Evaluation

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

As our selected genre was a hybrid of spy and action films, we divulged into both of those genres by viewing film openings
relating to them. After watching the selected openings, we imagined how we were going to implement these two genres into
one that still represents both the qualities of spy and action films respectively.
The film openings we watched were The Other Guys, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Despite The Other Guys being a
comedy, it still represented many qualities of action films – such as car chases, gunshots, stunts etc. This effectively helped us
have a contrast on how action can be conveyed in films, with the latter productions (Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace)
being arguably more serious and featuring more hands-on action like punches, kicks, assassinating etc.
Having that contrast of how action can be implemented was vital to our research, allowing us to be open-minded and be aware
that some action can be slapstick, tongue in cheek or generally gritty and crucial. And with our production being spy-action, we
had to ensure it was serious. So viewing these specific openings were undeniably prevalent in guiding us to the right path.
The opening sequences we viewed didn’t just offer a contrast on action, but also, metaphorically speaking, an album of action
moves/motions. Watching these openings filled our knowledge with a flurry of action moves, so when the occasion arrived to
film our own, we had a variety to choose from. The likes of combat moves such as punching, kicking and stealth-orientated
actions like neck snapping, suffocating etc. were all apparent and contributed to the variety we had. Watching the real media
products did help us significantly with our opening, as we decided to use a neck-snapping scene, which is elaborated on further
in the next slide.

The neck snap from AGENT ZERO.. Casino Royale Quantum of Solace


- CONTINUED –
Moving on from the action and how it contributed, the spy aspect
was also pivotal to the final production. This time the focus was on
the latter film openings, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. We
had already covered the action component, but we needed to cover
another fundamental part – the plot.
Having the films about spies/agents, our production related heavily
to these, and therefore would help effectively to the final production.
The plot aspect is undeniably one of the crucial parts of a film
opening, as it helps the audience gain some sort of understanding
about the film no matter how deceiving it may appear. Knowing how
important it is, we ensured we viewed the openings with great detail,
so we could extract as much information as possible.
From watching both the openings, we realised inevitably the plot
contained an amount of death and combat – something our opening
would have in some quantity. Watching scenes like James Bond
brutally killing his enemy in Casino Royale (3:19-3:50) really gave a
feeling of grit and ruthlessness to our viewing, and also showed a
plot component in the form of Bond’s vengeance. This is something
we were passionate to emulate in ours, and in order to replicate the
grit and power that scene had, we included Agent Zero snapping the
guard’s neck (0:43—0:47) which showed a brutal edge to Agent
Zero’s character plus the grit of executing an enemy with no mercy
whatsoever.


- CONTINUED -
Other than death and combat, we gathered that the products we watched (mostly Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace) contained
several technical aspects which are crucial when producing these projects. We witnessed a lot of close camera shots and angles which
were exclusive to the viewing in these openings, like close-ups, extreme close-ups, low angles and many more. Elaborating on how they
were ‘exclusive’ to the viewing, these shots/angles are very close to the action in the scene, and don’t provide much distance from the
viewer to the subject on camera. Also the camera angles mentioned give an unorthodox experience to the viewer, allowing them views on
the action they’d be unable to have personally. These certain shots and angles make a unique predicament for the recipients, and fail to
restrict them from anything being offered – resulting in a surreal experience which can excite and please the people watching.
With these being a strong foundation of the production, we used these technical aspects in our opening so it did match the real media
products we witnessed. However, we did challenge the genre in a way that would give our production creativity and unique quality. And
that was to give our protagonist obsessive compulsive disorder, resulting in a highly raw idea of a character in which the OCD would be a
burden on him and his job. We of course intensified the OCD aspect in the opening by providing close camera shots and revealing camera
angles on Agent Zero cleaning his hands with hand sanitizer.
The real media products also revealed other conventions available to extract and analyse, like music, props, setting etc. However we had
already planned in advance the music, props and setting so we were confident on those matters.
To conclude - watching the openings we selected provided a lot of help and guidance for us, which in a positive manner, would influence
how well we produced our opening. It is safe to say that extracting and divulging into the action, plot and technical aspects the three
openings offered stood us in good stead.
(Pictures of the camera shots and angles relating to our opening and other products are available to view on the next slide, and
references of the things mentioned are below this text.)
REFERENCES
Filmography - The Other Guys (2010) - Adam McKay - Casino Royale (2006) - Martin Campbell - Quantum of Solace (2008) - Marc Forster
Websites – Action Films – AGENT ZERO – Film Opening – Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Bibliography – N/A


EXTERNAL IMAGES

The OCD aspect intensified via close camera shots and revealing camera angles in AGENT ZERO.

Close shots used to give an exclusive view. (Collectively from Casino Royale and AGENT ZERO.)

How does your media product present particular social groups?
From watching our film opening, the product clearly shows two social
groups with significant contrast from one another.
The first social group is represented in the form of a rather youthful, clean
cut, formal male. The male (played by Jordan Harrison) is a secret agent
who has solely focused his time on his arch enemy, and intends to find and
kill him. Being a secret agent, he can be potentially deceiving – so
inferences from his appearance may not be correct or accurate. However,
the male’s attire is predominantly black, consisting of a black coat, a black
pair of trousers, black shoes and a white suit shirt with a neatly done tie.
In terms of dialogue in the opening sequence, there is no communication
exchanged. This results in no possible way to gain an understanding of the
male’s age from his voice, as how he speaks could suggest his maturity.
The male could have an adult’s deep voice, or a generally high pitch child’s
voice. In fact the only way to get some sort of clarification of his age is from
his facial appearance, which is that of a young adult – no facial hair or
wrinkles. Having this uncertainty reiterates just how deceiving this
character is, which opens a lot of doors to assumptions of what type of
person he is.
All these aspects of the male can lead people who don’t know him
personally to be arguably intimidated or sceptical of him, as he doesn’t
reveal too much emotion or expression. Just a stern face.
This concludes that this male stereotypically represents a social group of a
secretive, isolated young male who has potential problems in his past
which leads to him trusting nobody or showing his emotions. This person
however does seem to be sophisticated and important, which is suggested
by his formal clothing. The male’s clothing also finally suggests that his job
is important, as low-key clothing gives a hint of seriousness, plus a dark
personality due to his ability to snap an enemy’s neck with true conviction.

As for the other social group presented in our film opening, the product
shows another male with different characteristics.
The other social group shown is a laid back, informal, casual-dressed
young male. This other male (played by Daniel Faithful) is a thug who is
hired as a guard for Agent Zero’s nemesis, and performs the ‘dirty work’
(fighting, killing etc. when ordered) to make ends meet financially. The
guard is a smoker, and is seen spending his downtime smoking a cigarette
which can potentially stereotype him as scruffy or dirty as smoking can be
deemed unhygienic. He can also be stereotyped as informal or in a lower
class than other people (richer, wealthier people) – hence his job isn’t the
most prettiest or safe. The guard’s type of dress consists of dark attire,
with a black wool hat, black casual jacket, grey trousers and dark trainers
which is informal as opposed to Agent Zero. The choice of colour, which is
low-key, also reiterates this person’s dark, unfriendly character of being a
thug/guard which inevitably brings violence.
Once again, this individual doesn’t speak or be involved in dialogue during
the opening, most likely because he gets killed by Agent Zero. The
uncertainty of this person’s character crops up again, as the inability to
hear him speak (like the first social group) gives a sense of mystery to the
viewers. It can also imply the lack of importance of the person, as he is just
one of Agent Zero’s enemy’s guards, and not someone significant. Which
is why his presence in the film doesn’t stay for long, and the fact he is
desperate for money and is willing to take on an illegal job.
To conclude – this male is a stereotype of a social group that consists of
criminals, thugs and hooded gang members that perform illegal acts to
earn money. These individuals are mostly intimidating to society and are
the least successful in life which results in them being tied up in crime or
the wrong situations.

REFERENCES
(To state, some information documented derives from my own knowledge.)

Filmography – N/A

Websites – Secret Agents – Thugs/Henchmen


What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?
A media institution is an organisation that is responsible for the production,
marketing, distribution and regulation of media products. Institutions are pivotal
in ensuring the media product is able to be established to a good extent, with
funds, publicity, promotion etc. provided by the help of the institution.

If we were to choose an institution for our product, it would be in the name of
Paramount Pictures. Paramount produces/distributes both film and television
products, and has a stable position in terms of being ranked as one of the top-
grossing movie studios. They are also part of American media conglomerate, an
institution that owns many companies in mass media, Viacom.
Paramount is the fifth oldest existing film studio in the world, and holds a lot of
heritage, which is a positive for media products distributed by them as they are
well known and highly regarded in the world of media. They’re also a member of
the MPAA, the Motion Picture Association of America, which would persuade
people who aren’t aware of Paramount that they are in fact well established.
Paramount also celebrated their 100th anniversary in 2012, a statement that
reiterates just how important they are in the film and movie industry. REFERENCES
As of 2011, Paramount recorded a revenue of $1.2 billion, and an operating (Some content derives from personal knowledge.)
income of $300 million. In Sterling (British Pound), this would amount to £791.4
million and £197.85 million respectively. These figures shown reinforce the fact
Filmography – Iron Man 2 (2010) – Jon
that Paramount could support us financially and help us produce our product to
a great quality without any restrictions. Favreau
Since 2010, Paramount Pictures’ films have consisted of many action titles, Thor (2011) – Kenneth Branagh
such as Iron Man 2, Thor, Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol etc. M.I – G.P (2011) – Brad Bird
Having these titles being part of Paramount shows that our production would fit
perfectly within the institution, and would be of the type they regularly distribute.
Websites – Paramount Pictures – Viacom - MPAA
So to conclude, Paramount Pictures would be the best institution for our
product. Reason being, they’re highly regarded, very popular, financially positive
and they release similar products to ours. Bibliography – N/A

Who would be the audience for your product?
In terms of our target audience for our media product, our film’s age certificate
is 15+ – which inevitably means our target audience is from young adults to
mature adults (15-25). The age is selected due to violence in the opening and
throughout the film, something which isn’t suitable for younger years. The
violence and action in this film is more serious and real, which is better for
people of 15+ as they can handle the experience without being affected as
opposed to a younger person witnessing bad predicaments like violence.
Having the film younger would also prevent the action from being more gritty
and powerful, something our film desired to have.

Also, people aged 15+ tend to enjoy action films a lot, which is part of our genre
(spy-action). The action involved in the film varies from intense, fast-paced
scenes like combat, execution etc., which tends to generally enthral and excite
the viewer due to the wild nature of the scene they’re watching.

Another reason our film is certificate 15+, is that action films of this age
preference (and higher) can be very successful financially and also highly REFERENCES
acclaimed. Films like Looper and The Expendables are both rated 15+, and in (Some content derives from personal knowledge.)
the box office earned $166.5 million & $274 million respectively from a
considerably low budget compared to other films.
Filmography –
However, despite earning $274 million in the box office, The Expendables was
generally given a low rating. Sites like IMDb gave the film a 6.5/10 rating, which Looper (2012) – Rian Johnson
is arguably low. This shows that these types of films are popular as an action The Expendables (2010) – Sylvester Stallone
title can be given a bad rating but still receive a good return in the box office,
because action films can entice people to see them based on positive past Websites – British Board of Film Classification
experiences of similar productions. IMDb
Concluding on this, we aim to create a product that is preferred by the more
mature audience, as having an older audience allows us to fulfil our desire of Bibliography – N/A
creating a gritty, serious and electrifying action title with not many restrictions.

How did you attract/address your audience?
In order to attract our audience, we felt having gritty, serious action and a
unique character type in the form of an agent with OCD would be the
catalyst to that. As mentioned before, with our audience being 15+, we
were granted the ability to project critical, real and enthralling action. This
action was in the form of neck-snapping with true conviction, execution,
hands-on combat, pursuit and high quantity of adrenaline. All these
aspects compiled together will make a viewing experience that people will
remember, as it is exciting, powerful and gets them on the edge of their
seat with surprise. What the audience will see, will make them want to see
more.

Elaborating on the unique character type, which was the secret agent
suffering from OCD, we felt this was very unique and unorthodox. Being a
secret agent in a film, this inevitably involves combat – which suggests it
isn’t a clean job with the likes of blood possibly spilling on his attire. The
OCD aspect can intrigue viewers, as they will anticipate how the character REFERENCES
will cope with it hindering his objective and whether or not his mission will (Some content derives from personal knowledge.)
falter due to it. They will also be clueless as to whether the character will
react badly to dirt, and whether he may have to pause his pursuit to calm Filmography –
his urge of being clean. This situation will cause the viewers to ask a lot of
N/A
questions and bring uncertainty to them too, making them unaware of what
to expect and resulting in them being fully engaged to find out.
Websites –
Finally, we believe our unique character type and realistic action will attract Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
the audience, and conclude with pleasing them after watching the film.
Also, if we were to create a trailer of our film, the qualities of the production Bibliography – N/A
would shine brightly and persuade people to watch it.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
To ensure we created our product to a high quality and extent, we had to have high-end
facilities and equipment at our disposal to execute it properly.
We as a group had the privilege of having access to state-of-the-art technology, highly
professional software and powerful hardware. During the production of this product we used a
high definition video camera, a durable tripod and an Apple iMac loaded with professional
editing software (Final Cut Express) which would cost thousands of pounds to buy. These facts
and figures just show how much quality we had at our fingertips to establish our product
professionally.

Exactly what we used, and how we learnt during the use of them, are mentioned below;
• HD (High definition) Video Camera – Using a device like this allowed us to shoot our scenes with extreme clarity,
which ensured a good viewing experience of the action. Personally I am aware of how to use technology like this, but for
someone learning, the camera was very user-friendly and doesn’t provide much trouble to function.
• Professional Tripod – The tripod is an attachment which enables the camera to shoot/record with stability, and is
attached to the bottom of the camera. The tripod we used had three legs, all of which were adjustable in height to allow
different shots to be made. The tripod was very durable and professional, enabling shots that excluded shaking and
allowed a professional and smooth shot to be made. Having past experience of tripods, I was fine and comfortable using
it. However, the tripod is user-friendly too – which gives beginners an opportunity to use it properly with ease.
• Apple iMac with Software – The Apple iMac is an all-in-one desktop computer, enabling users to have a professional
experience with its array of features. We had the opportunity of using professional software on the iMac, which were
Final Cut Express and Garageband. Final Cut Express allowed us to publish a professional looking production, with
great editing features and quality overall. The quality of Final Cut Express is known widely, with many movie makers
and television producers using it for their products. Garageband was also a great experience, a music producing
software that let us create high quality music for our production without the worry of copyright infringement. Once again,
Garageband is a widely popular piece of software used by many. Using these pieces of software were fine personally,
as I have experience, but tutorials were needed for some departments as my skills weren’t fully developed. Final Cut
and Garageband are inevitably difficult to use, and beginners will be able to use it comfortably with revision of how to
use it and tutorials on the internet. The other piece of software we used was Edublogs, a blogging software which
allowed us to publish our media work online. The software is very easy to use, and will unlikely cause confusion or
problems.

Overall, we were grateful for the quality of equipment we had at hand. All of the equipment used
made our production become what it did, and were undeniably vital. We did need some tutorials
to polish our skills, but afterwards the process ran smoothly.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
REFERENCES
(To state, some information documented derives from my own knowledge.)

Filmography – N/A

Websites – High Definition – Tripod – Apple iMac – Final Cut – Garageband - Edublogs


Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Reflecting on our preliminary task, it allowed us to put our research into practice
with a piece of media that emulated the vital editing, camera shots and angles
needed to make a successful production. For the preliminary task, there were
many components to that had to be researched before attempting to record. In
terms of research, we had to revise the likes of continuity editing, the 180 degree
rule, the shot/reverse shot, the match on action shot and many more.

Full information on the preliminary research can be found on my blog piece here:
http://mediablogs.keshacademy.com/liamasmedia/2012/11/01/pleliminary-
research/

To go into a preliminary task without research would’ve been completely naïve,
and would inevitably result in a fail or a very poor grade. When researching we
had to ensure everything was looked into thoroughly, so we gained a good
understanding and could perform the preliminary task to a good extent. From
where we were to now, it’s true to say that research was vital and we progressed
magnificently to create a preliminary task that was to a suitable quality.
Our group’s preliminary task can be found here:
REFERENCES
(Some content derives from personal knowledge.)
Without music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_-stR5FLDc
With music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb0S2NWL7Jo Filmography –
N/A
In terms of learning, we haven’t just learned productively from the preliminary
task, but from the whole process of the final product too. The process of pre-
production, filming, editing and finalising made us learn a lot not just about the
Websites –
equipment and how to use it, but just how difficult and crucial it is when creating Preliminary Research
a media product like a film opening. It’s safe to say our skills have progressed Preliminary Task (without Music)
and improved greatly from the experience of the preliminary and film opening Preliminary Task (with Music)
The whole experience has also gifted us confidence to make many more media
products with the knowledge to do so. Bibliography – N/A


PRELIMINARY PICTURES

A shot/reverse shot in our preliminary task.

The 180 degree rule and how it was situated in our preliminary task. (bird’s eye view of the scene)


PRELIMINARY PICTURES

A collection of camera shots and angles from our preliminary task.

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