1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The Film Title:
The title of our film is revealed after the film opening, about two minutes into the film. We chose to do this because the audience gets to see the opening scenes and then the title is revealed. This keeps the audience interested and also makes them query why it is called ‘Eighteen’? We called is Eighteen purely because this is the age of which you turn from a child into an adult, and Pip (the main character) is celebrating her eighteenth birthday. We got an image of a diary to appear behind the title text. This relates to the film as we have included shots of her writing in her diary which also informs the audience that the diary could be a key part in the film. We used a simple but effective girlish font so that it was easily stated that the films genre was a girl’s teen romantic comedy. This is fairly common to see this style of titles in "chick flicks". Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging has the same connotation with the girly font (shown below), but is displayed to the right of the screen while Georgia is running. We have arranged out text in the centre to make it direct and visible.













Setting and Location:
Our setting and locations was in my friend’s house. We chose to film inside a house because this gave a family and homely feel to our film. We though that it was suitable because it had good sized room, a bedroom which had a girly feel to it and enough room for us to move about and achieve a variety of angles and shots, a large kitchen with seating and space for props and for us to move around with our video camera and tripod, and a living room with seating and fireplace etc. The lighting was also nice a bright so we could get good shots and even if it were a little dark we had plenty of light to use to enhance the lighting if needed. We decorated the kitchen with birthday banners, balloons, sparkly sting, birthday cards and we even made party hats for the family to wear to give the birthday a realistic atmosphere.

Costumes and Props:
Every film has costumes and props, therefore this is a typical media convention. In all of our shots we thought about what type of image we wanted to pursue. We arranged outfits to suit the type of character we wanted to portray. For example ; we had the main characters little sister in a fairy outfit to make her appear a typical little girl who likes to dress up, mess around and play games. When we have the shot of the family singing happy birthday around the table (shown below), the character were dressed in simple comfort clothes, except the little sister who was in her fairy outfit, the mum who was wearing an apron and the main character who was wearing very simple dark clothing. We dressed Pip in a navy polo and jeans and kept her makeup natural and basic to show her simplicity. We also made props for the party atmosphere such as birthday banners, party hats and balloons which implies that the mother has a childish outlook on her daughter.

Camerawork and Editing:
Mise-en-scene is an important part of film production so we made sure that in our film opening we exaggerated this to create a homely, appealing, natual and comfortable environment. We used a wide variety of shots in our piece, from extreme close up to medium close up. We used a few transitions just to make the filming sequence smooth and flowing. We wanted to used a range f camera angles and shot so that it made it more interesting and eye catching. My favourite shot is when we followed the cake being carried by the mum to the table close up (shown below), because its different and you don’t usually see this type of filming in many films.

Title font and Style:
We used the same font throughout our frames which was simple, for the names and information, so that it was easily readable yet still interesting and appealing for the viewer. We created a new lens flare transition to display the names which made it more effective and professional but when we wrote the ‘produced’ and ‘directed by’ parts, we just overlaid the text on top of the filming. This was because it was less important and didn’t need a new transition but still needed to be included.

Story and how the opening sets it up:

We started our piece with a cross blur transaction and an alarm going off. This was to show her waking up at the start of the day. Then throughout the story it shows the different stages and progression of her birthday. It goes through her waking up, choosing what she wears, a text on her phone to tell the audience its her birthday, her family and then the diary is introduced. The rest of the will follow onto the scenarios she has and has to encounter, he life she wishes was different, the story behind what happens on her birthday and how she wishes she was treated differently. In the opening we included a voice over which introduces the main character and tells the audience a little bit about her and end with 'the best present is yet to come' which adds some mysteriousness to the story line and that some will happen in her life such as love.

Genre and How the Opening Suggests it:
Our frames of her getting ready, from when she woke up to her opening her presents, suggests the genre because the audience can see that the main characters is a teenage girl, its about her life and the shots show this of her getting dressed, putting on perfume and jewellery, choosing her clothes for the day and her friend texting her to say happy birthday. You can see her performing her daily routine and certain habits which connects and creates a relationship between the audience and the main character.

How Characters are Introduced:
Our characters are introduced slowly although the main character gets introduced much sooner than the rest. This is because we wanted her to be the one who the audience most focuses on, and although the other characters are as equally important, we wanted the teen girl to be the most well known at the start. The teen girl gets introduced but shots of her getting herself up and ready which portrays the image of which she comes across as whereas the rest of the family are slowing introduced when they are around the table singing happy birthday.

Special FX:
We didn't use any special fx in our film opening because we simply didnt have the funding. however, even if we did have the money, special fx would not have been suitable for out genre of film. They are more commonly used in films such as Star Wars to add effects of green screening and animation, which is generally more suitable for sci-fi and action films, not chick flicks.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

We chose to use Pip Fromm as our main and lead character because she portrayed the correct image if what we intended her to appear like in our media production. We wanted her to look ordinary and plain although still a blooming beauty with the potential. This is because of the theme of our storyline of her becoming more confident through scenarios and that most of her life she has been treated more like a child by her parents than she should have been and that she hasn't had the freedom to go out, party, date any guy she likes, drink, go out with her friends whenever she liked and explore like her friends had. We wanted her to have this image so the audience could see she had been held back a little but great potential and to give hints that she would possibly come out of her shell later on in the story. We chose to pursue this style so people could clearly see that she has been restricted in some ways and that her life isn't as normal as an ordinary eighteen year old.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Our opening advertisements were images found off Google image, i then edited them in Adobe Photo shop to make them more personal and to how we wanted them to appear. We used the girl in the sunset for you 'Le Gateaux' pictures because this resembled the girl as the main character in our film opening. The second one called 'Riseborough and Whitney Productions', was an image found again on Google images but we liked the composition and simplicity of the film taped on the right third of the image.
A distributor is a group of people who are reliable and will publish the film to get lots of viewings, support and popularity and who will get people talking about it and get it out there. I think that Paramount Pictures are the most reliable distributor because they have been going for years, are well known and have already started planning for 2013. They also produces Mean Girls which is one of our main influences for our media piece.
The money to support our media production could come from either the National Lottery or the UK film council. They have both funded films before such as Kidulthood and St Trinians who are also our influences.
Our main influences for our final piece are teen films such as Mean Girls, St Trinians and Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging. This is because they all contain the type of stereotype we were using in our piece, a typical and ordinary girl having to change for one reason or another.
A production company is a company responsible for the development and physical production of new media, performing arts, film, radio or a television program. The company may also be directly responsible for the raising of funding for the production or may do through an intermediary. The production company may be a small company, selling its product to a film studio or presenting it at a theatrical venue, or, in the case of film and television, it may be the studio itself.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Shown above is Lucy Green who is 16 years and 9 months old. She lives in the centre of a small town in Suffolk. She is a typical ordinary teenage girl who dresses sensibly but always looks stylish and wears garments such as skinny jeans, pretty tops, cardigans and ballet pumps or boots.

She loves going shopping with her two best friends, Emily and Hattie in their favourite shops; H&M, New Look, Accessorize, Topshop, River Island and Zara.

She also loves sleepovers, gatherings and watching films such as St Trinians, The Devil wears Prada, Step Up, Mean Girls and Twilight. She enjoys getting her friends over to watch them with her whilst they eat chocolate, sweets and popcorn and drinking Dr Pepper.

Lucy and her friends also enjoy watching TV programmes such as Neighbours, Friends, Hollyoaks, X Factor, Skins and Big Brother which are featured on the main channels of BBC One and Three, Channel 4, ITV and E4. The music Lucy most likes to listen to is anything out recently in the charts and popular, varying from R&B, Indie, Grime and Hip-Hop. Her favourite radio stations are Heart and Kiss FM but she usually only listens to these on a car journey as she prefers listening to her Cd's. I think that Lucy would enjoy watching out film because she is the stereotypical ordinary teenage girl who has a girly girl side to her who could relate herself to some on the scenarios that occur in the film. I think that if it were shown in her local cinema. Lucy and her friends would go along to see it. It has a similar genre to other films of being a Teenage romantic comedy, such as Mean Girls - which Lucy enjoys, but has a little twist in it's storyline.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

In our film opening we used a wide variety of filming techniques to attract and address the audience. Our first feature was the alarm and cross-blur transitions at the start of the film. This then followed onto the radio speaking which then lead into the upbeat soundtrack 'We don't even talk no more' which also could be related to film scenarios connecting to family issues, which draws in the audiences attention because they want to see what happens when they watch on.
The filming of our piece also draws in the viewers attention as it tells a story of the progression of her birthday which intrigues the audience into why this is being done, what will happen next in the
story? We also included an over lay of speech of her introducing herself, her family and her life which also attracts the attention of the audience because it makes her more mysterious and secretive as though she talks about what she sees as important but doesn't mention anything negative as though there could be underlying problems.The final line of the speech says 'The best present is yet to come' which makes the story more quirky and this intrigues the viewer as they will want to know what that present it, what happens to her, how she gets that present etc. These are all vital aspects of how to keep your audience interested and attracted. I think that our piece work well and i think that if it was to be shown to a group of people that the use of our techniques would keep them interested and alert.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

1. Video camera: I used a video camera to capture the footage for my media piece. I learnt how to add effects and edit the lighting brightness and contrast. I also learnt how to do the basic tasks of filming and how the video camera worked.

2. Tripod: I used a tripod to steady the filming process so that i got smooth transactions and footage so that it wasn't all bumpy and 'jittery'. I learnt how to set it up and adjust it to the correct height and angle for what i needed.

3. Mac computer: I used Macs to produce the majority of our media piece. At the start i wasn't very familiar how to use them but with time i became more confident using them and was able to use different software packages within to help me produce my final piece.

4. Imovie: i used this software package to conduct and manipulate the footage i had gathered on the video camera. I used a Fire Wire to transfer the filming across onto the Mac. I then opened it in Imovie and created a new project of which i started to manipulate and add effects to my film opening.

5. Photoshop: I used Photoshop to create pictures in as this is an easy piece of software i am familiar with that i found suitable to use and I used this to create our opening advertisements.

6. Iphoto: I used this to transfer my JPEG images from the Desktop onto Imovie. This way I was able to open any images i created efficiently and Imovie and Iphoto are linked.

7. Itunes: I used Itunes to transfer my songs and soundtracks i had downloaded onto Imovie. Like Iphoto, these are linked so i was able to move the music across efficiently.

8. Google: I used Google as my main source of research for images and other websites that were useful and relevant to my project.

9. Blogger: I used Blogger to document my work to show my planning and research processes.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Looking back at out preliminary task, it helped us to develop our knowledge on our camera techniques and editing. We didn't use any of the footage in our final piece because it simply didn't fit the genre and would have looked out of place and misleading. I found that i was able to recognise the variety of angles that could be achieved by setting up the camera and tripod in various situations. It helped me to improve my filming quality and it help me to practice different effect and techniques. We used a basic setting for our filming of an office atmosphere and got two friends to rehearse the short script we had prepared for an 'interview'. We wanted to capture head shots, close up, shot reverse shot and medium close up. We were able to achieve all of these and successfully filmed the two characters as though they were having a professional interview. Once we had transferred it onto the computer we then edited it in Imovie. We trimmed and cropped certain parts and added in transactions to make it look more film like and realistic. I enjoyed doing this task as i learnt a lot from it from positioning of the characters to angles of the camera work. I found it very beneficial and feel like it helped me to produce a better outcome for my final piece.

Ratings

The BBFC's Guidelines state that strong language like f*** etc, has to be uncommon at '12' or '12A' - puns on strong language is allowed although moderate language like 'bitch' and 'twat' are allowed to be used at non regular intervals.

In our film some moderate language may be used to express feelings and anger between characters. For example - Stop being such a twat.At '12' and '12A' moderate violence is allowed but it cannot be too detailed. They should be no gory moments.For example - There could be arguments and tension between friends and family but no major 'hiccups'.Dangerous behaviour (for example hanging, suicide and self-harming) may be present in ‘12’ or ‘12A’ works but will not dwell on detail which could be copied or present those activities as pain or harm free. Weapons should not be glamorised in ‘12A’ and ‘12’ works. Discriminatory behaviour should not be endorsed by the film as a whole.

There may be infrequent sight of drugs misuse in a ‘12’ or a ‘12A’ but the portrayal should not be glamorised or provide instructional details.

Our film may contain some moderate to strong language due to some scenes involving characters being angry or hurt by others. This may lead onto scenes of distress but no actual violence.

Another Idea Change

Idea Change:
We managed to do some filming of Pip in school with some friends around her in an empty classroom to get the feel of being in school. We will use a shot of her where she mimics the same shot before the EIGHTEEN text insert in her school uniform.
However, as our friends were around they weren't taking it seriously, so we aren't able to use any footage.
Instead i had the idea of filming from the end of my road, the walk to my house and on iMovie, fast forwarding it to go at the start of the film as a lot of films start with a surround shot of scenery or a sunset/sunrise.
And at the start having Pip getting out of bed, with an alarm clock and brushing her teeth then it will go to her putting on her makeup and doing her hair etc.

Settings and Location ideas:
A park or garden could be used to have a family gathering in as the outdoors would give off natural lighting, you could have barbeque's and props such as chairs, children's play equipment and the space. However it would be hard to film if the weather wasn't so good and if you needed to go back to capture some more footage, the weather could be different and wouldn't look professional when it was put together.
We also considered using an actually place, such a restaurant, to film our piece in as birthdays are sometimes celebrated here but this would be difficult as we would have to get permission from the owners and any other people who may be involved or seen in the footage.
Another option was to use Freya's house. she had suitable sized room which would be good to use as we could fit all the family in comfortably and have room for props. We could also decorate it how we wanted and add in any props we liked without having to ask permission or pay a fee. I think that this is the best option as it would be more realistic in the final piece and we can both access it easily, change it how we liked and can move around freely using any space we liked.

Rough Cut Feedback

After watching our piece on the big screen, a number of classmates have given feedback. Some of the comments are listed below which we will take advice from and take into account.

"i think it was great, it was really similar to a film of that genre. i think there were some interesting shots like on the stairs and the cake."

"Lots of positives in your work girls. Really liked the voiceover, it worked really well with the film itself and the storyline instantly captures the interest of the audience. Also really liked the way you used the pieces of paper for the titles. It was very imaginative and again fitted in well with the rest of the film. Great work!"

"Thought it was pretty good. I think you may have dwelled on the cake a bit too long though?"

"Your opening sequence was really effective, it was able to gain the viewers attention without showing much of the story. I think the narration worked really well with what you were trying to achieve as it told you about the character, giving you the feeling that you know her for the rest of the film. I also like how you have been able to incorporate you tiles with the idea of the diary. Its really good."

"The initial idea and characters and the way in which it was filmed all fitted perfectly to the genre wanted. There were many excellent shots, and i very much liked the dialog over the top of the footage. The bright colours, music and house environment all added to the well represented mise en scene.The idea of the diary as the credits was very creative, and overall I really thought it was excellent!"

"the music went well with the shots and i liked the idea of having the diary as the title bit for the main film. but the american accent is annoying"

"really liked your film. just a bit of constructive criticism: the commentary was ok but at the end there was a long stretch with just the background music, which didn't sound quite right. but overall it was good, i liked the use of the phone and the variety of shots around the table, well done :)"

"I really liked the use of music - it really gave the intro atmosphere. Writing in the diary also worked well. One technical criticism is that i think a size 8 is quite big in America? Jp"

"I think the opening was really well done, it felt really homely and the music really complimented the feel of the opening. I liked the use of slow mo over the shot of the table as this introduces the characters well and paired with the voiceover means you can get the know the main character and her life in detail. Love it!"

"wicked girls, voiceover really added character to it!cant wait to see the finished product :) xx"

Idea Change

After finally having a final cut of our piece, from making it look like a trailer to an opening by adding following film footage after the film title. However, the camera footage is inadequate and isn't as effective as the rest of the opening. So, instead of footage of my sister opening the fridge and calling down Pip from the stairs to go to school, we've decided to have Pip in the same pose as before the film title in school with a birthday badge on, being called for a tuba lesson. This thirty seconds of extra filming will enable the piece to look less like a trailer and more like a film opening.

Filming Process

On the day of the filming, I invited my grandparents over and decorated the house into a look-a-like party room. We made party hats, had cards around the house, even wrapped up 'presents' and had a banner to create the birthday atmosphere.

Mise en Scene & Shooting.
We recorded Pip doing everyday things in close ups, but tried not to show her eyes to give some curiousity and to show her behaviour e.g applying lipgloss and straightening her hair and clothes. This implies she cares about her appearance. She is wearing a dark top to contrast with the cake and her sister. Which indicates that her life is dull and plain. Whereas her sister is wearing a green dress, fairy wings and a feather boa to show she's a fun and creative character. The cake has pink and yellow fondant fancy cakes around it and the party hats make it look like a childs party and the contrast of the childish bright colours and Pips dark clothes indicates the way her family treat and see her to how she sees herself.On the shot where Pip unwraps the diary, she is sat away from her family, designed to look like the isolation of her from her family.

Problems.
There were a few problems with the cake. The candles melted far too quickly, luckily we got a good shot of the candles lit that said HAPPY BIRTHDAY, for the rest of the shooting we had to use ordinary candles however i don't think the audience will notice. Also, my nan party popped all over the cake in a shot - but that makes the family look imperfect and the footage unrehearsed to give it a much more realistic birthday feel.

Overall.
I think it was a productive day and we got a lot of good shots from different angles and ranges. The fact that I used my own family also made the atmosphere more realistic as they knew how to laugh and work together. Also, the family all look similar and 'related' to create a real family feel.

Cand A - eaa: 19 uoe: 20uot: 7 = 46
Cand B - eaa: 17 uoe: 20 uot: 6 = 43

I thought that both of the exam responses were very good yet different but both in good ways. I would say that Candidate A was slighly better at describing how gender in television is generally portrayed and i could always understand where he/she was coming from and what they were talking about, but on the other hand I also believe that Candidate B showed how this reflected in the characters a little more. I also found Candidate A's peice of work was far clearer to understand and relate to, whereas Candidate B went into a little too much detail at some points without relating back to what the question was asking for and could have used a little more terminology and examples describing mise en scene and other factors. Overall i though that Candidate A portrayed his'her ideas more clearly and seemed to relate back to the question more and understand what they was doing.

Story Board