Evaluation Question 2 - Ancillary Texts

How effective are our short and ancillary texts?

Evaluation Question 1 - Traditional Media Concepts

Rule of Thirds & The Golden Ratio

This shot is my favourite shot in our short, and after analysis it's not hard to realise why. The framing is very close to a ratio found all around nature. The green lines represent The Golden Ratio, a 68/32 ratio. As you can see, our protagonist's body is close to the horizontal divide, whilst the horizon near perfectly lines up to the vertical line.

A composition of both The Rule of Thirds and The Golden Ratio, showing the similarity between them. In this shot, the bench along the bottom of the shot is fairly close to the vertical divide.

Here's a shot from Run Lola Run, which also shows the golden ratio being used. The background scenery possesses a clear line of contrast which conveniently matches up near perfectly with the vertical ratio line.

Evaluation Question 1 - Run Lola Run Comparison

A Comparison with real world media products.

In the research and planning stage of work on our project, we took a look at how the German thriller Run Lola Run attempted to keep viewers visually stimulated using camerawork and editing. We also looked at inspiration from the Danish crime movie Pusher for our non-action sequences, which uses an over the shoulder long-take near the beginning of the movie.

Our Short - After Thought

In this shot, the protagonist fills 1/3 of the screen space, while his reflection takes up the remaining are, utilising the rule of thirds, whilst retaining this character's very high importance in the shot.	The rule of thirds is used heavily in our short to ensure framing is aesthetically pleasing to look at.
	Focus plus are also used to add an additional visual stimulus in close up shots.
I've chosen to create a nine shot comparison between our film and Run Lola Run as both fall under the alternative thriller genre, and therefore share some similarities, such as a fast, tracking camera, and handheld camera work. It also shares some similar themes, such as alternative choices and wasted opportunities, as well as a similar, electronic musical style.

Comparison - Run Lola Run

The rule of thirds is also used heavily in Run Lola Run, giving importance to the background scenery, which is ever changing, showing her movement across the city.
Fast, tracking shots are used to convey speed of Lola's movement.
	For a little variation, a canted angle is used. This has the effect of making the structure of the bridge in the background a little more visually interesting than looking at it flat on, as a complex patten is visible through the gaps in the structure.

Comparison - Electronic Music

Both After Thought and Run Lola Run share a similar music style, fast paced, electronic music style, intended to make the action sequences that little bit more intense. However as well as following this convention I decided to keep the slower element of the piano throughout in my music.

Click one of the videos below to listen to the action music.

Evaluation Question 3 - Wordle Cloud

Evaluation Question 3 - Audience Reactions

As well as conducting an interview, I was also lucky enough to get permission from a friend to record their reactions to our short as it was being played.




Coming into the viewing, Barney did not know what to expect. When I chatted with him afterwards was impressed with the visuals, but confused in a few parts of the narrative and misinterpreted a few things. Whilst our short film is a thriller, intended to keep the audience guessing, what became clear during the interview was that the transition from diegetic world to his thoughts was probably not as pronounced as it could have been. Apart from that, the viewer noticed no particular editing, which is possibly a sign that use of basic media camera and editing concepts such as the 180 degree rule are used adequately and without major flaws.

Of the elements of the short film I had creative control over, I had creative control over, specifically the title sequence and the music, no major individual issues were voiced. However the title sequence was rated in general as being satisfactory, but lacking in terms of visual interest, with the main title "After Thought" appearing like "an intro to a TV show".

The music, however, was deemed suitable and of good quality despite the repetition of motifs which I was worried about. Fortunately this viewer believed it to suit the style of the rest of the project well, and did not leave anything to be desired.

A few hints were needed to understand the importance of the reflective objects throughout the film, such as the lighter, mobile phone and piece of broken glass. Initially, Barney thought that the mobile phone did not possess any relevance and was simply product placement. To continue, he raises an eyebrow in the final show of broken glass, because he assumed that the protagonist was going to use it to stab his assailant.

In the above video, As you can see, he struggled to maintain his composure at some points of dialogue, this he explained to me as a result of the voice over leaving the impression of the main character being whiny and full of angst in a way that appeared almost comical. For that very reason, he did not like the addition of the voiceover, but recognized the narrative and plot of the short film would be harder to understand without.

I also showed Barney our previous project, an opening sequence titled "The Unbeliever" and asked for feedback in comparison, to see where our group has improved over the course. In this case, the less confusing narrative was greatly preferred over the circular, reality jumping structure our A2 project presents. The style of The Unbeliever was also deemed more suitable, the use of strong yellow grading in our A2 short film was brought into question as having a symbolic meaning, which I had to explain as being used to denote events taking place in the main character's mind.

Evaluation Question 3 - Interview Notes

Here's my notes from an interview I conducted right after a first viewings of "After Thought" and "The Unbeliever".

A2 Project - "After Thought"

• Narrative challenging to understand.
• Ending makes little sense.
• Does the final sequence take place before or after fight/standoff on pier, or is it a creation of the protagonist's imagination?
• Does the title sequence take place before or after final chase scene.
• Credits sequence conveys a sense of disorientation, relevant to plot.
• Plot good, with faults
• Didn't understand purpose of scene where protagonist is asked for lighter.
• Broken glass misinterpreted meanings - Assumed protagonist would use it to stab assalint.
• Who is calling the antagonist and why is it so important that he leaves the standoff.
• Who is in the car and what relation do they have with the protagonist. 
• Credit titles suitable.
• After Thought title overly dramatic.
• Looks like a TV show opening sequence.
• Editing not intrusive
• Not noticed - Good
• Mirrors
• Assumed looking at bruised face.
• Flashbacks not so obvious.
• Staring into phone seen as endorsement, rather than a reflection trigger.
• At parts ranged from visually uninteresting to "looks really cool".
• Hair blowing in wind after being knocked over.
• Looking out over the town with birds flying overhead.
• Very yellow grading noticed
• Is this supposed to convey a symbolic meaning?
• "Afterthought" should be a single word.
• Music suitable
• Despite repetition and slow buildup, it wasn't boring.
• Conveyed mood of short.
• Sound effects okay.
• Noticed hyper-realistic effects - Punches sound like gunshots.
• Acting was good.
• Didn't like voice over.
• Came out as weak, whiney, and angsty. 

AS Project - "The Unbeliever"

• Improvements since:
• The longer running time of the A2 film allows for the story to be explained more.
• More interesting plot. 
• More depth in narrative - Characters less "flat".
• AS project better suited to sepia/yellow tinted grading.

Poster - Final

A small spelling mistake pointed out by Chris has been corrected, and a misplaced grading mask on Will's face has been moved back into place.