Tuesday, 5 April 2011

Evaluation- Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?


The feedback I received in question 2 shows that the combination of my main product and my ancillary texts did work well together. The audience did feel intrigued by my poster, due to the combination of the tagline and the photo of Matthew and they also felt that once they had been prompted to watch the film due to the poster that any questions they had before watching the film were answered. Therefore, my film gave people any in depth insight into what living with a sibling with autism is really like, which was my main aim.




The audience feedback I received earlier in on in my project from my classmates, I learnt that it was important for the introduction of my short film to set the tone of my piece and for it to try and hint at the content of the film, before revealing it more explicitly (in the opening titles.) My classmates also said that my narration did not leave them with any unanswered questions, reiterating the point that my film was clear and gave an in depth account of my family's life, which satisfied my audience's curiosity. In my short film, I had just recorded a narration rather than shown use video diary style interviews to the camera which would have allowed the audience to see my facial expressions whilst I was talking. Before showing my classmates my short film, I was worried that it would seem less personal and my feelings would not be portrayed as well. However, my classmates felt that this was not the case and on reflection I think it fitted in with the conventions of an expository documentary more closely. Therefore I learnt that the narration was a powerful tool and that I could create the same meaning and set the same sort of tone just by using my voice. I also learnt that it was important to juxtaposition my narration with appropriate clips of Matthew, so that the audience were not too distracted by what was happening on screen and were focusing mainly on the content of my narration.

Monday, 4 April 2011

Friday, 1 April 2011

Evaluation: Question 1

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

My documentary was an example of an expository documentary, which aim to inform the audience about a place, event or in my case a person with which they are not familiar. Expository documentaries often form an argument and are not objective. My documentary fits in with all these conventions; it aims to inform my audience about living with a sibling with autism and I make my personal opinion clear at the end. Some of the short films I watched in my research, such as 'Roz & Joshua' were examples of expository documentary. The techniques I used as well, such as a voiceover narration which described the images and directly addressed the audience, fitted in with these conventions.







Sunday, 30 January 2011

Production: Film Poster


After speaking to my media teacher about my poster and reflecting on my choices I decided to make some changes. My teacher suggested that the original photo I had used of Matthew made him look too exposed and vulnerable and may not have been used in a real film poster as his family may not have been happy with that image being released. When I thought about it I agreed; if I really was releasing this film, my parent probably wouldn't have been happy with my choice of image!









Instead, I chose to use a still from the beginning of my short film of Matthew in the car. I liked this image because the consumer could still see Matthew clearly and identify him as the subject of the film, but there was a shadow falling across his face, meaning that he appeared less exposed. I also thought that the fact you could see the outside world through the window fitted in perfectly with my tagline; 'see the world through his eyes.' The fact Matthew's face was cast in a shadow, in contrast to the bright light that can be seen out of the window conveyed the idea that he is isolated in his own world well. It also represents the idea that there is still some mystery surrounding autism as a condition and that hopefully my film will shed some light on the subject. Below is the new version of my poster.


Friday, 21 January 2011

Production- Third version of my short film

This is the third (and hopefully final!) version of my short film, with my re recorded narration.