KM - Evaluation Question Seven

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

When completing our Preliminary task, we were asked to create a film with no budget while maintaining a sense of realism, which i have found very hard. This is due to the fact we have basically no budget, so if we were to have a budget, there would be vast improvements in the locations, cast, and there would a variety of added shots, that would come across as better quality.

Also we have learnt the rule of shot reverse shot which we challenged in the preliminary task, and now understanding the idea of it, without using this method the text wont make sense because it doesn't look as if the two participants are sat facing each other.

We were also taught that there is an effective way to show binary opposition of two characters which is something we never had time to show in our coursework, but if we were to develop our media product further then this may be something we would progress and work on.

Semiotic terms I have learnt :
Signifier - A detail we pick out of a text that the audience sees has a significant meaning E.G. a blonde busty woman is a signifier of your typical 'Scream Queen'
Denotation - A description of what you can see or hear e.g. we can denote from the high pitched scream that a female is being killed or a false scare has occured.
Connotation - What is signifier carries a specific meaning.
Binary opposition - Two opposite characters shown in a text together which can be shown in shot reverse shot for example a scream queen and a final girl an example of this in a text would be in James Bond, Casino Royale.
Polysemic - An idea given that carries many possible meanings although thepreferred reading was intended by the producers although an audience may not take it in and instead go for a meaning close to this (contested reading) or the opposite of what the producers wanted to signify (oppositional reading) 
Commutation test - Changing a key item on scream e.g a character clothing choice to see if there is a significant change to the audience reaction for example if James Bond wore a Pink bikini on an advertising poster or billboard it would change the who genre interpretation of the text from an action film to a Gay film.
Narrative enigma - A hidden element within a text to add an element of mystery used to engage the audience or hide a killer in Horror genre films as we did so in 'No Hiding Place'.
Intertextuality - Meanings from another text being tied into a newer one to show a similar meaning or imply the same thing will happen again. 
Verisimilitude - Creating and achieving a sense of realism by what you apply to a text on screen and example of this would be Amber's birthday, Cards, cake and diagetic sound was used.



Untitled from katie mallows on Vimeo.


We have included our very first film to show how far we have progressed through shots, camera angles, casting, and the storyline itself.