Evaluation - Question 4

What did you learn about new technologies from the process of constructing this product?

One of the most valuable skills I acquired in the process of making my products is a more in-depth understanding of Adobe programs and their cross platform usefulness. For example, in making my production company logo, seen below, in Adobe Photoshop.

I then took it over into Adobe After Effects and, using a tutorial video that detailed various tools in the program, I made my opening card, seen below. This is a skill which I am very glad I have acquired, and will come in very handy in the future.

The final Adobe program I learned how to use was InDesign - to make my magazine spread. I had initially planned to just use Photoshop for this ancillary task, but after realising it wouldn't be practical, I asked my teacher what to use, and she suggested Adobe InDesign for the task. I looked up some basics on the program and learned the rest as I went along, eventually producing my final product and being very satisfied with my use and newly acquired knowledge of the program. 

Also, I learned a bit more about the social networks of YouTube and Facebook through the product. In an attempt to garner more views for the product, I shared it to Facebook multiple times. Most of my friends on Facebook fall within my target audience, which is why I felt it to be a good platform. I also shared it to a social networking site called Reddit, to a specific section dedicated to short films, which meant it was reaching my target audience directly. 

Evaluation - Question 3 - Conclusion

From my Audience Feedback I have learned the following things about:

- My Final Product

I managed to successfully write and craft a film that was appropriate to the genre in it's conventions and appealed to my target audience. I learned that the set of the film is more important than I initially thought. I believed the function room I filmed in would be suitable and people would suspend their disbelief enough for it to work, but it was too much of a stretch and some audience members were left feeling confused about the set. I also learned a bit more about sound mixing and the value it has. The song in the film was too loud, and some of the dialogue was lost underneath it.

- My Poster

I learned that consistency between products is more than a typeface and colour scheme, and I should have had the characters wearing the same clothes for the photos I took as they wore in the film. This affected the consistency of my product and caused some confusion. I should have also paid more attention to the visibility of my credit block.

- My Magazine Spread

I should have kept the brand of the production company separate from the film. It convoluted the brand identity in the spread, and caused some confusion with the production company logo being there. I also found that my audience felt there was too much white space which is something I will have to be conscious of in the future.

Evaluation - Question 3 - Magazine Feedback

From my focus group, I learned these things about my double page spread:

- People noticed the consistent house style between my tasks and noted this. They liked the through lines that linked them, and thought they made the whole thing look professional. They also noted that they liked the colour scheme of the spread. I used a blue in this to differentiate the magazine as a brand but used my own brands logos and colour schemes mixed in with that to give a feeling of collaboration between the two.

- The stills of the film I used in the spread were suitable for the purpose and matched the tone of the task overall.

- The tree in the top right corner - which I used for the logo of my production company - was thought by some in the group to be out of place. When it came to filling in the space in the spread, I was struggling for ideas, as I could not get a still that was suitable to be in there, I already had the film's logo in there, and I could not think of anything else relevant to write, so I thought it might be a good idea to include the logo of my production company, however I am aware that this is probably not a usual practice within magazines, and it could be confusing.

- Some people also felt my layout could have used more work. Whilst it was almost a convention of my brand to have white space, some in the group felt that I had too much in the layout and that it could have been filled with stills from the movie. This was something I struggled with in production, and never felt like I fully achieved my goals within the layout of the product which was further reinforced by the focus group.

Evaluation - Question 3 - Poster Feedback Response

From my focus group, I learned the following about my Poster:

- The main character being in colour and the love interest being in black and white added an intersting distinction between them which my audience liked and helped distinguish him as the protagonist within the piece.

- It reflects the mood, tone and genre of my film in it's simplicity, which is something I was aiming to achieve through my house style, and the audience understood this.

- The poster gives a good idea of the what the film will be about which is the aim of any promotional poster. I believe this is because of the tone of my product. Also, the typeface I used for my logo - the typewriter style - keeps the poster looking simple, professional and not overly complicated which I was very pleased to hear.

- Some people raised issues with the credit block on the bottom of my poster. They believed it to be too faded and difficult to read. I believe I could have made the font stand out a bit more by giving it more of an outline or perhaps making it a different colour.

- Someone in the group mentioned that the clothing the main character was wearing in the photo of him was totally different than what he wears in the film. This was a lapse on my part and something I should have picked up on much earlier when I was actually taking the photos.

Evaulation - Question 3 - Film Feedback Response

From the focus groups, and the recordings I have of their feedback, here is what I have learned about their reactions to my Film:

- The group generally found my Film to be funny. As my film is a comedy, this shows that I have succeeded in making a comedy. I have feedback from my target audience proving I could craft a film within a genre and to be aimed at a particular group.

- One person in the group mentioned they were confused by the set. We originally wanted to film in a more authentic location such as a community centre classroom, or a college classroom, but unfortunately we could not have these. We could not get actors available at the times that the rooms were available, as well as not being able to deal with the limitations of working within a working college. We would have struggled to get around other scheduling which would have came before ours, so we chose to film at a local function room. My personal logic was that the teacher would use any space available to teach his classes, so it seemed reasonable, but confusion was understandable.

- People felt that my cinematography and camera use was quite deft overall, other than someone making a valid point in that some action was lost. We tried to stay away from using a tripod during filming - unless we were doing any Talking Heads - in order to give it a more documentary-esque feeling. I believe this succeeded, but we maybe went a bit overboard and, as someone says in the feedback, the action was lost.

- Some people noted the original song as being well-used, but there was a criticism of it being too loud and some dialogue being lost underneath it, which I think is a valid point but, due to time contraints, I did not have time to work on that as much as I would have liked to.

Evaluation - Question 3 - Feedback on Soundcloud

What have you learned from your audience feedback?



Below are three Soundcloud files that contain the feedback from my focus groups on my Film, my Poster, and my Double Page Spread respectively.

Evaluation - Question 2

How effective is the combination of my main product and ancillary tasks?


Throughout my products, one thing I have focused on is a consistent and professional house style. I have followed a few principles of design that have been implemented in all aspects of creation - the production company, the film, the poster, and the magazine spread. This style includes the use of minimal colours and sticking with a black and white scheme for most logos and designs.

I chose this design as I didn't want to over stylise my piece, which is reflected in the film's simple style - present in it's cinematography mostly. I wanted there to be a focus on the characters of my film and their story, rather than it's style. Substance over style, if you will. Below is an example of how I have used basic Cinematography to keep the focus on the characters.

In the scene shown, the two characters share a pivotal narrative moment, and I did not want to detract from that by having flashy, or otherwise distracting cinematography. Throughout my product, the narrative focus is the characters, and whilst I did have a post-modern and almost self aware style to my film, I always tried to keep the audience focused on the characters. I believe my house style has gone a long way towards this, particularly so in my ancillary tasks. In my double page spread - seen below, I only had screenshots of the characters when they were being interviewed. They were the focus of the whole thing, just as in the film.

In this sense, I believe that my ancillary tasks and my final product have been very successful. They follow similar styles throughout and they give a distinct sense of focus as well as building a brand. I designed a logo for the film, present throughout my media. It can be seen above, in the Magazine Spread. It is the title of my film in a simple typeface that gives a formal feel. The typeface is one usually associated with typewriters, which added to that formality and, contrasted by the comedy of the film, adds a very Indie feel to the brand.