Margaret Ansu A2 Media Advanced Portfolio G324 OCR Media Studies

Evaluation 1: In what ways does media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products

Our task for Unit G324 Advanced Portfolio, was to create a 5 minute short film of one of or a cross

between the following genres: Romantic, Comedy, Drama, Action, Thriller and Horror. As a team

we drafted many ideas which we then presented to our A-level media class so that we could get

more of an unbiased opinion as to which storyline was practical and sounded the best. This was a

wise decision, as it did help us decide much quicker what we were going to produce as our final

product. As a team we decided to produce a short 5 minute drama film about an abusive father and

his daughter, who were going through the grieving process of their late wife and mother,

respectively.

Setting/location

The locations that were used within our film were the typical types of settings that would feature

within a drama film. They were realistic and believable in the sense that if the film was an actual

reality the characters portrayed within the film would be seen in such places that they were at

within the film. Places such as the school. It's not unusual to see an adult male in formal clothing

within a school likewise it's not unusual for a young black female or any persons within London to

live in a house. We used settings that the audiences could relate to, as all whom were targeted

should be able to recognise the usual layout of a school or a home not necessarily being a house or

a school but know that a building is a place of learning or a home when it's shown on screen. The

audience’s ability to recognise the type of building that was being presented to them proves that we

followed the code and convention of a drama film of using everyday locations that are used by the

masses . To explain further, if we were to place Mr Wicks still in formal clothing but cleaning the

streets as a street cleaner it’ll be presenting an unrealistic scenario to the audience which would go

against the codes and conventions of a drama film as within the genre of drama you are to the

utmost possible present a world that has a great value of verisimilitude and a well-dressed male as a

street cleaner is not of the believable world.

Costumes & Props

Keeping with the theme of a believable world, the costuming of characters and the props used within our

final product play a key role in this aspect of a drama film, as depicted in other relatable real media

drama products. When looking at relatable products such as Eastenders, it's clear that they've taken into

account that the clever use of costuming along with the props that are to circulate the character, will

Margaret Ansu A2 Media Advanced Portfolio G324 OCR Media Studies

convey the characters in a certain light to the audiences. I believe we took this into consideration and

followed the form of costuming and props playing an important role in conveying characteristics to an

audience. An example of this is the bag that we used for Mr Wicks. The bag was a plain leather black

satchel that was rather simple but had two leather buckle fasts that held the bag closed . At first it may

just denote the obvious of it being a smart black bag but it in turn connotes to the audience that Mr

Wicks (as a character) is a person of organization, simplicity whom is restricted by his need of structure,

if the audience was to look into the film deeper. In addition, the school bag we used for Lucy shows that

she was a young child as it depicts a monkey on a pink based bag with polka dots. Also the prop within

her room reinforces her childlike nature and convey her innocence in along with the costume choice of a

white shirt which symbolises innocence, as white is universally used within the media world to

symbolise purity, goodness and innocence.

Editing

For editing we used simple juxtapositions and transitions that falls under “continuity editing”. The

reason for this is because it keeps to the forms of a drama film. Most drama films rely on the mimicking

of “real time” to portray a believable world. Therefore abrupt cuts like a “freeze frame” that freezes time

within the film were not included. Instead we used editing techniques like parallel editing and montages

that conveyed time moving along.

Characters

At first I believe our characters go against the usual representations of their characters.

When Mr Wicks is introduced as a Black British male who is a teacher. This goes against most forms

within media text as they usually uphold Stuart Hall's representation theory, which states certain classes

being associated with certain races within media text and the idea of white supremacy. Therefore our

portrayal of Mr Wicks goes against Stuart Hall's “White Supremacy” theory as he is shown to be a black

male in a field of work that is looked upon favourably by society.

Conclusion

Looking at our final product, our film seems to be a very generic drama film. It includes all the

typical codes and conventions that are featured within other drama type media text such as the film

“Precious” and TV soaps in terms of the unconventional storyline.