"DRAMA QUEENS"

Changes to the film

A minor change had to be made to the final product. The film was finalized, but I was informed afterwards by my teacher that there had to be a dialogue element in the film, be it voice-over, narration or normal dialogue dilevery. My film did not require any of these forms in the production. Therefore, I have added Audio Dialogue Replacement, or in simple terms, dubbing.
The scene where Hani reads the text message on her cell phone, I have added A.D.R to show that she is reading the message out loud. When she looks up to see the rickshaw, I have added her voice saying "Huh?", to show that she is confused at what to do next. After the shot of the rickshaw driving away, the final dialogue is added when Hani is worried about how she will get out of that situation, hence, she says out loud: "Oh no!".

3.) Who would be the target audience of your media product?

4) How did you attract/address your target audience?

I displayed my film "Drama Queens" on the social networking website Facebook, and asked my target audience for feedback, that is, to describe what they found most attractive in the film. This, hence, displays the use of the codes and conventions of chick flicks, and how they have been used in my film to attract my target audience. This is a compilation of their feedback.

Anum Sohail: Female. 17. Living in Pakistan.
Cookie Niazi: Male. 16. Living in Pakistan.
Saman Imtiaz: Female. 18. Living in Pakistan.
Komal Tahir: Female. 17. Living in Pakistan.
Gul Butt: Female. 15. Living in Pakistan.
Summaiya Yasin: Female. 18. Living in Pakistan.
Hina Butt: Female. 24. Living in Pakistan.
Ayesha Baber: Female. 18. Living in Pakistan.
Mahrukh Azhar: Female. 17. Living in Ireland.
Uzma Mudassir Butt: Female. 24. Living in Pakistan.
Ujala Hayat: Female. 17. Living in Pakistan. Originally from U.S.A.

In my research, I had discovered that the romantic-comedy genre was most demanded by the target audience, that is, the female audience. My research also stated that the male audience preferred this genre as an alternate to their genre of choice (action, horror), which means that a small portion of the male audience along with a larger portion of the female audience would watch a film of this genre. The story is instantly attractive to my target audience, as it is based on Pakistani character. The local Pakistani audience would want to watch this film because it has the culture and traditions that they are familiar with. The characters will go through problems that the audience can relate to, which is why they will find it amusing and entertaining at the same time. They will also be familiar with the behavior and actions of the character which is why they will want to watch what happens in the film. Other than that, the global audience would find this movie interesting as it will introduce a culture to them that they are not entirely familiar with. This will seem inventive and new to them, being fresh and interesting at the same time. The global audience may not have been as attracted to it without the cultural aspect. Secondly, the characters in the film are 17 years old. This age group usually goes through problems of social acceptance and complexities, which is why the audience of teenagers would be very interested in seeing how the characters face the similar problems that the audience faces them self. A few elements have also been added to attract only the female audience. For example, both the lead characters are female. Secondly, the set and props used are specifically to seem pleasing to females. This includes: pink painted bedroom walls, trendy clothes worn by the characters, bright lighting, bubbly music, stuffed toys in the bedroom, etc. Also, the characters have been made to do exactly what ordinary girls do, for example, straightening their hair, picking out clothes, dressing up, etc.

7.) What do you feel you have learnt in the progression from creating the preliminary task, to creating your media product?

 The development from the first preliminary task to my final film has been massive. My skills and techniques in film making have improved a lot, seeing the difference in quality from my preliminary task. In my first task, I had, without realizing it, broken the very important 180 degrees rule, in which both my characters were looking in the same direction. I have learned to avoid such crucial errors, and have learned how to handle the camera much better.

I have taken comparatively bolder shots in my final film, keeping all the rules in mind. I made sure the match-on-action was not inaccurate, like in the scene when Hani is stepping out of the rickshaw. The camera work has also improved in this way that in the preliminary, the camera was hand-held; making the footage very shaky and irritating. I used a tripod stand in most of the shots in the final film, but even the shots that were done hand-held (e.g. the scene when Sarah pulls away her clothes in the cupboard, the shot taken inside Sarah’s car when she was driving or the shot taken inside the rickshaw when Hani sees her self in the reflection of the mirror.)

One other huge change is that I have learned to do editing myself. I had no clue as to how editing was done in the preliminary task, as my at that time, my former partner did the editing. I have grasped the concept of editing very well and have done very tight and precise editing in my final film.

Also, the lighting has also improved from the first film. In the beginning, I was not aware of the sensitivity of the camera lens or the rule of white-balance, which is why the lighting seems much more professional than it did in the preliminary.

6.) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing your media product?

2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?