The document provides an analysis of the filmmaker's opening scene and how it uses, develops, or challenges conventions of real media products. The opening introduces three main characters using midshots and establishes the setting with a long shot of the street at night. Titles are used conventionally but also challenge expectations by appearing at different times. The narrative is nonlinear, starting in the middle of the story. The social groups represented are teenagers and women, showing both positive and negative portrayals of gender and age.

1. Media Evaluation
By Raphaella-Maria Adamou

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

3. What the
form/convention is
Use,
Develop,
Challenge
Explanation Evidence
Introduce setting Develop Films often start with setting
however in my film it shows a
long shot of the street which
the film is set in and also shows
the time of day due to the
lighting being naturally dark,
showing its night time.
Introduce main characters Develop and
Use
During the whole clip we meet
the 3 main characters usually in
mid shot which allows the
viewer to see where that
character is leading to us finding
out how they all connect

4. Titles Use, Develop
and Challenge
During the whole opening scene
titles come up at different times.
The titles I included were
Production and Distribution
Company, Director, Producer and
Actors names. Film openings
generally start in the same way
using similar titles.
Music Use The music in my scene is very
typical of the genre, it is a romantic
drama and works well reflecting
that through the music
Narrative Challenged The beginning of my film is
challenging the original structure of
film openings. My film starts off
with a bit from the middle section,
after the opening it goes to the
past tense of when the two
characters, Sarah and Tino first
met.

5. What a film opening should consist of?
• A film opening should start with an establishing shot
which allows the audience to familiarise themselves
with the setting.
• The main characters should be introduced using shots
such as close ups and midshots allowing the audience
to engage with the characters to feel different
emotions such as sympathy when needed to.
• The film opening should create enigma for the
audience and make them want to carry on watching
the film and asking questions which they want to find
out.
• It should always consist of a series of titles such as
Distribution and Production Company, Producer,
Director, Screenplay and Actors names.

6. Analysis of a different Film Opening
Production Company Establishing shot-
showing the setting of
the film
Camera pans and levels
out with the taxi after
tracking it coming down
the road
Camera follows the taxi
as it comes down the
road- creates enigma
Low angle shot
emphasising the
importance of the building
First title we see and
introduces the main
character- it is the first
character which suggest
she plays a main part

7. Mid shot of the main
character- familiarise
with the audience with
her features
Title of the film is big bold
and dominant, allows
people to clearly identify
the title of the film
The producer of the film
Also a significant part of
titles- actors names
First time we see the
characters face- close up
shot used

8. Music and Sounds in a different Film
Opening
• The music starts off very peaceful with the non
diagetic sound of a flute
• When it get to 34 seconds more instruments come in
and play a similar tune to before echoing it
• As soon as we first see the main characters face a
peaceful choir comes in, this emphasises the
importance of this character and suggests she is the
lead role
• All throughout the opening the music is very peaceful
and heavenly and it works well with the character
because she is quite graceful and smooth

9. Analysis of my Film Opening
My distribution company
is the first thing we see,
along with a shot of a
young happy couple
Production company
comes straight after the
distribution company as
it is very typical of a film
opening
Main actors names come
up straight after the first
titles which stresses the
importance and also the
fact that they are the
main protagonists
Close up shot used
allowing audience to
familiarise with
characters
Mid shot allows us to
meet not only the
character but also the
setting
This is the directors
name, very important
aspect of a film opening-
often comes up more
than once

10. Point of view shot used
showing a text which
creates enigma for the
audience
Scene changes a long
shot is used which
establishes the outside
setting and also creates
enigma- where the
character could be going?
Screenplay title appears
as the music changes-
significant point in the
film, we've met this
character in the first bit
of the film with another
girl, this is a form of
enigma
Title appears over two shots, this is because it creates
enigma and the audience wonder what it is about and who is
going to get hit by karma
Diagetic sound comes in
and non diagetic stops

11. This shot is a long shot
which shows us how
nervous and uneasy the
character is in this shot,
also we see the produced
by title which is a key title
that must be included
We see that Sarah is still
outside and it makes us
wonder how where she is
going and how comes she
isn’t there yet
We hear the diagetic
sound of the doorbell and
we wonder who is at the
door, causes enigma
makes them want to
carry on watching in
order to find out who is
at the door

12. Music and Sounds in my Film Opening
• The music in my opening differs a few times throughout
the opening sequence, this is important as the same music
could get boring and repetitive if it played consistently
throughout
• It starts off with a typical production company sound and is
only present whilst the name is on the screen, the sound
then fades and slowly you hear a bouncy piece of music,
quite dreamlike and this sound plays throughout whilst we
meet the first few characters
• It changes in the middle of the of the scene as soon as
trouble arises but I did not make it obvious as the sound is
still quite mysterious but bouncy
• I chose to repeat the beginning sequence of music towards
the end to remind to bring back the original feel of the film
as I think this important especially because this scene is
actually not where the film begins

13. • It is important that a film opening has the films title,
key titles such as the production company,
distributor, actors names and other key people who
put the film together
• It is also important that the opening causes enigma
for the audience. Enigma is a feature which creates
the audience to question what is going to happen
and also have a climax which makes the audience to
carry on watching

14. Shots used in my Film Opening
• In my film opening I used a variety of different shots at
different times, I started off with a camera watching
Sarah walking down the street, the long shot turned
into a close up, I then used a mid shot to introduce
Tino and a long shot to introduce Natalie. I used these
shots because I thought for all of them as important as
it was to introduce them to the audience there
different settings also played a massive part in there
characters and it was important to show this
• I also used a tracking shot when Natalie opened the
door this was important because we followed her
through the house and we saw who was at the door
which was a key point because it was her sisters
boyfriend

15. Film Titles
• Film titles are one of the most important
features of a film opening and are often the
biggest and most dominant piece of text

16. My Film Title
• My film is called Karma, it is all about a sister who
tries to get revenge on her sister by starting to
see her sisters boyfriend, Karma eventually
catches up to her and both sisters fall pregnant
• I chose to put it over two different shots because
they contrast and both characters play a
significant role

17. Narrative Device- Non Linear
• Non Linear- disjointed or disrupted narrative, this
means the story line is not natural and realistic
• I chose to you this narrative device as I think it has a
bigger impact and because the genre of the film is
drama, the non linear narrative has a bigger impact
and is much more dramatic than a normal linear
storyline
• If the storyline is harder to understand it is easier to
involve the audience and get them fully focused so
that when the dramatic scenes occur throughout the
film they are so involved they feel part of it and this is
what a non linear narrative does for me

18. Continuity Editing
• Continuity editing is used throughout my film opening,
it continues and builds up a story over time
• Even though non linear narratives don’t tend to have
continuity editing in my film there are sections which
are continuous and this is important I think because it
needs to make some sense or the audience will lose
interest
• For our coursework we did a mini clip showing
continuity editing and there are certain rules which we
must follow like the 180 degree rule, which is when
the camera stays on one side of the film making it feel
continuous

19. How does your Media Product
represent particular social
groups?

20. Target Audience
• My target audience is to young
adults/teenagers because they can
understand and engage with the genre
compared to older adults or even younger
children
• The situation is quite realistic and might of
happened or occurred within a family
however there is a twist which will hopefully
keep the audience engaged

21. Social Groups
• My film opening focuses on two main social
groups- Gender and Age
• My film is aimed at teenagers above the age
of 15 in order to stress this I used characters
who were above this age it was important
because it made it feel more realistic
• It is also aimed at mainly girls
however the storyline has males
involved too

22. Representation of Age
• The representation of age is showed in a variety
of ways such as through the characters and there
costumes
• Also through setting, the fact that they both live
at home shows they are still teenagers and still
not fully grown up adults with proper jobs
• Throughout my opening teenagers are
represented in negative and positive ways and it
shows all possible and realistic scenarios

23. Representation of Gender
• Gender is mainly shown through the person
playing the role, using mis en scene mainly
• In my film girls were represented negatively as
one was outside and it was dark which can be
taken as a negative representation of girls, but
also the other girl was having an affair with the
boy who we saw with the other girl this is also a
negative representation
• Not only are the girls represented negatively but
so does the male as he is the one cheating, the
storyline causes enigma and makes people want
to watch more to see what happens

25. What kind of media Institution
might distribute your media product
and Why?

26. Distribution Company
• A distribution company is responsible for the marketing and setting
a release date for the film and to sort out whether or not it will be
distributed in cinemas or straight to DVD.
• I chose DNA Films to be my distributor as I thought the films they
have produced are quite similar to my own
• It is an English company and was founded by a man called Andrew
McDonald all the films he has produced have had an element of
drama
• They distributed films such as Separate Lies and 28 weeks later
which have similarities with my own film genre

27. Production Company
• A production company is directly responsible
for financing a production and can do this
using a private investor or even having a
partnership
• I chose studio canal to produce my film as it is
one of Europe's leading marketing business’,
normally produces about 50 films in Europe a
year

28. Who would be the audience for
your Media Product?

29. The Genre of my Film
• The genre of my film is dramatic romance, it
mainly has the element of drama however
there is also a sub genre of romance
• Dramatic films tend to be when the characters
are involved in realistic scenarios which cause
emotion and sometimes pain which both the
characters and the audience feel
• Romance being the sub genre means its not
the dominant genre however there is an
element of it throughout the film

30. Target Audience
• Usually the target audience is 15- 40 year olds,
dramatic films can contain so many different
scenarios that can be aimed at a large
demographic
• My film would be classified as certificate 15,
this means that at the cinema there would be
an age limit as to who can get into the
screening to watch the film

31. How did you attract/address your
audience?

32. • The best way to target/attract your audience
is to create a series of questions to which you
find out exactly what they like
• I asked 14 people a selection of questions and
through that I selected the genre which I
thought would attract the most people and
with that I thought of a film opening in that
particular area

33. Questionnaire
• What is your favourite genre of film?
-Drama -Romance -Comedy -Thriller
• What age band do you fall into?
- 5-14 - 15-24 - 25-34 - 35-40 - 41+
• How often does the film opening determine
whether you carry on watching the film?
- Always - Sometimes -Not Often -Never
• List your 3 favourite films

34. Findings
• From my results I concluded that 5 people said
they prefer romance whilst 9 people said they
like a drama film
• I also found that all of the people who said they
like dramatic films fell in mainly the middle 3
bands and people who said romance were spread
amongst the first 2 bands
• Lastly I also concluded that the film opening is
very important to a person watching especially if
they have never really heard of it and it has never
been publicised in the media

35. What have you learnt about
technologies from the process of
constructing this product?

36. Programmes Used
To create my film I used 2 main software
programmes, Final cut express and Garage
Band

37. Final Cut Express
• I put all the footage I recorded onto final cut
express and once it had all imported
There is a wireframe, with
this it allows me to chose
exactly what position I want
the text to be in
This is the canvas box this is
where you are able to see
the actual shot with the title
on

38. This section is called a timeline, this is where you
order your shots in the correct order and also
where you can edit your music and sound
In the timeline there is a section which allows you
to crop shots to the length you want them

39. Garage Band
• I used this software to create my music, I
clicked on loops in the bottom left corner and
it gave me a variety of different sounds which
I listened to and put the best sequences
together
• Music on garage band has no copyright terms
which allows me to use whatever was on
there

40. This is showing my music sequence with the pieces of music I chose
to use in my film opening
On the left hand side you can see the loops and from what sounds
we had to chose from in order to add music to our film openings

41. Directors Commentary
• First shot you see introduces you to the main
protagonists and you see them happy and laughing
looking very comfortable with each other
• There is also non diagetic sound playing which I
created as a unique identification to the distribution
company
• The character is walking towards the camera and this
allows us to familiarise ourselves with both the
setting and the character
• A mid shot is used allowing us to establish both
setting and character briefly

42. • We also hear diagetic sound of clicking and
typing on the keyboard buttons, this sound is
used to reflect what the character is doing
• In the next shot we see a phone on the table
this could cause enigma as to whose it is but
also we hear voices and laughs in the
background this is to reflect the happiness in
the house which soon changes as the film
happens
• A tracking shot used this allows the audience
to see the inside of the house and as the
character opens the door it allows both us and
her to see who is at the door at the same time

43. • My title appears over two different shots, I done this
to reflect that the karma will hit both characters at one
point in the film but also how they are related
• In the kitchen shot I used a long shot to show where
the character is but also to enable us to see the body
language used, when she is talking on the phone we
notice that her body language is nervous and uneasy
which reflects the situation she is in
• We then see Sarah's face and notice she is still outside,
this causes enigma as to where she is actually off to
and who is she meeting
• Then we see a shot of the door and this causes us to
wonder who is at the door and if it is Sarah or not

44. Looking back at the preliminary
task, what do you feel you have
learnt in the progression from it to
the full product?

45. Looking Back
• I have learnt about different aspects and skills
of media such as the 180 degree rule
• I learnt about the 180 degree rule whilst doing
my continuity exercise, this is when you have
to stay in a straight line so your editing is all
done on one side to make it look consistent
• I also learnt how to set up the camera
properly and steadily but also how to set up
the red heads correctly

46. • I made a plan which had all the shots I would
include in my film which allowed me to make a
digital storyboard which meant that I knew what
shots I needed to film and made things a lot
easier
• I also learnt how to use the 2 main software's
and how to convert my music in order for it to be
able to be played in final cut express
• Furthermore I learnt how to use final cut express
in ways which I didn't’t before, such as fading in
and out and also adding text and being able to
arrange for it to come in and come out in a
presentable manner