Rachel Mendez created a mini movie using stop frame animation techniques, along with a film poster and review page. The movie tells the story of a bullied "geek" who imagines herself as a superhero. She used costumes and stereotypes to distinguish the geek and hero characters. The movie challenges conventions by using stop frame animation instead of live footage and including titles instead of dialogue. The poster and review page complement the movie by featuring consistent images and connecting the pieces together as part of a set. Audience feedback praised the humorous and comic aspects of the work. Rachel used various media technologies like digital cameras, Photoshop, and video editing software to create and combine her media products.

1. Advanced Portfolio Evaluation By Rachel Mendez

2. My products My production package includes a mini movie, film poster and a review page. The main narrative of the story is that there is a “geek” who is bullied by some “cool kids” and in her thoughts she imagines herself as a superhero who ends up saving one of the cool kids

3. How does my media product use forms and conventions of real media products? Aconvention that I have stuck with is the costume of the “geek” and the “hero”. For the geek, I used braces, a shirt and long socks to add to the geeky look. This is quite a stereotypical approach to create the geek look which is often used on TV shows to indicate this type of character.

4. How does my media product use forms and conventions of real media products? The geek costume juxtaposed well with the “hero” costume which consisted of the Superman t-shirt. I used a this because it’s a recognisable superhero and would instantly indicate the change of character from geek to hero. This is conventional because the icon on the shirt is what many comic book hero’s would have on their own costumes (like Superman, or Wonderwoman for example).

5. How does my media product challenge forms and conventions of real media products? The form of my mini movie is quite different from existing movies as it is a stop frame animation. I used this technique because I thought it would create a more interesting effect and enable me to make the “hero” fly. Conventionally, live footage is used in movies so this technique differs from many existing products. My movie could be classed as post modern, because in a way it parodies Superman as the character wears a Superman shirt and is called “Super Geek”. Post modern media products aren’t conventional as the aspects that create post modernism challenge existing products through using things like parody and intertextuality. Another aspect of my product that challenges existing conventions is that there is no dialogue, but I have included titles to outline the narrative and add in some speech.

6. How does my media product challenge / use forms and conventions of real media products? I have used a geeky looking font rather than the conventional “superhero” type font which isn’t usual of superhero movies. The main image is of the main character to show who the movie is mostly about. The angle of the picture was supposed to look like she is flying out of the page to make it look more interesting. This is a conventional angle often used in superhero movies to make the character look like they’re flying. I have kept all the colours quite high key and have edited the picture of the sky to make it bright to make it look more cartoony which is different from many existing film posters, although films like “The Simpsons Movie” use cartoons. I added a filter to the main image because I thought it could show that its quite surreal that she’s flying. This isn’t a type of look that is usually used in film posters which is why I think its quite effective. Even though she is dressed in the hero clothes, I have added a pair of geek glasses to show that even though she imagines herself as a hero, she can’t escape the reality. Its also representing the name of the movie as she's wearing a bit of both her worlds. This isn’t usual of superhero characters as glasses would usually be used to disguise a superhero alter ego.

7. How effective is the combination of the main product and ancillary texts? I think all three of my media products work well as a combined piece as in all three of my pieces there is some consistency. I have used a picture from the movie on the review page and for the poster I have used an image of the main character superimposed onto a picture of the sky which is used in the movie too. This creates a particular image meaning that it becomes obvious to audiences that they are all connected.

8. How effective is the combination of the main product and ancillary texts? The main product and ancillary products all contain the protagonist which clearly demonstrates a relationship between all three products

9. Audience Feedback My audience feedback made me glad that my piece looked comical because I wanted it to look quite comic like My mini movie was “funny” and the music “contrasted the narrative making it funnier” The simplicity of the poster is “straight to the point” and “shows what the movie is about” the review page is “clear and easy to read” and “sets the genre of the film”.

10. Media Technologies I have used a range of different media technologies throughout the creation of my media products, such as; A digital camera Photoshop (picture editing software) Premiere Elements (film editing software) Blogger.com Microsoft Powerpoint Microsoft Publisher

11. Media technologies Digital camera – I used this to take all my photos for the stop frame animation, but also to record the live footage that I included. From this, I uploaded my pictures and footage onto a computer. Photoshop – With some of the pictures, I needed to superimpose one image onto another to make the hero fly, so I used the magnetic lasso tool to cut out the hero and attach her onto the sky. I also used Photoshop to edit my film poster, which again I superimposed. I put a picture of the “hero” onto a picture of the sky, then I put an image of some geek glasses onto the “hero”. I also enhanced both images, added text and added the filter ‘poster edges’ to add a cartoon look.

12. Media technologies Premiere Elements – I used this to create my stop frame animation. I uploaded the pictures I needed onto it, then sorted out the order of the pictures and the length of each one. I also added titles where needed and music. Blogger.com – I used this to document the progress of my work and upload my planning and research. Microsoft Powerpoint– I used this to create the evaluation. Microsoft Publisher – With this software I created my review page. I placed the text boxes in the layout I wanted and copied and pasted on an image from the movie. I then added the text and sized the ‘stars’ for the ratings.