Evaluation: Part 8

Below is the footage of my preliminary task.



Below is a link to the evaluation of my preliminary task.

http://kalkidanbrook.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/edit-workshop-evaluation.html

Overall Evaluation 
I feel that my preliminary task was successful in terms of the editing, as I put a lot of thought into only keeping what was relevant and made sure it held meaning, as well as portraying the narrative. Moreover, i felt that the storyboard me and my partner created, kept me on track when it came to editing as i kept referring to it and i made sure i stuck to the correct duration/ shot order. This skill is evident on the match on action scene, as I had to match up the two shots of the character opening the door, so i had to keep in mind that the movement flowed and had continuity.

In addition, I also felt that I was successful in terms of the narrative. The brief stated to be creative and I feel me and my partner met this expectation because looking at past students work, they all did interviews, therefore we steered away from the obvious and tried to portray a situation that occurs in the setting of school and is not normally explored. This is evident from point 0:20 to 0:27, where the dialogue portrays our narrative - a girl getting pinned to the wall for supposedly texting another girls boyfriend.

I felt I was unsuccessful in terms of using digital technology - more specifically the manipulation of the camera. There were two main problems, one of which was the shakiness of a shot. In my draft of the preliminary task, shot 0:40 is shaky. This looked very unprofessional. Secondly the other problem was the framing of shots, which was off many times, since it was not a priority at the time. This is evident at 0:16 to 0:19, where the rule of thirds completely forgotten, as you don't see the girls head. Therefore, in turn loosing verisimilitude.

Below is the draft of my preliminary task.


In addition, another weakness was the sound. Through the whole sequence you could clearly hear the shots changing, therefore I should of had a better wild track that was a bit louder or even added music in order to balance out the sounds.

Improvements
When making my opening sequence for my British Social Realist film it was my top priority to improve on all the points I discussed above.

Even though my editing in the preliminary task was a successful, I felt that when editing my BSR film i noticed a further big improvement. This I felt was due to the updated software of iMovie, which was much easier and more precise to use compared the old programme. BSR films make sure that every shot has a deep meaning as it is supposed to get the active audience to think about what they are visually experiencing. So when editing me and my partner looked at each shot we filmed at kept asking ourselves, what are we trying to portray here? Is the duration of the shot long enough to reflect the narrative to the audience? I felt this kept us on track and it showed at point 0:38 to 0:46 because the original duration was 23 seconds but we cut it down to 8 seconds because the action of her examining her bruises and the sounds of her wincing in pain, was relevant and connoted her situation and portray to the audience the theme of domestic violence.

Also even though our narrative for our preliminary was creative, when it came to developing a narrative for our BSR film, I felt it was more original because after viewing many Film 4 films, we saw that they did in some cases touch upon domestic abuse and pregnancy but not in a positive light. So in our narrative, Leah finds the confidence to leave we abusive boyfriend and even though she's a teen mom, we steered away from the typical view that all teen mums want to abort their child and that they do not care about their child. So we showed her positively by having her running away for her baby's safety and so the baby has a better future. We felt this was our unique selling point. Overall, we kept to a simple idea unlike in our draft for the preliminary, where we made the narrative complicated (which resulted to use re shooting the task).

Camera language and the actual filming process was our biggest weakness and so when making our BSR, we made sure that framing - rule of thirds, 180 degree rule was a priority! After every shot filmed, we actually played it back and examined if it was framed correctly and if not, it was re-filmed immediately. This technique of ours helped out a lot. At point 1:12 to 1:18, you can see how we kept to the rule of thirds. Moreover, in order to improve on camera language, we filmed one shot in various angles/ shot types. This technique meant that we had a variety of shots to choice from when it came to editing. For instance we filmed the establishing shot of the flat in various ways e.g pan and tilt. This helped a lot because in our shooting script we stated that we would you a pan however when we edited the footage of the pan it did not visually look right, so we changed it to the footage where it's static - 0:50. This technique meant we saved time and also it meant the continuity was the same. Lastly, the digital technology we used this time round was improved massively as we used a HD camera which improved the visual and aural quality of our clips. We also used LiveType which was new to us and this meant we could be a lot more creative with our graphics and their movement/position. 

BSR: Here you can see the rule of thirds has been applied correctly.

PRELIMINARY: Here you can see the rule of thirds has been applied incorrectly since you cannot even see her head. 

When dealing with sound this time round, we made sure we got a wild track for every location we filmed at. This meant the sound flowed throughout the sequence and both digetic/ non diegtic sounds were balanced. Also, we had music as well - 0:15 to 1:48, which was copy right free. Futhermore, we felt it anchored everything the audience were seeing, since the lyrics were raw and real.

Goals
1. I would like to be extra creative with graphics. For instance in my sequence the graphics did not move, so i would like develop this skill by making a graphic that moves around. Below is a link to an example.

An Education (2009) — Art of the Title

2. I would like to learn how to incorporate animation into my work. Below is an example.

Evaluation: Part 7

Evaluation: Part 6

Evaluation: Part 5

In our opening sequence, our main character Leah fits into four main social groups of our society. Below i will be discussing whether me and my partner subverted or kept to the stereotypes highlighted.

Leah is 18 years of age an pregnant, therefore conforming to the dominant ideology of 'teen mum'. It is through the camera language, editing and also the mise en scene that this stereotype is highlighted. At 0:18 to 0:20, Leah is trying to discard a letter (her pregnancy results) in the toilet. Through the close up used at 0:19, it's evident that the letter is of importance as she tries to get rid of it and is partly the cause of her trying to flee. Moreover even though there is not an obvious cliche sign of her being pregnant eg. Vomiting. It is the the fast paced cuts and her rushed actions, that connote that she is pregnant. However Leah subverts to the stereotypical view of young pregnant teenagers as the series of fast paced shots of Leah packing from 0:24 - 0:36, after she flushes the letter, signifies how Leah does not want to abort the child but instead run away and provide a better, stable life for he unborn child. Therefore, taking advice from previous feedback of a respondant that said ' don't make it to cliche', we portrayed teen mothers positively, connoting how they are responsible enough to take care of a child and also that they are not selfish since Leah puts her child's future/life before hers.

Leah is a school drop out, with minimal qualifications therefore unemployed. This representation is clearly highlighted through the mise en scene and camera language. During the smash mouth opening of Leah packing, there is a shot of her grabbing copper coins at 0:48. The use of coppers and also the quantity of them connotes how she is not working therefore every penny she saves counts. We chose to conform to the stereotype of 'young and jobless' as its conventional for British Social Realist films to highlight financial problems, since its a situation that many people (in particular working class) go through in the mundane world therefore it adds to the verisimilitude.

Leah lives in council flat - 0:50. It is the mise en scene that reinforces the stereotype of a ' poor person'. The location of flats is not exotic, instead it is an urban area that reflects Leah's lifestyle as gritty and boring. Furthermore it connotes poverty as society associates the working class with living in flats. In addition, this connotation is further highlighted when Leah packs using a rucksack at 0:33, signifying how she possess very little belongings. Furthermore, she grabs a packet of crisps at 0:30 from a nearly empty cupboard, connoting how she is not finically stable to afford essentials - this situation of poverty is something that Social Realist films tend to highlight a lot, for instance in the film Wasp, the mother feeds her children sugar grains as everything in her cupboard is out of date and she has no money in her purse, connoting her poverty. So we conformed to this representation as Leah, the poor individual lives in a flat and struggles to survive - barely any food.

Leah's boyfriend abuses her therefore representing her as a 'battered wife'. You see this stereotype through camera language from 0:27 to 0:46, because her face is hidden until the scene where she views we reflection in the mirror. This close up limits the audience to focus on the damage done on Leah (since its a restrictive narrative). Also, she touches her face at 0:42 and winces. This connotes the pain she is in and how how she is the less dominant one in the relationship, highlighting that she is vulnerable. This shot is also a long take and comes straight after the fast paced shots of the smash mouth opening. The long take slows down the action, allowing the audience to sympathise for her and also it reveals why she is such a rush to get away - also partly answering the audiences enigma codes, like why is she in such a rush to leave? Furthermore, as she examines her face, the non-diegetic music being played in the background reflects Leah's situation - ' you broke my hurt for the very last time', these lyrics anchors what the audience are seeing, as they can visually see she is fed up of being pushed around. The representation of battered wife is also highlighted through the mise en scene. Her clothing as well as the natural lighting, is dark, connoting how she has gone through a very dark experience, therefore showing to the audience the taboo subject of domestic abuse firsthand and connoting how it is atrocious. In addition, the make up - inspired by London to Brighton, help visually establish this representation of battered wife, as the bloody nose, bruises and black eye is a clear indication that she has experienced violence. Overall my partner and I conformed to this stereotype but at a certain extent we subverted as well, because the smash mouth opening of her packing hurriedly connotes how she has had enough of being treated as nothing, therefore battered wives are represented positively, since Leah finally gains the confidence to leave her abusive boyfriend.

Evaluation: Part 4

Evaluation: Part 3

Evaluation: Part 2

(Below is extra footage of important points that i personnaly missed out in the pervious video.)