In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
Opening sequences in real media products are used to start off the
narrative of the movie and to introduce characters, settings and the genre. The
opening as a whole should be used to hook the audience and keep them interested
in the narrative enough for them to watch the rest of the product.
I think that my product opens half of my fusion genre. My narrative is
based on comedy and action used together to create a wider audience however in
my opening I have only introduced the comedy half of the fraction. This may be
a problem for the audience watching for the action as they aren't kept very
interested in terms of their chosen genre, however the comedy audience would
have some features of their genre to keep them hooked and make them want to
watch on.
Pretty much all movie openings include both titles and credits that
introduce the actors/actresses, the corporations involved and sometimes even
the production team. In my opening I have shown the names of two corporations
involved in the making and I have given the names of the two main actors.
Compared to real media products I have only used a small amount of titles and
credits however that doesn't refer to all real media products as some of them
only use little amount of credits. It's normally the big hollywood movies that
include loads of titles and credits because they have a lot of teams involved
in the planning, making and distribution of the product.
My opening challenges real product openings because it doesn't introduce
both genres plus it only slightly hints at the main purpose of the movie,
drugs. The slight hint at drugs was an intentional feature as I wanted the
opening to focus more on the main character and his daily routine, then at the
end I wanted to show the disequilibrium where the main character gets fired.
I also think that my product challenges real products as it is laid out
like more of a music video than an opening. My this I mean that the actions and
emotions of the characters slightly blend with the music and it seems
very rhythmic.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The social groups that my product represents are young adults and working men. The young adults representation is done using the stereotypes of a first house/flat as the living conditions of my two main characters show that they're very messy and lazy. Because of this the comedy aspect is introduced because the flat looks like the setting of a comedy TV show or movie.
The working men social group is represented showing the stereotypical
everyday routine for getting ready for work and not putting much effort into
it. It very simply shows the main characters alarm going off and then him
having a cigarette and then getting ready for work, which we assume is a
regular routine and hopefully it is easy to relate to other young men.
I have chosen there two social groups to represent as they are the
typical social groups used in real products similar to my idea therefore I
wanted to keep the kind of tradition and continue using young, lazy and
somewhat hardworking men. I also wanted to use these social groups as I feel
like they are very easy to relate to with people within my target audience.
What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?
A movie narrative very similar to mine is 21 Jump Street (2012) and it was distributed by Sony/Columbia Pictures. Because of this I would suggest that Sony be the main distributor for my product due to the similar story lines between my movie and 21 Jump Street. I would also suggest Sony because of their usual genre choices for movies.
Sony like to distribute a variety of different movies relating to genre
and/or stars involved. Because of this Sony have created a wider audience for
their products and therefore they generate income from all over the audience
spectrum. This could be useful with my product as it includes two genres and
therefore needs two (or more) genre audiences to be pushed towards and Sony has
the power to do so because of the audiences they have generated using previous
real life products.
Another main reason why Sony would be a good choice is because they have
attraction and power to distribute a product whether it be over social networks
or media platforms worldwide. They have the connections with many others companies
and any company that agrees to work with them generates attraction and a
reputation to themselves.
All of this being said, I would say that Sony is the best choice to
distribute my product due to the similar narratives that they have
worked with in the past and because of the power they have to get my product
out to the audience(s). Plus Sony use many social media platforms to distribute
products and they rarely fail to gain popularity from the chosen platform.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
In terms of social groups my product would be aimed at mid/late teens to
adults in their late 20's depending on the genre they're into. If an adult is
into action films then the product would be great for them and the teens would
be perfect because of the crude/black humour that would be used in the later
product.
However in terms of age ratings my audience would be set at a 15 due to
the language and slight violence planned in the narrative. Using the
BBFC guidelines I have decided the a 15 is appropriate because of the 'strong
language', 'violent nature' and 'drug use'. All of these features/aspects
can be relate-able to my target audience and they are used in similar
films that are set with a 15 rating from the BBFC therefore I would suggest
that it is only right to go with the real life products that my product is
based off.
How did you attract/address your audience?
I have chosen to attract my audience by using features in my product
that can be easily related to. I have used smoking, a flat, young men, popular
music and more in my product therefore there are any features of my narrative
that can be easily related to and discussed about within my audience.
The genre is going to attract many different viewers and it's hard to
pin-point a main group because comedy is a widely loved genre therefore finding
the certain group would be difficult. But put comedy aside and the action side
of the product can be used to attract an audience because it makes the
narrative sound similar to movies such as 21 Jump Street and The Other Guys,
both popular movies with late teens and young adults.
The flat setting of my movie can be related to strongly due to the fact
that many young people these days move into flats/homes with a close friend and
rarely clean or look after the place.
I think that the music used in my product is very catchy and goes with
the sequence. The song is Neon Trees - Everybody Talks (Full Band Cover by
Ratham Stone feat. Camryn Wessner) which was is a very popular song over social
networks with a total of 14 million views on the original Neon Trees
video. Because of this it generates more popularity for the song and my product
at the same time.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing
this product?
In the production and editing process of my product I used a Panasonic
Lumix HD Movie camera, a tripod, Corel Video Studio 6, various websites
such as Youtube and Slideshare and props within the product.
Because of video production and editing work that I have worked on in
the past I was very confident in the production of this product because I was
aware of what technology I needed and how to use it. However I did discover a
few new skills that I have learnt from and could use in the future.
I was confident with the filming and editing of my product until it came
up to the uploading to YouTube stage as just after my video had processed I
found out that you can now add filters to videos using YouTube. Because I this
I decided to test out a few of the filters to see what they would look like on
my product. The final result shows that I ended up adding a dirty/vintage
filter to my video. I chose said filters because I felt like it added more
filth to the mood and made out how messy the flat and characters are supposed
to be. This has definitely helped the production of my product and
without it I don't think the final piece would look as effective as it does.
During the rendering stage of my product I was moving the original video
files about and this messed the system up. When the video rendering had
finished it turned out the software couldn't find the videos therefore they
didn't show up on the final piece. Because of this I had to go back and
re-render without moving the files. This is certainly something that I have
learnt from and won't make the mistake again.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt
in the progression from it to the full product?
My coursework shows that I have learnt to work with filters and a wider
range of camera angles compared to my preliminary task. In my preliminary I
only used simple over the shoulder shots and the 180 degree rule whereas in my
coursework I have explored high and low angles as well as close ups and extreme
close ups to show and emphasize actions/movements.
My skills have developed in terms of editing as my final piece seems to
run a lot smoother than my preliminary and at the same time includes
a lot of different shots and editing techniques. This has taught me that now
matter how many angles/shots you use you can still make a product run really
smoothly and piece together to make a well edited final product.
I have learnt many things from this coursework. I have learnt that the
research you put into the planning stage can really effect your final piece as
you know more codes, conventions and features of the genre and social groups to
include to make the final product stand out to your chosen audience and maybe
even attract unplanned viewers.
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