1. WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE FORYOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?
The target audience forourmediaproductisMales aged30 and over.Althoughourdemographicis
more vague interms of age our ideal targetintermsof genderismore strict as itis aimedat males.
Malestake interestinwesternbecause theyare portrayedasthe infearergenderasideology
suggests. Ouropeningsequence matchesideologyaswell asthe formsandconventionsof awestern
so there isno reasonwhypeople whoenjoywesternswouldnotwanttoview ourfilm. Asteenagers
we had little experienceof westernfilmsbefore the asmediacourse whichsuggeststhat the
average teenagerwouldnottake interestinthisspecificgenre. Ourtargetaudience maybe male
howeveritdoesnotmeanfemalescannotview ourproduct.One of ourmaincharacter is female.
Althoughwe have triedtomatch the ideologybyportrayingfemalesasvulnerable theystill provide
significance inouropeningsequence. Typicallyitisthe oldergenerationwhotake interest in
westernastheyare more familiar withforms andconventionsof the genre howeverwesternsa
becomingincreasinglypopularamongstyoungergenerations.Thismaybe downtothe fact that
modernwesternsare attractingare larger demographicof audiences. Modern westernfilmssuchas
unforgivenreleasedin1992 andtombstone releasedin1993 have beenhuge hitsamongst
audiences.Ouropeningsequence haselementsof modernwesternsascharacterslookyoungerthan
typical charactersthat wouldfeature ina westernaswell asthat the locationwhichlooksmore I
WHAT KINDOF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT DISTTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?
Me and my groupresearchedwesternfilmswhilstacknowledgingeveryident.We watchedfilms
such as true grit,django, once upona time inthe west(1968) and highnoonand realisedthatthere
were twomaincommonidentsamongstthe filmswe watchedandtheywere wannerbrosand
paramountpictures.Afterresearchingwe came tothe conclusion thatwe were goingto use
paramountpictures. We gatheredenougheveidence tosuggestthatparamountpictureswouldbe
mostlikelytodistribute ourfilm. We optedforthe modernidentasour westernlookedtoomodern
to have and olderident. All the westernswe watchedeitherhadWarnerbros or paramountpictures
as there identsoideallythose twowouldwanttodistribute ourproduct.
HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA REPRESENT PARTICULARSOCIALGROUPS
Our extractfeaturestwomaincharacters.One male,one female. Bothcharactersare white.We
usednail vanishtoshowthe femaleswealthyupbringinghoweverthiscreative decisionmaynotof
came of well as we had hopedasthe nail vanish doesnotmatchthe conventionsof awestern.We
representedthe white femaleasbeingupperclassinthe openingsequence howevershe isstill
made to lookweakandvenerable asoursequence matchesideology.We usedthe voice overto
connote heras beingweakasher voice soundsdesperate.We portrayedthe male beingpowerful
and masculine andhavingsignificant poweroverthe female.We didthisthrougheditingaswe
matchedthe shotsof the female writingtothe male walkingdownthe hill. The male iswhite
connotingthe demographicof westernaswe didnotfeature anyotherraces.We representedwhite
as beingthe dominantdemographicasbothour actors were white.Ourcharactersour portrayedas
beingolderthenthe actorsactuallyare.The male characteris representedasbeingmiddleage and
the female isportrayedasbeingyounger.We didnotportraythe charactersas teenagersastheydo
not match conventionsof awestern.
HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADRESSYOUR AUDIENCE

2. We attractedour audience using conventionsof awesternwithhelpfrommise enscene,camera,
editingandsound.
In our maintask we includedavoice overrecordedbyanmp3 Dictaphone.We alsoincluded
backgroundmusicpurchasedfromaudionetworktomatch the westerngenre.Afterreviewing
musicfromYouTube, iTunesandaudionetworkwe choose atrack named‘lonesome landscape’.The
track matchedthe conventionsof awesternwiththe folkgenre anduse of violin.Ourchoice of
backgroundmusicalsohelpsportraythe plotinthe openingsequence.
We usedmise enscene toportrayour character as a mysteriouscowboy.We didthisthrough
costume as we setan attire of blackjeans,white shirt,cowboybootsandcowboyhat.The white
shirtcontrastedwiththe dark jeanswhichsentoutfurtherconnotationsof mystery. Atthe
beginningwe filmedavarietyof close upof the charactersface that we didnot eventuallyuse,
howeverwe usedthe cowboyhatto coverup the cowboysfacial toadd mysteriousnesstohis
character.
We filmedavastamountof shotsat three different locations,includingaclassroomwhere we used
key lightingthatwe wouldnotinclude inthe final edition.We wenttothe new forestwhere we
searchedfora suitable locationtofilm.Afterabout5 minuteswe foundasuitable hillfromwhere
we couldfilma longshotfrom.We selectedalongshotto emphasisthe connotationof mysteryas
we didnot wantto reveal tomuch aboutthe main character inthe opensequence.We alsouseda
science classroomwere we filmeddifferentshotsof ourfemale character.We shotclose upsof her
face,close upsof herhand writingof the paperto show the audience the significance of her
character. Our openingsequence alsofollowsthe ideologyof moderntimesasthe male isportrayed
as beinga masculine heroiccharactercomingto save a weak,venerable, femininefemale from
danger.
Our openingsequence contains alotof editing.We have filmedatthree differentlocationshowever
onlyincludedshotsfilmedfromtwodifferentlocations.We cutto and fromthe differentshotsand
connotingthatthe two differentcharactersare linked.Withhelpfromthe voice overthe editing
portraysthe storythe two charactersas havingromanticconnections.Editingisfrequentthroughout
the openingsequence connotingthatthe movie isgoingtoinclude actionandfastpaced editing.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FORMTHE PROCESSOFCONSTRUCTINGTHIS
PRODUCT?
Our openingsequence wascreatedwithavarietyof differenttechnologies.Firstlywe filmedwitha
cannoncamera 180p whichfilmedin50 framespersecond(fps).Oursequence wasalsofilmedin
highdefinition(full HD) whichmeantwe filmedwithmore framespersecondresultingina
smoothersequence.Duringthe editingstage we usedsoftware onthe PCtocomplete ouropening
sequence.The twosoftware applicationswe usedwere ‘adobepremierprocs5.5’(for editing) and
‘adobe aftereffectskeylight5.5’(fortitles).We didn’tonlyuse the PCforitssoftware as we used
online mediatoconstructa blogto maintainarecollectionof are progressionoverthe course.We
usedtumblrto postregularblogpostsand uploadpictures,screenshots,videosandanyworkwe did
duringour coursework.Ouropeningsequenceincludedavoice oversowe usedandmp3
Dictaphone tohelpuscomplete the task.Duringthe filmingperiodour groupmade alterationsto
the openingsequence.We used Chromakey(greenscreen) tofilmasectionof ouropening

3. sequence andcomplete our filminghoweverwe decidedeventuallynottoinclude the shots we
filmedwith the helpfromthe Chromakey. Mygroupfoundit hard to obtaina track for our
backgroundmusicas we had to be original.We foundourtrack on audionetworkandediteditinto
our sequence.
LOOKINGBACKAT YOUR PRELIMANARYTASK,WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVELEARNT IN THE
PROGRESSION FROMIT TO THE FULL MAIN PRODUCT?
As I reflectuponmyprogressionof the course Irecognise Ihave developedavarietyof different
skills.FirstlyIfeel personallythatIhave learnt a lot aboutmediaall together.Ihave transformed
froma passive audience memberto anactive audience memberasInow analysisall the connation’s
highlightedindifferenttexts.The Preliminarytasktaughtme a greatdeal abouteditingandhow
easilycontinuitycanbe brokenwithinasequence.Ihave developedmyknowledge aboutcontinuity
whichwasof greatbenefitwhenitcame toproducingthe maintask withinthe courseworkasme
and mygroup realisedhowwe were breakingcontinuityandmade sure thatwe correctedour
mistakes.Anexampleof ourunderstandingcontinuitywouldbe whenwe begantofilmusing
Chromakey.We filmedata differentlocationaweekbefore andwe hadto make sure to our
character was wearingthe exactsame costume whichincludeda cowboyhat. In the endwe foundit
too difficulttomaintaincontinuitywithinthe sequence usingthe greenscreenwe eventually
decidedtodropit fromour productand take anotherroute to completingourtask.Secondtime
aroundwe did a much betterjob aswe filmedthe restof the shotsinthe science lab. Alongwith
continuityIhave learntaboutthe 180 degree rule andhow itcan be usedtosendout different
connotationstopassive audience members.My group’s knowledge of the 180 degree rule wasvital
as we filmedourmaintaskas we didnot want to breakcontinuityatanypointduringour opening
sequence. Mybasicknowledgeof onlinemediahasalsoimprovedvastly.Mypastexperiencesof
social networkingsiteswere onlytwitterandfacebook.We begantouse tumblrinorderto track our
progressionandkeepatimelineof eventsincludingresearchandplanning.AtfirstIfoundtumblr
difficulttouse asI didnot take to it reallywell,howeverovertimei have graduallybegantobecome
more familiarwiththe site andhave learnt a lotaboutthe site andhow to post blogs. The
equipmentwe usededucatedme abouthow affective theywerewhenitcame tofilmingour
openingsequence.We usedacannoncamera 180p whichfilmedin500 fps.I was notfamiliar with
the make and model of the camera butlearnthow importantitwas as it helpedusfilminhigh
quality.Mygroups use of greenscreentaughtme about the preferredterm(Chromakey) butalso
taught me howdifficultitwastoeditintoa sequence whilstmaintainingcontinuity.The group’s
inclusionof avoice overshowedme how easyitwas to include intoourfinal sequence.
IN WHAT WAY DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOPOR CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONSOFREALMEDIA PRODUCTS
We challengedformsand conventionswiththe female characterasshe was wearingnail vanish.We
usednail vanishinorderto sendoutconnotationsof herupperclassstatus alongwithherwealthy
background butour decisionmaynotof beengreatas we foundlittle evidence of nail varnish
featuringinwesterns. We usedwesternconventionswhenwe decidedonthe costumesforourtwo
maincharacters. The male character waswearinga plainwhite t-shitalongwith darkjean,cowboy
hat and bootsas we gainedinspirationforthisdecisionfromacharacterin a westernfilmentitled
‘Sharamget wild’.Hiscostume wasa combination of blackandwhite whichwe thoughtsentout

4. connotationsof mysteryasthe two coloursare contrasts to one anotheras we didnot wantto
reveal tomuch aboutour male character we followedthe filmsdecisionandkeptthe malescostume
reallybasicandincludednopropsinthe openingsequence.The female characterhadherhair tide
ina bunas we kepther costume basicwitha greenjumper.We focusedthe cameraonher handas
she wrote on the bad inan attemptto not reveal tomuchabout herappearance andfocus more on
the voice overwe had editedintothe sequence.
We usedcameraanglesto sendoutfurtherconnotationof mysteryaswe revealedlittleaboutboth
character appearances.We useda varietyof differentcameraangle onthe female character
includingoverthe shouldershotsandclose upof her handsas the directdiegeticnarrative wasmore
significantinportrayingthe plot.The male characterwasintroducedwithanextreme longshotwith
the character neverbeingfocusedonashe walkeddownthe hill withhisheadboweddown.We
keptthe same camera angle throughoutthistoconnote the characters mysteriouswaysashe got
closerand closertothe camera.
There wasfrequenteditingthroughoutthe openingsequenceaswe wantedtosendout
connotationsinthe connectionbetweenthe twocharacters.Crosscuttingwas usedtohighlight
bothcharacters relevance inthe sequence.
We purchaseda track of audionetworkthatmatchedthe formsandconventionsof awesternaswe
searchedall overforit usingsightssuchas YouTube and itunes.The violinsendoutconnotationsof
an emotional plotwiththatbeingcombinedwiththe slow tempotodevelopthe conventionsof a
western.
We includedthe paramountpicturesidentaswe didrelavantresearchthatindicatedthat
paramountpictureswasthe most commonidentamongstwesternfilmsasfilmslikeonce upona
time inthe westfeaturedthe identintheiropening.
We alsodevelopedformsandconventionswiththe inclusionof avoice overas we includedas
westernaccentinour voice overtomatch ideologyof the genre.