The process of producing our media film for the main excercise has been a challenging yet enjoyable one. Our film; 'Becoming Bella Bright' is of the 'chick flick/musical' genre and is prodominantly aimed at an audience of young girls aged between 13 and 19 years old. This audience has already proved popular with our chosen genre of film, examples include 'Hairspray' directed by Adam Shankman, and 'Camp Rock' which was directed by Matthew Diamond. The reason for the success (in relation to their target audiences) of these films and others like them is greatly due to the fact that the audience are able to relate to the main character/s. For example, the process of getting ready in the morning, the journey to school/work and the general day layout. As a group, we noticed and used this and agreed that the shots where our character was getting ready fot the day were particularly important. We also noticed that chick flick/musical films very often begin with a morning sequence and end with a sequence which takes place in the evening. So even thought the story may happen over a period of days, the whole film is essentially one day. People like clear beginnings, and then closure. This is another reason our film is a morning sequence.
Camp Rock Opening Sequence - Notes in Research Link
We wanted to use 'upbeat' music to aid our film, and chose carefully which music would suit our product. We wanted our audience to get a feeling of a build-up to something and a positive mood from the opening sequence, which would then set up the 'feel' and atmosphere for the whole film. Chick flick/musicals are generally upbeat, are 'feel-good' and have happy endings, and we chose
not to deviate from this norm.
In terms of casting, we decided to use the cliche stereotype of a female blonde. We decided this because the stereotype of blondes today suits our main character very well. She is bubbly, confident, high maintenance and slightly nieve. 'Becoming Bella Bright' suggests a process and even the whole storyline and general direction of the film. Very simply, the main girl is going for an audition for the lead part of the character 'Bella Bright' in a musical, the process of the auditions and learning to become Bella Bright changes her and her nieve and slightly 'stuck-up' attitude towards life.
Another thing we noticed during the research stage, was how codes and conventions in the set of the films we looked at were used to reinforce the characters personality and associate with the target audience. We drew on this and went with the idea of a girly bedroom for our main character and a very over-the-top dress code for her very over-the-top personality. We wanted her to stand out. To demonstrate her individuality and non-coforming dress sense, we brought in a second character to walk past her to show a constrast in costume.
To make our product 'flow' and look realistic in terms of the time the events happen over, we used continuting editing. For example, when the girl's alarm clock strikes 7am, to her eyes opening, then back to the alarm clock with her hitting the 'off' button. It was hard to get the second hand in the right place at the right time over 3 seperate shots needing to look like a single process. In another part of our opening film sequence, the girl in our film is walking down a corridor towards a door, then it cuts to an over-the-shoulder shot of her pulling the handle and opening the door, then to a close-up of her feet walking into the audition room. The continuity of this edit was important so that it looked like it happened all in one shot with no unfilled time or pauses.
As a group, we didn't want the audience to see the girl in full or her whole face untill the very end, so that the sequence is a process that is building up to the final finished product of the girl, and keeps the audience watching and interested. This is why we used lots of close-ups, to only show and reveal certain parts of the girl, and never her whole face/head. We wanted our target audience to be able to relate to the process of getting ready so that they relate it back to themselves and their routine so that they understand because the audience are there with her, getting ready. When you do finally see the whole of the girl head-on in a panning-up long-shot, she is the happy, bright, bouncy blonde you expect. The lighting is bright to reinforce her mood and the mood of the film. The pan is slow, a point-of-view shot from the auditioner behind the piano. The audience sees what the auditioner sees. So you go from being right next to the main girl, getting ready, to someone else looking at her, seeing her in full, now ready for her audition.
Overall, I am pleased with our film and feel we have worked well as a group and well within our roles. Things I could have improved on include my technical skills, as we had to use Premier Pro to edit rather than Movie Maker so I couldn't offer as much help with editing as I would have liked. I also could have done more research and perhaps more detailed paper work in general. Although I am happy with the outcome of this main excercise and have found it a valuable experience in terms of film making and the process of it.
Links:
Roles & Ideas
SWOT
Research
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