EVALUATION - QUESTION 2 AND 3 - PODCAST - 'THE MOVIE POD'

I have created a romantic comedy film podcast called 'The Movie Pod' to answer the following evaluation questions:

Q2. How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

Q3. How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

Below is the script from which I recorded my answers in smaller segments (the host will be played by my Media teacher Alex) on voice memo, before assembling it using Adobe Audition. Once I completed the recording and editing of the podcast, including adding music at the start and end of the podcast (and also between questions), I uploaded the finished podcast evaluations onto Soundcloud and Google Drive.

Part 1:

HOST: It’s Monday at 7pm, so that must mean it’s time for this week’s rom-com love-in where we catch up on the weekend’s biggest film releases. We’ve got some great guests this week including Tali Lewis, director of the brand new romantic comedy, ‘Textual Chemistry’. She’s here with us now. Hi Tali, great to have you here with us on ‘The Movie Pod’.

TALI: Hi, I’m so excited to be here!.

HOST: So, your new movie ‘Textual Chemistry’ came out on Friday and audiences are loving it. How much were you thinking of your audience when creating the opening sequence of the film?

TALI: Completely, especially when creating my characters. I really wanted the audience to connect instantly with the characters, but also to immediately question the relationship between the two protagonists Amy and Luke. I set them up as so different to each other precisely because I wanted the audience to question their compatibility. My analysis of existing romantic comedy opening sequences made me realise that filmmakers often try to create a sense of curiosity for the audience about how and why the main protagonists will connect and eventually develop a romance. I thought this would help to engage the audience from the beginning and encourage them to stay invested in the story.

My favourite rom-coms all introduced the characters quickly so that the audience can become attached to them, so I decided to follow this convention. Getting the audience to invest in the characters at the start means that they will stick with them as the story develops, particularly when they are going through the inevitable moments of conflict and the misunderstanding around the text that my narrative, and Amy and Luke’s relationship, hinges on. 

In my research, and in some of my favourite romantic comedies, I found that female characters are often portrayed as slightly naïve, clumsy, or imperfect – like Elle in ‘Legally Blonde’ or Sugar in ‘Some Like it Hot’ – which makes them more relatable and endearing. I applied this to Amy’s character, presenting her as an unconventional romantic lead, not typically put together, so that the audience would sympathise with her and want to see her succeed. 

This reflects a common convention in the genre, where audiences enjoy seeing an underdog character ultimately find love with the ‘perfect’ partner.

HOST: How did you go about positioning the audience with Amy? Were the decisions you made in terms of the shots you used?

TALI: Well, it was partly through the mise-en-scene and Amy’s body language, but yes the shot choices definitely helped align the audience with her, and Luke too. I think I wrote 4 or 5 versions of my shot list and every re-draft had additional shots that were specifically about bringing the audience closer to Amy or Luke. In the first draft I had hardly any close ups or medium close ups but my final draft was full of them. 

These close shots, especially when crosscutting between Amy and Luke, really helped give the audience a clear sense of the characters’ opposing natures. 

Having so many shots that showed of each character’s facial expressions was definitely a decision based on getting the audience to invest in them as a potential couple, even if this seems unlikely at the start because of how different they are.

HOST: Were there other key decisions regarding how you used film language to create meaning for your audience?

TALI: Definitely, I thought carefully about the lighting and the editing…and the music especially. I used high-key lighting in the opening scene, because it is typical of the style of lighting in so many of the romantic comedies I had watched. There is a slight contrast between the level of high-key lighting in the cross cutting between Amy and Luke. 

In Luke’s ‘getting ready’ montage there is constant high key lighting to signify to the audience his effortless ‘perfection’ and easy-going nature, especially as he first wakes up and gets out of bed. As Amy first wakes up, however, the lighting is slightly lower-key to create a more claustrophobic, messy aesthetic, much like her personality. I thought this would enhance their incompatible personalities. 

Another decision I made for the shots was for Amy’s ‘getting-ready’ montage where I used a higher number of shots compared to Luke’s, highlighting the contrast between their routines. Luke’s sequence feels fluid and effortless, while Amy’s is fragmented and hectic, reinforcing her disorganised character. For example, in the bathroom scenes specifically, there are multiple shots of Amy doing different tasks quickly and messily, contrasting with a singular shot for Luke. I hoped the audience would link these different editing styles to the differences in the characters’ personalities. 

The music I chose – ‘Are You Gonna be My Girl’ by Jet – was also used to reinforce this tone. The slightly chaotic energy of the song means that Amy’s mismatched or clumsy moments could be cut quickly in time with the music, making her seem more frantic and uncoordinated. Meanwhile, Luke’s movements could appear effortless and in sync with the rhythm, further presenting him as calm and in control. This contrast not only adds humour but also clearly establishes that Amy is somewhat unconventional in a romantic sense because of her chaotic personality. This combination of editing, sound and lighting choices allows meaning to be communicated clearly to the audience without the need for dialogue.

HOST: That’s really interesting Tali. You can absolutely get a sense of their differences through the editing in particular. There was one other thing I wanted to ask…about how the film would be distributed?

TALI: It’s due to play in cinemas like other British rom-coms…that’s the plan. I would hope it would have the same type of wide release as other Working Title-Universal collaborations like ‘Love Actually’ and ‘Notting Hill’, but the landscape is quite different from when those films were released. 

More recent Working Title-Universal films like ‘Ticket to Paradise’ came out on streaming platforms pretty soon after its release in cinemas. I’ll see, but it maybe that the distributors will push for streaming on Netflix.

HOST: Did you consider how your film would be classified by the BBFC, and how that links to your target audience?

TALI: Yes, I did. I would expect my film to be rated 12A, as it fits within the typical content of a romantic comedy, with only mild language and themes of relationships. 

It’s a gentle film and there’s nothing in it that would push it higher than that. This classification allows me to target a younger audience, particularly those aged between 12 and 18, while still making the film accessible to a wider audience. By keeping the content appropriate for a 12A rating, it ensures the film remains light-hearted and suitable for the genre, which helps attract the core romantic comedy audience.

HOST: What about the marketing of the film? If you’re aiming at a young audience, you’ll be considering a strong viral campaign, won’t you.

TALI: Well, that would make sense, and that’s pretty common these days. But Universal have committed to a conventional marketing campaign as well with theatrical trailers and TV spots and a whole range of posters, including separate ones for Amy and Jack. I honestly think the marketing for ‘Textual Chemistry’ will be mainly on social media though as my target demographic use TikTok and Instagram. 

Also, because the plot of the film is largely based on technology, phones and social media, I think a viral marketing campaign would be a great choice that could incorporate interactive content that feels natural to the target audience. This viral campaign could involve mysterious texts, wrong number messages, or social media interactions that mirror the plot, drawing the audience into the story before they even watch the film. Since the target audience for romantic comedies is often active on their phones and social media, this kind of campaign would feel relevant and relatable. 

HOST: So, it came out on Friday. Any reason you chose that date?

TALI: Valentine’s Day, obviously! It made sense as it’s a romantic comedy – and I thought it would make a great date movie. 

HOST: Thanks Tali, it was great to chat about ‘Textual Chemistry’. Will you stay around so we can chat some more after the break?

TALI: Of course…no problem.

Part 2: 

HOST: Welcome back to ‘The Movie Pod’ where we’re catching up the weekend’s biggest film releases. Tali Lewis is still with us. Hi Tali.

TALI: Hello again.

HOST: So, before the break we were talking about your new romantic comedy ‘Textual Chemistry’. I’m interested in finding out how your production skills developed during the course of the project.

TALI: I had never filmed with a camcorder before and I hadn’t ever done any editing, so it was quite nerve-racking to begin with. My early filming, all the test shots, were quite shaky…but I got the hang of it quite quickly. Using the tripod when I came to filming my actors really helped me get the steady shots I wanted. The more I practised the more confident I got. Practicing shot distances and doing lighting tests definitely made a difference to the footage I captured during the real shoot.

HOST: Did you feel the benefit of shooting digitally? Did that help?

TALI: There were so many benefits of shooting with a digital camera. Probably the biggest was realising that I could immediately re-watch what I had just filmed, so I could film again straight away if I had made a mistake, or if one of my actors did…and they did, a lot. I had factored in a lot of time for re-shooting,but I didn’t really need it as I could just film the shots again immediately. That saved me so much time. The actors playing Amy and Luke were only available for one day so I had to get everything I needed on that day. Looking back at the footage with them really pushed them as they wanted to get it right. 

HOST: What about editing? You said you had never done that before?

TALI: I hadn’t…but I actually picked that up really quickly. The fact that I was filming with a digital camera helped with my editing as I had so many shots to choose from. The memory on the digital camera was huge, so I could film each shot multiple times, from lots of different angles and distances, so I had much more choice in the edit. I used Premiere Pro to edit and it is such an intuitive piece of software. Once I had organised all my shots into different bins – one for the Amy montage and one for Luke’s – I found it quite easy to assemble. The difficult part was choosing which shots to use as I had so many!

HOST: Can you talk me through the process?

TALI: Once I had decided which shots I wanted to use I had to trim a lot of them down. I had left the camera running at the beginning and end of each shot, so I got rid of the extra seconds at each end. I placed each shot on the timeline in order to get a sense of the visual continuity before placing the music on a separate timeline. Matching the music to the images was probably the most difficult bit, as I was keen to sync the shots with the rhythm of the song. I had to re-edit some of the shots so that they matched the music.

HOST: Did you think the filming and editing experience will help you with your A2 marketing project?

TALI: Definitely. The filming for my trailers will be much quicker now that I’m confident using the camera. I already know what shots I can achieve. The editing will be different because I will probably have more title cards and will be using more fades between shots, but I’m much more confident now that I have used the software.

HOST: Well, thank you Tali. I can’t wait to see the finished film. 

TALI: Thank you, let me know what you think.