Evaluation

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
  
  
  Real media products played a big part in the creation of 'Decay' as Surrealism was a topic that we knew little about. We wanted a challenge and we believed that there was enough existing product to allow us to create our own version.
  
  
  As for the film, we used many different medias to get inspiration for various elements, for example, for symbolisms and imagery we mainly looked on YouTube for classic surrealism films and came across classic characters such as Dali. Among these videos, we found 'unexplained' props and strange, besides-the-plot scenes that were confusing but at the same time were prominent features in the clip. We found that by using these elements as a starting point for the whole project, we could create something new in surreal without straying too far from the original idea. 
  
  
  The sound was an interesting element as we were unsure as to whether we should include it as many films, such as Dali's "Un Chien Andalou" has no sound at all, but instead used written dialogue to convey the story to the viewer. This was an interesting lead however we found that it would sometimes be off-putting when you are trying to watch the film. 
  
  
  The poster was primarily based on a simplicity and as many films are based on action and therefore there is a lot of information and highly produced imagery across the poster. The theme of surrealism is seemingly simple and uncomplicated, but with a hidden meaning or truth behind the items the feature and this is what really makes this poster work. The titles are typical of a film poster and this allows the viewer to feel a familiarity and also allows them to be more open-minded to this new genre.
  The title is off-centre, which creates an interesting viewpoint, as it is not in line with the credits, as usually seen in most posters. This may in some ways disorientate the viewer, creating a strange surreal-like feel. Other than this one element, the poster is fairly similar to most posters, as you don't have to change every element to create a completely new poster. It challenges the forms and conventions, as it does not follow the 'rules' that are usually followed. This allows it to stand out but also be influential to people not only interested in surrealism but many genres.
  
  
  
  
  The article is made up of many interesting elements that equally push the boundaries of editorial design. It is not as simple as the cover however it has many similar features to a typical double page spread. For example, the images have been tilted to show a more personal approach to the project and it otherwise would have looked too conservative. It also conveys a ‘photo album’ style that is popular at the moment. We saw this used in many sources such as in Empire magazine. Many different articles were looked at and analysed and we found that a more structured approach was the most engaging with the audience as opposed to one where information was spread out and fragmented across the pages. It is clear that the different paragraphs are relating to without even reading them because of the clear titling at the beginning of each section e.g. Plot and the reviewer’s details.

•  How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

It was always very important for all of the marketing features linked in appropriately to one-another, as they are all selling points for the film. They would all need to link in together and be coherent throughout. There are many elements that follow through out such as the main theme - Decay so particular symbolisms were used throughout the film such as dead leaves, petals, an apple etc, so these were clearly going to play a big part in the ancillary tasks. In the poster, the leaves have been kept very raw and have also been made to look very dramatic to draw attention to themselves. This will stay in the viewers mind while they are watching the film and they will therefore be also to follow the plot easier, picking up the relation between the cover and symbolisms in the film. In this sense, it proves a very effective source to link and promote the film. This is also a similar idea with the DPS as there are subtle symbolisms that link back to both the poster and the film. Also, the colours all link in well together and ensure that the viewer knows what they are reading and what themes etc the film relates to.

As you can see in this image, the green from the trees in the film has been eye-dropped and used in both ancillary texts. As for the double page spread, the main title and sub-text is a dark green to reflect the rawness and earthiness that decay is primarily based upon. This is highlighted by the two images on the right page that both show a lot of greenery in the background. The poster has less green on it, however there is a small element of it on a few of the leaves, which helps to bring the three tasks together.

 

This image highlights the use of brown; which, similarly to green, represents a rawness, however it shows sense of dead/dying or decaying, which is obviously a very important element to show throughout the final products. We can see that leaves have been used as the main imagery on the poster, in many scenes in the film and also with a transparency on the DPS.

Space is an interesting subject because when it used properly in a film, poster or magazine, it can look really effective and can help enhance the themes of the story. Being a surrealist film, everything in the shot had to be considered and therefore space was thought about throughout. The arrows show the areas of space in the film so more attention is on the subject or symbolism in the centre. This follows through into the credits where the simple text is always subtly placed is either corner, to allow the space around to speak for itself. Obviously in the poster, the leaves are the main element and the text and extra sections have been placed around them to both compliment but also to follow through the feeling of space as well as distance from the conventional storyline.

The font should be that first thing you think about when you think about continuity and it was therefore used for the main title on the poster, the extra text and also on the credits of the film. I was not used for the title on the DPS, as we believed that the article font should primarily reflect the themes and conventions of the magazine as opposed to the individual review.

•              What have you learned from your audience feedback?

The audience feedback has been extremely helpful, mainly because the theme of surrealism is so subjective and you really have to have an open mind when watching it. However some elements still have to confide with filming standards and many of the points that were raised were very valid, such as the issue of sound and whether people would be able to follow and understand the plot, which resulted in us creating a poem and minimalistic music that related back to previous surrealism films. 


The target audience was anyone inbetween the ages of 25 and 50 which was difficult decision to make, as surrealism does not necessarily interest one age group. We kept the theme of surrealism strong throughout to ensure that it did not subtly evolve into a more common theme. From the audience feedback, we have learnt that, although many people had not heard or seen a surrealist film, they enjoyed watching it and would see another one if they had the chance. 



The questionnaire was very useful as a few points were raised that we had not fully addressed such as the sound and whether a soundtrack or theme tune should be used, which we looked into and added.

One of the strongest elements of the short film was the plot because it was very simple which allowed the surrealist elements to be more prominent, and making it easier to follow meanings. The weakest element at the time that the questionnaire was conducted was the sound because there wasn’t any. The feedback received was useful as it made it clear what we needed to add to make it work not only as a surrealist film but also equally as a short film. One of the suggestions was to add a ‘spoken element” which we responded to and found that it greatly improved the film as a whole.



If anything were to change in this project it would be the filming techniques as we were inexperienced and if we were to do it again, we would defiantly experiment more with filming techniques and this would prevent any unwanted shots, such as the ones where the sun is shining onto the camera, highlighting the dust on the lens.

People would see ‘Decay’ shown in small cinemas across the country and also in select viewings in London venues. It would not be seen as a blockbuster film but the poster would be widely distributed and the article would be in a high profile film magazine.  This means it would get wide coverage and allow the showing dates to be extended, depending on the interest.

•              How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

The cameras that were used for the filming were the best quality that we could find as we wanted the focus to be more on the content and meanings as opposed to the camera work. It also allowed us to experience a high quality camera and get used to the settings etc if we ever wanted to use one again.

We did try using a tripod and track for the road scenes to make the shots smoother but it didn’t work very well on the uneven ground so we decided to film handheld for all of it, which proved more practical, but the scenes were not entirely strait. This was later corrected using Final Cut.   

Blogger was used to store all of the work that had been done and also worked as an ongoing track of progress. It has been very easy to use and was useful when you need to quickly note down developments in the project etc. It was used throughout the project from the first lesson to the final piece. I believe that it helped me in the project greatly as I was able to complete work at home and it was much more accessible and was very easy to use. 


Final Cut was used to create the film itself, although it was not the easiest program to use, with the help of some YouTube tutorials, we soon found it easy enough to get the results we wanted. Icapture was also used to photograph some sheets and draft drawings quickly. 


We attempted to upload 'Decay' onto youtube but unfortunately something went wrong with Final Cut so when we did upload it, there were shots of the film that had been deleted in editing. Therefore we were unable to upload our film and also had no opportunity to gain useful feedback from a wider range of medias.

Photoshop is a programme that I was very familiar with so I felt much more comfortable with this software. I used it to create the poster, using many layers to make it look as if the leaves had fallen onto the spotlight effect in the centre. I found the two main fonts on 'DaFont', a font website which was very useful.


Word is commonly used an a lot of the written work was produced on it, I was also used to write up some our blogs before putting them onto blogger. The Internet was a useful tool when looking for secondary sources, in particular, we used YouTube and Google. QuickTime Player allowed us to create short or longer screen films to show the development of our project.

See in the post above - Director's Commentary