Media Evaluation By: Warsame Mohamed

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our media products conforms to most of the conventions of typical thriller movies whilst also subverting stereotypical and common conventions. To begin, in most thriller movies the music is fast paced to match the pace of the ensuing action. Another way in which we adhered to stereotypes typical of thriller movies was by the use of appropriate props and costumes i.e. guns and dark coloured clothes. We were able to do this as in our research we found that in the more successful thriller movies such as Inception and Taken guns are used quite a lot and the characters are often wearing dark clothes, usually reflective of their personalities.

We challenged some of the forms and conventions of typical thriller movies as much as we did adhere to them if not more so. For example, in thriller movies especially crime thrillers such as ours the main characters are usually of older age whereas we casted ourselves meaning none of our cast was above the age of 17.

Gunfire is typical in Thriller movies and as it was such a standard convention we thought it was obligatory to include it.

Another convention of Thrillers is fast pace and we thought that by incorporating a chase scene we could best conform to this.

We also realised that Thriller movies often represent the mood through many media from the mise en scene to the weather in our piece the weather is hot and sunny to match the ferocity and fast pace of the opening. In a later scene where the main character is bleeding out it is dark and gloomy- again to represent the mood.

Our movie was largely similar to Kidulthood as they both revolve around the lives of youth living in London. As a result of this we ensured that the dress code of our characters was somewhat similar. The use of baggy clothes and hoodies is generic in any movie about teenagers from London. The ages of the cast are similar as well. Notice slouched shoulders of the character on the far right of the image from the movie and that of the character on the far right of our product in terms of their gait they are the same.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our media product does not represent any social group differently to how they are usually presented in movie and television. However, this doesn’t mean that we have not exaggerated the ways in which the social group we have used is displayed. First and foremost, the social group we represented was teenagers of London and we did this precisely through the use of language and gait. Noticeably, the sociolect the characters in our piece speak with is that of only teenagers that inhabit London. Moreover, the consistent use of colloquialisms such as “aite” and phrases such as “ I got this” are only used in London as they are regional slang. In terms of personality and attitude we may also have shown this particular social group to be aggressive and intolerable towards others without giving them the opportunity to speak evidence being the fact that Emz (main character) is chased without being consulted on what was happening. However, rather than displaying the attitudes of a whole social group this aspect of our characters would only represents the attitudes of a smaller group of people who carry out our characters roles in real life.

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In the previous slide I began to discuss how our media product displays certain social groups. Firstly, I would like to make clear that our representation of a particular social group is not fictional but accurate to a small group of individuals. The social group we are representing does not consider any specific ethnicity as London itself is a very multicultural city hence our use of characters of different backgrounds. Although we have not been specific in terms of class we have been in terms of gender- our product tries to represent male teenagers of London and not females. There may have been many other themes we could have considered when trying to represent this particular social group i.e. Sexuality but due to the nature of our product we felt they were not appropriate. In conclusion, I do not believe we have represented our chosen social group positively due to the violence present in our product but it would have been difficult to create a thriller using this social group and not doing so.

Notice the bent knees of the character in the middle, he is bopping.

Also look at the two surrounding characters that have their hoods up as well as having at least one hand above their crotches.

We have also represented this particular social group as reckless which teenagers are often known as. In this image we can see one of the characters preparing to jump from just under the first floor of a block of flats which is both daring and dangerous but also representative of the scale of the situation he is in as he is willing to risk his health to get away from those who are chasing him. This in itself is also typical of teenagers who are commonly shown to , more often than not, get themselves in deep trouble.

We can see here that the characters are wearing their trousers below their waists. This untraditional way of dressing is common amongst teenagers from London especially males.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? The type of media institution that would distribute our media would have to

be a major corporate distribution company that could promise our product the success it deserves. We would also require a media company willing to take a risk on our product as there are not many products like ours available; our product has impeccable characterisation and a clear plot. Our media product conforms to the Thriller genre meaning that a distribution company familiar with this genre would be best. A distribution company with a track record for success would want to distribute our product so that they can continue their track record of success in the Thriller sphere of distribution as our product is both appropriate and good to watch. Ideally a British distribution company would want to distribute our product as they would have a better understanding of the target audience than a foreign distribution company. A British distribution company would also be a more logical choice as the language of our product is English. In effect,this would therefore allow for our British product to be distributed by a British company in English- the ideal combination for the success of our product.

Paramount Pictures UK would be a good example of the type of distributor we would be looking for as they have a track record of success in the Thriller genre. They have been responsible for the whole Transformers and Mission Impossible trilogies as well as The Godfather franchise, widely considered to be one of the best of all time.

Warner Bros UK is one of the types of distributors we would expect to distribute our product because it is similar to those of which they have been responsible for before. Warner Bros are the distribution company that were responsible for The Dark Knight trilogy and the well-known psychological thriller Inception.

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In terms of distributing our product on the internet we would have huge reservations about doing so due to the lack of potential revenue in comparison to doing so on TV or in cinema. We would not object to the idea of distributing our product on the web after it has exhausted all other media capable of generating more revenue. Furthermore, when finally doing this we would distribute our product using YouTube as it is the easiest way to upload videos to the web and also the largest video sharing platform. When broadcasting on television we would broadcast on the BBC due to its high volume of viewers and more specifically on the BBC Three channel due to the fact that it begins operating at a later time which would almost eliminate the possibility of younger children watching our product. Moreover, once a video is posted on YouTube it can be uploaded to different social networking websites such as Twitter and Facebook. Another essential stage of distribution is when releasing our product on DVD we would due this after the product is discontinued in cinema and before it is released on TV so that the product can generate as much revenue as possible.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for our media product would be anyone with an interest in thriller movies. Our media product would appeal to those who have an affinity for thriller movies and even those who are hard core thriller fans this shows the wide breadth of audiences our product would appeal to. However, in terms of the age group that we would target our target audience would be refined to those over the age of 13 due to the action and gunfire present in our product meaning it would be inappropriate for audience below that age. It is for this reason that we have used the below image warning the audience that the product has be approved for appropriate audiences above the age of 13 and it is for this reason that parents are also cautioned before viewing this with their children. Furthermore, the sociolect present in our product would be best understood by audiences of similar ages to the cast, teenagers.

We have incorporated this caution into the beginning of our video to alert parents that the following video may be inappropriate for audiences under the age of 13. Movie rating are there to warn parents of impending content however, it is ultimately up to them if they wish to decide and it is in such cases that this caution is required as a disclaimer of our responsibility.

During the initial research period we conducted a questionnaire of individuals between the ages of 16-18 and it is based on the feedback that they gave us that we created our product. From the questionnaire results we were able to conclude that people preferred to have a male protagonist and a male antagonist this was something to consider especially because we were making a thriller and by having a female antagonist we would have to consider whether or not to use violent scenes and whether or not it would be appropriate to have 3 larger teenagers chasing a smaller female teenager, this would have also been less effective.

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When showing our finished product for the first time we did so to an audience of 16-18 years although our target audience began as low as 13 years of age. The fact that we were showing this to an older audience meant that if they found anything inappropriate we would have to consider what our minimum age rating was. However, our feedback was nearly perfect we were informed that the distribution company was blended in well and that we had a variety of shots. The audience also liked the fact that our opening was fast paced and they said that this made it very effective. The audience also found that our shots were well done and this coupled with the music was enticing to them.

We were also told that our product could have been better if our gun did not look so unrealistic. 

How did you attract/address your audience? (audience interview)

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Firstly, in terms of learning about hardware I have learnt how to use of a multitude of devices throughout the process of making our product. For example I am now able to confidently use a Digital camcorder. Furthermore, I am now familiar with how to use a tripod, of which I initially thought was the same as the scientific apparatus- I was wrong.

Secondly, I was not familiar with the use of certain software such as Final cut and Photoshop. I am now capable of doing many things on both platforms i.e. I can now confidently put music over a video and snip parts of a video out that are not required.

Thirdly, I am now able to use Blogger a social networking platform I had never used prior to this coursework. I can upload information onto my blog remove it and edit it with ease. I am also now aware of the embed function on YouTube which allows users to embed videos on their blogs by copying and embed code and pasting it onto a post.

What have I learnt?

I have learnt quite a lot to do with technologies whilst undergoing this coursework. I have learnt how to use hardware, software and Internet sites that I was not familiar with before and I can now edit and create a whole video myself with what I’ve learnt. Prior to this coursework there were many niggling annoyances I encountered when using software like final cut but I found that with a little patience and through the help of YouTube tutorials these hurdles could be overcome.

What skills have I gained?

I have gained many skills through the duration of my coursework from editing skills such as cropping music to finding out how to record on a digital camcorder I’ve had no previous experience of using. Moreover, I can now pace myself when using Final Cut where as previously I would have taken hours editing something of little significance and of little length. Another skill I’ve gained is learning how to put text over a video, this challenged me quite a lot before but once I realised how simple it is it’s harder to forget how to do it now.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the product? There are lots of things to consider when comparing my preliminary task to my

actual product. Quality of shot- The quality of shot in the actual product was better than that of

in the preliminary task. This was mostly because of the fluidity present in the actual product in comparison to the preliminary task. When filming the actual product we had a tripod and also a roller which meant the quality of our 180 degree shots would be good. This was not the case with the preliminary task which lacked in this department as we did not have either of those pieces of equipment. Rather, we had to do it by hand which proved much more of an arduous task and was less successful as a result.

Quality of image- The quality of image was also better in our actual product because we used a tripod which was steady which meant the images were not blurred and also the camera we used for our actual product had a higher resolution. It also helped that we were filming outside on a sunny day rather than inside as we did for our preliminary task. The lighting was better as well because of the fact that we filmed outside instead of inside as I’ve already mentioned.

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Quality of sound- We used a variety of both diegetic and non-diegetic sound. The most stand out example of the diegetic sound would be the aeroplane flying over during a chase scene. The most obvious examples of non-diegetic sound would be the music and voiceovers. We also found that in our product in the editing period there were a lot of sounds that we did not need that were prevalent as a result we altered the audio levels of these unwanted sounds and minimised them to the extent that they cannot be heard. This was different to our preliminary task in the light that we did not use any non-diegetic sound at all in it and relied heavily on unclear existing audio footage.

Continuity- To ensure there were no continuity errors we made sure to film whilst wearing the same clothes in the same style i.e. hoods up unless taken down during filming. This made the product flow more and pleasant to watch. However, in our preliminary task we were not as cautious this resulted in a scene where both of the characters present were standing and sitting down in conversation within the second. The tripod was very useful for continuity in our actual product as it made it easier to capture parts of scenes where characters were turning or opening doors.

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The 180 degree rule was by far one of the hardest things to incorporate into both our preliminary task and final product. One of which was more fruitful than the other. As I’ve previously mentioned when doing our preliminary task we did not have the required equipment to carry out such a shot yet we tried to do so anyway and failed miserably. However, when conducting our actual product we were more successful as the use of a tripod paid dividends resulting in a much more smooth and fluid 180 degree shot.

Continuity Editing-We used many different types of shots in both our preliminary and our actual product. The differences are obvious the most obvious being that the match on action shot of our preliminary task was far less successful than that of which was in our actual product. We also managed to incorporate an eye line match in our actual product successfully unlike our preliminary task which we struggled in very well.

Thank you for your time