Evaluation

For my Final Major Project for the Henley College Creative Media course I was asked to create a
production of my choice. I chose to do a short film. I chose this because I have a massive interest in
watching and getting involved with short films. My favourite genre to watch it a Gritty Youth Genre,
therefore, I decided to create a short film based on Gritty Youth. I think this would be good for me to
do as I am a youth myself so I think I could portray youth better than a middle age person for example.

Once I created the Gritty Youth short film ‘One Night’, I asked myself ‘How well have I done?’ I believe
I have done very well in this project as I feel I have fulfilled the brief. I have fulfilled the brief by fitting
in with the genre and mise-en-scene. I made sure I researched all details about the true story of Robert
Spence and I made sure I researched enough to know about the genre very well. From my research I
have learnt the real story about Robert Spence; a boy named Robert, 17 years old, went to a nightclub
with his friends using fake id to enter the venue, he got in to an argument with another man named
Nicolas. Nicolas later on that night had seen Robert and his friends on the streets after leaving the
nightclub and they started to fight with fists in-till Nicolas pulled out his knifed and ended Roberts life.
I will be creating this production for the competition “Encounters”, this is a UK based competition
which allows you to upload any short film to it. For me to be the winner of this competition I need to
make sure this production is in the best standard, I tried to achieve this goal by making sure I research
and plan my production to the best of my ability so when I actually went out to film I was fully aware
of what I was needing to do, what I needed to get for it and if it didn’t work out I’d have plan a back-
up. These few things that will be helping me massively is; the research, secondary and primary, and
the planning of the production.

My Primary research helped me massively while creating this production. This is because primary
research is coming from the public. Researching the public’s view gives me a better idea on how to
shoot this short film as I have a wide range age audience so I can find out what young people might
expect to see compared to what an older generation might expect to see in a gritty youth genre
production. I created two surveys for the public to answer before creating my short film. One of these
surveys was actually on my idea of recreating the death of Robert Spence. I was asking if the public
liked my idea of doing a recreation of Robert Spence’s death and every single person who answered
my survey had said they would love to see me
make that as it would be very interesting and
engaging to watch. This helps me massively for my
research as now I know that the short film I was
wanting to make, other people will also want to
see me make that as they would be very
interested. My screenshot on the right is there to
back up my idea that the public will want to see
the recreation.

The screen shot that is on the left of this text is the

second question on my survey that I sent to the
public about my idea of short film I was wanting to
create. This question was asking if the story of Robert Spence that I was wanting to create will fit in to
the genre Gritty Youth. This genre was chosen by me before I chose an idea of what to do. I chose this
idea as throughout the whole year I have been creating productions with that genre so I thought I may
as well carry it on with my final major project as I have the most experience with it and I believe I can
do a short film a lot better as I have experience and can work with feedback that I’ve got from the past
to do with the same genre as mine.

After that survey I created another one which goes

into more depth so I can learn more about what
people may expect to see. The screenshot I have
provided below is the first question from this survey
and as you can see from the results below the
question I have a mixed aged of people answering
this survey. A wide age range of people answering
my survey is going to help me massively when
wanting to create the final major project as I can
compare what a teenager would want to see
compared to what a 60 year old may want to see.
This is a very good idea to ask people there age as I
now get a view of people who aren’t my own age. As
you can see on the right I have multiple age groups
answering my survey.

The screenshot on the left is another question I

asked in this survey. I asked if the viewer would be
offended if it had violence in it. This is a good
question for to ask as one of the stereotypical mise-
en-scene factors for a gritty youth genre is to include
violent scenes. So now I know that people of all ages
who had answered my survey, which is about 18-60,
they all wouldn’t be offended by violence. This helps
me massively as now I can create the true story of
Robert without complaints about the violent scenes.

The screen shot on the right is another question

that I had asked through the survey to get better
understanding of what I need to create in order
for it to be good and for people to watch it. This
question is asking what the viewer would do to
make a gritty youth genre more acceptable for
a younger or an older person to watch. This si a
very good question to ask as with the chosen
gritty youth genre that I am working with it
includes violence, gangs and drinking. All three
of these tyhings can make the short film an age
restricted short film so getting ideas for the actual public to see what they would do to make it more
accepotable ios going to help me massivly when I go to create this short film. Most people replied with
don’t use bad language, which is fine as I don’t need to use bad language to portray an arguemnt or
something so I included this when creating my script. A few others also said they would only include
the violence when it is needed. This is good feedback from the public as I was going to create the true
sotry of robert and there is onmly one scene of violence so it should be fine as I am only showing it
when it is needed, and as it is a true story I will only need to show violence when it is needed.

On the right is another question I asked in my survey

to the public. This quesdtion is asking about the
target audience of my short film that I am creating
for thew final major project. The anwsers I got in
this was the anwsers I was pridicted I would get. I
predicted that everyone would say it is aimed at
teenagers as it is about tennagers and the bad side
of there culture of growing up. So it is pretty
obsvious that the target audiecnce for the
production is going to be teenagers. I am also
including a little bit of slang that teenagers would
use, but slang that is’nt confusing to understand for
example ‘yo’ and ‘sick’, these are pretty standard
slang so I’m sure everyone will be able to understand what my charaters are saying even if there an
old age. For these surveys I created infographics for the anwsers. Infographics is basically a way to
summerise your survey anwsers in a eye candy way. My infographics are the four images that are
below. These will help me when going to create my final major project as i don’t need to always go on
my survery monkey website to look at the anwsers, instead I can put them on charts on a infographics
and see them a lot easier. It is also eye candy so it attracts people to see the results.
To also help me with my Primary research, getting ideas and feedback from people of the public, I
decided to do some focus groups. Focus groups are different to a survey. Focus groups is when you
ask the survey that I sent out earlier but instead you ask them face to face. This has helped me just as
well as the surveys as you get there opinion straight to your face and not through a computer. This
will help me know what to do in my short film. What people would want to see, what they would
expect to see, what I could do to make it better and how to make it more acceptable for a wider age
audience to watch.

The three
boys above
are the three
boys that
took part in
doing my
survey as a
focus group.
They are all
teenagers
which is a
problem as it
doesn’t give
me feedback
from a wide
age audience however, my target audience being teenagers I believe it would be best to mostly ask
teenagers as they can help me out more than a 50 year old anwsering my focus group as they are’nt
the age audience I am trying to create it for. They all said they would be happy to watch a short film
which is focused on the genre ‘Gritty Youth’. When I asked them what they would expect to see in
that genre of short film they all replied saying they would expect somtyhing which is big in the news
at the moment such as knife crime, gun crime and drugs. This is good as I am recreating a stabbing
which happened so them excepting to see thast proves I am going the right way to achieving the genre.
I also asked them how they would make it more acceptable for a younger and older person to watch.
The resutls I got for this was to not use bad lanuage and to only use violence when it is needed. So the
results was fairly simular how ever it was good to get results face to face.

For my secondary research I used a lot of different platforms to help me find out what I need to do. I
researched simualr short films to ones that I am trying to create, narrative sturcture, character
development, lighting, camera movements, mise-en-scene and the starget audience. Analysing short
films was very helpful for me. It helped me find out traits which link into all the things I am needing to
research. From anaylising many gritty youth short films such as ‘Deep it’, ‘Illegal activity’ and ‘Little
Boy’, it has taught me sterotypcial factors which makes the genre the genre it is. From watching all
three of these productions I have found a lot of mise-en-scene sterotypical factors. For example I have
noticed all three of these pre-made productions have used a lot of dark scenes. Dark sceens show
negativity. I know this as it is always when something bad is about to happen. It allows the viewers to
know that the short film is negative. For example in horror movies such as ‘Saw’, most of the shots are
very dark, this shows people that it is going to be negative. I can also back up with idea because in a
genre of movies which is the compltete oppisitie to horror is a comedy. A comedy I wanted to anyalise
is ‘The Inbertweeners’, The shots in inbertweeners are very different colours to a horror movie, they
use a lot of bright colours such as yellow, green and blue. All these colours are nice and innocent,
happy colours so if that is for a comedy, a film which is meant to make you happy use bright colours,
obviously a short film which is about something negative should have the complete oppisite colours.
Underneath is a couple examples of pre-made productions that I was analysing. Underneath both of
them screenshots are two screenshots from my productions, you should see the simularities between
them.

So the top two pictures are from two pre-made production that I analysed to realise that the
stereotypical mise-en-scene factor is to have dark scenes as it will link in to something bad that is going
to happen. As the short film is about a stabbing, I need to set the mise-en-scene lighting as dark as it
shows that the story line of someone being stabbed is negative.

Another stereotypical mise-en-scene factor for the genre is the character development. I worked out
what is stereotypical in all of the three pre-made productions that I analysed is that everyone in the
production is wearing dark coloured clothing, this could link into the mise-en-scene lighting as the
lighting is dark and the clothing is dark so it could be a sign of negativity. I have also noticed they wear
a lot of hats and hoodies, these are stereotypical with teenagers anyway let alone the genre of it, and
it being about teenagers it was clear to me that I should follow the factor. Hoods and Hats could be
an indication that they are doing something illegal and it is to hide their identity. This links in with my
production as my production is about something illegal. I have also noticed that they wear a lot of
jewellery, this could show that they have wealth or it could show they are wanting to be a gangster.
As it is stereotypical for gangsters to have chains. Below is two pictures from two different pre-
productions that I have analysed and this backs up my ideas on the character development that I have
found from analysing other productions.
So the top two pictures are from production I analysed and the two screenshots below is from my
production, as you can see there is a lot of similarities. You can see a boy putting on his chain on my
production and then in other productions you can see there is a guy with loads of chains on. You can
also see people wearing tracksuits in my production and in the other productions you can also see
that they are wearing tracksuits, so this is backup for my idea of the character development.

I also found out the stereotypical mise-en-scene locations for the genre of my short film by analysing
the three videos. I have noticed from analysing other productions that are similar to mine is that gritty
youth short films are always in build-up areas. This is because Gritty Youth is about crime and most
crime happens in towns or city’s so it is obvious that I should shoot my final major project in a build-
up area. Below I have screenshots from a couple short films I analysed and below that is backing up
my idea that gritty youth short films are normally based in city and built up areas. Below that is two
screenshots from my production, this shows that I have followed the stereotypical factors of the
genre.
So I believe these four screenshots all have similar shots of being in a city or a town looking area. So
this shows through my research I have learnt a lot while doing it. I have also followed through with it
by actually including all the stereotypical traits that I have found out by analysing other pre made
productions.

I researched the story of Robert Spence very well so that I could get every single aspect correct as
making a story on a true event it will be best quality that I can. I found out all of the information of it
through news articles and news videos. However I never got any information of what the reasoning is
of the stabbing. This meant I had to make it up. I decided to make it because they had a small argument
in the nightclub, something as little as spilling a drink on someone. I done it on such as little reasoning
is because I found out from news articles that it was over something very, very small but never told
the public what the actual reason is. The rest of the story is completely true for example names,
locations etc. Here’s a summary of my true story that I am wanting to re-create: Robert Spence was a
normal seventeen year old who had his life taken by three men after a argument in a Night Club in
Reading. Robert had used fake ID to enter the night club 'FaceBar'. Fifty Minutes after using the ID to
get into the night club, three boys from Bristol had arrived to the same nightclub in two cars. in the
two cars was Nicholas Olu, Roberts Killer. When leaving the nightclub at around 4am, The two group
of boys broke out into a fight. Roberts friend, Emmanuel Connor, was bottled and stamped on the
floor, this is when Robert made a mature move and tried to stop the fight while intervening he got
stabbed 16 times, the wound through his heart had killed him. Robert and Emmanuel got into a taxi
to hospital after the fight, on the journey Robert had died from the loss of blood, he had lost a litre
from his chest alone.

Above are screenshots of a couple of the news articles that I analysed in order to understand all of
the aspects of the event that happened to Robert Spence in the last few hours of his life.

Competition:
While researching for my final major project, I found a competition I would like to upload my project
up on to. The competition I wanted to upload to is called ‘Encounters’, Encounters competition is a
UK based competition which allows you to upload any short film to it. The competition doesn’t have
to many rules it is a simple make a short film and upload it. This competition allows 200 short films in
to the final even though 3,000 short films get uploaded to the competition each year. Although that
sounds like a little percentage of actually winning, there is still a chance. The winners of the
competition receives a free ticket to the Short Film Festival in Bristol, as well you get your video
uploaded to the festival. If your wanting to have a job in the media industry this is the best way of
getting yourself out there as many celebrities and directors will be at that festival. You also get your
short film summited to many other competitions such as Baftas and Academy Awards. So if you do
win and you get your short film uploaded to all of these things you are bound to win one of them. This
is such a good way to get yourself out there. In this competition there is no rules to follow it is just
simply upload a short film and hope it wins. So they are allowing any short film except anything
pornographic which is good as I don’t have any pornographic shots. I will be uploading my short film
to this competition when I have got given feedback on it.

The plannin gof my production I found very straight forward. I found it straight forward as I have done
many of these in the past so it was nothing new to me. I had to create a Story Board, a Script, Crew
List, Prop list, Equipment List, Cost Sheets and Sound Table. These were all easy for me to do and after
creating my short film I didn’t need to fix anything on my p[lanning booklet as I stuck to everything I
put on it. This planning booklet is going to be very helpful for me as when I go to film the production I
know exactly where I am going to film, what I am going to film, how in am going to film it and how I
should get my self pre-pared for the day that I go out to film it.
The target Adueience I found out from sending out
surveys to people. I already knew that my target
audience for this production was going to be teenagers
as it is about teenagers them selves, just the dark and
criminal side of it. Also from doing many other
productions on this Gritty Youth genre I know that the
target audience from it is going to be teenagers. The
screenshot that is below this text is some backup for my
theroy that the genre Gritty Youth is focused on
teenagers and aimed for teenagers to watch it. It is also
a short film which shoulod make you think tiwce before
doing anything as it shows how easy it can be to get ina
situation where you could get stabbed. There for the
target audience for my production is going to be
teenagers.

While filming my prodcution I stumbled over a few problems. I managed to fix all of these problems
by good planning and good research. One of the problems that I had faced is that I needed to add car
noise to one of the clips I filmed. I had a scene of me driving a car to meet a boy and the car is running
wehile the two boys are talking. I done this scene in three shots and two of them the car is running
and one of them there is no car noise, so I needed to fix this. I managed to fix this problem by editing
in the sound of my car next to the camera. I would have wanted to re-shoot the scene but due to
actors not being avaivble I wasn’t able to. Another problem I had was with the music I added into the
short film I didn’t know how to fade out so it sound smore smoothly. I done this by looking up a
youtube video on premier pro on how to fade a music clip on prmeier pro.

Above is a screenshot of the video which taught me how I could mess with the sound to make it
smoother. Another problem I had was one of my actors got ill on the day that I was wanting to film,
however due to good planning I did have a backup actor. My back up actor was my twin brother, as
he is my twin I can know when he is free to film for me so having him as a backup actor was a really
good idea. Another problem I faced was after filming some of my shots I have realised that there is
car noise in the back ground which over powers some of the actor’s voice. I tried to look up YouTube
videos if there was a way I could take it out however there isn’t so I tried to see with the actors and
because it was in such short notice I wasn’t able to re film. So this problem has to stay which is a
shame.

Feedback:

I got feedback for peers in my class as well as my teacher after creating this short film. From my teacher
she gave me feedback on the sound, which I have already said was a problem for me. She asked if I
could fix the sound in the production. I looked up on YouTube both of the problems I have faced to
see if there was any way of fixing it. I fixed one of the sound problems by putting a car noise on the
back ground. The other noise was car noise
overpowering a voice but you can’t fix that so I had to
leave that. The feedback I got from peers was also very
good. I sent out a survey to get the results from my
peers. The screenshot below is a screenshot of a
question from my survey that I asked people to answer
to give me feedback on my final production. From the
first question I asked I have learnt that everyone who
answered my questionnaire what they thought of my
production and if they think its good quality work, I got
all good replies saying it was very good.

My second question was asking if the viewers thought

it linked into my genre ‘Gritty Youth’, everyone replied
yes it did. The question after that was asking why they
said yes or no to the previous question. They
answered ‘the mise-en-scene was perfect for it’, this
shows that I have done my mise-en-scene very well.
They also said it had a gritty feel to it, this would have
also been through good research and planning.
 The forth question was asking about my mise-en-
scene. I was asking to see if other people thought I
had done well it in. All of the results I have got
haver all said that I have achieved this perfectly and
that I have researched it very well. So this is very
good to here because I feel me and my peers are
feeling the same way I am feeling about my
production.

The last question of my feedback is asking if they

thought it suit my target audience and seeing if I
have achieved the goal of having my target
audience being teenagers. Everyone who answered
my production has agreed with me that I have
achieved my goal of the target audience.

I also got feedback from my peers by doing a reaction video. A reaction video is a video of some of the
viewers watching it and it will be showing what they are saying about the production as it goes on. I
was very pleased with some of the things that was said through this video. Throughout the whole
video I am being complimented by good shots, good edits and good acting. They also sat there and
watched it in intense this shows me that I have created a good drama. All of the feedback I got given
was very nice from the viewers, below is a screen shot on the reaction video.
If I was to do this production again I would want to sort my sound out. I was not happy with some of
the sound in the production before I even had feedback in it. It was only after I edited together I saw
that some of the sound doesn’t sound nicely faded, epically when there are black outs. I managed to
fix this but the only problem I couldn’t fix was the sound of cars over powering my actor’s voice. If I
was to do this again I would also want a bit more time on this production if I was to have a even a
week longer I would have been able to shoot them scenes again where the sound isn’t sounding the
best. But apart from that I believe myself that I have done very well with this production. I have also
been told by peers and teachers that it was very very good it is just that, that I needed to fix.