evaluation 5

teenagers genre preference

Above is a graph of the results found from 30 teenagers being asked 'What is your favorite genre?' The results were interesting as we can see that the favorite genre with both male and female are a combination of crime and drama, whereas genres like romance are more gender specific. Evaluating these results I tried to incorporate aspects of these genres within myHOOD to have a successful urban drama. I focused on challenging gender stereotypes within my opening sequence, so I thought researching this would be extremly relevant. I later decided to continue this research with an interview with an individual from our target audience.

Below is the interview with Maliki, a 17 year old boy from Hackney, part of our target audience. I chose to use a mock interview with a person from our target audience as I felt as though it personalized the demographic, rather than Maliki just being a statistic. I chose to use a male for this interview as I wanted to explore whether males felt as though they couldn't identify with the main character as she was female.  

 From this research I found that things such as the mise-en-scene, like Cali's clothes and accessories, added to the authenticty of the character, and therefore attracted the audience. Also the title, 'myHOOD' attracted the audience as they felt as though they could indentify with the characters and the idea of having 'a hood.' Maliki also talks about the actor in myHOOD. I chose to use an unknown actor in the film as I felt as though it would be more genuine, you wouldnt have a preconcived notion of the actor, which would therefore keep the character believeable.

Although Maliki didn't mention it, I intended to use sound to attract and address the auidence. I chose to include a soundtrack, recorded by Christie, who plays Cali in the film as I know that the targeted demographic, enjoys grime music. We used an instrumental by 'The Streets' and Christie rapped over the top, addressing issues such as crime, drugs and the emotions that enveloped her when she contemplated her life as a drug dealer. I also chose to include dialouge to attract the audience, as when you can relate to a charater in a film, it will appeal to the auidence more.  

Editing was also used to address the auidience. I chose to create a fast paced editing style, with jump cuts between scenes, and video transitions such as fades to show that the characters and hackney were intwined. Eyeline match's and cross cutting are also used in the opening sequence to show the relationship between Cali and Hackney and the children she sells the drugs to. This was used to attract the auidence as I felt as though the age range, 15-19 year old needed something to catch their eye and keep them interested. 

It wasn't just Cali's wardrobe that was used to attract the audience, there were also many other aspects of mise-en-scene. Locations such as the estate Fellows, Hackney buses and maps were used to relate to and attract the audience with a sense of familiarity, whether that be because they live in Hackney or because of its notoriety. 

Camerawork such as close up's were used on Cali's wardrobe to again relate with the character, and pull focus was frequently used to show locations that the audience would relate with in the opening sequence. Point of View shots were also used to allow the auidence to relate with Cali, because again this is auidence.