Foundation portfolio - evaluation question 1

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

2. My media product follows the conventions of a typical drama
film. It uses narration to illustrate the story so far. It also uses a
strong and emotional story line which will touch many hearts.
This is typical of drama films as the creators want the audience
to connect with the characters and their story.
Another feature that I decided to use was the sequence of
the photos falling onto a surface. Scenes like this are usually
common in drama films because they allow the audience to
learn about the characters life so far in a brief opening. This
prevents the storyline getting over run by the past and
allows the film to move with pace to enhance drama.

3. My titles challenge film conventions because it is unusual
for drama films to feature animation. I used the animation
to illustrate flowers growing which symbolises the girl in
the film maturing and becoming a young woman. My titles
have a 'amateur' feel because we wanted it to feel as if a
child has created them, this again connoting the girls
young age and immaturity.

4. The final 30 seconds of my opening comprises of a sequence of
shots of the main character sat in her bedroom. The room displays
an immaturity within the character as it has a pink colour scheme
and you can also see a teddy lying on the bed. If I was to create the
whole film I would then contrast this image with a mature bedroom.
Using setting and props to show an age or point in life is common in
drama films as it emphasises the emotions of the character. It also
allows the audience to see into the characters life and understand
why the character is feeling this emotion and drive.

5. Whilst the sequence of shots are playing I will be having a
voice over to accompany the images. Having a voice over is
common in drama films as it connects the audience with the
characters. Our voiceover will feature the main character
describing the recent events in her life. "My sister's keeper"
also features a voiceover in the opening sequence where it is
introducing the main character and her life so far. I have tried
to echo this performance because I felt that it carried an
intense level of emotion and was an easy way to bring the
audience up to date with what was happening.

6. My sound clip also followed the conventions of a drama film
because it has just a single piano line which is simplistic but
still delivers the intense emotion as we move through the
piece. This is common to drama films because they often use
a single line from only one instrument which is usually a
piano because it is subtle and can easily follow the path the
film takes due to its diversity.

7. Overall I believe my film followed many of the
conventions for a drama film by creating a strong
emotional opening which clearly sets out the path
of the film and the small amount of editing to
allow the clips to flow naturally from one to the
next without feeling forced.