The document discusses the ways in which a student's media production did or did not use, develop, or challenge conventions of real media. The student analyzed several shots from their production compared to the original media they were mimicking. They found similarities but also differences in shot types, lighting, costumes, and setting used between their production and the real media. The student discussed feedback received which suggested adding a soundtrack and transitions. They also outlined technologies like cameras, editing software, and online platforms used during the production process and ways they could improve for their next project.

2. 
In what ways does your media product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?

3. This is the first scene in our clip and it is similar to the original. The
positioning of the actor is almost the same however the shot type is
different. The original shot is a close up and my clip is in nearer to a
mid close up. The original clip has much more to it building up a lot of
tension to that point in the screen shot, however in a college setting we
found this difficult in comparison to what it could have been if we’d
have had more time or better costumes. The lighting in our clip is bright
and gives of a positive feel to it but the original clip has a low lighting
with a red tint gives off dangerous connotations. In the original clip the
characters costume contributes to set the dangerous mood in the clip,
My clip does not contribute to setting any mood in the clip, if I was to do
this again I would have my actor in a different costume, we didn’t think
of this while filming but now I feel we could have done it 100xs better.

4. In this shot I used a similar type of shot to mimic the original. I felt
that use of a close up shot was important however whilst recording
we didn’t feel that the positioning of the actor was completely
necessary. The shot is still effective as we can easily see the
emotion of the character and gets the point across in an effective
way. Despite my actor not being in a specific costume this didn’t
matter as the shot still works. The lighting of the shot is a lot different
but couldn’t be helped as in the time we had to film (2 hours) it was
difficult finding appropriate lighting. I tried to get the setting as close
to the original as possible but this was difficult considering we were
in college and the scene is set in a home! I tried to find a background
as plain as possible so it didn’t suggest we were in somewhere like a
college, I feel the background was fairly neutral so it allowed the shot
to work.

5. This shot proved to be less effective however I was not challenging
any conventions here. The shot focuses on confrontation and I feel
that I was successful on mimicking the original here. The original clip
from Hollyoaks is an over the shoulder close up, however I used an
over the shoulder mid shot however this was unintentional, in future I
would focus on framing the shots more. Costume and setting could
not be helped as we were in a college but if we’d had the time I would
have changed this to make the characters more realistic and
believable. The lighting on the original uses only natural lighting as
did I in my shot. Again I used a plain and basic background for the
shot as it was impossible to find a background similar to the original
while in college.

6. Here, we didn’t mimic the exact shot, instead we challenged it and
changed to adapt to our setting of a college. Both shots are mid
shots so that we see the emotions of the girls. We got the shot by
putting the camera on a tripod. The mis en scene is an area of
weakness, because of the setting, but we were limited by time
constrictions which we could correct in our final piece. The shot is
framed quite well , with body gestures accurately captured by the
full shot, and similarities in the colours of the costume and light
used.

7. Like the previous scene this scene is a over the shoulder close up.
This clip is very similar although it does have its minor differences. As
well as the original clip, my clip is a over the shoulder close up shot
type. The way the characters are positioned in this scene is slightly
different to the original. In the original clip the female actor is position
covering the first third of the screen whereas in mine the female actor
is positioned in the last third of the screen. Also the clip is similar to the
original as it stays in the same position it does not pan along the
camera it just stays in that one place. One other difference in the two
clips is that the Lighting in our clip is bright and gives of a
positive/happy mood but the original clip has a low lighting giving of a
negative/Unhappy/sad mood. In the Original clip the characters
costume contributes to Dr. Browning's character, using reds and blacks
to connote danger My clip does not do this.

8. What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

9. We were given audience feedback sheets and had other people in
the lesson evaluate our work. These were the results…
Positive comment – “very good use of different shot types”

10. We were given audience feedback sheets and had other people in the
lesson evaluate our work. These were the results…
Constructive criticism – “include a soundtrack behind the dialogue
and add some transitions”

11. How did you use media technologies in the contruction,
research and planning and evaluation stages?

12. I used the internet to research genres and subgenres to help
me understand the conventions of them. We also wrote two
textual analysis essays to further our understanding.
We made our own story boards of existing
soaps to help us understand conventions
and learn more about the use of different
shot types.
We worked in groups to make power points on
a chosen sub-genre. I did realism, we each
took on a role of researching the micro
elements of that sub-genre. After this we
presented our presentations and took notes
on other subgenres, so we had notes on all
subgenres.

13. We used a Panasonic – HDC – SD60 camera to film with and used a tripod
to frame shots.
We edited our own trailer on iMovie on the Macs and added music via a
Youtube converter.
Next time I do this I will make more use of my
knowledge of shot types and camera movement,
all of the shots I took were clear still shots and I
found this a bit boring. I will include things such
as panning shots, tracking shots and the use of
zoom.
To set the scene of being in a
college we sat with the camera
on a tripod for 5 minutes as
students walked past.

14. I uploaded my footage onto iMovie and began by sequencing my shots
in chronological order. I had to change the sound levels with many of
the shots as being in college the background noise was very
distracting.
We edited our own trailer on iMovie
on the Macs and added music via a
Youtube converter.
We uploaded our finished
trailer onto Youtube and then
put it onto Weebly.
Next time I do this I will add affects
on iMovie such as slow motion and
adding transitions between shots to
make it less boring and so that
everything comes together smoothly.

15. What can you do to improve the quality of your production on
your final, original soap trailer?

16. Next time I do this I would like to improve on the setting of the
shots and the shot types used. I will use better audio such as
mics, which will help to eliminate background noise from
inside of college.
I would make the actors wear different costumes which will
reflect the true nature of the character. For example, using red
which connotes danger.
I will also add transitions and use effects on iMovie now that I
have had a practise and know how to use it effectively. I will
edit it by using effects like quick cuts, slow motion, speed up
and fading shots into one another.
I will also make a better use of props to set the scene better
and to highlight important things about a character that the
audience wouldn’t know otherwise.