2. ‘Pumpin’ Steel’ is challenging to the conventions of real media products, more so to the
mockumentary/comedy Genre because, most mockumentaries are not very well thought-out,
scripted and shot at the appropriate camera angles. On the other hand ‘Pumpin’ Steel’ is the
opposite, its very well thought out/planned, it has a set script and we made sure that is shot at the
appropriate angles at all times. The mockumentary genre typically consists of foul language and not
very good quality, we tried to make sure that both of these things are not an issue in our film
opening. ‘Pumpin’ Steel’ is based on a comedic form, whereas some mockumentarys are based on a
dramatic form, although comedic mockumentaries are more common. Mockumentaries are often
partly or wholly improvised, as an unscripted style of acting helps to maintain the feeling of reality,
‘Pumpin’ Steel’ was a scripted style of acting and was deliberately chose not to maintain the
pretence of reality so that the feel of comedy comes across more obviously. We used Camera,
editing, sound and mise-en-scene to develop the form and convention from other mockumentaries.
A variety of shots were used, but mainly close-ups and mid shots to allow the audience to engage
with characters. Editing is mainly fast cuts because each shot is short and funny and there is no need
to waste time with slow editing,
A Screen grab of Arnold schwarzenegger in
‘Pumping Iron’. This is the movie we based
our mockumenatry on and we also based
the main character Seamus on Arnolds
character. We didn’t have the resources to
create something high quality.
“ In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of film openings)”
3. How does your media product represent particular social groups
?
For the opening we consciously decided to have young
actors because our target audience is young, also by using
young actors we can relate to the target audience more
effectively and allow the to connect with each character.
However, we also challenged stereotypes in our opening.
You wouldn’t expect an amazing world-known athlete to
be a tall, skinny, ginger boy and we played on that to add
to the comedy, we wanted the main character (the
athlete) to look anything but what people would expect a
professional athlete to look like. It is typical for a
mockumentary to challege stereotypes for the comedic
aspect.
4. What kind of media institution might distribute
your media product and why?
I believe that if our movie were to have a distributor it would definitely be either
momentum pictures, why?
Because it is very well known which makes the movie trustworthy to the viewers and will
get the movie a good viewing rate.
Or
Polymer records, why?
Because they released a mockumentary called ‘This is spinal tap’, which was a very well-
known, highly-viewed film, high bugdet film which was once named ‘the greatest spoof of
all time’. It was incredibly highly rated and Polymer records, I believe would be a great
distributor for ‘Pumpin’ Steel’.
5. Who would be the audience for your media product?
As a group we discussed and decided that our target audience would
be 15-25. Whilst researching film classification on BBFC in relation to
our mockumentary genre, we decided on rating our film opening a PG
because our film follows the guildlines and regulations that a PG
expects, it doesn’t have sexual references, no details of violence and
no consistent bad language. After deciding on our audience we done a
bit of research on what 15+ year olds like to see in a film, we then tried
to incorporate those things into our film opening.
‘This is spinal tap’ (mockumentary) was rated a 15 but it had consistent
bad language and sexual references, so ours is rightfully rated lower.
6. How did you attract/address your audience?
As our audience profile is aged between 15-25, different ages would
be attracted to different parts of the mockumentary, but I think that
throughout the whole opening the audience is forced to be engaged
because in every clip something funny happens so there is never a dull
moment which automatically attracts the audience. Also, as far as
gender is concerned, the film is appealing to both male and females,
and doesn’t have any content in it that will limit the audience to be
one gender.
In addition there were more aspects of the opening, e.g. camera
angles, close-ups and point of view shots that engage the audience
and allow them to connect to the characters. In addition to that we
used the mise-en-scene to add comedy to the mockumentary, e.g.
seamus the athlete) it wearing an extremely creased vest, which is
unexpected for a rich professional athlete.
7. What have you learnt about technologies from
the process of constructing this product?
• Final cut express: this programme was quite difficult to
use, considering I am not familiar with most
programmes, but over time it became easier, it was
very efficient for cutting and putting effects into the
film opening
• Movie plus X6: this was much simpler to use than Final
cut express and it didn’t take me long to familiarise
myself with it, I enjoyed using it. There were many
indicators on the timeline whilst editing which were
very useful to me because I forgot where everything
was, I also found it hard to save files but I just used my
memory stick which was more efficient.
8. Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity
editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to full product?
I think I have definitely learnt more about what it takes to make a film. In the preliminary task
my group had so many great ideas but because of lack of space to film, venue, props, money
and actors we had to go with the easiest film opening we could do within reason for our full
product. I now know that in order to make a successful full product you need to base your film
on what/where you’ve already got, any additional props are a bonus, e.g. don’t waste your
time planning to film in Buckingham palace when you have no access to it. I have also learnt
how important not breaking the 180 degree rule is because once that rule is broken the shot
doesn’t look right. In the preliminary task it was quite shaky because we didn’t use a tripod
and we did the same in full product and had to redo it so I've definitely learned that when
filming, a tripod is compulsory. In the preliminary task my group often thought that mise-en-
scene wasn’t that important, but working on the full product we’ve realised it is, because it all
helps the feeling of the film and how the audience perceive it. Camera, editing, sound and
mise-en-scene all contribute greatly to the success of the film. I have also learned not to leave
things to the last minute, in the preliminary task we more or less left everything too late so we
were rushing for the dead line, on the other hand, the full product, we started very soon after
we decided what the plot was going to be so we had enough time to get everything done and
edit. I have gained confidence in using cameras and I know how and when to use each camera
angle. Since the preliminary task I have improved in editing, I can now successfully edit a film.
But overall I feel this task has been beneficial to my development as a A Level Media student.
