The document discusses how the student's short film follows conventions of real media products such as the film Phone Booth. It discusses using quick cuts, close-ups, suspenseful themes and camera angles to mimic Phone Booth's fast-paced style. No dialogue was used to keep the main character focused. Common props and realistic student locations were chosen. Voiceovers were done for messages rather than reading aloud. The film was meant to have a cliffhanger ending to set up a potential sequel.

2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms
and conventions of real media products?
When producing our short film we looked at different conventions several pre-existing media products. Our film is a Action/
Thriller and as we had to incorporate time and technology we looked at the movie Phonebooth. This movie included lots of action
scenes where fast cuts where used and close ups of the characters to show how they were feeling. Therefore when doing out
movie we tried to include many different scenes with these techniques.
Before we set off to film our production we decided to use themes which are similar to the movie Phonebooth. These are action,
mystery, suspense and a somewhat dark theme throughout. Throughout the movie I think that action was the most commonly
used theme as there was no scene where the main character remained still, it was constantly action. Also, from the moment the
main character finds out the news the suspense begins, will he make it to the locations in time, what has happened to his wife?
When looking at the camera angles we used, we wanted to link this with the fast paced theme so we used quick shots, and lots
where the main character was running or looking around. Also high angle (and some over the shoulder) shots were used to give
the impression that he was being watched and stalked which adds to the suspense of the story and is a typical convention used in
horror and thriller movies.
We also used some panning and wide angle shots to show the audience where the main character is and as a transition between
scenes.
With the sound we decided from the start that we were not going to have any speech in the short film for two reasons, one the
main character does not have anyone to talk to (apart from in the last scene, but this would affect the cliffhanger ending) and two,
because we wanted him to be completely focused on the task and if he was talking to different people I think that would alter the
fast paced theme. We also produced the music to fit the scene which it would be used in, so in scenes where the main character is
running, we tried to get an action soundtrack, and a calmer one at the beginning.
The only props that we used where assorted phones, and a tea cup. We did not want to use anything out of the ordinary as the film
was about an every day college student who’s life takes a dramatic turn. I think that adding different props would make the film
unrealistic and that audiences would not be able to understand as well if he had (for example) a gun. This would make the
audiences wonder how a student came in possession of the item and bring up lots of questions which would take peoples minds
of the main storyline.

3. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms
and conventions of real media products? (Continued)
When looking at the locations we wanted to get a stereotypical place where a student would go in their free
time while at college. For this we chose a coffee shop to shoot the first scene. As the film progresses the
scenes change and the main character finds himself going to different (and perhaps unusual) locations in
order to find the phones.
When filming the coffee scene where he finds out the bad news, we had some luck as the weather was dark
and reflected the dramatic change in events. This is also the same with the final location when it starts to
brighten up as the audience prepare for what they think will be the rescuing of his wife..
A voiceover was used when the character was reading out the messages he received. We done this for two
reasons: One, because you could not see the message on the camera, and two because it would not make
much sense if the character was reading it out loud so instead we intended it to be his thoughts.

4. How did you follow the short film rules you put on your blog?
 We made sure that we stuck to the narrative correctly and that we used the appropriate
conventions to stick to the Action/ Thriller theme.
 When we filmed the shots we made each one deliberately short so the cuts where quick and
gave the movie a fast pace which would be an action/ thriller convention.
 We kept the villain anonymous which adds mystery to the story and leaves the audience
wondering at all times.
 The tripod was used with every camera shot to ensure that they where level and not shaky
which would make the film look poor. Also, as said above, the shots where short to give the
movie a quick pace but also to prevent the viewer becoming bored and uninterested.
 The narrative and plot eventually leads to a cliffhanger which is a typical convention if a
sequel is going to be made.
 To link the scenes together we had shots of the character running to each place and then
edited them in as opposed to cutting quickly to each scene. This helps show the journey that
the character is on and adds realism to the film.
 The idea was not completely original however there is only one other film with a similar
narrative and that is Phonebooth.
 The beginning helps captivate the audience, when the letter gets delivered.
 Also there is a twist at the end which shocks the audience and makes the story more
interesting.

5. How did I follow the conventions of posters and double page spread
articles?
0 When I originally started my poster I used a still image of one of the phones we used, half buried under
leaves. However I do not think that this was interesting and appealing so I changed it to a shot of the
character running through the forest in the last scene.
0 Below is a poster from the movie “The Town” which features an action shot convention which influenced
my decision to add one. The text and smaller images are in different places to my poster.
When designing my poster I wanted it to represent the movie, in that I wanted it to
look action packed and mysterious. I edited the picture to make the main
characters surroundings look darker and him look slightly lighter as if he is the
only hope.
I also blurred out the surroundings and made the sky darker to make him stand
out more.
The picture in the bottom right is a poster for the movie “War” and I based my text
on it. I had the production company logos and actor names at the bottom and the
title at the top of the poster so that it would stand out. As the picture I was using
was dark I decided to make the text white with a blue outline.
However I do not think that this worked as well as it didn’t
fit the theme of the poster and made it look slightly like a
sci-fi movie.

6. How did I follow the conventions of posters and double page spread articles?
For the double page articles I looked at different pages from totalfilm and empire magazine to see what conventions are commonly
used and work well. The page to the right of Spiderman 2 has a large image on one page and then text on the other. For my double
page I wanted to do something similar so when we filmed the last scene I took some stills which could be used for mine.
The picture I taken was an action shot of Tom (the main character) running through the
forest. I used a gradient on the title so it looked slightly mysterious and relates to the
story. I also kept a house style throughout with the blue outlines near the text and
around the smaller image.
However I did not stick to typical conventions as I had the picture completely covering
the background whereas other magazines have a white background the make the text
stand out.
Instead I made the text white on a darker background to make it stand out.
I also had a box which had a quick summary of the article which is a typical
convention in double page spreads. However to improve it I could have
included release dates, actor names and director names to make it more
realistic.
When I started my double page spread I set up templates to
make sure the text was set out evenly and professionally, also I
set up boxes to insert pictures into.
Finally I added quotes from popular
review websites such as Rotten Tomatoes,
IMDB and Yahoo movies which helped
make the magazine more authentic. The
colors used are colors which are
associated with the websites, and will help
the reader recognise the review website.