Evaluation

Evaluation

Question One - In what ways does you media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I was able to create, brand and distribute my product using media technologies. By using a range of technologies I was able to defy conventions of the drama genre in my short film (A female football player as the protagonist) but by using conventional patterns I was able to invest my audience into this new development (The Underdog convention, for example) and reach a wider audience. 

In Question One I will discuss: 

• Statistics- How my film defied sporting conventions
• The underdog - using conventions to make my film relateable  
• Development of Female Football 
• My Trailer conventions 
• Poster Analysis- Defying conventions of the sport genre

Below is an annotated piece of my work, which goes through my film, revealing the reasons for my choices and how it either subverts or reverts the drama genre:

Statistics

In my research I discovered that from the years 2000-2016 only 4 films surrounded the topic of football with a female lead- compared to 21 films with male leads.  Female Football is hugely under-represented within the medium of film, and the conventions of these films do not replicate the narratives of their male counterparts. She’s the Man, for example, follows a girl acting as a boy in order play on the school’s football team, all the whilst falling in love with one of the male players.

There were three further documentaries on female football (The Other Sport, The 99ers and Dare to Dream) compared to the sixteen documentaries surrounding male football as a sport (Referee and other job related positions were not counted). This gave me an insight into how the sport is perceived by the media and how I could defy the expectations of the spectator.

My product challenges the conventions of the film format by having a sport orientated film driven by a female character. I wanted to challenge the convention of the female sport stereotype- usually framed in a chick flick narrative or with a large supporting cast. Films such as She’s The Man abide to this convention, conveying this through its poster and roster of actors. I wanted my film to focus on a singular character, which would enforce her isolation from the team but also heighten the emotional attachment the spectator would feel for Stephanie, the protagonist.

Drama Convention with a Twist: The Underdog

I decided to use the Underdog convention for my narrative because I felt it emulated the psychological concepts The Impossible Goal aims for:

Underdog (Definition) - ‘A competitor thought to have little chance of winning a fight or contest’ 

I developed the theme further by having the underdog theme should be more personal, such as trying to score a  goal. This humble goal is portrayed as a huge feat for the protagonist due to her dialogue at the beginning of the narrative:

 Jane: It’s not the end of the world

  Stephanie: It is for me

I thought the underdog narrative would fit in well with my film mainly because of its view on the role of female football. The character is isolated from the beginning of the narrative, which gives the audience a sense of the battle Stephanie must undertake to score her goal.

This also allowed my audience to emphasize with the character. Stuart Hall’s theory comments on how a negotiated reading can be seen in films when audiences have to compromise on particular images. Even though female football is a growing sport, it is still a niche area, so the underdog emotion allows the audience to sympathize with her and want to follow her path to victory. 

Development of female football

 I was impressed with the poster for Gracie (top left) as it showed the protagonist in a positive light whilst playing football. I liked the kinetic energy in this shot as the back lighting for the poster allows the protagonist to stand out whilst she runs towards the camera:

However, as production on filming continued I decided to move away from the conventional joy and hope these posters convey, and instead move into a much darker tone, placing my character in a stasis of insecurity through the black and white effect:

Background: Unlike Bend It like Beckham, I decided to have a non-photo shopped background in order to convey the realism my film was encompassing. As I have annotated in the photo, the black background allow the reader to focus on Stephanie more, reading her emotions and giving the audience the sense of the drama genre this film abides under,
Quotes: I put the quote on the left hand side due to the design I went for. I wanted the spectator’s eyes to be drawn in a ‘Z’ shape, in order to glide through the photo and naturally land on the quote ‘A film where anything is possible’. The quote not only sums up the film but gives the spectator and idea for the tone the film is associating itself with.

Colour choice: I wanted to create a texture to my film in order for the audience to understand the difference in representation my film was promoting. I used the colours of cream, black and white in order to inform the audience that the representation of the footballer is different to those from my research. I felt the black and white helped sell the films genre, and the cream matched well in giving definition to the words without taking away the impact of the black and white. 

While I didn't want my film to be melodramatic like Gracie (Poster Top left-The narrative follows the protagonist after her brother is killed in a car accident) I wanted to portray an true character in realistic events. I ensured that the audience aligned with Stephanie by having an array of wide and close up shots. The wider shots conveyed her isolation in the world, whereas the close ups gave the audience insight into her thoughts and feelings. 

Trailer using the conventions of other dramas

         

                             

Trailer Breakdown

With my trailer I decided to show the football elements of the film more than the character. This completely juxtaposed the conventions. The Bend It like Beckham trailer shows the characters in detail, with dialogue extracts, which is a normal convention for a female football trailer. My trailer is much shorter due to the length of the film, but the images that I reveal during the trailer reveal the tone to the audience. I decided to only show three shots from my film which would allow an enigma around my trailer to commence. This would add to the drama of the narrative and convey to the spectator the tone I am aiming for.

It is understandable in Bend it Like Beckham that such a large cast must be shown in order to give a tone to the film, but with The Impossible Goal the central focus on the character creates suspense as to the narrative and Stephanie’s involvement of it. The running times also differ, so in order to create enough impact I decided to have a 10-15 second trailer outlining the ideologies of the character and what the audience could expect from the film.

Below is an example of the conventions of a drama trailer I follow, whilst adding a twist of my own:

Above: The Impossible Goal's Titles

Below: Bend It Like Beckham's Titles

Both trailers use the text font to add drama to the images. By having the words in purple and yellow the director is able to convey the comedic drama elements of the film.

In The Impossible Goal I steer away from these colours because they do not connote the drama genre, and instead went for a cream font with a black background to convey the realism that embodies my narrative.

I played down the convention of a pun here to engage the audience in the work. ‘The Score Is Settled’ references the football that is prominent in the short film, and the tone of the words conveys the drama genre that the film fits into. By using these words in a conventional manner I was able to spark interest in my film.

I believed that this helped the promotion of my product because it used enigmatic elements in the trailer, therefore enforcing a new attitude to football on the spectator and sparking their interest in the film.

Question 2: How Effective is the Combination of Your Main Product and Ancillary Texts?

I studied sports posters and decided to use the same stature, because of it's connotations of victory. I then looked into analyzing particular posters, investigating whether the woman was running or posing, where the titles where placed and how the logo was placed in the shot.

I took inspiration from the 2011 short films Pressure Makes Us, where I was impressed by the representation of female football. I investigated into posters and decided upon this medium close up, in which I used the lighting and gaze in my own poster.

                             

Above: I used the cream font like in the Pressure Makes Us photo in order to play on the black background.

Below details the analysis I completed in order to Create the finished EMPIRE style product:

I felt that my Ancillary texts and my film coupled well together because:

• The posters use of black and white gives the audience insight into the tone of my film
• The placement of my credits give the audience information that Ellie Turner is the star of the film
• The Quote gives my target audience reassurance of the films quality, as the market I'm aiming for are also the target audience of EMPIRE
• The Photoshop edit 'The Impossible Goal' title gives and interesting design element to the poster, drawing the reader in to the product.
• Because Stephanie (Ellie Turner) is focused on through the framing, the poster draws attention to the niche female lead in sport, which sparks intrigue to go watch the film. 

Question Three: What have you learnt from audience feedback?

Pick Monkey Feedback

I used Pick Monkey in order to gain audience feedback quickly and effectively. I liked the fact that Pick Monkey gave me graphs with my information already set out, as it allowed me to analyse the differences in the responses: 

When I wrote my Questionnaire I was sure to add two similar question relating to male and female sport: 'Can You Name Football Films with Male Leads...Can You Name Football Films with Female Leads?'. Surprisingly, more people could name a female football film than male, in light of the percentage of male football films (84%) compared to female (16%). Even though that the majority of audience members could name a female football film, the only option that came up was Bend It Like Beckham. This revealed to me the lack of representation of female football in England. 

I understood from these results that not only is my film a niche subject, but it is not in the public interest. I hope to use a change in concept through the focus of the girl in order to reach a new audience. 'On a Scale of One to Ten, What is the Possibility that you Would Watch a Sport Related Film?' I found the results leveled an average of 5.5/10. I believe this is because the use of drama in my film will increase interest because the film is not just about playing a football match, but about a girl who wants to prove something to herself. 

From these reviews I have seen a decline in interest in sport related films. This could be due to the way the kinetic energy is presented on screen or the fact that sports people are not interested in the cinema. Either way, I the feedback from my audience was a mixture of helpful.

FEEDBACK AND TROUBLESHOOTING -PowerPoint

Question Four: How did you use Media Technologies in construction, research and planning Ideas?

I used an array of media technologies to improve my work from previous films, such as using a Canon 750d in order to explore depth of field, and using editing techniques in order to make the montage have greater impact:

  

Below details my creative process in previous blog posts with reference to the Media Technologies in my Prezi. In them I discuses an array of technologies, such as how my analysis helped me brainstorm my narrative and genre conventions (Page One) and framing and it's connection to my main film inspiration, Pressure Makes Us (Page three):


Early creative Process Analysis

Framing with my Canon 750d

Kinetic energy analysis- Using YouTube to pick out key moments of Pressure Makes Us

Using my Camera Settings in order to Create Atmosphere.

Using Lighting and Camera Techniques to create a Dramatic Atmosphere

Using Media Technologies During Distribution

YouTube

For me, YouTube was the best format to publish short films on as the community and following on the website allows for social interaction and promotion of my films. I used the same techniques from my As short film GRID (2015) but I decided to use tags during the publishing process in order to make my film easier to find. This was so the audience could have quicker access to my film through the search bar, making the video more accessible and user friendly.

YouTube was easy to use, and allowed me to choose a thumbnail that would summarize the film. I used this tool to show Stephanie looking up to an item out of shot, football in her hands. I felt this reflected the piece because of its cold tones (Reflecting on the drama genre), the football (The sports themes occurring in the narrative), and the main protagonist, Stephanie (depicting who drives the action of the narrative) 

Facebook

I used Facebook as part of my distribution in order to bring my product to my target audience (18-24 Year Old). I found this was the perfect platform for my film because of the aims at connecting friends together, which would allow The Impossible Goal to spread quickly through the news feeds. 

I found that after posting a link to the Impossible Goal on YouTube, people would start sharing and linking the posts. This helped with the awareness of my product and helped sell the media text through peoples positive recommendations.  Comments such as 'Please watch Shona Kinal's amazing short film 'The Impossible Goal' where helpful in gauging the response my film received, as well as how to better market my product next time.

By using Facebook as a distribution method, the film got far better recognition due to its aim at the teen market. It's positive message was engaging to audiences, and I found people coming up to me in person and giving positive feedback to my film. Most of them had seen a friend post the film on Facebook before checking it out on YouTube, others had been subscribed to my channel and received a notification. Others had word of mouth and checked out the trailer and the film because of the 'buzz' the film created.

When I release my next theme, I intend to use these same media outlets again due to their popularity, but begin to use other media technologies such as Instagram and  Twitter. This would spread the name of my film further to my audience and include more views to the film.