Andrew Goldman

Evaluation

For this unit, our task was to create a short film featuring news conventions

reporting a crime or incident committed by fairy tale creatures. My group

consisted of Rory, Will, Owen, Josh and I. For this evaluation I will be exploring

the ways in which my piece could have been improved and also what went

particularly well. From this I will be able to identify ways to improve for a

future piece.

Pre-Production

When given the task and made our groups we began brainstorming ideas for a

storyline, a fairy tale/rhyme and a way to present it to the audience. This

worked well as we were able to put fantastic ideas forward into a big pile and

work around them and find any links or correlations between the ideas

created. Eventually we finalised a title ‘Goldilocks and the 3 assaults’. However

we crossed that over to 3 deaths and making Goldilocks a greatly feared serial

killer. We added Humpty Dumpty and the kings men into the story to add

variety which I think worked. The convention of news we added was based on

the TV show Crimewatch, involving interviews and reconstructions of the

crimes that occurred. Thus creating ‘Mythical Crimewatch’.

The film

After successful filming and editing my finalised project had some great

elements and conventions of news reporting and TV show presenting. The

opening image is that of the BBC ONE logo. This feature in my

opinion could have been exploited more and better used. Perhaps using a

moving image that you see before most BBC shows for example the swimming

hippos. It’s just too bland for me so a tip for next time would be to feature a

moving image of an actual BBC opening. Then it cuts to me as the presenter of

Andrew Goldman

Mythical Crimewatch as I introduce the show with the logo in the top left hand

corner throughout the 5 minute film. This works well within the film due to

that being a figure in many TV shows and keeps the audience within the shows

boundaries. As the interview commences scenes are cut in a way of the

interview following the reconstruction as it happens. For example the

interview is on the topic of Goldilocks shooting the General and while they are

talking the audience can actually watch this happen as the reconstruction

which helps to separate reality and fiction with the audience. It’s a clever

feature which is a much used convention of television. It also creates an aroma

of tension because the audience knows they survive the attack, but they don’t

know how. The usage of the small but noticeable reconstruction sign at the

bottom left of some scenes is also important as it creates a distinct difference

between what is the interview and what is the reconstruction although I regret

not having this sign throughout all reconstructed scenes because the audience

may feel slightly confused about the separation of what they’re watching.

Luckily however with the structure of the interview, with me as the presenter

and with Will and Owen as the two soldiers possibly the reconstruction sign

was not as necessary as first thought. You may just have to rely on the

audience’s knowledge and understanding of my character as the presenter as

opposed to me playing Humpty Dumpty and the General. I think that I gave my

characters different personalisation which I hope helped the audience. The

final convention I will evaluate is that of the default stills I used to

communicate to the audience by them reading stills. This element worked in

certain areas and failed in others. Firstly ways in which it didn’t work, it’s not a

feature you see often in television and I believe that I used it too much. The

audience would probably get bored of continuously reading them. I must

admit it’s not a convention used too often so next time I would certainly

shorten them. In contrast it did work in some cases especially the final one

which happened to be the final shot. It features the classic ‘what happened

next’ flashcard, telling the audience what the current situation on the story is.

That is a key and well used convention used in TV as it enlightens the audience

about the final report on what they’ve just watched. That along with eerie

music in the background makes for a good ending to Mythical Crimewatch.

Andrew Goldman

Conclusion

To conclude this evaluation of Mythical Crimewatch, I think that I successfully

used TV and news conventions in my programme and that I’ve identified flaws

and also ways in which I can improve on them next time I make something like

this.