Evaluation
- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products ?
The first stage we took when thinking of ideas to make our action genre 2 minute intro was was we looked at some action genre beginnings to see what we would challenge or keep similar to action films. We looked at mission impossible 3 which influenced us with a starting interrogation scene where we get straight into the action with the main character which shows straight away its an action film and the audience get familiar to the main character also shows the villain (interrogator) . We didn’t go for the slow start which explains the situation and setting of film Also we use the Typical Male Hero but has flaws, unlike mission impossible. Also the character has a flaw, where he as amnesia. we used a typical male character unlike the film “Salt” where they use a female character for their film. This would attract the female audience with the female hero saving the day.From the research we did in Bourne Ultimatum, the main hero character also has flaws and has amnesia. Also he is taking drugs which shows his flaws in the opening. Most action films have an enigma code and demonstrated it through the use of flashbacks to keep the audience guessing this happens in the Bourne Ultimatum. It also adds tension and suspension to the film which is key characteristics of the action Genre.
- How does your media product represent particular social groups ?
Our Main character is represented as a hero type character he has flaws where he has a problem called amnesia which is memory lose. the story has doesn’t have an enigma as the audience doesn’t know whats going on why the hero is tied up we only know what the interrogator wants. Also the hero is shown as weak as he is being interrogated and tied down. Also he is a white male middle class. This is shown from the clothes the hero is wearing ,they aren't really posh but aren’t worn and tattered either. Also the location helps show what the class the hero is and he is in a dark interrogation room which is dirty and empty and represents 16 year olds you can tell this by the clothes he wears. The Villain is shown stronger than the hero as he is the interrogator with black clothes he is also older and taller making him seem more powerful and stronger like a bully. The villain has a gun, he is in charge and shows he has the power making the hero look helpless. The Villain is white male. All of the characters are portrayed as 16 year. The main character is shown as weak as the camera looks down on him and he is tied up. The situation is serious so the characters are shown as mature. The whole scene is represented very dominant in a dark room and with characters male. We decided to to follow the common ideologies in our product like strong and weak by using camera angles. In the social Economic group we choose around C2 as our hero is skilled hands on worker and is able to somehow escape like in the start of our film.
- What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why ?
The 6 major film Studios are warner Bros pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount pictures, Columbia Pictures and universal studios. Warner bro’s has a majority of fantasy and fiction films which would not be suitable for our action intro. 20th century fox films don't have much action lot of comedies and chick flicks and animation so varies. Columbia pictures (sony) show some action films but lots of different genres of films as well. Universal studios have lots of action films most that are unrealistic and also appeal more to the younger audience. Disney do mostly animations appealing to the younger audience with friendly characters so this is not like our action films start. We choose Paramount pictures for the film institution we was going to use because the main genre of films they do is action and thriller which falls between out action intro. Paramount pictures also did the film mission impossible 3 which we studied and analyzed for our film around. as the start of mission impossible 3 has an interrogation scene. we also was debating on choosing Universal studios for our institution as it does many films like The Bourne Ultimatum which had some key features which are in our film with the character having flaws he is taking drugs also has amnesia like in our film the main character has amnesia.
- who would be the audience for your media product ?
For our action film we did many stages in deciding the target audience. First we had to decide on an idea for the intro of an action film. We wanted it to be like a typical action film where it gets straight into the action with an interrogation scene , also we wanted our main character to be a typical male hero with flaws. We decided not to have a female hero as in film the main character often reflects the target audience. Although there are action films with lead female characters, as a group we decided to target a traditional action film audience. Also we choose not to have an old character like in Die hard 4.0 which attracts the the older target audience. We also made our character working class rather than upper class because it appeals to the younger working class audience. Also we decided to go with the typical action start getting straight into the action with an enigma this attracts the younger audience looking for excitement and more men then women. We didn’t use the slow start telling a story attracting the older audience. in deciding the target audience we look at age certificates, 12 is to young as our film contains violence and the plot is dark and maybe to graphic for some young viewers. certificate 18 is more horror, using drugs, supernatural horror , explicit sex and violence. We decided to use age certificate 15 which contains violence drugs , swear words and moderate sex activity. We decided to use this age as our film would contain some violence.
- How did you attract/address your audience ?
We address the audience by using particular actors which would appeal to the audience of an action genre. We used a young white male which would attract the girls and also boys may feel they can relate. also our film includes a female which would attract the male audience. The set and location which we have used in our action film would attract the target audience because its in a dark interrogation room which makes tension and suspense for the audience. Also this links to mission impossible which is a popular similar film to ours. The scene where the Hero is being interrogated shows tension and suffering which the younger audience may enjoy watching how the hero gets out of this situation, which more attracts the male audience. The story has an enigma where it shows a flashback which keeps the audience wanting to keep watching, adding tension and suspense which would attract the male audience. Also with the torturing also adds to the whole action genre of the film which makes people who like this genre. People will enjoy watching murders and crime films will like the film. The props of guns and strapped to an interrogation chair would attract the male audience. Also by using a young male character we are attracting the younger target audience as the audience feel they can befriend the main character.
- What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product
We Edited our film on Final cut express. I have learnt how to capture clips from a camera and how to drag films from the Bin and into the edit window and then dragged it into the visual box and how to watch the final footage. Also learnt how to edited certain parts of your clip by selecting the bit you want and pressing “i” for Input and “o” for out. I learnt how to edit the transitions, and effects how to arrange clips on the timeline, how to place audio onto the timeline. We used and effect at the start which is fade in and out at the start dissolve to add an awaken effect as the Hero is waking up. We used a sony camcorder to film are action intro. It was very simple and easy all the buttons in the right place and it displayed very clear steady clips. We learnt how to make an online blog and posted all the work we done to plan our film onto it. We used a lot of equipment in our film to help change the mood with lighting with dark to make it more scary and tense. We also used a tripod to make the film steady and a dolly to have tracking shots. We also had to download free music from a none copyright website to add tension to the film.
- Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product ?
In our preliminary task it was hard to edit as we didn't leave big enough pauses in and the timing was very fast pace when it should of been a little slower. I have learnt that music helps create a very dramatic and tense effect to conform to the action genre, which we didn’t use in our preliminary task. There was a lot of background cluster sound which we didn’t edit out in our prelim but did in our actual. We also learnt that using a dolly with tracking shots makes the clip a lot more smother rather than it being hand held. Also the prelim didn’t show much conventions towards and action film as there was little dialog also the shots where quite simple and didn’t show the mood and emotion on characters face. Whereas in our final film product we have shots looking up at the villain to show power and looking down on the hero to show weakness. Also none of the characters had any costumes so was very confusing for the audience to tell who was the hero and who was the villain. Also learnt about the 180 degrees rule so the audience don’t get confused about who the villain and hero are as in out prelim it looked like a technical mistake. The prelim didn’t show action as there was little movement in the shots with the characters and it was hard to tell the difference between the hero and villain as they both showed little emotions.
