AS Media Studies Evaluation

By George Sulaiman

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

Our film product has a unique style through the use of montages that intertwine within movie clips and therefore overlaid the clips as a full professional montage. The contents of the film that include mise en scene, camera, editing and sound have all been covered very well. For mise en scene, the lighting is mainly dark with the use of low-key lighting when the drugs are being taken in the film and also lighting technique of chiaroscuro to therefore define the type of content and convention of our film footage and also shows that the drugs are taken in a dark place to therefore show that it is a dangerous thing to do and also is very risky if being caught. The camera work was a strong point in our film as we had used a variety of techniques from camera movements and camera shots in the footage and also we used techniques such as close ups on the first scene where a person is taking the drug from the spoon then the title name of our film comes in. The Zoom (In and Out) technique on the drugs that are getting ready to being taken to therefore represent exactly what our film is about and to give the audience an idea of what the genre of our film is and to also convey the audience to specifically see what measures our film footage goes to and for them to get an idea of what it is about and the type of drugs taken in the footage.

Additionally, for the editing I have produced the perfect transitions to therefore make the opening of the film look like a montage which always switches from one part of a movie clip to another part of a clip repeatedly and also it shows the videos being overlaid onto each other to therefore make it seem like a montage and continuously show the actions in the footage. The soundtrack used in the film is very unique as it mainly uses one piece of music in the opening of the film that goes throughout the whole movie foreshadowing the continuity of the footage being viewed to the audience. The film aligns with the stereotype of teenagers at a young age being troubled and influenced with the taking of drugs and alcohol and therefore continue their lifestyle that way, however at the same time trying to enjoy their time with their friends. For instance, the film called “Spring Breakers” includes the convention of the type of genre that our film is all about and fitting in with the stereotype to therefore convey to the audience immediately what type of personality the character has and how it relates back to how the conventions of this opening scene to the film are set.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our media product (the film) represents particular social groups such as the teenage generation where in that generation they are seen having a joyful time with their friends and going out as if they were adults and socializing with them on a day-to-day basis and to also attract a mass audience from the characters and the actions in the film itself. It represents a close friendship that teenagers have and also symbolises how their friends are treated and the way they communicate with each other using informal language which also goes with the stereotype that teenagers nowadays at this young generation have specific informal language/dialogue and also the ways in which the communicate with each other in person and whilst using technology i.e. mobile phones etc. This type of social group therefore foreshadows the way teenagers are seen being rebellious and very sociable from one another and as a group; young teenagers all unite together and try to enjoy their lifestyle at their young, talented age. Through the way we have represented the main character’s it gives the audience a positive yet negative representation. The positive aspects of the main character’s is that they are all enjoying themselves at parties, raves, etc and are dancing with their friends creating a sense of excitement and delight between everyone.

However, the negative aspect towards the representation of the main character’s is that they use drugs such as cigarettes, drink plenty of alcohol which gives a bad impression to the audience through the use of substances used in the opening sequence of our film. Furthermore, many people in the film are wearing the clothing that young teenagers at this generation would be wearing (casual clothing, jeans, hoodies etc). This helps to represent the social group in terms of clothes that they often wear and presents them as being not to dressed, (like how normal adults would generally dress-up), but in fact to a certain extent they can be seen commonly dressed although they do have a generally nice appearance. This film is relatable to many teenagers across the UK as many teenagers nowadays like to go out raving and therefore meet up and socialize and have an enjoyable party there, and also the film is a mirror to our generation as seeing teenagers nowadays going to rave’s and other parties is very common in this generation.

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

The type of media institution that might distribute this film would be Film4 which is shown at the start of our film. Film4 Productions is a British film production company owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The company has been responsible for backing a large number of films made in the United Kingdom. The company's first production was Walter, directed by Stephen Frears, which was released in 1982. In 1998, the company was identified as Channel Four Films or FilmFour International. Later, the outfit was re-branded as FilmFour, to coincide with the launch of a new Digital TV channel of the same name. The company cut its budget and staff significantly in 2002, due to mounting losses, and was re-integrated into the drama department of Channel 4.

This company would help advertise the film product so that more people would hear from it and also it will attract and engage more people to therefore want to buy it and watch it. The reason a huge media firm should distribute this film is because they would have plenty of experience when it comes to distribution and would know the best ways to distribute the film, as the company has a high reputation, so therefore when specific products are promoted, then it will therefore attract and persuade more media audiences to then buy this product as it will be seen as a highly rated film and product. I chose the Film4 production company because it is a large media institution that is based in the UK which is obviously where my film would be produced and also they would be of interest to British teenagers so therefore that’s why Film4 is great and also its topical to my film and its current and also is very controversial with the types of films they have promoted and distributed and also Film4 have always been a cutting edge and also ahead of their time and also are therefore controversial in their choices of film screenings.

Beforehand, I had got provided feedback for using the film productions of Film4 and also Pathe and so taking into consideration, I had decided to remove the ident of Pathe and therefore produce my own ident for the film production as I feel that in making our own ident, the outcome will be more successful for our film as it feels that I have made more contribution to the makings of our film and will look to being more efficient for our opening sequence. Moreover, I decided to keep Film4 productions, as I feel it’s an important aspect to the contribution of our film which strongly links to the film production that would be most suitable for our movie.

Moreover, they have also distributed other films with similar conventions to this film so therefore I would already know that they are capable of successfully distributing this film product. In addition, another company such as Columbia pictures wouldn’t be the perfect company to therefore distribute our film as the conventions and genre of this film doesn’t fit for a company of Columbia pictures to therefore distribute this type of film which includes the use of drugs, alcohol etc, as it will be unsuitable for them to promote this type of film as they have been consistent with the distributing of films from one area in production, whereas all of the other films distributed have the same genres with similar looking movies distributed such as Men In Black, Bad Boys etc, so therefore it would be unsuitable for this type of film to be distributed from their company as it will change the look of the company and will show a difference in what they have recently been distributing.

4. Who would be the media audience for your media product?

My film which is on parties/raves featuring the presence of teenagers and young adults would mainly attract one type of audience as it relates to the social group of the teenage generation. From seeing the footage to our opening scene of the film I believe that primarily the target audience of my film would be to both male and females and would probably go to a certain age range of around the age between 15-25. The clothing used in the footage would usually be to the clothing to the people at that age range would dress too, I.e. the hoodies, jeans, skirts, designer clothing. In relation to our initial research from our audience profile, The socio-economic groups for our movie are C2,D,E because all of the people within those bands relate to the stereotypes that are going to be used in our movie allowing them to link and engage with our film more efficiently and effectively. Also, audiences from the groups of C2,D,E look upon to watch films within these types of genres as they prefer to watch a teen drama with the inclusion of some drug usage, clubbing, etc involving and reflecting the young teenage generation.

Also, from reference to my audience profile, the conventions that used of this genre will be the introduction of the main character’s which will therefore allow the audience to see who the main characters are and how they differ or have similar aspects of each other. Also, using the introduction of the narrative as well as the establishment of the mood/atmosphere through the use of a voiceover, this would therefore allow the audience to understand the story of the film and the current situation of both the main character’s, establishing either a bright and delightful mood or a sad and depressing mood through the use of the voiceover and the character’s actions within the opening sequence of the movie. Furthermore, we used titles and credits in our movie therefore allowing the audience to see who has worked in which aspect of the film and also revealing the title name of the film in the opening scene.

Furthermore, our film footage contains videos that show teenagers at a young age going around and drinking alcohol etc which therefore fits in with the stereotype of teenagers of them having to go out with their friends and drinking alcohol with friends for fun and enjoying their time. This film is suitable to everyone but mostly aimed at people between the age of 15-25 as it includes the lifestyle of teenagers going out and having fun with friends by going to rave’s and to other parties, and also because it will show the audience how these teenagers are living their lifestyle and it will reflect them in a certain way to therefore manage the fact that they are doing all of these activities and also by doing this it will bring back many memories of them going out with friends in the past.

5. How did you attract/ address your audience?

Eventually, to attract my audience I viewed at other similar films and worked out the conventions that they all had in common. I then applied as many as possible of these conventions to my own film, so that the audience got what they were expecting from a typical film which includes drugs, alcohol etc. For instance, the techniques used for when the person was preparing a rollie (taking the drug) the camera shot was a close up to emphasise the object and for them to see exactly what type of drug is being taken by that person. The narrative of the film is that there a group of teenagers going out raving with their friends, and they end up drinking alcohol and taking drugs and at the same time they’re trying to have fun with the dancing on the stage etc, with their friends. Also, another way I used to attract my audience was through a survey which we asked our specific audience questions based on the conventions and tools they would expect to see from the opening sequences of a teen drama and other aspects in terms of their demographics. Furthermore, we used specific conventions and tools in our film in order to attract our audience. The following conventions were; introducing the main characters, introduction of the narrative and titles/credits, and establishment of the mood and atmosphere. This film would suit the audience because it contains many features that are related to the lifestyle of teenagers nowadays and also reflects to the stereotype that teenagers live quite a wild and joyful lifestyle at their age so therefore as the film is be viewed at the ages between 15-25, it will engage them to watch the film as it will be in their favour of genre and also will be a mirror to how they lived their lifestyle whilst they were teenagers and also the media audience will be more familiar of what is happening in the film as they will know most of the features included in the film.

Taking this into account, we as a group believe the audience will feel satisfied after all of the work we have put into the movie and that the conventions used will allow them to feel more engaged with our film as the conventions that we used are what the audience will be most expecting so therefore that is a criteria we would have hopefully met and so that we can attract them most efficiently and effectively through the opening sequence of our film.