Friday 7 March 2014

Evaluation Question Two - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?


Technically speaking my short film uses a range of equipment to produce the best possible quality short film possible. A combined use of the software and of the hardware that I used meant that I could get a high quality and highly detailed piece of work. Programs such as Adobe InDesign CS6 and Adobe Photoshop CS6 contributed greatly to my poster and my magazine article as they allowed me to manipulate photos in order to create an idealistic product. Photoshop helped greatly with my poster as I had the option to use the magic wand tool in order to remove sections of my images that I could then replace with images I wanted to use. It is this idea of customisation and perfection that meant that my work could be the best possible work I could produce. The video on the other hand was much harder to create to perfection but through the use of the DSLR Camera meant that I could film in a very high quality definition with a close attention to detail that when I put it into Adobe Premiere CS6 I could then have very high quality clips. Many low budget short films like mine tend to have a poor quality due to funding constraints but I had access to the school’s equipment and therefore I did not have these constraints. Without the difficulty that comes with filming constraints it becomes much easier to produce a very effective product. The non-linear editing program Adobe Premiere CS6 allowed me to organise my clips how I wanted with great ease. This freedom of organisation creates a platform that allows me to try many different methods in order to get the video order that best suits my video. The technical aspects of Photoshop and other computer based programs allowed me to gain an understanding of how magazines and posters should be created. Using the professional grade equipment meant that my poster and my ancillary texts looked like much more of a complete package. This, coupled with the different house themes that came I used, namely the colour bars meant that my products looked as though they were a combined product more so.

The aesthetics of my video come down to not only personal interpretation but personal preference. My video features a heavy focus on television and nature. The aesthetics feature contrasting visuals like technology and nature. One shot in particular features my actor kneeling by grass, he picks up a leaf and the overlay used that shows static colour bars crackles and then disappears, highlighting the contrast between nature and technology. Aesthetically all of the products look very similar, they all feature the colour bar imagery very heavily and this links the three products together. The poster utilises a similar font to the article and this means they too look very similar.

I think that my video will emotionally effect the viewer in the sense that it would make them look at themselves and the way they lead their lives. I feel that my product is effective enough to establish a means for the viewer to correct the way they live and to change their lifestyle for the better. My products are emotionally engaging on a personal level as the protagonist is a blank figure for the viewer to project their own self-image onto. Ensuring the emotional effectiveness of my product is definitely the TV head prop as it is something that keeps the film, the poster and the article very neutral. You cannot engage with the character in the conventional sense but viewers get a reflection of what they are and how they behave. I believe that my products will help people to realise their own overuse of TV and technology. My ancillary tasks are emotionally engaging in the sense that they stimulate the viewer's sense of intrigue, they initially appear mysterious and confusing but upon further viewing they become interesting and intricate. This is a good selling point also.

As far as creativity goes, I believe that the product is very good. The TV head prop used was created from scratch from an old TV. There are few to no ideas that are similar to this idea. By breaking certain short film conventions the product becomes far more creative when shown next to an existing short film. In terms of creativity, my ancillary texts involve an entirely constructed magazine that features a fake interview. As far as creativity goes my ancillary texts go the extra mile. Creating a universe around my short film was a troublesome task but its is key when constructing a poster and magazine alongside a video as you want all of them to have some form of established link.

The purpose of the product is to display the message of nature vs. technology with an emphasis on the effect that an over use of TV can have on us. As far as presenting this message goes, the product is effective. Although unclear on the first viewing it is likely to become far more obvious on the second or third viewing.

The combination of the products is quite apparent when looking at the works as a unit. You can see the clear house theme that runs through all of the products, in fact there are a few. The main of which is the TV head prop as it features heavily in the video, it is the centre point and main focus of the poster and the article features pictures that all exhibit the prop. Other than that of the prop, another main house theme is the use of the colour bars that appear when there is a television error. These colour bars appear constantly throughout the short film at increasingly frequent intervals making them a very clear and obvious plot point. The colour bars appear on the poster over the main TV head image with a lowered opacity allowing you to see the TV head image whilst maintaining their input. The article features images that uses the same colour bars throughout them. By keeping a certain house theme throughout the article, the video and the poster it ensures that the product will be effective and that the products will be recognisable as one package rather than three randomly made products.

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