Learner Response

WWW: You pick out some good aspects from the production and your assessment of the strengths and weaknesses is pretty honest and accurate.

EBI: However, you haven’t completed the task – there are only 400 words here and 500 was the absolute minimum. Written English is poor in places – I don’t think you have proof-read this work and overall this lack of attention to detail is extremely disappointing. In fact, I’m starting to become quite worried you will underachieve in Media – this is way below what we expect and your Film Language assessment was an E grade. A pattern is developing that you need to actively address – if you want a good grade in Media you need to change the way you work and do it quickly. For this evaluation, you write a lot about the process but don’t analyse the production as a media text. For the real evaluation in March you must consider the impact on audience and deconstruct the aspects of film language in detail.

LR: 

• I will need to re-read over my work.
• Make sure what I talk about is more detailed, e.g, the different aspects of film language.
• I need to consider the impact of the audiences.
• Instead of writing about the process, I need to analyse the production as a media text. 

Arthouse Film Institution Research

Production: Independent film studios

1. 

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - This film was produced by 'Focus Features'. It had a budget of $20 million and grossed over $70 million worldwide.
Donnie Darko - This was produced by 'Flower Films' it had a budget of $3.8 million and made $7.6 million.

Boyhood - The producer of this film was 'IFC Productions'.  The film's distributor, committed to a film budget of US$200,000 per year, or $2.4 million over the 12-year shooting period. 

Babadook - The production company of this film was 'Causeway Films' and it was distributed by 'Entertainment One IFC Films Icon Productions'. The budget for this film was $2 million.

Oculus - The company that produced this film was 'Blumhouse Productions' and the budget for this film was $5 million.

2.

Focus Features – Fifty Shades Of Grey, Promised Land, Brokeback Mountain.

IFC Productions - My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Land of Plenty, The Other Woman.

Causeway Films – Babadook.  

Blumhouse Productions – Paranormal Activity, The Purge, Insidious.

3. 

• Focus Features – Focus' most successful release in North America to date is Brokeback Mountain (2005), which earned $83,043,761 at the North American box office. Focus' most successful international release is Burn After Reading (2008), which earned $161,128,228 in gross revenue. 
• IFC Productions - IFC have produced many successful movies. President of IFC Entertainment Jonathan Sehring said: “Many of our most successful VOD titles are those that might fall under the Midnight label – not just films that are straight up horror, erotic arthouse or genre films but also ones that shock audiences, push boundaries and stir up controversy. 
• Causeway Films  - Causeway's most successful film was the psychological thriller 'The Babadook' 
• Blumhouse Productions – Blumhouse Productions have many successful low budget films, the main ones include Paranormal Activity, The Purge, Insidious and many more horror films. 

Existing Product Research

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

This scene is quite unusual, as we think the man is actually talking to someone, but at the end it's revealed that nobody is actually there. He may of lost the woman in some sort of way and is missing her, and therefore is hallucinating to think that she is actually there. Even though, he's engaged/soon to be married, he still seems to want her. She seems a bit mysterious as she says, 'too many guys think I'm a concept or I complete them or I'm going to make them alive'. Which may suggest she's been in a lot relationships. Furthermore, he must really like her because he said "I thought you were gonna save my life". 
The camera work in this scene is unusual, as it's handheld throughout the whole scene. This would intrigue the audience more, as they would feel more intrigued/more involved with what's happening. The scene starts off with a close-up and then slowly goes into a medium shot. The director may of done this to show the intimacy of both characters and then as they start talking it fades out into long shots. However, there are still some close-ups throughout the scene. For example, when she's touching his shoulders and the camera goes behind the bookshelf. It helps convey the intimacy of them. The editing of this scene is quite straightforward and I think the director did this to help us keep up with what's actually happening between both characters and not to be distracted with the editing.
 Furthermore, the actor isn't dressed very well, he looks quite scruffy, which may suggest he is going through a rough time without her. The actress seems quite distracted with the work she's doing and she's constantly walking around. However, the actor seems to always have his eyes on her and follows her to wherever she's going. In addition, there's no non-diegetic music in the background and this helps create a more serious atmosphere to the scene. 
Finally, I think the target audience for this film would be a 15, because it seems quite intimate and there was some swearing in it. 

Donnie Darko

In this scene I can tell the male actor is at some sort of therapy session. The jump-cut to the flashback in the beginning may suggest that he at therapy because of the girl he was on the trampoline with. Other than the one jump-cut, there is only straight cuts from the boy to the therapist. The pace of the cuts is neither fast or slow, and this helps the audience keep up with whatever the boy and the therapist are discussing. Also, the fact that it isn't very fast paced emphasises the emotions of the boy.There is also juxtaposition due to the continuous use of the eye-line match of both characters looking at each other. The lighting in this scene is very dim, and this helps create a sombre/depressing theme. Furthermore, the male actors body language and facial expressions help show the audience that he may be depressed, as he isn't sat up right or smiling. In addition, as both characters are talking, the camera slowly zooms in and goes into a close-up.I think the director may of done this because as the camera zooms in, the conversation also gets deeper. Right at the beginning, there is a birds-eye-view shot of the boy and girl on the trampoline, and there is non-diegetic music being played. This carries on as they are initially talking in the beginning, but as the conversation deepens and becomes more serious, it fades out and then there is no more music. I think this film would be targeted for a teenage audience and for people who enjoy psychologically based films.

Boyhood

This clip starts off with an establishing shot and then the camera movement is panning down to a birds-eye-view shot of the car. There is then a tracking shot of the car which then goes into a medium shot of the guy in the car. To start of this scene there is non-diegetic music. As he's in the car there's POV shot of him looking out into the road. There are also a couple of straight cuts from a shot of him in the car, to a shot of the car driving, which may of been taken using a crane. The pace of the cuts aren't very quick, which sets a slow pace for the rest of the scene, Also, the non-diegetic music is quite slow and peaceful.  Furthermore, as he's driving there's a crane following the car and there's continuous long shots of the car. There is then a long shot of the actor filling up his car which cuts into into a medium shot. In addition, there is another POV shot as he takes pictures. Also, as he's taking the picture there's a couple of medium shots of him. There's another establishing shot as he arrives at the school which turns into panning shot as he pulls up. The male actor looks quite scruffy due to what he's wearing and his hair looks quite messy too, which may suggest he's been on the road for quite sometime. I think this film would be targeted at teenagers, mainly 15 and above. 

Babadook

This scene starts off with a long shot of the actress walking into the room, it then goes gradually goes into a medium shot as she slowly walks down the steps with the camera following her. As she gets closer to the male, she gets closer to the camera, and this turns into a close-up of her. There is then another medium shot of both characters hugging. Furthermore, as soon as the male character says "You just need to bring me the boy" the actress instantly retreats away from him and the camera slowly follows her. Also, as soon as this happens the lighting automatically fades and cuts into a medium shot of the male actor and she runs into the darkness, there isn't a lot of lighting throughout the rest of this scene and I think the director may of done this as it helps create a more sinister atmosphere. Throughout the scene there are mostly just straight-cuts, which aren't too fast or too slow, which keeps us intrigued as we don't know whats going to happen next due to the uneven pace of the cuts. The beginning of this scene starts off quite slow, however, once she realises that the male actor has been possessed by the demon, the pace begins to pick up and get more sinister. There is both non-diegetic and diegetic music in this scene. There is an example of non-diegetic music when the actress is crawling along the floor and we can hear drums in the background, the director may of done this to create suspense. In contrast, we can also hear diegetic sounds in this scene. An example of this is when she runs up from the basement and the lights begin to flicker and burst. We can also hear the sinister buzzing when the demon is near. Furthermore, there is a tracking shot when the actress is on the floor crawling and this is taken in a medium shot. There is then a close-up of the actress right at the end, which then turns into an extreme close-up of her eye. There is then a sound bridge when there's a woman screaming the next shot is of the TV. 

I think this film would be targeted at teenagers, 15 and above. 

Oculus

This scene starts off with a medium close-up of the male actor, with a diegetic alarm going off in the background. However, as this alarm starts to fade out there is a long shot of him sitting on the floor. The next scene is of the girl, and this also starts off with a medium shot. Throughout this scene, there are multiple long shots and medium shots. Furthermore, when the young girl see's her mum through the mirror, there is non-diegetic music being played and this carries on until the male actor presses the button to release the weapon, and the music cuts off instantly. A low sombre piece of non-diegetic music starts up again once he realises what he has done. There is then a POV shot as he looks into the mirror and see's the girl dying. In this moment there is a close-up  of both characters, and I think the director may of done this in this specific moment as it captures the audience more as we see more emotion from both characters. In addition, during this scene, there are multiple jump cuts to flashbacks of both characters when they were younger. This is continuous throughout the whole scene. There is then an extreme close-up of the guy once the girl dies, and in this moment there is both diegetic and non-diegetic music being played, the diegetic sound being the police sirens, we know this sound is diegetic as we can see the flashing lights from the police car. Right until the end, there are flashbacks to when both characters were kids and along with this there is non-diegetic music being played, the music chosen throughout this scene is parallel to this scene as it's quite sombre and sinister. I think this film would be targeted at an teenage audience as it doesn't really seem suitable for young kids, as there's some gory parts, and I don't think an older audience would really enjoy a horror film like this. Also, in terms of a gender based audience, I think it would be balanced.

Preliminary Production Evaluation

Our preliminary exercise went well, as it fit all the requirements of the brief. It included dialogue, match on action shots and POV shots. The script was included and very easy  to follow. We also did an over the shoulder shot, however, it wasn't shot very well as there was a lot of dead space. The narrative was very easy to follow and understand. Also, the editing of the shots were all edited well together. We used different angles and shots which made the scene look more appealing and a bit more professional. The dialogue itself was very easy to hear,however, it wasn't very professional and it could've been a bit more detailed to make the scene seem more natural and flow better. The music chosen was parallel to the scene which also helped created drama and tension. The choice of music made the scene seem a bit more comical and not so serious. The use of the music in the beginning made the scene flow more, whereas if there was no music, it would look a bit weird. 

 Nonetheless, there were some mistakes in our preliminary exercise. For example, as me and Aliza were talking there was a slight humming noise which was quite off putting. Some of the cuts looked odd and it didn't flow as well, some of the shots and dialogue could've been longer. Also, as mentioned before, the over the shoulder shot didn't really work either. Due to these mistakes, we would have to do more planning and try a few more shots as this exercise wasn't planned very well. Also, the dialogue wasn't detailed as well and therefore, didn't look professional/natural. 

 Furthermore, as Aliza left the room to end the scene there was no music in the background and which looked a bit odd, as there was music in the beginning and to finish it off, there wasn't. Through the character of Aliza and the dialogue we can tell she's quite 'bitchy' and confident, as she sits up confidentially and is seen as intimidating. In contrast to the way I'm sitting, huddled up and not so confident. The acting could've been better to make the production seem more natural and professional. Overall, we managed to meet the majority of the requirements, even though there were some mistakes. There were some good shots, the dialogue was clear and easy to listen to and the narrative was simple and easy to follow.