Evaluation

By Ophelia Murphy

How did my media product use, develop and

challenge forms and conventions of real

media products?

In what ways does my media product use/develop conventions of existing short films?Characters:Short films tend to stick to minimal characters. I decided to adhere to this convention so that I could develop a back story behind the one character, so that the audiences felt they could relate to her more.

Twist:Most short films include a twist or a disequilibrium (Todorov’s theory of equilibrium) to make the storyline more interesting. Mt twist is when the audience discovers that the girl is dead through the use of mise en scene such as makeup to make her appear beaten up as she lays motionless in the shed.

Budget:Most short films are created by independent directors, so their budget is very low. I used no budget atall as my short film was free to create.

Location:Similarly to characters, short films tend to have minimal locations, so as to keep the audience focused on the narrative. I used only two locations for this reason.

Duration:As the name suggests, short films tend to be short – approx. 5-10 minutes long. Any longer than this would have made my product a feature length film.

In what ways does my media product use/develop conventions of existing short films?

Location 1: Hylands Park

Location 2: shed

Mise en scene reveals plot twist

In what ways does my media product challenge conventions of existing short films?Situation:Short films tend to fall under the genre “drama” which means they take place in every day situations. This usually allows the viewer to relate to the situation more, however I decided to stray from this convention as I wanted to attract my younger audience with the use of colourful graphics and surreal green screen locations.

Camera Movement:I again strayed from the genre of drama which is attatched to most short films by using a number of fast paced edits and skewed hand held shots towards the end. I used these to create tension.

Sound:Typically short films will feature dialogue between minimal characters. I decided to challenge this convention by using non diegetic sound only – such as voice over and music. I feel that this allowed my audience to focus on the frame as well as the sound. I also used a number of sound effects to make my product more professional and authentic.

In what ways does my media product challenge conventions of existing short films?

Green screen – surreal images

Representation of social groupsSocial groups suggest a collection of people who share some social relation. Throughout my short film I challenged a number of social groups, such as Age, Gender and Class. The young girl, Mollie, is

represented as a vulnerable character – the portrayal of women in the media in particular is important as it often comes under scrutiny.

Mise en scene – the use of the costume a school uniform reveals her working class background, as well as her age. This representation allows people to attach connotations such as naivety and youth.

Similarly the lack of makeup and fresh faced appearance reveals her youth.

The use of animation and highly saturated, bright effects also connote youth and femininity .

Representation of social Classes

Gender StereotypesFeminists often confront media productions concerning their

portrayal of women as weaker than men. Gender representation on television in particular is often scrutinised by those who feel

women are forced into subservience by men. These social changes have allowed women to be presented as more liberal characters, however I based my character on a stereotypical woman who is:

• Small• Fresh faced• Natural

• vulnerable

How did I attract my audience?• My core target audience was children of an age similar to the

actress – 12-14. In order to make my product suitable for my target audience, I made sure the images of child abuse were not too graphic, but instead helped to educate. Other than to educate my purpose was to, of course, entertain, so I used fast paced edits, colourful images and graphics and a disequilibrium to ensure my product was entertaining for my audiences.

• My peripheral audience was far most vast: adults that will sympathise with the young girl. This could be people in professions such as teaching or social workers, but applies to all potential groups who would feel empathetic towards the child. In order to attract these audience I used a number of close ups to reveal expression and also high angle shots to connote vulnerability. I also used my subsidiary products in a similar way to attract this particular audience.

Which institution I feel would be most suitable to distribute my product

My initial thought would be channel 4. This channel is notorious for airing drama programmes, but more specifically, short segments and films in

between ad breaks. A platform such as “4forThought” would, for example, be suitable for my short film as they often confront serious issues and raise

awareness for subject matters such as child abuse which features in my short film. I feel this institution would best suit my product in terms of genre and of content. Similarly, the use of narration/ voice over would make my product

suitable for the radio 4, 4 for thought segment, or radio television in general.

How effective is the combination of your main product and

subsidiary products?

Subsidiary product 1 –advert: film poster

Subsidiary product 2 –magazine article

How did I combine my main product with my subsidiary products?

Throughout the process of creating all three media texts I used a number of significant conventions to link them together, and in order to promote the film with the use of the subsidiary products a film poster

and a magazine article. Initially, I used media techniques such as a juxta position between a

bleak narrative story and scenes of gore (for example the tilt shot which exposed Mollie’s dead body was de saturated and I lowered the colour contrast to make it more dark and realistic) and paired this with bright

coloured animation and high saturated clips when my character is in her “happy place”. Similarly, in the magazine article I used images such as blood splats to connote death with the image of my character smiling. I also added small graphics of children’s drawings in the border to create irony. Further, in my poster I used dull colours such as blue and beige

paired with a striking image of my character laying upside down. I used green screen to impose the re-occurring theme children’s drawings into

the background.

Advert: film posterThrough research, I learnt some of the conventions of a film poster and tried to produce a poster which adhered to these, but also was

original.

Eye catching to the audience

Focal picture to draw in audiences eye

The title written in a large, serif font to appear professional and

eye catching

Marks of authenticity: star

ratings and quotes from well known

institutions

Depicts the films genre of drama

Information about director and stars

Where I challenged the forms/conventions of a poster to

promote a film In order to keep my poster looking minimalistic I wasn’t able to include all the features of a typical poster. If I was to create the poster again I

possibly would have included a tag line to introduce the plot of the film, and also included a company/distribution name as a mark of authenticity. These would have made my product appear more professional. Similarly, I

could have included a release date to inform my audience of when to expect the film or where (e.g. “cinemas near you” or “channel 4”)

However, I am pleased with the result. I particularly found that the artistic effect used is eye catching and provides good representation of the film in

which it was trying to promote.

InspirationMy initial inspiration for my film poster was from “The Skull”. As well

as the pop art effect which I tried to re created, I particularly liked the centre alignment, as I felt it draws the audiences attention in to

the important information: the title and director of the film. The colour scheme also provided connotations of a serious film, which was suitable for my subject matter. Again, the minimalistic style

looks professional and artistic.

Magazine Article

The house style is continued throughout article (double page

spread, EMPIRE LOGO) etc.

One dominant image which is eye catching,

then smaller ones

Through research, I learnt some of the conventions of a magazine article and tried to produce an article which adhered to these, but also was

original.

Headings and sub headings

Text grabs to attract the audience

The title/masthead appears on every page

Mode of address – directed at the audience. Easy to follow

and written in a serif font face to appear more formal.

Where I challenged the forms/conventions of a magazine article EMPIRE magazine articles tend to include a lot of negative/white space. I, however, wanted to make the article appear busy and quite crowded

for aesthetic purposes but also to connote a child. If I was to do my article again, I would have included more anchorage to explain the photographs and possibly referred to the film and its release date

towards the end as this is typical for magazine such as EMPIRE which promote films and actors.

What I’ve learned fromMy audience

Feedback

3 stars

4 stars

5 stars

Questionnaires and Social NetworkingAs well as posting the youtube link to my short film on facebook, I was able to receive anonymous and unbiased feedback from my audience

with the use of a questionnaire. I was able to ask more specific question related to media studies, for example “How professional was my editing” and “Did the sound work well”. This allowed me to make the conclusion

that although my product was successful (as the average of 4 stars suggests) there were areas of improvement, such as the green screen

scenes and the possible introduction of another character.

Star Ratings from feedback:Overall I am extremely happy with the feedback I received. On average, the short film was rated 4 stars, with two people awarding it 5.

0

4

2

02

Positive Feedback and areas of improvement

“Very well done, looks professional”

“I like how you built suspense throughout until the final scene where we find out the girl is dead”

“The editing is good”

“I like the child drawings in the background”

“I think having the dad as a character would have settled any confusion”

“some of the green screen scenes were a bit faded”

Media technologies:

construction and research, planning

and evaluation stages

Throughout the process of both construction and research I continuously used the search engine Google and the social media site YouTube. I was able to type in key words into YouTube such as “short film” to discover some of the forms and conventions which I should

apply to my product. Similarly, when finding my music, I typed in key words such as “slow” and “atmospheric” to find a piece of music which

suited the tone of my text.

Technology

Throughout the process of creating all three media texts a number of programmes have stood out for me as vital in the creating of my products. The first being wordpress: the blogging site allowed me to keep all of my research in one place, as well as allowing me to keep documents such as

production schedules. The Macs were essential for my short film, especially the programme

iMovie. I had used this before so found it fairly easy and it allowed me to use media techniques such as green screening and flash transitions

between my abrubt cuts.In creating my subsidiary products I used Microsoft programmes. For my magazine article I used Microsoft publisher, as it allowed me to create a

double page spread template and easily insert columns and titles, as well as images and decorations.

For my film poster I used prepro to make my own pop art effect, I then used paint to add details such as writing. If I were to re do the process I would have used a more advanced photo editing software, as I feel that paint

limited how creative I could be.

TechnologyIn terms of both still and video footage, I used a Canon 1000D and a SONY

HD camera for all images and clips. I found the SONY HD camera to be very easy to use and found that it produced a high quality film. Although the Canon was of excellent quality, I found it very hard to use as it was

my first time using a camera with an adjustable lenses and so many settings! I did, however, manage to product a number of location shots,

as well as the stills I used for my magazine and film poster. Both cameras worked well in front of the green screen, I believe the problem in fact

occurred in the editing stages.

Thank you