Friday 1 April 2016

Question 1

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

 


Another way in which we conformed to film conventions is through the use of costume and stereotypical representations. For example, blue is mainly seen as a masculine colour, whereas pink is a feminine colour. This can also be seen in my film as the young boy is in blue pyjamas, whereas the older sister is seen to be wearing a pink cardigan at the beginning. This gives the connotation that the female character is more weak than the boy. However, it could be implied that both characters are weak and vulnerable as both characters scream within the film. Therefore it could also give the connotation that both are equal to each other, thus showing that we adhere, as well as develop the convention as we show a difference in character traits as others present them as. 

Furthermore, another way in which we
have developed and conform to real media conventions is through the use   of lighting. When we filmed the part of the film where he is walking around the house in the dark, we used lighting to be able to show where he is going. In order to do this, I used a portable light as I did not have lighting equipment at the time of filming it. Therefore by holding the light at a high angle and walking around the house, it gave the presentation of the audience seeing from the character's eyes, directly putting them into the film. If we had not done this, then it would be less effective for the audience and therefore reducing th quality of our film. However, we knew that this would be effective as multiple different films and producers have used lighting in their film. For example, in The Woman in Black (2012) there are various different times that there is low key lighting in the film. For things to appear visible, lighting equipment must be used to make the setting visible for the audience. Therefore we adhered to this. However due to our low budget, i did not have lighting equipment to use when filming. Instead, I simply used a portable light that I had already and used it to brighten up the image on screen. Once I had imported it onto the computer, I then further editited it so that more could be seen on screen. Without doing this, it would be unclear to the audience as to what they're seeing, therefore we have developed as well as adhered on how to use lighting as I did not use the conventional method. 

Another way in which in which we challenged the film convention was by 
breaking the 180 degree rule. A generic rule that is used popularly in films is that using the 180 degree rule helps establish who is talking to who. This is seen in nearly all films that include a conversation including Sinister (2012), Cabin in The Woods (2012), House at the End of the Street (2012). However, there is a few directors that do break this 180 degree rule within their films. For example, Alfred HItchcock uses this in his classic film Psycho (1960) as well as Stanley Kubrick in The Shining (1990). This is an example of where he has used it, which is also showed in my research.


We then took influence from this and challenged the general convention. For example when the boy is in bed, we see the right side of his reflection from the mirror, however it then goes onto showing him on the left side. We did this for effect as we were showing the different reflections from the angles used with the mirror. If we had used this when presenting dialogue, then I understand it may be confusing for the audience, however when reviewing our feedback, none of our target audience had commented on the angle, or found it confusing them. Therefore, by using this, we challenged the normal camera composition and added our own effect to the film. 

Furthermore, the last way we challenged the conventions of real media texts is through the title. When I was analysing different short horror films in my research, I generally found that most short films had their title appear at the beginning, following on from other information such as "starring..." or "directed by...". However, there were a rare few films that did not, and instead placed them at the end. When watching these, it did not occur to me that I had missed the titles. However by the time I reached the middle of House of Prey (short film), I wondered what the film was called as I thought it was really good, which then appeared at the end. I then left watching the film satisfied knowing that the short film was good and knowing that I knew the film title. I then took influence from this and used this in my film, though it is unconventional. I placed small information text such as "skasa productions" etc but did not add the titles. Therefore as well as an enigma in the film, the audience also do not know the name of the short horror film and therefore entices them to keep watching to find out. This has seemed effective as in my audience feedback, none of my target audience questioned what the film was called, they were simply content with watching the film and then finding out. Therefore ultimately, I have challenged the media conventions of placing titles at the beginning of the film and instead placing them after the film abruptly stops to add the the effect of the film. 

Saturday 19 March 2016

Question 2

Q2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Wednesday 16 March 2016

Question 3

Q3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
 

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Question 4


Q4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? 




Another form of digital technology I used in my evaluation stage was Quicktime Player which helped me in not only Question 1 and 2, but mostly in Question 4.  I used Quicktime Player by going to 'file' and pressing 'screen recording'. Then, a recording button would appear on screen and then it would capture whatever is on the MacBook's screen and then save it as a video onto my desktop. I then uploaded this onto FinalCut an used it whevever I needed. This was effective as i could show the viewer exactly what it was that I did during my research, planning, production, post production and evaluation stages. By demonstrating this, my audience can see just how I put everything together and therefore proves that I used digital technology in all stages of my film, poster and trailer.