I usually stay away from 'found footage' style films as I like to see nice cinamatography and good use of equipment, but I enjoyed Archies Final Project as I related alot to Archie and Sierra as charcters. I really enjoyed the use of editing done by the character during conversations especially the movie refrences. Archies Final Project is a teen comedy/drama that touches on very serious subjects, Archie is a typical lonely teen, he's not in with the popular kids so instead he spends his time playing with cameras and editing videos.
The cmaera work in this film is almost 100% found footage and the screen ration changes alot which sometimes pulled me out of the film, the film is very funny, mainly due to Archies imagination during serious conversations.
Archie goes from beinjg a no-one to being the most talked about kid in school when he announces that in his next film project he is going to kill himself, this turns his world upside down and suddenly everone wants to know him even the most beautiful girl in school, who also turns out to be the most twisted.
This film takes some extremely dark turns, combined with consistant humour makes for a very enjoyable watch even for those affected by the issues raised in this film.
In this blog I will look at social action and community media production and the effects is has on its target audience. I will look at the purpose and impact of these campaigns looking at specific examples and looking at how relevant social action and community media is in today's society.
Social action looks at the reactions of an individual, social action related films are designed to evoke a response, anti-smoking videos for example are designed to stop people from smoking. Social action and community media productions can affect three different areas, locally, nationally and globally
Purpose
Social action and community media is designed to change peoples perspectives and thoughts about a specific issue, these range from child abuse to anti-drug campaigns. These are often hard hitting and difficult to watch particularly to those involved in the issues. The intended purpose of the production depends on the issue present. An anti-smoking campaigns purpose is to stop people from smoking who already smoke and those who may be thinking of starting. Anti-smoking videos for example are aimed at people who are likely to smoke and those who already smoke depending on the advert types, those aimed at people already addicted tend to show the long term effects smoking causes. Anti-smoking videos can have a varied level of impact, from local to global depending on their effectiveness.
This anti-smoking video is aimed at people who already smoke as it shows the long term damage caused by smoking, this type of ad wouldn't work for young smokers as young smokers don't care about whats going to happen to them in 30+ years time, they care about the effects that are going to affect them in the near future such as hair loss, stained fingers etc. This anti-smoking videos purpose is to stop people who don't smoke from starting and to persuade those who do smoke to quit. This anti-smoking video is one of a collection of 'tips from former smokers' which features former smokers which have been affected by smoking, this is a very dark and hard hitting anti-smoking ad
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Do anti-smoking videos work?
According to research there are more smokers now than there were 30 years ago, however a lower percent of the population are now smokers, this is due to an increase in population over the years. Surveys for smoking began in 1948 and these surveys found that 82% of men smoked compared to 21% in 2010, the most dramatic reduction in the percent of smokers was between 1970 and the mid 1990s, the first anti-smoking ad was released in 1976 there is a clear relationship between the release of the anti-smoking campaign and the reduction in the number of smokers. The huge reduction in smoker numbers may also be due to the lack of knowledge of the effects of smoking and so it wasn't seen as being a bad thing.
Impact
To see the impact of social action films we just need to look at the changes brought on with these films/campaigns. There has been a dramatic change in the number of smokers since 1970 to the mid 1990s, this however isn't as rel event today, anti-smoking videos are seen almost everyday on the TV and people have become de-sensitised and aren't affected as much by them even though there is more information available.
Social action films have had a huge impact on the smoking population but have become irrelevant in the last few years, the public are exposed to horrific images of lung cancer, heart disease etc everyday which has caused people to become de-sensitised. In order to continue with the positive influence on smokers social action films will have to be changed to be effective once again.
My thoughts
I believe that anti-smoking videos have had a very positive effect on the smoking population but if this is to continue film makers are going to have to think outside of the box, being shown the long term effects of smoking doesn't affect anyone anymore as we see it everyday, especially those who smoke as they see the pictures on the cigarette box. In order for social action films to be effective again film makers are going to have to focus on other effects of smoking other than damage to the smoker themselves.
Today we received our Social action assignment, our task is to produce an anti-smoking video along with full pre-production paper work and an active production blog. I also produced some research that will assist In the production of my idea which is in development. Thursday 30th January 2014
Today we pitched our anti-smoking video ideas, two of these ideas will go on to be made into a short film. Once everyone had pitched their idea Neil and Kelly decided that three films would be made instead of two. The three ideas to be chose were Ryans, Isaaks and mine
Monday 3rd February 2014
Today we had a short production meeting, we made the decision to have attempted some form of filming by Friday the 7th of February and that if not filming would commence Monday the 10th of February. We also chose our cast, this was based upon whether people smoked, their appearance and whther they fit the character profile. We decided on 2 actors, Sam Hitchcliff and Jacob Hanson
Tuesday 4th February 2014
Today I produced a shot list for my short film which is set to be filmed on the 7th of February. As well as the shot list i also produced a make-up ideas page for my make-up artist(s)
Wednesday 5th February 2014
Today me and my production partner, Dale Whyte, performed a location recce and risk assessment as well as gaining permission to film at our chosen location, the Dubliners pub, after this we had a short informal meeting with the actors, discuccing our plans for filming
Thursday 6th February 2014
Today was our planned filming day, we went to the dubliners and began filming, we had planned to film from half nine to twelve which turned out to be too long as all the necessary footage had been filmed by twenty past 11. After filming I captured the footage and began putting the footage together, after assesment of the footage I decided a reshoot was in order for 3 of the shots as there was some poor framing and acting that I feel could be improved
Tuesday 11th February 2014
Today was our planned reshoot day, we arrived at our location, the dubliners, at half nine and began filming at twenty to ten, we filmed all the shots we needed and were done just after ten o clock. We returned to college and captured the footage.
Thursday 13th february 2014
Today I finished off my edit, replacing poor shots with the re-shoot shots and tidying up clips that were on screen for too long and replacing poor audio.
