Websell and Crawford Productions

By Paul Websell, Jade Williams and Ryan Crawford

INTRO

Task was set to produce a two minute film.

Our group included Paul, Jade and Ryan .

Each person was required to produce a short story of

approximately 1500 words. Between the group we had to

decide which persons short story to use. In the end the

chosen short story was Ryan’s. This story was based on a

teenager who is wrongly accused of murder and as a group

we found this the most exciting storyline. For this reason the film is called ACCUSED. We called it this becuase

We thought this was a manageable task to do in the time limit given.

We clearly decided who would do each job, Paul and Ryan acting, with Jade filming and editing.

Overview of jobs

• Paul Websell- Actor, evaluation writer, came up with some shots.

• Jade Williams- Director, camera woman, editor• Ryan Crawford- Actor, storywriter, got the tape.• ‘ The’ Sarah Thomas- cameo appearance. Actress.

Jade Williams

• Jade in our film was the camera woman, editor and director.

• Although she had no real experience of this before she did a very good job, especially with the editing in a short period of time.

• Jade’s story was not chosen as the location of the filming would be hard to get to, as well as needing a lot of acting to films.

Paul Websell

• Paul was actor as well as the majority writer of the evaluation. His script was not chosen despite its very good storyline and amazing idea, because it had to many characters for our group size.

• He acted as he had some experience in acting already at GCSE and enjoys acting as a whole. He also came up with some of the shot ideas, such as the low angle shots.

Ryan Crawford

• Ryan took up the role of acting as well as being the story writer. We choose Ryan’s story as it was easiest to film with the time available. Also the plot was good, as was the general story.

• He also acted as he was interested in the field of acting, and enjoys acting.

Shooting the film

• Our film we shot in a documentary type style. We did this because its different and made our sequence feel more real.

• Our film started well, despite Ryan’s absence from some lessons, but later we had problems which have affected continuity which makes the story sometimes confusing. We also couldn’t add music to our story due to timing issues, which if we could start again, may have tried to manage better.

• We filmed our locations in our media room, which made it easier as it was on site. It also reminded us of an interview room and reminded other people of it to, which was the effect we were trying to achieve.

In what way does our media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products??

• Our media product uses different elements of real media products such as opening and ending credits.

• Our product uses a range of shots and camera angle, which some real media products use in theirs, e.g. the low angle shot to show power.

• We did try also and keep some of the conventions of mise en scene, e.g. a typical police cell and interview room.

How does the media product represent particular social groups?

• We challenge the convention of the rebel teenager and the law abiding policeman, as ours insinuates that the policeman is corrupt, whereas the teenager appears to be telling the truth.

• We achieved this generally through the plot, writing that idea into our story. We also achieved a representation through the mise en scene, with Ryan wearing particular clothes for his character. If we had more time Paul’s policeman character may have had more of a formal outfit, but we had to get on with the filming.

What kind of media institution would distribute our media product??

• We would say our media product may not really be shown in cinema, we see it more as a television show or possibly shown at picture houses, as the story suits the time frame, as does the story in general.

• The reason why we say it isn't suitable for the cinema as it is too short even as a full story, and we think it would make a good one hour TV drama, so this is the media institution we think would distribute it.

• I think the company that would show it is ITV, on the ITV drama section.

Audience for our media product?

• I think people who like typical police dramas e.g. life on mars, The Bill, Ashes to ashes etc. Because it is similar to them with a similar story so I think this would appeal to them.

• I think our age range would be between 16- 40 possibly a little bit older, but I don’t think its serious content would suit younger children.

• I think our piece would be targeted for a mass audience.

How did we attract our audience?

• We tried to follow the conventions typical police drama audiences like, e.g. with the story, shots, and ideals.

• We achieved this by having a good, solid story to start from, and then working the typical shots in e.g. low angle shots to make the policeman seem in a stronger position. We also kept the similar ideals and the whole mystery behind who did it in ours, which would attract the audience we were going for.

• We also started straight into it which is another reason why an audience may be attracted quickly.

• In all I think we achieved what we wanted to do.• When we showed it too people of our age range, they generally

liked it, saying they would watch it if it came on to the TV. They also said they were impressed with what we had done in the time limit given.

• The questionairre

What have we learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this?

• We learned how to use the camera properly for the desired affect, such as manual focus.

• Also we learnt a lot about editing, what's needed, how to make credits, but most importantly how to improve your piece through editing.

Looking back at preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression to full product?

• As well as using cameras properly and editing, we learnt how to attract an audience using just two minutes, and definitely developed our skills to try and use a range of shots.

• We definitely learnt a lot about editing, as we had no experience before this task.

Summary

• I think in all, our group did very well, especially due to the small amount of time given, as well as some delays in filming and editing. We got most of what we wanted to do done, and although we missed some things out which doesn't help the continuity, as well as not being able to go through some shots, we still did more than I thought we would be able to manage. Things like more rushes, and CCTV shots may have been added, but in all, with what we achieved, we were very happy.

•ANY QUESTIONS??