Evaluation question 1: In what ways does your media product use, challenge or develop forms and conventions of real media products?

We were set a task to create a short five minute film for our unit G324 Advanced Portfolios, along with two of the three options: a poster for our film, a review of our film for a magazine or a radio trailer for our film.My groups final piece was a hybrid genre of action, drama and fantasy called Timeless. Our film was about a girl called Alexa who was being chased by bullies and after hiding in her house she somehow manages to travel back in time and meet a girl from the time period called Clarissa. Alexa has to wrap her head around what is happening to her and how she got there in the first place. As we were creating our short film I would say we were heavily influenced by real media products. One of them was Alice in Wonderland, as in our production we had are very own Alice who fell down a wardrobe shaped rabbit hole. Another strong influence was The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe as we used a wardrobe to get Alexa into the other time period. Both films fall within the fantasy genre and they helped us to understand the conventions of a fantasy film.Costumes and PropsAs we had two different time periods in our production, the costumes and props were very important, so we had two different costumes for our main character Alexa. In the modern day setting we had her wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, this is because we wanted her to look like a typical teenager and we wanted the opening scene to look realistic. After applying Alexas make-up we smudged it, as we wanted her to look like she had been in an altercation with the bullies who had been chasing her. We also used ketchup on Alexas face to act as fake blood. This costume fitted the typical codes and conventions for the action and drama genres as it looked like Alexa has been in a fight and there was ongoing conflict.However our film is mainly set in the 1970s and is mostly a fantasy film, so we had to give Alexa a second costume to make sure that the audience would understand the time change. Her second costume consists of mainly bright blue colours and the style of her clothing fitted the time period. The bright colours fitted the conventions of a fantasy film and the clothes are a contrast to Clarissas costume. Clarissas costume for this scene was a red dress, which again fitted the time period and clashed with Alexas outfit. This was unintentional but the colour difference helped us to show that the characters are nothing alike and highlighted the clear difference between the two characters.

We also had to think very carefully about the props we used in the 1970s scene, as everything had to fit that time period; however we werent aiming for a realistic scene as this whole scene is almost like a dream sequence. Our props consisted of an old tape player with tapes and an old newspaper from the actual time period. One of the main conventions of a fantasy film is escapism and our film did that amazingly well as our props and costumes were well thought out.Setting and location We had three main locations for our film: the street outside the house, the house and the garden scene. The first two settings fitted the conventions of a drama as they were typical everyday locations you could see in real life (so very stereotypical), thus adding to the realism in our production. The street outside the house also fitted the convention of an action film as we used it for the chase between Alexa and the bullies. We also had clear cuts between the two locations so it was clear that Alexa was in her house and the bullies were still on the street. We also used clear transitions between the house and garden scene to make sure the audience understood that we had moved to a different location. The garden also fitted the time period of the 1970s as it had an old style shed and garage. The fact that the garden was quite spacious and mostly grass allowed us to film quite easily. The location is very different from the street and house as it was a much brighter location than the other two locations. Most fantasy films have bright locations so it fits the genre. Characters Both are main characters fitted the representation of a typical teenage girl (for their time period). Alexa was quite relatable character for the audience as some of them might have been bullied in their lives, so could sympathise with her. Our characters/film also disprove Laura Mulveys idea that film represents woman as passive objects for male desire, as the female characters were not viewed from a heterosexual males point of view. We can also disprove John Bergers theory that women are in films just to be objectified by men. None of the female characters are objectified in our film and there isnt even a male in our production. EditingAs I was the editor, I made sure the opening scene of the street was fast paced to get the audiences attention straight away and to make sure it fitted the action genre. Action films involve fast pacing, cutaways, and dramatic music. I did all of those things to create a very suspenseful chase scene at the beginning. The dramatic music that started to play added to the seriousness of the situation and dramas are normally quite serious films, so again it fits the conventions. Most of the shots in this part of the film were only on screen for a second or two which really added to the pace. I also added narration with a freeze frame in between the chase scene so the audience wouldnt feel lost in the action and understand what was going on. In the 1970s scene I used a dream filter on every shot to show a clear difference between the modern day scenes and the past scene. It also added an unrealistic feel to the scene and let the audience escape with the main character. I also used an after effect of a wormhole when Alexa was sent back in time and when she came back to the present day. This again helped distinguish between the time periods and make it clear for the audience that Alexa had travelled somewhere else.

ConclusionOverall I think my production fits the normal codes and conventions of an action, drama and fantasy genre and I am pleased with how our production turned out.