“Nobody”

Final Evaluation By Toby Lloyd

In what ways does your media
product use, develop or
challenge forms and
conventions of real media
products?
Narrative Theory
Narrative Theories are ideas, similar to conventions, that media texts apply in order to put a certain
message across. A narrative theory that my film applies is Propp’s idea of there being certain
character types in every film. Our film has the classic hero, princess, donor and villain. However our
film subverts this narrative theory in a way, as the hero in our film is also the princess and the
donor is also the villain. Due to the nature of our film this was necessary and as we have this
subversion is adds to the effect and confusion of our film. This does not happen in many real media
products, however a loose example comes from films when someone who is originally viewed as an
ally changes sides, this happens in many films a recent one of these is Indiana Jones: And the
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Another narrative theory that we applied in our film is Levi-Strauss’s idea of Binary Opposites, this
is the idea that inside media texts there are always opposites, for instance earth and space or good
and evil. In our film it is primarily a representation of good and evil. The character that always
looms in the shade and hides his face with his hood is the representation of evil, whereas the
character who still has his face covered by hair usually is the good character. This representation is
crucial to our films narrative.

So we have both applied and subverted classical narrative theories in our film. By doing this we will
have made our film more accessible to people as it has a general feel to it with the narrative
theories applied. However as we challenged and subverted one of the theories it allows for a more
personal and confusing feel. This is what we aimed to do achieve with our film. This shows that
narrative is essential to films, all films have a narrative structure and thus this is one of the most
essential principles we had to include, all films have at least one theory and this is Todrov’s Theory
of Equilibrium, this is an essential idea which basically states that all media texts have a beginning,
a middle and an end. This was an essential narrative theory to follow as most real media products
Intertextuality
Intertextuality is the idea that people bring in their own experiences with what ever media text
they are viewing. So basically, people use other media texts in order to find meaning in the one
that they are watching at the time. This is similar to Barthes idea of negotiating the meaning of
media texts.
My film features intertextuality in the sense that we have used teenage actors. These
actors will enable people external to the film the ability to relate to the action, by doing this we
can play on the empathy factor for the characters, this will relate in a better reaction at the end
of the film. This technique is used by many films in the film industry, the Thriller directed by
Christopher Nolan The Prestige used characters that could be related to very easily, while the
actors were well known they were scripted and dressed in a way that was different to their
normal selves or other films and thus this technique is effective. Our film doesn’t do exactly this
as we are using the actors in their typical dress however the audience viewing the film will take
from their past experiences and judge the characters in accordance to these.
However there is a problem with intertextuality to a degree, the people who know the
actors in the film will see the characters and use their experiences with the actors to govern their
ideas of the action in the film; this is flawed as they will be using a relationship that is not the
character in the film and thus the representation we have wished to give may not come across.
Moreover an audience that views the film without knowing the actors would be much
more successful and this is why big screen films maybe supply much more intertextuality. We do
not know the actors personally and therefore find building relationships with the characters easy.
Another example of this can be seen in the fact when we see actors in one film and then in a
completely different film we find it hard to relate to that character, however in films such as This
Is England, directed by Shane Meadows, most of the actors had not been seen before on the big
screen; this allowed for the audience to create relationships with the characters.
Establishing Shot
The typical conventions of establishing shots in films are slow pan shots to give an idea of where the
film is located, additionally they usually show scenery or something that isn’t particularly
spectacular.
However in Thrillers, non-linear structures to films are used and establishing shots can be important
scenes from the film. A perfect example of this is in Christopher Nolan’s Inception, this film starts
with waves crashing as the camera slowly pans. These shots link to the end of the film and are
placed at the beginning in order to confuse the audience, also when the film catches up with this
scene the message is made clear. Because the shot is placed at the beginning it causes the
audience to think straight from the beginning.
The establishing shot in our piece was a scene from the end of our film, alike to Inception. This shows
paper flying down a street, we do not pan the camera, thus it subverts the conventions I have
observed. However I believe the steady shot adds effect to the shot. There is the sound of rustling
paper that gets louder until the scene fades into the opening titles, this sound builds tension,
this is a convention of establishing shots from our chosen genre.
So, our establishing shot subverts conventions of
general films, however it does apply the forms
and conventions of our genre. There are many
examples of this non-linear structure and we
followed this convention in order to add effect.
The mise-én-scene of the shot is very bleak, we
lowered the saturation a convention we applied
due to the depressive theme of our film. This
convention can also be seen in films such as The
Book Of Eli.
Scene 1
The primary convention I have observed for the first scene is to introduce the main character. Our main
character is introduced straight away in the second shot, with the use of a close up of his face. As
he is the first character shown on screen one would assume that he is the main character. We have
therefore applied the convention to our work. An example of this convention can be seen in the
film Inception; the establishing shot is of waves crashing, this is similar to ours as I mentioned on
the previous slide. The camera then pans to a close up of Leonardo DeCaprio’s face. The use of a
close up is how we introduced our main character.
In the shot the camera is held still as most shots are in our film, we did this as this is a convention of
most films. The camera is steady, maybe with a slight zoom or pan which we haven’t incorporated.
However we have still applied the convention of a still camera.
The shot is framed so the main character is to the side to instantly symbolise he is separated from
society, the following shot in this scene is of a bus going past as he has got on it, this then cuts to a
shot of him on the bus, whilst on the bus there are two shots of him, one from the side one from
the front. With both these shots the character is facing away from the camera so his face is
slightly obscured by his long hair, this is a
convention we have applied. There is a voice over
on the bus where the main character speaks
directly to the audience. Talking directly to the
audience is a convention of Psychological Thrillers.
The shot features a bleak setting, the lighting was maybe
too bright for our film however we could not film
on another day; I changed the lighting effect while
editing in order to try and make the mise-en-scene
bleaker than the original shot.
Jump Cut Scene
This scene was used to emphasise how excluded from society our main character is. The scene
features two other actors who are talking to each other while the main character walks around
them. The shot is held still until the main character gets to the edge when there is a series of jump
cuts, while the camera pans, this follows the main character to a seat at the back of the room. The
use of jump cuts is heavily used in film to show time passing and thus this is a convention we have
applied. However in our film we flash to black between our jump cuts and this syncs to music
playing. This therefore has more of a music video feel, we therefore slightly subvert the typical
conventions of films, we added the black flashes to add effect and make the film more visually
striking.
The mise-én-scene is once again bleak, the saturation is turned down again in order to emphasise the
dark mood of the film. The shot is framed so that the main character is at the other end of the
shot to the other actors, this is once again used to represent his separation from society. This
technique is used in many films, we have therefore applied another convention of the industry.
The music we have used is a dance track it has a mysterious tone to it, we used this as it creates a nice
effect with the atmosphere. As I mentioned above
we synced jump cuts to the track playing we did
this as it created a dramatic effect. The use of
music like this and syncing it to jump cuts is
primarily seen in music videos, however it is seen
in films but not often. We therefore subvert the
convention slightly as it is not a common
occurrence in film.
Over The Shoulder Shot Classroom
This is one of the most key shots in our film, the use of an over the shoulder shot to introduce the other main
character. Firstly we were going to use this shot and then zoom it towards the dark character to
emphasise the importance, but we decided against this. Over the shoulder shots are used in films to
make it seem like the audience are more involved with the action, another way of doing this is through
using a point of view shot. We decided against the use of a point of view shot because we felt the over
the shoulder shot was more dramatic. The way we have used this over the shoulder shot applies the
conventions that I have mentioned above. Examples of shots like this can be seen in real media products
in most TV dramas. And additionally in films in order to give the audience the sense that they are being
included in the action as mentioned above, this shot type would therefore be a key feature of our chosen
genre Thrillers as it will help build tension and keep the audience involved.
The mise-én-scene is once again bleak and how we have framed the shot the main character is at one side
with the dark figure at the other side. How we involve this shot into our piece marks the moment, as you
don’t see that part of the room until the main character leaves. This is an essential part of the film and I
believe we put this across by applying the conventions of over the shoulder shots. The lighting is
purposely above the dark figure so his face is obscured by the hood he is wearing, the fact his face is
covered is played on through the whole film. The lighting in the scene is similar to most of the lighting in
the rest of our film, it is naturalistic, coming from
the lights inside the classroom. This is done in
order to represent where the film is being shot.
During this shot there is music playing in the
background, this is the music featured in the
jump cut scene, however it is slowly fading out.
We could have possibly incorporated a voice over
of the main characters thoughts during this shot
in order to explain the shot better.
Flashback Scene
In this shot as there were just the two of us filming and acting clever camera
work was involved. This scene sees the main character (front of shot)
walking from the doors to where he is positioned now. In this shot the
dark figure had to appear behind main character as he turned round the
corner, as there was just the two of us this was pretty difficult to carry
out, but we managed it; through the placement of flashbacks to split up
the scene.
This shot is once again held still on a tripod, following the conventions of film. The shot is framed so the main character
obscures the whole centre of the shot until he moves to the side, (which can be seen right). The mise-en-scene as
with the rest of the film is bleak, this is done to represent the depressive nature of the film, the saturation is
turned down to further emphasise this effect.
The music throughout this scene is in a minor key and used to add effect, there is no dialogue or diegetic sound,
through scenes like this our film uses conventions of music videos very strongly, we used a lack of diegetic sounds
and dialogue to show how our main character was very different to the rest of society. So, this scene is very similar
to something out of music videos, additionally shots like this are used frequently in horror movies in order to build
tension.

For the flashback we used a dip to white to represent the transfer into the
flashback, this is a convention of film. The original flashback that we had
in our film was edited to have a glow effect, we this is seen in many films
to represent the idea of a flashback, this however is not seen in films
aimed at an older target audience, or films in our chosen genre. We
therefore subverted the general convention and applied the one
relevant to out film. In the flashback the camera is held still on a tripod,
the flashback is the show the main character receiving a reward for
English creative writing.
There is a sound effect of clapping to represent the fact he is at an awards evening, there is also a song going on in the
background. This song is in a minor key to emphasise the depressive nature of the film. The use of flashbacks are
also very common in psychological thrillers as they extend the story and add to the psychotic feel of the film.
Bus Scene
This scene shows how the main character and dark figure start seeing more of each other, I edited this
scene so there are jump cuts with the main character wearing different clothes after each cut. I
originally intended the scene to be similar to the scene in Spiderman when Peter Parker is
designing the suit, this however did not happen. Jump cuts are widely used to show time passing,
therefore the way I have used them applies the conventions of film. The use of shots throughout
the scene are mainly close ups of the main character, however there is one close up of the dark
character and the long shot shown below. This shot is framed so they are at different sides of the
shot. Both characters are facing away from the camera, this symbolises there distance from
society, the dark characters face is once again covered up by the hood.
Over the top of this scene there is music playing that my partner composed on GarageBand, this is
piano music with a slow tempo and in a minor key, this is meant to emphasise the depressive
mood of the scene and add dramatic effect when you see the dark character on shot. The way we
shot it gives the viewer the idea that the dark character had been there the whole time, he was
just hidden. This gives the impression that the dark character is always present, thus adding to his
enigmatic character.
The mise-en-scene of the shots is very bleak, the
colours are dim and the atmosphere of the shot
is dark in order to represent the depressive
theme of our film. The lighting is naturalistic, it
is coming through the window, this casts a
shadow on one half of the characters face
adding to their enigmatic identities.
Second Person Comes and Paper Found
This scene features an additional actor and is used to emphasise
the main characters separation from society. The shots used
throughout this scene are primarily long shots showing both
of the characters, this is done so you can see the other actors
reaction to the main characters behaviour, this is the first
scene there are the use of pans, we have done this to widen
our shot use and make our piece look more effective. The
shot used here, is from a high angle, earlier on in the piece
you see the dark character stood where the angle of this shot is, and thus this is meant to
represent his view point and give the representation of him constantly looking down on the main
character. We have followed the conventions of film through the use of steady shots, during
conversation between the two characters we have incorporated such principles as the 180⁰ rule.
The lighting is naturalistic and the mise-en-scene as with the rest of the film is very bleak. However in
this scene as there is the other character some extra colour is injected as they are wearing
brighter clothes, this represents how different he is to the main character.

This shot is in the following scene to the one above, the main character finds a small piece of paper
that is essential for the rest of the film. He does not read it
and quickly places it in his pocket as he realises the part of his
story he was stuck on has been finished. When editing this
shot I put it in slow motion in order to mark the moment, this
is a convention seen in many films. Another way I tried to
represent the importance of this shot is the fact it is a close
up. This will mean the audience are solely concentrating on
that piece of paper. The use of close ups like this is an
important convention of film.
Dark Room Scene
This is the most key scene in our whole film, it is where the dark character can be understood;
throughout the whole film we purposefully made him strange in order to keep the audience
guessing. The shots in the scene are a mixture of long shots (seen below) and medium close ups of
both the characters. The shot below is framed so that the characters are positioned on opposite
sides of the screen. This paired with the dialogue shows how the main character is distancing
himself as he is confused. Through the dialogue in this scene we applied the principle of the 180⁰
rule. I believe the exceedingly bleak mise-en-scene further emphasises the mood of the film and
as this scene is significantly darker than any other adds an extra focus on this scenes importance.
Through the use of bleak mise-en-scene and the framing of our shots I believe we have followed
the conventions of thrillers, shots like these are scene and the shadows in the scene add to the
tension being created.
Split Shot
This split shot has been remarked as the most key shot in our whole piece. This shot happens with the
realisation that the dark figure is actually in the main characters mind. We decided to do a split
shot as seen below to represent the fact that his personality is split into another person. The
audience does not know yet that that dark character is in the main characters mind and would
therefore be confused, it is in the shot after next that everything is made clear. The use of a split
shot like this, I cannot say I have ever seen in a film. It is similar to what is seen in the television
series 24, but we used it in a different way. Therefore we have subverted typical conventions of
film, however I would say that through subverting the conventions we have made our film much
more individual and visually dramatic. Through having two shots running at the same time it
extends the story at a quicker pace, it may be confusing as there is a lot to take in, but this is the
idea of the film. I therefore believe that this shot is one of the most key in our whole film.
The mise-en-scene is extremely bleak, we searched for a location that would be reasonable to shoot
this as we needed a dark room, we then closed all the blinds but one in order to cast shadows.
The dark character has his face completely covered for the first time in the film; he is completely
in shadow. For the main character we used an over the shoulder shot while he goes through his
story to find the dark characters message. This shot
of the main character is similar to one of Ewan
McGregor in The Ghost Writer. We therefore
applied conventions of film.
Throughout the shots leading up to this one there was
music playing in order to convey the fact that this
scene is a pivotal moment in the film. According to
Todrov’s Equilibrium theory it is the disruption.
Two Main Characters
This shot took the most time to edit out of any in the film, it shows two main characters, and to carry
this out I had to research tutorials on the internet on how to do this. The shot, I believe is very
effective. How the scene is structured this shot is shown before the information is shown to the
audience, therefore the audience will be questioning what is going on only to be told in the
following shot. I believe how we structured this is clever, as it keeps the audience guessing for
longer and thus holds their interest longer.
The shot is framed so the two characters are sat at opposite ends of the shot, a running theme in our
whole film, the copy of the main character on the left is sat in the same position as the dark
character is at the beginning of the scene. Prior to the shot above you see the dark character take
down his hood. There are only two times where the dark character is seen with his hood down
and both times he looks like the main character. I believe this is extremely effective and shows the
audience what we intended. Additionally this shot’s mise-en-scene is very bleak, the saturation as
with the rest of the film is turned down and as the room is a blue colour it is very bland. The shot
is messy with chairs and tables cluttered to show the school location and this additionally
represents how confusing the film is and the disruption of the scene.
I have not seen shots like this be used in any films, but
I have seen it happen in music videos which are
using issues such as this. I believe this shot is very
visually impressive because of the cloning
technique as it is something that is not widely
observed in films. This scene had music running
through it, as the music reaches a crescendo there
is the diegetic sound of laughter from the dark
character on the left had side of the shot. This
laugh represents the dark characters mockery as
the main character finally finds out who the dark
character really is.
Main Characters Stood Face to Face
This is one of the last shots in our film. It shows the two characters stood face to face and a car
between them driving up the road. I believe this shot is very visually striking, we framed it using
the running theme of the two characters at opposite ends of the shot, additionally there is the
path between them, this almost acts as a divide showing how their companionship is over.
We had to reshoot this scene multiple times as we didn’t get it right, that is why it is slightly brighter
than the rest of the film. The mise-en-scene is therefore slightly brighter than other scenes which
was partly unintentional and would have been better if we had shot the scene on an overcast day,
however I think it is bleak enough and with the saturation turned down colour is drained out and
therefore the scene seems bleaker than it is. This desaturising is something we have applied all
throughout our film.
As the main character is walking into the road there is a song playing in the background in a minor key.
The main character then runs off shot to the right and the car follows him- this is paired with the
diegetic sound of the car passing, the dark figure then fades and the shot cuts to black. This cut to
black is meant to convey the fact the main character got hit by the car. When editing this I thought
it best to leave out the sound of breaks squeaking and a thud as this seemed very cliché and
ruined the effect the music has. This therefore subverts conventions of film as there would
normally be a thus to convey someone being hit, I don’t think our film needs it and it would spoil
the effect it has on the audience.
The camera all throughout this scene is held still, there is one
cut in this scene, and this is when the car goes past. We
decided to keep this as one flowing shot so that the full
effect of the cloning technique came across to the audience.
I believe this lack of cuts, while it doesn’t show a wide variety
it does show our skill with narrative as we manage to hold
audience attention through a long shot. I would say that this
subverts typical shots in real media products, however my
audience feedback suggests it works.
Characterisation- Main Character
This is the main character in our film, he is seen as an outcast.
Throughout the whole film you see him talk to two people avoid
social interaction at all costs. In the third scene where there are
two fellow classmates in a class as he walks in you can see him
specifically choose to talk around them and sit in a corner. It is not
explained why he is outcast but left to the audiences imagination.
Throughout the film you see the main character getting
progressively closer to another person, and you assume that
they have made friends, but there is more to this other
person than meets the eye.
I played this character as I have the darker hair and we
decided to go against what people would think. We
subverted conventions in the sense that lighter things
usually represent purity and the actor with lighter hair
played the darker character. I believe that this is
effective and strengthens our films individuality.
In order to make the audience connect with the
experience of the character we presented him at a
similar age and look as people who may be
experiencing the problems we address.
Ancillary Task- Poster -Dark character hanging over main
characters shoulder to give the
feeling he is always there.
I followed various
conventions for
this task, they are
listed below:
-Actor names at the top.
-Main characters present.
-Credits at the bottom.
-Title at the bottom.
However I also
subverted some
conventions:
-”The Ghost Writer”
poster shows a scene
from the film whereas
I used a black
background.
-”The Ghost Writer”
features a bleeding
image, I chose not to
use this.
 Key:
Ancillary Task- Double Page Spread Subversion
Application

-Title at -Border.
the top of
the article. -Grab
-Use of lines.
lines to
split up
article.
-Scene
from film.

-Columns.

-I used
-One big picture. multiple
images.
-Small amount
text on right
hand page.
How effective is the
combination of your main
product and ancillary texts?
Film Poster
The main aim for my film poster was to advertise the film, using symbolism to show the features of my film. I carried this
out in many ways. Firstly I used the primary colours red, white and black- this is also consistent with my double page
spread. The use of these colours meant the article was very simplistic and purposefully bleak. I used the colour red
once and this was for the title, as the title uses the most eye-catching colour present it instantly stands out and draws
the viewer in.
Through my research of film posters I found that they nearly all feature tag-lines and they are predominantly placed in the
middle of the page. The actor names are always at the top and the film credits at the bottom, with the title usually
slightly above them. I applied these conventions to my poster. My poster features to main images, these show the
main character and the dark character out of my film, the dark character is hanging over the main characters
shoulder to symbolise how he is in the film. Out of these two pictures only one of the characters is looking out at the
viewer, this is the dark character, as his gaze is facing directly out it could intimidate the viewer and draw them in, the
main character is looking upwards, almost in the direction of the dark character which could give the impression he
relies on the dark character. Between them is the tag-line “Do you know what it feels like to be a nobody?” This is
also the first line in the film, and thus adds effect if the viewer does end up seeing the film. The pictures I saw on film
posters when doing my research nearly all bled to the edge of the page, mine don’t do this. As they don’t bleed this is
a convention that I have subverted the convention however I believe that this was a good decision as it emphasises
the difference of the characters in my film and represents their separation from society. Additionally nearly all the
posters had a background from the film, I did not believe this was necessary as a black background symbolised the
depressing nature of my film. It also shows how the characters are pushed out from society; the lack of a background
shows that they have no attachment to their surroundings. Finally is could also convey that they are intricate,
confusing people- that literally have no background.
The font I used on my article is all the same apart from the title which uses a different text, this is to make it stand out on
the page. Through my research of film posters I found that this was typical to them, I have therefore applied another
convention to my work.
Film Poster Progression
This is the second draft of my
poster, I have added the second
picture and edited it. There is a
slight white glow around the
outside of the main character, this
is intentional, but I edited it out in
the final draft. I moved the
tag-line to the side in order to fill
in dead space. I however move
this by my final draft as where is
positioned at the moment does
not work very effectively as you
can’t see it very clearly. I justify
the text to the left rather than the
centre on my final draft so it
stands out better and finally I
move the picture of the main
character, as where he is
positioned currently, his white
top makes the credits hard to read. I also need to change the picture
I created a basic layout for my film poster,
of the dark person as not enough of him is showing and where the
I edited a photo from the photo shoot of
picture is positioned on the page his head covers up the white
the dark character and placed him in the
writing at the top.
corner (seen above) I created the credits
and placed the title and tagline in their
place. I just needed to add the picture of
the main character.
Final Film Poster
This is my final film poster. I have followed the conventions of real media
products that I saw through my research, I have added the actor
names at the top of the poster, this is a convention of all film posters
that I found another convention is the tag-line. I have placed this in
the middle I did this as I believe this is the most effective location for
it on the page. When editing the photos for this made both of them
fade out at the bottom, so they fade into the title at the bottom of the
page. In the last draft on the previous slide the main character had a
white glow around the outside of him, in this version I have edited out
this glow as it does not look very professional.

What I like about my poster is the fact that it has a fairly basic layout, I
believe that this is really effective in accordance to the context of the
film and what is seen in the film. I like the red title, against the black
and white colours that are featured on the poster, as this causes the
title to stand out much better. Another part of my poster that I like is
the credits at the bottom, while I don’t really like the justification of
them I believe that they are more or less the same as those seen on a professional poster. Because of this I think
that they add a professional effect to my poster. As well as the tag-line that I mentioned above, there is an
advertising grab-line at the bottom right had side of the page, I like how this follows on from the tag-line as it
follows on it adds an extra depth to the poster.
Film Poster Changes
For my film poster I carried out extensive research of posters from a similar genre to my film. However if I was to
make a poster again I would research a broader spectrum of posters so I could get a wider range of ideas. If I
was to change my poster I would add a background- possibly a shot from the last scene of our film. By having
a shot from the film on the poster the audience will know when they get to that scene in the film something
important is about to happen. Also having scenes from the film in the background is a convention of film
posters, I chose to subvert this when making my poster but now I would follow it if given the opportunity to
remake my poster.
A second change I would make with the poster is the photos. Firstly the position; my first draft in the previous
slide showed the tagline in the centre of the poster and the dark character in the corner, if I could remake the
poster I would keep this layout as I believe it is much more effective. However when I took the photos for my
poster I did not get a good photo of myself (the main character) at a certain angle to keep the layout how I
wished. An additional change I would make with the photos is having both characters looking out as the gaze
of people on posters is an essential part of drawing the potential viewer in. In the photos I use one of the
characters is looking out at the audience, I believe that it would be more effective if both of them were.
A final change I would make is the layout of the title and the credits. During the production of my poster I played
around with their justification on the page. I came to the conclusion that the left justification was the best
place for them, as this is similar to a book- you read from left to right, and our film features a book. However
looking over my poster not it is finished I think it would have been a better use of space if I had placed the
titles at a central justification.

So, overall I would change the pictures layout, the background behind the pictures and finally the justification of
the title and credits at the bottom. What I wouldn’t change is the position of the actors names at the top.
Double Page Spread
My main aim of the article was to give the people who read it an idea of what the film was about and give an insight into
the lives of the directors, I believe I achieved this through the part about a day on set and also the small part about
the film premier.
In order to create this I researched many professional double page spreads, I did this in order to find typical conventions of
them. I compared various different articles in order to get an idea of what I would like my double page spread to be
like. Did I want it to be an informal, less serious magazine? Or have a much more serious and adult feel. Due to the
more grown up issues seen in my film I decided to have a more adult presentation, with friendly language so the
reader can find their way through the article with ease. This is a technique I saw through my research. Whilst
researching film review articles, I also looked at game reviews as they have a similar layout, I looked at the differences
between the two layouts and concluded that the game review article had a more informal layout, thus I decided to
follow the conventions of magazines such as Empire. My double page spread had the white border on the outside,
this was to give the article a more professional feel, when researching articles on Google Images, I saw examples of
other student articles, not many of these had a very professional feel or the sense that they belonged to a real
magazine. I then realised not many of them featured the border on the outside, this border adds the effect that the
article is from a magazine and not just a stand alone.
My original intention for the article was to use a large amount of text to use up the space, this however did not happen, I
decided against lots of text due to the nature of my film. My film does not have much speech in it, the main story line
is put across through the shots, thus I thought the article should convey this minimalistic approach to language. My
double page spread therefore has multiple images on it. This is a convention observed in music magazines and lesser
film reviews, however I believe it is better suited to my article. These images are a mixture between production shots
and also shots of the characters in our film. These pictures represent the content in the article, as it is roughly half
about the day on set and half on the premier of the film. The colours on my article are all primary colours, red, white
and black. I used these colours because of the depressing nature of my film- they all have dark connotations. Red is
only used three times; this use of red makes the article more interesting and as the rest of it uses such bland colours
the contrast between the colour draws the reader in.
Double Page Spread Progression
To begin with on my double page spread I
created the border that I had observed through
my research. Secondly I added the white line in
the centre- representing the fold of the page.
Once I had done this I added the name of the
magazine and the page numbers- I additionally
added the review tab at the top of the page.
Finally I added the two photos I was planning on
using, and I was left with a basic layout for my
double page spread. I was planning on just using
these two photographs and making the larger
picture slightly smaller so I could get text below
it. I then thought against this adding more
picture in my second draft 
This is my second draft. I was originally going to use this
as my final production piece. But through audience
research I was given the advice that there was too little
text on it for a double page spread. The whole right hand
side is dominated by pictures, and there is the tag-line
placed on the big picture. This goes over the centre fold,
my audience feedback also showed me that I should
rethink this and place it either side of the fold otherwise
it would be difficult to read unless this spread was in the
middle of the magazine. The text on the article is an
interview with the directors, I originally thought that the
layout I used for this looked good, however looking over
it again it looked very messy and my audience feedback
depicted that I should change it. As my magazine is
meant to be aiming at a more adult target audience, I
should therefore structure the article neatly.
Final Double Page Spread
This is my final double page spread, I feel I
followed the conventions of magazines
to a degree, while subverting some.
So, for my this production piece I have placed
a large amount of text on the left hand
page., whilst the right hand page is
mainly dominated by pictures. The colour
of the text that I have used is white
primarily, I have also used red for certain
important parts of the magazine. This
colour scheme is consistent with my film
poster.
The font is consistent throughout the spread
and also with my film poster. The
narrative of my article is mainly a review
of the film, however there is also a brief
interview with the directors.
As mentioned earlier the double page spread has a large amount of images on the right hand side. This is not a
convention of film magazines and I chose to subvert this due to the lack of speech in my film, I thought it
would be clever symbolism and link the film and the spread together nicely. To add effect and fill up dead
space, I used a grab-line on one of these pictures; as this is the only text on the page apart from the brief
interview, the reader would be interested to find out what the whole article was about. This layout therefore
entices the reader to look at the other page.
Double Page Spread Changes
For my double page spread I would change the layout of the text, nearly all articles have columns for the text. I
did not use columns this is one convention I didn’t follow that I should have. If I had used columns then I
would have been able to fit more text into the article. Another point is that the text I used is quite big and it is
also in bold, this is never seen in real magazine articles so I would change this in order to give my article a
more professional feel. A second change to the text I would make is a better text to picture ratio, the majority
of my article is covered in pictures and because of this gives the impression I was being lazy. There is a reason
for this as my film has a small amount of language I thought it would be clever to represent that in an article,
using a small amount of text as the majority of my film is through shots. This however doesn’t really work in a
review article as that is text based.
Another change I would make is having a bigger interview with the directors and asking questions that flowed
better, how I used the interview in my article makes it seem like I used it just to fill in dead space, which I
didn’t. I would therefore like to change the size of the text- making it bigger, and adding more questions to
extend the interview and link this back to the main article. This change would involve editing the layout of
the pictures as the extra space would have to come from somewhere. If I had to change the layout of the
pictures I would make the large picture slightly smaller, and I would remove two of the smaller pictures in
order to free up space, this would allow for a column on the right hand side as well. If I could have a column
on the right hand side and the pictures in the middle the text to picture ratio would be sorted.
A final change I would make is having a box around the “Conclusion: A*” part, and maybe a brief synopsis of why
it is such a good film, that way the reader could see that and if they like the sound of it, they can read the
rest of the article, and even if they don’t like it they still come away with some knowledge of the film. This is a
skill used by professional journalists all the time, especially in newspapers. If I had incorporated that my
review may have looked more professional.
What have you learned from
your audience feedback?
Film
For our film we received largely positive feedback from our research. We used a questionnaire and gave it to our
media class in order to gain an idea of how they felt towards our film. The last question was orientated
around changes, we used this section of the questionnaire to address any issues that the people saw. The
main issue surrounding our film was the fact that one of the actors was hard to hear, as soon as I received
this feedback I corrected this and re-uploaded the film. Another problem that was highlighted was the fact
that the film was difficult to understand. While this would initially seem like a hugely undermining issue with
the film it isn’t; our film is designed to be hard to understand, it is designed to get people thinking and as only
a small proportion of the overall feedback said it was hard to understand I would assume that was from
people who are not overly interested in the genre of the film. However because of this feedback we did
change the last few scenes around in order to allow for a better flowing film, the original location for the
second to last scene did not allow for as much freedom as the location we shot the final product in.
Another way we have received feedback is through the social networking site YouTube. I linked my film on there
and asked people to supply critiques as to what they thought I should change. The main issue pointed out
through this was the fact that the last scene didn’t cut together properly and flow well with the rest of the
film. This was a huge issue that I was aware of, through audience feedback and advice I was enabled to
address this problem. A final way we gained audience
feedback for the film was by asking people in real life,
this allowed for easy, free discussion and as it wasn’t
over the internet nothing got lost in translation. Using
this method allowed for the most helpful feedback, it
was largely positive but suggested issues and
development that helped my film get to the quality it
is at now.
Double Page Spread and Poster
Poster
My poster generally received very positive feedback from my research. The people who I showed it to liked the simplicity
and the symbolism of the dark character constantly looking over the main characters shoulder. The audience research
I used for this piece was asking people face to face, this method was helpful as it allowed me to change the poster
whilst they were watching allowing for more help. Once I had finished my first draft the main issue people had was
that the main character had a white glow surrounding the outside of his body, I did this intentionally so make him
blend into the black background better; however looking at it now it did not follow conventions and looked like it had
been very badly edited. From this audience feedback I changed the picture, making the edges black and now white.
Additional audience feedback for my poster included where to place the tagline, I was unsure of the position at first
because the research I did into professional film posters predominantly showed the tagline in the middle of the page.
I wanted to place my tagline in the middle of the page with the characters surrounding it. However from the shots I
had of the characters this was not possible, I therefore had to rethink the layout. I gave people examples of the
position and asked them of there opinion (this predominantly happened over Windows Live Messenger, an instant
messaging service.) Once they had given their feedback I took there ideas into consideration and was left with two
possible layouts, this included the final one, seen earlier and one with the tagline more central on several lines; I then
asked someone in person and they helped me decided the final layout.
Double Page Spread
My double page spread was well received in most cases, the reoccurring critique most people suggested was that it
needed more text as it was a text article and it was mainly pictures. This feedback enabled me to produce my final
double page spread, this copy had much more text on it, the people I spoke to said that I should keep roughly the
same layout but make the text smaller. I did keep a similar layout and made the text smaller, however I removed one
picture which allowed for more text. Another suggestion I was given was that the grab-line should not be placed
going over the centre fold of the page; because unless the article was on the centre page it would not work properly
as it would be in the fold. Also looking at the conventions of double page spreads suggests that this is something
which very rarely happens I therefore changed the location of the grab-line. I found the audience feedback extremely
helpful and I believe it allowed me to develop my double page spread very nicely, into the fairly professional looking
end product I have created.
How did you use media
technologies in the
construction, evaluation and
research and planning stages?
 Internet

The biggest use of technology I had was the use of the internet, while this is a technology I use every day it
cannot be overlooked as one of the most essential parts of my media production. Using the internet
enabled me to use a blog, the video sharing website YouTube, get audience feedback through social
networking sites and download the programs I required to make my film. Without the use of the internet I
would have had to upload my film to a memory stick or CD in order for it to have been marked, which would
have been much less convenient. Additionally I would have had to print all of my research and planning off
in order for everything to be marked. I would’ve also had to research everything offline, this would’ve meant
spending a lot of money on physical copies of magazines.

In order to use the internet I had to use internet browsers, the two programs I used were Google Chrome,
and the Apple Inc. program Safari. These programs are handy as they have an in built spell checker they are
therefore helpful for blogging.
 Wordpress

One of the technologies I used was the blogging site ‘Wordpress.’ I used this in order to present my research
and planning for the film, poster and double page spread. I found this website very easy to use and
extremely customisable. I had previous experience with blogging websites such as Blogspot and Tumblr,
when using these I found them to be exceedingly overcomplicated for what I needed them for. Using
Wordpress was much easier, it is easier to use and much quicker and more appropriate for the task at hand.

The benefit of using a blogging website to put all of our planning on is that it saves printing off everything
and creating a physical portfolio, using blogs saves time and allows for greater customisation. Another
benefit of using blogs is the benefit of being able to link from websites such as YouTube (as seen above.) This
is a huge benefit as it means people can find the film much quicker. An additional plus is the ability to add
pictures, this means sketches and written ideas for the film can be placed on the blog with little hassle.
Additionally it means JPEG files such as the poster and double page spread could be uploaded. Finally using
a blog is beneficial as it is on the internet, this means that it has a large amount of exposure, meaning there
is increased opportunity for audience feedback.
 Scribd

I used Scribd in collaboration with Wordpress, I used Scribd to upload PowerPoint presentations as this was
easier than writing out essays into Wordpress and this would have been the alternative. So obviously using
Scribd was beneficial as it saved a huge amount of time. Using Scribd also enabled me to have a wider range
of media forms on my blog as it allowed me to avoid essays.

A benefit of using Scribd is that, like the blog it is on the internet which allows for people to give you
feedback about what you post. You can also link Scribd to Facebook allowing for even more exposure and
potential feedback. For my AS media course I used Scribd and thus already had an account when it came to
this year and using Scribd added some depth and range in the work on my blog meaning it wasn’t just stacks
of text. The exposure some of my presentations have received since last year is more than I could have ever
got without using the internet, one of my posts has over 1000 reads. This shows that the exposure from this
media form is extremely advantageous.
 YouTube

Another technology I used is the well known video sharing website YouTube. This is an extremely good
website to use in order to upload video as it gives your video huge exposure. I used YouTube to upload
mock-up shots, rough cuts and eventually my final film, the use of such a well renowned website means that
the videos I uploaded received a large amount of views without any advertisement. Without YouTube I could
have used another video sharing website, however this would not supply such a large audience as YouTube
is the most used and widely known and therefore I would not have received as much feedback.

Another benefit with YouTube is that you can link the videos to other places, for instance the videos from
YouTube that I uploaded, I linked to Facebook in order to get audience more audience feedback, without the
ability to do this audience feedback would have been harder to collect. Having the ability to do everything
digitally means everything is done much quicker. One issue with YouTube is that the upload time for our
video was a good 4 hours meaning we had to wait a very long time, in total after exporting and uploading
our video almost 6 hours had passed, so in order to upload our video we needed more or less a whole day.
This is an issue that can’t be fixed in the short term and would be helped by quicker internet.
 iMovie

This is an Apple Inc. program, we originally used this to edit our film. The program allowed use to cut down
clips and place them in the order we liked, additionally it allowed us to add titles and transitions to the film,
this allowed our film to look more professional. We uploaded onto the computer from our digital camera
through the use of a cable which is a way how media has converged throughout our production. This
program was helpful to start off the editing of our film, however for the effect that we needed it was not
adept enough. I had never used this program before and therefore had to extend my skills. The program
took some getting used to but I did have past experience video editing before, thus it was easier to grasp
how to use.

We were originally planning on making our whole film on iMovie, however we only ended up using it to
produce mock-up shots and rough cuts. This was because we did not have access to the program at all times
as the Apple Mac’s were at school. Additionally our film took up a very large amount of space and the
drivers at school could not hold all of the files. Due to the fact that we couldn’t do this I had to find another
program to use.
 Premier Pro CS5

After using iMovie as I mentioned before I had to search for different way of editing my film. To do this I
found the Adobe product Premier Pro CS5. As you have to pay for this program I downloaded a free trial,
this trial enabled me the time to edit the film, as this is an Adobe program it is to a very high, professional
standard and thus enabled me to edit the video to a good standard. Additionally as I was using my computer
to do the editing there was enough space meaning the space issue from before was no longer an issue.

This program was very different from iMovie and I therefore had to develop even more skills. Also as this is
an Adobe program I had to get used to the complications, Adobe products are very high quality however
they also have the issue of being hard to understand. I managed to grasp the program after a few hours of
playing around, however I could not use it to a very good standard, I played around with the program
creating a few rough cuts and this allowed my skills to develop. Finally in some of the last scenes in my
media there is a cloning effect, this meant there were two main characters in screen. In order to do this I
followed a tutorial on YouTube. Without this program this effect would have been possible to do on iMovie,
however it would have been harder to create and other effects and the lack of an ability to edit precisely
meant using Premier Pro was much easier.
 Photoshop

Another technology I used was the photo editing program created by Adobe, Photoshop. I used this in order
to create my poster, and to create the basic layout of my double page spread. The skills I used to create this
were mainly developed last year on the AS course, I spent a large amount of my free time also playing
around with Photoshop editing photos and trying to see what the program can do. Because I did this using
the program this year was much easier. The reason I only created the basic layout of my double page spread
with Photoshop is because it is not very good for the addition of text, for the rest of the article I used Adobe
InDesign. Without this program the editing of photos would have been a lot harder as far as I am aware
there are no other programs with the extensive features of Photoshop. I was able to edit photos and create
the layout of my poster, Photoshop was a huge help to my A2 media course.

The skills I developed using this program were just further emphasised from last year, the main
development of my skills came from general layout of the poster and double page spread.
 Digital Video Camera

The camera I used was a Panasonic HDC-SD5,this camera records in HD to an SD card this SD card can then
be placed in a computer to transfer media or this could take place over a cable. The camera has 10x optical
zoom which was very helpful for catching certain shots and throughout all this it is very compact. This meant
me and my partner could carry the camera around looking for places to film with ease. Additionally as it was
just me and my partner working together and we had to act as well as film this camera was extremely
helpful. This is because it has a digital live view window that pops out and can rotate, this meant we could
be on shot and see what is going on, this meant we could frame the shot properly whilst being on shot.

In order to take the images for my poster and double page spread me and my partner used his Cannon
550D, this is an extremely powerful SLR camera with 18 megapixel quality and with the lens he had
equipped 12x optical zoom. This quality was extremely helpful as it allowed us to create our double page
spread and posters on A3 paper size and the pictures weren’t pixelated. Using a camera with this quality
meant that I had to develop my photography skills as pictures blur much easier on higher quality images
because there are more pixels present. I did already have photography experience from AS and through
taking photos in my spare time, I did however have to stretch and develop this skill.