Evaluation 1 Media Studies AS for the 2 minute film opening The Mandela Effect

1. EVALUATION 1
IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP, OR
CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

2. THE TITLE OF THE FILM The title of the film follows conventions for science
fiction films which have action as it has bold, big
characters similar to how star trek and the hunger games
both have bold characters, in fact 3D characters in the
title. Star trek, being in space and quite scientific uses a
cold silver as a title, which is similar in part to the colour
scheme I used as it has a cool grey for the words as well,
apart from Mandela as I used the colour red, as red has
connotations with violence and action, thus hammering
home the message that the film has action as well. The
titles for Star Trek and The Hunger Games are seem to
have a sort of shine to them, Star trek having a lens flare
go through it, which helps us know its star trek as they
often use lens flares in star trek. the flare also looks like
something from space especially as it is a blue colour,
which lets the audience know that it is set in space, or
that space is a huge compartment of the film, likewise,
The Hunger Games also has a sort of shine to the title,
only its more subtle, as the centre of the title is slightly
lighter, this makes the characters have more depth as
well as draws your attention to the centre. This is similar
to my title as it has an outer glow coming from the
characters which makes it stand out more. The title
follows the convention there as well.

3. The background of Star Trek is black, this
helps the audience understand that it is set in
space and not earth thus meaning they know
sort of what to expect. The Hunger Games
also has a black background but also has a
ring on fire in the background with a bird
around it. This creates more action, letting
the viewer know that the film has action in it
as fire is quick and dangerous thus giving off
the impression there is danger in the film,
and that it is fast paced. The bird will also call
out to viewers as it was a very important
symbol in the universe who fans of the book
series would recognise. My background has
had noise added and thus creates a static
effect. This helps make the effect of a CCTV
camera thus creating the effect that you are
being watched and heavily monitored in the
film.

4. SETTING/ LOCATION
The setting is inner city London, we can see this thought
the red bus as those are specific to London, which makes
us know that it is in London, the bus stop also has graffiti
all over it, which shows that it is an urban, inner city
setting as opposed to a lush green suburb, or countryside.
This follows the conventions of this as most action films
are set in the city, such as The Amazing Spiderman which
was set in New York. This follows the convention as it is
set in inner city London, these are usually set in these
places as it is crowded full of people and often rife with
crime as there as so many people. The setting also helps
with the film as it creates a feeling of always being
watched as there are lots of CCTV camera in the city as
opposed to the countryside thus helping create the mood
of tension and suspense. There are also school settings
such as a classroom in The Mandela Effect and a corridor
in The Amazing Spiderman both of them portraying young
adults who still go to school. This makes them similar as
conventions in films with young adults often show them
at school- this also relates them to the audience.

5. COSTUME
The Mandela effect shows characters
through costume. The teacher wears a shirt
and tie. This stays true to conventions for
teachers in films as they usually dress
smartly, Chase wears a plain white T-shirt
and glasses with slightly unkempt hair. The
conforms to the convention of the main
protagonist wearing smart-casual look and
looking smart and slightly geeky which
helps portray them as smart. Mandy wears
a heavy jacket and skinny jeans with boots,
this shows also conforms to conventions as
she wears jeans and is seems prepared for
action, however it strays from conventions
as well, as most female characters in films
wear more feminine clothes such as
dresses and skirts, however Mandy
doesn’t.

6. PROPS
The Props in The Mandela Effect are the ‘12 year
anniversary of world peace’ posters which were a
recurring motif in the opening as it helped suggest
that something is different/wrong and helps create
intrigue, this is conventional as movies which deal
with a changed past often have subtle signs in the
background to suggest that something is off to the
audience, and there are often other big signs such as
in Back to the Future with the newspaper year.

7. CAMERA WORK AND EDITING In the film I use continuous editing to make
everything seem smooth and to create a
calm feel to the opening so as to contrast the
subject matter creating an eerie feel, and
also to create a contrast with the film’s
action later on. I also tried to make a jump
cut to the outside to show that time has
gone and the transition to later on in the
school journey. I use high angle shots when
speaking to the teacher as those are used to
show he has more authority but show Chase
and Mandy at eye level mostly so as to keep
the audience at their level and relate to them
more. I use close- ups with Mandy and Chase
also so that the audience relates to them
more, and use medium close-up with the
teacher in order to make him seem further
away- distance the audience from him. I use
a lot of long shots as it creates a feel of
detachment also helping to create the
atmosphere that something is wrong. I tried
create a special effect of soft-focus in the
dream sequence as it is conventional for
dream sequences to be in soft focus.

8. HOW THE STORY OPENED UP?
The story is opened up in the opening by reminding the viewer of
the Paris Bombings and then goes on to showing one of the main
characters (Chase) in the dream sequence restating that the Paris
Bombings happened but meeting resistance from the teacher
who claims it never happened. We then meet the other
character (Mandy) waking up from the dream and going to
school, with posters further creating intrigue and confusion as it
states that in their world the Paris Bombings (and other
atrocities) hasn’t happened, which confuses and intrigues the
viewer as they know it had happened there as we seen in the
dream sequence- thus making the audience want to find out
more on what happened and why no-one seems to remember it.

9. WHAT WAS THE GENRE AND HOW DID THE OPENING
SHOW IT?
The Genre was dark sci-fi mystery film with action components, the opening sets up
the mystery aspect as it creates intrigue and curiosity over why no-one seems to
remember the Paris Bombings. It does this through the calm, slow feel in the
opening and fluidity through continuous editing which is juxtaposed by the signs in
the scene that things are wrong, and not easy-going and right. it suggests this
through the use of the ‘12 years of world peace’ posters around as we know that
there wasn’t thus makes us wonder why people seem not to know this. This helps
create an eerie feel of mystery in the film and helps introduce a dark atmosphere-
especially with the many cuts to CCTV cameras and the school gates looking like jail
bars creating a feel of restriction and government over-controlling the lives of those
in the film.

10. HOW WERE THE CHARACTERS INTRODUCED?
The Characters: Chase and Mandy are introduced in the film through
different ways. Chase is introduced first in the dream sequence, also
introducing the dissonance in history, but we would later meet him later on
in the film during the school day. He is shown as being distressed and in an
argument with the teacher over the Paris Bombings and whether they
happened. We instantly have sympathy with him as we know he's right, and
seems to be getting targeted by the teacher wrongly (as he's right). We then
meet Mandy as she is waking up for school and on her way to school. She
seems mostly un-phased by the posters but scrunches one up which shows
some annoyance. The audience doesn’t know much about either of these
characters apart from how they look at this point as they will find out more
about these characters later on in the film through the school day when we
see them meet for the first time and the story starts to progress on them
going on their journey to find the truth.