A2 Media Questions

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


2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?


3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?


4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Evaluation of AS

AS Overview

Brief Summary:

• Attached is my AS Media Opening Sequence which was based on a drug deal between the dealer and the boss at the bosses mansion. It shows that lead up to the deal and the deal itself. However, it does not show the aftermath of the deal as it takes a turn for the worst for the boss in a cleverly thought out assasination by the dealer.

Areas of success:

• One area of my opening sequence I thought was a success was the locations we decided to scout and include. For example, the extremely large house we decided to illiustate as the drug lords didn't take a long to scout out for as I had the perfect place in mind as I know the owners of the house. This also helped as it was easy to have permission granted to film at this location at almost anytime we needed.
• Another area of success was the costumes we decided to use. The drug lord was in a suit which represents he has a high status and a lot of money as this is the usual interpretation of a suit. Also, the clothes the dealer is wearing is a tank top, beanie and chavy jeans and this gives the feel as though he is a gangster. 
• Finally, we felt that we had a very clear plan for our opening sequence as we had a story board of camera shots, sounds we wanted to include and actors/costumes/props etc. This helped us later on as we just searched for what we needed rather than having to brainstorm again.

Areas for improvement:

• We felt as though we could have had a wider cast number rather than just 3 people. This would have helped because it could have gave the opening sequence a bit more of a realistic view. We even had the same actor play 2 roles as we didn't have a wide enough cast list.
• Finally, we felt that with a bit more capital to spend, we could have purchased a steady cam to widen our range of shots and give it more of a professional look rather than some shots which were handheld so gave a shaky scene.

Audience:

• The feedback we received was very positive on the whole. The target market said that they had felt it was suitable for them. Also, we showed to people of a much older age and they felt as though it wasn't a film they would watch proving that the target audience we chose to base our opening sequence on was correct.
• The audience liked the realistic feel as there was continuity throughout and felt like the scenes fit together perfectly without them thinking 'how did the character get to this location suddenly?'.
• Also, they felt that not too much was given away in the opening sequence meaning that they wanted more, which is ideal as it is only a first impression of a full film.
• However, one thing that we could improve on was a more HD opening sequence as they felt it was in some areas not focused or auto focused mid scene which is not professional at all.
• Next time, we will know to adapt our opening sequence to the improvements given so that it give the film a much better viewing experience for the audience.

Overall, we were very happy with our first media production and felt as though it came together well. We also agree there needs to be some tweaking involved if we were to recreate the task of creating an opening sequence again.