The document discusses the process of creating an opening sequence for a film. It analyzes how the sequence establishes conventions, represents social groups, identifies its target audience, and challenges conventions of typical media products. Key points include using stereotypes to depict nerds and teenagers, choosing a target audience of 16-25 year olds interested in comedy, and distributing the product through a smaller media company called indiVision suited for alternative genres.

1. Media Evaluation By Joe McHugh

4. Opening sequence conventions... Both mine and a real comedy product use text on the image In order to signify that this is The start/end of the program Which gives the audience a sense That this story is either at the beginning or the end

7. Conventions of my media product... The sweatband in my product and the helmet in the typical comedy are the exaggerated costumes. The clothes the actors wear in both opening sequences are very exaggerated. My Media Product Clothing Typical Comedy

12. I chose these clothes for the main character because they give the impression that the character is weak, lacking in style, highlights their puny physique and the overall image assists in creating the stereotype of a nerd. This type of person represented does fit in with the dominant mode of representing this group as it adheres to the nerd stereotype that we commonly see in the media. The sweatband gives the impression that the character Is a bit too ‘keen’ for a small workout. The small sleeveless vest makes the audience think that the actor Is not very fashion conscious.

16. “ Furthermore, indi Vision is for film savvy fans who enjoy films outside of the mainstream – fans with a different perspective .” this statement relates to our media product as our film is not a mainstream product and is aimed at the fans with a different perspective on movies and films. IndiVision tends to aim for a target audience of teenagers as is highlighted in their choice of the film “Thirteen “ on their website and other chick flicks and stories around teenage life. This film is fits in with the genre of my media product by trying to highlight the journey of a teenager trapped in the “peer-pressure cooker environment of junior high”.

18. Questionnaire research to identify target audience. It is clear that females made up the majority in respect of this audience research. However it was felt that owing to the numbers involved that both sexes would be targeted as a suitable audience for this product.

19. This predominantly ‘student’ centred audience was selected with the intention that they would be the target audience and as such it was imperative that we obtained their views in respect of their preferences. This market research re enforced the fact that comedy was the most favourite genre for teenagers within this age bracket. The ability in order to reach out to an audience through humour was appealing and one of the reasons why we made the decision to choose our style of narrative.

20. Following the findings of this research we decided to refrain from using speech as an outlet for humour and instead used the characters exercise routine of ‘over exercising’ and ‘over straining their body’ as a mechanism to appeal to the audiences sense of humour. This sketch type routine i believed was the most comparable to the audience finding people hurting them selves of having comedy value. Hangover was evidently the most popular comedy film across these genres. This cannot be directly compared directly to the genre I have chosen, however it was clear that my film was not comparable with the least favourite options.

28. Upon reflection I believe that there was a missed opportunity into the use of stereotypes within this film and using their connotations to assist in the creation of the narrative. For example it is clear to see that the two main characters in this film just played themselves i.e. college students, and owing the fact this was supposed to be a horror/spoof movie then the stalker could have perhaps being wearing a long cloak and other potential features to make them look scarier. Also, for the intended victim the use of a character that highlighted some vulnerability about them and also a build up of their own fear would have been more powerful in creating an atmosphere of impending fear.