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

Our film is called A Sight For Sore Eyes, a mockumentary about a boy suffering with invisibility in his first year at university. It both follows and breaks conventions of the form and genre.

Here is a mind map abount typical genre conventions.

GENRE AND STYLE 

Our chosen genre was fantasy mockumentary, and we used many genre conventions (as noted in the above mind map) to convey the mockumentary style we wanted to achieve.

Trollhunter (2010).

What We Do In The Shadows (2014).

A common convention in mockumentaries is to use interview set ups with a character interview talking to an interviewer or just the camera. Trollhunter has interview set ups where the characters tell the audience information, while it still seems like an average shot (there are no inter titles/graphics, etc). However, What We Do In The Shadows has a more obvious interview set up, where the characters are sitting in one side of the frame, directly talking to the camera, mimicking interviews in real documentaries. We have gone with the obvious interview set up for our film, as we decided to fulfil the expectations of the genre in an almost tongue-in-cheek style.

Interview set up in A Sight For Sore Eyes (2017).

Waiting For Guffman (1996).

What We Do In The Shadows (2014).

The lighting and grading used in both Waiting For Guffman and What We Do In The Shadows is naturalistic to portray the documentary style. In What We Do In The Shadows, the lighting is dark, with very matte tones, as it works well with their vampire theme. However, Waiting For Guffman uses more everyday lighting with minimal grading, as it represents 'normal' life settings to relate more to the audience, whilst copying the documentary style. A Sight For Sore Eyes also uses natural lighting that you would find in an average home, as it better represents the characters and settings, and also portrays the genre.

A Sight For Sore Eyes (2017).

Another convention is the use of jump cuts. This puts emphasis on the unplanned documentary style of the film and  is also really convenient. We have used it because we did a lot of our takes with character improvisation to give it the naturalistic feel, so we had to make some jump cuts, as well as to follow the conventional documentary-style of our chosen genre.

What We Do In The Shadows (2014)

A Sight For Sore Eyes (2017)

Here is a presentation about the theories we looked at.

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

We have represented a middle-class white British family with a stereotypical single mother figure and two teenage sons.

Kenny Lerone, played by Tom Brown.
He is Toby's identical twin brother.

Joyce Lerone, played by Finella Craig.
She is Toby's mum.

Toby Lerone, played by Ray Baker. He is the invisible protagonist.

REPRESENTATIONS OF THE FAMILY

The Outnumbered family - a middle-class white British family.

We have chosen to stereotypically represent a non-nuclear middle-class white family. We have done this by using a classic mum character (see mind map below), and using two teenage boys. Also, we filmed in a Victorian house, typical of middle-class families in suburban London, which would be a typical place for the Lerone family to live.

REPRESENTATIONS OF THE EDGY MUM

Here is a mind map of the typical representations of edgy mums.

REPRESENTATIONS OF BOYS

JP and his friends from Fresh Meat. (Be aware that there is bad language in this clip).

JP is an example of a character that influenced us for Kenny's character. The clip is set in JP's old house that he grew up in, and shows the posh lifestyle he lives. There are many extravagant props they are using for everyday activities, such as using a sword to put jam on bread. JP's language is very posh, for example calling his mum "mummy", which is stereotypical of stuck up/posh teens in film and TV. We have sort of tried to replicate this character archetype with Kenny, as he calls his mum "mama", and generally acts quite narcissistic and stuck up.

 Viago's love story from What We Do In The Shadows.

We used Viago as an example of the soppy boy character trope, where he hopes for love and can never get it because of something outrageous. In this case, Viago is in love with a woman but cannot get it because his servant made a mistake. In our case, Toby wants love, but cannot get it because girls can't see him, and also he is a really wimpy character.

In our opening sequence we have represented two very different stereotypical male character types, one being posh, and one being pathetic.

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

Our film is an independent film, so we have used multiple production companies to contribute management and finance. Our distributor is Focus Features, and the production companies include Film 4, BFI, and TriggertoaFilms.

OUR DISTRIBUTOR

Our distributor is Focus Features, a subsidiary of Universal Studios which distributes independent and foreign films in the US and internationally. This distributor has released other independent British films such as Suffragette (2015), The Theory of Everything (2015), and Brokeback Mountain (2005) (all of which have also been funded by the BFI).

OUR PRODUCTION COMPANIES

Here is a presentation on the production companies we chose and why we chose them.

OUR MARKETING STRATEGY AND RELEASE

Please click on the flowcharts to view them full screen.

American Honey marketing.

A Sight For Sore Eyes marketing.

Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for A Sight For Sore Eyes is fans of the mockumentary genre, aged 15-25. Our secondary audience is a global audience of all ages, including fans of comedy and independent films.

A mind map of typical mockumentary audiences:


A slideshow about our target and secondary audience.

Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

We have used a number of genre conventions and film conventions to appeal to our audience.

Please click on the table to view it full screen.

Inter titles in What We Do In The Shadows.

Antony in What We Do In The Shadows.

Our audience feedback video.

We obtained qualitative data for our audience focus group. The group we used for our audience feedback was made up of our school friends. Sian and Meera are fans of the genre, while Lily and Ross are fans of comedy and independent films.

Things our audience enjoyed:

• They all really enjoyed the sequence and thought it was really funny, and some said they would watch the film if it was real. This shows how we have appealed to and gratified the expectations of the audience in the comedy aspect of the genre.
• They all liked Joyce and Kenny as comedy characters, and I am glad that these exaggerated and almost relatable characters were effective in creating humour for the audience to enjoy.
• Lily mentioned that she liked the juxtaposition between the "normal and not normal" idea, as we have made something unreal seem normal. Ross also mentioned that he liked how it "started all deep and serious", and then became funny afterwards. They both enjoyed how we have conveyed the genre using typical forms and conventions.
• They all remembered the title from what they had seen, and mentioned that they liked the pun in the title, which adds to the comedy of the overall piece, gratifying both the primary and secondary audiences.
• Sian and Meera liked Joyce's comedy moments such as drinking on the Wii Fit, talking about Stacey, and going on Tinder. This again ties into the comedy characters and how we have used them to gratify audience expectations of the genre.

Things our audience think could have been better:

• They were confused by the line "I'm excited, but nervous. Still excited, but still nervous.". I think we had trouble with this line throughout production, so if I were to do the project again, I would probably change that line.

I am pleased with our audience feedback, and I think that our opening sequence really worked in gratifying the audience's need for the genre. I am pleased that they enjoyed the juxtaposition between the serious-style of the sequence compared with the comedy in the idea of the film. Also, Joyce and Kenny really worked as comedy characters, which I am particularly pleased with, because I think trying to use comedy in general is quite risky. Lastly, I agree with the feedback in that the "excited but nervous" line is a bit out of place, and if I were to spend more time on the project, that is something I would change.

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

Throughout this projects, we have had to use technological convergence in order to be able to edit, film, and work efficiently and to a high standard.

Here are some photos from the filming and editing days.

HARDWARE

Here is a table about what hardware I used and what I learnt about it.

SOFTWARE 

Pre-production:

• Social media - I have gained a wider range of social media usage, and have learned how to make private groups and lists on social medias such as Wunderlist.
• Blogger - I learnt how to use Blogger efficiently, including embedding web tools and giphs, images, and videos and altering the HTML in order to create a nicer layout.

Post production:

• Adobe Premiere Pro - I learnt how to grade much more effectively, including the use of 3-way colour correcter, which I had never used before. As you can see in these stills, I didn't do any grading until the main shoot, where I got to learn how to grade, making the shots much brighter and warmer.

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

I think that I have learnt lots in the progression of this project, especially comparing my work from the preliminary task to my work in the main project. See the two Prezis below for the method of both the preliminary task and main project. I then have a timeline going through the project with what I have learnt.

OUR PRELIMINARY TASK

Here is a presentation of the process we used to make the prelim task video.

OUR OPENING SEQUENCE PROJECT 

Here is a presentation on the process we used to make the main project video.

THE EVOLUTION OF OUR PROJECT

Please click on the text to view it full screen.

The preliminary task. I was in a group with Sayo and Kristina for this.

The animatic. This was the first video edit for A Sight For Sore Eyes.

The test shoot for A Sight For Sore Eyes.

The final edit for A Sight For Sore Eyes.

WHERE I HAVE PROGRESSED

I think that there has been significant improvement in my work standard since the preliminary task. The prelim task was small, so there was no grading or sound effects involved in the editing process, so I have definitely improved in that. Additionally, we had a lot more planning and production time for the main project, so I think the work standard was overall much better.

I think that my biggest improvements have been in framing, lighting, and grading throughout the course of this project. Additionally, I think that my understanding of continuity has greatly improved, and well as my theoretical understanding in a practical context.

My improvements since the prelim:

• Grading - I have learnt how to grade properly, including 3-way colour corrector as my biggest improved skill.
• Framing - I have learnt how to frame shots a lot better and more effectively.
  
• Camera movement - Our film's opening sequence had a lot of movement in it, which is much better compared to the movement we used in the prelim.

Construction Post 30: Looking back - reflections on our final outcome

I think the project has gone really well. Tom and I have worked really well as a team and we have had lots of fun with this task.

I think that our final outcome was very good, although I have watched it too many times to have a representative view of it. Other people in our class and people we have shown it to have said it is very good and really funny, so I think our hard work has paid off. My favourite parts of the whole process was the grading in editing, and the filming techniques we used. I also generally enjoyed the whole process, and looking back on the first plans we had in our first session, which were truly abysmal, I think both Tom and I have come a long way in our creative thinking and our media skills. We pretty much achieved what we wanted to with our film's opening sequence, but obviously as it is not a professional production, there are going to be flaws. However, we chose a genre that suited the type of film we could make with the resources we had, and I think we did a good job of it.

This has been one of my favourite media projects, and I have enjoyed working with Tom, researching this niche genre, and learning new skills.

  

This is our final opening sequence for our film, A Sight For Sore Eyes.

Construction Post 29: My technical learning curve (production and post-production)

I think this project has really helped me to improve in all aspects of media.

Firstly, it has helped me with my camera technique and framing. For example, my handheld cmera movements in the test shoot often caused me to ruin the framing in parts of the shot.

This is a handheld camera movement shot that I filmed in the test shoot.

I also think I have improved my lighting abilities, as the lighting in the test shoot was awful compared to that of the main shoot and back up shoot. These are stills from the test shoot and the main shoot, weher you can see both improvements in lighitng and framing.

Test shoot.

Main shoot.

Lastly, I think that my grading skills have greatly improved throughout our edit week 2. Before his project, I had never graded before in my life, so this was a really good learning curve for me.

Construction Post 28: My personal contribution to the Edit Sessions

Me doing some grading on the opening sequence.

Tom and I both worked really hard on the editing of our film's opening sequence by working both individually and together.

When Tom and I were working separately in our own private study sessions, we would make notes on what we have done, and some of our ideas and leave them at the edit suite in order to communicate easily.

Tom and me editing together.

I think I did the majority of the grading, as I really enjoyed developing that new skill, while Tom did the majority of the sound editing, although we both helped with both elements. My favourite parts to grade were the interview shots, and then seeing the before and after of the graded shots, as there was something I found really satisfying about that.

Working together was also really useful, as it meant we could help each other to come up with ideas and we had to opinions for everything, meaning there would be better choices made overall.

Construction Post 27: My personal contribution to the Shoot Sessions

We did the shoot sessions at my house, as it seemed like the best location. I brought the camera to and from school, while Tom brought the rest of the kit on the first day and the last day of shooting. Both Tom and I filmed and set p lighting and camera (etc). I bought the bandages for Toby and supplied the cardboard boxes.

Me using the camera and setting up the shot (I am wearing the headpgones around my neck as I adjust the framing).

Me setting up our homemade diffusers for the lights in the main shoot.

I also made us some delicious pancakes for lunch.

Construction Post 26: Reflections on Edit Week 2

I think our edit week 2 went really well, even better than edit week 1. We successfully added the new footage from our back up shoot, and added the finishing touches to the sequence such as grading and sound mixing. Grading was my favourite part of the post production because I found three-way colour correcter really interesting and fun to use. We had to make a lot of our shots less yellow and I think we pulled it off quite well.

 This is our final product. A 2 minute opening sequence for our film, A Sight For Sore Eyes.

Construction Post 25: The Back-up Shoot

I think our back-up shoot went really well, as we retook all the shots we needed to and had a really fun time. We decided we needed a back up shoot because some of the footage from the main shoot had atrocious lighting in all of the takes, so we needed to fix that for our final edit. Also, we decided to change some parts of the sequence so that it made more sense, such as having a longer interview with Toby, as he is the main character.

We made a new shoot board for our back-up shoot with only the shots we needed to retake, and with what we needed to do in order to improve them written in some of the boxes.

Back-up shoot board page 1

Back-up shoot board page 2

Back-up shoot board page 3

WHAT WE DID DIFFERENTLY TO THE MAIN SHOOT

Shot 14/16 main shoot.

1. When taking the interview shots, we asked various questions to the actors and had them stay in role when answering. This provided us with enough material to fill any gaps we might have when editing, and make Toby's interview longer, which was very important as he is the main character.



Shot 14/16 back-up shoot.

2. We closed the curtains in shot 14/16 in the living room so that there would be less contrast between the beginning and end of the shot. Also, it meant there would be less light coming in from behind Joyce, and lessening the silhouette effect we had in the main shoot.
3. We took bonus shots, such as the shot of Joyce homeschooling Toby, and the shot of Joyce on Tinder. This meant that we had extra shots for any crosscutting we might need in editing.

Construction Post 24: Reflections on Edit Week 1

Our Edit week one was really enjoyable. We made really good progress on the project, and we were able to plan what shots we needed retake.

Me doing editing.

I think our edit so far is far better than our rough edit was with the improvements we have made, however there are still more improvements we can make in the back up shoot to make it even better (see construction post 25). Additionally, we still have to grade our shots and sort out some of the crosscutting, as well as editing the music appropriately.

Construction Post 23: Reflections on our Main Shoot Session

I think our main shoot quite well, as we took all of the shots we needed and had a fun time doing it. My favourite part of the filming was using the new lighting equipment that we hadn't used in the test shoot, as well as coming up with new ways to film some of the shots, such as the hidden camera shots we took of Toby and the camera person walking down the stairs.

OUR BEST SHOTS:

Shot 5.

This is shot 5. We changed it from the test shoot, as it was originally just a shot of Toby waking up, which did not make sense as part of a documentary style film. Instead, we changed it to a shot of watching Joyce go to Toby's bedroom to wake him up with breakfast in bed on his last day at home. I think this shot was really good because the handheld camera movements work well as part of the genre, and it worked much better in the narrative. Additionally, I think it was well constructed considering the small space we had to film it in.

A bonus shot.

This is one of the bonus shots we took. I really liked this shot because we recorded it with Toby singing and playing the guitar, so that we could use it with or without audio. I think this will be a really good shot to cross cut to in an interview, or to use as filler between shots.

Shot 17/19/21.

This is Joyce's interview shot (shot 17/19/21). I think Joyce's interview shots will always be my favourites because of how well my mum acted the part. She performed really well and managed to direct her lines perfectly when embodying the character. I also think that the choice of lines was good, and they are effective in representing her middle-class-edgy-white-mum character.

A bonus shot.

This is another one of the bonus shots that we took on the day of filming. I think this shot is really effective in conveying our genre to the audience, because it shows one of those typical daily life situations that are sop mundane, but are always in documentaries. We have put a twist on this however, by adding the fact that Toby is invisible, which, I think, really conveys the documentary genre.

Construction Post 22: Our Post-production Kit

We only used one piece of software for our post-production, being Adobe Premiere Pro. We also used a double screen computer to edit on.

EDITING EQUIPMENT	PROS AND CONS
Adobe Premier Pro	I found this editing software really useful and easy to use. The different video and audio tracks allowed us to use multi-track editing, which helped us to see all the elements of our project at once. We were also able to see all of our rushes in the same place, so it was easier to choose the best takes of each shot.
Double screen computers	This was a really useful aspect of the hardware we were given. It meant that we could have our Adobe Premier Pro time line and rushes on the left screen, where we would do the editing, and the full screen edited video on the right screen, so that we could watch it in high definition as we went along. This made it much easier to stay organised and for us to know what we were doing as we were editing.

Adobe Premiere Pro.

Double screen computer.

Construction Post 21: Our Production Kit

We had lots of different pieces of equipment for the production of our film opening sequence.

FILMING EQUIPMENT	PROS AND CONS
Canon Legria HFG30	The camera shot in high definition, and was very easy to use and control. It focused and zoomed well, which is perfect for our chosen genre (even though we don't use those techniques much in our sequence).
Canon DM-100 Directional Microphone	The microphone worked well in picking up voice, and was good at eliminating most background noise. However, it would have been more useful for it to be separate from the camera so that we could leave it in one place where the noise is happening, as it would help us focus the sound of each of our shots better.
Libec TH-650 HD Tripod	The tripod was useful, although we didn't use it much, as the majority of our shots were handheld. However, it really helped us in the interview setup, because it allowed us to get it level (using the spirit level for guidance), and to have consistency throughout the shots.

Canon Legria HFG30.

Canon DM-100 Directional Microphone.

Libec TH-650 HD Tripod.