Dear Moderator

Dear Moderator

My name is Nikita Bansi and welcome to my blog. It is a record of the work undertaken as part of the G321 AS Foundation Portfolio within the OCR GCE cause in Media Studies. I worked independently to produce a film opening in the romantic genre. The project lasted four months, commencing in September 2015 and finishing in March 2016. I hope you enjoy my work and find it both successful and interesting. Please use the navigation bar to access my work as organised into labels: audience, case studies, construction, digital technology, evaluations, movie experience, planning and research. There is also a link to the St Mary's School Blog Hub. Due to the confidentiality of the hospital that I used to film my opening in, I have been restricted in what I can and cannot put on to the internet. This means that some of my evaluations have been put onto a DVD that has been sent to OCR. These evaluations include: evaluation 1, 5 (a script of my answer can be found on my blog of evaluation 5) and evaluation 7 (a script can be found on my blog). Of course my film opening is also on the DVD.

Yours faithfully

Nikita Bansi

My Final Film Opening

Due to the hospital confidentiality I was requested not to put any of my hospital footage online. Therefore, you can find my final film opening on the external DVD sent to the examination board.

Thank you.

Evaluation 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products

Due to the hospital confidentiality I was requested not to put any of my hospital footage online. Therefore, you can find my evaluation 1 on the external CD sent to the examination board. I have presented it on PowerPoint Presentation, but I have also provided a voice recording along with the text and pictures.

Thank you.

Evaluation 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

For My evaluation 2 I decided to use the format of prezi. Prezi was new to be before I started media AS and I have learnt to love it!

Evaluation 3 - What kind of media institution would distribute your media product and why?

I have created a video to answer the question: What kind of media institution would distribute your media product and why? I used the online software: go animate. It did take me a while howeverI think it has worked well.

Here is a link to the video that I made:

(please press the picture to watch my evaluation)

This is the script that I made before putting all the information on the to video...

FAITH (Presenter):

Hello and welcome to who will distribute my movie?  The best talk show in town! (Applause!) I am your host Faith Davis and today we are joined with three distributers that are looking to distribute the new up and coming film Breathless, directed by Nikita Bansi and produced by guacamole films. The distributers are: Ross Coleman from Studio Canal UK, James Richardson the co-founder of Vertigo films and the BFI’s Amanda Nevill

First we have the CEO from Studio Canal UK to talk to us about their distribution company.

ROSS (Studio Canal UK):

Hi I am Ross Coleman from Studio Canal UK. We are a film distributor founded in 1999. We have a reputation for an innovative approach to distribution. We want to achieve the best possible results! We distribute a total of more than 50 films a year throughout Europe. We have also produced ‘The Awakening’ in 2011 which is a British horror starring the BAFTA winning Rebecca Hall. Most recently we have distrusted the movie ‘Carol’. The products that we produce are feature films.

FAITH:

Thank you Ross, looks like you have a very successful company there! Now we have James Richardson from Vertigo Films

JAMES (Vertigo Films):

Hi I am James from Vertigo Films, a UK film and distribution company. We were founded by Allan Niblo and myself in 2002. Our company mission is to create and distribute commercially driven independent films. So far we have distributed around 35 films; these ranged from genre and audience. We distributed the feel good musical ‘Walking on Sunshine’ which was a romantic musical released in 2014.

FAITH: 

That was very interesting James, thank you for your time. An independent company can be very useful for a low budget film! Lastly, we have Amanda Nevill Talking to us about the British Film institute.

AMANDA (BFI):

Hello, I am Amanda Nevill the chair executive of the BFI that was formed in 1933. We are a charitable organisation that promotes filmmaking in the United Kingdom. We encourage the development of film and promote these with the BBC and Channel 4, whom we work very closely with. We hire out films for theatrical, non-theatrical and educational screening in cinemas and other venues across the UK and internationally. We also have our own website that audience members can pay a small amount to watch the films on our website.

FAITH:

Thank you so much Amanda, it is really great to hear that filmmaking can happen though your charitable origination. Now, who will be chosen to distribute the film ‘Breathless’? please welcome Nikita Bansi the director of the film! (applause).

NIKITA:

Hello, thank you, thank you. After much deliberation, I’m delighted that both the BFI and Vertigo films are going to work together to distribute my film because they both encourage the development of film and the BFI is a charitable organisation that has helped so many independent film-makers find an audience for their great movies! It would have been amazing to have worked with Studio Canal UK, however I feel that it is a very big company for my small film. Vertigo Films and the BFI fit with my genre, a romantic drama. Both companies distribute films both in the UK and internationally which means that my film will reach the widest possible audience! Even though Vertigo are an independent company, their films are still very successful. The movie Monsters directed by Gareth Edwards is a great example as he only had a budget of £500,000 and the profit of the movie was £5 million. Furthermore, Vertigo are a strong distributor of DVD’s as their movie ‘The Football Factory’ is the largest grossing independent DVD in the UK. Moveover, the BFI have an online website for the distribution of films and people can watch these films online. They also have contact with cinemas across the UK.

AMANDA:

We at the BFI are really excited about distributing your film.

JAMES (Vertigo Films):

And we at Vertigo think your film is commercially viable. It’s a great, moving story, with fabulous new acting talent and a topic that will really resonate with audiences both in the UK and internationally. We can’t wait to get to work.

FAITH:

A great result, Nikita, I hope all goes well! That is it from us, hope you enjoyed this episode, see you next time on ‘Who will distribute my movie?’

Evaluation 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

For my evaluation 4 I have chosen the format of SlideShare. I have never used slide share before but when I disproved how to use it it was easy to use. SlideShare is a web based slide hosting service. You can upload files privately or public in formats such as Powerpoint, PDF, Keynote or OpenDocument presentations.

Evaluation 4 -Evaluation 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product? from Nikita Bansi

Evaluation 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

Due to the hospital confidentiality I was requested not to put any of my hospital footage online. Therefore, you can find my evaluation 5 on the external CD sent to the examination board. I have presented it on iMovie. I have filmed myself talking about how I have attracted and addressed my audience. I have used video clips from my opening to help me answer the question. 

Thank you.


This is my script for my answer to the evaluation question. I thought it might be useful for you to have, as well as the video that I have made to answer the question.

I attracted/addressed my audience through my film opening in many different ways, such as: the idea of love, support, vulnerability, fashion and make up. Most people, sadly, can relate to loss however I wanted to attract my audience to show them that love and support is there still. Also to make the point that love can be homosexual as well as it is finally becoming ‘ok’ to be opening homosexual and many film companies are making homosexually based films.

To start with here is how my audience will be attracted by the aspect of love in my opening. The beginning frame is the two girls walking in a field holding hands. This shows the relationship at it’s best and how it is ok to be homosexual. The love between the two is shown through out the opening. This is shown through laughter and heart ache. As the girls are walking in the field they are laughing and showing that they are in love. The mood then changes to a more solemn tone as it shows the girls in a hospital room, however love is still a key aspect that attracts the audience. The use of the mid shot of the girls close together shows that they are together in this. When they get up to sit on the other side of the bed, love is shown as they both sit next to each other and hold hands. A younger audience may be able to relate to this as they may have boyfriends or girlfriends and they may be able to see themselves in the circumstance helping them empathise with the characters. The shot of the brunette gasping then holding the arm of her partner shows the pain that she is feeling and the sadness that this news has brought to her. This would be because he partners would mean the world to her because they are in love. My audience would be able to relate to this because, who does not want someone to love them! Further sorrow is seen when she is crying.

Support is also an attraction that my audience will want to see. My opening exemplifies lots of support thought the relationship of the couple and the support that the doctor will be providing. It helps my audience see that you are not alone. As suicide is high in our age it is important that my target audience, teenagers aged 15 and above, understand this. The close up of the hands just before the doctor begins to speak shows the support that they give one another. Furthermore, the mid shot of the blonde grabbing her partners hand shows the support that she will need through this tough time. My audience could be attracted by this as support through tough times is important as no one wants to go through something alone. Lastly, the shot of the brunette putting he hand on on her partner’s waist shows that she is not alone.

Vulnerability is a strong as also an attraction as it is scary going through tough times however, love always prevails and my movie opening promotes this. One frame which shows vulnerability is the shot that is over the shoulder of the girls. The girls are smaller and look vulnerable, partly because they are being told that one of them is going to die. My audience can relate to feeling vulnerable as teenagers at the age of 15 and over are about to entre the big wide world and we do feel vulnerable because at the minute we are in our own bubble but the bubble will pop at one point and everything is up to us. This could be how the girls are feeling, they were lively in a bubble and now that bubble has burst.

Lastly, I have attracted/addressed by audience in the use of fashion, hair and makeup. The girls in both scene are wearing brands such as: brandy mevelie, topshop, nike, zara and more. As the generation or age is very interested in fashion, I thought it necessary to show off the clothes that we would normally wear as the girls are of our age. Girls of the ages of 15 and over do wear make up and get their hair does because they take pride in their appearance. So my audience could find it easier to empathise with characters that are like them.

And this is how I have attracted/addressed my audience I have created an enigma code which is essential to my film narrative. This because it makes the audience want to keep watching my movie to solve the puzzle/mystery of my opening. The audience may be attracted by this because they want to understand the relationship between the two or what the of news they have been given.