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

Conventions

of media

products

Use,

Develop,

Challenge?

How your media product does that? Evidence

Linear

Narrative

Develop I used linear narrative within my project to create a sense of

time and it shows how time is progressing throughout the

opening. You can see that I used linear narrative as there are

no flashbacks and jump cuts in my opening. As there is a cliff

hanger at the end of my opening it makes the audience want

to watch on to find out what the film is about and what will

happen later on in the film.

Introducing

characters

Use Within my film opening I wanted to only include one of the

characters which then makes it suspicious to why there are no

other characters. The camera follows the Charlie walking down

a road and through an alley way where he looks very tense and

paranoid and keeps turning around as he can he noises. As

the characters begins to talk on the phone, he is calm as he is

talking to a friend which helps him be more calm.

Titles Developed Seeing as we only see one actor (Ryan Martin) in my opening, I

decided to create the cast and crew based on the people that

will be in the rest of the film and however I had to make up

names as for the crew members as no one helped me with my

film opening. I chose a font for my titles that was appropriate

for my film and I chose a white font, so that you could see it

over the top of the film.

Music Use Within my opening I have used two music pieces, one was very

calm and happy in the first section however when the dialog

comes in the music becomes scarier and more mysterious.

This makes the atmosphere tense and it will make the

audience wonder what is going on.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Gender – My film opening represents the young boy as being scared as he is hearing noises

around him, he is also scared as he is along and if something happened to him no one would

know as there would not be anyone to witness anything. This is a contrast to most young boys as

they usually act brave to show off in front of other people. However later on in my film when the

young boy is with his friends, he would be brave as he has other people to support him, and this

would also show how he changes when he is around other people. There would be a couple of girls

and they would be represented as scared as girls are usually portrayed as being weaker and more

emotional than boys.

Age – My film opening shows how young people behave when they are on their own. The media

portrays young people as being troublesome and scary. However this young boy is dressed

normally and he is not wearing tracksuit, so the audience know that he is not a troublesome

teenager. By the way he is acting you know that he is not like the teenagers the media talk about,

as he is scared about his surroundings. As you see the boy running you know how scared he is

and he wants to leave there as soon as possible to avoid getting into any unwanted situations.

Ethnicity – In my film opening the main character is of a white British background. Most British

teenagers are conveyed as troublesome and that they are very naughty and break the law.

However my character is the complete opposite, he is from a middle class family. By the way he is

acting the audience know that he is not like the typical teenager.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

For my film distribution I chose 20th century fox and Rook Films. I chose these two distributors as they are

well known but also because they distribute low budget films (were my film would fall under). I researched a

variety of low budget and high budget films and there were many that were distributed by 20th century fox

and Rook Films. 20th century fox was founded on the 31st of may 1935. 20th Century Fox has distributed

various successful film series, including Star Wars, Ice Age, X-Men, Die Hard, Planet of the Apes, Night at the

Museum, Fantastic Four, Alien and Predator. It has also produced a range of TV series such as: The

Simpsons, M*A*S*H, The X-Files, "Bones", Family Guy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Futurama, How I Met Your

Mother, Glee and Modern Family. A distributor can be a person or an organisation that will distribute a

product or a film, for example a distributor can put a film into the cinemas. My film would be made to be in

cinemas such as Odeon and Vue, but once the film is out of cinemas, it would be sold in stores on DVD and

Blu-ray.

Who would be the audience for your media product? How did you attract/address your audience?

As the genre of my film is Horror, the film would be suited for teenagers and adults but it would not be suitable for

anyone under the age of 15. The age rating for my film would be a 15, I think this would be a suitable age restriction

for my film as the film is not extremely scary and it would not have blood and gore. This film would be for anyone that

enjoys a good horror film, they would have to like films that have people going missing and a sense of mystery to it.

This film would attract an younger audience as it is a film about a group of young people. However it may also attract

an audience a bit older as it is a horror film and many adults and young adults enjoy a good horror film. My film had to

include a range of young actors as it is about a group of young people exploring and abandoned building called “The

Laurels”. This would mostly attract a younger audience as the people watching it could feel as if they can relate to what

is going on and what the actors are saying.

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

• Through creating this film opening, I have learnt how to use various computer programs such as final cut express, which is an

editing program for macs. This helped me when I was editing my film opening as I knew the basics of editing and I knew where to

find everything that I needed. When doing the ‘Life on Mars’ exercise I learnt how to put the shots together and add in transactions

in between different shots, and also how to add shots. The continuity exercise helped me with my filming and by doing this I also

learnt about the 180 degree rule and how to use it. When using final cut express I learnt how to put in titles, transactions, music

and altering sound levels.

• I used a website called “audionetwork.lgfl.org.uk” to find the music that I wanted. On the website there was a wide range of music.

The website was very clear and easy to use, it was also very helpful as it had the music separated into different categories such as

genre, mood/emotion and artists and composers.

• To film my opening I used a digital camcorder, I have used this type of camera several times so I was familiar with how the camera

works and how to record etc. I have learnt about different technologies both in filming and post-production.

This shows how I have altered the sound, I made

the sound louder in some areas than others, this is

so you can hear the boy talking clearly and loudly.

This shows how I have altered the sound again, I

made the music slowly get quieter, this is so the

other piece of music can come in and it also shows

the mood changing.

Looking back at the preliminary task, What do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I used Final Cut Express a couple of times before my film opening, when I was editing my ‘Life on Mars’ exercise, ‘Continuity Exercise’

and my ‘digital story board’, Through doing these two exercises I learnt how to use the program a bit better. I learnt that when you

insert a transaction it can show the passing of time. I learnt that the title sequence and the film opening has to include main

characters and set the scene. The film opening can begin from the beginning of the film or it can also start with a flashback. From

creating this project I learnt how important the opening is at intriguing the audience and making them want to watch more of the film.

My film opening is very calm but nearer the end to it you hear the boy of the phone to his friend, the audience does not know what the

friend is saying which creates more mystery and as we hear them talking about ‘The Laurels’, and then it jumps to the shot of the boy

running, the audience would want to know more about it and they would want to find out what has happened, therefore making them

want to watch more.

This shows the transactions used and how

the shots fit together smoothly.

This shows how I have inserted text into my digital

story board. I have added a lot of text, this is

because I have many people in my production and

many actors.