1. EvaluationNathan Boothroyd

2. After looking through many childrens films before creating this project there were certainconventions we wished to include in our film. A few examples of the conventions we stuck towere; making our protagonist (Max) a child which is seen in many childrens films as it allowsthe target audience to relate to the character. Another convention we included was action andgetting straight to the point, which involves a large amount of action and small amounts ofdialogue occurs frequently in childrens films as children prefer visual entertainment ratherthan verbal. This is the reason why we decided to open the movie with an exciting chasescene and only included a small amount of dialogue. A convention we wanted to add wasover acting as kids generally do not judge the actors acting abilities so over acting is thereto add more visual humour. We aimed to add this convention but due to filming delay therewas no time to add in the scene which included over acting and we were unable to include it.The location we used was quite conventional towards childrens films due to the fact it iseasily relatable to kids as they spend time playing in parks and woods. As in most childrensfilms the main characters are introduced straight away to avoid confusion. Maxs mother isused to show he is a normal kid who listens to his mother which is the same as most childprotagonists in order to set a good example. It is very conventional in childrens films for themain character to be the good guy which is what Max will be presented as throughout thisfilm.This photo shows a screen shot of thechase scene. 3. Conventions we challenged were; the music we usedwhich was very fast pace and suited to an action movierather than childrens film which usually involves moreupbeat music and it is there to enhance expression andAn example of natural lighting beingemotion rather than increase the tension. The reasonused (compare with above)we decided to use action music was because weneeded to create the correct atmosphere and didntwant to lighten the mood or make the scene lessdramatic than it needs to be. Another convention wedidnt stick to was bright lighting which is used tolighten atmosphere and give the movie almost acartoon effect. We had no choice but not to include thisconvention as it would have been very difficult to lightevery scene especially when all shots were takenoutside. We decided to leave the lighting as it wasnaturally. This didnt turn out too bad as we didnt wantto lighten up the chase in the woods and the scene atthe end has no coverage from trees so becomes lighternaturally and shows the mood change well. 4. In our childrens film we represented childhood from thepoint of view of Max. We represent childhood as fun andvery imaginative by involving Max in one of hisimaginations but viewing the scene from his minds eye.Max can be compared to Kevin (Macaulay Caulkin) fromthe Movie Home Alone. Both Kevin and Max are at adependant age so when they do things such stopburglars or being a spy its that much more impressiveand surprising for the audience to view. Anotherconvention both our film and Home Alone uses isindependence of the protagonist although still beingportrayed as a child at the same time. Kevin is told off byhis mum a lot at the beginning making him an everydaychild that kids can relate to but then later on in the film hebecomes very independent this is similar to Maxssituation as Max is pretending to be a serious agentrunning through the woods then is told to come inside byhis mum.Both Kevin and Max are the good guys of the film, Kevinsaving his house from burglars and Max will go ontobeing a real spy to help stop the bad guys.Home Alone starts off with Kevins family running aroundin manic and you can only see kids playing and yelling.This is similar to our film as it involves little dialogue anda lot of action and children being children. 5. If our film was a professionally made film it would be most suited to beproduced by Vertigo Films. I believe this due to the films that have beenproduced by Vertigo Films are similar to our idea such as Horrid Henry.Although Vertigo Films produce a lot of films that are very different to ourchildrens film opening, their most recent movie (Horrid henry) is very similar toours in the fact it has a child protagonist who is very imaginative and naughtyand loves getting into mischief which is very similar to Max.A secondary Production company which could be used for our film is Filmographyproductions . Filmography productions produce films such as, St Tinians andHunky Dory which are both childrens film. 6. The target audience for our product is between 8-12 yearold boys. This is our target audience as it is generally theage kids find a large interest in guns and have very activeimaginations. I feel 8-12 year old boys would be able torelate to this best as that is the age we have set Max at.When creating this film we did also consider parents whowould be coming to watch this film with their kids so wetook care of the way we filmed our opening to make itlooked professional and conventional towards an action filmwhich should appeal towards the adults.After looking at the BBFC website we have decided a PGwould be most suited for our film as although it containsguns, action and the indication of violence but only mild, noactual shooting occurs only a chase scene and it all turnsout to be his imagination. 7. We have appealed to our audience byincluding a classic chase scene using quickediting such when Max steps on a twig andthere is a quick reaction shot to show theguards head turn. The shots we used alsohelped increase action and helped to draw theviewer in such as the close up of Maxs footwhich shows exactly what is going on and themore the shots jump about the more excitingthe film. We also used fast music to buildtension such as when there is a reversereaction shot where Max starts to run awayand loud drum & base music kicks in to showthe panic and tension of max running away.We have thought about the mise-en-sceneand included guns and dressed Max in a suitto show how serious the chase is in hisimagination as guns increases tension as A screen shot to show propsthere is high danger. These techniques are used in filmsgood at sucking in the audience. I think thisaction scene is most suited for our audienceas most young boys are into action andespecially when it involves someone their age. 8. Before this project I had never had experiences withblogs. In past projects I have used a diary or I hadtyped it on word. I found the blog useful as it was easyto sort out updates and scan through updates alsouploading photos and the preliminary task was madeeasier but I found it to be a lot of hassle logging ontothe website and finding my blog etc. which meant lessposting was done than I would have liked assometimes the hassle was not worth a quick summaryof the lesson when that time could be used on editingetc. I had never used garage band or final cut before.In a media lesson we had the chance to edit film clipstogether and in another lesson we had the chance tomake music for a scene in a movie. I had troubleadjusting to the mac software at first but after a while Ilearnt the basics and found it very fun editing soundand the images. I most enjoyed garage band which Ihave since practised with similar software at home forfuture projects. 9. For our preliminary task we had tasks to complete and rules to stick by. Firstlywe had to plan our ideas and how we are going to complete these tasks. Thishelped us form a way of planning for our finial film, we learnt what was themost important things to plan and what things could be adlibbed, we alsolearnt a lot about planning time. We had to include match on action (this iswhere you change a camera angle while an actor is doing something and itappears continuous). In our preliminary task we used a man jumping over thefence to fulfil this. We carried this technique onto our final film during the chasescene when the guard runs towards the camera and it edits to him runningpast it. We were told in our preliminary task to stick by the 180 degree rule(this is where you only film on one side of the actor(s) to prevent confusion).We used this in our final film but we had no choice as the other side of ourscenery did not fit in.The preliminary task helped a lot with finding suitable scenery in the schoolgrounds which allowed us to shape our ideas to fit the surroundings for thefinal movie. I also learnt the basic skills of the software needed (final cutexpress and garage band) and it was good applying them to something wehave made rather than an example film. From the preliminary task I alsomanaged to experiment with different camera shots and angles. We hadcertain shots we had to conclude (Long, medium shot and close up) whichtaught us variety for our final film. 10. The preliminary task also taught us how to sort out timing of our filmand taught us to have a strongly structured plan but due toabsences it made it hard to stick to these plans.Since the preliminary task I have improved in both sound andediting skills. I have also learnt how to apply credits to the film andhow to use music better to increase emotion in the film.This beginning task helped our group bond and although not a lot ofcreativity was needed, it helped our group bond and made it easier forus to share ideas and get the most out of our group.