I used my own-made questionnaire to analyse the TV advert we made. The responses we got were mainly positive, but there was of course room for improvement. This form of research gave me a good indication as to where to improve next time.
ESting questionnaire
To assess my animation, I asked a few of my friends and family members of different age groups to take a look and answer a few questions. Aside from the general questions, I asked them more about my animation - the questions can be seen below.
In my animation evaluation. I went through the responses I got from my questionnaire in which I asked the audience to analyse their thoughts of the finished product. This was helpful to improve for the future, by getting an overview of what the intended target audience thought of my project.
3MW documentary - Risk Assessment
For my production research, I needed to produce a risk assessment. This was particularly important, considering I was under 18 at the time of filming. I feel like I showed a good understanding of what and what not to do during the production process, and I avoided all these potential risks.
3MW documentary - Production Schedule
Another example of my production research was my use of a production schedule. I like creating production schedules as it gives me a clear guideline as to what I'm shooting and when I'm shooting it. It helps with planning, but it also makes me more dedicated to manage time effectively.
Secondary Research
My TV advert pitch
I was asked to re-brand a Unilever product to a new audience, and create a TV advert in order to reach the new audience. To pitch my idea, I created a short presentation to present to my class and speak over the top of it. For this, I used a lot of secondary research in the form of existing adverts and research of the target audience.
Existing TV advert analysis
I then decided to take a deeper approach to this method. I analysed in detail an existing TV advert. This was a good form of secondary research as it was relevant to my brief, giving me a clear indication to what was expected of me.
Responding to E4 and the brief
The biggest factor which ensured I did well in this task was analysing the brief. Not only the brief, but also E4 as a company. I did just that in my responding to the brief blog post. I essentially went through and spoke about how I can perform each element of the brief, whilst touching on the demographic that E4 caters to.
Grassroots football
Last but not least, the other form of secondary research I did was looking at articles online. This was done in order to obtain a deeper understanding of my chosen documentary subject, which was grassroots football. I made sure to rely on facts and any statistics always came in handy.
This was a good method of research because all the information was in the public domain and easily accessible for me. You can find this blog post here.
Research in the media industry, like
many other industries, is increasingly important. As competition increases, it’s
become and more vital that the companies keep up with demand. To do so, there
are a number of different ways to conduct research.
Primary research
Primary research is a method of
research which is conducted by the filmmaker/company themselves. Methods of
primary research include surveys, a look at analytics , questionnaires, or a
look at what’s trending through online forums, etc.
In order to achieve my own primary
research, I asked my friends and family to fill in an online questionnaire
which was intended to achieve the best results in my planning stage.
I essentially went through the results of my questionnaire ad added analysis to whether or not they met my intention - responding to the target audience, USP, etc.
Secondary research
Secondary research is research which
has already been accessed, and it available to the public domain. Examples of
this kind of research can be found within online articles, books, or previous
case studies.
In order to achieve my own secondary
research, I took a look online. We were given the task to look at famous
animators throughout history and analyse their work. I enjoyed this, because it
gave me an insight into what is popular and how to attract, as well as keep the
interest of potential audiences.
We were also asked to respond to a
brief within our animation, with the brief being to produce a short ESting
animation for E4. I achieved this by creating a blog post comparing the target
audience of E4 in comparison to mine.
Qualitative research
Qualitative research is research which
orientates around words, as appose to numbers. Within the film industry, this
can be to take a look at film reviews, online forums or leaving open spaces
within surverys.
We were asked to produce an advert for a Unilever product. So, for some qualitative research of my own, I decided to head over to their website and learn more about them, their history and what they aim to achieve within their products.
I produced a prezi running through all the things I learnt through my research.
Data gathering agencies
Data
gathering agencies are companies which provide open figures to budding
filmmakers. They can range from viewing figures to age groups interested in a
particular show. These are important to filmmakers, especially those who are
asked to respond to a brief.
The
main example of this within the film industry is IMDB. IMDB is a film review
based website which is used by the public as well as filmmakers. They provide
short previews of the film, as well as a rating out of 100. This is an average
rating from the viewers who have gone over to IMDB to make their thoughts known
on the film.
The
reason this is so important to filmmakers is because it provides an insight
into what is popular among a certain genre, as well as how good a certain film
is doing among the target audience.
Another data gathering agency, for those who are more interested in statistics, is BARB. The company provides television ratings which are accessible to the public domain.
Advertisers often use these figures to decide when the best time to place a particular advert on the television and between which shows. The aim of this is to retain audience retention, and of course, increase conversions based on the aims of their advert.
Audience and market research
The most important kind of research within the media industry, in my opinion, is audience and market research. This type of research tailors around the actions from the audience. These may include audience retention, behaviour, and the effects of advertisement placement.
It was hard for me to analyse this kind of data, but I used secondary research in the form of data gathering agencies like BARB.
Production research
Production research is mainly primary
research, which is used to preview a particular production. These can include
the likes of location research, budgeting, or simply planning how you want the
production to plan out.
This is good to give you a general
idea of what needs to be done, as well as giving an indication to when certain
aspects need to be completed.
A lot of my production research came
when I planned my documentary on grassroots football. Of course, I had to
research each production I took part in, but this meant the most to me as I did
everything myself, as oppose to working in a group.
The genre of my short film idea is horror. It isn’t the typical
type of horror, because it’s more aligned to today’s society.
The concept, essentially, is two young boys who think they run
the school, bully the wrong child and it takes a sudden turn. However, all the
action happens online, as the young boy plays mind games with the two bullies.
He asks them a series of ‘Would you rather?’ questions, which they must commit
to. He bribes them through keeping one of the girlfriends hostage, and the
other in a separate video chat. The film takes a sudden twist when the two
young boys track his location and travel there, only to be arrested for all
they have done.
My unique selling point is the fact everything is run through social
media. Although this has been the case in past movies, it’s not as common as it
should be given the era we live in.
My target audience is teenagers, which will be easier to
advertise, given most teenagers are on social media (which is also the USP, so
everything goes hand-in-hand).
Character briefs
Ryan Smith is a 16 year old thug, attending high school at his local public school. He is the stereotypical thug-like character, with long, unorganised hair. He wears his school uniform quite raggedly, with his tie being as small as possible, his top button undone and his shirt untucked. He craves attention although he is quite awkward. His actions signify a need for attention, and he always looks to bring out the most in his best friend, Lenny. He is clearly a troubled child, although he acts cocky and as if nothing is the matter with his home life.
Lenny is clearly the most submissive out of the twi, and he finds it hard to turn down what Ryan asks of him. He is the most sensible of the two, and it shows when he tries to talk Ryan out of things. He appears a lot less scruffy than Ryan does, with his hair organised and his uniform clean and pristine. He isn't very successful at talking his best friend out of things and he often finds himself falling in the traps that he is set.
Ryan has a girlfriend, Stacey, who isn't a leading character, although she does play a big part in the film. She is clearly a lot better than Ryan, and she has him under the thumb. She can do a lot better than him and Ryan knows it. She has long, wavy blonde hair and all the boys around school admire her, the girls too. She isn't overly-keen on makeup but she does well with what she has.
We aren't introduced to the main protagonist until the very end, and he isn't given a name. Ryan and Lenny call him 'Lighter boy' because of an incident which happens early on in the film. He is interrogated by the two boys using a lighter and this sets he tone. He is small, and takes on the nerd appearance. He has a squeaky voice and wears glasses, but he always has a devilish look on his face, particularly towards the end.
Background notes
My inspiration for the film came from watching a similar film in 'Unfriended'. I took the genre and added my own twists to it. My short film idea is a lot more film-like, as a lot of the action takes place away from the computer screen.
I also took inspiration from some facts and figures I read online. Supposedly, the average person has 5-6 social media, spending over 2 hours per day on the accounts. This is a lot to grasp, but it isn't ridiculous when you consider how much our lives are dictated by the platforms which mean nothing.
I feel like there isn't enough films which show the importance of social media, and I wanted my idea to be based around it, with my own added twists.
The way I choose to distribute my short film is through YouTube and, ironically, social media. The platforms mentioned are typical for short film productions, as they are too short to make into a movie but perfect for quick consumption. These are also free methods of distribution, and the advertisements come free also.
The Aesthetica Short Film Festival, known as ASFF, is a short film competition in the UK. Not only is it a competition, but it's also an excellent opportunity for budding filmmakers to meet with people who may help them excel in the industry. Submissions are sent to their website and there is a bunch of rules as follows:
Music/sound copyright must be dealt with first by the filmmaker
All ages are free to submit content
Entrants from all over the world are accepted
If a film is produced in a foreign language, English subtitles must be included
Films can be up to 35 minutes in length, but films under 30 minutes have more chance of being selected
There is no limit to the number of films submitted by one person
Components of a script
Character development
RYAN is wearing his creased school uniform, with his tie made as short as possible and his top button undone. He is wearing no blazer, and his school shirt is rolled up to his elbows. LENNY looks the smartest out of the two, although he doesn't notice his brightness himself.
We see RYAN and LENNY walk around the school, as if they own the place. This is only because the two of them know they're in the younger half of the school, and they aren't at risk of being belittled by any students their age.
RYAN is clearly the ringleader of the two, as he keeps jostling LENNY's arm to follow him along. They find a group of young boys, and RYAN decides it would be a good idea to walk straight through them, rather than moving out of the way to let them past. He barges one of the young boys to the floor, before running away as a teacher calls his name in disgust.
Outer presence
Outer presence is used to define what the audience sees of a character. It's usually portrayed across the character's dominant characteristics. Outer presence can cover a range of indications -
I think my character development demonstrates a good use of outer presence as it portrays Ryan to be quite the smug person through his actions and his body language. For example, when he barges through the group of young boys with no care in the world, until of course he is called over by one of the teachers.
It also portrays Lenny to be brought up well, although he is rather socially inept. This is shown by him being the smartest in a not so smart crowd, and he doesn't even realise it.
Context
The context is what an audience can assume from a certain scene. This may be through speech, facial expressions, or in my case, the ways in which surrounding characters react to the situation.
In my character development, we can assume that surrounding students aren't frightened by the two boys. They all seem to get on with their days, until Ryan ruins it. This would suggest that actually, the two bullies aren't as frightening as they think they are.
Inner presence
The inner presence of a character is the opposite to their outer presence. Where the outer presence emphasises their exterior characteristics, the inner presence focuses more on the thoughts and feelings associated with the character.
In my character development, we can see this when Ryan jostles Lenny's arm, which shows that Ryan looks down on him in some way, or that he feels it's the only way he can get him to do things with him.
Norm - A short film
Act 1 - Set-up
Although the film follows a conversation the whole way, a clear structure can be seen. To begin with, we are interested to the three characters. One is minding his own business, while the other two arrive home from a night out. This short film is about the ethics behind veganism, although it's portrayed in a different light. The characters are described as 'consensualists' and 'non-consensualists'. The guy who is minding his own business is a consensualist, but in terms of the message, he is the vegan.
Plot point
The first plot point comes when one of the non-consensualists begins to speak about having non-consensual sex, openly in front of the non-consensualist. Of course, given the message, he is talking about eating meat/dairy or engaging in other forms of animal exploitation. He is then told that the person is a consensualist, which sets the tone.
Act 2 - Confrontation
The confrontation then begins, which in this case, is a form of interrogation towards the consensualist. He is asked tons of questions, all of which he is able to answer but the conversation continues to grow deeper and deeper.
Act 3 - The resolution
The resolution occurs when the two debating finally reach a settlement. In this case, the consensualist convinces the non-consensualists that just because something is a 'norm', it doesn't mean it's ethically or morally right. He uses the case of history and the slave market as an example.
"ANDY" - Short Film
Act 1 - The setup
In this short film, we are introduced to the main character Andy through his usual school-day. He is referred to as 'Andrew' which he always tries to correct, but no-one listens. This portrays him to be quite the easy target for both students and teachers.
Plot Point
The first plot point comes when Andy and his best friend are invited to a party. This sets the tone for the action about to unfold in the coming scenes.
Act 2 - The confrontation
The confrontation takes place when Andy and Des, his best friend, are smoking in the bathroom of the house. The party host, Lia, comes to join them and when Des goes to get some water, Andy and Lia are left to their own devices. They start to have sex, before Lia's ex boyfriend comes in and finds them. He publicly humiliates Andy by dragging him out of the bathroom, and pictures are soon spread aorund online. Andy seeks revenge.
Act 3 - The resolution
This short film doesn't follow the standard set-up, and actually, there is no 'resolution'. The ending is left on a cliff-hanger, because the way Andy gets revenge is by spreading a rumor about Lia via social media. He leaked screen captures of her and her teacher texting, talking about having sex. The film ends with everybody around school shocked, but it's clear Andy was the person who made the Twitter account.
Audience Research
My target audience for 'The invite' is teenagers of around 15-18 years old. Luckily, this is the age range of people around me. I asked a few friends and family members to take a look at my script and see if they would be interested in watching the final film. They were honest, and although most of them said yes, a few said no as they found it un-achievable. This only motivates me to complete the film, as I feel like it could exceed expectations, and turn out to be really good for the target audience.
Film inspiration
I would like my location to be somewhat relatable to my target audience. Luckily, teenagers spend the most time in their bedrooms, which is where a large section of 'The Invite' will be. Of course, there will be other settings throughout the movie, but these will all be relatable too.
On first glance of my script, many would take away from it a school, a bedroom and the street as the main locations. However, when you delve into the film-making side of things, and scenes like flashbacks are considered, there may be other settings to consider.
This also ties in with my inspiration. My inspiration for the short film idea was a movie called 'Unfriended'. Unfriended is mainly based in the bedrooms of teenagers on a group video call, I will take this idea and develop it with a bit more narrative.
Another thing which influenced me was the era which we live in. It's a social media-driven era, yet the films we see made today don't reflect that well enough. On average, a person owns 5-6 social media accounts, which is a lot in comparison to one real life.
Ultimately though, the decision all came down to my personal preference. My favourite genre of film is horror, and I love when those films revolve around the internet. I always find them fascinating to watch. In the film industry, social media-driven films are easy to promote, as they always seem to catch on well.
In order to exhibit my product, it was initially uploaded to YouTube. I have embedded it here. Then, I shared the YouTube link to some of my friends and family via social media. The reason I did this is to first of all, ensure my work is viewed.
Also, I wanted to gain some feedback, to find out if my animation achieved the purpose I had set it to achieve. However, I feel like sharing it to my friends and family was perhaps a biased approach, because a lot of them will share the same interests as me so this could have shown in the results.
This, surprisingly, wasn't the case. Upon obtaining feedback, I discovered that my idea was completely different to those I asked. I purposely used questions that would fit in with the idea of the animation. Here are my questions:
Which gender are you?
How old are you?
After watching this animation, which age range do you think it would attract?
After watching this animation, which gender do you think it would attract?
Which styles did you notice being used within this animation?
Rate the aesthetic quality
Rate the imaginative quality
Which genre do you think this animation fits into?
Which do you like the most after watching my animation?
The first couple of questions set the tone for the answers I was about to receive. I found out that the average age of my participants was 19 years old; which is great, because that's the kind of age range I was aiming for. However, I then found out that the the survey participants were largely male orientated, with 90% being male. This is by no means a dilemma, as my target audience was males, but it would have been nice to get a well-rounded opinion.
Question 1 results
The results I obtained for question 3 were interesting, but also expected. Although I had hoped to attract an older target audience pre-production, I did find myself making it more 'childish' than I first imagined, which turned out to be fine. This shown in my results, as 50% of people believed it would tailor to children between the ages of 7 and 13 years old.
Question 3 results
Question 4 was the one I was anticipating the most. I originally aimed to achieve a male target audience, and I assumed that, after finishing my animation, I had achieved this. However, my peers disagreed. 80% of the people who voted, voted for both genders. The remaining two participants were split between male and female.
Question 4 results
I aimed to achieve a rather messy look to my animation, which is why I was shocked to see the results of one of my questions. I asked my participants to rate the aesthetic quality out of 100, and the average equaled 64%, which isn't bad considering I made it look rather unpolished. I was more impressed when I asked them to rate the imaginative quality, and received an average of 73%
Question 6 results
Question 7 results
The Process
When making my ESting, due to me being at home and using all props that I had handcrafted or made amendments to, there was no problem with legal issues. The only prop that I needed to buy was plasticine, which isn't the most expensive thing in the world, especially considering I only needed two colours.
My time management was certainly an area I could improve on. Although I managed to meet the deadline, I was unable to follow my personal production, which would have made the animation less stressful to complete. Having a lot of short time slots dedicated to making this ESting was how I planned it to pan out, however missing one slot led to me missing the next which resulted in me having more to do in less time. I started well, getting my first two seconds of content done within my first few days, however I ended up with the remaining eight seconds to do within three days. This is achievable, as shown, however it's not ideal.
Luckily, I had already prepared which music I would be using, which obviously complied to E4's regulations. The audio clip was ten seconds long, as was my animation. Although I would have preferred more time, these were the rules set by E4 and honestly, I feel like they made my animation better and more entertaining. If the rules weren't in place, I would have overthought the whole project, but following them made everything much more efficient.
In order to obtain feedback, I created an online questionnaire. This was done after my animation was made, and I learnt a lot from it. I distributed the survey, along with my finished ESting across social media, as well as asking my family to complete it.
I feel like I definitely learnt how to be independent in this project. Beforehand, I had relied on others too much to carry the work to completion. It was me taking a task on by myself in order to realise that I was relying on others. I'm happy that I was thrown into the deep end, so to speak, as I feel like this is the best way I learn. I now appreciate single person productions much more than I used to, because I've had firsthand experience of the complications that can be encountered in such a production.
I feel like I completed this task to the best of my ability, in the given time, so I'm happy on that front. This is the first time I've been asked to follow a brief and a time limit when making a moving image project, so I feel like it's a strong learning curve, perhaps the strongest I'll ever get. It's given me a lot of confidence, and I would definitely be open to doing it again. It would be interesting to see how I can incorporate what I've learnt into other media forms, for example documentaries. There's definitely more assurance when working in a team, but I'm no longer as scared as I was once to work independently.
However, sticking with animations - they're certainly fun to make. I love the idea of taking an object that many would look at as inanimate, and giving it human-like features. I used plasticine and a few household toys in order to produce mine, but I would love to broaden this. Many students in my class used people at the forefront of their productions, and they looked good. This is something I would consider for the next animation I possibly make. If I were to be hindsight bias, I would say that this was the best choice of props to achieve what I wanted to achieve. Working with humans in an animation would certainly be more flexible, and there'd be a wider variety to what you could portray, so I can see why this is what's used in the majority of animations.
Overall, I'm happy with how this project turned out. Obviously, there's a few things that I look back at now and see the improvements that could be made, but that's only natural. Judging by the feedback I got, others are of the same opinion as me.
