EVALUATION QUESTION 1

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP

OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA

PRODUCTS?

HESTER TEASDALE

Typical conventions in relation to our short film

Our short film is a hybrid, so is a mixture of two different genres. We decided to do a romantic/comedy genre which is different to typical hybrid genres as they are usually sci-fi/action and thriller/horror.

Typical romantic genre films usually have low-key lighting,red colour contrasts to signify the romance in the film.Also the romantic music and slow motion camera anglesmakes it more ‘dreamy’ to what audiences would expect.In out film ‘Think Again’, we have used slow motioneffects, for example when Bethany (the main femalecharacter in our film) first walks to the bus stop. In addition, we also used effects when Tom (the main male character in the film) imagined what his life would be like if he was to imagine a relationship with the female character, we used a spiral dream-like effect as he was imagining a better perspective. We also used music in the background made by ourselves, only using the sound of a guitar as we thought this would fir with the atmosphere of our film.

Typical conventions in relation to our short film

The comedy side of our film is a lot more natural comedy than scripted comedy as it just came with filming. Typical comedy films usually involve jokes, sarcastic comments and sometimes rude. However, in our film the funniest bits we found and our audience found Was in one of the sets where both Bethany and Tom are at a park in one of Bethany’s dreams and she imagines him on the tight rope swinging, however Tom takes it to the extreme as he makes a loud screech going past the camera which doesn’t seem that amusing to Bethany because she sees a different perspective and the over-exaggeration of the scream surprises the audiences and makes it a lot funnier than initially intended. As the film typically started off to give the impression it’s a romantic genre film, it is an unexpected scene which is a mystery to the audience.

The main significance of the film ‘Think Again’ was to show they can be different perspectives from only two characters thinking very differently, showing the audience that not everything is as it seems when people start to over think.

Typical conventions used in my Ancillary Tasks - Poster

Cloud background to refer to the dream-like state of both characters and reflect light-hearted genre

Actors names, conventionally placed at the top

Film title – largest piece of text for main attention – Bold, black, clear font

Release date, Same font as title and actors names

Age limit - Parental Guidance Billing block – Information

about the production names involved in the film

Recognition from a short film festival so it’s assumed that it’s worth-while watching

Focal image of a close up, using direct mode of address to engage an audience

Secondary montage images for comedic effect, screen shots from the film. Creates insight to the genre

Star rating by Empire – leading film magazine so attracts film lovers.

A review to promote the film

Production company

Typical conventions used in my Ancillary Tasks – Double page spread

Film name, same font used in Poster to show house style

Slogan – opening statement about what it is the article will be about. Blue font like poster.Conventional oversized letter pointing the start of the article

Magazine logo – a notorious film magazine

A quote from the Director, so a professional opinion about the content of the film. Same font throughout, including the poster.

The film poster, encouraging convergence

Page number

A pull quote from the article itself. Blue font following the posters conventions.

Clean structure/layout, pages separated into 3 columns, easy to read.

Montage of still images from the short, mixture of sepia effects and well balanced shots. Placed within a film roll so it’s obvious what the article is about.

Use of white space is effective as it creates structure and simplicity.