Media Evaluation

Evaluation

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

The first step we took towards creating our film was to understand the codes and conventions of the action genre such as a strong male hero character, a female accomplice and an instant jump into the action. We then choose a basis for our film, which in this instance was Mission Impossible three and we have followed the structure of the opening interrogation. We have included many of the conventions and codes expected of an action film but have added some of our own. From the research many films made use of the enigma code and demonstrated this through the use of flashbacks to keep the audience guessing, we agreed to employ a similar system to enhance our work. We have also decided to create greater depth for our male hero by providing him with a flaw in this case amnesia similar to that experienced by the character Jason Bourne in the Bourne trilogy. We also make effective use of blackout and night time effects this greatly helps to enhance the tension this is clearly shown in the opening as the interrogator crosses the drive towards the house using a single lamp to mark his path this also draws in an element of horror to help challenge conventional action stereotypes.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The key group of people shown within our media product are young white males in this instance we have chosen to portray them in a more negative light as it is more relatable due to the everyday stories produced by modern media of knife and gun crime being perpetrated by teenage males. This plays on the stereotype that teenage males are particularly violent and threatening. The characters wear dark, simple everyday clothes much as any other teenager would to make clear their social class attitude. Our media product also plays on the stereotype of hooded thugs we choose to emphasise this stereotype and include domestic tools as our prop choices much like the common thug would which in turn are used in an unconventional and aggressive manner. This helps to provide a highly stereotypical view of the young man this generates fear within the viewer as it shows a darker area of society brought to the forefront of modern media.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

There are many multinational media companies to choose from when selecting a media institution to distribute your product the key institutions. I choose to focus on before deciding to select one were paramount, 20^th century fox and universal studios after researching each company I concluded that Paramount pictures would be the most likely to distribute our product as it has been responsible for the mission impossible films which was the basis for our media product as it revolves around the theme of a interrogation in an abandoned building. Another institution likely to distribute would be universal as it has been responsible for the Bourne trilogy, which follows the story of a man with amnesia who attempts to regain his memories, again this is very similar to our product as we have taken this key theme from the Bourne films and implemented it into our own. Another key feature in films like Bourne is the mysterious and dark underlying content this is also similar to our product as the closing section of the opening leaves out the image and allows you to just hear the audio making it unclear whether or not the Hero has been killed.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The primary audience for our media product would be teenager’s age between fifteen and nineteen as they can clearly relate to the lead role that shares similar age and perspectives on life. In addition action is the second most popular genre of film after comedy and attracts eighteen percent of the world’s teenagers making them the ideal target audience. The reason we choose to have a lead male rather than a lead female is simply that they are least common and are more commonly portrayed as the vulnerable Heroin who is at some stage rescued by the Hero this is essential if you wish to attract teenage male viewers as they like to think of themselves as the hero. The film itself contains a dark and twisted plot and scenes of a violent nature most of which would deter the average female viewer from going to view that particular film.

How did you attract/address your audience?

We have tired to attract our audience by using actors that appeal to the viewers of the action thriller genre for example we have chosen to rugged and aggressive teenage males to play the two key roles of the hero and the interrogator. The two leads are dressed in dark colours adding a sense of horror and intimidation two elements action film lovers look for when choosing the next film the wish to view. The set we have chosen is that of an old abandoned house in the suburbs this helps to attract viewers as it is in keeping with the style of an action thriller. Our product is based around the theme of an interrogation which is common in many of the large Hollywood action blockbusters this helps attract audience members as it gives the viewer something they are familiar with and that is included in many high quality films. The final key aspect that helped to attract our audience was the use of violence as this is an essential element to all action films and is the greatest contributing factor to attracting an audience as it is the primary reason the choose to watch this genre of film.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?  

During the creation of our media film I have learnt a large amount about technology vital to creating a successful media film the technology we used included things such as a digital camera a digital video camera and a professional editing programme in this case Final Cut Express. The digital camera was used for capturing our location shots so that they could be uploaded to our blog to give a clear representation of where it was we had chosen to film our product. Due to the large camera memory space I was able to take multiple shots of the same location and then choose from them the ones that represented our location the best. The digital video camera was essential for creating our media product as we used it to film every scene of our film due to large memory capacity we had the opportunity to make multiple takes ensuring the only the best ones were used in the final product. The final important piece of technology was the final express editing programme. We used this software to create our edits add effects and also enter our chosen media institutions title sequence in order to give it a unique and professional feel.

 

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

One of the most important things I have learnt from this task is that good preparation is so important when coming to produce your media products this became apparent when we came to filming and realised the space we were using wasn’t large enough to accommodate the equipment or students needed to film a particular shot. We also had to spend time adjusting the light inside the room in order to create the desired shadow effect which was very time consuming, had we planned the lights position prior to filming we could have saved time. Another thing I also learnt is that you need to be aware of the costume your actors costume and makeup whilst this wasn’t a problem in the prelim it became apparent later during the testing stages that the dark costume created problems with the lighting as the opening section is filmed in a night time environment making it more difficult for the camera to spot the actor. Makeup was not a problem during the prelim as none was used but it again became apparent during testing that the camera had difficulty picking out the details on the face of the hero again this is another problem that could have been resolved with prior planning and testing.