Throughout our film, we have used a substantial amount of conventional influences but also some that break from conventions, most notably through the use of narrative structure, camera, sound, mise en scene and editing.
Throughout our narrative structure it can be seen that we have used many conventions as opposed to those that challenge the norm as we felt if we challenge conventions too much our film may become erratic and confusing. We've used conventions in a narrative sense as we have used a linear plot line and follows and general structure of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and finally denouement. However we feel that our film doesn't entirely follow this structure as in our opinion 'falling action' is skipped and goes from climax to denouement. Therefore the plot line goes as follows: introduction to the two characters; one is confident and the other drinking alcohol to steady the nerves, the story then introduces the poker match and the action rises, chronologically the match reaches the climax with both players going 'All In' and then drops quickly with the realisation and denouement that they were only playing for minute amounts of money. We feel that by skipping the falling action stage that the film will become more memorable and fresh in the audiences mind. However although this is all conventional of films, it is not conventional with short films which normally end at the climax. Coincidentally, as our short film provides an ending we feel we give audience satisfaction.
Conventional camera shots were also established throughout our short film as an outlet of expression but also to highlight and focus on main areas of the plot line. Some examples of this would be the amount of close ups we have used to maintain focus on the players attitudes and emotions. We also used a few establishing shots as a method of introducing the setting and character background. We also used camera spacing as a method to present a more edgy viewing for the audience.
However we have also used unconventional uses of camera, particularly at the beginning of the film and also as the cards are being dealt in the poker match. As our confident player is getting ready in the mirror we used a clever 'mirrored eye-line match' so that the audience is giving a direct essence of our characters characteristics and therefore establish the characters confidence. Also as the dealer is producing the cards we used a birds-eye camera shot to make the cards the centre of attention as they effectively shape the course of the story.
We followed and explored many conventions of sound through our film which was mainly due to intial research of other short films which helped us to establish that we would use a soundtrack at the beginning and end of our film and that also our main use of sound would be diegetic to help establish realism. We used a song, Tony Bennett - Rags to Riches as a form of realism to help assert the sauve and sophisticated genre of our film and the 'rat pack' esque soundtrack compliments the substance of our film. In addition the on screen sounds such as the snapping of cards on table as they're being dealt adds to the realism of the piece and therefore adds audience involvement.
Editing conventions that we chose to use was the aspect of continuity editing through the main part of the film as we follow the events of the poker match. We have also used cutting from different angles of the same scene and action which is generically used in the majority of films. However we also broke away from conventions in our use of fades - usually used to present a change in time. Although we have used fades to show a change in time, particularly the establishing shot of 4 people at the poker table which then fades into two players left, but we also used some fades to slow the pace of the film as we wished to portray a sophisticated match rather than a hyper and fast paced one.
Mise en scene in a conventional sense is used at the beginning of the film in the form of lighting. At the begnning most of our lighting is natural light and therefore adds to the realism and sets the realistic standard. Our costume and props are also conventional as they are all influence by the film and genre we're portraying. Our characters are wearing suits, ties and are smartly dressed which helps reinforce the sauve and 'semi-legal' characteristics of our film.
How effective is the combination of my main product and ancillary texts?
In our poster we wanted to establish a brand identity for our film, we attempted to do this through our use of image, language and design in our poster to portray our film as a certain genre.
We used the image of one of the poker players hands holding a playing card which immediately gives the audience an insight towards the content of the film. Additionally we also added images of a burlesque style female on a playing card to suggest that our film, may be a portrayal of 'bright lights' film staged in Vegas or a similar gambling institute. It was an intentional choice to use this imagery as in actual fact our film is quite the opposite of glamour as its set in a working class environment. This choice in correlation with our films twist ending shows our eagerness to at times distance ourselves from conventions.
The use of language to create a brand identity was largely orchestrated from our tagline "Your face lies, the cards don't". By using auch an ambiguos angle to our language we believe we leave interpretations open to the audience. By suggesting that "your face lies" the audience may interpret the film to be embroidered with devience but ultimately physicality succeeds as 'the cards don't' lie. Moreover we felt the title of our film added to the appeal of our film as 'all in' suggests that everything is on the line. When complemented with the quiet ambience of the film we believe that our title greatly adds to the suspense and intrigue.
The design of our poster was greatly used to draw in the audience while restraining the story enough as to not give anything away. The assembly of red, green and black largely resembled that of a casino environment and in that sense we believe given the audience aslight backdraft of what to expect. However our picture is significantly unrevealing as we simply reinforce interpretations of gambling by showing a hand, holding a playing card. By not revealing the owner of the hands circumstances or his setting the film develops meaning and perhaps a morality.
Through our magazine feature it is evident we have developed the audiences understanding of our film through either image or the language used in our review. In particular our imagery made quite good use of portraying our films genre. By having an image of a player evidently drinking a strong alcoholic drink such as whisky suggests that our film could perhaps be a gritty britsh working class representation. However this interpretation is greatly diluted by our characters choice of apparal - by dressing in a smart suit, the whisky's symbolism changes our character into that of a refined gentlemen.
What Have I Learned from My Audience Feedback?
The method with which I constructed my audience feedback was through both a questionaire and an interview based on my short film. Whilst asking basic questions which provided yes/no answers I also asked some qualitative questions, asking for more detailed comments and responses so that I could get a better understanding as to what was good or could be improved about my film. Therefore by asking questions which provide greater detail it would ensure greater success for any future productions.
Our audience sample consisted of a large number of media students all with the technical knowledge to make their opinions creditable. Additionally we also asked for some adults opinions of our film, with an overall even boys to girl ratio.
One question we asked of our audience was what they thought the genre of the film was.
As you can see from this pie chart a great majority of people correctly guessed the genre of our film which ultimately suggest that our film had lear representation and in that department, a success.
Furthermore we also asked our audience whether they understood the film or not. By asking such a question we can note if our film was well orchestrated or simply confusing.
Like the previous pie chart we can see a large majority suggesting that our film was precise and direct in this area, although it is evident that their is an increase in negativity. Although this question only asked for a simple two option question we feel that the confusement within the films class representation and 'strange' ending is the reasoning behind some peoples bewilderment.
In addition to this some audience members made some flattering comments such as "the camera angles added a sense of excitement and suspense" and some even suggesting we make more films to see our 'creativity' developed and explored further. Furthemore some suggested that our choice of music "rags to riches was a clever intro to a clever film".
Finally we asked the audience to give a conclusively direct answer as to their opinions of the film, with the options of either; brilliant, good, o.k and poor.
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
The software used to create our short film media product was Adobe Premier which allowed us to edit our production of the film and therefore using such software provides their own advantages and disadvantages. An advantage of the software can stem from the actual easy accesibility with which it delivers, the software is well layed out with easy configeration and ultimately made the editing procedure easier. Also as it allowed simple editing techniques to be produced, momentary eye-line matches are easily implemented and therefore benefits the film. The amin advantage of using this software however is how aloud a lot of aspects of our film to be altered and improved, including a wide variety of cutting and visual effects. Additionally the software also gave us the ability to increase or decrease shading and also the length and pace of shots giving us the ability to expand our creativity. Adobe Premier also allowed us to add music to our film which was key for our opening sequence and our 'rags to riches' opening became symptomatic of our film.
However Adobe Premier did have some faults or disadvantages such as how two parts of the film would not be able to be editted on two seperate computers, which slowed down the process greatly as while one member was editting the others were not able to also edit. Also the software did not give us access to perhaps more advanced effects as in our origional film idea we were to have a son who had lost his father in a car crash which would have been difficult to produce given our equipment and therefore changed our film. However our biggest gripe with the software was in the regularity with which it would crash and render itself un-useable which happened on more than three times. With this in mind and with only one computer to work on anyway, our time using the software became crucial.
The software we used to present our process of making our media product was a blog on http://www.blogger.com/ which therefore came with its own advantages and disadvantages. An obvious advantage of using a blog stems from the fact that it allowed us to present our work in both picture and video form to seperate text which ultimately adds for a more enjoyable read. Using a blog also allowed us to explain our planning, production and evaluation in a diary-esque format which as a result made searching for information or past work easily accessible.
