Evaluation - Christopher Gordon-Douglas

Christopher Gordon-Douglas – Evaluation


The aim of our coursework was to create a 2 minute opening sequence for a film, we had different tasks to complete which included things like genre research, BBFC study, Auter Study and Film Opening scenes analysis, our main research attribute was watching film opening sequences and using the Internet to find vital information that would aid us in delivering a cutting edge opening sequence. During the production we went through the different steps involved in putting together a film i.e. storyboards and music research so that it suites our picked genre and style.

Our 2-minute opening was based on the drama genre and that particular genre revolves heavily around realistic themes and ideas. I think we achieve this by surpassing the archetypes that the audience expect from a traditional stereotypical drama sequence, also another way we have done this is by putting an element of mystery and enigma in there to keep the audience on edge and wondering what’s going to happen next, our group had to deliver this to keep the audiences attention during the opening sequence, because if we had a poor opening scene the audience feedback wouldn’t be good as it didn’t keep them occupied and entertained, we used many different techniques to try and achieve this, we used a variety of camera angles and shot to keep the suspense , also we tried a lot of editing techniques to make the experience seamless, another element was to use a location that was familiar, e.g. if you are trying to make an urban drama in the countryside it wouldn’t work as the setting doesn’t adhere to what you are trying to achieve.

I think that our media text developed into a real media product because we adhered to the codes and conventions that the drama genre offered to us, and we did this by introducing the setting, the main characters and the setting, but not totally introducing them to the audience by keeping the plot and the characters profile and background limited, and not exposing too much to the audience, also the dialogue helps a lot to adhere to the conventions e.g. in the opening sequence one of the characters says “don’t worry hakims nothing” this shows that the characters work for someone or they look up to someone this shows how deep the storyline goes.

Our media text shows the diverse social groups, e.g. for our text it is urban youth, as there are many different problem revolving around this social group, e.g. knife crime and theft, also our text shows the element of social realism of what people in this social class have to go through to survive on a daily basis.

The media institution that would distribute our film is revolver, as they have distributed many other successful British Film Dramas, as a group and using our own knowledge we decided that Revolver was the perfect choice given their background with the Drama genre also distribution companies such as Paramount and Columbia wouldn't have as much experience at targeting a British audience that would be interested in viewing the film.

They way in which we targeted our audience is with, posters as well as viral marketing by uploading clips to YouTube etc.

Upon looking back I feel that during the course of this task we improved our media language and skills to different branches and gained knowledge that would aid us further.

Name: Christopher Gordon
Candidate Number: 1485
Centre Name: Capital City Academy
Centre Number: 12350