In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The main Media product was a short film entitled “Straight to the Moon”. Before beginning my film making process different codes and conventions of short films had to be analysed, so that certain aspects of a real looking product could be replicated. The research of short films showed that they were used to convey concepts to their audience as opposed to complicated story lines. Short films are about ideas, and how those ideas can be communicated within a short time frame, and simple story, many with simple setting and low production values. The short films that were analysed also used objects such as credits and titles, which have been added to the film. For the credits a soft edge in the frame was added to create a more realistic feel for the audience without the affect being to invasive. In planning the shots for my short, many short films were analysed, but also media products that had been created for the films target audience. The English TV dramas “Skins” and “Misfits” were researched for the type of angles and shot lengths that are used and what they are used to convey. It was found that extreme close ups are used to convey an intense emotion or an important act, which have been included in my film, also that stedi-cam and handheld effects are used to connote an unsteadiness or intoxication. Also scenes with non-diegetic sounds are often edited to those sounds, not unlike a music video.
Faced paced shots are used often in clubbing scenes in “Skins” to convey confusion and chaos, which it was believed were necessary in my film, and so the editing and filming style was adapted to include these aspects. In editing effects such as the 180-degree rule and cross cutting were used to ensure continuity and passing of time.
Many of the short films that were researched used some of the music within the film as the backing track for the credits to ensure consistency; ergo “Sad Theme” was used behind the credits. This was also used to give the audience the feeling of familiarity, and leaves them feeling at ease, which is preferable to using a separate track and overloading their memory with sounds, as opposed to letting them remember the important message of the film, this also ties in with short films being about concept.
The well-known convention of changing the lighting and colouring of shots to show flashbacks and emotion was also applied. The black and white shots make it easy for the viewer to understand the timeline of the short film.
During the research I discovered the convention of characters in a short films not looking directly at the camera as an object, but only to show characters looking at each other, but generally to avoid eye contact with the camera as an aspect within the film to not break the perspective of the audience. This convention was challenged in “Straight to the Moon” and adapted for the product. The camera was treated as a mirror, so the character looks directly at it and sees herself in it. In this way the camera became a part of the story as much as any of the other props, and also became the reference point for the end of the film, so not only can we see her reaction, but she can also see her life being played for her as if she were looking in a mirror.
The ancillary texts that have been chosen are a double page spread review and a film poster.
It was discovered in the research that film posters generally follow a certain set of rules when they are created for film features. Blurbs from reviews, comments by respected industry name are often featured to lend validation to films; the credits are almost always placed at the bottom or top of a poster, and are in a specific lighting. There is also often one main picture that takes up the entire frame. This picture may not always be from a scene within the film, but it will often depict a character from it, perhaps dressed as they are in the film, showing a major emotional theme of the film. These conventions were adapted to the poster to make it into a real to life product.
A close up shot of the lead character was used, looking over her shoulder in fear. This could be interpreted as the character fearing for her well being from her abusive boyfriend, or her fear of her past which is following her and making her choose destructive decisions for her future. The credits were placed at the bottom of my poster, in the font used by filmmakers and added blurbs of my own invention. “This Winter” was also added at the bottom of the poster as much of the research showed that posters often included the feature’s release date, or if they were highly in advance, then the season of the release. In conclusion the research, consideration, and adaptation of the codes and conventions used by the film industry in making film poster has had a positive impact of the overall success of my product.
The double page review also is in line with the forms and conventions of real media articles. Research of double page spreads showed that a large amount of pictures are featured in review, to catch the reader’s interest, and to illustrate the points made in the article. Different selections are generally used, from the making of, the film itself, and perhaps the poster. Consequently a photograph of the filming was added in the top left corner, a large screen shot from the actual footage was displayed largely across the two pages for the film to be associated with, and a smaller picture that was discarded from the poster at an earlier date was added.
A fact box was added to stay in line with conventions, as a snapshot of all the most important information such as the rating, release, and actors, which is used for the members of the audience who are simply glancing through the articles so they can still collect the information they need. Columns were used to create an easy way for the audience to read the article, while still allowing space for pictures as this convention was widely noticed in the research. Trivia from the making of the film is added in an individual box to interest readers in the making. Blurbs from throughout the article are enlarged and placed within the text to draw the reader to the article and capture their attention to ensure they read its contents.
At the end a conclusion and a out of 5 star rating is featured, this gives the audience a quick overview of the article so they get understand the general message of the article whether they have just read the article, or they simply wish to know the rating in general to suggest a guideline as to whether the product is worth watching. In conclusion all the main conventions of a double page review including page numbers and website addresses were developed and adapted to ensure the final product looked like a real life media product that its audience would read in a film magazine.
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