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

From the preliminary task, I feel that I have learnt that the editing process is a lot more complex than what we did for the prelim. The editing is very complex as you are always finding new ideas of what to do and how to improve the film. I also feel that my camera work has improved a lot and that I have now learnt a lot more about editing films and how to use the software

I have learnt that the filming process is a lot more complex and involved than I thought. The director has to say; "quiet on set" than a clapper board is used and you have to wait a few seconds before starting to film the actual scene.

The process film makers have to go through is a lot more complicated than I thought. You have to take loads of shots of the sae scene to make sure you have enough in case one isn't good and others are. You also have to make sure the cast know what they are doing and how they are standing, the lighting, etc to make sure the film can be as professional as can be.

I have learnt a lot more about the audiences that would view certain films. I have also learnt a lot more about the typical conventions shown in different film genres and how they are used and challenged from film to film. I have learnt that you really need to think about your specific target audience when filming and editing the film in order to attract them to watch it.

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

I have used many programmes and different equipment to produce the opening sequence:

1. iMac

We used this mac to upload our footage onto iMovie. We also used the mac to access the different software and websites we needed to help collect data and to produce and record our coursework.

2. The camera

We used this camera at the production stage to film our opening sequence. The camera used was a Sony HandyCam DCR-SR37.

3. Camera USB Input Lead

This is the lead I had to use to upload the footage from our Sony camera to the mac. You have to insert the lead into the USB port and then turn the camera on in order to correctly upload footage.

4. Mobile Phone 

My mobile phone was actually quite important as I used it to communicate with the rest of my group and plan when to meet up to film and edit.       

5. Blogger

Blogger has been very important throughout the course as this is the place where I have been recording all my research and information and where I have been displaying my work and videos I have produced.

6. iMovie

iMovie has been very important in the producing and editing of the final piece. This is the software I uploaded my footage to and the software in which I edited it and produced the final opening sequence, changing any parts I needed to and adding in any extras I needed.

7. GarageBand

I used GarageBand to get the sounds of the audience cheering. This is important as we didn’t have a live audience watching our dance, but I thought that a cheering sounds was needed to create an effect that we were in a real dance show with an audience waiting to watch us.

8. iTunes 

iTunes was important to input the Voiceover into our opening sequence. This helped as it converted the voiceover in to the right format and I could easily get it from iTunes over to iMovie.

9. LiveType 

I tried to use LiveType to create the title slides and the name of the film. However, we decided not to use this as a problem with LiveType is that is was hard to get the words over the top of our footage and it was only on a black background. So my group and I decided against using this and put an overlapping word straight from iMovie.



10. Survey Monkey

Survey Monkey was a key way that I decided to gather the results from my audience response from viewing my opening sequence before it was fully finished. This helped to create graphs and images with the results and put them straight on to my blog as proof of my audience response.



11. YouTube

YouTube was key in allowing me to put my videos on to my blog as I could upload them to YouTube and then embed them straight into Blogger. It is also important as my videos could be easily accessed for other people to view and embed, but also so it can be easily seen and marked.



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

To prove the audience appeal and attraction, I have annotated the opening sequence to show how I have engaged the audience.

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

This is a drawn image of the typical audience member I expect would watch "Live 2 Dance".

Name: Samantha
Age: 16 years old
Education: 6th Form
Hobbies: Dance, Running, Watching Films, Shopping
Clothing: Shops in Primark, River Island, TopShop and H&M
Films: Watches dance films, comedy and films with characters her age
Music: Likes R'n'B, Hip-Hop, Pop and Club songs
Food: Enjoys fast food, but also healthier foods, snacks and sports drinks.

This portfolio is made up from the audience research I conducted. I found out that it is mainly girls in their teens who would watch the film; they mainly like Hip-Hop and R'n'B music. They enjoy watching films with characters their age and they enjoy dancing or watching it. The shops are based on where most teenage girls shop.

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

This is the answer to question three. We have produced a voice over to go over the top of our opening sequence to explain about the institutions.

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

This picture shows a character who is confronting another person. The character on the left is angry and tense from something the other character has done and reacts in a fierce way from anger. This is a reaction from the character that wouldn't usually happen but has happened from anger and revenge.









Similarly to this, the screen grab on the left is from our film. It also shows a character (on the left) who reacts in a violent way due to things the other character has done and said. This is similar to the existing dance film as the character is normally placid and calm, but reacts and lashes out because of actions from other characters.

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

I have analysed opening sequences and screen grabbed 9 different shots to show different conventions and ideas used.

1. This shot shows the title name of the film. The name relates to the genre as it is called "Street Dance" and it is a dance genre. This shows a clear reference to the dance film.

2. The colour of the font in this opening sequence of "Step Up 2" is black and red. This is typical dance film font colour as they are used in a lot of dance films.

3. The style of the font in "Street Dance 3D" uses a handwritten type font. This is a typical font used in the dance genre.

4. Typical settings used are parks and out door spaces, i.e the streets. This is backed up by the fourth picture (from Step Up 3D) as it shows the dance troop dancing outside and in an open area.

5. Picture 5 shows a screen grab from Step Up 2. This shot shows the typical costume of the characters as they are all wearing baggy clothing, t-shirts and vests. These clothes are seen in most dance films and is a common convention.

6. Colour adjustment is used in picture six (from Dirty Dancing). The colour has been changed to black and white. This is a common convention in some dance films as this effect is often used.

7. The type of lighting used in this shot are bright and a lot of lighting effects are used for different things. This is common in a dance film as they are used in the final battle or show scenes.

8. Transitions are a common convention used in most dance films as they allow the different footage to fit together and look professional. The picture shows a shot from "Step Up 2" where the titles fade to black. This is used a lot as it looks neat and an effective way of getting the titles off of the page.

9. In a dance genre film, obviously there is some dancing. Picture 9 shows the characters dancing. This supports the dance genre as there is actually some dancing happening.