A2 Media Studies - Evaluation Question 1

1. In What Ways Does Your Media
Product Use, Develop or
Challenge Forms and
Conventions of Real Media
Products?
Evaluation Question 1

2. Props
Source: Shifty - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwHUuMbr2xs
Social realism films tend to look at drugs, politics and class. The film
‘Shifty’ portrays the social realism genre not far into the trailer when
one of the main characters reveals a bag of drugs. This immediately
tells the audience the genre and also what the film is about.
Therefore, props are key to the film as they help to tell the audience
what they need to know about the film and it’s narrative.
In ‘Shifty’, the trailer also represents the characters to be working
class which also fits into the genre as it shows that they are covering
another narrative which is common is social realism films.
Our trailer is also social realism. We showed this throughout the
trailer with our use of character representations and props. The
trailer starts by showing the main character carrying about her
everyday life as normal before she argues with her friends and
makes new friends. The narrative is typical of a social realism
film as they tend to show someone’s life change and start to go
downhill and then the resolution. We followed this structure but in
the trailer didn’t show the resolution to create mystery.
The props we used are similar to that of ‘Shifty’ as we used
baking powder in clear bags to create fake drugs which helped to
reinforce our storyline and conform to the social realism genre
conventions.

3. Production Logo
Source: Boyhood - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys-mbHXyWX4
‘Boyhood’ is similar to a social realism film but is also more of a
drama film. However, all film trailers display the production company
logo in order to tell the audience who produced the film as they may
have seen other films produced by them. For example, this
production company for ‘Boyhood’ has also produced ‘Fish Tank’,
another social realism film. Therefore, people that are interested in
the this film may be interested in another by them.
Most logos tend to have movement in order to stand out to the
audience more. This one has light circling the logo from the bold part
of text, bringing more attention to the name of the company.
Therefore we included the logo in order to conform to general
trailer conventions. We created our production logo and put it
near the beginning of the trailer as this tends to be the
convention. Our logo is very simple but is also a moving image
like most tend to be to make it more interesting. Our logo is
simple but has more colour and image than the logo on the left
and others do in order to make it more interesting and stand out
to the audience. The movement also highlights the name of the
company.

4. Location
Source: This is England - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0jkv2bRFgQ
This is one of the locations from the film ‘This Is England’. It
shows a darker tunnel/subway like area. The graffiti connotes
reckless and bad behaviour as well as rebellion. Having the
characters in this setting relates them to the behaviour that is
clear from the graffiti.
Social realism films tend to look at behavior like this, especially
in more urban locations, like the one above. Therefore, they use
settings like this in order to convey to the audience not only the
location in order to set the scene but also what the characters
are like.
We have conformed to this by using the above location which is under
a train track. It looks derelict and abandoned which reflects the
narrative of how Mia feels alone and as if she has no one else. The
dark passage also makes the shot feel more mysterious and
dangerous, connoting their behaviour.
The lighting around the shot also contradicts the lighting under the
bridge where the characters are which works effectively to suggest that
their behaviour isn’t good, especially as you can’t see what they are
doing and the props in this shot.
The location in our shot is more rural than the standard urban location
that is usually used in social realism films. Therefore, we have
subverted the stereotype/convention. The stereotype of rural areas si
that they are quieter so behaviour like this would be rarer than in a city
location. The rural setting also contradicts the behaviour and narrative
as a whole but works effectively and makes the film different from other
social realism films.

5. Source: Fish Tank - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7BFZqQ4ruA
Location and Camera Angles
The location in this shot looks like a car park. There are some trees
and grass in the background but the metal fences, tarmac and
buildings make the location seem more urban as if it is either in a city
or large built-up town. Locations like this tend to be the convention of
social realism films as the characters are, stereotypically, working
class. Her costume in this scene also depicts her background.
This mid shot from ‘Fish Tank’ shows the main character walking
away from a group of people after having an argument with them.
They come across as much more powerful and intimidating as she
looks upset and is along whilst they are in a group. The camera angle
works well for following the argument as it denotes the main
character clearly walking away with the group behind her but they
aren't the main focus. You can also see a lot of the scenery
surrounding which helps to represent the character and overall
setting for the film.
This shot from our trailer is very similar to the one from ‘Fish
Tank’. The camera angle is more of a long shot than a mid shot
and therefore shows more of the location behind her with her
friends much closer to her than in the other image.
In our trailer it was important to show the location as much as
possible as it is very different to other social realism films.
Therefore, we have subverted the convention of our genre by
using a rural area.
The image above shows the location to be wealthier than the
‘Fish Tank’ one as there are bigger houses around and the canal
makes it seem more country especially with the grass and trees
surrounding the area. This reflects the narrative quite well as her
new step-dad is wealthy and is the reason why she has an
argument with her friends and is now walking away from them.

6. Characters
Source: Fish Tank - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7BFZqQ4ruA
The above image is from ‘Fish Tank’. In this film, the main
characters mother is portrayed to not really care about her
daughter by not inviting her to go out with the rest of the family,
smoking and being quite violent towards her daughter. The setting
in this shot is quite messy and dirty suggesting that the woman
doesn’t really care about her house. She also has a new boyfriend
so was either previously divorced or never in a relationship. The
trailer also suggests that she is unemployed.
In our trailer, we have included a shot of Mia’s mother
drinking from a wine bottle as she has an alcohol problem.
Therefore, this tells the audience more about the narrative.
Mia’s mother is the one who starts to push the family apart
because of her drinking problems as she starts to ignore Mia
more and not care about her. Mia’s mother drinking is similar
to the mother in the other image who is smoking and doesn’t
care about her appearance in this shot. Our character was
also wearing a fleece and basic loungewear which gives the
impression that she isn’t really bothered about anything or
anyone else. This character is similar to ‘Fish Tank’ and
other social realism films. Therefore, we have conformed to
the convention of the genre.

7. Title
Source: Boyhood - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys-mbHXyWX4
This is the title from the film ‘Boyhood’. The title fades in
quickly. The same font is sued throughout the trailer and
resembles a handwriting font which you would associated with
children as it is quite shaky and therefore links to the name and
narrative of the film.
The simple title works well, especially with the choice of white
and black as the white is very clear against the black and also
stands out to the audience watching the trailer so it is clear
what the film is called.
Our title is very similar to the one on the left. We have used a black
background with white text as it is clear and the title stands out well. It also
matches the other credits in the trailer. The font we used is ‘Gills Sans’. It is
very straight and geometric but works well. The font has sharp and clean
edges and you could say that it is the opposite of our storyline as it is about
how Mia’s life goes downhill and she starts to adapt bad habits.
The colours we used represent our film. The black background connotes
mystery, danger and evil whilst white connotes innocence and goodness.
Therefore, the white represents Mia as she has always been well behaved
and the behaviour that she starts to get into is not like her. The gang could be
seen as evil, yet this is to strong, as they are encouraging these bad habits.
The name of our film is part of our tagline and captions in our trailer as well.
We felt this title worked well as it contradicts the the narrative as everything is
not always good. This therefore creates mystery and people start to question
the storyline, making people want to see the film to find out what happens.

8. Credits and Captions
Source: Selma - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6t7vVTxaic&t=26s
In all film trailers, no matter the genre, they include a screen with
the release date and any convergence links. The example above
is from ‘Selma’. This is a historical and drama genre film but has
some conventions of a social realism film. This example has also
included the production and distribution logos along the bottom.
The typography and style is the same as all of the other captions
in the film so that there is continuity and makes the film look more
professional. The release dates are in different sizes to make the
dates stand out more than the places as people want to know the
date so they know when to go and see the film if they like the
trailer. Therefore, the date needs to stand out the most.
Underneath the date there is also a hashtag so that people can
either tweet and link to the film, drawing more people’s attention to
the film or they can search the film on social media such as Twitter
and Instagram to find out more about it.
Similarly, we have used the same typography and colour scheme as
the rest of the captions in the trailer so that everything is continuous.
Therefore we have conformed to trailer conventions.
We have used the same techniques as the ’Selma’ example by
making the release date quite large so that it is the most prominent
text and people see it clearly. People will also see the date and will
realise that it is the release date without having to read ’In Cinemas’
that is above the date.
We have also included a hashtag so that people can find out more
about the film on social media and also include the hashtags in their
own posts to create a bigger audience through word of mouth. The
website link will also allow people to find out more about the film by
watching exclusive clips and finding out more about when and where
it is showing. We also included production logos but they are on
another frame with the director and actors.

9. Camera Angles
Source: Shifty - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwHUuMbr2xs
Many trailers include establishing shots at the start to set the scene
for the audience. They tend to be birds eye view shots to give you a
large view of the area. Social realism films tend to include an
establishing shot as the location can also represent the characters
and the narrative.
The location shown in this example from social realism film ‘Shifty’
is somewhat rural but the area is still very built up with all of the
houses and other buildings. The area in the above image also
looks quite quiet as there is little traffic.
To start our trailer we decided to include an establishing shot as we
felt it introduced the film well and helped to set the whole film for the
audience rather than jumping straight into the action. As we were
unable to have a bird’s eye view we used a wide shot for our
establishing shot.
We filmed the shot at a junction that wasn’t very busy to show that
the area is relatively quiet as this contradicts the behaviour that
features in our film which people stereotypically associate with more
urban city locations that tend to feature in social realism films other
rural countryside locations. The location also shows the area to be
quiet by not having may houses as they are quite spaced out. There
is also little traffic. The grass and trees also create a countryside
feeling. However, our location is much more rural than the one in
‘Shifty’ which is shown throughout the trailer. Still, the use of the
establishing shot clearly identifies the location.

10. Characters
Source: Fish Tank - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7BFZqQ4ruA
This is a shot from the social realism film ‘Fish Tank’. It depicts the
main character getting ready for the day in her bedroom by showing her
doing her make up. This is an activity that most girls do everyday,
especially of her age. This therefore portrays the character as an
ordinary teenage girl. As this shot is at the start of the trailer it gives the
audience an idea of what she is like and starts to build up her character
which is then developed as the trailer continues.
As the main character is represented to be a normal girl the audience,
who are most likely to be majority female, will relate to the character
which will encourage them to go an see the film as they feel that they
can relate to her.
The close up used is also partially in focus, with the focus being on the
character with her looking into a mirror. The rest of the shot is blurred
which draws the audiences attention to her, especially as she isn’t in
the centre of the frame.
Our trailer includes a similar shot to ’Fish Tank’. It shows our main
character, Mia, sat on her bed in her bedroom on her phone. This
is something that many teenagers do and is therefore common.
We included this shot as it builds character profiles for the
audience and allows them to get to know the character.
Similarly, to ’Fish Tank’ our audience is likely to be mostly females
of a similar age to our main character as the lead role is female
and males tend to not be as interested, stereotypical. People will
feel as if they relate to the character as she is a normal girl like the
audience. Therefore, they are more likely to go and see the film.
We used a medium shot rather than a close up as it shows more
of the setting around her which is similar to other teenage girls’
bedrooms which allows them to relate to the character even more.
However, by positioning the actor in the middle of the frame we
were able to keep the focus on ’Mia’.