In what ways does the media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
For our advanced portfolio we were set the task of creating a media product. We were tasked with creating a feature film , consisting of a start, middle, title sequence and end credits. This was similar to our foundation portfolio production of creating the first two minutes of a film.
In order to create a film there a certain conventions of production that you need to follow while filming. There are three main rules that you need to follow. These are the 180 degree rule, match on action and shot reverse shot. These rules need to be followed in order to give the film a flow and to keep it continuous. This will also make the film effective and believable.
The 180 degree line is a line the cuts through the middle of the scene, from side to side. Crossing this line changes the viewers perspective, which can cause disorientation and confusion. To prevent this, when filming you must not cross the 180 degree line at any time.
Match on action is a film edition and video editing technique that where an editor cuts from one shot to another that matches the first shots action, although the shots may have actually been filmed hours apart.
Shot Reverse Shot is a technique that includes shots that views the action from the opposite side of the previous shot. This can be used during dialogue between two characters, giving the effect of one actor looking at another.
In order to complete our film to a good standard we need to stick to these rules at all times to improve the continuity of our film. So in this sense we are using conventions of real media.
The idea we chose to carry out and produce was based around a man who was out to get revenge against a hitman who killed his friend. We decided that this film would be an action thriller. To confirm this we organised a questionnaire where the responses were videoed. we asked members of public who agreed that our film would be an action thriller type film. In order to accurately represent a film from that genre we conducted some in-depth genre research.
As the action thriller genre is a hybrid genre we researched each genre separately. We found that thriller films build suspense. So in order to meet this we added a part to the storyline where two characters have a stand off and a gunshot gets fired, but it isn't clear at first who has shot. This builds some suspension, also the killers identity is unknown for a short period so the audience will be guessing who has shot the gun.
We also discovered that an action film is described as a film that features a series of situations involving physical altercations. These types of film are often categorized by the presence of guns, fight scenes and explosions. A typical example of one of theses types of film would be Die Hard.
So in order to follow these conventions we decided that our film would feature fight scenes and guns more prominently. Due to budget reasons we could not include any explosions. We added a fight scene where two characters fight in the bathroom until one of the characters is killed. We identified death as an important part of these films too, so after we use the gun to shoot the hitman character in the knee, we decided that in a professional film of this genre we would probably see the character die. So for that reason we added the hitman's death at the end. This is yet another example of us using conventions as seen in real media products.
We wanted the film that we created to be a classic action thriller film. A homage to other action thriller films. However we did add somethings that you would not expect to see in this type of film. I feel that in a part of our film we had an element of pastiche or parody. When the hitman enters his car he puts on the radio. We decided to create and record a fake radio show to play while the hitman was driving. This featured upbeat funky music that doesn't really have any place in a film of this genre. This music is the repeated at the end over the credits where you would expect more fast paced rock style music as you would expect in the film. Also on the radio show there is a presenter speaking who whilst speaking says a phrase that we intended to be a pun to foreshadow the end of the film. The presenter says 'this song is for those of you who would kill to get out of work right now', this could trigger some of the audience to think that there will be a death at some point at the end of the film. We also feel that the name of the film 'Hate Mail' has a very similar effect in possibly foreshadowing a death of a character. Obviously 'hate' is a negative feeling so negative thoughts may have already been risen, however the first sight of an 'mail' in the film is the hitman latest 'hit', so that will have created more suspicion of a death in the film, all we did was subvert the audiences thoughts as to who would be killed. These examples show that we have challenged the conventions of this genre, I would argue that we have also developed conventions too as we have added another element and dimension to the genre in a way.
In terms of what pleasure we are trying to provide for the audience we have again used the conventions of an action thriller film. Richard Dyers theory of entertainment gives 5 ideal situations may provide. This is what the audience will see and how they will feel when watching a film. Every person will have a favorite situation however this may change as the persons mood changes. A typical action film will provide 'energy', which essentially means giving the audience things that they haven't got. We created our film in a way that captures this, we added action scenes, quick editing, fast music etc. to give the audience the 'energy' and excitement that may not be in their lives.
There have been many influences for our film, some of them being real media texts. It can be seen that there are elements of our film that can be compared to that of some famous films from the action genre, one that you would say are typical action films. The James Bond films have been a big influence for our film. Our story is quite similar to a Bond film, just the ending in in reverse. Bond is essentially a hitman that works for the British government that we see in each film get a target to eliminate which at the end of the film we see the target get eliminated. Our film follows this story arc except that at the end the killer gets eliminated instead of the target. There is also obviously elements of our film that is similar to that of the film Hitman. The whole concept of our film (The film being based around a hitman) is a homage to that film. One influence to our film was the film Sahara. This is slightly different to our genre film. Sahara is an action comedy,so it will still feature action conventions however they will be portrayed in a way that make it seem funny. Sahara was the influence to our title sequence. The title sequence for Sahara features one long pan shot which moves around a room full of objects and pictures which allows you to infer key details about the film. We did a similar thing in our title sequence by having one long shot around an office desk that had all of the key objects from our film on it.
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