2. Q1. How does your product use and challenge conventions and how does it represent
social groups and issues?
My media product shows conventions seen in many other films, primarily of the thriller
genre. It has contains some quick cuts, and the soundtrack amplifies the action. My
project also covers quite controversial issues of gangsters, and there influences on
ordinary people, and also the issue of crime. However, the people shown in my
product are adults including a female and a male , an adult male is shown as usually
men associated with crime are a lot older.
The film is similar to many other thriller films due to the generic conventions in which
most thriller films have.The first important convention is that of keeping the audience
at the edge of their seats due to being in the unknown of what could happen next. I
had made this effective using an eerie non digetic sound by merging a lot of
soundtracks.The sequence starts with the ending of the story in a reverse motion in
order to leave the audience in a great suspense.Throughout the sequence has many
cut-ins in order to show two different actions taking place. Once the reverse scenes
stop the stages that lead to the final murder starts to play. I took inspiration from the
opening of the movie 50 shades of grey in which two situations are taking place at the
same time by showing different cut ins.
The identities of the actors are not revealed very quickly in order to have an affect on
the audience of wanting to know who it is.This is similar to films such as the Scream
Trilogy, as the murderer is hidden behind a mask and a costume giving no hints to
who it could possibly be, but the audience know it's someone that’s in the group.
3. Good clothing, makeup and hairstyle is another way in which i exploited
the Mise enScene in order to build meaning and play with the notion of
feminine features, as research suggested that all these things are far
more commonly sported by women than men. In the begging there is a
close up of her high heels and the way she is carrying her self, a camera
pan from bottom to top is used to show her attire explicitly. I guided the
female actress to tie her hair in a hair bun and dress formally in order to
show that she is a working women. My research informed me that Mise
en Scene is pivotal in building meaning in the narrative and also
conveying information to the audience.The main group shown in my film
project is middle class white males. From my project it could be deduced
that males such as these are more likely to be involved in crime to some
extent, but are actually bad people.Also, the costume of the murderer is
that of a typical murder and the way there is blood on his clothes show
that he is not an amateur, and that stereotypically there social group is
used to the idea of crime. One large point of conventionality in my Media
product is the fact that the man is an adult. People of this age are seen in
other forms of media as bankers, policeman etc but this man seem to be
from a bad background, and is already into serious crime.The target
audience is the adults and the elite class as usually adults of this age
commit crime and the female represent most of the high class working
women.
4. Q2. How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be
distributed as a real media text?
I gripped my audience through the use of adult actors, as it presented my
audience with a number of social issues that they could relate to. Most
notably, things such as fashion would appeal, I had to utilize modern
fashion but adapt the colors to suit the themes and ideologies presented
in my product. Interest that appealed to a proportion of my demographic
were included to ensure they felt the film bared some form of relevance
to them e.g. the application of make up and fashion ideas used
throughout, the latest car, apartments and cigars. Likewise, with the
male protagonist I dressed him up like a typical gangster/ murderer so
that people can relate to him easily.When showing adverts, I could relate
to the crime aspect of the film to pull people in. I couldn’t play on any
stars in advertising campaigns as I haven't got any.The film opening
itself would draw the attention of the target audience.The reverse
scenes eventually leading to what happens to the girl as she walks up in
her apartment and the affects it caused her drags the audience in, asking
questions to themselves of what’s going to happen next? Is the girl dead?
Who killed her?The non digetic sound fills the audience with suspense
and has them sat on the edge of their seats.
5. After some extensive research, my product could be distributed via a number of
different media/production institutions. Lions Gate Entertainment, Dimension Films
and Hammer Film Productions all distribute media comprising of similar themes
(thrillers) and so I believe some of the establishments listed above would distribute my
product as it adheres to their film ideologies.
“Woman in Black” (2012) and “Sinister” (2012) were distributed by the production
companies above, and the films mentioned all relate back to the thriller genre. I have
ensured the conventions in my product are consistent, and a variety of the codes and
conventions I have chosen to retain in my feature are used in films distributed by some
of the production companies/institutions mentioned above.These companies produce
films that on average are released for the satisfaction of 15 year olds, although they also
release products that they render suitable for persons ages 18 and over. However, I
knew my target audience/demographic where primarily males and females of the ages
18 and over. However, it is important that I distribute my film via a source that has
distributed products of a similar nature, as they have experience in this genre.
6. Q3. How did your production skills develop through this project?
I feel that I have learnt a lot in the time between filming my preliminary
and my final film. I have learnt about the importance of camera angles
and choosing a location which is best for my situation. I made my
preliminary project inWindows Movie Maker, and I can see a large
difference in the splitting capabilities of the movie maker and premier
pro, and generally the features of adobe premier pro cs6 are far better
with a lot of effects, dissolving options, color corrections, sharpness etc .
I have also learnt a lot about the general conventions of films, as I looked
at many types of film during my planning which developed a sense in me
to develop different types of films with different angles. In particular, I
believe camera work and use of mise-en-scene can draw the audience in
and give them an idea of how the character is going to behave. However,
I believe that I can make even better films in the future to which I am
really looking forward to with anticipation.
7. Q4. How did you integrate technologies in this project?
I have learnt a lot more than I originally expect about technologies from
my product. I learned about making blogs, and using the website Blogger
and all of its features. I also learn how to use editing suites such as
windows movie maker andAdobe premier pro cs6 to there full potential,
which I would never have done had I not taken Media Studies. I have
learnt a lot about the power of camera angles, and also how pivotal it is
to look into choosing the correct setting for shooting and then editing it
the right way how you want it to look like. Moreover, I learnt how to
adapt my footage into more of a thriller format.
8. I had to utilize color correction and contrast
tools in order to make my footage darker to
render it with more sinister undertones – a
technique that had been informed by
research. It is extremely common for the Mise
en Scene to appear darker to adhere to some
of the common codes and conventions.
Below depicts the process I went through to
adapt the footage to suit my production more
fittingly and to engage the audience more.
