short film
Lovey-Dovey is more satirical than the fairytales, as this adds
a slight edge to our film, and creates the aspect of comedy.
From a different perspective, a theory by Barthes suggests that an audience
negotiates a meaning for the media text, based on other areas of media and their
own experiences. In such a way, different meanings can be negotiated when
applying it to my short film. Themes present are unlikely relationships, making
people fall in love involuntarily, stalking and isolation. An audience may apply their
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Narrative 4
their own knowledge and understanding to forming different interpretations on the short
film. The aspect of isolation, present where Georgie is immediately called a freak at the
beginning, and throughout how she appears in her own world, separate to others around
her. An audience may consider this pathetic, however, another audience may consider this
sad and a lonely prospect. This idea can be carried forth throughout the short film.
Finally, Laura Mulvey suggested the theory of the male gaze, by which a female isperceived as an object of desire, and on screen to be looked at. Mulvey says that this is
encouraged by lighting, editing, mise-en-scene, positioning and narrative placement.
Furthermore, I believe this is presented in Lovey Dovey. Towards the end of the short
film (5mins30), where Georgie is presented as an attractive object to be desired. This is
exaggerated through the elements in which Mulvey lists should be present. The shot is a
close-up of Georgie, where she is positioned central in the camera. Here, this enables the
audience to get a clear view of her appearance. Moreover, the camera shot follows Alismale gaze, as if to imply this is from a males perspective. Slow-motion is used, to
emphasize this moment of her beauty, exemplifying that the audience are to see her as
seductive. The editing used is a glow, connoting the idea that she is almost an angelic
figure, as if from heaven, and brightening and contrast is used to imply that she is of
overpowering beauty. The mise-en-scene is of her in a red dress, with the red connoting
passion and love and the dress being a seductive item of clothing for a male to be
attracted to.
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Mise-en-scene 1
As aforementioned, mise-en-scene is a key aspect of portraying the short film, as it
visually enables the audience to understand the character types and the situations
in which they are in. This is represented mainly in the contrast between Georgies
costume between the beginning of the short film, where she is seen to be dressed
in the contrasting clothing and many accessories, however, where Ali sees her in a
new light as beautiful, she is seen in a red dress (as mentioned connotingpassion and love) with her hair down naturally, looking simply beautiful. Similarly,
the mise-en-scene in the first scene immediately introduces and connotes the
character of Georgie. The diegetic music has the lyrics, we live in a beautiful
world, whereby the scene films Georgie walking through the country side happily,
and spinning in a circle. This immediately represents to the audience her
personality, of being alone but happy and appreciative of life, but at the sametime, the spinning in a circle connotes the idea that she is quite unordinary. As the
short film begins outside, it too sets the scene for the majority of the film, in which
is filmed predominantly outside. This was an idea that we carried forth as it
signifies the idea of stalking, and enables us to present the fact that she follows
him on his day to day excursions.
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Mise-en-scene 2
Throughout Lovey Dovey, we decided to manipulate the format of the film, with regards to
the brightness, contrast, saturation and exposure. The main adjustment were of the contrast,
whereby we wanted to create a slightly vintage quirky effect. From carrying out research, we
looked at the manipulation of the Harry Potter film sagas, where this too is manipulated to
create a vintage, aged effect. It is particularly appropriate with the fantasy genre of Harry
Potter, as the films are set in historical style settings, for example in the castle of Hogwarts. It
is also appropriate as the film setting era is not aimed to be particularly current, and this
aged and vintage effect conveys this well. Similarly, the films are quite dark, which connotes
the darker aspect to the film, such as the deaths and the dark magic. In such a way, the
manipulation of increasing the contrast and brightness connotes a cheerful feeling to the
film, which is the intent as it is a satirical easy going short film. The brightness connotes the
light-hearted aspect, whilst by increasing the contrast adds more colour, connoting a more
colourful and happier feel to the film.
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Title ShotWe chose the title shot of our film to --- CHANGE.
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Key Scenes 1
This is the first scene after the title shot, in which Georgie is walking through the country
side alone. Diegetic music is played in the background, being Dont Panic, where thelyrics write of how we live in a beautiful world, implying that Georgie is content with her
surroundings and appreciative of this. The first words of the film are from the character
Georgie, where she sings another song to herself, Ill go wherever you will go, by The
Calling.This is a early and subtle denotation to the audience that she is referring to
someone else, an idea carried forth where she appears to revel in the fact that he spoke
to [her]!
No head shot creating
anonymity and curiosityfor audience
Long shot enables
audience to see
both characters and
the situation in
which they are firstseen together
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Key Scenes 2Long shot, positioned centrally toemphasize character and actions
Tracking shot of Georgie as walks looking at the writing of Alis
name. As if audience is following her actions instead sense of
irony. Shot enables Georgie to get closer to the camera, adds
proximity and slight relationship with audience
Shot reverse shot camera
action, representing the
backward and forward motion
of communication
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Key Scenes 2This is a key scene within Lovey Dovey as it is where Georgie acquires the Love Potion Chocolates to give to Ali.The scene begins with her watching Ali as he walks away, from over the bridge. A long shot is used, with Georgies
back to the camera, with her positioned centrally to the camera meaning she has the audiences gaze. Another
effective shot used is a tracking shot of Georgie walking whilst kissing the piece of paper with Alis name on. The
tracking shot enables the audience to see her moving and get a full understanding for her mood through her
mannerisms, for example, she has an individual work of almost strutting/bouncing, connoting her strange
personality. The camera work then zooms into a close-up of her face looking extremely happy, again positioned
centrally. However, the camera then moves slightly to the left, giving a moderate indication of something
happening on the right-hand side of the screen, where the character of Miss Tree then appears. Following from
this, a series of shot reverse shots from over the shoulder are used, representing the motion of conversation, and
allowing the audience to feel involved with each character, from different perspectives. The shot reverse shots are
also close-ups of each characters face, meaning the audience can get a clear view of each characters thoughts and
emotions from the clear depiction of their facial features. This is similar to that of the film Love Actually, where
Juliet and Mark meet. A series of shot reverse shots are used, from the house and from outside, creating a sense of
division between the two characters, an aspect these shots helped portray in Lovey Dovey, whereby Miss Tree
and Georgie are opposites with the individual camera shots highlighting this.
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Key Scenes 3
This is similar to that of the romantic comedy
film Heartbreakers, whereby the mother and
daughter are a double act that con men for their
money, but who each end up falling in love. In a
conning scene, the mother puts water down to
pretend she has slipped on spilt water from the
hotel. A series of close-ups are used here, tohighlight her private act that is not intended to
be seen by any characters but only the
audience. Thus, this is similar to the close-up
shots in Lovey Dovey that too are used for this
same effect.
This shot follows on from a close-up to emphasise the
idea of the act she is doing is private and she does not
want others to know of it.
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Key Scenes 4
Finally, I have chosen to evaluate this scene as it ends the short film and was a scene thattook a lot of careful consideration and planning. It ends by Ali falling unconscious after hittinghis head, then waking up in Georgies room. The ending was created for the purpose of itbeing up to the audience what has happened to Ali; the only indication is of him lookingunderneath the sheets, but as to why he does this is down to the audiences interpretation.We carefully constructed this scene, in the way of not revealing who the individual was who
was walking up the stairs, yet it being all the same very obvious. As the individual walks upthe stairs, they wear a light purple dressing gown carrying two cups of tea. There are a seriesof shots from different angles, each revealing different areas of the individual such as theirhead, back and feet. Finally, the individual pulls down the dressing gown hood, uttersGood morning sleepy head Howre you feeling? and ginger hair is revealed, showing tothe audience that is, in fact, Georgie. In our audience feedback, we were criticised of theshort film being predictable, however, we reply that this is the aspect of the film that werevelled in the most. We want it to have an element of predictability, yet conjunctively to
represent this satirically, having a clich aspect that adds to the light-hearted humour that wewanted to emit throughout. Despite this, we did appreciate the positive and critical feedbackwe received, as it helped us to develop our film better and give us a greater understanding ofour audiences expectations. As aforementioned, as Georgie walks up the stairs, there areconsecutive close-up shots, enabling the audience to get hints as to who this character couldbe, despite the deliberate lack of subtly. At the end of the scene, when Ali realises where heis, he looks under the sheets and has a direct gaze with the audience, as if
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Key Scene 4looking into their eyes whilst screaming. We believed this was an effective shot as this is theonly interaction with the audience Ali has throughout the film, therefore, looking at theaudience and having their gaze connotes his panic and horror. His scream is then faded intothe background, simultaneously as the scene fades out to black. This is intended to representto the audience how there is nothing more he can do, as if his voice is diminished by the senseof loss of dignity and knowing, whilst the black could connote his emptiness, whilst at thesame time connoting his darker more miserable character. Moreover, black finalises the end ofthe film well, compared to white which we used to begin the film with after the title shot.
Once the film is completely black, a diegetic voiceover is used, where Georgie says, I will loveyou Ali forever. This ends the film with a little quirk, as quirk is the main genre of our film.This line can be viewed almost hauntingly, which furthers the idea of it having a satirical edge,as throughout watching the film the audience should realise it is a romantic comedy.
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Intertextuality
Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. Intertextuality can be directly
applied to the relationship between media texts and the participants. When considering the
actors and actresses to use in the short film, it important that they are chosen right in order
to get an accurate portrayal. From films such as This is England to Slumdog Millionaire, it
is becoming popular to use unknown actors/actresses for the films benefit in not creating
any bias from the audience. For example, using well-known, famous actors/actresses can
have one of two effects; they may be tempt an audience into watching the film or discourage
them to watch the film, possibly for reasons such as the individual have too much of a strong
familiarity with the genre, or too contrary to their actual character that it reduces the
realism. For example, over the years Hugh Grant has got a renowned connection to playing
the bumbling hapless male in romantic comedies, which arguably takes the believable aspect
out of the role. With this in mind, this is a popular reason as to why films are beginning to use
unknown fresh talent, as it enables the character roles to be more believable as the role is
potentially not tainted by the actor/actress. Unknown actors are also good as they are in low
demand and require low amounts of funding. When applying intertextuality to my short film,
I used unknown individuals from my sixth form of the same age as the characters. The age
similarity means that the actor and actresses are able to relate to these feelings more than if
there was a larger age gap. They are unknown actors/actresses, meaning there are no
distractions for the audience, and they are in little demand.
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Effects
Effects: As previously mentioned, I manipulated the short filmconsiderably in terms of brightness, saturation, contrast andexposure. I manipulated the short film on the video editingsoftware iMovie, in which I also created the film. For theposter, I edited the image on Photoshop, a graphics. editingprogram, developed and published by Adobe Incorporated. Thisprogram allows professional editing to enhance theappearance of media work. I predominantly used this to created asoftened effect on Ali and Georgies clothing, and similarly theirskin. I did this to create a gentle tone to the poster, similar to the ofthe soppy aspect of a romantic comedy. Thus, the soft and blunttone connotes that the film is of a gentle nature. For example, in ahorror film, a poster may chose to display a contrast of dark andbright colours, with a sharpness to the image to exaggerate certainaspects, possibly those that are designed to be fear-arousing. Inusing Photoshop, I used a smudge effect to manipulate the imageof the love potion chocolates into appearing as if they had amagical glow/flames emitted from them.
For the double page spread article, I used Photoshop andInDesign. Photoshop enabled me to manipulate the image itselfsufficiently, then I placed this into InDesign where I was able todisplay it in a double page spread article format. I added a text,
masthead, boxing, captions, lines and an image.
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Lighting 1
The lighting for the image of the double page spread article was naturalistic as it was
captured outside, reflecting and representing how the majority of Lovey Dovey was
filmed outside. However, I still manipulated the image using InDesign, as it was an
inconsistent background which I didnt like. The image bled to the sides, however the
sky in the picture was not consistently covering a certain area, so instead I brightened
this area of the image to make it all completely white. The sky that was manipulated towhite merged with the white background, by which I then was able to incorporate a
aged background, which is linked with the title page of Lovey Dovey. Therefore, a
sense of a continuity was achieved through creating a consistent background to the
double page spread article.
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Lighting 2
The lighting for the poster was artificial, created from a spotlight which was stationed from
above, casting light directly onto the two characters. This created a shadow from the characters,
as they stood in front of a white backdrop. I believe this created a professional appearance, as it is
a technique used in many areas of research that I have carried out, for my short film and for my
AS music magazine front cover, by which after asking a large sample audience they too felt that a
spotlight creating a shadow on a white back drop looked professional. For example, it can be seen
in these romantic comedy film posters:
I then manipulated the image
by editing the shadows to
where I believed they would
look best, for example
Georgies shadow not covering
or hindering any area around
Ali, as it would obscure him ordistract the attention off of
him.
I felt using artificial lighting was effective as it created a professional look to the poster, one that is
seen and achieved successfully in previous romantic comedy films. It was also arguably effective to
do as we used naturalistic lighting for the double page spread article, thus, we are showing different
aspects to the film, and not repeating the same idea, being boring and it isnt.
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The Poster 1When designing the poster, the most important area to considerwas audience research; what conventions to stow by and follow
for the ones that have previously proven successful, or which
new ideas to bring to the area. There were several conventions in
which I used which were effective, those being the ones circled
in red on the left. In How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days, the
conventions we followed were of having the actors and actresses
names horizontally along the top of the poster. This is effective as it adds emphasisto them. Another is of how the characters do not have a gaze with the audience; they
are looking at each other, connoting their love/hatred for each other, giving slight
indications for the theme and message of the film. We also followed the arguably
cheesy and satirical framing of the two characters having their backs against
each other. This implies that they oppose each other for some reason, which is an
idea I wanted to portray to the audience, thus, they have their backs to one and other,
however, with Georgie looking towards him, connoting how she has eyes only for him,
and with his back to her, connoting to the audience his lack of interest. In The Backup
Plan, I followed the convention of having alternate colours in the main title/masthead
of the film. This is an effective technique as it adds a familiarity between the title and
the audience. The colours used and word length would be hopefully soon be
recognised as a familiar heading, in which they would not need to read to know what
it was. We also followed the convention of having the credits field along the bottom
as it is important information, but lower on the poster means it is not obscuring
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The Poster 2
any of the image or headings and callouts etc, or distracting
the audience from the main areas of the poster (title, date,
image.) Another convention I followed was of Just Like
Heaven, where I used the idea of incorporating detail into
the poster to make it more visually attractive and
appropriate for the poster. I manipulated leaves onto the
poster, detailed horizontally across the top, connoting the
fact of it being based outside, whilst it being visually
attractive to brighten up the poster with and not look so
plain. I too followed the idea of the men dressed in dark and the female in white, a popular
convention as it highlights the gender differences, whilst following the stereotypical idea
of women being an angelic figure, compared to men, hence the white t-shirt, as if
heavenly Just Like Heaven however, to prove this isnt just a fortunate convenience
it can be seen in the previous two examples to further this point. Moreover, its
appropriate to my short film, as the dark clothing connotes Alis dark attitude, whilst the
bright colouring of Georgies clothing connotes her bright and happy attitude.
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The Poster 3
However, I did not follow all conventions into the formation of the poster, myself and my partner
incorporated our own preferences and ideas, whilst including feedback from our audience
research. A main example of this is of the love potion chocolates box, featured central right of the
poster. In our audience feedback we received positive comments such as the framing is excellent,
the colour is really effective and goes with your film, the editing looks great, the white-dropbackground looks professional, and constructive criticism such as, the arrangement of text could
be better, with the suggestion of moving the release date and quotation to be central in the page,
to catch the readers gaze. However, myself and my partner believed the poster looked slightly
simple, which is not a connotation of the film; we believed that Georgies area of the poster in
particular should be more detailed to connote that of her crazy personality. Therefore, we decided
to manipulate the chocolate box using Photoshop, whereby I put lines around the chocolate box of
different shades of pink, and then used the smudge tool to create a hazey effect, as if thechocolates are emitting a powerful feeling of love, almost like fire, a satirical idea on the males
burning loins. We believed this effective as it also connoted a magical aspect to the chocolates,
hinting to an audience who are yet to watch the film (bearing in mind the poster is there to tempt
those who have not watched it) of what the chocolates are capable of. Similarly, after carrying out
research into existing posters and looking at that of Just Like Heaven (above) we too believed
that adding further detail would enable the poster to become more visually attractive, and
connote the almost flowery, lovey dovey aspect of the love presented.
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Double Page Spread 1Here, there were many conventionsin which I followed:
Angled call-out to catch readers
gaze and persuade
Page numbering informs
reader and directs them to
correct page
The rule of thirds image covers 2/3rds
of page
Film information
Secondary images to inform
reader and enhance the
appearance of article
Information organised into columns for
ease of reading and to create a structure
to the article
Capital letter extremely conventional of
written articles, in particular magazine.
Draws in readers gaze to signify where
to begin reading
Background effect used, to create an
aged and battered effect which
connotes the dark aspect to the
Twilight saga with the aged
connoting the myths and legends
told aged effect in Lovey Dovey
connotes the clich old fashioned
satire of the unrequited lovepresented
Large callout of a quotation, catch readers gaze, inform them of the style
of interview (personal opinions) and gives information on the topic of
question