Media preliminary exercise evaluation

I believe that overall the video could have been potentially better if we did have longer time to perfect the editing, but due to technical difficulties, we were unable to use any non-diegtic sounds such as music or voiceovers which would have created a better feeling and sense of identification between characters and the audience, we were also unable to go back and re-record any small mistakes and errors but of course this was just a practice and therefore isn't such a serious issue and has prepared us slightly better for the actual recording and editing process.

Now to evaluate and analyse the work.... 

The short video consist of two main characters/protagonists who are seen throughout the video. The video starts of with a long shot of a male character entering a room, he is clothed in a dark shirt, a white under layer top and light blue jeans, the dark shirt could connote that the character is quite a dark character, his pace of walking was quite quick so the face wasn't very visible for long and is hard to make out clearly the looks of the character, this could possibly be to divert the audiences attention from the characters looks and facial expression and not allow the audience to identify with him. The white under layer shirt (below the dark shirt) could connote purity and goodness but the fact that it's covered by the darker shirt and is slightly visibly could connote that the character isn't truly a bad character, he may be seen/ represented as a bad character by telling someone bad news, so in some sense the shirt could foreshadow a dark event which may soon occur, it could also show that the character is wearing a facade (mask), that he is pure and good on the inside but represented or portrayed as a negative character. Reinforcing the statement of the character possibly being a good character is the blue jeans which could connote calmness and serenity and also loyalty which is the complete opposite from the characters negative representations due to the clothing he wears. The character also looks sophisticated due to the prop he is wearing (glasses), which could connote he is a professional or hardworking business man but he is also wearing a small diamond earring which could again connote this facade of a darker character/bad boy. We also see the character wearing a ring on the ring finger which suggest the character is married. Linking the ring to the clothing, the character could be cheating on his wife and that is why the character is wearing dark clothing, this gives away hints of the narrative, that is what the clothes suggest, it could also be the reason to why he hurries into the room and doesn't allow the audience to identify with him, it could connote that the fact we don't see his face at first that it's a sign of guilt. We could at this moment, say that the character within himself has the theory of binary opposites by Levi-Strauss, just from the characters movements and clothing we can assume that he has two types of personalities or is represented in two ways, the character is both good and bad, innocent and evil.

We then see a match on action occur, a smooth transition from one shot to another which links both shots together as one. The edit used to piece together the two shots is a straight cut. A straight cut connotes straight to the point drama and fast paced action, it could also foreshadow a bad event in which things will be told or done quite quickly and straight to the point. The character still continues to hurry along past the camera with no direct eye contact which creates a sense of realism and allows the audience to escape into the world of the film, the audience can be sutured into the film and not be disengaged or shocked by a surprise direct eye contact between the character and camera or audience. As the character walks in, we are able to get a better look at his face, this allows the audience to see how he looks and also identify with him or his facial expressions, at this current moment the characters facial expression looks quite serious and slightly worried and the worry can again foreshadow a bad event which the character may be fearing but due to the posture of the character and his walk as he walks into the room connotes he is serious or angry about something and his pace of walking suggests he would want it to be over with quickly. As the character walks past the camera there is a whip pan used to firstly follow the character to his desk and secondly to allow the audience to recognise the setting of an office like environment. The characters fast/hurried walking creates an enigma, which links to Barthes enigma codes, the audience would want to know "what is the character in a rush for?" 

The camera then cuts to a close-up of the male character, this shows another match of action. We can see from the characters facial expression that he doesn't seem happy, he looks more upset and worried which links to the statements earlier. The male character then slowly looks down which is an area of which the audience cannot see yet, this connotes an enigma, the audience would be wondering "why is the character looking down?, what is the character looking at?" and at that point the camera slowly tilts down to reveal him playing with his wedding ring which connotes guilt and connotes that the character is possibly thinking, most likely of his wife. The playing of the wedding ring is then followed by tapping of the desk, this connotes that the character is impatiently waiting for someone or something, this resolves the enigma of "what is the character in a rush for? and why is the character looking down?" but creates a new enigma of "who or what is the character waiting for?" we could assume that the fact he was playing with his wedding ring and also the negative representations his clothing gives, that the character is waiting for this person who he is having an affair with.

Another cut is used to introduce the next shot, this shot starts of with a female character standing uneasy in a similar setting as the male. Audiences can assume that she is in same setting as the male character and is about to meet the male character which therefore means the audience have a few seconds of dramatic irony, they know that the female character is outside the room and is about to enter. The audience do not see the characters face and similar to the male character, this means the audience cannot identify with the characters, this could also connote that the female character feels guilty. The female characters clothing is quite dark, with only her shoes and parts of her jacket containing white, the white colour could suggest the female character is innocent and pure, but similar to the male character, she has a dark side and due to having much more darker colours than the male character could connote that the female has a much darker or a more evil side to her than the male character. The male character wore light blue jeans which tends to connote calmness and loyalty and having these slight hints of the narrative being possibly about an affair, we can assume that the male character knows where his loyalty lies and linking to the straight cuts and fast movements with guilty conscious and worried facial expressions that the the male character is going to put an end to this unfaithful relationship (causing a disequilibrium which links to Todorovs theory) he has with the female character but the female character, having a much darker blue represents knowledge, power, integrity, and seriousness, this could connote that the female character feels that the relationship with this male character is serious, she is an honest girl who is very knowledgeable and the fact that the dark blue could connote power could mean that the female character is the powerful one out of the two characters and this break up may cause her to act out and get revenge on the male character, with this assumption the audience can assume that the female character would be the main protagonist if the film follows her path of being dumped. Even though she may have dark intentions, relating to Propps character roles, the female character may be a protagonist but would be a villain if she is seeking out for revenge, she drives the narrative forward with bad intentions, but then again, because it follows her path it's a biased view and she could end up being portrayed positively and is therefore the protagonist and hero while the male character is the villain, the character roles are an enigma, this is purposely done so that the audience can debate who is what character role and also so that the audience can at times feel sympathy for both characters but isn't sure who exactly is the hero and who is the villain, this attracts an audience and allows them to be surprised at what may happen next.

Match on action is then again used, we see the female character being more cautious when entering the room which suggests that she does feel guilty and doesn't want anyone to see, she walks much more calmer and slower than the male character but the camera movement and position is in the same place as the males which could possibly connote that the characters are both similar in some way due to the fact the camera is in the same position and pans around just like it did for the male character. When the female character was walking we could finally identify with her because we can see her facial expression and what she looks like and as she walks towards the camera we can see on her face that at first she looks worried or nervous but not as worried as the male character, she then walks past the camera but just before she walks past the camera, and could possibly see the male character, her facial expression changes slightly from being worried to slight contentment, her cheeks were slightly pushed up and the corner of her lips were raised, this connotes that she was worried at going to see the male character but when she got there and saw him there all her worries just went out of her mind. This statement of her being worried and then feeling content is reinforced by a slight sigh of relief the female character gives as she sits down.

A sharp cut is then used to show behind the male characters head, this is the start of the 180 degree rule. The female characters facial expression went from content in the last shot to sad in this shot, she is given the bad news which was previously foreshadowed. The fact that there is a close-up used (it's on the edge of being a mid-shot) allows the audience to relate to the character through her facial expressions, we can see her sad facial expression and therefore feel sympathy for her, also the camera angle is a slightly high angled shot, this is to make the female character look weaker which again makes the audience feel sympathy for the character.

Another cut is used and still sticking to the 180 degree rule, we see the male characters facial expression this time, he has a much more serious and more angry look, this emphasises the amount of sympathy we would feel for the female character. A cut is then used to show the male character get up and leave with the use of a pan shot from the corner of the room, the audience also see the female character place a hand on her head and look down in disappointment and sadness, the camera cuts  once more to show the male character leave the room, he slams the door behind him and at the point of the slam the scene ends with a harsh cut and loud bang connoting the anger and sharp end to the relationship.

The production didn't have any sound edits which we would have wanted to include, but the fact that there wasn't any, allowed the audience to feel the realism of the situation, they aren't distracted by non-diegtic sounds of music or voiceovers, it allows the audience to be sutured into the film.

WWW: well thought out plan of how colours and emotions can represent characters and how the tiniest of detail can give away small clues to the narrative and what is going to happen, we had used match on action and the 180 degree rule, which wasn't broken, good use of camera angles and movements and also great teamwork to produce a decent media production in such short time even with technical difficulties.

EBI: added in some music or non-diegtic sound to add to the atmosphere and emotions of the characters, had slightly more dialogue, improved editing skills and corrected our errors/mistakes.